dentist214-blog

[project-sekai-facts]

Only one date is ever mentioned in-game, that being 2021. Considering that the Virtual Singer Fan Festa seems to be a stand-in for Magical Mirai 2021, we can assume that the Scramble Fan FESTA! event takes place in September 2021 (the real-life MM2021 was delayed to November due to covid-19, but the pandemic doesn't exist in-universe and MM Tokyo usually takes place at the beginning of September). There are Leo/need Daily Life social media posts that show them attending Magical Mirai, and do state the year of the event, but these can be considered promotional material for the event itself rather than canon material, especially since the characters address in-game that only one year has passed since the start of the story (despite the fact they have celebrated new year's day 4 times now. Timeloop things).

Based on this date, we can actually place exactly when every main character was born. The cutoff date for Japanese schools is April 1st, making Ena the oldest main character, being a 3rd year with a birthday of April 30th, followed by Tsukasa on May 17th, so on so forth all the way down to Kohane, a 2nd year with a birthday of March 2nd.

Considering when Scramble Fan FESTA is set, Ena, who was a 2nd year at the time, would be 17 years old. That would place her date of birth as April 30th, 2004. Additionally, while Kohane, a first year at the time, should be 15 during the event, the game considers her to be 16 due to using a set age for every grade bracket. Regardless, the event setting places her date of birth as March 2nd, 2006.

Based on this, we can conclude that:

Ena, Tsukasa, Rui, and Shizuku were born in 2004

Mafuyu, Kanade, Airi, Minori, Saki, Toya, Nene, An, Ichika, Mizuki, Emu, Haruka, Honami, and Akito were born in 2005

Shiho and Kohane were born in 2006

This also means that Ena, Tsukasa and Rui are all older than the MEIKO software (released November 5th 2004), and everyone except Kohane is older than the KAITO software (released February 17th 2006). Every main character is older than Miku, the Kagamines, and Luka based on this information.

Using the information around set ages*, we can also work out rough estimates for when the side characters were born. For example, Arata, who was 19 during the first 3 years of the game, is 3 years older than the members of VBS who were all considered to be 16. Since the members of VBS were born in the April 2005 - April 2006 school year range, Arata was likely born in the 2002-2003 school year range.

* based on how characters like Youta and Miu, who are said to be the same age as Leo/need, were both confirmed to be 16 years old before the 3rd anniversary age-up. Also Haruka's age is confirmed as 16 at a point in time when she shouldn't be 16. Timeloop things.

Based on this, the oldest living side character, Kounosuke, who was 55 pre-3rd anniversary and 39 years older than Emu, was probably born between April 1966 and April 1st 1967. On the younger side of things, Hanano, who was 14 pre-3rd anni, was likely born between April of 2007 and 2008. I've put the rest of the estimated side character DOBs under the cut.

assumed age as of 3rd anniversary in brackets (literally just pre-age-up age + 1)

Rakunosuke Otori - April 2nd 1922 ~ April 1st 1923 (98 (at time of death. would be 100 if still alive))

Kounosuke Otori - April 2nd 1966 ~ April 1st 1967 (56)

Jean Riley - 1967~1968 (55)

Harumichi Aoyagi - 1968~1969 (54)

Shin'ei Shinonome - 1973~1974 (49)

Mr Yoisaki - 1975~1976 (47)

Ken Shiraishi - 1978~1979 (44)

Taiga Kotaki - 1978~1979 (44)

Mrs Asahina - 1980~1981 (42)

Yoshiki Shindou - 1982~1983 (40)

Yuuka Kazamatsuri - 1990~1991 (32)

Keisuke Otori - 1991~1992 (31)

Shousuke Otori - 1994~1995 (28)

Daigo Kijima - 1994~1995 (28)

Tatsuya Okazaki - 1999~2000 (23)

Yuuki Akiyama - 1999~2000 (23)

Ayaka Saito - 2001~2002 (21)

Hinata Otori - 2001~2002 (21)

Iori - 2002~2003 (20)

Mio - 2002~2003 (20)

Arata Tono - 2002~2003 (20)

Souma Miyata - 2002~2003 (20)

Asahi Genbu - 2003~2004 (19)

Kotaro Mita - 2004~2005 (18)

Sakurako Seiryuin - 2004~2005 (18)

Nanami "Nanamin" Hayakawa - 2004~2005 (18)

Futaba Natsuno - 2004~2005 (18)

Arisa Higure - 2004~2005 (18)

Ayumi Tabata - 2004~2005 (18)

Hibiki Miyake - 2004~2005 (18)

Shuuta Hayashi - 2004~2005 (18)

Ibuki Taniyama - 2004~2005 (18)

Yuina Uchiyama - 2005~2006 (17)

Shouta Hayashi - 2005~2006 (17)

Miu Takagi - 2005~2006 (17)

Youta Yoshizaki - 2005~2006 (17)

Riho Hasegawa - 2005~2006 (17)

Saku Kousaka - 2005~2006 (17)

Mai - 2006~2007 (16)

Hanano Yoshizaki - 2007~2008 (15)

Additional notes (mod is rambling atp):

Rakunosuke died when he was 98 years old. In the WxS main story, Emu says that he died a year ago. Assuming Emu was 15 at the time, they have an age gap of around 83 years. The year of birth listed here was based on that assumption.

We know that Kanade's mother died aged 30, but we do not know when she died. She is still alive in flashbacks set roughly 10 years prior to the events of game.

In the third fanbook, ages were given for Mrs Asahina, Shindou, Yuuki, Asahi, and Arisa as one year less than they are given in this post. The reason for me adding a year on is because of the confirmation in a livestream of Daigo's age being 27. Daigo is meant to be the same age as Shousuke, whose age was given as 27 prior to the 3rd anniversary. When his age was provided on stream, he was grouped with the 5 I mentioned earlier. Based on this we can assume that all their ages are taken from the same time frame, i.e, pre-3rd anni (and this also confirms that NPCs inexplicably don't age but we'll ignore that for continuity reasons).

We do not have confirmed ages for Nagi, Reki, Sakaki, Ohara, MMJ's landlady, Mafuyu's father, Hiiragi, or the members of ReLight yet

Rui suggests that Reki is the same age as him in A Story Where You Are The Star while talking about both him and Asahi in the same sentence. Asahi was since confirmed as 18/19, so it is likely that Reki is also around that age.

Nagi's age is left blank in the fanbook due to it not being revealed that she was dead at the time of publication. She is younger than Taiga, but we don't know by how much, but nonetheless she was likely born in the early 1980s. It is unlikely we will ever know her exact age.

Ohara is stated to be in his mid-30s, placing his birth year as somewhere in the 1980s, likely around 1986-1989. Sakaki is an old college friend of Ohara's, so he is likely a similar age.

No NPCs are given exact birthdays

[mashleverse]

"Mashle: Magic and Muscles -THE STAGE- 2.5" New Key Visual

The final key visual that revealed all the main cast members has been unveiled! The rest of the cast has also been announced.

Margarette Macaron: spi (ZIPANG OPERA)

Domina Blowelive: Shogo Tamura

Innocent Zero: Haruki Kiyama

Wahlberg Baigan: Koujirou Oka (returning from the prequel)

Cell War: YUKI

Regro Burnedead: Uchikuri Uchikura (returning from the prequel)

Brad Coleman: Sawada Takurou (returning from the prequel)

Mash's muscles:

Kevin: INFINITY TWIGGZ (FULLCAST RAISERZ) (returning from the prequel

Mike: E-FLOW (FULLCAST RAISERZ)

Tom: Aegis (FULLCAST RAISERZ A.R.M.Y)

Kim: MADD TWIGGZ (FULLCAST RAISERZ A.R.M.Y)

Yamada: YOUTA (FULLCAST RAISERZ A.R.M.Y) (returning from the prequel)

In addition, there will be a special backstage talk event after each performance (except for August 2's performance) titled "Regro's House"!

Ticket sales will begin at the end of May, check out the source link for more information! Don't miss the unique experience of Mashle series in musical stage performances!

[dailyprosekaipolls]

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[sekaicards]

12 for the ask game :3

12. Favorite NPC (can specify unit)

okay so admittedly. i am still nowhere near caught up with the event stories. however!!!! always. of course. have to shout out youta and hanano. me when siblingsng............

follow ups go to all of the otori siblings, mai, yuuki, saito and mafuyu's mom. not cause i like her specfically but. she is really well written and i find that engaging

[detectiveichijouji]

Final Case - The Young Prince Detective’s Gambit

[AO3 version]

The enemy who once was a beloved friend of Ichijouji Ken and Akiyama Ryo was Nokita Yuu’s true identity, Hikawa Yuuichi. After hearing Yuuichi’s side of the story and be forced to face Daisuke, who was turned into an unstable Wolfmon, Noel, as Arsenemon, appeared and prevented Wolfmon from hurting Ken. The elusive gallant phantom thief then revealed that Yuuichi’s facts were twisted, and then gave his own witness of the events. Then… something made Wolfmon attack Yuuichi’s body, out of the blue and confusing Ken’s head -- Since Daisuke himself wouldn’t be able to kill a human. Turns out that It wasn’t exactly Daisuke who did that move, and yes the good part inside Yuuichi, which possessed Daisuke’s body. With the damage of Wolfmon’s holy light blade, Yuuchi’s body was damaged, but the corrupted vessel plotted something against them all. Once Miyako and Iori were rescued and healed, thanks to their jogress partners and Soleil & Lune’s help, the group reunited at the rooftop. And witnessed the vessel summon a dormant YukiAgumon in front of them, only to fuse the last two fake shards with the digimon and evolve it into Chaosdramon.

What should we do now…??

“Ken, please… destroy my body quickly, before it uses the portion of that digimon’s power on Chaosdramon.”

“Wait, what do you mean, Daisuke-kun?” Hikari asked, frowning.

“He’s not mon ami Motomiya for a while,” Arsenemon said.

“The good part of Hikawa-kun is within Daisuke right now,” Ken told the others.

“With the remaining three shards it might be a little bit more powerful than the usual, but… I beg you, Ken, everyone… End me now, I’m not even human anymore… And I do not belong here either…”

“...”

“That’s creepy to hear coming from Daisuke’s mouth,” Miyako commented.

“... Are ya sure of that, Yuuichi?” Daisuke was pitying him, “There could be… another way--”

“There’s no other solution,” Hikawa sighed, “I’m not human anymore, I’m just… ‘something’ who once was a human.”

“Man…”

“Just… Promise you all will… Take care of Ken for me.”

“Hey, Ken’s tough. He had witnessed a ton of bad things and he knows we will always be on his side. No need to promise you that, dude. He got our backs, and we got his.”

“Oh might be sooooo easy peasy to beat that critter with a hole in the body” Crescemon smugged, “After all, We’re like, six digimon against one.”

“Didn’t you forget someone…?” the vessel said. And thus, Matadrmon appeared in front of it.

“Ah nice, the annoying vampire…” Daisuke complained with a displeased expression on his face, but outside his body was only glaring at the new opponent.

“Hehe, oopsie…?” Crescemon chuckled nervously…

Youta cracked his fist, “I have a score to settle with that digimon, guys. So stay away from them, they’re mine .”

“Let’s leave Matadrmon to Youta and me ,” Mizuki said, stepping forward, “You guys take care of my nonexistent brother and Chaosdramon.

“M-Mizuki…?” the boy blinked.

“That digimon caused us trouble before and is going to cause even more right now.”

“Alright,” Miyako said, looking at the others, “Everyone ready?”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Do the honors, Miyako” Daisuke chuckled, “I know you’re itching to say that line again.”

Despite not being able to hear Daisuke, Miyako grabbed her digivice and pointed it to the sky:

“Chosen Children… Let’s roll!!”

Ken was still not sure about what to do about Hikawa. Everything said to him right now was too much for his heart and mind. But Daisuke was right about him though.

“Hey, maybe there’s a reason for that! Like, maybe he’s brainwashed or somethin’?? Evil clone? Maybe he’s not gone mad!”

[...]

“Can you really kill a human being, Ken??”

As always… Daisuke’s heart was in the right place. He might not be a talented genius strategist who could come up with a very logical resolve for a battle or a dilemma…

… But Daisuke understands people and their hearts pretty well. His emotional intelligence is over the charts of this group.

“... There might be another way to solve this,” Ken muttered. The digimon (except for Arsenemon) had started their respective fights while the kids watched them. But Ken was just looking at the vessel still struggling with the critical hit caused by Wolfmon’s holy light attribute.

“What do you mean?” Daisuke (Hikawa, actually) asked him, “No, you have to listen to me, Ken! There’s no other option, you have to--”

“Daisuke is right about it, I can’t do that. If I were the Digimon Kaiser, if I still were a cruel cold hearted arrogant brat… But…”

“You never had the guts to do it, right?” Arsenemon completed it.

“... Daisuke knows me well enough. Even if back in time… When we were enemies… If I knew that humans can die for real in the Digital World… I wouldn’t have tried to hurt them at all.”

“You were shocked when you hit me in the face with your whip,” Takeru commented, “So, guess this tracks.”

“... Sigh, yes.”

“Yeah, there might be another way to save you too,” Daisuke said, “I mean… Maybe something… Like, Uhh… Purifying you? Like in some TV shows--”

“I don’t think it’s possible,” Hikawa shook his head, “Having false hopes might make it worse for Ken. I… I already hurt him enough, so I don’t--”

"Ken doesn't want to save you just because you're an old friend, he wants you to have a chance to fix your mistakes and start over, just like he did".

“A… second chance?”

"Yes, you screwed up badly, and I would understand if none of us forgave you. But everyone who shows they're willing to do better and do the right thing deserves a chance to start over.”

“Why… Are you saying that to me?”

“Because… You might be the reason I got to meet Ken in the first place? It’s not Ken who created this new reality. It was you who did it, Yuuichi. And I can’t think about a world where I’m not friends with Ken, or with Miyako, Iori, Takeru, Hikari-chan, Noel, the others… Everyone.”

“...!!”

“And because you’re using my body right now, so please don’t do anything reckless I can’t get another scar for some… Stupid decision.”

Hikawa laughed lightly, and it made Daisuke protest, “Hey, I’m not kidding! This ain’t a joke, dude!”

“I guess I know why Ken liked you, and I’m glad you’re his friend.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Paildramon asked them.

“...” Ken started to analyze the environment, the enemies and their allies. It would be better if they just kept Imperialdramon’s power as backup, but they now have Valkyrimon and Dominimon in their deck.

Valkyrimon has the power of resurrecting fallen allies. Meanwhile Dominimon has the power of healing them. If they have to kill Hikawa Yuuichi’s body -- which is now just operating the vessel for a part of MIlliummon power…

But doing so, would make Hikawa’s good part to cease existing and leave Daisuke’s body…

He's not sure if this could work... But how long can his connection to Daisuke last?

“You got a plan, right Ken-kun?” Miyako asked.

“It’s risky. But we have to try it.”

“Whatever you're thinking of doing, I believe you,” Daisuke said with a smile, but now it didn’t seem to be clear if it was either Daisuke or Hikawa.

“... Arsenemon, can you do a favor for me?” Ken turned to the magician phantom thief.

“Hmm?”

The fighting style Flaremon and Crescemon had was nothing like the 02 group at all: They would just unleash their most powerful attacks and leave no room for counterattacks.

Though they tended to ram, intending to destroy the target, they were also perfectly synchronized. The graceful dance moves of Crescemon covered up the more brutal and insane rampage of Flaremon.  

It becomes hard to target one or another when they’re constantly moving. Matadrmon had to keep defending themself from the mad flurry of punches thrown by Flaremon but had no time to dodge all the ice arrows shot by Crescemon.

It was a tragic disadvantage. Maybe if they could make the sun-moon duo hit each other…?

But while they looked like hostile beasts just attacking nonstop, they didn’t seem to be careless. Which was odd for this fighting style.

Matarmon could target Flaremon for being the one in a melee combat with them right now, but Crescemon’s shield was protecting him. There might be an exact moment Matadrmon could exploit and hit one of them.

“It doesn’t matter.” Matadrmon whispered, and then tried their best attempt at taking both down at once -- “Thousand Arrow.”

Then, the enemy fired countless rapiers under their sleeves. Soleil smirked, watching that desperate move, until Lune had a deja-vu.

“They’re NOT aiming at our digimon, they’re…!!”

Yes. Matadrmon knew the only time a digimon partner would let their guard down is the moment their human partner is in danger.

Crescemon and Flaremon backed up to protect the human duo, and with this they got hit by that such reckless move. They would use their own bodies (and Crescemon’s shield) to protect their partners.

The difference between Soleil and Lune and the 02 kids (plus their seniors) is that they don’t seem to care about protecting themselves in a battle. This is why Daisuke and co. snapped at their antics and approach regarding Kayono’s partner. Or even, the possible reason why Ryouma’s Psychemon partner got brutally hurt to the point it returned to DigiEgg state since then.

Tactless.

“Crescemon!!” / “Flaremon!!” They called their partners the moment the digimon shouted in pain.

“You’re still reckless brats. Just like your siblings.”

It was implied that Matadrmon was their enemy. The enemy that had been haunting them since their first digimon adventure with their own group. An unknown enemy who knew about them. But neither Soleil nor Lune knew about them.

Because he came from that old forgotten timeline.

“G-get up, please!” Soleil said to their partners, “We can’t let that monster beat us!!”

“An omen…” Lune whispered, “Is it… because of siblings that we… We’re like this?”

“Get yourself together, Mizuki!!” Soleil snapped, “They’re messing with us like they messed with everyone else before!!”

“... I just realized I had a brother once, and he… committed a mistake. And he was connected to your sister, and Ichijouji-kun. And to whoever this Akiyama Ryo is. We’re fated to fail.”

“It doesn’t matter if this is fate or not! We should go against the odds! We can… We can win, right?!”

“Youta, Matadrmon will keep using this dirty trick because we lack strategy! All of our victories were because we had Noel on our side!”

“...”

“We’re not like the heroes everyone loves and cherishes. We’re the bratty rogue kids everyone wants to disappear.”

“DON’T GIVE UP!!” they heard someone’s voice coming from behind them.

Soleil and Lune looked back, and saw Daisuke-or-Hikawa just screaming at them. But judging from the speech pattern, it wasn’t Hikawa at all.

“Motomiya(-kun)?” the duo said together.

“You have to work together with your digimon, and trust each other!” Daisuke just stood behind them, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a hero or not! Just do what is right, not what you think is right!!”

He put himself at risk just to say that to them, while the entire group was facing Chaosdramon and the evil vessel. He, who was angry at their behavior before… Was just encouraging them now.

“Fight together with our digimon…?” Lune repeated, and looked at Crescemon.

“And trust each other…?” Soleil did the same as well, but glancing at Flaremon.

They then looked at each other and nodded.

“We’re not heroes, but we’re still on the good side” Youta grabbed his digivice, “Can you stand up, Flaremon?”

“Aye, sir.”

“We’re the ones who will make our own destiny now. Go against the odds, Right?” Mizuki took her digivice as well, “We can beat this creep, Crescemon!”

“YEAH!”

Then… a Miracle happened: The digivices just showed the two symbols on their respective screens. A Scale on Youta’s, and a Moon’s reflection on a water surface.

Two lights covered Flaremon and Crescemon.

Flaremon ultimate evolve to… Iustimon ! Crescemon ultimate evolve to… Dianamon !

“... What is this,” Matadrmon wasn’t impressed but didn’t feel they should  underestimate those two anymore.

Iustimon was in the form of a two-legged Firamon, wearing armor and wielding a sword in one hand. In the other, he held a mysterious symbol of a scale.

Meanwhile Dianamon was wearing a moonstone colored like armor, wielding a twin scythe-like weapon in her hands.

“This won’t be enough to beat me.”

“Don’t judge your enemies like that, you weirdo!” Dianamon shouted, and dashed against them trying to hit Matadrmon with her blades.

“You still lack intelligence.”

“... No, you do.”

Iustimon seemed to be only on standby, but he was using the scale to measure both sides’ power and abilities.

“Hm?”

“Fair Judgement.” Iustimon said, and then when the scales synced…

“...??” Matadrmon was unable to use their special technique, Thousand Arrows , anymore.

“Whoa, you balanced the game!!” Daisuke exclaimed in awe. That digimon was so cool…!?

“Heheheh…” Soleil chuckled.

“... I’m still able to fight.” the enemy warned the duo.

“We won’t let you beat us this time!” Lune shouted.

The only payoff for turning Matadrmon unable to use that technique is that Dianamon was unable to use her strongest special ability, Crescent Harken , which could finish that fight immediately.

But that didn't change the serious look on Dianamon and Lune's faces.

“You’re done for,” Dianamon said with a terrifying tone.

“Face your judgement,” Iustimon added.

“Never…” Matadrmon replied, and then kept defending themself from Dianamon’s twin blades. The enemy knew if they wanted to beat those two at once they needed to take down Iustimon first. So Matadrmon tried to move faster than Dianamon and exploit any opening in her attack patterns, and then directly attack Iustimon.

And when they finally thought they had found a way to get out from under Dianamon's attacking pattern…

“Divine Slash.”

Iustimon would simply slash them in half very quickly.

“?!?! H-how…?!”

Matadrmon fell on their knees.

“Because you underestimated us,”  Iustimon said calmly. His noble composure was so cool in Daisuke’s opinion. Dang it, Youta your digimon is so cool?!

“This was for what you did to Kayono and Ryouma too,” Daisuke noticed Soleil fists clenching as the boy said that.

“...” Matadrmon reverted into a DigiEgg form, in front of their eyes.

“You killed him…?” Daisuke asked, out of curiosity.

“No, he has been purified,” Iustimon explained.

“Aren’t you busy with that thing??” Lune then gestured to Chaosdramon fighting the other three digimon, with an angry face;

“Oh…”

“Don’t ‘Oh’ at us!!” Dianamon snapped, stomping her foot on the floor and clenching her hands.

“You can beat me…!”  

“I beat you before, remember?” Ken smirked, “I can do it again.”

“I’d love to watch you try and fail this time.”

“We won’t fail and we won’t let you take Hikawa-kun away this time…!”

Imperialdramon was wrestling with Chaosdramon as they talked, Dominimon was protecting the kids, and Valkyrimon… 

… Was on standby?

“How do you plan to beat me without the Digimental of Desire now?” the vessel scoffed, “I’m an anomaly with part of Millenniummon’s powers. You should’ve heard your ex-friend and killed me.”

“We will save Hikawa Yuuichi-kun this time, and I’m sure about it!”

“I asked you a question,”

“I’m not fond of explaining my plans. Sorry, you will have to figure it out.”

The vessel kept being cocky, watching the good guys not doing well… They didn’t attack at any instance…Then, they watched Chaosdramon easily beat Imperialdramon. Dominimon came immediately to heal the Imperialdramon but…

“I think it ends here…”

… Chaosdramon threw missiles against Dominimon, who used their shields to protect themself and the human kids.

“Do you think we can win??” Takeru asked Ken, concerned. At this point everyone was…

“Don’t lose your hopes!” Daisuke came back, and stood in front of Imperialdramon, “You can do it, Imperialdramon!! Everyone!!”

“Valkyrimon, do something!!” Miyako ordered. But the digimon was still on standby.

“Pathetic.”

The vessel was sure he was winning. He laughed loudly , creeping Hikari out.

“Is this your plan? Chaosdramon, end them all already!!”

Chaosdramon was ready to do something when… It stopped moving?!

“..?! What??”

Ken smirk did not leave his face. What did he do?!

“I think you forgot you weren’t only fighting only us ”

Ah yes... they had taken full use of Arsenemon's abilities. What actually happened was that Imperialdramon, Dominimon and Valkyrimon were holding back, in order to distract the vessel and Chaosdramon so Arsenemon could execute his special furtive ability -- Malchanceux -- to steal the shards and then weaken Chaosdramon.

Once the phantom thief was back to the side of the kids, he gave the signal to Valkyrimon, who moved at the speed of the light and attacked Chaosdramon, making it actually step back from Imperialdramon for a moment.

“How…??”

It was when Imperialdramon used their positron cannon on their arm to hit Chaosdramon, who was his guard down.

“Some people here are good at acting,” Ken said with a smug smile while the others chuckled or smiled just like him, “Besides, I’ve lost countless times to my friends that… I’m good at ‘losing’ too.”

“It was… a façade?”

“It’s called ‘gambling’, monsieur imposteur ~ ” Arsenemon answered, with a sensible chuckle, “But I guess this was more likely a gambit, non? ”

“Y-you…!!” ire consumed the vessel, pretty much he LOATHED that stupid phantom thief and that cocky Ichijouji so much.

 “We’re NOT over yet!!” Takeru screamed.

“Transcendent Positron Laser!!”

Imperialdramon firmly planted their feet on the ground and charged a very powerful version of their Positron Laser.

“Zero Heavens!!”

Seconded by Dominimon firing their ultra-high-temperature lasers from their shields on their shoulders in Chaosdramon’s direction.

“Laser Javelin!!”

And then finished by Valkyrimon summoning their javelin and shooting a laser from its tip.

The three attacks combined managed to beat Chaosdramon immediately. The opponent digimon reverted back into a DigiEgg in the end of the explosion caused by the chain combo-attack.

“No…!!” The vessel shouted but before it could do something, it felt something piercing its body even further…!!

When it looked back, Iustimon and Dianamon had used their sword and an arrow of ice on the same place Daisuke-and-Yuuichi had stabbed it previously.

“...!!!”

 At the same time, Arsenemon destroyed the remaining three shards (yes, Daisuke still had one) which cut the connection between Hikawa Yuuichi and Daisuke. Takeru quickly held Daisuke in his arms, who fainted immediately due to exhaustion.

“W-what…”

“You messed things up for everyone” Soleil and Lune said together, “We won’t allow you to hurt anyone else, not even Noel or Ichijouji(-kun)!!”

The vessel fell on its knees. And then… Valkyrimon came and used their special ability.

“Fenrir Sword.”

They pierced the vessel with their cursed, absolute zero sword to the vital points of the enemy, and then… Killing Hikawa’s body.

Combined with Iustimon’s Divine Slash , which extinguished the evil power of Millenniummon’s shard from Hikawa Yuuichi’s body… There was nothing left there. Except…

Valkyrimon used their special ability to resurrect the fallen, and it brought it back little by little.

Except… 

“... Huh… What happened…? Who are you people…? What are those monsters…?”

… Hikawa Yuuichi ceased to exist. The human in front of them had lost memories, he didn’t even know the digimon.

“... I will never be able to know… What does it feel like to have a sibling…”

Arsenemon could notice Lune and Ken were a little anguished by that closure, “... I’m sorry, he couldn’t exist as his original self. This is what would happen in the end…”

“He might not be the same person we briefly met,” Takeru said with a serious tone, “But if Daisuke-kun were awake he would’ve said something like… ‘It gives him a chance to restart anew’, right?”

“Yeah, he would say that,” Ken turned to Takeru and smiled.

“I knew mon ami Motomiya would be important for the closure of this case,” Arsenemon said, “I think… He’s the kind of person able to change people’s hearts for good.”

“Yeah, I’m aware of that,” Ken laughed lightly and gave a soft gaze at Daisuke, still in Takeru’s arms.

And then… The fake shards’ case was finally solved.

.

.

Noel Leblanc and the other two, Hino Youta and Hikawa Mizuki, offered to help the boy who once was known as Hikawa Yuuichi to readapt to daily life. Since Hikawa Yuuichi didn’t exist in this reality in the first place, he had to keep the identity of Nokita Yuu instead.

I didn’t hear about them for a while… But I hope they all are okay.

As for us…

“Ya know, being a detective was fun and all BUT! I have a life goal to achieve!!”

… Daisuke went back to his ‘ramen business’ plan.

“Huh, but you clearly were having fun with it,” Patamon blinked.

“I don’t think I can do it for life… I did not catch Arsenemon! Arsenemon who caught me!”

“You mean…” Hikari wasn’t sure if she got what Daisuke had said.

“Like, we became friends. Have you ever seen a detective being friends with the phantom thief?!”

“Hmm…”

Better not tell him that there have been cases in the Phantom Thief genre, according to Takeru-kun and Iori-kun.

“So… We won’t be using that website BBS anymore?” Wormmon asked the others.

“There might be something we can do with it…” Miyako mused, “A-after all Izumi-senpai allowed me to use his own server to host it…”

“Koushiro is always involved with our activities, dagya” Armadimon shrugged.

“Would’ve we survived without him though?” Iori said, looking at his digimon partner, “Most of the apps and devices we used through these activities came from him after all.”

“...” I was still silent, thoughtful. Thinking of all that I had been through in the span of a whole year, almost two years to be exact.

“Hey, are you still thinking about what happened?” Tailmon asked Ken, out of the blue. Everyone turned to him.

“He said Ryo-san… Went after Millenniummon to avenge me… Do you think he’s fine…?”

The group didn’t know what to say, alas.

“He disappeared… And we never had heard about him ever again…”

“Do you want to, like… Search for him?”

The group looked at Daisuke, who had just said he wanted to stop playing the detective role.

“But didn’t you say--” The digimon were asking the same question at the same time.

“I didn’t say I don’t want to keep doin’ this. I said I want to go back to work on my life’s goal!”

“When you said ‘I can’t do it for life’ you were stating you didn’t want to keep doing it”  Iori pointed it out, calmly.

“Bingo,” Miyako agreed.

“No, I mean like… If anyone needs me I will not hesitate to come and help! It’s just… I want to do my own thing. And I’m not good at thinking about complicated stuff!”

“So our next case is the whereabouts of that Akiyama Ryo guy?” V-mon asked.

“Only if our mr. Detective Ichijouji Ken wants to!”

I never doubted that Daisuke would deeply care about me, or about the others. He likes to help everyone who’s in need. He saved not only me, but other people before. He’s the glue that keeps this group together.

I wasn’t sure if investigating the mystery of Akiyama Ryo’s disappearance was right. It felt whatever is the closure of that case could end up bittersweet or a tragedy.

Do I want to know what happened to Ryo-san? Or am I afraid of what’s the answer to that question?

“...”

“Maybe you’re not ready for that yet” Daisuke added immediately, “Sorry I thought you--”

“No, you’re right. I admit I’m afraid of what we could discover about that one. If he’s dead it would just… Make what Hikawa-kun said about him going after Millenniummon…”

“I think one day you will be ready to open that case then” Miyako looked at him, “And when that time comes, we all will be with you.”

“Exactly!” Hawkmon added with a nod. The others nodded and smiled at Ken as well, as some sort of agreement and to reassure that they would always be on Ken’s side.

“Thank you, everyone” Ken smiled back, his cheeks turned a bit reddish.

Maybe, someday… I will uncover this mystery. For my own sake, to know what happened to Ryo-san…

For now, I won't take responsibility for what is beyond my control.

This case is officially closed.

.

.

.

.

.

…

A tall man, tan skin and hair similar to a Young Gennai just arrived in Tokyo… After spending the rest of his life in a country town since early 2003. It had been a while though, he had just a few vague memories of living in Tamachi since he was born. But…

He couldn’t remember that much. A blurred memory of being in another place with a kid… Them being both children, to be exact… Doing something that felt like a dream adventure.

“Ah, I took a nice nap…!” he exclaimed, stretching his arms.

A digimon was on his side, dragging the luggage. The digimon, a purple-like dragon creature with bat wings attached to the hands (which also had drills as claws-or-fingers), growled, “You can’t be that careless, Ryo! Don’t leave me carrying your stuff all alone!!”

“Ah right, sorry Monodramon.”

Although he looked like a cool, responsible adult, this guy was kind of a carefree type. But his potential was off the charts, and his skills in certain categories were extraordinary.

Not wanting the tiny Digimon to carry the luggage for him, Ryo took it carefully. It was unfair to let his partner (?) carrying that, he agreed with Monodramon with a nod and a smile.

“Now where should we go?” Monodramon asked, curious with Ryo’s plans and intentions to move all back to Tokyo.

“That’s a good question, but first we have to go to our new home and then readapt to the environment. And Then… We will go look for him .”

“That person…? The one that mysterious woman mentioned to you before…?”

Ryo nodded with a grin.

“I wonder who this person is though…” Monodramon shrugged as they walked to the exit of the train station, “You said you don’t know who is either.”

“I will know when I find him for sure!” Ryo chuckled, playfully, “I have a feeling we might meet soon or later.”

Monodramon sighed, it was pointless to argue with his partner (?), sadly.

.

.

More and more mysteries have been uncovered and unsolved so far. Not all of those have a closure and will remain unsolved.

But maybe, one day… Some of those will be resolved and closed.

A new gate to the adventure might open again.

[halchron]

hc dump for youta and his relationship with sumeru

100% has his own dusk bird he keeps as a pet and takes with him everywhere, though he keeps a close eye on it outside of sumeru since it's not from any other region. instead of having orange feathers on its chest and green wingtips, it has light purple feathers in those areas. it's name is kirei

sumeru is his second home, he truly finds peace and solace within the forests

this being said, he doesn't particularly care for the akademiya sages really at all, even before the events of the game. he believes knowledge should be accessible for everyone, not something censored. once the traveler and their friends removed the sages, he finds the halls of akademiya rather peaceful and he'd love to have a look around the library at some point

due to his frequent trips to sumeru, he most likely knew rukkhadevata very well and considered her a friend. seeing the toll the forbidden knowledge had on her and the land was incredibly saddening to see, though not as sad as when she finally succumbed to it

similarly, he was probably also close to deshret and nabu malikata, though not as close as he was to rukkhadevata

when he visits he often brings herbs and medicines from inazuma for tighnari so he can broaden his medical knowledge

during these trips he'll hop the rangers with whatever they need, and in a past life he thinks he could've been one instead of being a god

[tetsuro-wulf]

The Wulf's Eye: RP Journal #103 | Mad Man's Blood.

And slowly but surely, work begins to claim more and more of my time. But that is alright, for both causes are towards a greater good.

Between working with the Vault and with Nightraid's current operations, alongside public events and individual meetings, missions, sessions.. teachings. HELL, I THINK I'M DOING DAMN WELL FOR MY TIME. I'M HARDLY SPREAD THIN!

I want to recount this considering I tend to keep track of the lives I take nowadays. We interrogated our captured 'Doctor' that was in the dungeon we found, where Kisai's sister laid.. nearly lifeless after rescuing her from being strapped to this machine. The Doctor revealed his name to be Taghi, a Thavnairian Alchemist. After his attempts at dancing around my questions whilst riling on Youta as some stupid distraction, he revealed his work revolved around forcefully draining one of their emotions through the machine we found, called the 'Despair Machine'.. turns out the Master was whom I suspected-- Someone in Haruko's past who kept him chained like a pet. Deommant. The amalgamation we faced deep within Haruko's Mind's Eye as the Mogui prayed on his fears. To think we would so soon end up caught in this man's mess. Taghi then revealed that he managed to crystalize the emotion of Kisai's sister.. despair. Tch.. Hearing him go on and on about snatching emotions from 'livestock' to empower another like the mad scientist he was. One's emotions should always come from THEMSELVES to utilize, to allow empower them through their soul. He revealed he still had the crystal on him, though the moment I demanded for it, he stopped cooperating.

He ate it. And he began to transform. I knew we needed it. The crystal. Because there was nothing else. I felt my blade run across his throat. I hadn't killed a person in moons. But that night my hands, my arms, my cloth, my cheek; were deeply soaked in a mad man's blood. I had to dig into his stomach to retrieve the crystal so Marce can study it alongside the Despair Machine in our custody. Though.. the remaining person who knows how to utilize it must be Deommant. And I want to find him.

I can't remember the last time we killed a prisoner.

11.21.2022

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

“A-Ah, hello. I wasn’t expecting any visitors to the temple. B-But that’s quite alright! Please, make yourself comfortable.”

Alright everyone, a new event!! I’ve taken a (paid) week off of work and during that time period, I shall be hosting a Youta themed event. This way, you guys can get to know Kikumi’s canonical love interest more. Just remember, he is a priest after all, so some questions may just get him flustered~

Anyhow, on to the image credits:

Youta (c) Me // Adopted from ShannaHeart Staff (c) Daiger1975 // Textures Edited by Me Youta's Temple (c) Nayuta // Textures Edited by Me // Design by SEGA (Wind Palace Stage) Pink Rose Petal Effect (c) roosjuh14290

Effects: Diffusion, toProfileColor, SSAO, SvSAO, BrushedOnSeriousSader, SeriousShader_M, S5SkinShader_Lite

[astrales]

you know playing through genshin again and actually doing the world quests really puts into perspective just how much youta has seen like. don’t ask me when him being buried alive factors into the inazuma timeline, but it’s quite crazy to me that he’s seen seirai and tsurumi back before they were destroyed and were prosperous islands, as well as knew kama’s entire ancestry line. it must have been crazy to see them like that and then witness them being destroyed, and the only thing he’s approved of ei doing is her killing the thunderbird

[yeongwonie]

a series of events @youta

[x0401x]

Violet Evergarden the Movie: Official Event Report

Movie Release Commemoratory Stage Greetings

Two stage greetings were held at Shinjuku Piccadilly in response to the thoughts of the staff cast, “We want to express our gratitude directly to everyone who supported us”. They were broadcasted as live viewings in 152 movie theaters nationwide.

← Previous || Index || Next →

First Stage Greeting

Her countenance filled with emotion, Ishikawa Yui-san, who has all this time been voicing the protagonist, Violet Evergarden, from the TV series to “Violet Evergarden Gaiden -Eternity and the Auto-Memories Doll-” and now the theatrical adaptation, “Violet Evergarden the Movie”, said in front of the audience, “I am happy to be able to convey my feelings to so many people. We wholeheartedly took in the story of the Gaiden and of this movie after the TV series ended. The movie is both a wish and a dream. My chest is swelling up now that we finally managed to release it to the public.”

Gilbert Bougainvillea’s voice actor, Namikawa Daisuke-san, stated, “I could keenly feel the spirit of Kyoto Animation-san and the director’s feelings during the recordings. Ever since the movie was released, I saw many responses of people who were happy with it, so I am glad to be able to participate (in this event) today.”

Overcome with emotion, Director Ishidate Taichi, who directed the TV series and this work, told the audience, “The fact that I am standing here today and that we were able to release the movie yesterday feel like a dream. Once we decide to do something, we have to put all we can currently do into the work, is what I thought. I am standing here today as a representative, but I think this is a work that all of the staff really did their best to make. To the people who have come here today and the ones watching this as live viewing: I think we were able to see this to completion because of your support. Thank you very much, truly.”

As if in response to the tears from Director Ishidate, the other people on stage also shed some. TRUE-san, who was in charge of the theme song, commented, “My emotions are overflowing, but I am experiencing the actual feeling that this day has arrived at last. At the same time, since I have to sing the theme song this time, I feel that I must sing with all my heart, so that more people, even if just one, will come in contact with this work.”

Upon being asked about her impressions on the finished work, Ishikawa-san wept, “I am simply grateful that it has been finished. We had the goal to depict all of Violet’s life together and we had heard that the director was doing his best as well, so we had no choice but give our utmost in order not to lose to him, but when I watched the movie yesterday first-thing in the morning, I thought we were able to make something wonderful.”

When being asked about memories from the recordings: “Gilbert and Violet’s reunion scene was the last one we recorded, to which the sound producer Tsuruoka (Youta)-san said, ‘Ishikawa, the Violet that you have in your head is the right one. Do it as you please’ and entrusted it to me. When I was told, ‘However, I won’t put sound (the soundtrack) to accompany it’, I felt an immense pressure (laughs).” (Ishikawa)

“I did it while holding a handkerchief and turning into a tearful mess and was crying pretty loud when it was over. There is a scene where Gilbert shouts, ‘Violet!’, which we redid many times, but my voice is breaking into falsetto in the take that they used. There are versions where my voice doesn’t crack, but I let them decide which to use.” (Namikawa)

Director Ishidate was deeply touched as he spoke, “Tsuruoka-san told me, ‘The version that has more emotion and more feelings to it might somewhat not match the animation, but I’ll use that instead of the one where the acting was skillful’. As someone in the position of making the art, I also thought that if the animation did not match the acting, I would rather fix the animation.” When he said this, both Ishikawa-san and Namikawa-san were impressed with an “I’m grateful for that” and an “it was fun”.

An unknown story of the theme song “WILL” was dropped: “Ever since the TV series started, I had this real feeling that everyone truly loved Violet, so I sensed that I should not make a self-righteous song, but instead produce a musical composition strongly loaded with the will and emotions of each of us who took part in the series. Regarding the sound, I requested Evan Call-san, who was in charge of the soundtrack, but the general consensus was that, for this time’s theme song, we believed a song that jumped from within the world of the series and felt like an extension of the soundtrack, thus enabling people to enjoy the world of the series the way it is, would be most fitting, so I was conscious of getting even closer to the series while making it. The result is very grand, but I think it turned out as a soft and nostalgic piece that gently snuggles up to people’s hearts.”

When Ishikawa-san said, “Your chest swells just from the ending song playing. I had always been listening to TRUE-san’s singing voice in the TV series’ theme song, ‘Sincerely’, so I thought it was a fitting song for the end”, TRUE-san spoke, “This time, beginning with ‘Sincerely’, and after ‘Michishirube’, which became the hope of all of us, they connected with ‘WILL’ and ‘Mirai no Hito’, so being able to create something with everyone from the cast and staff, who hold music so dear, makes me really proud and really grateful.

What Ishikawa-san raised as a point to pay attention to was, “Taylor, who appeared in the Gaiden, was in the picture decorating the CH Postal Company when Daisy went there! I was able to feel that the story continued and everyone lived on, so I hope people can see these detailed points too.”

Director Ishidate mentioned, “The old woman who was at the CH Postal Foundation Memorial’s Mail Museum when Daisy went to visit it. That was Nerine, who used to work at the CH Postal Company’s reception desk. She was actually taking a nap when Daisy called out to her. The people who make the art did their best to include this kind of detailed dramatization”, wishing that everyone would by all means enjoy the particulars of the world of Violet Evergarden.

Lastly: “I believe this is a work that can grant hope to everybody, regardless of gender or age. It is a very precious one for me too, and I think it will not lose its color even many years, many dozens of years from now. I also deem its message as extremely important. I will be happy if ‘Violet Evergarden’ remains in everyone’s hearts from now on.” (Namikawa)

“Again, the cast and staff all adore Violet, and after receiving that warm applause from everyone, I felt like telling Violet how much people love her. I think this work has not only Violet’s life but also our feelings engraved into it. I pray that it becomes a work that will stay in everyone’s hearts forever.” (Ishikawa)

“Someone precious, someone who supports you, someone who holds you dear... I believe everybody has one such person. I hope this has become a work that will make each of you think back on your own important people and wonder if you are conveying to them the things you have to say after you finish watching it,” Director Ishidate said, a thunderous applause rising from the audience stands.

Second Stage Greeting

During the second stage greeting, Ishikawa-san greeted everyone with, “This theatrical release was a goal for all of us, and even as a fan, I was really looking forward to completing Violet’s life tragectory, but there was also a part of me that felt scared as to how the viewers would react, precisely because this series is a precious one. Now I get to see everyone’s faces in this stage greeting, and I myself also watched the movie in the theater on yesterday’s first morning session, in which I heard that the tickets were being bought like hotcakes. The love that we are receiving from all of you was my answer, is what I thought.”

While instigating laughter from the venue with an “Ishikawa-san just gave a perfect response, so I was left with nothing to say (laughs)”, Namikawa-san then said, “I myself am overjoyed that we were able to release it without any issues, and starting with everyone who is attending today, there are more than 150 theaters showing this as live viewing. The fact that so many people are watching this work makes me extremely happy.”

TRUE-san said about her contentment regarding the release, “I had always been dreaming with this day, so I am loaded with feelings of joy. I received many words that made me extremely happy during the screening just now and on social media, so I am personally aware that we were finally able to welcome this day. It is exactly because being able to deliver a series like this, sing for it and be in charge of said songs is not something common nowadays that I am filled to the brim with gratitude towards all of you and am thoroughly chewing up this happiness and joy.”

Director Ishidade prefaced with, “I have said the same thing in the first stage greeting, but I wanted to convey this to everyone no matter what”. “This theatrical adaptation of ‘Violet Evergarden’ saw its release yesterday, but it does not feel quite real to me yet. Having several viewers watch it like this makes me actually feel, even if little by little, that we have indeed finished it. This is the result of the staff doing their best until we arrived here, and I strongly feel that it is because we had everyone from all the companies involved, and above all else, we had strength from the support of truly so many people, that we were really able to complete it. Thank you very much, truly,” he said about his flood of emotions, loud applause arising from the venue.

Upon being asked about her impressions on the finished work, Ishikawa-san said, “I feel we have made something that we can deliver with confidence to the people who love the ‘Violet Evergarden’ series. Since the TV series wrapped up so neatly on episode 13, my heart was racing as I asked myself, ‘How will this turn out?’ at the fact that Violet’s story was going to continue further in a movie, but I think we have arranged a good finale.”

Namikawa-san said, “The feelings of the creators... of everyone from the staff, starting with the director, were expressed straightforwardly in it, so I had the impression that this work will bee-line its way to your hearts. This kind of simple-approach work is important no matter how many years go by, and I thought once again that I want people to be watching it even after a long time passes. I myself was so touched that it made me go, ‘So it can move you this much’, which I am grateful for.”

TRUE-san said, “I felt yet again that Violet has grown into a really wonderful woman. Being able to watch over the growth of one girl from so closely makes me extremely happy. This has been more of a blockbuster than I had imagined, and having felt the emotions of the people involved from each drawing and each scene, I sensed one more time that I must continue singing the theme songs to my utmost so that this work will reach more people, even if just one more.”

Director Ishidate commented on the production of this work, saying, “Regarding the character named Violet, during the scenario stages of production in which there was still no art, the sound producer, Tsuruoka (Youta)-san, had said, ‘If we were to exemplify her with a color, it would be white rather than transparent’, and I thought that this was truly the case. I thought her straightforward and earnest figure was beautiful. If we were to animate this the way it is, I avoided displaying my originality as much as possible, did my best to overcome the urge to exercise my ingenuity and worked on the production while aiming to depict her in an honest and straightforward manner.”

Regarding the differences between the TV series and the movie, as well as her own character, Ishikawa-san said, “There was nothing that I had to do over again. The screenplay was so very solid, followed by wonderful art, and Violet’s path was finished up properly, so all I had to do was ride that wave. I felt that it would have been out of character if I had attempted to do anything, that something might have come out with a different meaning. There was a script, there was an animation, and after absorbing them, I just had to use my voice to match them, so to say. I already have things such as, ‘if it were Violet, she’d say this’ and, ‘she’d have this kind of attitude’ internalized, so if I were told to do anything, it would be just to faithfully reproduce this image of her with my voice, as I believe that we all create and nurture the characters together.”

Namikawa-san spoke about the facts of the case, “I think this applies to everyone, but we tend to beautify our recollections of the past. Gilbert left a deep impression in the TV series, and to Violet, his existence was like a ray of hope, so I think he might have been reflected in everyone’s eyes like that too. At the very beginning of the movie’s recordings, the sound director, Tsuruoka-san, and the director were having a conversation that went like, ‘People might... hate Gilbert for this’, and I did my job while thinking, ‘That’s not true!’... When I asked, ‘Director, why did you think that?’, he said, ‘Because doesn’t Gilbert say some horrible things to Violet in the movie? I believe that we can’t let people think, “Why does Violet have to go be with a guy like that?”. We have to give a proper form to Gilbert’s appeal and the goodness of his innermost feelings. This wasn’t easy to understand from the flow of the story in the script, so I was very worried as to how Ishikawa-san and you would apply your voices once you had the script in hands. “If he turns into a detestable guy, it’s over,” I thought, so before it (the recordings) started, I told you this quite insistently, didn’t I?’.”

Regarding the musical composition of the theme song, TRUE-san said, “Violet is a girl who is truly loved by many people. I feel this love not only from those of us who take part in the production, but also from everyone who supports us. So I thought that I had to properly incorporate the intentions and feelings of all of us into the musical composition. We all have many things that we want to forget or leave in the past, but Violet is an extremely strong girl who properly carries her past mistakes and how much those mistakes hurt her, and tries to walk forward. Thus I assembled the words with the feeling that I had to make it into a warm, humane and heartful musical composition, in order for people to firmly accept the outcome that this girl has chosen.

As it seemed that Ishikawa-san had three days and Namikawa-san had two days for their dubbing: “We pieced our schedules together so that we could have as much interaction as possible. On the first day, we recorded with all the members of the series, and for the other two days, I did the scenes with Gilbert with all my might.”

“It could even make you think that maybe Violet was possessing her (Ishikawa-san). Normally, when we overlap with each other, we do another shot, but in this case, we did them simultaneously, and they became part of the work just like that. During the last scene, she did a ‘live’ performance that could have only happened at that time and did not need any rearranging. You cried your eyes out, didn’t you?” Namikawa-san asked, to which Ishikawa-san, albeit embarrassed with a “It wasn’t that big of a deal!”, reminisced, “The last scene was on the last day. It felt like all of the final day was arranged for the sake of this scene. We were recording about every other week, and the recording of the second day ended with Violet being in a tough situation. Even though I am not the type that can’t switch back to myself, it was really hard on me, and I was like, ‘Hurry and let them meet’.”

“The recordings went on basically in one strike, without repeating retakes for parts that didn’t go well. What I really think is amazing is that, although Ishikawa-san said that ‘the path was already there and all she had to do was ride the wave’, in the end, I believe it’s not something you can get on so easily. I think she performs while being well aware of what she should do and how she should act at a given moment, having a broad understanding of the character, story and the whole. In the recording sites, the cast is usually in a different place (booth) from the director and staff. The cast can’t hear the staff’s voices. When the recording ended and I asked Tsuruoka-san, ‘That part just now was different from how I had imagined it, but Tsuruoka-san, what do you think?’, he said, ‘Why do we need to redo it?’, so I left it as that (laughs) with, ‘You’re right! Sorry’, and when I watched the finished product, I concluded that I was the one in the wrong. In the scene at the end where Violet and Gilbert run towards each other, when Violet cried, she was bawling much more in my head,” Director Ishidate said, stepping back when Ishikawa-san drew closer to the acrylic panels that were meant for keeping social distance and said, “You should have told me that back then!”, which instigated laugher from the audience. “When I saw the finished work, I realized that the right answer was not to appeal by crying in excess but instead by weeping her eyes out in a natural manner, following the course of events. So it was my mistake; I’m sorry,” stated the director, and then Namikawa-san wrapped it up with, “This is a work that we all made together on good terms with each other”, allowing people to feel the merit of their teamwork.

Regarding their recommended scenes and points to pay attention to: “I personally felt Violet’s growth and the fact that she had become older after she made a pinky promise with Ulysses in his hospital room. She wipes a tear away for a second. Wasn’t she holding back from doing that on the 10th episode of the TV series? I do wonder why people become moved to tears more easily as they get older, but I believe it’s surely because we come to understand many things and are able to picture all sorts of scenarios, so we cry even more. Violet used not to know anything, so she probably wouldn’t even be able to cry if it weren’t for Major, but she did her best to hold back her tears in episode 10, and when I saw her wiping them away in the movie, even though it was just for an instant, I thought, ‘So Violet has grown older’.” (Ishikawa)

“There are too many highlights, so I think that even the people who watched it several times will experience new discoveries, as I believe that anime is an art of coordination. The art style is amazing, the screenplay is wonderful, and when the music starts, you’re promptly pulled into that world. No matter what cut you take from it, I think ‘Violet Evergarden’ is a high-quality work.” After saying this, Namikawa-san eyed the cheat sheet in the director’s hand. Ishikawa-san revealed the actual reason for it: “I used to think that the director had a cheat sheet because he couldn’t speak when he was nervous, but it turns out he talks too much without it.”

After looking at the cheat sheet and hesitating, the director said, “Nobody knows this for sure! I shall refrain from giving the right answer here. But the last letter that Violet wrote to Gilbert has a line break. That one actually wasn’t read in the dialogue. For everyone’s enjoyment, there’s no problem if the line isn’t read aloud, but something that Violet might say is written in the course of that letter. That is, the last sentence, which had enough motivation power to lead Gilbert, who until then kept persistently saying that he would not see her, to break into a run. I hope you can find the answer to it one day.”

Lastly, TRUE-san concluded with, “I have been walking together with this work ever since the TV series. ‘Violet’ has now come to an end, but when I finished watching the movie, I didn’t think it was the end of this series. I believe that what Violet has granted us will continue to live from now on in the hearts of each and every one of us, as well as those who supported us. I wrote the song ‘Mirai no Hito e’ with this in mind – it’s the one that played at the ending –, so I it would make me happy if you all come back to this series and music and reach out to Violet’s world as many times as you like while treading through your future. And I have composed this piece hoping that the future you all will tread is as gentle and warm as possible. By all means, please keep supporting ‘Violet Evergarden’ forever and ever.”

Namikawa-san said, “There may be people who say that the story might have been more beautiful if Gilbert were dead, but I think that staying alive, in spite of how hard and painful it is, is a very important thing. I think Gilbert was by no means a strong man. He acted stubborn, but that was the utmost that Gilbert’s strength could do. I believe strength is something different from person to person, and I want to keep performing this kind of aspect very sensibly, so, since I’m also not a strong person, I voiced him by desperately doing my best to figure out ‘what would he be thinking in a moment like this’ and ‘what would he be feeling when he speaks’. I would be happy if this wonderful work called ‘Violet Evergarden’ could turn into hope for everyone. It was released just recently, but I hope we can nurture this series together from now on too, so please continue supporting us.”

Ishikawa-san said, “This movie has always been a goal for everyone involved and for me as well. About two years have passed since the TV series aired, but ever since it ended, in some corner of my mind, there was the feeling that ‘we have to finish Violet Evergarden with a movie’. I felt that, surely, once we completed it... it’s not as if I would quit being a voice actress, but I would be left with no regrets. We have finished depicting Violet’s life here, but after she reunites with Gilbert, she starts living a new life. I, too, received strength from this, as I cannot afford to stagnate in one place. If you ask me whether this makes me feel lonely or not, it does, because I want to keep voicing Violet for a lot longer, but even as I exert myself more and more in order to meet my next roles in future series, Violet will continue living inside of me, so I can’t stop wishing that she will keep on living inside all of you too, and that this series will continue to be loved for a long, long time. I hope my desire can reach many people, along with the passionate feelings and wishes of everyone who took part in this. Please continue supporting us from now on too.”

The director brought it to a close with, “This has most likely been the series that took most time to make out of the ones that Kyoto Animation has produced. In that meantime, we thought about all sorts of things, and now that we have finished it and managed to deliver it to everyone like this, I believe it is “completed” as a series. I thought that, if this became a work that would make all of you who watched it think back on those who matter to you – just as Gilbert and Violet mattered to each other –, on the precious people who are right next to you, then there would truly be meaning to it, thus that is how we had been working on the production. If you think that way in no small numbers, then all of us, including the staff members who aren’t here today, will be happy. Thank you so very much for watching it today.”

And so, the stage greeting ended with a thunderous applause.

[project-sekai-facts]

do u know anything cool about the side characters i feel like they need more appreciation and more people to know about them.

my time has come (<- i really like the side characters)

because i don't own the fanbooks, and cannot find scans of them anywhere, this is all from memory or stuff written on the wiki or tvtropes. also characters who debuted physically in the last year (e.g Asahi, Mafuyu's mother, Arisa) won't have fanbook profiles yet, so i can only tell you what's mentioned in the story

so yeah some random trivia (a lot about favorite foods because all the side characters have that listed)

Leo/need

Iori and Mio are both 19 years old (currently)

Iori's favorite food is choco-banana crepes and she dislikes spicy food

Mio likes super spicy tantanmen ramen but dislikes fresh cream. She also collects teddy bears

neither Iori or Mio were ever given family names. This might mean that the names used in the story are stage names.

Youta is the same age as Leo/need (16). His younger sister Hanano is 14.

Saku is currently 16, the same age as the Leo/need members, and her family name is Kousaka

She's the singer and composer of her band, Anenome. They debuted professionally a few weeks prior to the Get Over It. event

When Shindou was younger, he was a bassist in a band with some school friends. He and the singer/guitarist were more skilled than the others, and were scouted for a different band. Shindou didn't want to quit because he wanted to be in a band with his friends, but the singer/guitarist quit and accepted the offer because his music would have more spread. In the end Shindou's band had to disband, and he doesn't know what happened to the guy that left.

MORE MORE JUMP!

Mai's favorite food is eclairs and she dislikes liver. She is also 15 years old currently

Yuina was the first side character to be shown with more than one outfit. Her live2D has a different outfit to the one in Minori's For "Your" Sake card

Yuina's hobby is handicraft, and she also plays basketball

Yuina's favorite food is potato croquette and she dislikes bok choy

Airi and Nanamin did a collab performance when they were both idols. They are the same age.

Nanamin has now retired as an idol and is currently a streamer with over 800 thousand subscribers. She likes fruit tarts and dislikes wasabi.

Riho is a high school first year (16) and is active as a song producer on the in-universe version of youtube

Riho's favorite food is pudding and she doesn't like hard and crumbly bread

Ayaka is 20 years old and attends college. She’s a big fan of Shizuku. She likes pork cutlets and doesn't like oysters.

Vivid BAD SQUAD

Ken likes meat dishes and dislikes umeboshi

He says he fell in love with his wife, Yuka, at first sight. They met in college and they've been married for over 20 years.

We don't know how old Yuka is but Ken is 43

Ken was a really good student and had good grades in both academics and sports. He also attended and graduated college.

Ken is very aware of An's feelings towards Kohane and is supportive of her. Go Ken-san

He was RADder's designated driver back in the day

Taiga dropped out of high school

Taiga likes whiskey but dislikes tsubuan

He is referref to as “partner” in the game data

Ken and Taiga have known each other since middle school. He thought Ken being an academic was boring and decided to get him into street music

Nagi had anemia. It's implied this is part of the reason she didn't realise she had cancer until it was too late, because she thought she felt bad because her anemia was playing up

Nagi's least favorite food was tomato, just like An. She liked coffee as well.

Arata's favorite foods are omelet rice and chocolate parfait, and his least favorite food is natto.

As pointed out by Taiga, Arata is one of the most talented performers on Vivid Street. Taiga seems to see himself in Arata, and relates to the feeling of losing a partner and can identify Arata’s weaknesses based on this

I’m not entirely sure if this is true, but based on observation Souma’s Live2D model has restricted movement. He doesn't lift his arms in any of his animations, only does small movements with them and his legs hardly move if at all. I'm assuming this is to convey that he was partially paralysed in the traffic accident

Both Souma and Arata are currently 19

Also their duo act nane was Gurney Flaps. Souma was the one who came up with that.

Souma and Arata were friends for an unknown amount of time before Rad Weekend. They may have been doing street music before the event I can't remember if this is ever mentioned.

Souma was involved in a traffic accident not long after he and Arata decided to surpass RW. He mentions that the accident was before Weekend Garage opened, and it's been open for a couple years at this point, because Ken decided to buy and open the cafe not long after the event.

Also they get a shoutout on KAITO’s costume from the Walk on and on event

Also I literally just learnt that the EN server localises Souma's name as Soma.

Even though he looks pretty old, Harumichi Aoyagi is only 53

Inferred based on his house, but he’s really rich as well. I think the Aoyagis might live in a penthouse, if you look at the window of their living room you can see the tops of trees.

Kotaro is called “cord nukio” in the game data, referring to him disconnecting the sound system during Vivids’ debut

He has a younger brother, and the reason he got into singing is because he wanted to be a cool big brother. He saw RW around the time his brother was born and the rest is history

Kotaro is 17, and presumably a high school second year (since first year side characters are 16). I’m guessing her doesn’t attend kamikou otherwise that probably would’ve been mentioned by now

His favorite food is strawberries. Ironically, he doesn’t like strawberry-flavored things.

Tatsuya is 22, making him the oldest NPC who isn’t a parent or mentor

He got into singing after being inspired by a senior in high school

WonderlandsxShowtime

Kigurumi-san is a rabbit. Please tell me how that is a rabbit costume.

According to Rui in Full Power! Wonder Halloween!, Kigurumi-san's hiding spot is a bush near the wonder stage. It is heavily implied that he is Emu's bodyguard.

Usa-chan (the bunny plushie) is the only NPC to have ever appeared in an area conversation

Usa-chan's name was picked by Saki. Tsukasa wanted to give her a weird name, but we don't know what this was.

Sakurako has been a fan of PXL since she was a kid, and getting to perform there has always been a dream of hers. Also she’s 17 (the same age as Rui and Tsukasa)

Sakurako is called “diva” in the game data

Her favorite food is roll cake and she dislikes konjac.

The Little Mermaid was Yuuka Kazamatsuri’s first ever leading role. She’s 31 now, so she was 21 at the time.

Yuuka's favorite food is deepfried horse mackerel. Her least favorite food is fish and chips, because she thought it would be horse mackerel. It was not.

Rakunosuke (Emu's grandpa)'s favorite food was taiyaki, the same as Emu. He disliked surströmming.

Rakunosuke died when he was 99 years old. Considering that Emu’s father is currently 55, that means he didn’t have kids until he was in his 40s (unless Emu has older aunts/uncles that aren’t mentioned).

Kounosuke's favorite food is candy apples and he doesn't like sugary candies

Keisuke and Shousuke are referred to as Little Keisuke and Little Shousuke in flashbacks to Emu’s childhood, even if they are probably university-aged in these flashbacks. I just think this is funny

Keisuke is 30. He likes dried horse mackerel and dislikes chocolate.

Emu mentions that one time when her family went on a beach holiday Keisuke took an encyclopedia about sea life with him. Maybe he has an interest in that?

Shousuke is 3 years younger than Keisuke. He likes corndogs and dislikes green peppers.

Hinata is 20 and is currently in college. Her favorite food is peaches. Like Emu, she doesn't have a least favorite food.

If it wasn't obvious at this point the Otoris all like theme park food. Except for Keisuke.

Jean Riley is the in-universe equivalent to Walt Disney. He's also still alive and only 54 years old.

25-ji, Nightcord de.

Mrs Asahina doesn’t appear physically until someone other than Mafuyu interacts with her (that being Kanade at the end of Immiscible Discord)

Also she frequently employs actual manipulation techniques - she is in complete control of her meeting with Kanade, she rarely disagrees with anyone and instead gives them suggestions (i.e “but wouldn’t X be better for you?” over “no i think you should do X”), and playing victim. Wonder how she learnt those.

Honestly we really don’t know that much about her

Mafuyu’s dad doesn’t show up that much but he can be seen in some family photos in the Asahina living room

Shin’ei Shinonome’s hobby is camping with his family

He has the same liked and disliked food as his children

Also he’s 48 years old

None of the photos in the Shinonome living room actually look like the family so god knows what Mrs Shinonome looks like

Mrs Shinonome puts carrots in the dinners she cooks to encourage her kids to try the things they don’t like

Futaba is 17 years old. Her favorite food is pancakes from a local shop, and she doesn’t like salty food

Mizuki’s sister studies fashion abroad. She gifted Mizuki one of her mannequins before she left, which can be seen in Mizuki’s room

Kanade’s mother died when she was 30 years old. Her favorite food was deepfried tofu, and she didn’t like goya.

Kanade’s mother liked gardening. She was fond of carnations and used to keep them around the house, which is why Kanade has a strong attachment to those flowers.

Kanade's dad is currently 46. We don't know how old Kanade was when her mother died but it still works out that he's a few years older than his wife.

Bonus: As the self-proclaimed #1 slash only Asahi fan here's my obligatory Asahi loredump

Sakurako and Asahi are friends, though they have never interacted on-screen

Asahi's not-Disneyland theme park actor career somehow managed to spin-off into him appearing in TV and film roles. It's also mentioned that he's worked at ArcLand for a long time

Asahi is a huge fan of WxS, and is very familiar with their work before he meets them. It's implied he became a fan through the show they perform in Wonder Magical Showtime!. His favorite character in that show was Tsukasa's character, Miles. Like, he really likes that character.

It’s implied that he likes Tsukasa. I have made two posts about this. I think this is a lot funnier than it actually is.

We don't have a confirmed age for him yet, but considering that he's friends with Sakurako and the way he interacts with Rui and Tsukasa, he's probably around the same age as those three (17). How young was he when he started working at ArcLand in that case?

Assuming he’s high school-aged, I think he straight up dropped out of school (high school is not compulsory in Japan). When he recruits Rui he says that since he’s good, they can get him up to a full-time job before the age of 18, and Rui realises this would require him to pull out of school. The way Asahi talks about this seems to imply that he already did this.

He keeps a notebook in his pocket when he practises. He notes down useful things about the performances he does and also notes about the people he performs with. He also people-watches because it helps him make characters act more like real people.

He's a huge fan of the director Tom Grey, one of Rui's major influences, and claims to have watched all of his works 100 times. Grey is the person who inspired Asahi to become an actor. The shared interest is a large part of why Asahi invites Rui to be the ArcLand director

Asahi grew up abroad because of his parents' work, but the country he lived in ended up getting involved in a war. The area he lived in was attacked and his family had to evacuate, but he got separated from his parents when they were running away. He didn't speak the country's language very well since he was very young, and couldn't communicate with the people at the evacuation centre to locate his family. Tom Grey happened to be volunteering there, since he lived in the neighbouring country, and met Asahi and helped cheer him up and find his parents.

He’ll be back. That'll be a fun event.

[quirklessidiot]

Drabble #2 : in another life :: “In another life, I would make you stay.” [major angst + au]

Notes: doing a double update today since were going asynch for classes nghhh i miss writing huhu also since its six days till the new season i decided to just update all my fics because why tf not. HAPPY HAIKYUU SIX DAYS LEFT SKSKKSK Read the story here!

“Screw you.” Atsumu flips his brother off as the other laughs, he shouldn’t have even come with him to the grocery store tonight but the idiot wanted those limited edition choco pies, “I shoulda stayed with my girlfriend tonight and went with her to the party.”

“Well, it’s not my fault you accidentally burned your suits.”

The pair walks down the snack lane, bickering as always and when they stop to glance at the rows of snacks to grab something, the blonde feels another presence on his side. Turning away from his brother, he finds a very familiar back facing him that he feels his shoulder tense up immediately. He’d know that figure anywhere, it may have been years but he’d always recognize you.

The man feels his throat dry up, he wanted to call you out, it was stupid and wishful thinking really. Why would you have-

“Y/N!” a voice calls out.

Atsumu froze, Osamu seems to have noticed his brother’s shift in attitude that he had looked up from the snack he was looking. He turns to where his brother was staring so openly at. When the raven-haired twin realized that it was you, he seemed to have just been as taken aback as he was.

There you were, standing with a very tall man who had one boy sitting on top of his shoulders while the other kid was clinging onto your leg. At that very moment, Atsumu feels his heart rip to shreds when he hears what the little boy calls you.

“...Kaasaaaaaan…” The boy clinging onto your leg drawls, “Otosan and Yuuto says that I can’t get the other flavor.”

He watches you shake your head and pick up the small boy to put him on the grocery cart, it seemed like he was just a spectator in this little show.

He feels like a joke.

Everything he prayed for back then, to be with you, to marry you, have kids with you, and to grow old with you was all down the drain. The blonde bites on his lips and silently turns away, hiding his emotion under his black baseball cap. Osamu doesn’t know what to do, the reaction reminding him so much of the event that transpired when you left him on the phone six years ago. He didn’t know what to do then, he doesn’t know what to do now.

Atsumu never fully got over you, it was evident that whatever you two had would last a lifetime for him. Osamu knows that his girlfriend now wouldn’t last long like the others. It seemed like it was truly just volleyball and Atsumu now.  

All he could do was watch his brother spiral back into grief.

“Kaasan…”

“Hm…” You hummed, still looking at the nutrition facts of the snack bar.

“There was a guy there...He looked sad…” Youta pouts, sitting on the grocery cart, “and he was looking at you…”

Daiki furrows his brows and turns to where the little boy was pointing at but no one stood there, your husband let out a questioning glance, quite worried, “You sure about that buddy?” he ruffled the boys hair who simply nodded in reply.

“Maybe he was just having a bad day.” You quietly uttered, pushing your cart as your husband and Yuuto follow behind you.

“Yeah,” yet the boy continues to stare at the empty space, wondering why that blonde man in the cap seems to look at you the same way his otosan looks at you everyday.

[poisenous]

♡ @gloryundimmed​ / plotted starter !

          --- & what a sight to behold. a vision of blood & violence & tragedy , but the question begged whose ? it was YOUTA , one of the boys who worked to source information for her. bloodied & bruised at the hands of the kind of man who didn’t appear to take PRISONERS. at no point of the night had it occurred to bomi that she would run into a scene such as this , it was supposed to be EASY night of the week after all. one where she would simply get to sing at the bar , have a few drinks & go home. but the very sight of the raven-haired man holding a knife to the poor boy’s neck in the back alley of the bar was especially HAUNTING. how reminiscent of her own past , it made her stomach turn. 

          bomi approached as quickly as her heels & her red bodycon gown would allow her. without a second thought PRISTINELY manicured fingers traced around to the back of her neck , unclasping her diamond choker which served as a mask for the past HORROR that was the lengthy scar across her neck. beautiful things always masked the ugly --- it was such a fitting metaphor for her very existence on this god forsaken planet. tossing the pricey piece of jewellery at the other’s feet her next words echoed an AUTHORITATIVE tone. “ enough. ” whether he took it or not was irrelevant , it needed only to pull his gaze in order to really give him something worth his attention. “ that’s your incentive to listen to me. ” 

          stopping only a few metres away amber eyes assessed the scene a lot more clearly & her brain was able to QUICKLY put the pieces together. this must of been the guy who youta had mentioned in the days leading up. “ kai , is it ? i KNOW what you do & by now i’m sure you know how that is ... ” her gaze lowering to youta to whom she gave a soft nod as a silent plea to trust her. “ any information youta has goes to me & me ALONE. he’s not your threat & really , neither am i. ” the escort made a point to make that clear , although if kai were to redirect onto her at this point that was a DESPERATE risk she was willing to take. “ name any man on your hitlist from this area & i can guarantee if i haven’t fucked him , i have a girl who HAS. ” her eyes were steady as they rose to meet kai’s , it was clear she wasn’t joking. “ i’m talking personal addresses , health records , secret apartments they keep from their WIVES , daily schedules , family secrets , social security numbers , invites to special events , safe combinations , credit card details , codes to DISABLE security systems --- the list goes on. tell me what is it that’s going to be enough to take this poor kid off your radar for GOOD , aside from the obvious of any information of you ceasing to exist in physical form & our minds. whatever it is i’ll do it. ” 

[detectiveichijouji]

Case 35 - The Forgotten Yesterday

[AO3 version]

DISCLAIMER: The content in Ken's backstory from this chapter is pulling a canon divergent route since it’s too hard for me to mix all Adv-02-and-Tamers material here as it was presented to the audience. I may love Adv-02 but i can't make every single extra material work with it (especially ones involving Tamers) As for why I don't go with the games and such, there's the possibility of both game and anime staffs were not communicating enough for details of each other's projects.

I ask you please to not come correcting me about said backstory with stuff from the WS games or Tamers material.

------------------------------------//-------------------------------------

He hated this, the fact that no matter what he does to avoid getting involved in something BIG …

… Everything ends in his hands.He’s always the one chosen to be the one who could change the course of something.

“...”

Noel’s words were still stuck in his head, and he felt like he had to tell Ken about this.

“Daisuke…?”

V-mon noticed his hands trembling,

“I’m… I’m fine, but… Why me?”

“Hmm… Because you’re Ken’s Jogress partner?”

“It’s only a matter of time until Noel learns that Ken was the one who broke that wicked Digimental and started all of this…”

The next few weeks, other random faux Digimental of Desire shards were placed around randomly and without any explanation. The group destroyed them as soon as possible, before they were synced with anyone’s desires -- be them people, digimon or animals.

“If the fake Kaiser wasn’t Tsukiyono Seishiro… Who could they be?” Iori mused.

“I’m convinced that person is toying with us,” Miyako growled, then took a sip of her milkshake.

The group had gathered at a fast food restaurant this time. They were discussing what had happened previously and trying to find anything they had missed before. A small detail, perhaps?

“...”

“Daisuke-kun?” Hikari looked at him, and with this everyone also turned their attention to the boy who was just staring at his order for a good chunk of minutes now.

“... I met Noel last night,” he said with a serious tone but avoided looking at his own friends.

“Huh?” Patamon tilted his head.

“... He said he knows who the fake Kaiser is, and he also knows that we were hiding that from him and his other two teammates.”

“By ‘that’, you mean…?” Armadimon asked.

“He knows the truth about Ken’s past.”

The group gulped in silence. It’s true that the group was hiding that fact from anyone else not involved directly from the events from the year of 2002, but mostly because there’s a LOT to unwrap and explain to everyone than fearing to talk about it. Besides, when you have people like Youta and Mizuki who would condemn Ken by this and possibly turn into his enemy…

“This is no good…” Wormmon grimaced.

“He promised to not let those two know tho, but that’s not important! He said the person pretending to be the Kaiser is someone who doesn’t exist anymore!”

“What?!” the group gasped, not being sure if they misunderstood Daisuke or not.

“What do you mean??” Takeru decided the best for everyone was just ask Daisuke to explain that information, “You mean like a ghost… A spirit?”

“No, he said… Someone who got his entire existence removed from this world,” at this point not even Daisuke himself was sure what that meant, but he tried his best to explain, “Like, Noel said this person… Was completely erased, so he does not exist at all.”

“Someone who faked their own death perhaps?” Iori mused.

“Beats me,” Daisuke shrugged, “But he said this person knows Ken well enough because…”

“Because…?”

Daisuke took a deep breath before continuing.

“What is it, Daisuke?” Ken asked.

“You’re going to freak out if I say so…”

“Spill it, Daisuke!” Miyako stared at him, threatening the google boy with a french fry.

Takeru placed a hand on Daisuke’s shoulder, since he was sitting next to him, “If this could lead us to catch that guy before someone gets severely hurt, you should not hesitate to tell us.”

“Exactly,” Hawkmon agreed in a nod.

“Ok, so… Uh… How can I say this without sounding weird--”

“Say it already!” they all said, impatiently now.

“This person was Ken’s friend before they got canned!” he blurted it pretty quick, but still understandable.

“A… A friend?!” the kids and their partners exclaimed.

“I… I had a friend before?” Ken was perplexed, “But the only friend I had before you five was…”

He hesitated to say that name, he didn’t even want to believe this could’ve been a possibility.

“... Ryo-san, right?” Wormmon said for him, though.

“Who?” Patamon asked.

“Akiyama Ryo,” Ken finally answered, he closed his eyes and sighed.

“Do you think it’s this person, Ichijouji-kun?” Hikari made the next question this time.

“I… I don’t know,” Ken frowned, “This is the only person I met before, he was Osamu’s classmate. But we only got closer when I met him in the Digital World… He also helped me a bit when Osamu passed away, as if he were a brother figure to me.”

“Hmm…” they all were musing.

“I don’t want it to be true” Ken opened his eyes and glanced at Wormmon, frowning.

“Hey, maybe there’s a reason for that!” Daisuke said in an attempt to comfort Ken, “Like, maybe he’s brainwashed or somethin’?? Evil clone? Maybe he’s not gone mad!”

“Daisuke is right,” Miyako nodded, “I don’t think this would be purely intentional. Sounds more likely to be someone under an evil digimon’s control.”

“Thanks…” Ken smiled, timidly. But deep down he doubted it. He never had talked with Ryo since he became the Kaiser.

I don’t even remember if I saw Ryo-san after that incident…

Meanwhile, Noel was just distressed with everything happening right now. He knew the 02 Group would solve this crisis, because he believed them. But on the other hand, he…

He was upset.

“...”

Miss Espimon was with him this time, and she tilted her head.

“What’s up, boss?”

“I don’t know…” he sighed, “Motomiya-san and the others are destroying the faux shards, but they’re now popping out everywhere and at random. Something is off… Is he desperate for Ichijouji-san’s attention?”

“Oh… Right… So far we have 15 fake shards recovered and destroyed.”

“Only 5 left…” Noel massaged his forehead, “This makes no sense… Unryuuji Naito is his accomplice, they’re manufacturing those shards. We might have found the factory, but…”

A quick flashback passed through the boy:

“Alrighto!! We found it, boss!!” Miss Espimon had chirped in a murmur, she and Arsenemon had been in front of the factory Unryuuji Naito was using for those sketchy schemes. “Heh, nothing can beat the grand magician phantom thief Asenemon and Mademoiselle Espimon~” Arsenemon had said with a smug face. They had sneaked inside the building and had inspected the rooms, with Miss Espimon’s radar trying to catch the readings of the manufactured Digimental’s pieces. Since Arsenemon is very experienced in infiltration missions, he had managed to pass by the guards and the surveillance devices in a snap of fingers. His magic tricks had helped him to omit his own image from the cameras, and Miss Espimon had used her own abilities to disable the alarms by hacking them. It had been going well. They had finally found the room supposed to be the headquarters of the villains. Expecting for the worst, they had opened the door and… “Huh??” … It had been empty?! “H-how can this be possible?!” the cyborg digimon had panicked, waving her arms, “The readings were pointing to this place!! Am I malfunctioning now?!” But Arsenemon had known this meant something had been off.  “No, it’s not empty,” he had said, then had turned to her, “Change to your thermal vision mode.” Miss Espimon had obeyed him and had switched her vision modes, revealing another view of the room. Yes, there had been a digimon inside, and a human figure as well. This meant… “... We’re not alone.” The human and the digimon there, ready to ambush them, had indeed been Naito and the eyepatched Impmon. Espimon then had hijacked the system to turn the lights and the alarms off, letting Arsenemon and her hide in the pitch dark. “Gah, the lights!!” The eyepatch Impmon had panicked. It had been when Arsenemon had trapped the devilish digimon in an invisible magic box “Eh?! I can’t move?!!” “So… you’re here, Arsenemon” Naito had been wearing the helmet though. It allowed the human to see in the dark just like his opponents. He had dodged Espimon’s long robotic arms extending in his direction and had repelled Arsenemon’s cards with a cane. “We know you’re the one causing this mess!” Arsenemon had stood in front of him, “You are the Digimon Kaiser imposter messing with my friends!!” “Oh? Well done, but… I’m not him , you see? ” Naito had scoffed. Then, someone had pressed a button and the lights had turned on, and next a cage had caught the phantom thief and Espimon quickly. “?!?! H-how?!” Arsenemon had growled. He and Espimon had spotted a third person, the one wearing a hoodie and a mask, coming from a hidden entrance in the room, “Dang it… There’s two of them… I forgot that.” “So you were aware of my existence?” the masked, faux Kaiser had said nonchalantly, “You were looking for the shards, right? Well then, I promised Ichijouji Ken that we would stop if he could catch all the 20 pieces we fabricated so far.” “Why are you so obsessed with Monsieur Ichijouji?” Arsenemon had asked, staring at the masked human. “Because… We once were friends, after all.” “Friends?” Miss Espimon had raised an eyebrow, she had gritted her teeth, “What kind of friend causes troubles for the others?!” “It’s because of him… That I cannot exist in this world anymore.” “What..??” She had gasped. “That voice… You’re not using that voice filter right now, won’t it ruin your act? I know who you are, and I could tell Monsieur Ichijouji right now,” Arsenemon had asked, bluffing of course. “I don’t care, he will come to me. Sooner than you think.”

Arsenemon and Espimon had managed to escape later, but this fact was now tormenting poor Noel, because… Everything felt like a terrible trap to catch Ichijouji Ken and his friends.

“... Why would he let me know about that?” Noel asked, rhetorically.

“Well, he had a beef with us too,” Miss Espimon replied to his question anyway,  “Because you pretended to be his old forgotten pal once,” and shrugged.

“Uh, about that… it was… twice. But it doesn’t matter…”

“Geez, should we do something, boss?”

“... Our priority was catching the genuine shards, we collected them all with the help of Motomiya-san and the others” he shrugged, "Now we just have to keep Soleil-san and Lune-san from discovering Ichijouji-san's secret."

“In other words… Nope?”

“Oh, au contraire, we’re still needed here.”

“Huh?” she blinked.

The next day…

The 02 Team was also aware of the remaining quantity of fake shards, and this gave Ken a very very terrible feeling.

Five left… And if you exclude him from the count, his group has five people.

“... Please pay attention to your surroundings,” Ken said to them, using the communicator earpiece, “I’m having the impression those random shards were a decoy.”

“A decoy?!” the group asked together.

“Ken, whaddya mean?!” Daisuke said, “How can they be a decoy?!”

“They do not have priority rather than burn the remaining pieces to a specific number.”

“So, you suspect they are leaving the five left to be used on us,” Iori mused.

“This is bad…” Hikari commented.

He was expecting the worst to happen.

“They wouldn’t attack Takeru-kun again, would they?” Miyako asked, concerned, “They used him before… They tried to make Takeru-kun kill us before.”

“... I’m afraid they could try it again. And that they will, Miyako-san.”

“But… I don’t see anything strange so far, guys” Takeru replied, trying to keep them all calm, “Should we gather at someone’s house and spend the night together?”

“Oh that’s a good idea!” Daisuke replied with enthusiasm, “Whaddya think, Ken?”

“This could reduce the risks of someone getting ambushed alone, ” Iori pondered. 

“Yes, that could be a good strategy,” Ken smiled, though none of them could see it. A smile of relief, a smile that nobody would be in danger if they were together.

But…

“...” Wormmon, who was on his shoulder as the boy was heading back home, noticed something following them.

“So, we should meet at someone’s house, someone they don’t expect us to be in the first place,” Ken continued talking with the other five on their private line, “Hmm, right. Then, anyone is up at camping at Hikari-san’s--”

“Ken-chan,” Wormmon whispered to Ken, “Someone is stalking us.”

“... One moment, guys.”

Ken stopped and then looked back, then around. He didn’t see anyone following him. But he would never doubt Wormmon’s senses.

“Let’s do like this,” he whispered to Wormmon, “Pretend you didn’t see them, and immediately shoot your silk net at them the moment they appear again.”

Wormmon nodded.

“Well, I think I’ll have to hang up now,” Ken replied to the others on the private line, “We’ll gather there later. If someone would be following me on that idea, maybe while we go home, let me know.”

“Huh??” Daisuke and Miyako exclaimed, but Ken hung up from their group line.

As Ken resumed his walk, something approached then. Wormmon was ready to throw the silky net on the stalker, but…

The suspect stood in front of them instead and Ken got surprised by…

“Oh, Ichijouji-kun!”

“...?! Nokita Yuu?” he and Wormmon exclaimed together.

“Oh, sorry. I saw you leaving school early and I was a little worried.”

“We’re fine,” Wormmon replied, “Thank you for your concern.”

Nokita seemed to ignore Wormmon though, he looked at Ken with a smile, “I heard your group found pieces of that Digimental around, and destroyed them before anyone could get in direct contact with them.”

“Yes, we did,” Ken replied with a nod, “But how did you know?”

“There’s many rumors about those incidents and pieces,” Nokita said nonchalantly, “Besides you and your friends still have that BBS website right?”

“Yes, we do,” Wormmon blinked.

“Then, here’s the answer to your question,” the other boy smiled.

“...”

“Oh look at the hour, I need to go” Nokita checked the clock on his phone’s screen, “Well have fun at your friend’s house.”

Ken was silent, but Wormmon was a little surprised by that commentary. To not sound awkward and give any suspicions in his mind, Ken nodded his head and smiled.

Once Nokita Yuu wasn’t around anymore…

“There’s something that does not track with what we know.”

“Huh?”

“Sorry guys, Jun came to visit us right the moment I was leaving  and my parents had to keep me for dinner!!”

As usual, Daisuke was the last to arrive at the group’s gatherings. Miyako raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t you say she would come next week?”

“She changed the plans when she heard the news about what is happening around” he sighed, “And I kiiiiiiiiiinda told my parents what happened to me by accident too.”

“Then they told Jun and Pulsemon and they came immediately” V-mon shrugged, “At least to make sure we were fine and if we didn’t need extra help.”

“That’s kind,” Hikari commented, “She really cares about you.”

“She thinks I’m still a baby!” Daisuke pouted, “I let those things happen to me because I let my guard down! Not because I’m reckless and irresponsible and a little kid! I’m almost an adult, y’all know that!!”

“By what I get here… He’s still having a beef with his sister, dagya” Armadimon sighed, the others agreed by nodding.

“H-Hey!!”

“...” However, Ken was still silent.

“Ichijouji-kun?” Takeru called him, and then everyone turned to Ken.

“Nokita Yuu… He was eavesdropping on me.” he said aloud, but without turning to the group, “Maybe… Nokita Yuu does not exist, and this is a fake identity.”

“You mean…” V-mon started, but Daisuke interrupted him:

“Who’s that guy, Ken? I think you mentioned that name before, but… There’s so many things happening that none of us paid attention to that name.”

“Nokita Yuu is a student from Ken-chan’s school,” Wormmon explained while Ken was still musing (this time in silence), “He looked for us before, just to introduce himself and say maybe one day he would need our help?”

“Huh…” Hawkmon raised an eyebrow.

“He met us a couple of times too, and then something happened next, like a fake shard turning a new victim into a digimon…”

“So this person…” Patamon said, at the same time everyone looked at Ken again.

“Do ya think it’s him, that Akiyama Ryo guy, dagya?”

“We don’t know…” Wormmon shook his head, “But for Ken-chan’s safety, better Nokita Yuu not be Ryo-san.”

“We know,” Tailmon answered calmly yet seriously, “but no matter what happens, we won’t let this person keep antagonizing Ken.”

“...”

Daisuke then remembered Noel’s words -- You might be the key to beat the imposteur, I suppose -- and he gulped. The enemy is possibly someone who knows Ken better than him and everyone in that room, and he was beating himself to decode what he can do to help Ken beat the faux Kaiser.

“Ken…” Daisuke went there and put his hands on the boy’s shoulders, and with a serious voice, he continued, “You have to tell us more about that Akiyama Ryo guy. I know it might be hard for you, because you told us he helped you in the worst time in your life, but…”

“...”

“If he’s the one causing all this trouble around, hurting innocents and especially trying to frame you… We will need to fight him. Because you’re our friend and we don’t want to watch you suffer like that.”

Ken looked at Daisuke, perplexed. Then he glanced at the others behind Daisuke, and they were also in agreement with that. They nodded. Then, the boy took a deep sigh.

“Alright. I will tell you what I remember about him.”

“Akiyama Ryo-san was from the same school Osamu attended when he was still alive. Judging by my brother’s complaints, Ryo-san was not that smart at first sight, and just liked to goof around, being loud and chatty.” “Osamu simply detested him, and didn’t talk much about him in a positive light. But… I think he was the only person who managed to become my brother’s friend.” “They weren’t alike either, but… I could catch my brother hissing on the phone at someone called ‘Akiyama’ once. I remember Ryo-san was talking about… Monsters or something? But Osamu shouted saying ‘monsters don’t exist, you birdbrain!’ and was really stressed by that exchange.” “But once we had the digivice appearing in our room… Osamu knew what that meant, It meant what Ryo-san said was legit. Osamu took the digivice from me and claimed it to belong to him. He put the strange toy inside the desk drawer and forbade me from touching it. But, one day…”

(“But you couldn’t resist, right?” Daisuke commented, “You took it from the drawer…?”)

(Ken nodded, a bit bummed by that decision he had taken in the past, and continued.)

“I went to our room, opened the drawer and took the digivice. Suddenly, Osamu’s computer turned on and the digivice sent me to the Digital World.” “There… I was lost for a while, until I was found by Wormmon and then… We met Ryo-san. None of us knew each other’s existence. Osamu didn’t even mention me to Ryo-san… And he never mentioned Ryo-san to me. And Osamu hated to take ‘friends’ home, he felt it would disturb his studies. He was a very smart student after all...” “... I suppose Ryo-san didn’t know I was Ichijouji Osamu’s little brother until he learned my family name.”

(“Was Osamu-san mean to you?” Hikari asked, frowning.)

(“I think it was more that everyone at that home was too obsessed with the title of ‘genius boy’ to think of anything else,” Ken sighed, “Osamu with his high grade scores to keep that title, mom and dad with his fame, and me… Loathing Osamu’s ‘natural’ talents.”)

“But… I learned that for a simpleton like my brother used to call him, Ryo-san was actually skilled in many things. First, he had survival skills because he used to travel around the world with his parents and then go camping in many places around the world. Second… His chatty personality made him gain allies pretty quick. And third…” “... He was another kind of Chosen Child. He wasn’t partnered with a digimon, he was… Able to evolve a digimon without being partnered with one. He had a digivice, like the one I had… But he had no digimon partner tied to him, like us.”

(“A Chosen Child without a digimon partner?” Iori raised an eyebrow, “Is it possible?”)

(“I mean, we don’t know much about the Digital World and the Chosen Children, right?” Miyako frowned, “And Ken-kun was also able to evolve Taichi-san’s Agumon before too…”)

(“And he could evolve V-mon to XV-mon for Jogress purposes too,” Daisuke added, “This is why I let him have V-mon a few times before”)

“Ryo-san let me tag along with him, and… he had a V-mon with him too. Not sure if it is the same V-mon we know and is partnered with Daisuke now, but… Him, Wormmon and I never understood why Ryo-san had no digimon like me.” “We had a brief adventure together, and then… we parted our ways. And then Osamu passed away. My coping mechanism was just study and study… To replace Osamru’s place. To make everyone happy.” “It was when Ryo-san learned the news. He kept contact with me via email though… He kept supporting me, emotionally of course.” “A few months later, I was called by the Digital World once again. And there was Ryo-san waiting for me. And during that new adventure, he started teaching me survival skills. How to turn anything in my range into a useful tool to defend myself from threats, which mushrooms and plants were edible… A ton of things he learned by camping.” “It was when Ryo-san became some sort of second brother figure to me. He was… my role model inspiring me to get stronger. To give me a chance to survive in this world. I wanted to be like him.”  “I couldn’t evolve Wormmon back in time, but we learned so much with him that we were useful against this menace… I forgot its name… It was a digimon… Able to warp space and time…? Ryo-san’s horde of digimon allies beat that new threat.” “But then… The enemy digimon attempted to beat us with one last resource… It sent something strange in Ryo-san’s direction and I shoved him out of the sight. It was when I got the Dark Seed in my neck.”

(“Wait… what?” Patamon blinked, “The thing Oikawa wanted sooo badly and implanted on those kids he, Arukenimon and Mummymon kidnapped years ago?!”)

(“Yup” Wormmon nodded, “That one.”)

“I fell ill and was sent back to the human world with him. Ryo-san took the blame, told my parents it was his fault, that something happened while we were playing together but I’d be okay. My mom forbade him to talk and see me anymore, and kicked him out of our home.” “I was scolded for breaking the rules, for not warning them I wasn’t studying. And that I wasn’t allowed to take detours when going and coming from school anymore.” “I don’t remember anything else, because I passed out. I spent months at home, asleep. Once I got healed… I never heard of him ever again. Until now, I guess.”

“... You think that Nokita Yuu person is that old friend of yours, right?” Tailmon asked, once Ken finished his report.

“This is the only person I’d suspect to have been something against me, and might have been ‘erased’ from this world, yes.”

“Man, your parents were hella harsh on you two,” Daisuke pouted, “I’m glad they stopped being like that now…”

“I do understand their side…” Ken frowned, “I think this is what happens when you’re about to lose another child… We all committed mistakes, I did commit mistakes too… Most of those incidents happening in Tokyo right now are my fault after all--”

“It’s NOT !!” Miyako shouted, “Yeah, you brought a Digimental, but you’re not the one spreading those pieces and turning people or digimon or animals into unstable monsters!”

“She’s right, Ken…” Daisuke nodded, “And when Miyako is like this… You can’t argue back.”

“So If This fake Kaiser is Akiyama Ryo… I wonder why he wants to turn your life into a nightmare…” Takeru mused, “I’d understand if it were because you caused him trouble, but…”

“It makes no sense,” Iori added, “After all, he took responsibility for you taking the bullet for him and getting ill. And if he was deeply worried about your welfare after the loss of your brother…”

“Why would he turn against you only now then?” Hikari asked rhetorically.

“We can’t rule out that someone might be pulling the strings too,” Hawkmon pondered, “Just like Daisuke-san meant before.”

“Huh, me?”

“Yeah, it was you who said that before, dagya.” 

“Hmmm…” Daisuke stroked his chin, “Yeah, looking this way… It doesn’t seem to be him anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Wormmon blinked.

“Look, if I were someone who was closer to Ken before I got my entire existence removed from the universe and suddenly I came back here to make Ken’s life miserable and frame him for all the bad things I’m doing by using his old Digimon Kaiser identity… I wouldn’t be someone who tried to help Ken in any way! Because! It would make more sense if I were someone who got erased because of Ken, right?”

Everyone was speechless.

“Daisuke, are you really Daisuke or are you Noel disguised as Daisuke again?” Miyako squinted her eyes.

“No, the way in which he put it was in a very Daisuke kind of logic.” Tailmon turned to Miyako, “It’s that he said something that made sense again.”

“... D-did I??”

“Someone who got his existence erased because of me , you say?” Ken blinked, yet he was unable to think about someone who would’ve been like this.

“Hmm…” Wormmon was also trying to think.

“If the Kaiser is not Ryo-san… Then this means Nokita Yuu is not him.”

“Not your friend or not the Kaiser?” Patamon asked, confused.

“Nokita Yuu mentioned he was aware about the current cases of the shards around Tokyo, but…”

“But…” they all repeated together.

It was when the Yagami residence’s phone rang. Mrs. Yagami went to answer the call. The group was still at Hikari’s room and then something made Hikari get up from the floor and ran outside, panicking.

The other five kids and the six digimon went after her, knowing this meant something bad. If your psychic friend had a bad feeling

“DON’T ANSWER IT--”

“Huh?” Yagami Yuuko blinked, and watched Hikari snatch the phone from her hands, “H-Hikari, what is happening, you never--”

“We’re sorry, Yagami-san!” Miyako babbled immediately, and then proceeded to explain to the adult woman why Hikari was acting weirdly. She escorted mrs. Yagami to another room.

The rest of the 02 group looked at Hikari and, and then to the phone.

“Should I…?” Hikari asked, still covering the phone’s microphone to avoid whoever called to hear them.

“Hmm… Yes, you should,” Ken replied with a nod. The other agreed with that decision as well.

Hikari then answered the call, hesitantly, “Hello?”

White noise.

“What…?” she gasped, “It’s just noise…?” she looked at the others, and then Ken gently took the phone from her hand.

“We know it’s you,” he said with a firm tone, “So you either stop antagonizing everyone or…”

“-- Wait!! Ichijouji, what are you doing at my parents’ house?!”

“?! T-Taichi-san?” Ken babbled, “I’m sorry… We came to spend the night together at Hikari-san’s house--”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, Hikari told me. I forgot, hehe. My bad.”

“Why would Taichi call at this hour…?” Tailmon raised an eyebrow. Then she turned to Hikari, “Wouldn’t he be at work right now?”

“Taichi…?” Hikari frowned, then she immediately pressed the speakerphone button on the device and shouted, “Who are you, why are you pretending to be my brother now?!”

“What the?!” Daisuke exclaimed, and the others were also surprised by Hikari’s behavior.

“... Pretending to be who?? Hikari, it’s me! The real Taichi!”

“Ok… If you’re Taichi…” Hikari had a smug face right now, “You might know that Taichi calls me ‘Hikarin’ and not ‘Hikari’ !!”

“?!?!?!?” the group blinked, confused. Hikari was clearly lying right now.

“I’m too busy to use nicknames, man!”

“You’re not Taichi.”

“Eh? Just because I didn’t call you ‘Hikarin’?”

“It’s because the real Taichi would just say ‘What the heck is that?? I never called you like that, Hikari!’ instead of believing that he had a nickname for me!!”

“!!!”

“What do you want?” Tailmon shouted, “You can’t keep playing dumb, you imposter!”

“...Heh.” the voice changed to the usual filtered voice only one person had, “It’s hard to pretend to be someone pathetic like that man.”

“The fake Kaiser!” V-mon shouted.

“What do you want?!” Daisuke then repeated Tailmon’s question, “We’re not playing your stupid games anymore!”

“Oh you will. Meet me at the rooftop alone, Ichijouji Ken. Or else your friends will be in danger.”

Ken clenched his fist, This means he was right. The final five fragments were supposed to be used against his friends.

“What should we do?” Hawkmon asked, with a serious gaze at the group. Miyako had left the room with mrs. Yagami in order to explain what had been happening until now.

“... He wants us to meet him…” Ken was well aware this could be a trap.

 “Shall we go then, dagya” Armadimon asked.

“You have 30 minutes,” and then the faux Kaiser hung up.

“It’s definitely a trap,” Iori commented, “We should proceed with caution--”

“AAH!!”

“What was that?!” Patamon gasped.

“Miyako-san!!” Hawkmon ran to the room he heard that scream, panicked. The room they heard the scream belonged to Taichi before he had moved out last year, but there were a few things out of the boxes.

The boys opened the door and then saw Miyako on the floor. Yagami Yuuko was unconscious on Taichi’s bed. While the digimon and the boys were inspecting the crime scene, Hikari tried to get Miyako up and ask what had happened.

“I don’t see anything here…” Wormmon frowned.

“...” Iori went to check with Miyako something, and then noticed something shiny attached to her hand, “Is that…?!”

Hikari was pulled by Takeru immediately, to avoid contact with Miyako.

It was a fake shard.

[halchron]

kinda interesting how dragon transmutation is inherited between reincarnation cycles and there's a chance that it doesn't come back... maybe I should refix youta's hsr verse to were one of his past versions was in fact a high elder and some of his reincarnations have had the dragon transmutation successfully while others haven't... and maybe the ten lords and the sky fairing commission are anxious to see if this version of him has it too since the only other high elders as of now are dan heng and bailu and they need another powerful high elder that can tap into their power like dan heng. it would make sense since I already said he was in some form present for the abundance tree event thing and all those events... though i hardly doubt he would want to return to a position of such high power...