#so how about that mizu5

[starduststorm-art]

this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real this can't be real

this is unbearable.

[heartorbit]

if we could stay connected, just like this

[tetrangel]

does anyone else hear that ominous bell tolling

[just-apple-strudel]

If you just finished reading Mizu5 and want to feel more pain and suffering, you should listen to "Devil of the Classroom" by Utsu-P

[cheruverse]

psst. project moon fans who are also project sekai fans (or the other way around), which niigo character should i draw for their distortion form?

of course, most voted character will be drawn! if i have enough time and motivation i might as well draw the 2nd character w the most votes :))

do keep in mind my schedule is really packed so i may post the drawings at a later date

[blackcurrant-juice]

UTSU-P AND NAKISO COMMS‼️⁉️⁉️⁉️‼️⁉️‼️‼️⁉️

[okiria]

i have so much unwritten ria angst but this is okiria in the hypothetical spinoff that exists in my beautiful mind palace. peace and love

[arsonistman]

Lying in bed feeling physical pain thinking about Mizuki and the Mizu5 event

[butterfly-ribbon]

still in disbelief about how mizu5 genuinely captures the subtleties of transmisogyny so accurately like nothing else i've seen before especially with the nuances with which mizuki's story is told … all it takes is a single sentence, a few words … i love that the classmates saying that shit don't even … realize how cruel they are, bc that's how it /is/ and bc "oh no, we said something weird to a Normal Girl, that makes us look bad" - transmisogyny is just a punchline to a joke for them, that's how detached they are from their own cruelty and it's really not any different from the 'average' misogyny and how that tends to be a joke amongst boys. what ena ended up being exposed to is really just the classmates' 'boy's locker room talk' leaking out, so to speak? ena's probably heard jokes from people about how unfeminine her behavior is in the past and she quickly spits out "that's not funny" bc ena and mizuki are both "pretty girls" who like fashion and dolling themselves up, and hearing them talk about how mizuki's cute in this way … i'm sure it reminds her of her own experiences with being an 'influencer' - people like her when she shuts up and makes herself cute and appealing and ena must've absolutely received her fair share of comments and messages from weirdos for posting selfies of herself online, but i think what drives this home to me as such a fantastic narrative is the way that they call mizuki "attractive as long as she's not making any trouble and being a pain" bc it really speaks to how trans girls are objectified and only deemed 'acceptable' as long as they make themselves into limpless dolls who are acceptable targets for any form of abuse and misogyny instead of trying to claim their own subjectivity as women, so there's so much crossover in how mizuki's experiences work alongside ena's? but also mizuki faces so much more constant and direct criticism, all her actions and choices so closely under scrutiny.

mizuki loves and appreciates the attention of girls and when she first met ena she saw herself in the art that ena made - ena draws a girl in pain and mizuki goes "she's me". in the scene where mizuki gets outed, ena is speechless not bc she thinks mizuki is "gross" or bc she's mad mizuki "tricked" her? she's just horrified that she just got degendered /by association/ and then had to listen to these boys speak about the girl she's in love with in this /aggressively/ violent way, especially since mizuki has a meltdown, knowing, apologizing for hurting, even as ena would absolutely say "no, i'm sorry, im sorry, please don't hate vourself" bc mizuki feels like she's the one at fault for feeling like ena would assume the worst of her, but mizuki also feels like she doesn't have the right to be angry at people … this is the first time we get to see mizuki's rage and it's so palpable … i love so much that she hates the idea of niigo's kindness being born out of her 'abnormality' as a trans girl … she hates everything about this. she hates the idea of coming out, she hates the idea of having a question attached to her girlhood..

mizuki logically knows that niigo are going to accept her bc they've also gone through so much turmoil themselves and understand what it's like to be on the fringes of society, but she still can't shake off all those intrusive thoughts about how they might only accept her out of pity or consideration bc they feel too bad for her rather than a genuine understanding and the idea that things might change between them bc of that is too terrifying to embrace… such patronizing 'kindness' burns too much for mizuki to accept, so she'd rather run away and shut herself out completely… for mizuki it's like being stuck on a bridge where the only two ways out are ones where nothing changes and this hurts in its own way bc she can't tell how much of it would be genuine and how much would be an act and the other way is them /trying too hard/ to be considerate and this can easily become alienating bc mizuki truly just wants to be "one of the girls" in the most natural sense? she doesn't want to be made to feel like she's being accommodated, but there's also all the guilt that she's been internalizing for being "deceptive" and not saying the truth sooner that further complicates things and makes her feel like she's undeserving of any kindness that she may be offered… even though she genuinely was going to tell ena the truth herself, it doesn't matter anymore bc someone else told her before she even got the chance to do so herself and that's something she actually wished would happen in the past, so is there anyone to blame but herself? mizuki's entire thing is that until now she's been "writing" a fictionalized cis girl version of herself when she's with niigo and obscuring her own transness bc she doesn't want to be treated as an Other or have an asterisk attached to her girlhood bc she just wants to be treated as one of them instead of having to explain herself or prove anything but she has her facade violently stripped away from her in the most traumatic way imaginable and now she's entrapped within dysphoria induced suicidal ideation...

[a-tear-in-space]

A little thing I may have noticed about Ena5/Mizu5!

The Mizu5 event name was "Where Does The Path Of Thorns Go?"

The natural purpose of thorns are to protect and deter people from getting to what's past them, whether that be a plant, a doorway (in a certain fairy tale, lol) and to just overall keep things away.

Mizuki has built up this wall/path of thorns around themselves/their secret to keep their friends, specifically Ena, from knowing the truth. The path of thorns is long, thick and difficult to get through because of how much they're determined to protect themselves.

Which brings us to Ena5's card name - "Even if I'm covered in scars."

Thorns, obviously, are very sharp - they're meant to deter predators, they have to be. You can't get past them to what's beyond without getting cut/scratched by them.

So, what does this mean, I hear you ask?

Well, I'm gonna reach a bit and interpret this as Ena fighting through all the thorns, the brambles, everything, to reach Mizuki. To withstand all the pain and scars and fear to get to Mizuki because of how much she cares about them, how much she's willing to let Mizuki just open up to her. And based on Mizuki's card name, it seems like Mizuki will finally tell Ena their secret, completely of their own free will.

(All I could think about while writing this was Sleeping Beauty lmao)

[noname-nonartist]

Okay, So I'm not making Mizu5 about An, because it's not. And like An has a very small role within the story event. However... I can't help but think about how interesting the 2-A theme is dress-up. It makes me wonder if An has strongly suggested their class to do it since it would help Mizuki blend in more. Something An mentioned to Mizuki on the last school festival. Yeah, there is a hugeeeee chance that I'm reaching due to my bias (I deeply love Mizuki's and An's friendship). Like it is highly possible that there are just that many peeps within 2-A that love making clothes/fashion (heck Akito is a street fashion nerd). But this is also something An would do to help make Mizuki feel more comfortable in school. There has been times where An would subtlety do things to make sure Mizuki is happy and comfortable. Such as An's words/action in the previously mentioned Kamiyama School Festival Event, but also in the Cheerleading Squad Event too. Where An purposefully pick the short end so she can be part of the squad with Mizuki.

[daycordatthreepm]

quick mizu5 rant because I’ve seen one too many shit takes on TikTok and oh my god I’m so pissed. I know that most people have common sense but there are so many people that do not and Its beyond baffling.

No, Mizuki is not a boy. No, she didn’t look into the camera and say “My name is Mizuki Akiyama and I’m a transgender girl”, and she doesn’t need to in order for it to be clear. She is not a cross dresser, she is trans.

“But the classmates were calling her a boy!1!!!1!” They’re transphobic bullies. Look at the surrounding context, for once in your life. They said that they thought Ena was a ”normal girl” when they found out that she and Mizuki are friends. It’s exceedingly obvious once you get your heads out of your fucking “the curtain is just blue” transphobic asses.

A boy wouldn’t react like that to someone saying that they’re a boy. Do you know who would, especially in this context and the surrounding lore of the entire game? A trans girl— Mizuki.

The game makes it so obvious what’s going on. You shouldn’t need to have your hand held to understand what’s going on. If you know literally anything about Mizuki’s character, and if you know how to read, her transness is so clear. It’s right there in bright neon fucking pink.

Media literacy is dead I swear to god

[bluelizze]

Me after reading Mizu5 Ch. 7 & 8:

I have so much to say for this event, especially as a fellow trans person myself (I’m specifically agender but it’s under the nonbinary umbrella which is under the trans umbrella)

SPOILERS FOR MIZU5 EVENT

Tw/// one mention about unaliving

So first off, the first time I saw the leaks for Mizu5 event (October 11, 2024) I was scared like “oh no did ena not accept them?”

But then I saw a post about how it’s more likely that Mizuki’s asshole of a classmate might of told Ena their secret

Now, the WORST feeling for anybody, not just LGBTQ+ people to fell, is to work up the courage to tell someone you trust, your secret, a secret that THEY KNOW is very important, only to get outted by someone else

The fear I felt when reading the event and the way my heart clutched was worst than I thought it would it when I finally got to Chapter 7.

The expression, the way Mizuki’s face gone pale. That I can feel. And omg Hinata-san did such an amazing job on the voice acting (she even said something about crying after recording those lines). I felt the fear and tension.

And omg the card. Is so beautiful but it so painful to look at

The way their eyes are covered, and the mirror being broken. They can’t bare to look at themselves.

The way the clothes are torn as if they have been ripped off. I saw a comment where it felt like Mizuki’s mask has been ripped off (not by her own choice) which can explain how their clothes here are ripped off and i can see how it makes perfect sense. They were ripped off, exposed by their classmates. They were ripped off the opportunity, the courage to tell Ena their secret in their own terms

The red I felt like… can resemble blood. Kinda like ripping off a bandaid kind of feeling. Idk why. Maybe it just kinda feels like they’re bleeding from the emotional wounds.

The way my heart clutched seeing this and also how it sent chilled down my spine. I can’t even begin to explain how I felt about this.

Now, I think people will think they will unalive themselves (which is a possibility bc they said at the end “I want to disappear”), but the wording here is “temporarily stop appearing in the ‘real world’”. Meaning: mizuki will probably hang around SEKAI instead of being in the real world. What’s even sadder is that I saw a tweet where it said that Mizuki here is basically going back to their middle school self. Which HURTS

Anyways, that’s my thoughts on the recent Mizu5. As a trans person, I never felt more fear for Mizuki and I truly hope they can be happy again someday…

[redacted4life]

"We, With Wounded Hand." Card Analysis

All the card have this butterfly motif on them. Butterflies are associated with transformation, now it's obvious that Mizuki represent the butterfly because in Mizu5 the butterfly is flying away and in Ena5 the butterfly is flying back but the motif of transformation could also refer to their relationship, it's transforming from how it was from the beginning, how it was when the secret came out and how it is when they communicate to each about the secret.

The flower I think are suppose to be cherry blossoms, they represent life and death, beauty and violence. This meanings are very contracting to each other just like the contradiction to the themes expressed of the two event's cards. In mizu5, Mizuki had what one could call a panic attack, they felt it was a life ending experience, that it would be the death of their friendship to Niigo, that it would damage it beyond repair. In ena5 the flowers are blooming all around, it's beautiful, almost to express how Mizuki is beautiful even when they bloom, things can die but they can also be reborn into something new, death could mean so much and it doesn't alway have to be a bad thing, there is sometimes beauty in it like how their is beauty in in Mizuki's truth, Niigo's relationship has died in the sense that it's no longer the same as it was before but also been given a new life to it, it has changed and their's beauty in that.

In mizu5, Mizuki hides their eyes so they can be blind to the pain. In ena5, Mizuki still closes her eye but she's not wearing a blindfold but they're still closing her eyes, they're not trying to ignore the pain that they felt in the other card but they're still closes their eye because the pain they felt when their secret was announced before they were ready to say it can't be erased, the past can never be erased, the eyes close can serve as a relic to Mizu5.

Ena is reaching out to a flower because Mizuki see themself as the flower, ena's face in mizu5 card could be seen as sadness but also disgust, maybe Mizuki think that ena is disgust by their secret, maybe in Mizuki's point of view Ena is reaching out because that was the last thing Mizuki saw before leaving. However, in ena5 she reaching out to Mizuki because she see Mizuki for who they are, something that Mizuki should not be ashamed of, she reaching out to comfort her friend. The difference in both the hand reaching is that Mizu5 hand is hesitant while Ena5 there's not even a hint of hesitant showing character growth.

When I first saw Kanade card it reminded me of her colorfes card with the white flowers and looking away from a distance but I also noticed the opposing colour scheme with purple being the opposite of yellow, not sure if there's anything there. Also Kanade and Mafuyu as the 3 star of Mizu5 and Ena5 are both watching from a distance in their cards, the 3 star are kinda like a mirror of each other as Mafuyu looks to the right and Kanade looks to the left but even their outfits fit them, Mafuyu clothes are covering most of her skin, almost expressing her close off nature while Kanade show the skin on her arm and legs showing her nature of wanting to her music to reach others. Kanade card is more vibrant in it's colour while Mafuyu is more saturated, I love how polarising the cards are to each other like how the two event are different themes to the same story.

Both vocaloid have the main motif of the cards near their ear, Meiko is also looking at the the flower while Kaito is looking away from the flower showing the contrast in how they choose to deal with Mizuki's situation, Kaito look more cold in his approach while Meiko looks more gentle in her approach, like a perfect mirror to Mizuki and Mafuyu character's vs Kanade and Ena character's within the cards. Mafuyu and Mizuki were quick to close themselves off from their problems while Kanade and Ena were quick lend a hand and defend the other. Vocaloid are meant to represent the unit's characters even if in Niigo case, Mafuyu was the one who made the Sekai it still serve as a great representation of the two roles. I also think Meiko and Kaito were the perfect fit for choosen vocaloid, they are counterpart, similair to rin and len, and their hair fit the colour scheme with Mizu5 being mostly of a cooler colour scheme while Ena5 being mostly of a warmer colour scheme.

[hovkinnie]

mizuena/ena5 incoherent rant below bc i love them so much im losing my mind

I can't stop thinking about how much of mizuki's conflict in prsk is resolved entirely by ena's actions, not mizuki's own, and that's actually really fucking good. hear me out.

One of the driving emotions for Mizuki's conflict is obviously fear; she's afraid of being left once people know her secret, she's afraid she can only ever have shallow connections with people who wouldn't really accept her as who she is, she's afraid of losing the few friends she has and the one space where she feels like she can express herself through their shared art.

But beyond that, the other driving emotion for her is guilt. She feels guilty that she's been "deceiving" everyone else, she feels guilty that she's left Ena waiting for so long without telling her her secret, she feels guilty that everyone else seems to be moving forward and facing their fears while she seemingly can't. And when her secret is revealed, the strongest emotion she's going through isn't her fear of being left behind, it's the guilt that's been eating her away from the inside.

She tells ena that it can't be the same, that now ena won't be able to treat her the same, that she knows Ena and Kanade and Mafuyu are so kind they'll smile and tell her they're fine with it, but that they'll just be forcing themselves for the sake of kindness. That they'd rather not have to deal with everything that makes Mizuki complicated, but they would anyway because they're kind like that. That she can't bear that. She doesn't deserve that.

And all of this guilt is so real for this young trans girl to feel because it's what we're pushed towards constantly, even when we're supposedly accepted for who we are. The lie that we're deceiving others when we present as our own gender is so deeply written into our collective psyche, and even beyond that, even in "progressive" spaces, the violence we suffer is often treated as our own burden to bear, as something we have to deal with and not burden other people with.

So many basic bitch stories about trans women, with trans women protags written by cis people, have them struggle and "grow" as the story progresses, having to "face their fears", to come out to people they're scared of leaving them, to "trust their loved ones" and take that first step. I think a lot about The Missing, a game that gets a lot of the horror of being a trans girl and yet still has the protagonist, who is so terrified of how her mom would react to her coming out she tries to end her own life, learn the lesson that she should come out anyway, trust this person that's only given her reasons to fear her, because that's the only way for her to move forward.

Mizuki doesn't do that. She doesn't have to. Mizu5 is all about the horror of being outed before you're ready to come out yourself, even to someone you know would show you kindness. And it allows Mizuki to stew in her own guilt, the guilt that she never faced her fears herself, that she's burdening N25 with her suffering. But Ena5 is about Ena, so patient and unwilling to hurt Mizuki, finally being moved to action by kaito and meiko agreeing that it's up to her to be selfish and try to bring Mizuki back, to recognize that Mizuki doesn't want to be alone.

It's up to Ena to do the scary thing, for her to be open and vulnerable about her feelings. For her to go up to Mizuki, despite being ignored for so long, as someone who is so sensitive to being ignored- to being rejected- and to tell Mizuki what she needs- and deserves- to hear. That she's wanted. That Ena doesn't care if Mizuki thinks she deserves it or not, that Mizuki's guilt shouldn't factor in because Ena wants Mizuki beside her.

It's the ultimate transfem fantasy because it's the fantasy of being truly wanted, of being unconditionally loved. It's the fantasy of someone seeing you for who you are, and not just "accepting you" as if it's a favor they're doing you, but going as far as telling you that the way you've been conditioned by a lifetime of violence to feel and act to protect yourself is NOT your fault, it's NOT just your responsibility to deal with, that you deserve someone who will go through the effort of digging you out of that hole and that you're not a burden for needing that.

In a lot of subtle ways, Mizuki's story feels 1000% written by people who understand trans girls so far beyond the scope of the usual explaining-transness-to-cis-people style of narrative, even understanding ways that these narratives fuck up routinely and also understanding exactly what is needed to sneak this into a highly commercial hatsune miku gacha game. There's a lot of compromises made there for the sake of being this kind of story in this kind of game, but what we get in return is so much more meaningful as a transfem narrative than anything of similar popularity that I can think of, it fills me with so much emotion and I truly can't fathom believing it's somehow "bait" or "not real rep" unless you've never had to think about transmisogyny and how it emotionally affects you to this degree.

I'll never stop thinking about them. Congrats on the wedding mizuki and ena. someone like ena is exactly what every trans girl deserves, and never has someone proven herself more deserving of a trans girl's love than ena. i love them both so much my heart feels like it's going to explode whenever i think of them. huge thanks to everyone involved in creating their story

[girltoya]

I think people are overestimating the impact Mizu5 will have on the rest of the cast’s events. The only explanation I can think of for this is that Mizu5 is the first event a lot of the fandom has read and it is very telling…

Events don’t intertwine like how a lot of people are talking about them. No, Akito5 won’t be about Mizuki. In fact, I am almost confident she won’t even be mentioned at all. Don’t forget that Akito5 is an arc starter, this event will solely focus on the next steps for VBS after having surpassed RAD WEEKEND.

Plus, Mizuki not showing up to school isn’t new. An, Akito, and Toya will not be worrying themselves sick, if anything they’ll be thinking Damn she’ll need to do supplementary classes again… Events are not as linked as linked as some people are making them out to be.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that people are starting to read the stories, it’s great that this event caused so much of an impact that people want to talk about it and theorise what will happen next, but maybe this could also be a catalyst for people to read other events too.

You don’t have to force yourself to read events for groups you might not be as interested in, but choosing a group and reading everything they have to offer is just as good. It’ll give you a lot more to talk about regarding the game too (and perhaps it’ll stop pointless story discourse on top of that, but we can only hope).