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project-sekai-facts · 1 month ago

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Is there like a lore summary for WD? How does this set connect?

i have these two posts explaining some of the worldbuilding in the knights cards. i'm also gonna tag all these posts as #white day au

edit: this was heavily edited in march 2025 due to the release of a blog post talking about the 2025 set. this blog post confirms that all the white day sets take place in the same continuity. i will refer to this blog multiple times in this post.

a few other notes not in any of those linked posts:

tsukasa's costume is called chivalrous chevalier. chevalier is the french word for knight. based on his card art having him bowing before (presumably) the throne, he's probably very high ranking.

akito's costume is noble paladin. a paladin or palatine is used to refer to a high-ranking heroic knight or a palace official. or the dnd class but that's probably not what's going on here. stems from the 12 paladins in charlemagne's court in medieval romance. definitely some sort of leader

mizuki's costume is called optatio eques. eques if it wasn't obvious is to do with horses, and is latin for horseman or knight (also the latin name for the knight chesspiece). so she's a horseback knight. i mean the others should be as well but they felt the need to specify it here.

len's 2* is called noble squire. squires were lower ranking and were servants to the actual knights, taking care of their armour/gear/horses and accompanying them in battle. sometimes would become an actual knight in future. fun fact, boys usually got the squire role at age 14, which is len's age. also len is probably tsukasa's squire considering he's wxs len here.

we don't know what shiho's class is.

all of them have different colored gem brooches on their collars, possibly related to some sort of class/rank system. aktio has a red gem, mizuki has an emerald green one, and shiho has a yellow-green one like her image color. tsukasa does not have a visible one (presumably under his cape) and len doesn't have one (not a knight).

notably all have a rose as part of their uniform, and also on the flags in akito and mizuki's cards. this will be relevant later. tsukasa's is red with gold accents, akito's is gold, mizuki's is blue, shiho's is the same color as her gem with gold leaves, and len's is also gold but less detailed (again, not a knight). mizuki's is the only one that doesn't appear to be metal. this might also relate to the class/rank system.

toya's costume is called shadow knight. he's a knight. done easy.

rui's costume is called mad sorcerer. again. sorcerer. simple.

kaito's is called wandering gunner. because sure. gun. don't think about it too hard guns are old. not the one in the card mind you. wandering also gives a bit of insight to the role he might play.

miku and saki's cards don't have costumes or names that indicate what they are.

miku is aligned with the imperial soldiers but seems to be a thief. she's got a dagger and is chilling in a trashed building, looking at a market. she possibly or very likely stole her apple from said market.

saki has a spear, so we know she's some sort of warrior/knight. she also is with the imperial soldiers, based on costume design (she has no visible emblem). that said her costume has a lot more brown than any of the others, most notably her shoes and jacket don't match with toya/kaito/miku. no leather either. imo this could possibly point to 1. her being a lower ranking member 2. her having recently joined, or defected and keeping parts from her old outfit, like rui or 3. she styled it how she wanted

as mentioned in one of the linked posts, rui defected. his outfit is based on the knight of white outfits and has their emblem on it still. he also has a red gem on his collar, so he was probably at the same rank as akito (or part of his team, however you interpret those brooches). all the imperial soldiers have red gems somewhere as an accessory, but the design and placement is very specific.

toya has a rose brooch and this is why i told you to remember that. it's completely gold like akito's (the design is slightly different as has no leaves but theyre modeled differently so i'll let it slide), suggesting there was a connection there and maybe toya defected like rui did.

toya also has a dragon and is the only imperial soldier seen with one. this could point to him being the founder and/or leader since their emblem is a dragon.

again suggesting past connection between akito and toya, the dragon is referred to as toya's aibou by the artist's. akito got replaced.

while not confirmed, it's possible that the other members of mmj are part of minori & airi's faction. the windows in minori's card have a three leafed clover as part of the design.

minori and airi are probably part of different ranks given the differences in costume design.

kanade's costume is called fleeting light knight attire and mafuyu's is called abyss knight attire. now this is interesting bc this implies a light side/dark side thing, but as mentioned in one of the linked posts, they are very clearly a part of the same faction, sharing some costume design elements, as well as a four-point star emblem, red gem on their collar, and red gem accessories. this is where things get interesting.

hear me out. so kanade's costume has a similar color palette to the original knights of white set and has the heart design from tsukasa/mizuki's costumes. mafuyu's costume is a darkened version of that color palette (think back to rui's costume being a darkened knights of white one) and also incorporates some leather-looking items, like her cape.

given the set being called "what awaits after the battle" my assumption is that this set, or at least kanade and mafuyu's cards, are set before the wday 1&2 sets, at the start of the war. ik a lot of people assume it's afterwards but the phrasing works for beforehand if put in the context of thinking about the future after the newly started war. and also for the following reasons:

kanade's card depicts a far more peaceful scenario than seen in past white day cards, there's no indication of any battles or wars in her card. while in mafuyu's there very much is, if we look at minori's or ichika's they strike more of a balance between light and dark, and both have very solemn looks. Ichika obviously looks like she's preparing for battle, but you could interpret Minori's to be this as well. This could suggest the war has just begun. So the cards take place in order of Kanade->Minori/Ichika->Mafuyu.

kanade and mafuyu are very clearly part of the same faction. however, kanade's costume bears resemblance to the knights of white ones, while mafuyu's bears resemblance to imperial soldiers.

mafuyu's costume follows the same rules as rui's, being a darkened version of kanade's. given design elements in rui's costume, it's very obvious the intent of him being a defector to the imperial knights side from the knights of white side. the same logic can apply to mafuyu in that case.

we can assume that over time, the light side changed their emblem from a four-pointed to eight-pointed star and adopted the rose thing. aside from that they kept virtually the same color scheme and patterns, and the jewel brooches, on their knight uniforms.

we can also assume that over time, the dark side developed further and adopted their own dress code, keeping the black leather from mafuyu's costume, and her red jewel accessories (see: toya/saki/kaito's earrings and miku's pin).

speaking of ichika, i already mentioned in the linked posts that she's from an entirely unique faction. her costume design doesn't match anyone elses, and she has a unique emblem design that looks like a heart combined with a tear drop. her costume name is illuminated courtyard knight attire which tells us nothing.

the blog post for the The Endless Battle for Peace set confirms that it takes place in the same universe as the previous sets, so what does this mean for Saki and Shiho?

So as the name itself suggests, and the blog post confirms, this set takes place an unspecified very long time after the previous ones.

The artist says to look for easter eggs in Saki's card, most likely referring to her garter being the same in both her 2023 card and this one. This is the same Saki as the 2023 card.

Saki's costume is called Saint Beast Sorcerer. So she's meant to be some sort of sorcerer, which makes sense given the Imperial Knights had at least one magic user on their side. Maybe they taught her, or she already was one.

Remember the thing about the red gems with Imperial Soldiers? Saki has a small one on her costume, though it's in the same place as Rui's and the Knights of White's ones. More evidence for her defecting from the KoW.

How she became a god/saint/whatever (the artist says she has an "unapproachable sanctity") is unknown. That you can come up with yourself

The artist describes her as lonely and isolated in the "secluded temple or tower" we see her in. Again, "unapproachable sanctity". It's possible she's trapped here, or is choosing not to leave.

The ruined weapons seen around her are also similar to the ones seen in past white day cards (though none are identical to past designs). Her hair is also said to be longer due to the passage of time, so she's been here a while.

Shiho and Rin are aligned with Saki, indicated by the same star symbol appearing in all their costumes. The blog post confirms only the one with Rin, but it's obvious if you look at Shiho's costume.

Rin is said to be running towards a "valued person" or "special someone" (original phrase is 大切な人). I believe the original is a phrase generally used for a romantic partner but I'm not too sure on that. Either way, you interpret that, we are not told who the person is. That's down to you.

Rin's costume is called Gold Sheep Soldier. So she's a soldier on the same side as Shiho and Saki.

The blog post describes Shiho as a mage here, and her rings are suggested to help with her magic or be connected to it in some way.

Is this the same Shiho as in the 2022 card? This is never specified. So you could interpret it as the same one, and a similar thing that happened to Saki happened to her, without the being trapped in a tower part, or you could interpret it as some sort of reincarnation.

Rin and Shiho are both meant to be depicted counter-attacking, possibly against Emu and MEIKO though again this isn't specified

Emu's costume is called Beastman Summoner. She's able to summon mice.

MEIKO is also depicted as a summoner, but with chinchillas

Emu and MEIKO are clearly on the same faction, as indicated by their costumes

Interestingly, there's a heart pattern on their costumes that is sort of similar to one seen on some of the Knights of White costumes, and has a similar color palette to Kanade's costume. This could possibly point to Emu and MEIKO being the current members of what was once the Knights of White, or possibly some split-off branch.

Emu's costume is described specifically as formal yet urban, so she's probably still from a wealthy family, and a part of a proper society in this AU.

uh yeah that's all. funfact did you know colopale staff likes Legend of Zelda. if that wasn't obvious by the fact that the 2025 wday set seems to take a lot of inspiration from Breath of the Wild specifically. From Saki's outfit and the concept of being trapped being like Zelda in that game, to the idea of this being set a long time after the Knights of White/Imperial Soldiers set, with all of them dead (killed in battle?), and the war still going on. It's not exactly subtle. Go crazy with that.

#asks #white day au

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biocrafthero · 3 months ago

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Project Sekai - White Day AU Card Lore/Story Masterpost

In other words: I've become obsessed with a very niche part of this game for no discernible reason and have decided to make my gathered knowledge into a post...

NOTE: This post was written before the 2025 White Day event, so some parts may be missing information or incorrect. All information being referenced comes from the Sekaipedia fan wiki.

(I have decided to put this under a Read More because this is so ungodly lengthy that it has taken actual hours for me to write. I hit the image limit on browser, which is 30. If I didn't put this under a Read More I would've been killed with hammers.)

What is White Day AU?

White Day AU is based off of a series of cards that began releasing in 2022 with the White Day event titled "The Gentleman Thief's Thrilling White Day!?". While at first it may seem like a case of colopale putting the characters in a fun setting with cool outfits, it has become more and more apparent that, with the more White Day events that release, the more this universe is getting expanded upon.

I spent some time last month going over the cards that have released over the course of four separate events, pouring over details in the characters' outfits and the environments that surround them in the illustrations in an attempt to parse what kind of story colopale seems to be telling with these cards.

The events/gachas that all contain White Day AU cards are as follows:

The Gentleman Thief's Thrilling White Day!? - Knights of White

Never Give Up Cooking! - Imperial Soldiers

Relax Teatime - What Awaits at the End of War

The Power Of Regret - Noble Knights Fighting for Supremacy

While it may seem odd that a non-White Day event/gacha is here, it may be due to colopale making the decision to start releasing White Day AU lore outside of White Day events in order to ensure they can make at least one card for every major character (both OCs and vocaloids) before the game reaches the end of it's story.

The characters currently missing cards are...

Honami (Leo/need)

Shizuku (MORE MORE JUMP!)

Haruka (MORE MORE JUMP!)

An (Vivid BAD SQUAD)

Kohane (Vivid BAD SQUAD)

Ena (Nightcord at 25:00)

Rin (Virtual Singer)

Luka (Virtual Singer)

MEIKO (Virtual Singer)

It is difficult to guess who would be in which faction (more on that below) due to the fact that, regardless of unit or relationships, it is not uncommon for people to be split between factions even if logically they should've been paired together in the same faction.

White Day AU Lore

The setting of the White Day AU is most likely fantasy, due to the medieval aesthetics and fantastical elements like magic and dragons. Something interesting as well is that there seem to be factions--different groups each of the characters belong to--that may be hinting at a conflict between members of the cast.

There are multiple factions to be aware of:

The Knights of White

The Empire

An unnamed third faction

An unnamed fourth faction

I will go over each faction in this order. They can be distinguished from each other through multiple things such as the emblems they wear, the colored gemstones on their outfits, and the color palettes of their uniforms. These things all work in conjunction with one another to show who is allied with who.

The Knights of White

The Knights of White, which I will refer to as the Knights, is one of two primary factions in the White Day AU. Known characters who are currently part of the Knights are...

Tsukasa (Wonderlands x Showtime)

Akito (Vivid BAD SQUAD)

Shiho (Leo/need)

Len (Virtual Singer)

Nene (Wonderlands x Showtime)

Emu (Wonderlands x Showtime)

The Knights are distinguished from the other members of the cast by the eight-pointed star as their faction's crest and uniforms that comprise almost entirely of white, blue, and gold.

The Empire

The Empire, which I also tend to refer to as the Imperials (even though grammatically that is incorrect it just sounds better LMAO) is the second primary faction in the White Day AU. Known characters who are part of the Empire are...

Toya (Vivid BAD SQUAD)

Rui (Wonderlands x Showtime)

KAITO (Virtual Singer)

Miku (Virtual Singer)

Saki (Leo/need)

Imperial outfits tend to comprise of the colors black, red, and gold. Their crest is of a dragon, likely in reference to the dragon in Toya's card. Their outfits also all include a red gemstone of some kind, a gemstone color that is exclusive to this faction.

It should be noted that Rui's Imperial outfit does not include a dragon crest and instead has the eight-pointed star of the Knights. Additionally, Toya's outfit has a rose on it, which you may have noticed is something that appears on the outfits of other characters from other factions. I will come back to these two points later.

From here, we get to the secondary factions of the AU.

Unnamed Third Faction

Third Faction is currently only comprised of two members:

Kanade (Nightcord at 25:00)

Mafuyu (Nightcord at 25:00)

Third Faction does not seem to have a set color palette (the colors that the two share are blue and gold), but they do have a unique emblem: the four-pointed star. While Mafuyu's emblem is visible in her illustration, Kanade's emblem is viewable on her 3D model. Additionally, despite the emblem having similarity to the Knight's emblem, both of them wear the same distinctive red gemstones that the Imperials wear on their outfits.

These details in conjunction lead me to believe that the role of Third is either as a middle-ground or mediating party between the Knights and Imperials.

Unnamed Fourth Faction

Fourth Faction currently only comprises of two members:

Minori (MORE MORE JUMP!)

Airi (MORE MORE JUMP!)

The faction's color palette likely comprises largely of blue/green, red, white, and gold. Their crest is of four lozenges with a circle in the center. Their colors and crest are distinct from all other factions, meaning they are likely working independently and without the influence of the other factions.

Unknown Alliances

Mizuki (Nightcord at 25:00)

Mizuki's outfit does not appear to hold any similarities to the other factions currently present, her palette consisting of white, blue, and silver. While it does hold similarities to the Knights, the outfit that comes with her card includes a heart-shaped emblem both on the outfit and accessory. However, this could mean nothing, as the outfits that Akito and Tsukasa have from this same set do not include Knights emblems on their accessories.

Ichika (Leo/need)

Ichika's current alliance also remains unclear. Her outfit's color palette consists of white, red, and gold, which does not resemble any of the other factions. Her crest is likely the piece of her outfit that resembles a fleur-de-lis with a gemstone in the center. There are some details from a different card (the upper-left corner of the background in Len's 4* from the "The Power Of Regret" event) that may support her being part of a full-fledged faction, but due to other characters lacking this emblem she is currently seen as independent.

There is the possibility that Ichika and Mizuki are actually part of the same faction, but this lacks concrete evidence. For the sake of the argument though, I will mention that not long ago when I was looking over the details of the cards, the crests on their outfits struck me as suspiciously similar in shape (supported by the banners in the upper-right in the background in Mizuki's card). Still, this theory is shaky at best.

And yes, I made sure to check that Mizuki's banners and Ichika's crest do not resemble the background of the "Knights of White" gacha.

White Day AU Story

This is where we start getting into the nitty-gritty of details in the AU, aside from just talking about the factions. That was an important precursor of information to everything else this post talks about.

Meaning of Roses

My suspicion is that the roses represent nobility. Characters with roses present on their outfits are as follows:

Tsukasa (Wonderlands x Showtime)

Akito (Vivid BAD SQUAD)

Mizuki (Nightcord at 25:00)

Shiho (Leo/need)

Len (Virtual Singer)

Toya (Vivid BAD SQUAD)

At first, it was my assumption that those who wear roses are--or were at one point--allied or part of the Knights. However, upon further inspection of the logo for the "Imperial Soldiers" gacha, roses are not exclusive to the Knights faction.

If roses were associated with the Knights, why would it not only be part of Toya's outfit but also included in the "Imperial Soldiers" gacha logo?

Looking at each of the characters who have been seen with the rose on their uniforms and comparing these characters to their canon counterparts from the base game of Project Sekai (aside from Len, sorry Len), these characters being nobility would check out considering their personal histories in canon.

The Royal Guard

This is where we start getting to the most story-filled cards that colopale as released so far.

This unit of characters, which I have personally been referring to as the royal guard, consist of the following:

Nene (Wonderlands x Showtime)

Emu (Wonderlands x Showtime)

Len (Virtual Singer)

Tsukasa (Wonderlands x Showtime)

Rui (Wonderlands x Showtime)

Notably, (almost) all of the characters here are from the canon unit Wonderlands x Showtime, which is likely due to the fact that the event they come from, "The Power Of Regret," is a Wonderlands x Showtime story event (specifically Nene focus). It is because of the fact we got all of Wonderlands x Showtime in this card drop we get the most story, since we have three returning characters.

The royal guard uniforms have the Knights emblem and color palette, clearly displaying the fact that they are a part of that faction. The most distinct parts of their uniforms are their crown-shaped belt buckles, the crown on the back of their gloves, and the shield with a crown engraved on it that they wear as a brooch. Their outfits even have gemstones that correspond with their character colors that we see in-game, which to me only emphasizes their status as high-ranking knights.

Earlier, I pointed out how Rui has the Knights emblem on his Imperial outfit, despite noticeably not being part of the Knights. This is likely because, at some point between these cards and the cards from the "Never Give Up Cooking!" event, Rui deserted from the Knights to join the Empire.

An assumption could be made that the cards are being released in chronological order, however I disagree. Rui would be more likely to defect from the Knights but still carry their emblem with him when he joins the Imperials, rather than holding a connection with the Knights before deserting from the Imperials to join the other side. It is unclear why he would leave the Knights, but I personally believe it may have something to do with the fact that in his 4* from "Never Give Up Cooking!" he is a magic user, while here in the "The Power Of Regret" cards he is not. In other words, I think he joined the Imperials so he could use magic.

This causes the other cards of characters who were part of the royal guard to have very interesting additional information. Tsukasa likely went up in ranking from royal guard to something else entirely, based off of how his 4* from "The Gentleman Thief's Thrilling White Day!?" event has him in a much more regal outfit.

While it is unclear what happened to Len, it should be noted that his 2* from "The Gentleman Thief's Thrilling White Day!?" event is named "Innocent Squire", so maybe something also transpired with his character to lead to his change in position.

There is some speculation among people I discuss these cards with about what exactly Nene and Emu are doing in their cards, but we highly suspect they are actually fighting each other. The tears in Nene's eyes and Emu's determined expression imply that there may be some kind of heartache occurring during whatever clash they're involved in, which would be most likely to happen if the two of them were in combat against one another. The backgrounds of their cards match up well enough to suggest that they are in the same space, as well.

It is unclear what exactly the two of them are fighting about, but it is of my own personal belief that the conflict between them has to do with Rui's desertion from the Knights. It is realistically the only thing I can think of that could possibly push these two into conflict with one another.

It can also be assumed that after Rui's desertion, the royal guard subsequently dissolved since they make no other appearances outside of this set of cards.

It is unclear what Tsukasa and Len are doing in their cards, but they also appear to be in the same location as one another.

Toya's Dragon

In a blog post by colopale, they refer to the dragon as his "aibou" (partner). While it may seem like they're drawing parallels between the dragon and Akito (considering the fact that Akito and Toya are partners in canon), I don't think that Akito is supposed to be the dragon considering the differing allegiances. I think the dragon is just Toya's friend :)

Separated Tenmas

Saki and Tsukasa seem to be on two entirely different sides of the war--the Empire and the Knights respectively. While it remains unclear as to why they're on opposing sides, maybe something happened between them that caused this divide...

Leo/need in Conflict?!

Other than the fact that Saki is a member of the Imperial Army, I'm very curious about what's happening in Shiho and Ichika's cards. Based off of the backgrounds, and while it doesn't look like it at first, they appear to be in the same location. You can see in the background of Ichika's card, on the other side of the courtyard, you can see a set of windows that are the same shape as the windows light is being cast through in Shiho's card. Assuming the courtyard is symmetrical, you can reasonably guess they're in the same hall. Additionally, the pillars appear to be similar at the very least. If they're fighting, I wonder what its about?

Details about the outfit names...

I want to take a moment to talk about outfit names for each of the characters since I couldn't find anywhere else to talk about this. I will be dividing these by the event/gacha they were released in.

The Gentleman Thief's Thrilling White Day!? - Knights of White:

Tsukasa - Chivalrous Chevalier

Akito - Noble Paladin

Mizuki - Optatio Eques

None of these are exactly notable aside from the name of Mizuki's outfit. The name translates from Latin to "Knight's Choice" (machine translation), which adds some information to her character that, while I have trouble parsing due to the lack of information about her whole deal in this AU, I still find interesting.

Also note that the world "chevalier" just means "knight" in French.

Never Give Up Cooking! - Imperial Soldiers:

Toya - Chevalier Noir

Rui - Mad Sorcerer

KAITO - Wandering Gunner

KAITO's outfit name is intriguing to me and leads me to believe he may be more of a mercenary type of character rather than someone who is absolutely loyal to the Empire.

Relax Teatime - What Awaits at the End of War:

Kanade - Fleeting Light Knight Attire

Ichika - Illuminated Courtyard Knight Attire

Mafuyu - Abyss Knight Attire

There's not much of note here, but I am of the personal belief that Kanade and Mafuyu are matching.

The Power Of Regret - Noble Knights Fighting for Supremacy:

Nene - Fier Chevalier

Emu - Sourire Chevalier

Len - Hability Chevalier

Two of the names here are French. Nene's translates to "Proud knight" and Emu's to "Smile Knight" (both machine translated). Len's name means "Able Knight" (could also be read as "Skillful Knight"), the word "habile" just being an obsolete form of the word "able."

My personal thoughts...

I just know the AkiToya divorce is insane. Couldn't be as dramatic as whatever L/n and WxS are going through right now tho tbh... At least it looks like KanaMafu and MMJ are having fun times in yuri land

Also in the next White Day AU card drop if Ena isn't part of the Knights faction I'm gonna--[remembers suicide jokes are bad for my mental health]--I'm gonna surpass RAD WEEKEND

Why does KAITO have a gun btw???? Maybe its magic idk

#rambles #project sekai #this is my most normal post of all time #my writing #<- BECAUSE IT MIGHT AS WELL BE.#i need to sleep now I stayed up for actual hours putting this together

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harrowharr0w · 5 months ago

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so um he went from one of the most distinguished and respected knights in the kingdom to betraying them and joining another side

these two caused something to happen to tsukasa snd got him to join that side. they werent supposed to do that they were supposed to get him to join THEM but it kind of backfired so now tsukasa is just in a different kingdom

this dude is on kaito&toyas team, he leaves for like 3 seconds and toya and kaito have screwed up and gotten tsukasa to join the wrong side

emu is the one who took tsukasa in, because she thought he looked funny. something something something corrupt is happening to teukadas side and emunene tell him that and so he joins.. maybe.. ACTUALLY. nene is like “wait. you got ambushed by some people. and they told you they were working for a.. rui? okay youre coming home with us”

this random picture is sitting on nene’s desk, tsukasa notices. he doesn’t look like a very good knight. he wonders who he is and why he’s important to nene

these three have no idea where tsukasa went. oh goodness i have a whole other storyline in my head for shiho i dont want to put it all here

#pjsk #pjsk au #project sekai #tsukasa tenma #rui kamishiro #kaito #toya aoyagi #nene kusanagi #emu otori #shiho hinomori #akito shihonome #mizuki akiyama

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iukasylvie · 1 year ago

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Sorry, but the Knights Moralis condemning sexual violence and Easthies offering mercy and understanding to Luluci and punishing her teacher in Chapter 49 feel like empty gestures to me when Ellien and the nobleman in Luluci's backstory are quickly forgotten and the Knights Moralis do nothing but blame the victim every time. Easthies also changes his mind about erasing the peeping tom's memories when the latter says he could help the Knights Moralis find a "worse" violator of the law. The beauty of the Pointed Caps, especially the Knights Moralis, belies their cruelty and hypocrisy just like the people of Romonon; they love judging each other and have no qualms about abandoning their own.

I find Chapter 49 so tangential and contradictory compared to the Kamoshida arc of Persona 5, where Kamoshida and his mistreatment of the students at Shujin Academy firmly establish the theme of corrupt adults who abuse youth. Unlike Ellien, Shiho has a real impact on the story as well because her victimization at Kamoshida's hands inspires the main characters to band together as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Why does Luluci get to make a point about her suffering and have understanding and kindness from the Knights Moralis when Coco, Qifrey, Agott, Richeh, Tartah, Eunie, Ellien, Dagda, and Custas have never been given the same chance?

I have chosen to headcanon that Easthies saved Luluci because he knew her and thought it was only natural for her to want to protect her chastity as a high-born lady who conformed to the societal expectations of the Pointed Caps by being good at magic, honest, studious, obedient, patriotic, pure, chaste, and modest. That would fit in with the theme of the rigidity and elitism of witch society.

Speaking of Custas, his sudden change into a hateful Brimmed Cap was the last straw that destroyed my faith in the series. I think it'd make more sense if he attacked the Knights Moralis to defend Dagda instead of attacking Coco and Tartah even though both of them have done nothing but care for him. I also think that his arc would've been more convincing if Shirahama showed people looking down on him and Dagda for being poor, uneducated, and unrelated by blood given the wealth, the beauty, and the emphasis on blood in witch society.

And I think the emphasis on blood makes the Pointed Caps hypocritical as the house of Arkrome had wealth, fame, power, and everything else in the world but they chose to abandon Agott so easily and without anyone condemning it. How would Dagda feel about this when he's poor and uneducated but chose to adopt Custas and raise this boy with love?

I'd love to hear your hashtag wha critical thoughts about recent developments if you feel like sharing them :)

I'll preface this with saying that for this answer I will not be making a distinction between my personal tastes and what is "objectively worst". The TLDR is I have felt like WHA's been dipping in quality since book 8 approximately.

One of WHA's strong points is its ongoing theme of accessibility, via its premise of how magic is purposefully restricted from people, and via its characters, mostly the kids, who showcase various life issues and allow the story to talk about how to solve them. Disability is an important one and was at the center of book 8, which is one of my favorites. You get to see Tartah and Coco work together for a goal (=making their friend a better mobility aid), and by doing so they brainstorm the why and then how which allows for complex notions to be carried out and explained to the reader. Cute story with touching implications that flows well. This quote in particular sums up so well what WHA is "about"

After this we transition rather brutally to the latest ongoing arc of the Silver Eve. This arc has been ongoing for years now, and three volumes, making it the longest so far, I'll come back to that, putting a star on it [*]. It delves further into aspects of accessibility the series had talked about before - access to magic, access to healthcare, and poverty. This is where this blog's namesake gets relevant. Custas is a kid who was already poor, who got badly wounded ending up disabled, and who because of that was stuck in a situation with no good endings: he can't make money in his state and needs money to get out of his state. On top of this gets added magic, and comes back the question at the center of WHA: Is it wrong to restrict the use of magic, and how?

After the arc is kickstarted by Custas getting his share of spilled beans of magical secrets revealed, enter immediatly strong players via ch.48's introduction of the Wise Ones and the king himself. The political aspect of how the world works was not mentioned before. Great chapter, interesting stuff all around, personally answered much of my questions. Immediatly after this chapter the focus in 49 fully switches to the Knights and their job, and the rest of the chapter is dedicated to a story of a sexual assault survivor and how she made it. It's a surprising topic to see pop up and it's handled with the respect it deserves. Chapter 50 goes back to Coco and her troubles. This concludes book 9 and...it makes for a Lot of stuff to deal with. Put a Second star on that. [**]

Addressing those stars before we move on:

[*] This arc is taking forever. WHA's arcs in earlier volumes only took a few chapters. This arc has taken three books thus far and I doubt we have reach its climax yet. I personally don't like it and it raises an issue the series did not have before: Will the payoff be worth it? Where it is worrying for the future of the series is that manga serialized regularly tend to up the stakes progressively until the end and it might...not work out.

[**] Too many things at once unresolved. This has already had consequences with the progressive vanishing of something WHA was once excellent at: sneakily introducing elements that get used a few arcs later in important ways. The manga has been, for a while now, accumulating unfinished plot threads via not answering the questions it opens and instead adding more and more characters. Jumping from a group of characters to another was not an issue beforehand because unlike this arc's, chapters took place at different times and/or in totally different places. The Silver Eve is both set in time AND place, making it hard to follow because all sideplot happen at once.

Book 10 continues to accumulate ongoing unresolved plots with: the royal family being shady, Agott's struggles irt. her mother, Dagda running around confused and tracked by the Knights, Custas and Ininia jumping Tartah and Coco, and Galga's accident + relationship.

Book 11 does the same adding Agott's crush on Coco, the actual festival, Jujy's inner troubles...Funnily enough, this page is a good summary of the ongoing mess.

Instead of solving all of this stuff we instead get stakes ramped up to 100 with the introduction of what I can only describe as a kaiju attack. As much as I love the horror and drama element, given what was already going on, this does NOT strike me as a good decision.

Now, we go back to the three latest chapters. These follow the same subplot: Custas' faction change and Coco's attempts to save him. This subplot has, to me, a whole lot of issues. Way earlier on in the story, even before Dagda's ambush, I had issues with how Custas was portrayed in relation to his anger, being drawn weirdly spooky for...a frustrated poor kid? Others have also pointed out it wasn't great to have one of your only dark skinned characters be a slum kid. Obviously given my handle on here, I am still a huge fan of the character. After chapter 45 (included), I already found it a bit tasteless to have so much horrors piled on him. WHA is a rather unsubtle series at time which I really, really dislike. Sure, makes it hard to miss the point, but when you're dealing with sensitive topics it can fall into touchy territory fast...

In the latest chapters, Coco appears to save Custas, the "how" part of her plan still being a mystery. Meanwhile, a timelooped and very confused Dagda looks for him, accompanied by Lulucy, who knows them both and is unaware of their ties with forbidden magic. She ends up telling him to abandon the faction he sided with by literally ripping off the brim of his hat with her magic. Meanwhile, Lulucy starts attacking him on sight. I have so, so so many issues with all of this.

Coco's story is about knowing the system in place sucks. Custas' story is about being screwed over by the same system. The story explicitly points those two out as mirrors: Custas is what would have happened to Coco without the right support. Coco's unique POV on the pointed hat witches shows us many prior times they are not the good guys. Hell, Custas himself talks about how the pointed hat's magical gatekeeping prevented him from living a better life.

To me, the point was supposed to be: the system in place doesn't work, which results in people in need not getting help. We loop back to the accessibility I started off mentioning. Yes, before the current system, bad things happened - but the current system is still allowing other bad things to happen now. So...why is Coco pushing Custas to join the pointed hats and abandon the faction he sided with? If a character who was upholding the status quo was doing so it would make sense (like Beldaruit) but Coco as a main character exists partially to point out why the pointed hats are not good. She demonstrates it to the reader via what happens to her AND knows it as a character. It comes off as inconsistent and frankly makes little sense.

Speaking of inconsistencies...why does Lulucy not recognize Custas, a child she's known for a while? Why does the young prince, introduced as a suspicious character on behalf of his family's unknown goals, become a helpful selfless little guy? Why are the Knights, originally introduced as an antagonistic faction because they are a milita enforcing the status quo, suddenly portrayed as fighting for good as a bunch of remarkable individuals?

Ah yes, the cops. I'm going to address something really fast about them. It makes me frankly uncomfortable the author chose their faction to evoke the two very sensitive topics of sexual assault and homophobia. I think the way those topics themselves were handled without greater context was surprisingly good, and it's touching in the first place to see an author who not only cares, but uses her series, destined partially for younger readers, to explain why she cares. However, Witch Hat is a very black and white series: the bad guys are bad and ugly and you should dislike them, the good guys are good and you should like them. There are some exceptions but who have been losing steam as of late. While originally introduced as a group of individuals who act in problematic ways for their day job, the Knights have slowly lost that bad guy flavor to become a fun band of colleagues/friends. They are law enforcers who enforce unjust laws, but it seems that the author's not on board with people hating them because this is the second time she gave a Knight a tragic backstory that makes them more sympathetic to the reader. First of: I do not see what's to redeem about them if the story's about changing an unjust system, so I don't get the necessity to make them nicer. Secondly: at least in my country (which has legal gay marriage and notably less sexist than Japan) law enforcement is renowned to not help sexual assault victims or gay people. The Knights Moralis are fantasy cops and cops, in real life, tend to abandon people who need their help regarding those two issues - if not worsen them, and count a majority of sexists/homophobes among their ranks. Making your unsubtly cop stand-in faction have both characters with those issues comes off as at least a poor decision if not bad taste.

(big words from the guys introduced in the story by arresting a bunch of children who were on a rescue mission for a misunderstanding they would not have cared about. Die idgaf)

Some more surface level things:

The art. The first books of WHA are noticeably more complex in their style featuring more reaslistic proportions for the characters. Latest arc has seen art lose some of the decorative "classic" flair in the linework and characters looking simpler and stylized to look way...Younger? In a way I do not like. Yes, it's expected for manga series to see their style evolve. I also want to make this clear: I consider the pace imposed on manga artists to be inhumane and if Shirahama had decided to draw her manga as stick figures to work less I'd be down for it.

The dialog. While WHA is very in your face (you may call it preachy) the dialog in the latest chapters especially Coco's feels off. A 12yo wouldn't give off speeches about the world in the heat of battle. When it's a calm scene between two characters discussing a deep thing, sure. When it's an epic public adult figure (see: Dean), sure. I'd prefer having the kids talk like kids.

Goddamn the story has become less nuanced and subtle over the time. Scenes like Qifrey getting confronted by Tartah post mindwiping his grandpa owned. The story's current "morally grey" moments just don't do it for me anymore. No, I don't want the witch politicians of the faction you established as a mistake beforehand to continue. I don't care if the fantasy cops are offended by a grieving husband pointing out they suck. I kinda wish he'd thrown hands actually

So...yeah, that's about it. While WHA's plot beats has always been impossible for me to predict, I don't know if I can trust where the story is going anymore. The fans eating it up confuse me and I might even get hate for posting this. Truth is, while some aspects have always been more or less present in the series since the start, I've felt like the really good bits that balanced it out have been going extinct. I don't know why and it's none of my business to. Some friends have pointed out we might be reaching a point where the author ran out of pre-written story and is now improvising. What's a bit concerning to me is I've also noticed she's way less active on social media, where she used to post regular bonus material for the series, this has stopped and I hope it's not because she lost her interest for the series or way worst, is overworked. Given the conditions for mangaka it wouldn't be impossible and like previously stated, I am of the opinion that no comic book series is worth putting their author's life, health and free time down. It's more important than me disliking the comic.

And regarding Custas - him joining the atelier to study with Qifrey would not be a good ending, no matter what the fandom says. It won't be cute found family. Custas has a family who's unique member wouldn't be able to follow him as a witch. That ending would separate a very traumatized child from the only adult he has in his life that gives him unconditional love and support. Custas needs to not be seen as a criminal so the rest of his life won't be over, and also a whole bunch of cash.

I'm not excited for the anime.

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momoiis · 2 months ago

Text

prsk siblings agere headcanons!!

because i think they’re neat :3

TENMAS

★ tsukasa is, of course, the number one big brother ever

★ toya doesn’t mind being little in front of both saki and tsukasa, those are his big siblings… he loves them dearly

★ saki loves being a big sister to toya, even when she’s little! she tends to regress just a bit older than him and is always Always insistent that she’s still his big sister

★ sometimes tsukasa ends up slipping around his siblings… they’re both more than happy to take over and be his big siblings though!

★ more often than not they’ll end up playing some kind of rendition of knights or princesses or something along those lines take a wild guess at whose idea it is

★ normally, toya likes being more independent, but when he’s with his siblings he wants to be involved in Everything. hes a curious little critter

★ they all love making up stories to act out with their stuffies. this is not even a hc this is just canon in my heart

SHINONOMES

★ when just ena is regressed, the only way akito would possibly find out is on accident, like him coming into her room without knocking

★ on the other hand, when just akito’s regressed, he actively searches out his nena. he doesn’t like being alone when he’s small… (as much as he doesn’t wanna admit it)

★ but sometimes they’ll Both be small at the same time! i hc this is what happens most of the time. they’re just in mutual agreement never to speak about it

★ the shinonomes being small together is almost always a recipe for disaster, but somehow they make it work

★ they’re both more than happy with just parallel play honestly. ena will color or draw and akito will stick to playing with ena’s stuffies since most of the time they’re in her room

★ since ena regresses older than akito (i hc ena regresses to 7-9 mostly, while akito regresses to maybe like 4 or 5) she’s usually the one to prepare them food… but her little brain wants snacks so bad… so dinner is chips…. and maybe some ice cream if they have it…

★ maybe dont leave them without a cg actually

HINOMORIS

(i use she/he prns for shiho)

★ what happens when you put two cg leaning flips together… i mean. one of ‘em is bound to slip, right?

★ (usually it’s shiho that slips honestly)

★ shiho’s an extremely independent baby though so sometimes she’ll get kinda whiny about being fussed over

★ shizuku wants to dote on shiho So Bad especially when he’s small… but she knows to give him some space. kinda.

★ cue the frequent check-ins, constantly bringing shiho plates of fruit or cups of water or tea, etc etc. she gets very worried about him

★ (meanwhile shiho’s just chilling in her room watching sugarbunnies and having the absolute time of her life)

★ honestly i dont think shizuku slips often. its a super duper rare occurrence and it would probably only happen involuntarily while around momojan

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