#yukinojo's jump is not his main one

[prism-rush]

Prism Rush Main Story Episode 5 Chapter 5

Battlefield Tokyo?! Rumble in Roppongi-Aoyama! #5

First Previous Chapter

Translators Notes: .....You guys... I can’t believe I’m using my Japanese language/lit degree... for this.... I have literally never used the lit part for ANYTHINg before. I remember in one of my lit classes talking about how a lot of classical Japanese literature which was popular involved double suicides, because of forbidden love or whatnot. Basically the equivalent would be Romeo and Juliet I guess. Which was why Yukinojo’s romantic, classical world was actually kind of depressing even though it was supposed to be elegant haha.... ha... it’s just the style....  Oh, also, I have always been mystified as to why Yukinojo’s prism jumps mention “number eighteen” (not just this one, many of them) and I finally figured out it’s probably a reference to a classic set of 18 kabuki plays. Of course. 

Taiga: Tachibana-senpai has weaved us into his story... but... at this rate.... 

We’re gonna FALL!!!!! AAAHHH!!

Yukinojo: Eheh... ahah... m’lady... 

Taiga: Hey! Hold on! Tachibana-senpai?! ...Huh?! I’m floating... no... we’re dancing in the air....

Yukinojo: It’s the wind that’s dancing.... Even if the flowers wither... the petals of love... will flutter open!

Taiga: These are... cherry blossoms... ?! It’s beautiful.... a storm of cherry blossom petals is dancing all around us and lifting us up... !! 

Uh! Tachibana-senpai! If you keep squeezing me like this... I... 

Alexander: What’s all this?! 

Taiga: Alexander Yamato!!?

Alexander: I can’t stand you pussies. Prism shows are for destruction! Not for flowers... 

How dare you get all elegant and flowery on me!!  HUAAAAAH! 

Taiga: The storm! It’s coming back!!

Yukinojo: Flowers to conquer the storm... I’ll fight back with classical elegance... HAAAAH! 

Taiga: The cherry blossom petals are turning to.. snow?! The snow is... protecting us from the storm! ?! 

Yukinojo: What remains of the former world... Aoyama... and distant Roppongi... the winding road... the road of love.... 

Alexander: Wha... what?! 

Yukinojo: Disappearing little by little.... the prism dream.... heartache!!!! 

Taiga: AAAAAAA! Tachibana-senpai’s emotions... are flowing into me.. ! This heartbreaking.... forbidden love...!  The love for someone so strong you could give up your own life....

I feel it! Elegance!! Such classical elegance!!! 

Alexander: GODDAMN! Is this really... modern day Tokyo!?

Yukinojo: HUAAH! 

Alexander: He jumped! 

Yukinojo: 18 Classics of Prism Jump! Roppongi-Aoyama Double Suicide! 

Our love will last... forever.... We will be together until the end of time... 

Alexander: AAAAHHHHH!!!

Taiga: *catching his breath* ...The world of forbidden love is fading away....  Ah! Tachibana-senpai! Are you OK!? 

Yukinojo: ....Mm... Taiga... where... are we..... 

Taiga: You don’t even remember?! You were that entwined in your storybook world.... Tachibana-senpai, that was amazing.... Your jump was really cool... 

Yukinojo: Oh, I see... I landed a prism jump back there didn’t I... eheh.... 

Uuu gh...! 

Taiga: Senpai?! ...Looks like he passed out.... He used a lot of his powers back there.... 

That was actually really badass... Senpai...  

Alexander: GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Taiga: !!?? Alexander Yamato!!? You’re still... 

Alexander: Heheh.... ahaha.... AHAHAH! What do you call that...? What a pathetic jump! Not a scratch! I can’t believe I had to sit and watch that! 

Taiga: You... You really only see prism shows as a tool for battling, don’t you...? 

Are you telling me you just sat back and felt nothing at all from that amazing jump!?

Alexander: Nothing at all. Prism shows exist to cause destruction. Power is all that matters! And I survived! So, shall we continue?

Taiga: Tachibana-senpai.... No, it’s impossible. He’s in no condition to keep battling. 

Alexander: Hey! Do I have to get over and stand you up myself?! Come on! 

Taiga: G.. ah! This aura is.... I can’t breathe... 

Alexander: Look! Now your beloved underclassman is suffering! Stand up! Come on, stand up!!! 

Taiga: C... Cut it out... you stay away from.... Tachibana-senpai... 

Alexander: Don’t bother struggling. You are no match for my aura...

 All you are is... a Kazuki Nishina fanboy...!!! 

Taiga: N... No that’s not true...! I am... I am.... HUAAAAAH! 

Alexander: What?! His aura is fighting back?! 

Taiga: I am... I am going to find a way to light up my own prism show with... my own burning!!! 

My own, unique burning!!! HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

Alexander: Wha-WHAT?! He broke free?! 

Taiga: When I saw Tachibana-senpai’s prism show just and prism jump just now, up close with my own eyes... I clearly felt the prism of his heart. The rhythm and melody of classical Japan. And the passion burning within the the both of us... 

Now is not a time to be trying to burn bridges between kabuki and the street! The same spirit is within both of us! Prism shows are... a festival! 

Alexander: Huh?! A festival!? 

Taiga: HAAH! I’m ready to open up my heart! I can hear the festival drums! My heart is BURNINGGGGG! HUAAAAAAAAH! Leap into the sky! Let’s dance! 

Festival! Celebrate! A Bouquet for a Fortune Boy!

Alexander: What is this rhythm? It’s like the rhythm carries legacy of classical Japan! But... it has street style flowing within it!! It’s pounding through!! GAAAAAAAH! 

Taiga: *panting* 

Alexander: ...G... gah... How?! How could I, Alexander Yamato, be brought to my knees...?! 

Taiga: What do you wanna do? I can keep going, you know. 

Alexander: Eheh. That’s the spirit. Next how about...

Kakeru (off screen): Officer!! Over this way! 

Leo (off screen): Someone’s fighting over there!! 

Alexander: ....Pfft. The local authorities, huh. Ugh. Looks like we went a bit too hard. Oh well. I wanted to go much harder, but... I suppose I can’t go wearing myself out here... 

I have to save my strength. I have bigger bigger fish to fry... Kazuki Nishina... 

Taiga: I won’t let you lay one finger on Kazuki-senpai! 

Alexander: ...See ya. 

Taiga: .......

Kakeru: It looks like he left. 

Taiga: ...?? Kazuo, what are you doing here...

Leo: We heard a huge commotion... We came because we just got so worried...  Yuki-sama! Are you OK?!

Yukinojo: L... Leo.... I finally landed... a prism jump... 

Leo: Yuki-sama...! That’s so wonderful..! 

Yukinojo: And I think.... I figured out a clue to... my solo song.... !

Kakeru: We have to carry him to a hospital right away!! 

Taiga: Yeah... 

(Back at Edel Rose.)

Minato: I see... So Tachibana and Kougami got in a tangle with Alexander Yamato...

Kakeru: But you guys really showed him what for, right?! 

Taiga: Well... actually.... it was really close. I think he’ll come back for us.... for Kazuki-senpai... again....

Shin: I see. Why does he see prism shows as just a tool for battling... 

Minato: I don’t think we have what it takes to change him right now... If only I could perform that jump again.... 

Kakeru: Yeah, none of us can jump anymore... 

Taiga: ... Yeah. But I’m not giving up. I’m going to put all my passion into my solo song... 

Yu: That should do. You know Taiga, I think you may have grown up a little recently as well. 

Taiga: What?? That’s one thing I don’t want to hear from you, of all people... 

Leo: Everyone... 

Taiga: Leo!? How is Tachibana-senpai.... 

Yukinojo: Taiga, thank you for standing up for me.

Taiga: Tachibana-senpai! No, you were the one who--

Yukinojo: Leo told me that you defended me while I was down. Thank you. 

Taiga: N-No I should be the one thanking you!! I...! I’m really sorry! For ragging on you for being girly and all that... I didn’t really know what I was saying... Senpai.... 

You’re a true warrior. Please, teach me dance sometime. 

Yukinojo: Of course. There is a lot I would like to learn from you as well. Let’s share in our dance and build our radiance together. 

Taiga: Yeah!! 

Kakeru: Wha... Since when did you guys get all buddy-buddy?! How?! 

Leo: Y... Yuki-sama! You’ve been shaking his hand for like five minutes!! 

Minato: Ahaha. Getting along is beautiful, isn’t it. 

Shin: Yeah!! Everyone gathered lots of ideas for their solo songs!! 

I’m sure we can all put on a great, great concert!! Let’s do this!!! 

Next Chapter.

[lunawings]

King of Prism SSS episode 11 commentary (Shin...)

Thankfully at least the Crunchyroll subs weren’t so bad this time. I mean, there was the usual weirdness, but no major mistranslations that effect the plot like that time. So.... great!!

(After last week my standards are so low....)

But anyway. A reminder that the commentary you guys are getting on these episodes now is coming from the place where I am after having two months to digest things. After seeing this in the theater I didn’t really want to talk about anything to anyone. HOW COULD I COMMENT ABOUT ANYTHING REMOTELY CASUAL WHEN SHIN IS SUFFERING. Was my thought. But... eventually............

I should have pointed this out last week, but did you catch that they added Dorachi to the OP?

So yeah, there are a lot of little moments in this episode that it took me weeks to even begin to think about (what with everything else that happens) and this is one of them. Joji leaves Jin so quickly once he’s not cheating at prism shows anymore. Haha I know this is just a gag scene probably but really! When you think about it in the context of that line Joji had last week that was like “He’s changed....” it made me realize that maybe Joji really does love the “do anything to win” Jin.

And since Jin isn’t interested in that right now, here we have Joji kissing Sanada. 

Jin doesn’t care about winning anymore. All Jin cares about is Louis.

The relationship between Jin and Louis is something I have a lot of questions about. Why is this a part of the plot? For what purpose? 

My only guess is it’s here to show that Jin can still love? Because he seems to really, truly love Louis. (Could you imagine him cradling one of the Shuffle boys after they failed a jump....) 

And this is all despite the fact that Louis also reminds him of his worst enemies, Hiro and Hijiri................. 

All of my past comments about how Shin changed things for everyone and how much everyone loves and believes in him have all been leading up to this moment. 

Even after what just happened, they all run to him without any sort of hesitation. They aren’t afraid of him. They all still love him. Edel Rose.  

For people watching this on TV, the titles of the episodes are all spoiled in advance. 

But for us watching in the theater, we didn’t know.

When I saw Part 4 the first time, I chose a bad seat in the theater on purpose. Front row, far right. Because I just wanted to be alone, and there was guaranteed to be nobody sitting next to me unless the theater sold out. The theater sold out. And there I was in the right corner craning my neck up at an angle to this GIANT screen immediately right before me. Watching this happen. Small and helpless. Terrible chills washed all over my body and I think it was the most horrified feeling I have ever gotten while watching fictional media. I will never forget it......

When I first watched this, I got the feeling that Shine had been floating in a void for a long time. (Maybe even the 1,000 years they always talk about.) But recently I realized, maybe it was just the amount of time Shin’s Mom was pregnant for? Since Shine wasn’t sealed that long ago (recent enough that Yamada-san knew him) it could be possible that he was sealed the instant Shin was conceived....?  

One of my biggest questions about Shin for the longest time was whether he was actually..... born or not. Since the date 2/29/2001 does not exist. But he was. And I am glad about that. 

This is the first time we learn Shin’s name is written 新.

Also Shin, when will you accept your megane destiny. 

(I guess he did in the last episode lol. But really, does he wear contacts...?)

So this is our Young of Prism reference. 

Shin did meet Louis on a night at his grandmother’s house when he woke up and saw sparkling light. But Louis didn’t exist yet at that time. It was Rinne. 

FUTURE 4TH PLACE (technically should have been 3rd) IN PRISM KING CUP 

....ahh Shin................ I love you......................

His childhood was just so normal.......... 

(Shine must have been so bored...........)

This answered another one of my long-time questions about Shin. Where was he going? Why would he be out biking at night in casual clothes (not school uniform or sports uniform) in the middle of the night far from home? 

At one point I was so concerned about this (and his birth date not being real) that I wondered if he didn’t even exist before he was biking along the river. But he did. Shin had a normal, happy, real childhood. Ahhh........ 

Christmas live! I already talked about this in my post about Leo’s episode, but yes it’s both an analog for the real life Music Ready Sparking concert, and a big part of the main story on Prism Rush: https://prism-rush.tumblr.com/mainstory

I’m so glad it was confirmed to be canon. (Well, it was already briefly mentioned in Pride the Hero. But still.)

THIS WAS MY QUESTION 

Well, we finally got the answer in the last episode: Because the prism gods found out and changed Louis’ mission. 

But you can kind of understand why Shine was..... pretty pissed off at Rinne/Louis when he finally resurrected in the last episode...................................... to say the least........

So this was weird. Shine said “Rinne” before Louis said his line from Pride the Hero “we’re the same now”, but the subs make it look like it’s the same line....?

This is honestly the only thing in this episode which I think is flat out wrong though. There is some other weird/inconsistent wording of course but I mean seriously FUCK IT. THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT NOW.

Crunchyroll A++++++++++++++++++++++ job this time.  

I didn’t realize it at the time, but..... 

Subconsciously, in the back of my mind somewhere....  at that very moment when Ace says CHOU YABEEE..... he became my favorite member of the Shuffle. 

Just like..... Look at them. They’re all so happy. They didn’t look like this when they were with Joji. The best part about this episode finally airing on TV is that I can finally watch the new Shuffle’s performance on its own (without having to be forced to also watch.... the suffering....). 

I can’t wait for this full song to come out. Even though we only hear it for like 10 seconds it’s actually gotten stuck in my head before. 

And I don’t know if it was intentional, but I think having Ace perform in this episode is very ironic and incredibly significant. Because here we have Ace at his highest point while Shin is at his lowest point. 

Ace doesn’t know about Edel Rose and why they needed to win this. He’s on the top of the world. This is his moment. He’s finally getting to perform. The Shuffle is finally free from Joji. For the Schwarz Rose boys.... Ace is the hero. 

Since I am already on a roll talking about them, I guess I’ll bring up something I forgot to mention in my episode 5 commentary. When Part 2 premiered in theaters, nobody knew what Ace’s color was. People were actually using red, which would make no sense because Kokoro is red. You can’t have two members of the same group with the same color. But gradually people realized, due to the light blue A on his shirt and the light blue wrist band he has in some official art, that Ace is actually light blue. And here it was confirmed.

The interesting thing about this is, up until very recently Tsurugi was light blue. Only since his art for SSS he suddenly became pink. 

So when we first saw that SSS concept art.... was it hinting all along at this very performance? That Ace would become the new center?

I don’t know. 

What do you think?

What?

No I’m not stalling. 

Why would I be stalling? 

Well okay.... I guess.... the next scene we have to talk about is......

..................

................................

Where do I even begin.........................

So, a little while after this was shown in theaters I made a vague post containing my raw emotions about a particular prism show in Part 4:  https://lunawings.tumblr.com/post/184802787153/okay-i-am-ready-to-talk-a-little-bit-about-king-of

So if you read it at the time, I’m sure now you know I was talking about this. 

If you were scared or uneasy about it while watching it on your computer screen, imagine what it was like in the theaters. This performance effected me to the point where I had nightmares for about a week. And I’m not making a joke either. They weren’t the kind of nightmares I could describe, it was just like.... seeing bits and pieces of this show over and over again. I’d wake up panicked and have to watch something on YouTube, anything else, to try and get my mind off of it so I could sleep. 

And like I said in my original post, the thing is, I just cannot get over how good this prism show was....... at accomplishing exactly what it was supposed to do. Which I’m assuming is, to make you feel VERY VERY UNEASY. It is just...... I can’t even..... I......................

And of course. The worst thing. The worst thing was coming to terms with the fact that I.... liked..... it..... ?

Because if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t be thinking about it so much. 

If I didn’t like it, it wouldn’t have been stuck in my head FOR 24 TERRIFYING HOURS after seeing Part 4. 

NO

MAKE IT STOP

GET OUT OF ME

SHINE 

GET OUT OF MY HEAD 

I DIDN’T EVEN FULLY NOTICE HIS SPOKEN LINES UNTIL THEY WERE SUBBED OH MY FUCKING GOD 

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

It’s just it.....

This is so frighteningly real. 

It actually worked. 

I actually felt like Shine had some kind of power over me which lingered for days and days........... 

I guess..... I can understand why Rinne loved him........................

........................

He meant like consecutive jumps. 

Shin(e) is not doing a chain of consecutive jumps like Taiga, Yukinojo, etc. did. Instead he split himself and is doing a whole bunch of jumps at the same time. 

DONT

So, I gotta take a moment to make this clear. Since, to my horror, people were actually referring to him as Shin in this scene in the livestream chat. 

THIS IS NOT SHIN. THIS IS SHINE. 

He used Shin’s body and Shin’s voice. But this was not Shin’s prism show. 

Shin does not perform in this episode. 

SHIN WAS ROBBED

OF HIS PRISM SHOW

BY SHINE 

So, people who don’t actually follow me and/or just stumbled upon these posts may not know this. But Shin is (and basically always has been) my favorite. 

After Part 4 premiered in theaters, I had multiple friends in Japan send me messages to check if I was OK. It was even the immediate reaction of a girl I just met in the theater after I casually mentioned that Shin was my favorite. Like practically grabbing my shoulders ARE YOU OK. 

So. 

Am I OK?

No, but..... yes. 

By that I mean, I am not bitter that Shin does not get a new solo in SSS. In fact, I can recognize the irony, since up until this point Shin was the only Edel Rose boy to perform a proper show. And now he’s the only one who didn’t perform a new solo in SSS. So it’s even. Technically. 

So that is not what upsets me about this episode. What DOES upset me is how this emotionally effects Shin the character, who now thinks this was all was his fault when it wasn’t.....................

I personally have known for a long time that something like this would happen, and have basically been emotionally preparing myself since the Pride the Hero era. No, scratch that, even since the first movie era when I suddenly noticed the dark moon mark on the back of his neck in Over the Sunshine (which took me months). I just had a bad feeling. Something told me that loving this character would someday bring me pain. 

So if I truly loved him, I knew would have to be strong.

If you take the good, you have to take the bad.   

King of Prism SSS premiered in theaters in Japan after Taiga’s episode aired on TV, and right before Kakeru’s. In that gap, I came back a changed person. 

During the week of Kakeru’s episode I was just trying to feel normal again (while all y’all be sending me anon messages about whether we should pave over Africa or not FFS guys......). But from the next week onward was when I began to recover and was starting to want answers. You may have noticed, that was when I suddenly started talking about scores all the time.

Yes, part of it was trying to understand Taiga’s score and hoping it wasn’t lower for mathematical reasons since it later gets cut in half. But the truth is. The actual truth is. All that time I was trying to understand.... this. 

This zero right here has been weighing on me for a long, long time. Every time I brought up scores, it was always there. Looming at the back of my mind. 

For example, when I wrote “ I guess no matter what someone has to be last………………………….. ” in my episode 8 commentary, I wasn’t talking about Yu. 

So. Let’s discuss this. How can someone perform, as actually get up on stage, but end up with 0 karats? Clearly the audience did have a reaction to Shin(e)’s show..... 

But Kakeru said there wasn’t a system error. So it’s not that. 

According to June, if I understood correctly, it was judged based on Shine himself. There was no heart in his show. 

This lead me to question if this could explain some of the other character’s shows. How much does your own heart matter?

(According to this, it’s everything.)

No, I do not know why they still released a periodical update for a discontinued program. I guess there was a miscommunication in the prism IT department. 

(But I suppose it’s possible other Shines still exist in other worlds....? But I really don’t want to touch that right now.)

So, in case you didn’t fully understand the gravity of this, with the way the score is now it is mathematically impossible for Edel Rose to win.

Even if they get a perfect score with their unit show. 

Edel Rose has lost.

It’s over. 

So this was the moment when I forgave my idiot son Taiga.

Even after Shin got a zero, he still blames himself. 

And this may be a terrible way of thinking, but... I’m kinda glad they included this debacle with Taiga. Because it made it so this situation is not entirely Shin’s fault. (Technically it’s not his fault at all. It was Shine. But they don’t know that.) 

They treat it like everyone’s fault.... oh Edel Rose..... 

Also, my favorite moment in this episode and it has nothing to do with Shin. 

Kakeru offers Taiga his support.... 

And Taiga actually takes it. 

Also, I may be wrong but, I think this is the first time we have seen Kakeru cry. And not just in the main series, I mean like in ANY King of Prism media. 

I find it interesting that he doesn’t mention Kouji here. He goes right to Hiro. 

Despite their “rivalry”, he felt Hiro was counting on him.

I can’t believe y’all actually pointed this out in the livestream but it’s so true now that I think about it. There may be intentional symbolism with Hijiri’s hair here. 

There are a lot of scenes where Hijiri is trying to pull his hair back. But in this scene he pushes it FORWARD. 

He’s finally realized what really matters, and why he’s done all this in the first place. 

Oh Shin. Baby. It wasn’t your fault............................

And that’s basically it. For now. We’ll talk about their gay unit outfits next time. 

So to answer perhaps your most burning question: Yes, next week is the last episode. 

Next week is the finale of King of Prism SSS. Yes. For real. 

EDIT: OH MAN. Junta Terashima just confirmed in a Tweet that this is the outfit Leo originally made for Shin’s show. Ahhhhh.......

[stillness-in-green]

Scenes from a Wedding (1/4)

A look at Kudelia and Atra’s wedding, from proposal to planning to the main event.  Expect copious Chad/Yamagi on the side.  Also, the whole thing giving Eugene a big headache.  

It happened the night that Mars held its first independent elections.  

12 Months Out: 

Kudelia, the newly-elected council representative of Chryse, didn’t make it back to the farm until hours past midnight, but was greeted at the door by a giddy Atra, who lifted her clear off her feet in a triumphant, congratulatory hug.

After, they sat at the kitchen table and talked quietly about the events of the evening, up until Kudelia reached over and gently closed her hand over Atra’s, warm from the mugs of steeping tea they’d been nursing.  

“You’ve been with me for so long now,” she said, voice soft.  “Thank you so much.”

Atra drew Kudelia’s hand up to her cheek and smiled against her palm.  “I’d stay with you forever.  You know that.”

“I’d like that,” Kudelia answered, and they sat in silence for a glowing moment until the words hanging in the air caught up to them—Atra first, as she lifted her head in a swift movement.

“Wait—was that—a proposal? Did I just propose to you?”

Kudelia blinked, then her eyes widened as a rising blush colored her cheeks.  “I—you—I think—I mean I suppose—”

A grin spread across Atra’s face, her eyes widening in delight.  She stood up suddenly, planting her hands on the table.  “And did you just accept?!” she demanded.  “You did, right?”  

“I—did.”  Kudelia lifted both hands to her flushed cheeks, staring round-eyed at the table.  “I did.”

“Did we mean it?”  

Kudelia looked up at her, bewildered.  “I—oh. Did we?”

“I didn’t mean it like that when I said it, but I mean it now.  Do you?”  Atra stared at her, eyes fixed and hopeful.  

“I’m—I’m not going to be any less busy going forward from here,” Kudelia dithered, but without looking away.  “Is that…”

“It’s fine.  It’s always been fine.”  Atra reached down and wrapped her hands around Kudelia’s, pulling her up to her feet.  “So…?”

“So…  I…  I think we mean it, then.”  A smile found its way back to Kudelia’s face, hesitant at first, but steadying as her head cleared, the decision still made and plain after the dizzy rush of comprehension.  “Oh, there’s going to be so much to—”  

Atra cut her off with a burst of laughter and a kiss, just as Akatsuki emerged sleepily from the bedroom to find out what all the noise was about.

They spread the news around one person at a time, keeping it private, known only within their particular close circle.  Kudelia had, suddenly, a great deal on her plate and could only spare so much time for wedding planning—it would only get worse when the media found out, but they could put that off for as long as possible.  Thankfully, between Yukinojo, Merribit, and Haba and her husband, they weren’t wanting for close friends with wedding experience.  Of course, different cultures had different customs for marriages, but that was talk for later.  

First, there was the delicate matter of budget.  The Admoss Company was thriving—its new location in the heart of the city was so freshly renovated Kudelia still sometimes caught the whiff of fresh paint—but so much of that income went right back into its own upkeep and that of Kudelia’s other projects.  The new position as representative would, of course, bring with it a new stream of revenue, but that was taxpayer money, and not to be wasted on elaborate ceremonies, whatever the former Prime Minister of Arbrau had to say on the matter.  

No.  The ceremony was to be small, the guest list limited. One of the customs on Mars—all the more so as it drew away from Earth and Earth practices—was that of patrons. First was a mentor couple—a married couple who could help them through the process, serve as witnesses at the wedding, and strengthen their bonds to the community.  Yukinojo and Merribit were the easy and natural choice.  Then came sponsors—people or couples who would provide the financing for any one aspect of a ceremony.  Of course, the overlap between “close friends” and “friends with significant disposable income” was a narrow one.  

The Kassapas volunteered to do double duty and provide any lighting or sound systems that might be needed—after all, no few of the attendants from their corner could double as emergency repairmen.  Haba and her husband, with their successful store, took responsibility for catering, be it funding or providing to be determined.  

Kudelia wooed Makanai away from his grousing about their finances with the promise of final say on flower arrangements.  

And so on.  

Next, of course, was the matter of the wedding party…

“Atra and I talked for a while about how to handle it.  We didn’t want too big a group, or half the attendants would be standing up there with us.” Kudelia paused, watching Chad’s reaction, but he just nodded, one side of his mouth quirking up into his rueful little smile at her joke.  She coughed, shifted her weight where she leaned against her desk, and continued.  

“You all—our old friends—meant so much to us; we couldn’t even think about not having any groomsmen in the ceremony just because we don’t have a groom.  So in the end, we decided we’d just both pick a First Maid and a Best Man.”  

Another beat of silence, as he went on looking at her in uncomprehending interest, a focused stare and slightly raised eyebrows.  Oh, dear.  Thank goodness she’d decided to do this with no one else in the office. Though knowing Eugene, he probably had his ear pressed to the door outside.  

She tilted her head, and smiled, and tried to deliver the words as gently as possible.  “Chad, I’d like it to be you. 

It took him a moment, even with all the lead up.  His expression changed in increments, like a stuttering video stream.  First the small upturn of his lips went slack, then his eyes widened.  His mouth opened, closed, and opened again before he managed to find his voice.  “M-Me?”  

Kudelia let her smile widen encouragingly.  “If you’ll accept, yes.”  

“But…” he faltered, looking down at the floor.  “I mean, wouldn’t Eugene be better?  He’s with you all the time, and—and I don’t…”

Kudelia hesitated, her etiquette warring with her empathy.  He’ll feel better if he knows, she decided.  He’d think he was stealing it, somehow, if he thought I went to him first.

“I did ask Eugene,” she admitted.  “He said his being my bodyguard is more important to him than being my Best Man.”  

The color was climbing into Chad’s cheeks now, visible in the room’s clean white lighting.  “I don’t know how,” he blurted out, and raked through his hair with one hand, clenching it into a too-tight fist at the back of his neck.  His eyes darted across her carpet, her shoes, the base of her desk.  “I—”

“It’s all right,” she said, and reached out to take his free hand, which looked barely a moment away from crumpling in the fabric of his pantleg.  She laughed, just a little, and said, “No one knows how to the first time.  I don’t know how to get married, but—here I am doing it anyway.”

She folded both of her hands around his, and smiled encouragingly at him when he finally looked up through his bangs to meet her eyes again.  

“We’ve asked Mr. Yukinojo and Miss Merribit to be our mentor couple—they’re going to help us through the whole thing.  And you’ll have Yamagi, too.  He was Best Man for Mr. Yukinojo, remember?  I’m sure he can talk you through anything you have to know.”  

Chad’s hand twisted between her clasped fingertips, then finally relaxed, enough so that she could lift it up between them.  

“Please say yes. Of—”  She faltered now herself, her intended words tightening her throat with returned memories.  

Fumitan’s weight pressing her down against pitted concrete. Orga staggering away as if muscle and bone were just a mobile suit, and his wounds nothing but a limiter to be discarded.  

Sometimes, even years later, she’d catch herself leaving a space between herself and Atra, as if slim shoulders and a mussed head of dark hair could still fit themselves in.

“Of the ones who are left,” she managed, “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have.”

He stared at her, his eyebrows tangling together, his mouth drawing into a taut line.  Finally, silently, he nodded, and with an uneven smile she let her gaze fall back to the floor.  

“Good,” she breathed, and pulled one hand away to dab lightly at her eyes.  

They both jumped as the office door opened, Chad turning to put his full width between her and the entrance, but just Eugene slipped in and closed it behind him.  He gave the two of them an unimpressed look, one eyebrow raising, and crossed his arms over his chest.  

“You said yes, right?” he asked Chad.  “No one’s gonna have to come lecture you into it?”  

Chad’s head ducked down, and his hands folded around his elbows.  “I said yes,” he answered, tone defensive, though his voice sounded a bit strained.

“Good,” Eugene said, and turned his attention to Kudelia.  “I assume Miss Cucubita said yes, too.”  

When Kudelia nodded, he went on.  “So who’d Atra pick?  She’s not going to try to ask me too, is she?  I’d feel bad if I had to turn you both down.”

Kudelia brushed a lock of her back behind her ear, steadying herself before she spoke.  When she did, it was with a calm smile. “She’s going to ask Dante to get her in touch with Miss Azee.  And then she’s going to ask Dante.”  

Eugene absorbed her first statement with a nod, then rolled his eyes broadly.  “Dante?  Really? He’s gonna be impossible about it, she knows that, right?”  

“She’s choosing Dante? He’ll love that!”  Chad turned to face her again, and the rare grin stretching across his face chased away the last clinging threads of her old griefs. 

Kudelia chuckled. “I know.  She promised to record it and send me the video.”  

Every reasonably-sized Martian city had its meeting halls and rentable rooms and private lounges, and Chryse was one of the largest.  The wedding party wanted something attractive but defensible, affordable but discreet. In the end, rather than spend weeks Kudelia did not have free on deep research, it seemed simplest to reach out to the same venue that had held Merribit and Yukinojo’s wedding—Cyllene. Cyllene was a southern-Europan-style lodge built on a stretch of privately-owned park on the southwest border of Chryse, the hilly land thickly covered in trees.  Its owners had some old ties to Teiwaz Merribit had declined to divulge, but the location itself was quiet, tucked away from the city’s bustle.    

They settled on early September for the date—Mars celebrated its liberation day in August, so better for a politician for her wedding anniversary to fall afterward.  With advice from Haba and some preliminary investigation on the Ariadne network, Kudelia and Atra put together a list of wedding necessities and considerations, after which Kudelia hugged her fiancée tightly, authorized Chad to use her banking account for shopping, and effectively vanished with her fellow newly-elected representatives as the Martian Union held its first official session.

“Delicious!  How’d you find out about this place?”  Atra cut another slice off of the enchilada and maneuvered it onto a fork.  Another thread of steam rose from her plate, carrying a strong smell of chili sauce and refried beans.  

Chad smiled at her enthusiasm, still smoothing a napkin open across his lap before making any attempts at the sizzling array of vegetables and thin-sliced beef waiting beside the stack of tortillas on his own plate.  

“One of the ladies at the office likes it,” he explained.  “They usually rotate on choosing lunch.”  

Atra nodded, chewing heartily, and swallowed.  “Does Kudelia like it?” she asked, giving the food—swimming in almost too much sauce and melting cheese for the plate to contain—a suddenly calculating glance.  

“She normally works through lunch.  I guess she likes it about as well as anything else.”

“That sounds like her.” Atra clucked her tongue, but smiled. “How about you?  I guess you must, if you chose here for lunch.”  

“Mm.”  Chad ducked his head, scraping a few coiling slices of sautéed onions onto a tortilla.  “It’s—it doesn’t cost much, but there’s a lot to choose from,” he offered.  The office ladies had teased him at the start, for picking the first thing he saw when someone put a menu in front of him.  Places like this, that had so many choices you almost had to pick something at random, otherwise it would keep everyone waiting, were his favorite.  And it all tasted really good too, which was a plus.  

“So it’s never the same thing twice.”  Atra nodded in approval.  “I wonder if I could find a cookbook for this style...  It’d be nice to try something new at the farm.”

“You can find a lot of recipes on Ariadne.”  Back when he’d first gotten his apartment, he’d almost come up short on rent the first month because he didn’t know how to cook, so had been eating nothing but take-out and single-serve meals.  Yamagi had noticed the state of his refrigerator just in time, thankfully. “They’re not too hard if you just make sure you have everything before you start.”  

“I’ll go look, then!”

He spent the next few minutes eating in silence, just humming or nodding at what seemed like the right times when Atra commented on this or that part of the meal—the ingredients, the cost, the availability.  It was—comfortable, at least as comfortable as he ever felt out in public.  If Atra felt at all out of place, she didn’t show it, looking perfectly at home against the background bustling of the restaurant. How long had it taken her to learn that—how to always look like she was exactly where she wanted to be?  

Well, it wasn’t like he could ask.  So he just watched, and smiled, and tried to relax as best he could.  

“Where are we going next?” she finally asked, after a long drink of what was left of her water. 

Chad pulled his data slate—well, the office’s, but his to use for the office, anyway—out of his coat pocket and thumbed it on, skimming down through the list of errands he and Atra had gotten through before breaking for lunch.  

“Another flower shop,” he answered at length.  

“Another one…” Atra sighed.  “Do you think this one will get all the questions right?”

“Lets hope,” Chad answered with an awkward laugh.  The two of them had spent most of the morning driving from one shop to the next, going through a list of pre-approved questions and demands before, each time, hitting on something the shop couldn’t provide or didn’t understand.  

Mr. Makanai was an amazing person, but there had to be a better way to find a “good enough” florist.

Kudelia emerged from her political hermitage with a weary triumph and a new title—Chairwoman of the Martian Union.  Amid the flurry of media attention that followed, one blessing: going to a seamstress to have her measurements taken could easily be taken for the Chairwoman expanding her wardrobe in preparation for an interplanetary spotlight.  And if she was never actually seen out shopping for clothes—Cucubita and Atra took the numbers, and most of Kudelia’s input on wedding dresses happened via video conference and browsing through Atra’s impromptu photos back home—well, perhaps the Chairwoman was merely having things ordered.  

To Cookie and Cracker’s amusement, Atra rhapsodized about the beautiful white dresses on models from all over the system, ballgowns and mermaid-tail dresses, extravagant trains on Earth princesses that took four men to carry, and plunging backs exposing every scar ever acquired by the most ambitious of Jovian mob wives.  She then disappointed them—and, they complained afterwards, every girl who dreamed of becoming a princess (or a mob wife)—by very pragmatically deciding on a party dress.  White, at least, but gleaming satin rather than ornate lace, and girlishly short rather than ballroom-sweepingly lengthy.  At the end of the day, Atra was still a practical woman, and her wedding dress might, she hoped, justify its expense by seeing some more wear down the line at the sort of dinner parties she imagined Chairwomen’s wives might sometimes find themselves invited to.  

Kudelia, who’d used up a lifetime’s worth of patience with talk of maidenhood and sacrifice when she was first being hailed as the Maiden of Revolution, decided on purple, a dark, elegant column of a sheath gown, just long enough to pool behind her when she walked.  A gleaming ribbon accented its high waist, tied in a small bow beneath her bared shoulderblades that left loose ends trailing freely down to the floor.

Largely for their own amusement, Cucubita and Atra used the outings to buy Kudelia some more everyday clothes—or “frumpy,” to use Eugene’s word when he first saw her wearing them.  Loose jeans, shapeless sweaters, clompy boots like Atra wore—anything so that Kudelia could bind up her hair, throw on some sunglasses, and let Atra take her out to a restaurant that didn’t cost ten thousand galars or more for a meal for two.

The year went on, weeks since the proposal slowly turning into months.  Several times, Atra left Akatsuki to play with the orphanage kids and came into town to meet up with Cucubita after-hours.  The two would then head to Kassapa Factory to meet with Merribit and use the office LCS line to contact Azee.  

Yamagi, who had already been through this once before, moved his inventory lists and work orders to the far corner of the office and generally kept his opinions to himself.  

“He won’t care,” he said, when Cucubita asked him one evening about what sorts of colors or style Chad might like to wear.  When she frowned at him, he frowned back, unrelenting.  “I’m not saying it to be mean—but he wouldn’t even know what to say if you asked him.  You’d just make him uncomfortable.”  He scoffed, and added, “And Dante will care, but he won’t have the first idea what he’s talking about, so you shouldn’t ask his opinion either.  Just pick things that will look nice on them.”

So basic black and charcoal gray it became, the better to set off Azee’s brilliant sapphire blue—Echo grinned with delight when she heard that the Maid of Honor could choose her own dress color—and Cucubita’s vivid yellow.  

On the last outing to make down payments on her dress, Atra was fitted for shoes—golden heels with narrow ankle straps and no toe.  She spent most of the transaction in wide-eyed silence, pacing around the shop in careful, wobbling circles.  It was, she told Chad in the car on the way back to the office, the first time she had ever worn heels, and the first moment the wedding began to feel real.  

And then, of course, came the matter of the honeymoon.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to leave Mars or not,” Kudelia said, toying absently with a lock of Akatsuki’s hair.  She sighed, and Atra mentally predicted her next words, as certain as if they were being read out of a script.  “I’m sorry this is all happening at such a bad time.  I—”

“It’s fine.  It’s still fine.”  Atra leaned in and pressed a kiss to her fiancée’s temple, grinning to herself at the subsequent flush of pink coloring Kudelia’s cheekbones.  Akatsuki took no mind, sandwiched between them on the couch and paging through the data slate’s list of options for sight-seeing on Mars, stopping now and again to linger on pictures that caught his eye.

“What do you think would be interesting?” Atra asked, resting her chin lightly on Akatsuki’s sandy head.  “I’ve never seen Mars outside of Chryse, so…”

“Well…  There’s the memorial in Utopia, Hellas has a few museums… If we wanted something more relaxing, Mount Elysium—”

“Ah.”  The short sound came from their laps, and they both looked down.

“What are those?” Akatsuki stared at a picture awash in blue and brightly colored—fish, Atra realized after a moment’s squinting. She hadn’t seen one since…

“Those are called ‘fish,’ Akatsuki,” Kudelia answered, leaning in closer.  “A kind of animal that—”

As Akatsuki turned a curious look up to Kudelia, Atra began giggling.  It only got worse when they both stopped and turned to stare at her, and her hands clasped over her face as she struggled to hold back open laughter.

“Mikazuki didn’t like them,” she managed.

“Dad didn’t?” Akatsuki’s direct blue stare still scalded her with memory, sometimes, but that particular memory of Tekkadan—her boys, her silly, too-young boys—was too warm and too absurd to hold any sting.

“You don’t remember?” she asked Kudelia, tucking Akatsuki closer into her lap.  “It was that first time on Earth.  Mr. Makanai had sent that huge flounder out to celebrate us getting there safely.”

Kudelia glanced away, one line wrinkling her brow.  “Mikazuki—said I didn’t have to eat it,” she said slowly.  “He didn’t like it?”

“He wouldn’t even try it,” Atra sighed.  “Hardly any of them would.”  She ruffled Akatsuki’s hair.  “You’d be braver, right?  If I ever made fish for us again.”

Akatsuki’s mouth gathered into a determined pout.  He nodded, and looked down at the image on the slate again, glaring at it fixedly. “I want to go here.”

“I—don’t know if we can actually eat fish there or not,” Kudelia said, skimming over the description on the screen.  “It’s an aquarium—I’ve never been to one.  It does look interesting, though.”  

“In Hellas, huh?” Atra took the slate from Akatsuki and scrolled down through the page, full of jewel-tone photos of plant life and animals she’d never seen before.  “That’s pretty big, right?”

“The biggest,” Kudelia confirmed.  “It was the first settlement humans built on Mars.  I’m sure it’s full of things to see.”

“What’s their representative like?” Atra asked, then grinned at Kudelia over her shoulder as her fiancée sighed plaintively.  “Right. Forget I asked.”

“He didn’t like that they didn’t get the parliament building.  A visit might help,” Kudelia conceded.  She hummed and settled her weight in against Atra’s shoulder, her gaze losing focus.  

Atra chuckled, resting her head against the back of the couch, and tapped through the data slate to begin looking at other things to do in Hellas.  

(TBC)

[prism-rush]

King of Prism Road to Shiny Seven Stars 2 Main Story translation

Good Afternoon! The Steamy Hot Spring Tag Battle

Since this is the second event in the Road to SSS series, you may want to read the first one if you haven’t yet:

Road to SSS 1 Main Story

Translators Notes: You also may want to watch episode 39 of Rainbow Live if you haven’t yet. (Even if you’ve never seen Rainbow Live before. Just watch it anyway trust me ahah.) I LOVE this event. Nothing happens in it. Haha no that’s not true. This event actually sets up the plot for the entire Road to SSS series of events. But before and after that it’s just a bunch of connecting scenes of the boys being boys. And that amazing ending!! It’s classic and even funnier than I remembered it being. This event is the kind of filler I could only dream of being able to see in the anime someday. Oh, and rock/paper (without scissors) is a way of making teams. That wasn’t a typo ahah.

(One morning, at the Edel Rose dorm…)

Leo: *yawn* Huh… it’s not even 5 am yet…? 

(This keeps happening again and again lately. At first I was happy to think that maybe I’ve become a morning person.) 

But waking up before my alarm goes off every morning has been making me feel tired during the day… Ohh.. And since I haven’t been sleeping well it’s been drying out my skin. 

(Oh! Now that I think of it, I saw a special in a magazine about skin problems! It was called… Chronic Skin Trouble! Beware the Turning Point…) 

C-Could it be!? No, No… it can’t be… I’m sure… probably… maybe…. 

O-Okay! Since I’m up anyway, I think I’ll go for a walk.

(Outside)

Yukinojo: Oh…? It looks kind of sickly… 

But I suppose as its caregiver that’s my own fault…

Leo: Yuki-sama! Good morning. You’re up early.

Yukinojo: Leo. Good morning. You too.

Leo: I just woke up on my own for some reason. I haven’t been sleeping well lately…

Yukinojo: I see… Things have been hectic with the new school year. Maybe you built up some stress without realizing it?

Leo: Now that you mention it… I think you may be right, Yuki-sama. Are you tending to your bonsai tree?

Yukinojo: Yes. However, it’s not going too well. But I guess a bonsai can’t be built in a day…

Leo: ….? 

(I don’t really know what he’s getting at, but Yuki-sama sure seems unhappy.) 

Don’t worry! I’m sure Mr. Bonsai Tree will come to understand how much you care about him.

Yukinojo: Leo… Heheh, thank you.

Leo: N-No problem. It was nothing.

Minato: ~ ♪ Yup, almost time for harvest.

Leo: Minato-san! Good morning!

Minato: Saionji? Good morning. You’ve been waking up early recently.

Leo: Yeah, I have. For some reason I just can’t sleep well… *yawn*

Minato: If that’s the case then I’ll whip you up some black tea with freshly picked herbs! That will wake you right up.

Leo: Wow, this turned into my lucky morning! Thank you so much!

Minato: I’ll start making breakfast as soon as I’m done watering the garden.

Leo: Yay!

(Inside)

Kakeru: Hmmm… as usual the price of oil is high…. If the price of materials keeps rising it will drive up the price of commodities… Someone has got to do something before it’s too late….

Leo: (Wow…! Kakeru looks so serious when he’s reading the paper in the morning!)

Kakeru: Hm? What is it, Leo-kyun? If you keep staring at me with those pretty doe eyes of yours, you’re gonna make me blush ♪

Leo: Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to stare!

Kakeru: It’s no biggie. Would you like a glass, Leo-kyun? It’s veggie juice. They say a morning’s dose of vitamin C is good for your skin…

Leo: I’ll take it!

Kakeru: …Slow down there. Are you feeling a little sleepy? It looks like you’re starting to get bags under your eyes–

Leo: WAH! D… Don’t look…!

Taiga: …….

Kakeru: Hm? Was that…

Leo & Kakeru: Taiga-kun!? / The delinquent!

Kakeru: He’s always the one who sleeps in the latest. What’s he doing up so early? I smell something fishy….

Leo: And carrying such a big bag with him… He’s not just going out for a walk, is he….

Taiga: ….. *glances left and right*

*tip toe, tip toe*

Kakeru: Leo-kyun, what are you doing?

Leo: Ah! (I automatically hid myself like I was doing something sneaky!)

Taiga: ….Okay. I’m not forgetting anything am I?

(At around the same time, in the mountains somewhere)

Louis: Wow, look! All the green scenery is so beautiful!

Alexander: Yo. Louis Kisaragi. I’m gonna take a nap. So wake me up when we get there. Got it?

Louis: Hey, Alec-kun. What kind of a job do we have today again?

Alexander: Whaa? You forgot?

Louis: Eheh. Just kidding. I’m looking forward to the event today.

Alexander: ….. As usual I have no idea what’s going on in that head of yours.

Staff: Louis-san, Alec-san, we’ve almost arrived!

Alexander: Zzz….

Louis: Alec-kun, time to wake up. We’re getting close.

Alexander: …O.. Oh yeah… Hm? That mountain….

Louis: …Is that steam rising up?

Staff: Yes! This area is famous for hot springs!

Louis: Hot springs….

(Meanwhile…)

Kouji: Are you two ready?

Kazuki: All set! Hiro, don’t forget anything.

Hiro: Wait a sec, Kazuki. Why are you only telling me that.

Kouji: Ahah. It’s a little exciting to think the three of us are actually going on a road trip.

Kazuki: Haha that’s right. And this time we’re headed to…

Hiro: Ohoho. Well let’s get on the road already. To that oh so familiar place… 

The Rainbow Hot Springs!

(Back at Edel Rose)

Taiga: (The waterfall where Kazuki-san did his training… If I go there, then maybe I too…) 

I don’t have much money on hand. But as long as I can stay on the bus for as long as possible I should be able to get there somehow. 

And I’ll make up the difference with walking. Determinated walking! 

Kazuki-san! You’ll see! Someday I’ll catch up to you.. and then… I’ll overcome you!!

Leo: Hmm hmm hmm….

Kakeru: Leo, what’s wrong? You keep pacing back and forth.

Leo: There’s gotta be something going on with Taiga-kun! I just know he’s hiding something!

Shin: Kakeru-san, Leo-kun, good morning! *yawn*…

Yu: *yaaawn* Is breakfast ready yet…?

Kakeru: Shh! Be quiet you two!

Shin & Yu: ???

Leo: Could it be that Taiga-kun… is running away from Edel Rose!?

Kakeru: Running away!?

Shin: WHAAAT!? Taiga-kun is running away!? Since when did that happen!?

Yu: *yaaaawn* ..... Who’s running away?

Leo: Anyway, we have to stop him!!

(Concerned with Taiga’s suspicious behavior, the group secretly followed him…)

Yukinojo: A bus terminal… It seems whatever he’s sought out to do, he won’t be sticking around here…

Shin: But it doesn’t look like he’s getting on a bus to Aomori…

Minato: So he’s not going back home then.

Leo: C-Could it be he doesn’t want to be around us anymore…?

Kakeru: No, I doubt that…

Yu: I’m hungryyyy.

Yukinojo: Oh. It looks like he’s getting on a bus for Hida.

Leo: After him! Quickly!!

*sneaky sneaking*

Yu: Hey. If we get on the same bus as him he’s bound to see us.

Shin: W-We have to think fast or we’re gonna miss it!

Yukinojo: Okay then. Let’s use these old newspapers!

Leo: Mask your face!

Kakeru: Whatever you say… This is starting to get kinda fun.

(A few minutes later)

Taiga: *snoring*

Minato: He fell right asleep as soon as he got on the bus. It must have been tough getting up so early for him.

Yu: ….. We’re practically right next to him. How is it he still hasn’t noticed….

Kakeru: Out delinquent has got his cat-like “anti-social shield” blocking out the world around him running at full capacity ♪

Yu: …..

Shin: B-But anyway, it’s a good thing we were able to get away with this without being noticed.

Leo: I wonder how far he’s really planning on going…

Minato: We’ve really been riding for a good while now…

Kakeru: It’s been maybe about five hours.

Yu: I’m starving you guys.

Shin: Where are we headed to? I’ve never seen this place before…

Taiga: *snore* *sn…* …Ah! (Oh crap! I’m gonna miss my stop!)

Leo: Oh, Taiga’s up! He woke up and it looks like he’s getting off the bus!

Shin: This is…

Leo: Rainbow Hot Springs….?

Yukinojo: Hot springs! How excellent!!

Leo: I guess Taiga’s just coming for a bath….?

Minato: Secretly in the mountains, by himself…?

Bus driver: Everyone off who’s getting off! Door closing…

Yu: Hey hey hey we have to get off the bus too!

Kakeru: Hold up!

Leo: W… Wait for us!

Yukinojo: Leo, stop pushing me–

Minato: Ah, Tachibana now you’re pushing me–

*THUMPTHUMPTHUMP*

Shin: AHH no we’re falli–!

Everyone: …Ouch….

Taiga: ….Oh?

Everyone: ……Oh.

Taiga: What are you guys doing here!?

Leo: Taiga-kun! How terrible of you to abandon us all without saying a word!!

Taiga: WHA!?

Minato: Kougami! If something is troubling you, just talk and we’ll listen!

Kakeru: And if you’re looking for hot springs, I could recommend a way better place than this dump!

Taiga: ….What are you guys even talking about….

Shin: Um… well… see we were all worried about you running away from home and…

Taiga: Huh?

Everyone: (Ah, he said it!)

Taiga: Um, guys. I have no particular reason to run away.

Kakeru: Called it!  

Yu: So it was all Leo’s misunderstanding?

Leo: B… But! Then what were you doing sneaking out so early in the morning?!

Taiga: Uh. About that…

Leo: About what?

Taiga: Well… the truth is… 

………..

Everyone: …….?

Kakeru: Oh ho! Taiga-kyun is turning red!

Minato: Just like a bright red apple!

Yukinojo: Do you have a fever?

*touch*

Leo: W-W-Woah! He’s burning up!

Shin: Ahhh! We need to call a doctor!

Taiga: LAY! OFF!!!

Yu: Look, he’s got plenty of energy. So what’s the deal? You must have some sort of reason for coming this far out into the mountains.

Taiga: Yeah. 

T…. This is the place where Kazuki did his training for the Prism King Cup….

Leo: Wow! So you heard about this place from Kazuki-san?

Taiga: …No, I just heard a rumor about it… So I decided I would try training here too.

Leo: So that’s it… Ahh! But you gave me such a fright! Sorry we all jumped to conclusions….

Taiga: It’s fine… Don’t sweat it.

Leo: But now we’ve all selfishly tagged along behind you and gotten in your way…

Kakeru: Leo-kyun, calm down. What Taiga really meant was “Thanks so much for worrying about me!” So no worries ♪

Taiga: ….Nobody asked you.

Yukinojo: But if you only had told us you were going to a hot spring, I could have brought my personal toiletries….

Kakeru: Yuki-chan, that’s what you’re upset about?

Minato: Well, well. Since we’re all here anyway, how about we all have a dip?

Yu: As long as we can get some food already!

(Inside)

Shin: Wow…! This is… 

A five star hotel?

Yu: It does say that. The sign does. …Just the sign.

Yukinojo: Five… star… hotel…

Minato: The walls have cracks…

Taiga: ……

Kakeru: Oh my. It seems “Five Star” is just the name….

Leo: Ahah… But it’s kind of a delightfully mysterious place, isn’t it. This is fun.

(Despite their many concerns and various questions, the boys put away their luggage and headed to the hot springs…)

Minato: Wow… So Kazuki-san did his training way out here, huh?

Kakeru: Ahah. Check out at the seven kappa statues. They’re really funny-looking!

???: Good afternoon, everyone!

Shin: Huh? That voice…. !? Hiro-san!!

Kazuki: Woah, how’d you end up all the way out here, Taiga? You sure came a long way!

Taiga: KAZUKI-SAN!!!

Kouji: Look time, no see everyone.

Minato: Kouji-san! You too?

Yu: Whaaa!? What are you guys doing here…

Hiro: We came in when we heard some familiar voices. Eheh. How’s the water?

Kakeru: To think we’d run into all three members of Over the Rainbow in a place like this…

Taiga: Kazuki-san, why are you all here?!

Kazuki: Um. Uh yeah, about that…

Taiga: About what…?

Kazuki: Well, um, the thing is… Kouji and Hiro said they just really really wanted to see the place where I did my training! Ahahah!

Shin: …….

Yukinojo: …….

Leo: …….

Minato: …….. ?

Yu: …….

Taiga: Something’s off….

Kakeru: (…They’re hiding something.)

Hiro: Oh come on now. Let’s not harp on the details and just enjoy the bath together! …Ahhh… this place is just like I remember it. It hasn’t changed a bit.

Kouji: But we sure have. Things weren’t quite so relaxing the last time we were here.

Hiro: Ahaha… those old times…

Kazuki: Yeah! And to think that the three of us would find ourselves back here again! And that we’d come all the way here by Kouji’s car!

Everyone: Car?!

Yu: What?! Since when did you have time to get your license?!

Kouji: The genius songwriter Kouji Mihama doesn’t need to take a driving test more than once. ♪

Yu: Hmph! I could get a license easy-peasy. I could get one right now if I wanted to.

Minato: Oh… I’m sorry. Could it be the three of you actually came here to spend some quality time alone….?

Hiro: Well, that was the plan. But a hot spring with our beloved underclassmen is even more fun!

Kouji: That’s right. There’s nothing like getting naked to bring everyone closer together!

Kazuki: We haven’t all gotten together like this since Shin and Taiga’s entrance ceremony. Let’s take this opportunity to have a good time together!

Everyone: All right!

(Later)

Minato: Phew… That hot spring sure hit the spot.

Leo: There’s rainbow face lotion! “Make your skin shine in seven colors!” What does that do… !?

*clink, clank, clink, clank*

Yukinojo: Oh…!

*clink, clank, clink, clank*

Taiga: ……

Kakeru: Chan-Yuki, that massage chair is sure making some ominous sounds…!

Yukinojo: Hm? Yeah. But it feels so good. I’ll let you use it next.

Kakeru: Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll pass ☆

Yu: *gulp, gulp* ….Ah! There’s nothin’ like milk after a hot bath!

Kazuki: You bet! Fresh, chilled milk from a glass bottle is the best! Taiga, you want some?

Taiga: Okay! *gulp, gulp*

Kazuki: Hey, slow down! If you chug it all in one go you’ll choke!

Shin: Ah, Yu! Hold on a sec, you have kind of a milk mustache going on….

Yu: S.. Stop it! I can take care of it myself!

Kouji/Hiro: *smiling like idiots*

Shin: There, I got it!

Yu: …..Hey. What are you guys looking at?

Hiro: Huh? Kouji did you see something?

Kouji: Nothing, nothing. How about you?

Yu: Grrrr…. I can’t stand you guys.

Kazuki: ….Oh, it’s almost time. Where’s the remote control… Ah, here it is.

*click*

Shin: …..A press conference?

Tanaka (on TV): Tanaka.

Shin: Oh! I remember that guy from the Prism King Cup….!

Hiro: Ah, the announcement is finally starting! His opening statement just now  was so gracious and dignified.

Shin: Huh? (What opening statement… was that it…? But I thought all he said was his name…?)

Tanaka: Tanaka!

Over the Rainbow: WHAT?!

Tanaka: Tanaka….!

Kazuki: A street style….

Tanaka: Tanaka.

Hiro: Duo tournament….

Tanaka: TA-NA-KA!

Kouji: Is about to be held!

Everyone: WHAAAAAAT?!

Shin: How can you tell?!

Hiro: Everyone here’s going to participate, right?

Kazuki: Picking who your duo partner will be is gonna be really important!

Kouji: I wonder who we’ll all end up with.

Everyone: H… Huh….

Taiga: (A street-style duo tournament….) U.. Um… Kazuki-san… who are you gonna partner with…?

Kazuki: Me? I… uh… *side glance*

Hiro: Heheh. This sounds fun.

Kazuki: ….I haven’t decided yet. There’s still a lot to consider before making that decision.

Taiga: …Oh… I see.

Shin: Hiro-san, you’ll partner with Kouji-san right?

Hiro: Me… No, not me. I’m the definitive idol. So street-style is, well… It’s important for me to keep up my image.

Yu: Hah! If you’re scared of the competition, just say so!

Hiro: ….!!

Shin: I wonder who I could partner with….

Taiga: Hpmh. Well, whoever I end up pairing with, I’ll be aiming to win.

Yu: Don’t forget about me! When I get under those big lights, you’ll all know… the power of Zeus!

Yukinojo: Street-style, huh… (This is a field I never thought my path would cross through. But this may be a good opportunity to break out of my shell.)

Kakeru: It looks like everyone’s rearing for a fight!

Minato: Oh yeah, what about you Kazuo?

Kakeru: ……. Well, it doesn’t really matter much to me. ♪ Oh! What about you, chan-Leo?

Leo: M-me?

I’d love to join. But I don’t think anyone would stand a chance at winning with a partner like me…

Kouji: There’s still a lot of time to think things over before the tournament.

Hiro: Yes indeed. It’s not like all of us are forced to participate.

Kazuki: …….

TV: And this concludes the announcement by President Tanaka. Next up is the evening news….

Kazuki: Well, since the announcement is over, shall we go?

Kouji: Ah, that’s right.

Taiga: Kazuki-san, go where…?

(Later)

Kazuki: Okay, we’re here!

Taiga: This is… the waterfall where Kazuki-san did his training…!

*POUR*

Taiga: …Yikes! Kazuki-san, you actually trained under this ferocious downpour!?

???: HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Kouji: Hm? There’s someone there?

Shin: Alexander-kun!?

Kazuki: Ohhh! Look at him go!

Alexander: Wha? That voice… Pfft. Him again. How dare he just appear out of nowhere whenever he feels like it. Well, whatever. Right now I need to keep total concentration.

HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Yukinojo: That primitive roar could nearly part the waterfall…

Yu: What an amazing aura…

Kazuki: Alec will be in the duo tournament for sure… Now I’m really looking forward to it.

Leo: (As I thought… Something like that would probably be impossible for me…)

Taiga: Hmph. He’s got nothin’ on me. I’m not gonna lose to the likes of him!

Hiro: …..

Kakeru: Hiro-san?

Hiro: …Eheh. He’s really something else. That Alec.

Kouji: (Hiro…)

Kazuki: ……

*grumble*

Kakeru: Oh?

Minato: S-Sorry, that was me….

Kouji: Hehe. No need to apologize. That’s our signal it’s time for dinner, isn’t it?

Hiro: Indeed. I think it’s about time we headed back to the hotel.

(And so they returned to find a very colorful meal waiting for them…)

Minato: These are some ingredients I’ve never seen before. What’s this…?

Kouji: Apparently it’s local vegetable from the mountain. It turns a bright, yellow color during cooking.

Minato: Wow…! So that’s its natural color. And the taste… it’s a bit bitter, but it pairs well with the sweet sauce.

Kouji: You’re right! It would be great to try in a western-style dish with olive oil!

Minato: Wow…! And then you could add garlic and chili peppers to make something like aglio e olio…

Shin: Wow! It’s practically shining! I’ve never seen rainbow colored cooking before!

Yukinojo. Neither have I. So they call this “rainbow fish” I see.

Kakeru: Oooh! And this egg custard is delish!

Leo: And the welcome sweets were so good!

Taiga: ….. (Is this sashimi… even edible…?)

Kazuki: *chew chew* Just like I remembered! The food at this place is amazing!

Taiga: ………… *chomp*

 It… it IS!

Yu: Ack…. (Rainbow-colored steamed fish paste… !?) *slide*

Kouji: Oh? How odd. I thought I already ate the fish paste.

Yu: Hey, Kouji! If you don’t learn to clean your plate like me you’ll never grow big and strong!

Kouji: …..Oh, is that how it is. In that case I’ll let you have my serving too.

Kazuki: What great food! I’m stuffed! Oh yeah, this place has table tennis, right?

Hiro: You’re full of energy tonight. Okay then, I’ll take you on. Shall we have a tournament?

Kouji: What are you going to give me when I win?

Hiro: Oh what’s this? The genius songwriter Kouji Mihama thinks he’s already won.

Kouji: But you were thinking the same way weren’t you?

Kazuki: Ahaha. You guys never change. What about all of you? Will you join is too?

Taiga: I’m in!!

Leo: I… I’d like to join.

Yu: I’ve only just finished eating so I’ll hang out here to digest.

Hiro: I guess you just have no confidence in winning, then? If you’re scared of the competition you should just say so.

Yu: WHA……!

Hiro: Well, the appeal of playing table tennis in yukatas after a bath is better understood by adults, isn’t it? I guess you’re a little young…

Yu: Huh… !? Hmph. Well if you really insist on losing to me that badly, I’ll grant your wish. Just don’t cry about it later.

Hiro: Ehehe, you think you can beat me?

Kouji: Hiro, you’re such a kid.

Kazuki: Look who’s talking.

Minato: I’d like to spend a bit more time researching these recipes.

Kakeru: And I think I’d like to just relax after eating such a big meal. So I’ll see you guys later!

Yukinojo: *chew, chew*

Shin: *chew, chew*

Kouji: Shin and Yukinojo are still eating. I think we’ll be fine with six members for table tennis.

(And so the group relocated to the game room.)

Kazuki: …Hm? They only have one table for table tennis.

Hiro: What should we do? We could make a bracket and play one-on-one.

Kouji: But if we do that then a lot of us will be sitting around waiting… So how about we play 2 on 2 doubles, and the other two can referee?

Kazuki: I agree. Let’s do that.

Kouji: Okay, I think we’re ready then. I’ll explain the rules just in case… Usually you just lob the ball back and forth to each other. But hot springs table tennis is different…

Yu: …Oh? (What have I gotten myself into.)  

Kouji: At the perfect opening, when your very fiber of being screams “NOW!” you must seize the moment to return the ping-pong ball… The bond between you and your partner will be the one thing that decides your fate. 

THIS IS IT! THE SECRET RULE TO HOT SPRINGS TABLE TENNIS!

Kazuki: That was a “rule”?

Yu: In the end, we’re still just hitting the ball back and forth though aren’t we?

Hiro: I guess so. Well it’s not like this is an official tournament or anything. We might as well play along.

Kouji: Well then. I’ll be everyone’s cheerleader.

Yu: Uh, could you not.

Kazuki: Ah, well then, I think I’ll cheer along with Kouji. Okay, Taiga! Show ‘em what you got!

Taiga: Alright!!

Kouji: Let’s make teams with rock/paper. 3, 2, 1….

Kazuki: Oh ho. These teams sure are interesting…

Yu: Ugh. Whaaat. I’m stuck with Hiro…. ?

Hiro: I guess you’re probably not ready to defeat me anyway.

Yu: GRRRRRR…..

Leo: And I’m with you, Taiga-kun. Okay! Let’s do this!

Taiga: You’re goin’ down!

Kouji: Okay, let’s get started. Game on!

Yu: Take this! You bow to the name of Zeus!

Hiro: Ah! Yu, don’t take your eyes off the court!

Yu: I don’t need your help!

Leo: (Okay, next turn I’ll..)

Taiga: Ah!

Leo: Eek!

Yu: Hiro!

Hiro: I got this!

Taiga & Leo: …..!!

*roll*

Kouji: The Hiro/Yu Team are the winners!

Hiro: Thanks! It was all because of you, Yu! (…Yu might actually be a good partner for the duo tournament.)

Yu: Heheh! Yeah you better be grateful! (Being on a team with Hiro was a lot easier than I thought…?)

Kouji: …Heheh. It seems like the two of you may have discovered something new.

Kazuki: Taiga, Leo, don’t sweat it!

Taiga: …….

Leo: I’m really sorry, Taiga-kun. I…

Taiga: It’s not your fault.

(Meanwhile, the boys who chose to remain in the banquet room made an interesting discovery of their own…)

Shin: Hmm? Kakeru-san, what’s this thing?

Kakeru: Oh hoooh! I have had quite the experience with these ♪

Shin: Huh….!?

Kakeru: And this song lineup is giving me goosebumps!

Shin: Songs…? Could it be this is a karaoke machine?

Kakeru: YES! How nostalgic. This really is a hot springs hotel vacation.

Minato: Oh, oh. And here are the mics.

Kakeru: Thank you Minatocchi! Well, that settles it. We’re having a karaoke tournament!

Yukinojo: Karaoke tournament?

Kakeru: Yes yes. For this tournament the winner is whoever has the most fun! First up I think I’ll sing a duet with Yuki-chan! ♪ Shall I choose the song?

Yukinojo: Sure. I’ll leave it to you.

(And so began the impromptu karaoke tournament….)

Yukinojo: Yes, for your love~♪ I’d climb a distant mountain~♪

Kakeru: Yes, for your love~♪ I’d cross the deepest sea~♪

Kakeru & Yukinojo: Now… Fate will bind us… ♪

Shin: Wow… Yukinojo-san and Kakeru-san are really good at this!!

Minato: 100%! They got a perfect score!! Kazuo has a real knack for karaoke.

Kakeru: Ahaha. I spend a lot of time around older men.

Yukinojo: I have had similar experiences. I’ve been exposed to a lot of enka music.

Shin: I want to hear more!! Sing me your favorites!!

Yukinojo: Oh, really? In the case I’ll pick the next one.

Kakeru: Okay♪ We’ll keep on romancing the crowd.

Yukinojo & Kakeru: ~~~~♪

Minato: Their duet is really in sync. It really warms the heart… It’s almost like I can see the ol’ homeland floating before my eyes….

Shin: Minato-san?

Minato: Zzz….

Shin: ….He fell asleep sitting up. (Ah. I think I’ll take a bathroom break…)

(Shin leaves.)

Shin: What a nice night. I think I’ll go for a walk before I head back.

A duo tournament huh? I wonder who I should enter with.

“Shooting”? In a place like this?

Hm. The last time I tried shooting was…

???: Good evening.

Shin: Yeah it is such a nice eve–W-WOAH Louis?! What are you doing here?!

Louis: Hi. I had a Schwarz Rose job nearby.

Shin: Oh, I see! Did you come by yourself?

Louis: No. Well I am alone now, but.

Shin: I see….? (He had a Schwarz Rose job… I wonder if Alexander-kun came to do the same job?)

Louis: Shin, you look really good in your yukata.

Shin: Huh–really? Thank you! You look really nice too, Louis!

Louis: Ehehe. I’m so happy.

Shin: Oh yeah, Louis! Let’s try shooting together!

Louis: Huh?

Shin: I’m sure it will be super fun!!

Louis: ….Sure.

Hehe, I feel like I’m burning up.

Shin: Oh?! What’s wrong? Are you getting sick?!

Louis: The opposite. Having you here with me, I’ve never felt better. Thank you.

Shin: I don’t really know what you mean but…. You’re welcome?

Louis: Hehe. Well, will you teach me how to shoot?

Shin: Ah! Sure! Let’s go then! (I’m from Edel Rose and Louis is from Schwartz Rose.) 

(But… If only I could do a duo show with Louis, I think it would be really fun.)

(While everyone else was enjoying the hot spring hotel…)

Leo: …..*sigh* A street-style tournament huh… And a duo tournament… I can’t enter by myself… (In the table tennis match Taiga-kun and I weren’t in sync at all… and never mind that, it’s a street-style tournament. For someone lacking in manliness like me it would be impossible…) 

(But what does manliness even mean to me anyway–)

*POUR*

Leo: Huh? Where am I… 

(I was so lost in thought I just kept walking without paying attention to where I was going.)

…I ought to get back before I make everyone worry.

???: HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!

Leo: That voice… Yamato-san? (He’s still here training!? Could it be he’s been here all this time…?) He’s got a firm goal in mind, and he’s working so hard for that goal he believes in… 

Yamato-san is so masculine and cool. 

I’m nothing compared to him, I… I wouldn’t even be worthy of kissing his feet…. *sniff*

Alexander: ………..What!? Dammit…..! 

AHHHH!!!!

*SPLASH*

Leo: Huh?

*silence*

Leo: Huh? Huh? Did he just fall into the waterfall basin… 

AH! There’s no time to waste! I have to go and save Yamato-san!!

*SPLASH*

Leo: *gasp* *panting* Heave….. HO!!!

Alexander: ….Ug……

Leo: Phew… Somehow I got him out. 

Is he still breathing…? Okay, he’s good. But his eyes aren’t open yet. 

Yamato-san! Yamato-san, stay with me! Yamato-san!!

Alexander: …Ugh… W… Where am I….?

Leo: Ah! Yamato-san!! Can you see me!?

Alexander: Huh….? You’re one of those… Edel Rose…..

Everyone: Leo! / Saionji! / Leo-kun!!! / Chan-Leo!!!

Leo: Everyone! What are you doing out here…?

Yu: That’s our line.

Yukinojo: We’re out here looking for you because we were worried sick about you, of course!

Leo: *gasp* Yuki-sama….

Kakeru: We heard from the delinquent that you seemed down after the table tennis tournament.

Leo: From Taiga-kun?

Taiga: …..Sorry…. about what happened… at the table tennis tournament….

Leo: No, I’m the one who should apologize!

Minato: Well anyway, we’re all just so glad you’re safe.

Shin: We’re so glad!!

Leo: Everyone…

Kouji: By the way, why are the two of you soaking wet?

Leo: Ah! Oh yeah Yamato-san! It was crazy! He fell from the waterfall and–

Hiro: What?! He did?!

Kazuki: …..Wait. Leo, does that mean you–

Leo: Hm?

Anyway I’m just glad Yamato-san is OK now!

Kazuki: (Leo carried Alec through that rough current… by himself?!) 

Haha! Leo, you’re amazing!

Everyone: (….! Leo really saved Alexander all by himself!! Wow!!)

Alexander: ….Uuh… that laughing voice….. 

KAZUKI NISHINA! SHOW YOURSELF!

Leo: No, Yamato-san! You need to get some rest!

Hiro: …… Hehe. I guess nobody can compare to the true Leo. (Things are sure gonna get interesting in the street-style duo tournament…)

(One morning a few days later)

Everyone: Let’s eat! *chew, chew, chew*

Kakeru: Oh ho? Chan-Leo you seem to be in high spirits today.

Leo: Eheh. For the first time in a long time I had a full night’s worth of deep sleep! And thanks to the hot springs, my skin is tight, most, and smooth! ♡ (I got myself all worked up over a lot of things along the way, but...) 

I am gonna be me, the way I am! That’s the best thing to be!

Taiga: (That jerk Alec… He pushed himself to his absolute limit…) I have to train even more!

Kazuki: Taiga, you’re on fire! I won’t lose either!

Hiro: The duo tournament, huh….

Kouji: Hiro?

Yu: Oh what’s this, are you gonna participate after all? Don’t worry, I’ll let you lose gracefully when the time comes.

Hiro: I’m sure you would. But I’m the definitive idol, so…

Yu: Ugh, that again?

Hiro: (….If I do participate, it would have to be as the true me.)

Continue to Road to SSS 3 Main Story

[prism-rush]

Road to SSS 10 Event Summary: Last battle! KIZUNA BEAT CLIMAX FINAL!

Sorry this is so late. I honestly only finished reading the card stories yesterday. As I mentioned earlier, we skipped over several tournaments in between event 9 and 10 and how Yu/Taiga and Joji/Alexander got their acts together is only told in the card stories. (Yukinojo/Kakeru is just a brief flashback, but unlike the other two groups they didn’t have any drama after forming their unit so.) I managed to read everything but Kouji/Minato’s KPR stories this time, but all of their main drama is in the main story anyway. 

So, let’s start with the pre-event stuff. The stuff from card stories....

Kazuki: Kazuki is watching a TV show taking about the KIZUNA BEAT CLIMAX and the recent popularity of street style as he reflects on how well things have been going with Hiro lately. He doesn’t mind that Hiro is wearing the mask as long as he is enjoying performing. 

Kazuki decides to go out to his old practice spot for the first time in a while but finds it’s been blocked off by a wire fence. After asking one of the street dancers, he finds that with the popularity of the street style has also come accusations that street dancers are barbaric criminals, so they have had to put up fences or walls protect their territory. Kazuki regrets that he’s been so busy training for the duo tournament that he had no idea this even was going on. Kazuki tries to defend the street style at an interview, but the interviewer insists “But nobody knows what’s going on behind those walls!” 

Finally, Kazuki decides he’s had enough and destroys all the walls overnight with a prism show, vowing to protect the street style himself.  Hiro: Hiro overhears some street dancers being told by academy-style dancers they should stay behind their walls. He approaches the scene where he’s recognized as the academy-style Prism King. He tells them all that street-style and academy-style doesn’t matter, so they should all dance together. This resolves the situation, but as Hiro leaves he thinks what he’s just done is ironic because up until not long ago he was the one who had issues with the street style. He is thankful that Kazuki helped him break free.  

Hiro meets up with Kazuki wearing his mask to practice their show. They have decided to practicing in public is better for some reason since practicing at Edel Rose might give away Hiro’s identity. Kazuki mentions that he would have liked to participate with Hiro as Hiro, but performing with a masked man has its own special charm. Just as Hiro agrees that he’s enjoying the chance to be someone different, there is a camera flash. The paparazzi has spotted them! Kazuki tells Hiro to run as he chases after the paparazzi to unsuccessfully try and get the photo removed.

Kazuki apologizes for not getting the photo back, but Hiro says it’s alright. Hiro admits he was being careless. Of course people would be after his identity as Kazuki’s partner, since having Kazuki as a partner attracts a lot of attention and makes them a favorite in the tournament. They decide to ask Hijiri if he can get them another place to practice separate from Edel Rose. 

When Hiro goes to see Hijiri at a later date, Hijiri shows him the magazine article with the paparazzi photo and discusses how the world wants to know who Two H is. Hiro worries that he’s causing trouble for Kazuki and Hijiri, but Hijiri assures him that Kazuki is enjoying performing with him and Hijiri supports Hiro’s decision as well. But. He wonders how Hiro really feels about it. 

“Where is the real Hiro Hayami now?” 

Hiro can’t answer this question. But Hijiri drops the subject and says he’s looking forward to Two H and Kazuki’s show. 

Hiro keeps Hijiri’s words in mind and wonders if he’s indeed not being true to himself. Although he feels he probably should have taken on street style as Hiro Hayami, at the time he was sure being Two H could open doors that Hiro Hayami couldn’t. But now he realizes he was wrong. Hiro Hayami should be able to do anything Two H can do. But Hiro’s conflict runs deep... He decides he has to make a decision before the show.

Taiga/Yu: Both Taiga and Yu are itching to be in the tournament but neither has made a move yet. Taiga sees there are only two chances left to qualify and starts to panic. He notes that one of the last tournaments is in Aomori and thinks he would most like to win in his hometown. Taiga also frets over who Two H is and how he can perform so well with Kazuki. 

 Meanwhile, Yu thinks over how he really enjoyed his time with Taiga when they performed at an event together previously, even though they didn’t talk much. Yu wants to enter the duo tournament with Taiga, but knows Taiga would much rather have entered with Kazuki so he’s not sure how to approach the situation. 

Later he notices Taiga asking the others if they know who Two H is, and wonders if he should just tell Taiga and end the misery. But then, all of a sudden, Yu realizes he can use this to advantage. He can invite Taiga to be his duo partner using the angle that if they reach the finals Taiga can get closer to Two H and find out his identity. And so, this is exactly what Yu does. And Taiga agrees. 

But Taiga agrees on the condition that Yu has the give the street style all he’s got, and he worries if Yu can keep up with him. But Yu is ready. All powerful all knowing Zeus and all that.  

When they actually start practice however, Yu finds it’s harder than he thought. Still, his will to beat Hiro keeps him going, and it’s Taiga who tells him to take a break so he doesn’t hurt himself. During their break Yu says he once thought Taiga “wasn’t interested in anything other than Kazuki” but he was wrong and that Taiga actually cares about other people as well. Taiga is like WHAT and threatens to ramp up Yu’s practice even more, but Yu is ready for anything. The two continue on their playful banter into the night. 

Taiga and Yu win the 6th tournament in Aomori. 

Alec/Joji:   Despite the fact that the two have not practiced together at all and have no plans to perform together, Jin is not having that. He enters Joji and Alec in the Chugoku tournament, threatening to not let Joji on stage again and turn Alec’s motorcycle into scrap metal if they don’t comply.  

But, somehow, despite their drama off stage, as soon as they perform their jumps sync perfectly. This grants them the win in the 7th tournament. 

Meanwhile Alec is stewing over Kazuki advancing to the finals, and how he thinks performing with a masked man is a mockery and goes against Kazuki’s whole freedom shtick. He wants to destroy their stage. 

Main Story:  As tension builds for the KIZUNA BEAT CLIMAX, so does the power of the street style. But at the same time, so does the resistance to the street style as well. So, street stars must protect their territory by building walls... 

As it stands the tournament results are as follows (in chronological order): #1 Kyoto: Sakyo/Ukyo, #2 Sapporo: Leo/Nikkanen, #3 Fukuoka: Two H/Kazuki, #4 Tokyo: Shin/Louis, #5 Ehime: Yukinojo/Kakeru, #6 Aomori: Taiga/Yu, #7 Chugoku: Joji/Alexander.

The Edel Rose boys excitedly watch each of the pairs being introduced by DJ COO on a TV show. All except for Minato, who sadly realizes he’s lost his chance... 

Due to Kouji’s busy schedule the two haven’t been able to practice much. But more than anything, Minato blames himself. 

He thinks back to when Yukinojo and Kakeru won the tournament in Ehime. Despite neither of them being much into the street style, they practiced tirelessly and had an amazing victory. Minato feels it’s far too late for him to catch up now. 

But on the outside, he’s ready and willing to keep on a smile just support the others from the sideline like always.

Or so he thinks, until Kouji shows up. 

Kouji explains to Minato that they still have a chance. There is actually one more same-day tournament they could enter to snag the last slot in the finals. (Because what are rules.) 

But seeing Kouji’s determination only makes Minato feel all the more like it’s too late and he’ll only hold Kouji back. He doesn’t answer. 

Later Minato heads to Kouji’s studio. He tells Kouji that he still wants to perform a duo show with him, but no matter how much he practices he just can’t catch up to Kouji. He doesn’t know what to do. 

Echoing the Kouji/Hiro scene from Pride the Hero, Kouji asks Minato if he really came out here to tell him this and immediately challenges him to a battle.

Kouji completely destroys Minato. 

After changing to a snowy background, Kouji asks if this is how Minato plans to win the duo tournament and how he can he be this lacking in confidence. Kouji tells Minato there is no way he can win in this state, and he doesn’t want to see his face anymore. 

Later, Minato is trying to buy ingredients for dinner but walks into someone and cracks all the eggs. But when he returns he finds that in the meantime Kouji had come to the dorm to quickly make some soup for everyone before going back to the studio. 

While Minato wonders what he should do now he sees a TV program about a particular vegetable which can deepen the bond between two people. He decides he must do whatever he can to get it for himself and Kouji. He heads to the mountains. 

He finds the vegetable... on top of a high cliff. But he won’t give up. Just as he’s about to reach it however, the cliff side gives way and he falls. But a hand reaches out to him. 

It’s Kouji! 

“Don’t let go!” says Kouji. 

Minato asks how he got here but Kouji says they’ll talk later as he pulls Minato up. Minato apologizes for causing Kouji more trouble, but Kouji just asks him if he wants to perform a prism show. 

“What?! Here...? And with me? Really?”

“Did you forget already? I want to perform with you. We’re going to be in the duo tournament, aren’t we?”

Kouji repeats what he once told Minato on a beach in northern Hokkaido. 

All of a sudden Minato feels like he can do it. He thinks it must be due to the mountain vegetables, but whatever the reason, Minato suddenly feels lighter and falls in sync with Kouji. The two become one.

Fast forward to the final tournament day.... 

While waiting for Kazuki, Hiro overhears some academy-style members of the audience saying they have been enjoying the show, but they hope street-style stays behind its wall after the tournament is over. Kazuki arrives and mentions his failed interview where he was pressured about how he felt about academy style. The two decide to just focus on cheering for Minato and Kouji’s show for now.

Minato cook up a storm on the stage using the ingredients of love and their bond with each other. 

And so, having sealed the win in the same-day qualifying tournament, Minato and Kouji can now perform in the finals with the others as the 8th group. 

And so the final tournament begins.... at the base of Mt. Fuji! 

The order of performance is decided by the number of IIZE collected so far. So first up is current 8th place: Kouji/Minato, followed by 7th place: Sakyo/Ukyo, then 6th place: Leo/Nikkanen, 5th place: Yukinojo/Kakeru, 4th place: Taiga/Yu, and 3rd place Alexander/Joji. 

While watching the above performances Hiro and Kazuki notice how divided the audience has become, as they have started to reject the groups who are perceived as more academy-style. 

Next up is 2nd place: Shin/Louis, however they are nowhere to be found. Their time runs out, ending in forfeit. Leo sadly remembers thinking that Louis didn’t look so good the last time he saw him. (Before Louis said he could only perform if it was with Shin, but it seems at this point he’s too weak to perform at all....) Leo and Nikkanen exchange their worries, but the others assure them that Louis will be alright since Shin’s with him and he’s probably getting some much needed rest.  Joji is pleased to lose a rival. 

The audience jeers the absent pair however, seeing their forfeit as the result of them being too academy-style. 

Back in their dressing room Kazuki vents about how segregated things have become. No matter how many walls he breaks down, he can’t seem to break down the walls around peoples’ hearts. He tells Hiro they have to change things with their prism show. Hiro agrees.

The current scoreboard is as follows: 6th place Leo/Nikkanen, 5th place: Sakyo/Ukyo, 3rd place: Yukinojo/Kakeru, 3rd place: Kouji/Minato, 2nd place: Taiga/Yu, 1st place: Alexander/Joji. 

Two H and Kazuki are the only performance left. But just as the two are about to take the stage they are stopped. 

By Alexander. 

Alexander says his beef isn’t with Kazuki this time, but with that masked jerk over there.

“You’re Hiro Hayami... aren’t you?!”

(Alexander is only the second character to figure this out on his own after Yu, and he did so by counting the Edel Rose crowd to find Hiro the only one missing. Brilliant.) 

Alexander calls Hiro out as a fake. Hiro says nothing as Kazuki pulls him towards the stage. But once they reach it, he doesn’t move. The audience stares at the static Two H and wonder if he’s “gone academy” as well. 

Hiro removes his mask. 

The audience is blown away to find that the mystery member of the top ranked street duo and the academy-style Prism King Hiro Hayami are one and the same.

Kazuki is surprised at Hiro’s sudden impulsive action as well, but once Hiro tells him to start the show he’s on board. Hiro yells out that street-style and academy-style do not matter as the pair finally perform as their true selves. The crowd screams. 

Not only are Hiro and Kazuki the KIZUNA BEAT CLIMAX champions, but their final, spectacular academy/street-style jump was powerful enough to re-activate Mt. Fuji.

However, what comes from the eruption is not lava but....

Rei Kurokawa!

And....

Another masked man!

WHO COULD IT BE

Rei and his masked partner won’t accept Hiro and Kazuki’s win without a fight and challenge them to a battle right there and then. 

Jin throws the YMT boys into the fray as well hoping to get some exposure, followed by Alexander looking to settle the score, followed by Taiga going after Alexander, and one-by-one all the others until it’s an all-out brawl. 

But Kazuki somehow manages turn it all around into one big prism show instead. 

THE END

Thoughts: So yeah. I like how they had Kouji/Minato as the main artwork for this event, but then slipped in Hiro/Kazuki KPRs and made the event song Heart of King..... As if they thought they were being soooooo sneaky in hiding the winner ahah. 

Yeah, I wasn’t surprised. I predicted Hiro/Kazuki would win even before they formed a duo and I was right. I don’t remember discussing it here, but I also predicted the Shin/Louis duo wouldn’t work out in the end and it seems I was right about that too... ........ .................. nnn.................

Even though @macorna sent me Alexander’s PR story (thank you!) I still didn’t get much out of it. Alexander and Joji complain about being a duo, they are forced to become a duo, they do pretty darn well anyway coming in 2nd place in the finals. Moral is.... *shrugs* Oh well.  

I like how they needed to end the first Minato/Kouji scene early just to give Minato a reason to seek Kouji out at his studio. And how Kouji needs a snowy background to tell someone he doesn’t want to see their face. 

I felt kinda bad for the twins in this one. They had very few lines, didn’t seem satisfied with their score, and Sakyo didn’t get a chance to talk to Kazuki again. I’m hoping the next event will explain how/why the twins and Nikkanen end up at Edel Rose, since the SSS anime episode 1 confirms (briefly) that they all are canon in the movie/anime universe and they do.

[prism-rush]

Prism Rush event Road To SSS 9 Summary: Sending my feelings to you! The Strawberry Moon of Fate!

So this story is mostly Shin/Louis because the main story is mostly Shin/Louis (basically none of the other characters are in it almost at all unless you scout their cards....) and I have translated a huge chunk of it already. So I wasn’t going to write a summary, but I thought about it and... actually I guess there is still a lot to talk about. 

Let’s start from before the beginning (Shin and Louis’ KPR stories):

The Edel Rose boys talk about how Shin’s been doing a lot of TV shows and appearing in a lot of magazines lately. Shin says he was inspired by everyone working so hard for the duo tournament, so the others quickly ask him again if he really has no plans to participate. Shin says he’s enjoying doing the things he’s already doing. 

Before Shin heads out to a magazine interview and photo shoot, Yu casually mentions that Louis hasn’t been seen in public much lately even though he’s not less popular or anything. Shin doesn’t respond, but spends the rest of the day at the photo shoot/interview thinking about Louis and how much he wants to do the duo tournament with him. As he’s leaving his job he receives a strawberry moon pair necklace that makes a full moon when it’s put together.  

On his way home he passes by the river and remembers how he did a duo show with Louis there once (! I’m not sure if he’s remembering his “dream” or what....). Shin decides he wants to give Louis the other half of the necklace when he sees him. 

Earlier, at Schwartz Rose....

Louis is lamenting about how he’s too tired to go out and meet Shin, when he overhears the Shuffle’s conversation in which Joji is moaning about having a dream where he was performing a duo show with Alexander. Mondo jokes about it being a prophetic dream but Joji doesn’t find it amusing. Louis rushes over to ask what “prophetic dream” means and upon learning you can dream something that becomes real, Louis decides this is the way he will be able to meet Shin again. 

Louis then runs through several different methods of trying to get himself to dream about Shin but most are unsuccessful. Finally, after leaving his bedding out in the sun to make it smell more like Shin, he does have a dream with Shin in it. But it doesn’t seem to be the type of dream he wanted to see... ? (We never find out exactly what it was,)

Later Louis sees the song “gift” playing on TV and decides he has to sing it for Shin. He also sees a weather report about the upcoming “Strawberry Moon”, a pink full moon in June, which is to said to make the person you love fall in love with you if you see it together. Louis writes Shin a letter....

 Louis and Shin finally meet on the night of the Strawberry Moon and Louis drags Shin up the the rooftop of the Prism Show Association building, where a certain historical event happened in Rainbow Live....

I have translated their conversation in full, so please read it below:

https://prism-rush.tumblr.com/post/182933120900/shinlouis-except-from-prism-rushs-road-to-sss

After this long scene Shin finally tells Hijiri that he wants to pair with Louis, and to Shin’s surprise Hijiri doesn’t particularly have any problem with it. He’s just worried about what Jin may say. But back at Schwartz Rose Jin actually agrees, but only because.... it’s a chance to see Louis’ show again..... (....)

Meanwhile after weeks of not practicing together Alexander and Joji have finally reached a breaking point and decide they are just too different and cannot work together. Joji’s only reservation in breaking up with Alexander is that he’s of course worried about what Jin will say, but as long as Alexander takes the blame he’s fine. Alexander agrees and storms off. 

After breaking up with Joji, Alexander wanders to the stadium where they held the Prism King Cup and reminisces about how he came there as a kid and cried when Rei Kurokawa didn’t shop up and Jin became Prism King. He laments about having to miss out on a street style tournament and wonders how Rei Kurokawa felt when he decided not to participate in the Prism King Cup. 

Like I mentioned before, it seems like something or someone is following Alexander..... but who or what I do not know.....? It’s not clear in the main story.

There’s also a subplot only featured in Yu and Hiro’s cards about Hiro trying to dodge being Two H in a radio interview, and Yu (the only Edel Rose boy who’s figured it out) going back and forth with himself about if Hiro really is Two H or not and why. Yu is also inspired by Hiro/Two H into wanting to win the KIZUNA BEAT CLIMAX and he wants to talk it out with Taiga, but he’s got a lot of insecurities to deal with first.... 

Since announcing their duo, Shin and Louis have caused a huge storm in the prism show community since the 2nd place and 4th place stars in the Prism King Cup pairing together is no small potatoes so the media is jumping all over it. Shin returns home to find the other Edel Rose boys jumping on him too, especially Leo who now finally knows Shin lied to him. So Shin finally apologizes, but Leo takes it surprisingly well since he’s been really enjoying his time with Nikkanen nowadays. The actual reason Leo was mad at this time Shin was because Shin hid it from everyone and they only found out on the news. Leo and the other boys support Shin.

The Tokyo KIZUNA BEAT CLIMAX arrives and Shin finally gives Louis the other half of the moon necklace before the show. Shin wishes on the Strawberry Moon that the show will become a wonderful memory for the two of them, and Louis agrees but he wishes for something else as well. (...Shin’s love.....)

They come out singing “gift” to everyone’s surprise (there is a notable reaction shot from Hiro). The Amamoto twins are at the show as well (the only time they are seen in the main story) and they find they underestimated at how well Shin and Louis would be able to perform together even though they are a new duo. Both Shin and Louis wish they could live in this moment forever, but alas the show comes to an end. With Shin and Louis winning the Tokyo KIZUNA BEAT CLIMAX.

After the show, the Edel Rose boys discuss how Shin/Louis have joined Leo/Nikkanen, Kazuki/Two H, and the Amamoto twins in advancing to the finals. Yukinojo/Kakeru and Minato(/Kouji) who haven’t performed yet, talk about how they have to practice even harder. Most the boys go down to the practice rink leaving Yu and Taiga, who apparently still haven’t officially formed their group yet, awkwardly left behind. Taiga decides to go for a run, and Yu runs after him.... and that’s where it ends. 

There may or may not have been a lot of crazy foreshadowing in this one... who knows..... 

I thought the pairs were final with this event, but it turns out Taiga/Yu still haven’t gotten their shit together and I think the Joji/Alexander break-up might be permanent? I think the next event being Alexander/new character might be a real possibility...... 

[prism-rush]

Bursting Impact! Rap Battle Royale, Brief Event Summary

Just a basic summary of the main story w/out any cards. (I used all my stars in the Shin/Louis birthday gatcha, and there are still two SSS events coming up this month.... so.....)

Some boys are having a rap battle in the street. Alexander walks by and comments on how they’re nothing but small potatoes. Yukinojo and Leo walk by and Yukinojo thinks they may have to go break up a fight, but Leo explains to him what a rap battle is. The two of them think they might like to try it sometime. 

When Yukinojo and Leo return to Edel Rose they are quickly ushered into another room by Kakeru and Hiro. Taiga is there too, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, until their final member shows up... Kazuki!  

Hiro explains they have been offered to appear on a prism star special of DJ COO’s Rap Battle Royale show. The show will consist of them on the streets walking around, becoming locked into a rap battle whenever they meet. The judging will be done by the Juuouin Group Prism Watch’s “rap battle mode”. Also if you are silent for 5 seconds into your turn, you automatically lose. Last one standing wins. Hiro (MC. HERO) and Kazuki (MC. 24/7) are commentators, and Yukinojo (MC. Yuki-Rap), Kakeru (MC. CHA LA), Taiga (MC. KOOgami), Leo (MC. L.E.O.), are joined by Joji (MC. Joy-G) and Alexander (MC. ALEXX). 

The tournament begins. 

Both Alexander and Yukinojo set off to try and find Taiga. (Everyone thinks he’s going to be easy to beat. Including the twins watching at home from their TV.) Taiga’s main goal is to just make sure he looks cool in front of Kazuki, no matter who he meets. Kakeru decides to just survey the area first. Leo and Joji both decide to hide for as long as possible. Joji is having Ace follow him around in the bushes or something because he can’t be bothered to try and rap for himself, and he can also use Ace to cheat by having him look out for whoever is coming. (Their Prism Watches have a radar to tell when someone is near, but they don’t know who is who.)

But this kind of backfires when, while trying to run away after Ace warned him Alexander was near, Joji runs straight into Leo instead and a battle begins. But instead of trying to dis Joji, Leo’s raps are all friendship and kindness as he worries that Joji seems to be sweating a lot and talking to himself. His rap is so wholesome that neither Joji nor Ace can take it, and Ace just gives up and starts rapping about replacing Joji in The Shuffle. Somehow their act isn’t revealed, but Leo wins. 

Alexander and Kakeru end up in a battle. Kakeru does his best but loses pretty quickly. 

Yukinojo finds Taiga. Yukinojo’s raps don’t effect Taiga that much just based on the fact that Taiga has no idea what Yukinojo is even saying. Taiga wins. But they are both good sports. Taiga thanks Yukinojo and moves on. 

Alexander and Taiga finally meet.  After several rounds they tie over and over again. But finally after gradual deterioration Taiga just runs out of vocabulary, panics, and does a prism jump. But this is viewed by the system as a forfeit. Alexander’s lexicon gives him the win. 

Finally the only two left standing are Alexander and Leo. 

Leo starts by complimenting Alexander on how manly he is and how he wants to be just like him, but Alexander sees through Leo’s game and ends up throwing manly compliments right back at Leo. Leo is so flattered and love struck he launches into a prism jump too, making Alexander the winner.  

Alexander’s only comment about winning is “of course”. 

But MC. 24/7 ends the program by spinning a rhyme combining all the styles of the contestants together (he uses part of Taiga’s rap as well, to Taiga’s delight), causing all eyes on Kazuki at the end. The end. 

[prism-rush]

Prism Rush Main Story Episode 6 Chapter 4

Reach Out to Everyone! The Rainbow Countdown #4

First Previous Chapter

Translator’s Notes: I’m really happy with the timing of this post, since it’s only a few days until New Year’s Eve! Let’s ring in 2019 with the Edel Rose kids!

Shin: Everyone! Welcome to our New Year’s Countdown concert!! 

We’re all so happy to celebrate both the ending of an old year and the beginning of a new one with you! 

A lot of things happened in this past year for us at Edel Rose... But! The only reason we were able to make it this far was because all of you cheered us on! Today I want you to feast your eyes on the collaboration of all seven of us, and where we will all go from now on! 

Um... In other words... I guess what I’m trying to say is.... We want you all to have lots and lots of fun! 

Leo: Wow! Shin-kun! What a great speech! 

Yukinojo: To think he was so nervous just a few minutes ago... 

Kakeru: As I thought, Shin-chawan really comes through when it counts. I should take notes. 

Yu: Shhh, he’s coming back. 

Shin: Aaah... I was so nervous! Taiga-kun, batter up! You’re on! 

Taiga: Just you wait! I’m about to heat up the stage! 

Shin: Oh wow! Taiga-kun’s performance is starting! 

Kakeru: Ooooh! Taiga-kun’s really put his all into this! It’s getting hot in here! 

Leo: Wow, you know what, is it just me or does it actually feel warmer...? 

Shin: It’s like a sauna... 

Minato: Kougami’s passion has taken over the stage and actually started to heat everything up... ?!

Yukinojo: Even though he hasn’t done a prism jump, to think he could create such an atmosphere... That’s Taiga for you.

Taiga: All right! I scored a home run! Whoever’s up next better not cool things down, OK?

Leo: All right! 2nd batter, Leo Saionji here! I’ll do my best! 

Shin: Leo-kun good luck! Wow, he’s so cute! 

Yukinojo: Leo’s performance has entranced the audience as well.

Shin: It really has! All our guests are trying to imitate his dance moves! 

Yu: His “call and response” is perfect too! 

Yukinojo: Leo is gifted with a charming nature that draws people to him. He’s using his potential to the fullest. This is truly a performance that only he can pull off. 

Leo: Wow! That was so fun! Yuki-sama you’re up next!

Yukinojo: Yes. I’ll be sure to try my best not to do anything to cool down the stage you two have so graciously warmed up for me.  

Leo: Good luck! Finally Yuki-sama is on stage! Wooah! He’s so wonderful! 

Shin: His has a special charm different from yours, Leo-kun... It’s as though you can’t take your eyes off him for a second. You feel like you can barely breathe.... He just draws you right into his performance.... 

Leo: You can really feel the strength of his spirit can’t you?

Yukinojo: Ahh... That felt like it was over in an instant. Who’s up next?

Yu: I am! And you guys better play close attention!! 

Minato: Huh, Yu’s [sic] hand is so cold... 

Leo: His other hand is too! Could it be you’re nervous?

Yu: N-No! Zeus is all knowing and all powerful! I’m going to dominate this stage! 

Shin: Woah! He just entered the stage with a huge leap! 

Taiga: I guess he blasted away all his nerves with that one reckless jump! 

Minato: But he seems to have gotten a hold his musical sense! 

Yukinojo: It’s as though he can freely weave the song to his liking, as though he’s using the music itself to enchant the audience.

Kakeru: Woah! Lil’ bro you really did it! Good work! 

Yu: *panting* Of course... all in a day’s work for Zeus.... 

Kakeru: Well, I’m up next. Be back soon! 

Taiga: He’s a carefree as always... 

Leo: But I like Kakeru-kun’s song. 

Shin: Me too! I can’t get it out of my head... 

Minato: But I think the best part of Kazuo’s performance is his smile!

Leo: Eheh, you’re right. He has such a big smile on his face as he’s singing. 

Shin: So everyone knows how much fun he’s having! 

Kakeru: Well that ends my turn! Who’s next I wonder?

Minato: I am. Well, here I go. 

Yu: The atmosphere sure changed all of a sudden. Do you think the crowd will dig it?

Yukinojo: Don’t worry. Look. 

Shin: Wow... It’s like everyone’s wrapped up in Minato-san’s warm voice... 

Leo: It just makes me feel so relaxed. 

Yukinojo: Minato’s voice is like a warmth surrounding everyone in the audience. 

Shin: You can really feel Minato-san’s kindness... 

Minato: Phew. I built up a sweat. Last is... 

Yu: Shin! Go for it! 

Shin: Okay! Here I go! This is a stage everyone built together.... It’s up to me to turn things up another notch!

Leo: Aah, it’s so bright! 

Yukinojo: That’s Shin for you.. his radiance is extraordinary... 

Taiga: Shin’s performance is... amazing.

Yu: To think the song I wrote could entrance the audience so much...!

Minato: Ichijo’s strong emotions and his straightforward heart are... Aaah! His power is so strong I can barely stay on my feet! 

Kakeru: That’s our Shin-chawan...! He’s really on a whole other level.

Taiga: Shin’s song has captured everyone’s hearts... Woah. They can’t take their eyes off him... 

Shin: Phew, it’s over. Okay everyone, back to the stage! 

Leo: Okay!! 

Shin: Okay, now we would like all of you in the audience to enjoy this next part along with us! 

Kakeru: Right when this “Happy New Year” hits we want to celebrate with all of you! 

Leo: Let’s all countdown by dancing together! 

Taiga: The steps are easy so I’m sure you’ll learn them quickly. 

Minato: Okay, everyone. Repeat after Kougami. 

Yukinojo: Did everyone get that? Wow, you all are quite fast. 

Shin: Okay, so when we count down, let’s do it all together... 

*CLICK*

Leo: Waah! It got dark! 

Yukinojo: A blackout?

Shin: The lights are out... I can’t see anything! 

Yu: At this rate we can’t do the countdown with everyone... !

Kakeru: What should we do?! It’s almost midnight!

Minato: What should we do... 

Shin: We wanted so much to countdown with everyone... but...! What to do, what to do... OH! 

Minato: What is it?

Shin: We’ll just have to light the stage ourselves! 

Yu: Huh? Excuse me what?

Shin: Prism jumps are a leap of the heart... 

As long as our hearts are in it, there is nothing we can’t do! 

Leo: But.... 

Yukinojo: ...We’ll just have to try. 

Leo: Yuki-sama!

Kakeru: But that’s impossible... is what I wanted to say.. 

But for some reason when Shin says it, I almost feel like it may work. 

Minato: Me too. 

Taiga: Ugh, guess we have no choice. 

Yu: Let’s see what we can do. 

Shin: Everyone...! Okay, focus on your thoughts!! We want to make this concert succeed for the sake of everyone who’s cheered on Edel Rose...! We are prism stars... radiant stars that shine!! Even if there is no light, we can be that light!! Light! A flame! We will shine with the brightness within ourselves! 

Everyone! Prism jump! 

Leo: Wow! We all did a prism jump together! 

Yu: Waah! Huh?! We’re being thrown into the sky with fireworks!? 

Kakeru: AAH! There’s only 10 seconds until midnight!

Taiga: Okay! Everyone, all together!!

Minato: 5!

Yukinojo: 4!

Yu: 3!

Leo: 2!

Shin: 1!

*POP* 

Hijiri: A big fireworks show, huh... 

To think they can create light from themselves even in darkness... They really are something. With them, I’m sure... someday... 

Shin: Happy New Year everyone!!!  

Next Chapter.

[prism-rush]

Prism Rush Main Story Episode 5 Chapter 3

Battlefield Tokyo?! Rumble in Roppongi-Aoyama! #3

First Previous Chapter

Translators notes: I feel like I have to give a brief catch-up since I have been posting these at such large intervals ahhh sorry (especially with that long break I took for Young of Prism). Anyway! Kakeru and Yu have been in America for months like a week. While they were there, they did their first prism jumps (after Kouji beat them up a bit, as he does), and while they were gone Minato did his first jump after an encounter with Alexander. Yukinojo and Taiga have been fighting over what is (actually) their own insecurities. Shin and Leo are doing a fashion show together although their clothes are missing some sparkle where we last left off. This chapter is interesting, if nothing else, because of all the talk about prism jumps. 

Shin: Leo-kun! You have a plan?

Leo: You wanted to add radiance to these clothes, right? 

Designer: Y... Yes... 

Leo: Then the radiance you need is... right here! Within our hearts!! 

Shin: Within our... hearts?!

Leo: The hearts of prism stars are made of excitement, thrills, and lots, and lots of radiance!! We can infuse that into these clothes you put your heart into! 

Shin: Are you talking about.. doing a prism show at the fashion show?!

Leo: YOU BET!!!! 

I know what I’m saying is probably a bit reckless, but... I can just feel that these clothes are saying they want to be seen! ....Can we do it?

Designer: Of course!!! Leo-kun, thank you so much! I’ll start preparing immediately! 

Leo: All right!! Thank you! I’ll do my very best! 

Shin: Wow..! It’s as thought both the designer and the stylist are suddenly... sparkling!? 

Leo: Oh gosh! Do you think maybe I went too far?

Shin: No of course not! You inspired me too! 

Leo: It was only because you were here with me, Shin-kun.

Shin: Huh? ...But.. I didn’t do anything.... 

Designer: Well! We’re all ready! Got ready to standby! 

Leo: Okay!! Let’s head to the stage! 

Shin: Yeah! Let’s do our best, Leo-kun!! 

Audience: EEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Hijiri: Oh ho! To think they would do a prism show at a fashion show! I guess this is all thanks to your special lessons, eh Yamada-kun? 

Yamada: No, I don’t think I had anything to do with it. Those two sure are something else. 

Leo always looks so timid but he actually has a lion’s heart. As for Shin Ichijo.... Well, to be blunt, he’s a bit naive. But in a strange way I feel like I have such strong expectations for his future. They are those kinda stars alright. 

Hijiri: Indeed. They are both a bit awkward, but they more than make up for it when the strength of their hearts light up the stage like true prism stars. 

Yamada: Well, I do think it’s a good quality for newbies to be so blatantly pure-hearted. Heheh. .....They really are something. Damn. 

Leo: Woah woah woah! Everyone is looking right at me! 

Shin: Well of course! We’re on stage after all! 

Leo: Wow wow wow.... my heart feels like it’s gonna burst from my chest.... 

Shin: Leo-kun! Calm down!! 

Leo: My heart is fluttering!! Everyone’s cheers are recharging the sparkle in my heart! 

Shin: Leo-kun’s aura is amazing!! He’s shimmering!!

Leo: I have never had much confidence in myself.... I don’t have any street smarts nor a long-standing family tradition.... and I’m not boyish at all... but...  I have all these people feeling my radiance returning it by cheering for me! And a friend to stand by my side on stage with me! So.... I think that I too can believe in my own radiance, even if it’s just a little! HUAAAAAAAAH! 

Yamada: Leo?!? Could he be... he’s going to jump!

Leo:  Heartpounding ♡ Pink Swirly Lollypop! Ta-daaa! Ehehe! 

Shin: Woooooow! Leo-kun!! That was great! Your pink-colored radiance is illuminating our clothes!! 

Amazing! Amazing!!! Leo-kun’s radiance is flowing into me too!! HUAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! 

Hijiri: Could it be?! Shin too?! 

Shin: Our future will be paved with our gratitude for meeting our great friends! Here it comes, with a bang! 

Sparkling Future Star! Shine! 

Audience: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! 

Hijiri: ...They both.... landed prism jumps!! 

Yamada: I guess they had some kind of a breakthrough.... 

Hijiri: Yeah. Perhaps by opening their hearts to each other they were able to open the door to a new world! Bravo, bravo! 

Yamada: You guys really did great.... All right! I’ll get the bath warmed up for you as soon as you get home! 

(Later)

Shin: Aaaaah! I was so nervous! 

Minato: Ahaha! That was amazing! Ichijo and Saionji, you really did a great job! 

Shin: Woah! You didn’t need to dump a bucket of water on my head! Ahaha! But today was sure fun! The designer was really happy too! 

Leo: Yeah! She even said she wants us to come back for another fashion show! Yuki-sama!! I really wanted you and Taiga-kun to see our show too! 

Yukinojo: Yeah... me too. 

Taiga: .......

Shin: Leo-kun’s jump was amazing!! 

Kakeru: I see, I see. So Shin-chawan and Leo-kyun here both landed prism jumps too! 

Shin: WHAAAA! KAKERU-SAN?!

Yu: Well, they probably couldn’t compare to the irrefutable perfection of Zeus’ prism jump, but.... !

Leo: Yu-kun!? Since when did you get back!? 

Kakeru: Just a little while ago. To think all of you would grow up so much while we were gone... But you were sure lonely without me little ol’ around, weren’t you? Hmm? HMMMM?!

Taiga: ......Not really. 

Kakeru: WHAAAAT?! ...OH come on, not even a little?! How about I if give you a welcome back kiss?!

Taiga: Ew, cut it out!! I just got cleaned up! But... hold on, Yu.... did you just... 

Yukinojo: ....Say that you landed a prism jump?

Yu: Heck yeah! And it was a beauty! I even worked out the theme for my solo song too! 

Taiga:  .....Kazuo, and you..... 

Kakeru: Yup, you bet ♪ And a super party time, exciting ♂  prism jump, it was!

Taiga: ............I see. 

Shin: And Minato-san landed a pretty sweet prism jump as well, right? 

Minato: Yeah.... But the thing is, no matter how many times I try, I haven’t been able to do it again.... 

Yu: Huh? You too?! Leo and Shin, what about you guys.... 

Leo: Me neither... once I got back, I tried to practice but.... 

Shin: Once again, it’s like we’re back to square one. 

Minato: Yeah. I’m wondering if that sudden burst in power I felt was just for a fleeting moment... 

Yu: You guys too, huh... *sigh* Being Zeus I want to be able to pull off a jump but... 

Kakeru: Well! It may have just been dumb luck, but at least we were still able to pull off a jump even if it was only once! Good for us, right-- 

Yukinojo: .................

Leo: Yuki-sama?! Hold on! You shouldn’t stand up so suddenly....

Yukinojo: I seem to be feeling a bit dizzy.... I need to get some fresh air....

Taiga: ......Me too.

Shin: O... Okay.... 

Minato: Kougami.... Tachibana..... 

Yu: Wait a sec, could it be that those two haven’t jumped yet...?

Minato: Yeah. And they’re both really troubled. It seems they haven’t worked out their solo songs either.... 

Shin: I’m worried.... 

Leo: Don’t be!! Yuki-sama isn’t the type of person to lose the radiance from his heart over something like this!! 

Kakeru: Taiga-kyun either. He just can’t help being moody since he’s just a bundle of teenage hormones after all, so... 

Minato: Let’s just take a step back and have faith in them. And if they need our help, we’ll be ready to lend a hand.

Shin: ....Okay! Taiga-kun, Yukinojo-san, you can do it!! 

(Outside.)

Yukinojo: Tokyo.... at 7pm.... the streets are flickering with neon lights.... the skyline of... Aoyama.... I can’t hear anything.... I can’t feel anything.... why..... Am I.... losing it....?! Yukinojo Tachibana, is this as far as you go?! Is this really all you are made of?! ....Ugh....

Alexander: Well don’t you look pretty. 

Yukinojo: !!?? Who said that! Alexander Yamato?!

Alexander: Crossing a footbridge in the twilight all alone, that long red hair flowing through the night air... just like a naive princess.... ! 

Yukinojo: Why are you here....

Alexander: Isn’t it obvious? 

I came here to... tear you to shreds! 

Next Chapter.

[prism-rush]

The Promised Festival  -The Courage to Pull Through-: A Prism Rush event summary

This was a nice event with lots of Taiga character development. It works best as a summary really, so here you go.

Taiga is playing with a cat when he’s suddenly found out by the cat’s owner, an elderly lady. She thanks him for being the cat’s friend because the cat had been sickly up until now. The lady wants to do something for Taiga, and Taiga isn’t too interested at first until she mentions pudding a la mode…

At a local cafe, the two are having a conversation over their desert. The lady happens to mention festivals and of course Taiga’s eyes light up. He asks if there are any festivals around the area, and she tells him there is a festival at a local shrine to give thanks to the shrine god… but this is probably the last year. The reason is that nowadays younger people aren’t interested in that sort of festival anymore and the only participants are very elderly.

Taiga, immediately triggered by the mention of “giving thanks” (flashback to the lesson he learned in the White Day event), decides to take it upon himself to revive the festival so this old lady can experience it again like the old days.

Back at Edel Rose, while eating some watermelon the other boys start an ironic conversation about that very same shrine. Apparently it’s haunted by a ghost cat or something. While the other boys are relentlessly teasing Yu, who is scared of that sort of thing (and already freaked out about a watermelon growing in his stomach since he ate some seeds), suddenly Leo notices Taiga (who hasn’t told them his plan yet) has devolved into a state of quietly mumbling angrily to himself as he wonders if the rumors are what actually caused the festival’s decline…

Taiga goes down to the shrine to try and get a feeling for how much work is needed to revive the festival, unaware that Leo is following him. It turns out to be a lot more than he’d bargained for and Taiga realizes he can’t do it alone. Leo is about to berate Taiga directly about trying to take on too much on his own when suddenly the elderly lady approaches Taiga. Leo eavesdrops on their conversation, in which Taiga tells her not to worry because he has friends he can count on. So, remembering how Taiga did the right thing in the White Day event, Leo decides this time he’s just going to trust in Taiga, make himself available, and wait for Taiga to ask for help on his own. (And thus Leo “coincidentally” runs into Taiga outside the shrine.) This method takes a bit more prodding than Leo planned (since Taiga just stares at him saying “....um...” for what seems like several minutes.), but Leo convinces Taiga that asking for help actually shows courage, and eventually Taiga gets the words out and asks Leo to help him revive the festival. 

Back at Edel Rose the two of them discuss their plan. Leo agrees to make new happi (festival wear) based on old photographs of the ones they used to wear. However, they soon realize that there is still too much work for the two of them to handle on their own. They still have to fix the old mikoshi (portable shrine that a bunch of people carry on their shoulders), make festival food, etc. Taiga tells Leo to start work on the happis and leaves. Leo, not able to leave well enough alone, follows Taiga instead. 

Taiga goes into the dining room where he meets Minato. Perhaps because he’s still on a high from successfully recruiting Leo, he charges at Minato full force. First he spits out something that sounds like a challenge, which Minato thinks is about dinner. Then he directly asks Minato to make some delicious food, which Minato still thinks is about dinner. 

Shin, Yu, and Kakeru hear the commotion and gather at the scene, which flusters Taiga all the more but eventually he is able to calm down enough to tell them all what’s going on. (Much to the joy of Leo as he eavesdrops outside.) Moved by Taiga’s courage and determination to help others, of course they all agree to help. When Taiga is explaining what needs to be done, Kakeru suggests just buying a new mikoshi instead of fixing the old one. But Taiga quickly shoots it down, explaining that the old one contains all of the gratitude for the shrine god from everyone who has ever been to the festival. Kakeru is knocked speechless for a moment as he reflects on how much Taiga has changed since the White Day event (when he didn’t even understand the point of gratitude). So they all agree to fix the mikoshi, and Leo takes that moment to pop out of thin air to suggest they go see it right now. As he just happened to walk in the room and hear them... by coincidence!! 

The mikoshi is in pretty bad shape, but Yu is determined he can fix it. So Yu works on the mikoshi, Leo works on the happi, and Minato works on the food. Shin, Kakeru, and Taiga run around doing all sorts of things. Yukinojo can’t help because he’s preparing for a big kabuki show, but they all understand. He’s with them in spirit and he plans to meet them at the festival later. As Yukinojo heads back from delivering refreshments to the others, he glances at a weather report on a TV downtown and notes the festival day will be sunny. 

Although there are a few spooky setbacks (I’m not sure if the shrine being haunted or not ever has a conclusion. It wasn’t in the main story nor any of the cards I scouted), the boys finish the festival preparation and everything is beautiful! But the night before, Taiga hears some terrible rumbling in the sky. It’s a thunderstorm! The weather report was wrong. Unable to stand it, Taiga runs screaming out in the rain without an umbrella. Suddenly there is a huge lightning flash. He arrives at the shrine to find the food stand and the mikoshi they worked so hard on have been struck by lightning and are totally ruined. Taiga is devastated. 

The others catch up with Taiga, and although the sun has now come out, it feels like the end. The elderly lady shows up, thanks them for all their hard work, and tells them they have done enough. As they reflect on how far they got, Yu notices Kakeru off by himself staring at the sky, and after approaching him they both realize they are thinking the same thing, so they decide to yell it at the same time. They don’t want to give up! Nobody does! Taiga, seeing how much everyone else wanted the festival to succeed as well, becomes inspired. He decides he’s going to pull a Kazuki and try and rebuild everything with a prism show. 

But he can’t do it alone. It’s only the combination of everyone’s hearts together, including Yukinojo who Taiga somehow manages to reach long distance and  does a prism jump at the same time, that makes it finally succeed. 

Everything is rebuilt, the festival is back on, the elderly lady gets the night of her life, and Taiga realizes he has true friends. The boys all enjoy the festival. 

The end. 

[prism-rush]

Road to SSS Event #2: Good Afternoon! Steamy Onsen Tag Battle! A Summary

Okay, sorry guys like I explained before I don’t know how much more of this event I’m going to directly translate because I am having a really, really hard time with the Tumblr App lately. 

But this event (like all the SSS ones) is pretty important and I really want to talk about it so here we go. (Or at least, here goes as much as I know about it because I didn’t go all out on the gatcha this time.)

It all more or less begins when Leo happens to notice Taiga acting a bit strange. He’s sneaking around and leaving the dorm early in the morning carrying some luggage. Convinced that Taiga must be running away, Leo decides to follow him (and brings the rest of Edel Rose as well). They all somehow manage not only to ride the same bus as Taiga, but to sneak on after him without him noticing them at all. (Taiga has his anti-social shield up to max, says Kakeru.)

I’d like to take a second to point out that during these scenes, everyone is  legitimately worried about Taiga running away except for Kakeru, who spends the time cracking jokes and tagging along for the fun of it. (Because he knows Taiga wouldn’t do that. Heart.)

So of course Kakeru was right. Taiga was just trying to sneak away to the Rainbow Hot Springs to do some training (the same hot springs also featured in Rainbow Live episode 39) and he was just embarrassed about only going there just because Kazuki did or something like that. 

So, being that they are all out here anyway, they decide to make the most of it and head to the hot springs together. And of course, Over the Rainbow is there too. 

Now. Here’s where the event suddenly takes a sharp turn. 

After the bath, the boys turn on the TV to see Tanaka-san making an important announcement. 

There will be a Street-style Duo tournament! 

(It seems like this will be... kind of a big deal? I mean there is suddenly also a real world event themed to street style?! Not sure how far it’s going to go....)

So, for the rest of the event the boys silently begin to think about if they will enter the tournament and who they would want to enter with. 

Taiga asks Kazuki right away who he wants to enter with and Kazuki gives a vague answer which suggests he does have someone in mind, but it’s not Taiga. 

If I read it right, I think there were a couple of hints thrown in that Kazuki wants to pair with Hiro....?

But in the scenes that follow seem to foreshadow Hiro and Yu becoming a pair instead. 

After their rainbow meal, Hiro, Kouji, Kazuki, Yu, Leo, and Taiga go to play table tennis only to discover there is only one table. So they decide to form 2 x 2 teams with Kouji and Kazuki sitting out as cheering/referee. The teams, chosen randomly, are: Hiro and Yu vs. Leo and Taiga

Yu of course sulks a bit when he realizes he’s with Hiro since the whole reason he agreed to play table tennis in the first place was to beat Hiro. But as the game starts Yu soon realizes he actually has a pretty good connection with Hiro. The two are able to anticipate each others moves and beat Leo and Taiga easily. Yu thinks to himself that being with Hiro in the Duo Tournament wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

Meanwhile Kakeru, Yukinojo, Shin, and Minato decide to dust off an old karaoke machine. (Kakeru comments that the songs labeled “new” are from around when they were all in elementary school.) So they have no choice but to sing some oldies, and Kakeru invites Yukinojo to an enka duet. (Look that up and imagine Kakeru and Yukinojo singing in that style. Then be impressed that it actually would kinda work.) They sing together so much that Minato falls asleep, and Shin slips out unnoticed to use the bathroom and then take a walk because it’s a nice night. 

Shin stumbles upon a shooting range which seems like it might actually be a legit reference to this story. Especially because just when Shin begins to idly think about the last time he did shooting, Louis appears. 

Louis explains that he’s doing a nearby job with Alexander, and the two compliment each other on their yukatas and decide to try some shooting together. How it ends up after this, I think you need to scout Louis’ card to find out. But before this scene ends in the main story Shin thinks to himself about how even though Louis is from Schwartz Rose, it would be great if they could be a Duo.... 

After losing the table tennis match, Leo wanders off feeling sorry for himself about not being manly and holding Taiga back and all that. He happens to find himself at the waterfall where Kazuki trained during Pride the Hero, where Alexander is now training. He also just happens to find himself there at the exact moment when Alexander falls into the bottom of the pool and he’s not coming up. 

Quickly Leo runs down, jumps in, and manages to pull Alexander out to safety all on his own. (Once again Leo truly is the manliest of them all.) 

Just as Alexander is waking up the all the others come to find them too, as they noticed Leo was missing and Taiga became worried since he saw how Leo was feeling down after the table tennis match. 

They hear the situation, Alexander asks them what they are laughing at, and that’s basically the end. 

So it seems the whole street-style Duo Tournament will continue in the next event or over a few events. (Or it might even be a plot point in the actual SSS anime?) 

If I read things correctly, it seemed like the pairs they were hinting at were....

Hiro/Yu

Yukinojo/Kakeru

Shin/Louis

L... Leo/Alexander.....? (N... No... or maybe....) 

If any of the others were paired off I missed it due to not having read all the card stories. If you know something I don’t, let me know. 

[prism-rush]

Prism Rush Main Story Episode 3 Chapter 3

Beyond the Rainbow!! -sparkling acceleration to spring-

Episode 3: The Christmas Party brings the Scent of Danger #3

First Previous Chapter

Translators Notes: THIS&$)&&&$%#%CHAPTER. Goddammit Yukinojo making me look up Heian era Japanese poetry ffs. I didn’t understand a word in this one ( 国立屋 ), so I googled it. The number one hit on Google was Yukinojo fanart.... haha ha.... HAHA.. help. (I think it’s the name of his Kabuki school or technique or something, but having no idea I just cut it. Let me know if you know.)

In the original Japanese Alexander rhymes “dog” with “rack” and then “rap.” (ドッグ、ラック、ラップ) UHHH. Japanese isn’t really a language that rhymes in the first place, so I have no idea if he was actually supposed to sound cool or not. I decided to re-write it to walk the line somewhere in the middle. He also rhymes 6-pack with face pack (as in telling pretty Yukinojo to go home and do some skin care as an insult) but being ever so feminine as I am I had to look up what that even was. Is it the same as “face mask”? Haha I don’t know. 

Yukinojo on the other hand starts reciting a traditional poem called “Iroha” which uses all of the syllables of the Japanese language and I admit I lifted the translation of the first two lines from Wikipedia haha. (It then seems to diverge into his own variation though. Spin those rhymes brother!!) Okay this is getting too long so please Google the references to famous places in Kyoto from his Prism Jump if interested. 

Kakeru: W... whoa hold on there Yuki-chan! What do you mean “force”?! Y.. Yuki.... sama.... ?

Yukinojo: .....

Kakeru: We can’t go around starting fights! Showbiz is a cruel place!! The gossip will be out of control! 

Taiga: It’s like poison... 

Kakeru: Yuki-sama, you’ve got your kabuki legacy to think of! You can’t get involved in something like this. 

Alexander: Oh... so that’s you. The one they call the princess of the kabuki world or something like that. 

What are you doing playing around with Prism Shows? You can’t be serious.

Yukinojo: !! 

Alexander: HAH! To think some prissy pretty boy like you thinks he can step to me! Me, Alexander Yamato! Do you seriously want to go right now?!?! HA Ha HA HA! Don’t expect any mercy! 

Yukinojo: No, I don’t want to fight you. I just... I just cannot contain my pure contempt for such a reckless buffoon who just wants to watch the world burn... 

Someone who sides with Schwartz Rose and their corrupt affairs to stop a concert.... a performance of which all of us are pouring our hearts into.

Alexander: The hell was that all that about. Were you just talking shit about me? Well then, let’s do this!! 1, 2, 3 pack! X pack! A sissy like you had better pack! 

What are you thinking, tryin’ to talk smack? You’ll never win against this gorgeous rack! This is the king of 6-pack, spinning an ultimate rap!

Yukinojo: .... What have I just experienced. 

Taiga: This guy’s converting street culture into ridiculous power! What is this terrible aura! I have a bad feeling about this!! 

Alexander: Hmph! How’s about that, pretty boy. Don’t just stand there, spin me a rhyme! 

Kakeru: U... uh I don’t think that’s going to work. I don’t think we can expect a rap battle out of Yukinojo... As far as street smarts go he’s a bit... 

Yukinojo:  Even the blossoming flowers...  Will eventually scatter.....

Kakeru: Huh??!

Yukinojo: This petal dance can breach any storm.... as long a there is still light in my heart.... 

Kakeru: Yuki-sama?! He’s... reciting classical Japanese poetry?! 

Yukinojo: The prism radiance ... it lives ... inside my soul.... so the flowers of determination can never wilt...

Taiga: A... amazing...! Even Alexander’s terrible aura is...

Kakeru: Yuki-sama’s elegant aura is pulverizing it!! 

Alexander: Wha... what is happening?! 

Yukinojo: A true performer doesn’t need to use physical force! Gaze upon this!

Taiga: Yukinojo is dancing! Cherry blossoms! Cherry blossom petals are falling all around him! From weeping cherry blossom trees!

Kakeru: This is Kyoto!! We’re looking at Arashiyama! I can see Kinkakuji Temple just over the horizon!! 

Yukinojo: Ahhh.... breathe it in! 

Kakeru: And he sticks the landing!! YEAH!!!! That’s our Kabuki Princess!!! 

Alexander: How dare you perform classical dance before Alexander Yamato!! 

I guess you’re not just a pretty boy after all... heh heh heh... Well, I’ve just about finished my training anyway. I don’t give a crap about all this Edel Rose garbage... but.... 

What the hell! I’ll show you a good time!!

Yukinojo: ...Ahh!! 

Kakeru: Waaaaaah! Oh man he’s getting serious now! 

Yukinojo: We’ve come this far. We can’t leave without Taiga. 

Kakeru: What are you saying!! You can’t be starting Prism Battles when we have a show to do! 

Taiga: Well yeah, but what else can we do! He’s coming for us! 

Kakeru: Well this is just peachy! What now?!

(Sparkles....) 

(Dramatic change in music from serious to a happy tune....)

Hiro: Ahahaha! Were you waiting long?!

Taiga: That voice.... Hiro-san?!

Alexander: Wha... the hell is this?! A train just came down from the sky?! This is... a Prism Show?! 

How could I have been dragged into the Prism World without me knowing?! 

Hiro: It’s very simple. That’s because I am.... a star!! 

Alexander: It’s too bright! MY EYES! 

Hiro: Okay! Everyone quick, while you can! The Starlight Express isn’t going to wait much longer! 

Taiga: Thank you! Hiro-san! You came... to save me... 

Hiro: Don’t worry about it! Now let’s rest those tired faces before the performance... Good night! 

Taga: Okay....

Kakeru: You too, Yuki-chan! 

Yukinojo: Yeah....

Alexander: Hey. Pretty boy. 

Yukinojo: ......

Alexander: What’s your name, anyway? 

Yukinojo: Yukinojo Tachibana. 

Alexander: Maybe I’ll remember it. Maybe I won’t. 

Yukinojo: .....

Kakeru: Come on! Let’s make like trees and get the frick out of here! 

Alexander: ...UGH! This unbelievable light! All this radiance is disgusting! Well, whatever. I did my job already. Both you guys and Schwartz Rose can suck it.

(At Schwartz Rose...)

Jin: WHAT?! How can that be?! Taiga Kougami escaped from Alexander Yamato?! Ughghghggh. Alexander you scum... I was assured you had power, but you’re clearly unreliable. Careless!! Well, whatever. We’ll just have to think of our next move... right Louis?! 

......Louis!! L... LOUIS?!? I... I guess he’s out for one of his walks... To think, he’s my greatest masterpiece. But I suppose that free bird attitude of his only adds to his beauty. Heh he heh... AHAAHHA!! 

(Back at the stage.)

Shin: Well!! Everything is ready!! 

Yu: Somehow we made it! 

Leo: Yeah! Yamada-san, do you think the costumes are happy?

Yamada: Yeah. The clothes say they are feelin’ good! 

Leo: Ehehe! Yaaay! 

Kazuki: Yeah. But the guests must be starting to get impatient by now. 

Shin: Kazuki-san!! I didn’t know you were coming!

Kazuki: Of course! How could I not come to see my precious juniors all dressed up and putting on a show? I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Shin: Thank you so much! 

Kazuki: But you really shouldn’t keep everyone waiting much longer... Okay! I’ll buy you some time! I’ll go warm up the crowd...

Yamada: Sorry, Kazuki. That won’t be happening.

Kazuki: Yamada-san.... but... 

Yamada: I know you adore these kids. But this is their stage. The seven of them. 

Kazuki: Yeah... you’re right. I’ve just been really worried about you guys.  

I’m sorry. If only I had kept a better eye on Taiga... this wouldn’t have happened...

Leo: It’s not your fault! Kazuki-san! Keep your chin up!

Minato: That’s right. Here! Open up... 

Kazuki: Mmph! What is this?! It’s delicious... 

Minato: Minato’s specially made with lots of vegetables and just a little seven flavor chili pepper spice warm pork soup for you! 

Kazuki: That’s a mouthful! But... it sure warmed me up! 

Minato: That’s right! And I have some for everyone!

Shin: Thank you! But why pork soup...

Minato: I thought we should serve our guests. 

Leo: Woah! You’ve made this huge pot?!

Minato: Our guests have been waiting a long time. This should warm up both their bodes and their hearts! 

Yu: Well okay then! Let’s start handing it out! I’ll help! 

Kazuki: Me too! Good thinking Minato!!! 

Minato: I’m just doing my best at the things I can do! If just this small gesture makes our guests happy, then that makes me happy too! 

Shin: The best we can do... even if it’s small...

Leo: I’ll do what I can do too! I’ll chat up the guests! If it’s about clothing or makeup I could talk for hours! 

Yamada: A crash course in fashion. That sounds like you. Go for it. 

Leo: Okay! Here goes nothing! 

Shin: Everyone.... 

Louis: The prism radiance... it’s spreading... 

Shin: Huh... Louis?! You came to see our show?! 

Louis: Eheheh. 

Next Chapter.

[prism-rush]

Prism Rush Main Story Episode 3 Chapter 2

Beyond the Rainbow!! -sparkling acceleration to spring-

Episode 3: The Christmas Party brings the Scent of Danger #2

First Previous Chapter

Please check that you’ve read the previous chapters first! This is a series. (I’m really worried about y’all liking these out of order haha… really tho.) If you are new this is the original story from Prism Rush mobile app which connects the first King of Prism movie with Pride the Hero.

Translator’s notes: I had to Google what a “Dragon Flag” was for this one, and apparently it’s this. (I thought it was a Prism Jump at first, but nope ahaha.) If it’s called something different in English, let me know. 

If you noticed me calling this episode the “Taiga bondage episode”, you will very soon find out why. But that aside!! This chapter is gold for so many reasons I can’t list them all. But for one:  Leo has Aira’s clothes whispering ability. (It’s gotta be a direct reference to Aurora Dream and you won’t be able to tell me otherwise.) 

Taiga: You bastard! Where am I.. and what is all of this?! 

Why am I tied up?! Hey! Get this off of me!

Alexander: Chill out.

Taiga: What?!

Alexander: You’ll just have to wait patiently until the concert is finished. 

Taiga: ?! What the hell do you want from me?

Alexander: I don’t want anything. I just did what I was told. 

Taiga: WHAAAAAAT?! You can’t be serious! Are you actually trying to sabotage our performance?! LET ME GO! You dirty cheater! If you want to battle me I’ll take you on right now! Let’s do it fair and square! 

Alexander: Don’t flatter yourself. 

Taiga: ….?! 

Alexander: I’ll say it again. I don’t give a crap about you or Edel Rose. 

Taiga: Wha….

Alexander: It’s all just business. But, well, if Kazuki Nishina happens to come to save your dumb ass….

THEN it would make things even sweeter. HA HA HA HA! 

Taiga: You’ve got to be kidding me! You’re underestimating Edel Rose… not just that, you’re underestimating me! You better watch your back!! 

Alexander: Oh shut up. Stop your crying. 

Taiga: …ug….

Alexander: You just sit tight there, have naptime, and stay out of my way. *huff… huff…*

Taiga: …Woah…. He’s doing dragon flags for muscle training… that easily….?! The steel 6-pack… He’s just doing some reps… but his aura is so intense… 

Nevermind, I don’t have time for this!! If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to miss the performance… DAMMIT!!! Kazuki-san… if he were here… what would he do…. 

(Across town.)

Yukinojo: *catching his breath* 

Kakeru: AHHH! What’s going on?! He’s not here either?! My poor little legs are going to fall off. 

Yukinojo: Is there anywhere else he could possibly be? If not, then perhaps Schwartz Rose really did…. 

Kakeru: ….take our poor Princess Taiga away to another castle? Come on, give me a break! 

Yukinojo: What now…? Maybe it’s time to call the police… 

Kakeru: Hold on. 

Yukinojo: What are you doing?

Kakeru: Oh, just messing around with the company satellite.  ♪

Yukinojo: What?! You mean the kind of satellite… in space?! 

Kakeru: But of course. ♪ Taiga-kyun may have been captured by one of our security cameras…. *keyboard clicking* *ping!* Oh ho ho! BINGO! I’ve got him! 

Yukinojo: Really?! 

Kakeru: We haven’t got a minute to lose! But… I’m tired from running so… HEY Limousine! 

Yukinojo: Kakeru… or should I say Kazuo Juuouin… to think that you have this frightening power bestowed upon you by the Juuouin Holdings Group… 

I hope Shin and the others are alright. The show is about to begin. Right around now the guests should be arriving…. 

(Back at the stage.)

Shin: Yu-kun! Have you got all the wires hooked up? 

Yu: Yeah… just a bit more…. hrm… this cable… goes… uh…. 

Shin: Oh? Are you having trouble reaching? Here! Alley-oop! 

Yu: ?! Shin! You can’t just go around picking up people whenever you feel like it! 

Shin: But you can reach now, can’t you? 

Yu: …..UGH!!!! It’s done! I plugged it in, so put me down! 

Shin: Of course!

Yu: Uff. Don’t you ever do that again. Everyone saw my belly button. Goddamn it. 

Minato: Oh Suzuno! Let it go! 

Yu: Waah!! Ahh! Minato stop squeezing me! 

Minato: Ichijo helped you out. So. What do you say?

Yu: …um…. Thank you… 

Shin: No problem!! 

Yu: …urg… Minato-san, how at the lights?

Minato: Oh, I think they’ll do. Since we’re just amateurs I think this is as good as it’s going to get. 

Shin: It’s gonna be OK. 

Minato: Hm?

Shin: We’re all going to light the stage with the illumination of our hearts! 

Minato: ….

Shin: ….Minato-san?

Minato: Ahahah! Shin, you’re great. I love you for that. Really great. 

Shin: Huh? R-really? Ahah…. 

Yu: Leo! How are the costumes? 

Leo: Almost ready! Stitch stitch…. stitch stitch…. 

Yamada: Your sewing is so clean, Leo. 

Leo: Yeah, I love sewing! To make our outfits happy, I have to be sure to fix them so they are even more glittery-wonderful than they were before! 

Yamada: Even clothes have feelings, don’t they. Being able to hear the whispers of the performance costumes, that’s a skill only a true Prism Star can have.

Leo: Yup! 

Shin: Amazing…. as long as we all work together we can make the impossible possible…. 

Hijiri: Yes. There is a limit to what one person can do. But if we all combine our strengths we can ascend a whole new world which couldn’t be seen before by just trying to peek over the fence.

Shin: A new world..!! I’m really getting excited now! Today’s concert… will be great! 

Yu: Well good for you, but Taiga’s still not here. 

Shin: AH—! That’s right! I forgot! 

Minato: Don’t worry. He’ll be here. 

Leo: Yeah! Let’s trust in Yuki-sama! Okay?

Shin: …Did you forget about Kakeru? ….I just hope Taiga-kun hasn’t gotten hurt…?

(Back to the streets….)

Taiga: AHHHHHHH! MAKE IT STOP!!!! 

Alexander: *huff* *huff* *huff! huff! huff!* 1-2-3 Pack! X Pack! A kick to topple a wrestler back! A ticket for you to ride my 6 Pack!

Taiga: He’s… composing some kind of a rap while doing side crunches?  …The hell…. But I can’t deny how ridiculous his aura is… I think just touching it could make me hallucinate again… I… I… I have to get to the concert… UUggh… I’m losing my strength…. 

???: Sorry to keep you waiting. 

Taiga: Huh!? Kazuki-sa–

Kakeru: It’s your Prince Juuouin! Kakeru-kun here to save you! Didn’t mean to be late to the party! 

Taiga: KAZUO——–?!?!

Kakeru: GAH! Don’t call me that! You’re ruining my heroic, princely entrance! 

Taiga: Who are you calling princely you cocky bastard! And what are you doing here!

 Yukinojo: Settle down, Taiga. It’s because of Kakeru that we found you. 

Taiga: Huh…? Did you put some kind of tracking device on me?! Like a Jeep-P-S?

Kakeru: No, nothing like that! UGH! Can’t you ever be grateful for once in your life! You know you’re happy to see me, my pure-hearted Taiga! 

Taiga: Well if only you would stop saying such weird things!! 

Yukinojo: We’ll have time for fighting and explanations later. Right now we have to get to the stage… 

Alexander: Hold it right there. 

Yukinojo: ?!

Kakeru: T…this aura… It’s like when we were on the banks of the River Styx… frightening and cold…. IT’S HIM! Alexander! EEEEK! 

Alexander: Although I couldn’t really care less about you all, I can’t let you take this guy.

Yukinojo: …..

Kakeru: Y… Yuki-sama? What’s come over you…

Yukinojo: I see. If we aren’t able to talk this out, then we have no other choice. We’ll be taking him back by force. 

Kakeru: WHAAAAAAT?!

Next Chapter

[prism-rush]

Prism Rush Main Story Episode 2 Chapter 3

Beyond the Rainbow!! -sparkling acceleration to spring-

Episode 2: Our Love is DRAMATIC ♥ #3

First Previous Chapter

Translator’s notes: OH boy I have a lot to say about this one please bear with me. The first half of this chapter is nearly identical to the plot of the bonus animated drama which came as a DVD extra for the first movie. They both have Yu (after much difficulty) writing the melody for Dramatic Love and then everyone coming up with the lyrics in the bath, so it’s safe to assume that’s canon haha. They both even have that weird part with Taiga and the apple! Taiga is from Aomori prefecture, which is famous for apples. Apples are also associated with Hiro, and although I don’t think Taiga has anything against Hiro specifically, Hiro does represent the exact kind of flashy, girl pleasing type of Prism Show Taiga can’t stand. There is a joke in there somewhere!! But it’s not quite fleshed out, so maybe that’s why it’s never been brought up again. 

By translating this chapter I was also tricked into translating some of the lyrics to Dramatic Love, which is something I have both always wanted to do but have also always dreaded. I just don’t think I can do the song justice… at all. I didn’t even have to think about it though because I just straight away wrote down the translation that has always been in my head for over two years. And yet!! Still!!! AHHH!!! 

Yu’s line about “red string” references the Japanese idea that soul mates are connected by red string. The significance of him singing that line has to do with the fact that both Ito and Kouji have Prism Jumps using red string. Also, for those of you who may not have known, the Japanese word for string is… “ito.”

Yukinojo: Yu’s been in that same pose for hours…. is he OK?

Leo: Hello-hello! Is anyone home… huh?! He’s sleeping with his eyes open?!

Taiga: *yawn* Is dinner ready yet?

Yu: Shut up shut up shut up!! If you guys have this much free time, how about you stop standing around and help me?!

Shin: Well, I’m sure we’d all like to, but what exactly is there for us to do?

Yu: Hmm… let’s see. I know! You guys can write the lyrics! I have already finalized the melody, so I can leave the rest up you!

Yukinojo: What a good idea.

Kakeru: Yeah! That’s not bad at all!

Minato: I agree!

Shin: Oh, this will be neat!

Leo: Can we hear the song?

Yu: I’ll play it on piano… hold on a sec.

(Dramatic Love instrumental plays.)

It goes something like this. 

Kakeru: Wow, you really did it!

Shin: It’s great! But that reminds me, I’m pretty bad at writing stuff.

Minato: What kind of lyrics should we write?

Leo: Eheh! Ahem. I think we should focus on writing a song that will make girls’ hearts throb!

Kakeru: That’s it, chan-Leo! Nice idea!

Taiga: …I’ll pass, I’m out of here. 

Minato: If you don’t listen, I’m going to get an apple…. 

Shin: What are you talking about?

Minato: Kougami hates the sound of biting through the skin of an apple. Like… thiiiiiis. 

Taiga: C… CUT IT OUT….! O…okay I’ll help with the stupid song! Uhhh I mean, I’d be delighted to help! Just put down the apple! 

Minato: Thank you. Good boy. 

Yukinojo: Okay then it’s settled! We’ll all work together to make a heart-pounding love song!

Shin: Yeah! 

(Later)

Shin: Ahhh… the water’s nice. Wait a minute, why are we all taking a bath again?

Yukinojo: When one has trouble brainstorming ideas sometimes it’s best to relax for a bit in order to get the creative juices flowing. 

Yu: Is that why you guys are here?! To avoid work?!

Shin: Yu… you’re here with us too… 

Yukinojo: A love song… 

Leo: How should we write the lyrics…. 

Minato: I get ideas so quickly when writing a recipe, but this… 

Yu: Shin! Do something!

Shin: Umm… I’d like to… but…. 

Yukinojo: How about we each take turns thinking of glowing phrases. 

Kakeru: Oh! Let’s try! 

Leo: Good idea! 

Shin: Let’s do it!

Yu: …..Fine. 

Minato: And you agree too, right Kougami?

Taiga: Yeah yeah, I got it. 

Yukinojo: Okay. Shin, you go first. 

Shin: What! Why me?! …Well…. From the first day I learned about Prism Shows… Just thinking about when I first met Louis, and how he and everything around him looked at that moment…. surrounded by fireflies glittering in rainbow colors… It was so beautiful…. “When I see something beautiful, I want to meet you…”

Kakeru: Ohh! Amazing, amazing! Shin-chawan you’re something all right! 

Yukinojo: I’ll go next. …. “When I am next to you, the scenery shines 100 times brighter!”

Leo: That sounds like just your style, Yuki-sama. That was wonderful! 

Kakeru: My turn! “If there ever comes a day when we are apart… 

Minato: “… You don’t need to worry.” 

Yu: I’ll take it from here. “I’ll travel by our red string to find you.”

Minato: Kougami, we’re all looking at you. 

Taiga: …….. “We’llconnectbytelepathy..”

Kakeru: Taiga-kyun! I didn’t know such lovely words could come out of that mouth! 

Taiga: S… shut up! 

Leo: Okay, I’ll go. “I hope we can meet with just the two of us in a dream.”

Shin: Wow! That’s great! This is so great! Okay, here I go. “On your smiling face…”

Yu: “I can find all the PRISM of the world!” Now, I’ve got the chorus 

“You are the wind who takes my breath away. Going….”  Now, everyone together! Ready… go! 

(At Hijiri’s office)

Hijiri: It looks like everyone’s making great progress on preparing for the Christmas show. 

Shin: Yeah! We all worked together to create lyrics for the song Yu-kun wrote! 

Yu: All I have to do is finish the arrangement. 

Hijiri: I see. Well, let’s work on the other stuff. Shin, could you help me scout a good venue? 

Shin: Okay! 

Taiga: I’ll start thinking of the dance moves to go with Yu’s song. I don’t want us to be just standing there singing like dorks. 

Leo: Okay, then I’ll work on our outfits. We could have something like matching suits, with different colored corsages… Oooh! I’m getting so excited just thinking about it! 

Shin: You’re going to make us outfits, Leo-kun? I’ll really look forward to seeing them!

Yukinojo: I’ll take care of the atmosphere. You can’t call it a performance if the audience is not engaged. Using elements from kabuki theater, I’ll think of different ways to dress up the visuals so the audience can be truly enthralled. 

Kakeru: Well then, I’ll handle the publicity. I’ll make a PR video of everyone and upload it to the internet. How’s about that? 

Leo: A PR video! That sounds so cool! 

Kakeru: Minatocchi, what are you going to do?

Minato: I… 

Yu: I won’t be eating or drinking anything until I finish arranging the song. So could you make me dinner for later?

Minato: ….. Of course, of course. I’ll have a nice, hot dinner waiting for you.

Kakeru: … Minatocchi…? 

(In the dining room/kitchen)

Minato: Well, the stew is simmering… what to do now?

Kakeru; W-w-woah! The stew is boiling over! 

Minato: O-oh! Sorry! I… just got distracted! 

Kakeru: Geez, are you OK? Well, can I have a taste…? Hmm… it’s kind of boiled down isn’t it… 

Minato: You’re right. I’ll have to start over again. Everyone’s dinner has gone to waste… 

Kakeru: You seem kind of boiled down yourself, Minatocchi. It’s not like you to fail at cooking something.  

Minato: No, I’m…. 

Kakeru: It’s not good to bottle things up on your own. If you’re willing to talk to me, I’ll listen. 

Minato: Kazuo… Thank you. The truth is, I have been thinking about what I can do to help. Ichijo is the one who always encourages everyone along, and now everyone is using their skills to do great things. But… what can I do for Edel Rose… 

Kakeru: Minatocchi…. 

Minato: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push this on you. 

Kakeru: …Well, time’s up! Everyone off the worry train! 

Minato: Huh?!

Kakeru: As they say in the business world, worries should be kept to a minimum! If you have time to worry, you have plenty of time to be put to better use! I heard that on TV.

Minato: But… 

Kakeru: If you spend all your time bottling things up and never even try to take any kind of a first step, you won’t get anywhere. Yeah? 

Minato: ….Yeah. Kazuo you may be right. 

Kakeru. Of course I am! These are the words of future brilliant CEO, so you have to believe them! 

Minato: Even though you always look like you’re just fooling around, you really are serious. 

Kakeru: Huh?

Minato: You’re always watching out for everyone, so you’re sensitive to anything that changes and always worried about us. Kazuo, you are really such a kind person. 

Kakeru; N… not really…! I just told you what happened to be on my mind that’s all…! 

…Hey wait, I’m not Kazuo! My name is KA-KE-RU! 

Minato: Ehehe. Sorry, sorry. 

Yu: Hey…. 

Minato: Suzuno! You look like a mess! Are you alright? 

Yu: …The song… is finished!! 

Next Chapter.

[stillness-in-green]

Human Debris Masterpost (7/??)

So wow, guess who totally underestimated how much her post length was going to balloon when the increased Human Debris presence of season two hit her four-episodes-per-post guideline?  Yes, it’s me.  So for the rest of season two, I’ll be posting on the basis of trying not to dump over five thousand words into the tags in one go, HAHAHAerk.  Only two episodes today, and it’s still as long as any of this series’ previous longest posts, back in the Brewers arc!  

So, getting on into it, we open season two with...

EPISODE TWENTY-SIX — New Blood 

We open with a gravestone/memorial covered in names, almost certainly a number of which belonged to some of the unnamed Human Debris of the first season.  Alas, we have no way to track them specifically, but here’s the stone in any case, if for no other reason than that some of the names on here are A+ ridiculous Gundam Names.  (R.I.P. Purple Downey.)  

We find that some time has passed since we last left our group, but they’ve been plenty busy, swearing oaths to Teiwaz proper.  None of our boys in attendance at that ceremony; it seems that it was a bit more exclusive, as we see only Eugene, Mika and Merribit as known figures on the Tekkadan side, and only Naze and Amida (and the very first shot of Jasley, notably) on the Teiwaz side.  

No, our very first red-stripe watch shot of the season, even before Akihiro, surprisingly goes to Aston! 

He’s on scene when Atra is narrating about how Tekkadan’s new position as military advisor for Arbrau, and the associated Earth-branch location where we will be spending so much time in the season’s second set of episodes.  It’s immediately followed by our first shot of one of last season’s boys, Chad, watching Takaki do a certain amount of the talking, though we’ll eventually find out that Chad is, in fact, in charge around here.   

As you can see by the fact that as he’s gotten a uniform jacket that doesn’t have a huge red stripe slathered across the shoulder and back, Chad and our other ex-Human Debris have finally and truly become ex-Human Debris.  Praises be! And I’m glad that it is Chad who’s actually in charge; I’ll confess to a moment of miffed protectiveness, back when I first watched the episode, at the idea of Takaki (in season one, still designated as ‘the leader of the younger boys’) having been promoted over Chad.  It seemed a trifle unfair, though of course we had no idea which of either of them was better suited to a command position at the time.  But more on that in due time.

Our other two members of the original trio follow along shortly, as we find Akihiro and Dante back on Mars.  This is our first hint that Dante will also be moving into a more major role; you’ll recall that in the first season, he was an extremely sporadic presence, a third-stringer who showed up periodically to support Akihiro or back up Shino, but who seldom got much at all to do, and tended to vanish from group scenes practically as soon as he’d entered them.  You had (or at least, I had) the impression of him as someone who was kind of a jack-of-all-trades, flitting around from one area to another as his presence was required, but with no dedicated position like Chad or Akihiro held. Well, we’ll soon find out that he does indeed have a preference on the matter, and his appearance here, with Akihiro and Shino—Tekkadan’s second- and third-best mobile suit pilots—makes it fairly plain what that preference is going to prove to be.

Our last character to be on the watch for, Derma, will have to wait just a little longer for his first showing of the season.

This shot comes up as Atra tells us about the increasing strife in the world and how Tekkadan’s startlingly good performance at Edmonton has lead to a higher number of children being sent to war, and a likewise growing number of Human Debris.  So these boys don’t have the red stripe yet, but they’re bound for it.  And they are all boys, I notice.  We never do see a girl with the signature Human Debris mark, and I wonder a bit about why that is.  There are certainly possibilities that leap to mind, but they’re as unpleasant as they are obvious, so I won’t get into them here.  I will say that it’s something to keep in mind for when we get to the Turbines backstory.  

And speaking of the Turbines!  To the tune of a rather jazzy piece of music that I’m pretty sure is played absolutely nowhere else in the series, we find Lafter hard at work beating some training into an extremely outclassed Dante, who’s making some really great faces about it.

Dante, for all his hacking skills, is kind of a meathead, but he’s an extremely loveable meathead.  He’s dedicated and stubborn, earthier and more pragmatic than the perpetually upbeat Shino, but still more openly firey than either Mikazuki, who’s as remote as his namesake most of the time, or the taciturn, stoic Akihiro.  This makes him a great addition to the main roster of pilots, giving the writers someone they can be a little comic with—witness his defensive yelling and cursing here about trying his best as Azee shouts at him to react faster—without sacrificing sincerity.

Looking a little exasperated, Yukinojo helpfully namedrops him for the audience, plenty of whom had absolutely no idea who he was, as was very obvious if you were following the various review blogs covering the series at the time.  Zack, the pompadour-newbie, observes that this is Dante’s first time in the mobile suit.  If I had to guess, I’d say Dante has been pushing for priority in mobile suit training for some time, and pestered everyone about it so much that, when they got in the shipment of Shidens, they decided to let him be first in line for the “Lets all get annihilated by Lafter” party.  If he was half as persistent about it as Akihiro was in season one, but way louder, it’s easy to imagine why Yukinojo felt so facepalmy about it.  

Rather pleasantly, the new guys assume that Dante’s holding his own as well as he is because of his Alaya-Vijnana implant, a view Shino quickly corrects for them.  No, Dante actually is just that capable, or that well-read, or has done that much time in a simulator, or some combination of the above.  

Anyway, you guys, I love Dante and so should you.

Directly, we find out that Akihiro is now in charge of a unit of his own, with Ride as his second-in-command, and the little firebrand is very quick to jump in with the drill sergeant talk.  Gotta be faster if you wanna get a word in edgewise, Akihiro-han.  

This, incidentally, could suggest that Dante is Shino’s second, if you assume that picture earlier of the four of them talking by the mobile worker is a unit leader meeting of some kind.  

When next we see him, Akihiro is clarifying for us how much of its work Tekkadan still does with no shirts on.  Dante was shirtless earlier, of course, but that was just for practice, and during the day!  Surely, as a fancy official company, Tekkadan doesn’t let its employees do actual commissioned jobs half-naked?  

No, in fact, Tekkadan does exactly that, a fact which will be thrown into even more hilarious contrast when they’re teamed up with McGillis for the whole Hashmal misadventure later.  Look forward to it.  

It’s easy to miss in the glare, but here’s our first shot of Derma for the season!  As well as a quick little moment for the ShinoYama shippers, we also find Dante examining a data slate alongside Echo, as probably the most computer-literate people on the field right now.  The grouping tells us that Dante is indeed in Shino’s unit, as is Derma, a supposition that will be confirmed shortly.  It also lays some early groundwork on Derma and Dante having taken to each other enough to hang out when they’re not immediately on the job, as we will later see. 

I really feel for Akihiro in this sequence.  He spent almost the entirety of the first season in a mobile suit, and half of it in a Gundam, and now he’s back in this rattling three-wheeled deathtrap as a bunch of mobile suits charge the field? My God, couldn’t they at least have gotten him one of the Shidens or something to pilot?  Or is this one of those things where Tekkadan is doing all it can not to escalate, only to look on in horror as a villain proves willing to up the ante (see: Graze Ein entering Edmonton; everything about the Dainsleifs)?

Apparently not, as Shino swoops in to save the day in the newest iteration of his Ryuusei-Go, the lot of which I will at some point assemble a post for you all on, because they’re all great, especially the crash helmet.   

And here we have confirmation of Derma and Dante’s placement under Shino’s wing, as well as the headaches it causes poor Derma, who probably never imagined something like this was going to be his life back when we met him in the first season.  

Possibly to not have to think about how deeply embarrassing Shino’s weird naming themes are, Derma moves in, and proves himself to be an entirely capable combatant with a sword, it turns out.  Witness his opponent’s jazz-hands of defeat! 

Dante, meanwhile, keeps his firing range distance. Judging by his expression, he’s having a bit of trouble here (it is, after all, his very first live combat in a mobile suit).  It may also be the case that’s he’s already worked out what Elgar and Enbi are hollering at Hush and Zack about—that this assault is too straightforward, and that there’s going to be more to it than there first appears.  

Derma continues to perform like a tiny champion badass, saving Dante (not so good with a sword, it seems) by making a huge skyward leap and landing on Dante’s opponent with his machine’s foot driven squarely into the man’s cockpit.  Truly, the difference in their levels of experience is made very clear in this scene, in case anyone has forgotten that Derma fought an unknown number of space battles in a grunt mobile suit under the command of Kudal Kudan, a man who treated his subordinates with all the affection and respect an underground dog fighting ring affords its combatants.  

Dante keeps at it like a champ, though, responding that he’ll make it last when Derma asks after the levels of fuel left in his thrusters.  It’s a risk he’s taking here, as running out of fuel would leave him completely disabled on the field.

Thankfully, as the early haze of predawn gives way to the blue of early morning, the team ace arrives, with the new opening theme streaming out behind him, and we bring the episode to a close.  Before we get to the next one, though, lets hit that new intro, shall we?

OP 3 — Rage of Dust

This opening’s a little fun in that it’s more grounded and contiguous than the others, with less generic Purposeful Walking, Forceful Yelling, or Significant Imagery. There’s a sense that we’re seeing snippets from a particular set of events—a Tekkadan sortie in space against Arianrhod, a fight the Earth branch and McGillis are dealing with on Earth, and so on. For example… 

Our first shot, right near the beginning, is of Akihiro passing by a room where Mikazuki and Ride are suiting up for space combat.  Akihiro’s managed to get dressed more quickly than either of them, because Ride is still kinda bad at it and Mikazuki is trying to do it one-handed while also bolting a snack. 

He heads on down the hall, serious as ever. 

We find Derma and Dante, paired up again, drifting above a Shiden hanger, also suited up, with Dante getting some orders of some kind via his helmet. 

After the title screen, we skip to some shots of more everyday life, like Akihiro and company being amused at Orga’s irritation at the petty everyday difficulties of running a business. 

Chad is dealing with similar fine detail work, though assisted by, as we will find, a far more treacherous accountant. 

Aston we find having a late afternoon snack with his new (only) favorite family. 

He’s very happy, and it’s a little impressive how hard you can raise a death flag using no more than a smile in an opening sequence.

We are now into the more standard imagery, but at least everyone looks nice.  Here’s Chad with Eugene, our two responsible, sub-leader types (and Shino, who dived out of the sub-leader position like he was getting scored on it).

Akihiro gets the screen with the two he’s shared his last name with, though of course we won’t find that out for some time. 

And there’s Dante, squirreled well away from anyone significant to him.  (Do your best, Dante.)  

And that’s it for the new intro, so lets get onto the next episode! 

EPISODE TWENTY-SEVEN — In the Midst of Jealousy 

Showing his similarity to his squad leader, Dante is entirely ready to pursue the Dawn Horizon guys when Mikazuki drives them into retreat. 

Derma is little different, protesting when Mika calls them back from following.  He also shows the distinctive shape of his mouth here.  I think there’s a Japanese term for this quirk of character design, which I do not immediately recall, but it’s pretty unique to Derma (albeit not wholly consistent), and gives him a kind of sulky look, like someone whose lips are perpetually set in a terse line.  Also, the kid is ripped. Not so different from any of the others, but seriously, go back and compare his build in the Brewers arc to here. Tekkadan has been good to him.  

Derma and Dante both begin rebuking Mikazuki for his reckless usage of Barbatos, which is fun. Derma, having a particularly terrible space rat kind of upbringing, doubtlessly has a pretty finely tuned handle on fuel management, which Mikazuki does not and never will bother with developing, while Dante is just miffed that they just got it fixed, too.  One gets the sense that everyone who’s been with Tekkadan for any length of time gets pretty used to Mikazuki Being Like This.

  Certainly it’s not news to Akihiro. 

We see again here, on the Dawn Horizon flagship, the piratical red stripe theme.  The captain, Sandoval Reuters, has a big red bullseye painted on his forehead as well.  At this point, I almost begin to wonder if the red stripe is more a mark of Outer Sphere horrors than anything else.  Piracy, slavery; throw a red stripe on it and it’s like a code for civilized society to stay as far away from it as possible.  

In any case, while Dawn Horizon absolutely uses Human Debris, as we will later find, they certainly don’t use them on the bridge like the Brewers did, which definitely suggests an organization that has its act together a bit more thoroughly than Brooke Kabayan did.  

We return to a sobered Tekkadan, where the veterans are discussing a future containing up to ten assault ships, and the new recruits are wrestling with the reality of how quickly and brutally death can show up when you’re working for a mercenary outfit.  Akihiro comes in and tells the newbies that anyone who wants to quit can do so. Tekkadan lets people decide if they want to stay or leave, live or die. 

He strokes his fingers down the front of his uniform while he says this, right over where his stripe used to be, and it’s maybe my single favorite of his character moments in the entire show.  It’s quite clear that he’s thinking back to when Orga took over and offered the lot of them not only their freedom, but a choice, to go and take severance pay with them, or to stay and be as much under the organization’s protection as any other member.  I love that the show just trusts us to have figured out what the stripe indicated, remember where it was, and know why that freedom of choice was and is so huge to Akihiro that he needs to make sure everyone understands that they have it.

It’s unclear how much of this weighted history the newbies are aware of, but Shino certainly understands the significance, giving Akihiro a rueful, understanding smile.  

Meanwhile, in far less introspective territory… 

Dante is super pumped about being a mobile suit pilot now, and wants to start putting a kill count on his unit.  I, meanwhile, reflect on the fact that Dante, who until he got his first paycheck doubtless never actually owned anything post- whatever incident it was that landed him with a Human Debris stripe, wants to start personalizing his unit right away, anything to put his mark on it.  Taken together with his season one preview dialogue about finding comfort in neatly aligned computer data, it suggests someone who values physical proofs of existence, and is reassured by things you can observe and interact with, regardless of what anyone else thinks of them or you.  

The Turbines girls (and Ride) are less than impressed, reminding him that he didn’t take down anybody solo, and also, it isn’t his personal unit to mark up yet anyway.  Poor Dante gets no respect.  I’m glad he’s of a personality that can roll with being rebuked by someone several years younger than him with nothing more than some complaining about procedure. 

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Chad has his hands full with his own Teiwaz liason, Radice here, who is already talking faintly treasonous talk about how HQ (Tekkadan) is failing to uphold their bargains, and doing that talking right out in the open hallway instead of taking it to whatever sort of private office Chad must logically have.

When he gets to the point of suggesting that the troubles of the Mars branch have nothing to do with the Earth branch, Chad looks surprised, then stern, and responds with a firm defense of Orga’s requests and considerations of their situation.  When Radice doesn’t back down, only complaining more openly, Chad tells him point blank that regardless of the branch Orga is the boss of Tekkadan, which means his words are to be trusted and followed; that this is what defines Tekkadan.  

Guys, I’ve liked Chad since season one, but I didn’t blame anyone back then for not knowing who he was.  His position was never detailed, he had nothing but throwaway dialogue, and you never saw him away from work long enough to get any kind of bead on who this guy was and made him tick.  This is his first real stand-out scene as a character, and it is so, so defining.  It gives us so much material to work with in one scene. 

It tells us that this is a young man who’s responsible, open-minded enough to let others say their piece, reluctant to push too hard or make a scene, but wholly willing to plant his feet and refuse to budge when someone goes too far in questioning the people and organization to which he is unfailingly, unstintingly loyal.  Knowing he’s in charge despite not being very prominent last season tells us also that he works well with others, that he’s cool-headed enough to be put in charge, and more than that, put in charge of a branch located on a planet he’s barely seen, working with people he doesn’t know, dealing with anything from unintended microaggressions all the way up to full-throated, to-his-face ethnocentricism.  Taking that position (because I very much doubt he had the self-worth to volunteer for it) shows him as either quite brave or distressingly selfless, depending on how long he thought about it before accepting it.  

You guys.  I love Chad.  You should too.  

ANYWAY, Radice gets frustrated and stalks off.  He says it’s because the conversation isn’t going anywhere, but with what we know about how the upcoming arc plays out, I suspect it’s more because Chad refuses to back down, and he really hates it when teenagers don’t concede to his adulthood.  There’s maybe no character in the series who more purely disdains Tekkadan as children, I think, than Radice, so someone like Chad, who’s serious and responsible and, just sometimes, completely impossible to sway, must be just infuriating.

It would be very satisfying to me if it didn’t lead to Chad spending the bulk of said upcoming arc in uncertain health and almost wholly offscreen.  SIGH.

Chad also seems to find the encounter frustrating, sighing hard and rubbing his head, probably discontent and wondering if there’s any better way to handle that guy than he can figure out, along with being worried about his friends back home.

  Meanwhile, other adults are getting mouthed off at by even younger children, who have a far less respectful attitude about it. Aston, we find, has been trying to “show the ropes” to some of Arbrau’s military, and one of them has not taken kindly to some point of policy or another, and is having to be physically restrained from taking a swing at the very unapologetic Aston. 

Takaki breaks it up and apologizes, but cannot get Aston to do the same.

Man, this kid’s eyes.  They were sharp and vivid even in season one, but they’ve only become moreso with the increased focus from the narrative.  It’s interesting that he played kind of a mediator with his companions with the Brewers, trying to ease both sides of the closest thing we ever saw to an inter-group conflict with them.  He’ll be doing the same later on in this arc with his new group, but he certainly doesn’t seem to give a damn about playing the peacekeeper where outsiders are concerned.  Aston, your wolfpack tendencies are showing. 

Back at the Uno household, we find Takaki has invited Aston back for dinner, though Aston was expecting a scolding from Chad’s second in command.  It’s a little notable here, I think, that compared to Derma, Aston and Takaki have not bulked up anywhere near as much, suggesting either that Derma is really dedicated to a workout routine or that there is less conflict/stiff competition for mobile suits on Earth.  It could be an inconsistency between animators, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

When asked how his food tastes by Takaki’s sister Fuuka, Aston says it tastes good, then shares a somewhat inconsiderate (and depressing) personal detail: that he used to eat garbage growing up, so everything tastes good now.  (This suggests he ate even worse before joining the Brewers, who at least seem to have thrown nutrient bars at him every now and again.)

He asks Takaki if he doesn’t get lonely on Earth, away from Mars, and then gets just the tiniest bit flustered when Takaki calls him a friend, and man, I just don’t buy this kid as a detached recluse who never cared about anyone before Takaki and Fuuka.  How would he even understand loneliness well enough to ask after it if that were the case?  I wonder if we’re meant to read all the ship-teasing that will follow as legit? Because it would certainly explain things if Aston felt something different for Takaki than for Masahiro and Derma and the rest but could never quite put his finger on the word for that difference, so just assumed that his more intense feelings After Takaki must have indicated a dearth of feelings Before Takaki, when it’s plain that he’s always been fairly invested in his immediate peer group.  

Anyway, I will continue to try to puzzle Aston out as we move on, and beg your forgiveness for harping on the same point repeatedly.  

Normally at this point I would cover the third ED, Shounen no Hate, but as it turns out, it has not a lick of red stripes in it anywhere, so it’s a wash for our purposes.

That said, I have the next episode down, and have been making relatively steady progress through them, so our next episode should not be altogether too long in coming.  Look forward to it!