chibbypanda

[chibbypanda]

So I made two music mash-ups of cozmez's Make It and 1Nm8's SAGA! I love how they turned out ✨✨

[chibbypanda]

Chapter Preview of "The Boy, The Thief, and The Cracked Mirror" (ParaLive Fanfic)

Nayuta: Shiki, just to be sure, do you have any fighting experience? Shiki: Umm…Sparring is part of the curriculum— Nayuta: Did you actually fight someone? Shiki: ...no. You? Nayuta: Yeah, but Kanata would do most of the fighting while I find an escape route so… In other words, none of them are exactly the best fighters.

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The Boy, The Thief, and The Cracked Mirror is a Paradox Live fantasy AU about Shiki and Nayuta trying to stop a curse to save their loved ones. The link to the story is here.

[chibbypanda]

Paradox Live | what the anime’s finale could’ve been…

General SPOILERS of the events that happened during the first Paradox Live.

The finale of Paradox Live the Animation was a mess.

It was a bundle of anime original ideas that were cool on paper, but felt haphazardly executed due to the show’s pacing. There is only so much twelve episodes can do, and it seemed that it wasn’t enough time to flesh out those ideas.

I can go on about my thoughts on Allen’s conflict with his father or my mixed feelings towards the unnamed scientist’s motives, but I’m here today not to burn the final episodes to the coals. Rather, I want to explore the season finale and what it might’ve been.

Before I do just that, I need to share some context.

The drama CDs implied that a major incident happened at CLUB paradox before the events of LIVE.

While the incident in question was never explicitly explained, it did cause three major events:

It made Kanata remember Nayuta’s “death.”

It revealed that Alter Trigger not only organized Paradox Live, but implied that they intended to do something to the performers.

It made the performers realize just how powerful and dangerous phantometal can be.

What made the anime stand out at the time (fingers crossed that the manga will have its own take in the future) was how it portrayed that very incident. In the anime, Alter Trigger forced Kanata to remember his repressed trauma to turn him into a phantometal vessel that will spread the metal erosion to everyone inside CLUB paradox.

The purpose? To make everyone become one with the metal. Why? I have no idea. The scientist just said that he wanted to become messiah and to strip away humanity’s pain and suffering…or something. Okay, Haruomi did comment that the scientist just wanted puppets to control so maybe the scientist wanted to take over the world. That said, considering how everyone affected would likely die as soon as the metal reaches their literal hearts…I don’t know how the mind control thing will happen.

Frankly, I don’t know if the scientist would’ve had any control of the rampage at all. He may have started Kanata’s descent to madness, but unless he has a way to actually control Kanata himself…technically the scientist’s experiment has run wild and for all we know, Kanata might’ve just devoured the entire venue with the scientist in tow.

Other than that, I have no clue of who the scientist is as a person nor understood his implied history with BURAIKAN (except how he apparently killed Chisei or directly contributed to his death). He’s just a mad scientist who happened to conduct a similar experiment ten years ago, and then decided to do it again.

There’s just so much missed potential there.

And of course, the day was saved when BAE, TCW, and AKYR gathered together to sing a friendship rap to free Kanata from his metal-induced state. The rap was well-sung and I love the lyrics. I understand the show’s intent behind its setup, though it’s a bit hard to believe that it’s what saved Kanata considering that he and the others were barely friends but anyway—I’m not here to burn them. I did that already in other places. I am here to wrap my head around the intentions of these plotlines to find a bright side. Because when I think about it, they could’ve been quite something.

This is where I get loosely philosophical.

Based on the finale’s resolution, it seemed like the show intended to hammer in the message of how music has the power to connect people in ways that are hard to see but can be felt regardless. That’s why the scientist used Paradox Live for his plan, as well as why the characters tried to reach Kanata through music.

It appeared to be a nod to the general project as it was an outlook originally said by Tsubaki, Naokira’s wife and Yohei’s friend. She believed in music’s power to connect to others which was why she saw the potential of phantometal.

To me, this line of thinking seems to be inspired by the words of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer who wrote the following in his book, “The World as Will and Representation”:

Therefore music is by no means like the other arts, namely a copy of the Ideas, but a copy of the will itself, the objectivity of which are the Ideas. For this reason the effect of music is so very much more powerful and penetrating than is that of the other arts, for these others speak only of the shadow, but music of the essence.

The human will is defined as an insatiable force that drives people to act and move forward towards their goals, even though there’s no guarantee that this “goal” will be achieved. Thus, it becomes the “root cause of all suffering” but nevertheless the thing that makes us human. Therefore, it is said that in order to be at peace with one’s self—one needs to temporarily release themselves from the will by momentarily losing themselves to the arts—one of them being music.

With that in mind, Schopenhauer believed that out of all the arts music could pierce through a person’s will the most because it was seen as a direct representation of the human will. He believed that unlike the other art forms that could only capture the shadow of things, music can be presented as itself.

Okay, that sounds interesting, but how is it related to Paradox Live?

It might be just me, but as I said before, I think the finale attempted to implement Schopenhauer’s view on music in its anime-original finale.

For one, the scientist’s plan was already messed up as it is. He basically forced someone to relive their repressed trauma to cause a dangerous chain reaction that could claim the lives of every person the venue—or even the city if he’s not stopped. On it’s own, it’s clear why he needs to be stopped.

That said, if you look at it in a more philosophical lens, then it becomes more poignant as to why everyone—Haruomi especially since he’s the only one aware of what’s actually happening behind the scenes—was strongly against it.

As stated before, Schopenhauer believed that music can be used as a means to temporarily release oneself from the will in order to ease one’s suffering. Emphasis on temporary because while the human will can cause suffering—it is nonetheless the driving force that allows humans to overcome suffering and thus live. The arts, let alone music is never meant to be used to destroy what makes us human. It is meant to connect and inspire us to keep going—to remind us that life is worth living.

“Losing oneself isn’t salvation.”

Haruomi told the scientist during their confrontation. The scientist’s plan is the antithesis of music’s purpose. To him, it wasn’t enough to temporarily release humanity from their suffering. No, he wanted to use music to permanently strip away the human will to “save” humanity from their suffering. And by doing so, he essentially took away their will to live, and thus their sense of self. How is that any different from being dead?

There’s this other cool detail I noticed, and it’s probably there for drama and stuff, but when Kanata was turning into the vessel fake BURAKAN told him this:

“Change the world with your screams!”

On one hand, it’s villain dialogue but on the other hand it could’ve been another nod to how the scientist’s plan was the antithesis to what music is. They could’ve said, “Change the world with your song!” or somewhere along those lines. After all, Kanata’s chosen because of his music (also the fact that he won by default which is a questionable writing decision for the anime).

So why screams? If music is perceived as the closest representation of the human will, then it can be argued that Kanata lost his music the moment he lost his will to live. It kind of happened in the LIVE drama. After remembering the truth of his situation, Kanata lost his reason to live which led him to lose his reason to sing and thus he couldn’t create illusions.

Just a quick tangent, this seems reminiscent to what happened to Allen in the season finale—when he lost his ability to use illusions. Could it be that because his will has been shaken by doubt, it affected his music and thus his phantometal? If it weren’t for the choice to make cozmez win by default, then I would’ve been sold on this plotline.

In context with the anime’s finale, it seems have happened again when Kanata transformed into the phantometal vessel. By forcing him to confront the reality of Nayuta’s “passing,” Kanata has lost his reason (Nayuta) to sing or live, and by having his will snuffed out—so does his music. And by being possessed by the metal, he’s forced to snuff out the will of others in turn.

That’s why CLUB paradox was filled with static, screams, and whimpers. By using music to snuff out the will, music has unsurprisingly died with it. That sounds so cool, and I wish that the anime fleshed out that concept.

Actually, come to think of it, I wonder if the way Kanata remembered Nayuta’s “death” would have affected the severity of the incident.

In the anime, Iori made a comment that Kanata’s metal went berserk due to its owner’s memories being forcibly opened—implying that Kanata’s state of mind made the situation worse. The original project has yet to reveal how Kanata exactly remembered the truth, but the manga did show that illusion Nayuta disappeared on his own without any prompting from other forces (in the anime, illusion Nayuta disappeared because fake BURAIKAN’s pushed Kanata into a corner).

If illusion Nayuta is a piece of Kanata’s subconscious, and he disappeared in his own accord…does that mean that Kanata felt that he’s ready to let go deep down? But again, it’s still unclear if the manga will adapt its own take of the incident so whether Kanata’s mental state affects the incident itself is still up in the air.

Back at the topic at hand, there’s also the Friendship Rap—the resolution of the story. I think its main issue was in its execution because story-wise it makes sense. The show has established that music has the power to connect to others, and philosophically music is the closest representation of the human will. Therefore, gathering together to sing their hearts out in hopes to reignite Kanata’s will makes a lot of sense.

“Remember cozmez’s music and our sound!”

That’s what Allen pleaded to Kanata. By remembering the music he made with Nayuta, as well as the music that drives him to get better at his craft, Kanata was finally able to regain his sense of self.

When he was struggling near the end of Last Verse (the moments before Allen summons his phoenix illusion), I want to believe that it’s Kanata fighting the phantometal with everyone too. He wanted to live. He wanted to be saved. He wanted to face life head on, even if Nayuta won’t be there with him (Nayuta’s alive in the end, so lucky him).

And so, in the end, the scientist plot—and in turn his warped philosophy was thwarted. He was literally beaten up by Haruomi and figuratively defeated by the characters’ strong bonds (or at least, they would’ve been strong bonds if the show didn’t pace it in a way that makes it feel like a gathering of acquittances).

And that’s how I think the show would’ve been.

With more time, Paradox Live the Animation would’ve been a fun yet compelling exploration of the power of music and its connection to the human will. They could’ve fleshed out the scientist’s motives and his history with BURAIKAN, as well as show more moments of Kanata bonding with the others in order to make the Last Verse more poignant in its message of human connection.

But alas, the show is already over and we can only think about it in retrospect. Regardless, the show will always hold a special place in my heart for its quirks and I hope that a season two will be greenlit. Like please! I want more ParaLive anime content!

That’s all for now. What are your thoughts on Paradox Live the Animation? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[chibbypanda]

Paradox Live | overthinking how cozmez activates their metals

General SPOILERS of the events that happened during the first Paradox Live.

Another day, another ramble about Paradox Live…

So the second fanbook of Paradox Live revealed additional details of the characters, including the way they activate their metals. As many fans or viewers would know, phantom rappers would activate their metals through kissing them. How they do it depends on what shape their metal is and where it is, from a pendant to a pair of glasses.

What got my mind turning for a while was how it was revealed that Kanata and Nayuta activate their metals by biting each other’s. So Kanata would bite Nayuta’s earring and vice versa.

Now I know I should just move on from this. From what I could tell, this detail has been alluded to far before the second fanbook’s release via sources like the manga so it’s technically nothing new. Plus, ParaLive’s heading towards the new stuff like the upcoming storyline, the season-themed teams, and the two-man shows so the logical move would be to focus on those and others instead. BUT despite everything, my ParaLive-poisoned brain won’t let me move on and instead made me think about how this information affect the story.

See, the thing with adding new details to a story and world is that it not only has to add on to what is already established—thereby providing context in a meaningful way, but it must also be able to hold water. It should still be inline with the story’s logic. It should still make sense. In this case, while it’s cool that ParaLive has explicitly reveal the way Kanata and Nayuta activate their metals…the details also add more questions that tug at my suspension of disbelief.

So without further ado, let’s begin!

Before anything else, I would like to share how cozmez’s metal activation does make sense (to some extent).

First of, it does make some practical sense for the twins to think of activating their metals this way. Based on the different iterations of ParaLive (the drama CDs, the anime, the manga), it’s heavily implied that the characters need to kiss their metals moments before they perform.

Kanata’s and Nayuta’s metals are earrings, so it’s already hard to reach. At first, I thought they would remove, kiss, and put their metals back on, but then their metals’ design might make it difficult to seamlessly do just that. Maybe not impossible, but I’m unsure if they would be able to do that moments before they’re expected to perform.

So with that in mind, I can see why Kanata and Nayuta would choose to bite each other’s metals. ParaLive describes them as people who dislike hassles, so it would make sense for them to pick the least time-consuming option.

That being said, when I first read about how they activate their metals, I was like: Wait a minute! Doesn’t the metal only work with its owner’s DNA? How was cozmez able to activate theirs when they technically didn’t bite their own earrings?

That would’ve been a major plot hole that the project failed to take into account, so to give them a benefit of a doubt I came up with some theories.

For instance, I thought that maybe the earrings they are wearing aren’t actually “theirs.”. Like perhaps Kanata’s actually wearing Nayuta’s metal and vice versa. But then, that doesn’t explain how Kanata’s able to make illusion Nayuta without his metal since Nayuta would’ve been taken by Alter Trigger.

So then I thought, maybe they are wearing parts of each other’s metal. The earring consists of two detachable parts—the head and the body, so maybe the twins swapped parts. Like, Kanata wears the snake head containing Nayuta’s DNA and Nayuta has Kanata’s. Then, Kanata would still have something of his own (i.e. the snake’s body) which would then explain how he’s still able to activate his illusion.

But then, that sounds needlessly complicated for an explanation and I find it weird that Kanata would just bite the tail-end of his own from then on. Now that I think about, would the opposing parts of the earring even fit? If each head is specifically designed for a different ear, then it’s possible that it would look or feel off if the twins swapped parts.

In the end, I decided to just settle with Occam’s Razor. Whether it be through the dialogue, the songs, or the marketing, ParaLive would often emphasize that Kanata and Nayuta are twins who share the same face and DNA. Since they are each wearing half of a pair of earrings, I have to assume that the twins are able to bite each other’s metals simply because they share the same DNA as identical twins. It would also explain how Kanata’s able to still create illusions when Nayuta's no longer around since either earring would work.

So yeah, in those regards, the way cozmez activates their metals makes some sense based on the story’s rules. That being said, there are still a few questions I have that might need to be addressed and I’m not sure if simply saying “Phantometal is mysterious and full of endless possibilities” would be enough to answer them.

How was illusion Nayuta born?

First, if phantometal can only be activated through kissing it, and the twins bite each other’s to activate theirs, then how did Kanata create illusion Nayuta the first time?

The exact details of how illusion Nayuta’s born were a blur, but I doubt that Kanata would think about biting his brother’s metal given that Nayuta was dying in front of him at the time. It’s also unlikely that Kanata would’ve bitten his own metal either. Not only was it hard to reach, but he was likely too focused on Nayuta to think about it. So how was he able to create the illusion, given the circumstances?

It was mentioned that Kanata lost consciousness from shock, so maybe his mouth touched Nayuta’s metal when it happened? Like he leaned forward or something? Based on his and Nayuta’s positions on that night, it is possible though it might be a stretch. It really depends.

How was Kanata still able to perform after that night?

There’s another thing that I wonder about sometimes. How was Kanata still able to make his illusions for the phantom lives, or how was he still able to maintain illusion Nayuta?

During season 1, Nayuta was an illusion and the manga showed that even after creating illusion Nayuta, Kanata still followed cozmez’s usual method of activating the metal. How was he able to activate his metal when the metal he’s biting to (illusion Nayuta) wasn’t real?

It's possible that Kanata bit his own metal for two years until the events of the first Paradox Live, but besides how challenging it would be to promptly activate his earring moments before the show, wouldn’t doing that make him spot the inconsistencies in his memories? Like, wouldn’t he question why he decided to suddenly change his habits when what he was doing before was seen as just fine?

My guess is that maybe he was able to still create his illusions despite everything because he never turned them off to begin with. Perhaps Kanata never turned off his metal since the night he created illusion Nayuta and has been using his metal nonstop for two years straight. And by never turning it off, it helped Kanata keep his delusion alive and created a false sense of normalcy.

While I like the theory, the problem with it was that there was a point when illusion Nayuta disappeared (i.e. the events of FAMILY). How was Kanata able to recreate him without kissing his metal? Or was the illusion never deactivated in the first place? Like, the illusion was merely invisible—lingering and waiting for Kanata’s cue?

Whatever the case, there’s still the question as to how Kanata was able to somehow keep his metal activated while he's asleep? It’s implied through storylines like LOVE that illusion Nayuta is still around to greet Kanata when he’s awake. Illusion Nayuta even bought medicine and talked to Shiki when Kanata’s sick and likely resting. How was that possible? Was Kanata’s refusal to acknowledge Nayuta’s “death” so powerful that he could will his illusions to remain despite being asleep?

When I was writing this ramble, another theory came to mind. What if Kanata was still able to activate his metal at different points in time because illusion Nayuta is the metal itself? He may be an illusion, but he was still able to do things like physically interact with people and objects. It was also implied through the Opening Show drama CD that illusion Nayuta would sometimes buy clothes without Kanata’s permission and that he can still make cozmez’s costumes.

Illusion Nayuta is clearly different from the illusions made for the phantom lives, and he acts like a mostly if not an entirely solid entity. Kanata dreamt of watching Nayuta melt before his very eyes in the anime and the fake BURAIKAN did actually melt into a metallic substance before taking over Kanata’s mind. There was also the fact that in the anime's version of the incident, Kanata manifested actual metal to cover CLUB paradox.

With those in mind, maybe that’s what the story’s going for. Maybe the points when cozmez performs are when Kanata creates, recreates, and maintains illusion Nayuta. Maybe that’s how illusion Nayuta’s still around when Kanata’s sleeping and waking up.

But then it still needs to explain how was Kanata able to recreate illusion Nayuta during the events of FAMILY and when Nayuta was revealed to be an illusion in episode 11, he disappeared into thin air just like any other illusion despite being somewhat of a solid entity.

At first, I thought that maybe it was perceived like that because it was revealed through Kanata’s perspective. He was experiencing a trap reaction that forcibly brought his repressed memories to the forefront, so he probably missed the moment illusion Nayuta melted.

But then, I also remembered that the other characters (AKYR and TCW) reacted to this moment and they just said that Nayuta “disappeared” implying that he simply faded with no trace at all.

So yeah, how the metal works exactly is still a bit of a mystery. Then again, the anime doesn’t necessarily follow the drama CDs as the fake BURAIKAN and Kanata's rampage were anime original ideas so it might be debatable if I should’ve used the anime’s logic as a reference point. The reason I did mention it is because I heard the that writing team of the anime did work on the drama CDs. I assume that even though they changed some stuff for the anime, they would still apply the same rules of how phantometal works in this world.

I’m very curious if the project will address those in the future.

Long story short, it’s cool that ParaLive confirmed an idea that has been alluded to for quite some time…

But the implications on how it worked in context of what happened in the story makes me struggle to suspend my disbelief just a bit. Like, it’s just on the verge of becoming a plot hole (unless I’m missing something).

That being said, I would like to clarify that while I’m still wondering about cozmez’s activation method, it hasn’t ruined my immersion with the project. Frankly, there are other questions I have with the project that have yet to be addressed (like how did Iori got the gist of Kanata’s circumstances with illusion Nayuta when there were no witnesses of that night outside the twins and Alter Trigger?) but they alone aren’t enough to mess with me.

At the end of the day, I still enjoy the characters and the world they lived in. ParaLive isn’t perfectly sound, but what it is able to do right so far outweighs whatever questions I may have with it. This blog post is just made to indulge in my overthinking.

But what do you think? What are your thoughts on this particular aspect of ParaLive’s lore? Is there something I missed or didn’t consider? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

[chibbypanda]

Important Notes/Reminders :3

If you like my work here, consider looking into my other socials :3

Okay! Here's some housekeeping:

The purpose of this blog is to express my ramblings about my favorite stories/projects whether it be making fan theories about the story, analyzing/over-analyzing elements of the stories and characters, or maybe expressing my thoughts on certain ships and character dynamics.

I might also ramble about my fanfiction or show previews of my works. If you're interested in reading them, check out my Archive of Our Own page 😗✨!

So when you stumble upon here, kindly keep the following in mind:

Number 1: My blog is a spoiler zone.

Everything I post will be filled with spoilers on whatever project I am writing about at the time.

I will still place a spoiler warning at the start of my posts, but in the event that I forget to do that, just know that there will be spoilers. If you happen to like the project I'm talking about, but have yet to finish it and don't want to be spoiled then...finish the story first before coming here :3.

Number 2: Let's keep the space nice and friendly.

My blog will be riddled with my thoughts and theories about the media I like based on how I understand them. Sometimes you might like what I wrote, and other times you might disagree. Both are perfectly fine.

I love gushing about and reading the different viewpoints of others. If you think I missed something or want to clarify something I might've missed, or express your own take on a scene I talked about, then feel free to tell me.

BUT I'm not fond of rude comments that seem more interested in attacking me and my thoughts simply because they don't like them rather than actually adding to the discussion. I had encountered a commentor who cursed my username and thoughts about a certain show. While it didn't ruin my day, it was still an unpleasant experience.

At the end of the day, I just want to write about the stuff I find to be fun. Like I said before, agreeing and disagreeing with me is perfectly fine. If you really really don't like what I have to say to the point of wanting to say something that's not very nice...then you have the option to just ignore my posts and enjoy your day.

I think that's all for now. Enjoy my blog ✨✨!

[chibbypanda]

Paradox Live | why cozmez’s phantom illusion makes a lot of sense (& why I’m fangirling over it)

Okay. I know it’s weird (or maybe a bit dated) to talk about cozmez’s phantom illusion, especially when Paradox Live recently released the phantom illusion illustrations of the second generation groups (VISTY, INm8, AMPRULE, & GokuLuck). BUT since ParaLive re-released the phantom illusions of the first four groups for their campaign, I feel absolutely justified to talk about cozmez.

Then again, as a cozmez fan, I would probably still talk about cozmez and their story regardless of where we are in the project. My brain just refuses to let go or move on.

Anyway, for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, ParaLive’s social media campaign of the new phantom illusions have made me sit back and actually think about cozmez’s. While I have always find their illusions to be cool, I initially didn’t think too deep into it. Frankly, I got distracted by season 1’s plot twist about Nayuta being an illusion all along. However, the more I think about it, the more I realized just how fitting their illusion is. It not only makes sense for its members (Kanata and Nayuta), but it also makes thematic sense in context of what happened in season 1 of Paradox Live.

SPOILER WARNING for Paradox Live season 1. So without further ado, let’s jump right in!

Okay to recap, cozmez consists of twin brothers—Kanata and Nayuta. They have the same illusion which are mirrors, specifically the glass shards from those mirrors. In the manga, there was a scene where Kanata “breaks” the mirror illusions to create the shard effect.

Aesthetically, it’s cool. Just like how Kanata and Nayuta’s soft appearances juxtapose their sharp attitudes and background, their illusions could work the same way. Mirrors and glass can be beautiful, whether it be as themselves or that they reflect the beauty of things. However, mirrors can also show the ugly (like what happened in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”) and glass shards are a literal hazard. So yeah, cozmez’s illusions represent the twins very well.

But wait, there’s more! Aside from making sense to the characters, cozmez’s illusion also makes perfect sense thematically.

Of all the groups, cozmez is the only group in ParaLive where the individual members share the same illusion. Groups like BAE would have each member have a unique illusion to represent who they are and what drives them personally. But in cozmez’s case, both Kanata and Nayuta have the same illusion. I think that’s to intentionally draw home the following points of their story:

First, it’s to hammer in Kanata and Nayuta’s strong familial bond (and perhaps their initial codependency). It’s been established in the project that they are identical twins who share the same face, the same DNA, and the same hardships. Followed by their initial distrustfulness towards others, and we have a group who was stuck in their own world—a world where they believe that as long as they have each other then they are invincible.

Their phantom illusion captures those aspects. They see themselves as one entity, two parts of a meaningful whole. It could be argued that they see themselves as two parts of a mirror. Kanata said so himself: cozmez isn’t really cozmez without the two of them together.

Speaking of mirrors, the fact that Kanata and Nayuta are identical twins really hammers in the concept of reflections. When they face each other (especially since they wear their metals in opposite ears), it’s like they are looking at a reflection of themselves. And this is where my mind was blown. For you see, I believe that ParaLive played with this concept on purpose to enhance the feels of cozmez’s story—particularly in season 1.

So, it’s revealed that cozmez wasn't exactly cozmez during the first Paradox Live for Nayuta was an illusion Kanata created to shield himself from the truth which was how he saw his brother’s body near the foot of a building. The twist in itself will always hold a special place in my heart for its angst, but what especially tickled my brain is just how cozmez’s phantom illusion relates to all of this.

As mentioned before, the concept of cozmez’s illusion plays with the idea of mirrors and reflections, especially since Kanata and Nayuta are identical twins. So when Kanata created the illusion of Nayuta, it is as if he is using his own reflection to protect himself and fill the hole Nayuta left. But just like a mirror’s reflection, the illusion of Nayuta could never truly engage with Kanata. He’s only limited to Kanata’s memories, feelings, and thoughts. He lacked the will and experience of the real Nayuta to truly help Kanata.

Perhaps that was why the illusion kept telling Kanata to expand his horizons. Deep down, Kanata knew that he can’t stay that way forever. He needed to let his delusion go—to look away from the mirror he created and face reality.

Just the thought that cozmez’s illusion was this integrated into their story blew my mind! It’s great for the angst and the feels! I just love this group so much!

So yeah, I think that’s everything I want to say about cozmez’s phantom illusion for now. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.