#(for reference the official English translation in-game for this part is:

[kadoodles-on-ao3]

Artist: mugimugis3 Source: Twitter Archives: Original Post | First Image | Second Image

(Rough) Translation: Shulk: "Even if you're a princess, or even if you were instead a regular girl, you're still Melia. To me, above all else, you're Melia."

[king-krisu]

SAME IN INGLIS - Mic Mac

Yes Hello you ask and you shall receive: a series where I take one song and explain some of the slang or any references that might get lost in an ordinary translation. Usually I or any of the other mains doing translations don't want to make posts too long by adding footnote after footnote, so some stuff might be lost intentionally. I'm using this series to dedicate my time specifically for all the stuff I usually don't comment on. I'm gonna include everything in here, even some of the "obvious" things. So up first by popular request:

MIC MAC

So firstly, the name. Mic Mac was a Finnish youth clothing brand between 1972 and 2013. They were particularly known for their provocative and shocking ways of advertising especially in the 1980s. They had their own brand of jeans that were extremely popular, but they also sold other brands in their stores like Levi’s or Wranglers. From what I know they only had stores in Helsinki/Uusimaa but correct me if I’m wrong on that. For a lot of us Mic Mac is a very 80s/90s brand, their peak was during those times as well.

Jere has a lot of other interests that are very reminiscent of a childhood in the 90s. Even the name Jere was very popular in the 90s, it’s the equivalent of Justin or Jake in english. In this song he talks about Pokemon cards, which I’m sure a lot of 90s kids will remember being very popular. In the same breath he mentions Habbo Hotel, a Finnish online virtual world game and chat room founded in 2000 that’s still active today. in Viulunkieli he references Bomfunk MC’s Freestyler which is like the most 90s song in this country you could play. He also grew up listening to other artists that had their peak in the 90s/early 2000s, like Eminem or Finteligens. My point here is that it’s clear he has a lot of fond memories of his childhood, and he lets them influence a lot of his music and lyrics. Mic Mac in particular feels almost like an ode to that time in his life and in Finland generally.

Now, to the actual lyrics. I’m gonna copy paste the entire verse/chorus and highlight slang/spoken Finnish, and I’m gonna take a few particular words from each part and explain them. The cursive words are just slang with a parenthesis of “official Finnish” next to them, and the bolded ones I’m gonna explain.

Meen (menen) ajassa taaksepäin

Mutta onneksi ne ajat taakse jäi

Olin merkillinen enkä esimerkillinen

Käyttäytymisen alkeet jäi hei

Oli rasavillin elkeet, katoin (katsoin) Smackdownii TV:st

Ja otin mittaa mun isoveljest (minun isoveljestäni)

Meno epäterve

Tuolit lens (lensi) minkä kerkes (kerkesi) kavereiden kesken

Olin pieni ja paskiainen, alakoulun penkillä laiskiainen

Poden vielki morkkist ja henki haisee siit tupakin (tupakan) maistiaisesta (Hyi!)

Ja niist muutamast katkonaisest (katkonaisesta) muistosta ne vielki hävettää

Ei muisteta pahalla ku tuut vastaa unohdetaa menneet ja halataa (halataan)

Rasavilli is a word derived from swedish (rasvill), which is extremely common especially for Finnish slang. It means an unruly, mischievous child, willfully causing chaos

Meno epäterve I decided to highlight this because the word meno in this context is used in a colloquial way to describe the atmosphere of something, so for this instance the vibe was crazy or something. Officially it means an errand or plans, or financial expenses, but a lot of us also use it as a descriptive word

Morkkis I’m sure you remember from his song Morgan, but it just means being badly hungover and having anxiety. It can though also be used to just in general feel regretful over something in the past

The chorus actually doesn’t have any spoken/slang Finnish except one word from what I can tell so I’m not gonna include all of it here

Menin olohuoneeseen odottaa (odottamaan) tuoretta pullaa uunista

-

Jolloin meil (meillä) oli päällä Mic Maccii, oltii (olimme) Mic Macci jätkii

Ei ollu (ollut) värillä väliä kuhan (kunhan) fit oli fättii

Fätti I chose to highlight this just to show that often we’ll take English words and add ä/ö to them to make them sound Finnish. Like here the word is Fat, but because the -A sounds like our -Ä we just type it out like that. Another example of this would be how a lot of the times you’ll see the word rap written as räp, even though officially we just use the english word (although as a verb I think even officially it is räpätä with the -Ä)

Taas ajassa taaksepäin

Mun (minun) suuri suu sai isommat pojat ravistelee (ravistelemaan)

Olin pihapelien Jarkko Ruutu

Leuka tummu ku (tummui kun) pojan nassikat taistelee

En alkanu aristelee (alkanut aristelemaan)

Jos piti frendi tempun takii (takia) tuikata tulee

Enkä astella heikoil jäillä

Jonka johdosta mummo sai kuivata kuteet (slang: vaatteet)

Jotain samaa on faijas ja mussa (minussa)

Ei omena parka pudonnu (pudonnut) kauas puusta

Mutta sillon ku (silloin kun) putosin, ni tuhosin mun (niin tuhosin minun) ranteen ihan tuusannuuskaks

Vielki Habboo on kiinni portit

Mä palautan pöllityt Pokemon-kortit

Jarkko Ruutu A Finnish former ice hockey player who went all the way to the NHL, who was known for his particularly aggressive and rough playing

Pojan nassikat Nassikka is an older, almost colloquial descriptive way to refer to a little boy

Frendi/faija/pöllityt These are all slang words derived straight from other languages which we do a lot, especially with swedish or russian. Frendi comes from the english friend, faija comes from the swedish far (father), and pölliä possible comes from the swedish bälla (to steal/use)

Astella heikoilla jäillä So this isn’t like fully clear BUT there’s this children’s TV infomercial that has run every autumn/winter since 1986 and probably does today as well, that warns children not to walk on ice as it can be deceptively weak. It is ingrained into everyone's memories because the bear that falls into the ice looks so miserable and terrifying as he says “Watch out for weak ice”, and since this song is about his childhood I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it’s a reference to that

Tuusannuuskaks This is a colloquial term used to describe something shattering into a thousand pieces. I honestly couldn’t find the full origin for this but most likely it comes from the swedish word tusen (thousand) and the rest is beyond me lol (except that nuuska means snuff so maybe it’s about snuff being easily spread in a thousand places)

Ja ku mentiin liian pitkälle läppien kaa (kanssa)

Istuttiin jälki-istunnossa Mic Macci jätkien kaa

Läppä means a joke, but the official word for it is vitsi. I’m not sure of the origin but some researcher said it comes from the swedish word läpp, meaning lip, and heittää huulta is a way to say someone is joking (Throwing lip), and in a colloquial way you say heittää läppää, which means the same thing

Jätkä means a young man, either in a neutral way or depending on the context a condescending way. The english equivalent would be a guy. It’s also what we call the card Jack in a card deck lol

So that’s finally all the lyrics done. As you can see from the cursive words, when comparing them to the “correct” or official word, we often just get rid of the last letter in a word when speaking. We really are a lot like the french in that way, we tie words in a sentence together by matching vowels with consonants, get rid of vowels if they seem to obstruct the flow of a word or just change a word radically to make something easier to say quickly (like minussa -> mussa).

I hope at least some of this was interesting, I’m very passionate about slang and word origins and there’s a lot of Käärijä songs that have even more crazier slang that I can’t wait to get into (like Alaks Olee or Koppi Tules). Until then, hope this was informative/entertaining <3

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Why did the land of Pyroxene change to shaftlands and now to shift lands

Thank you MysteryShopTLs for their own insightful post on this topic; I referenced it while writing my own thoughts down.

Originally, the country is written as 輝石の国 or “kiseki no kuni”. The characters specifically used for “kiseki” more closely translate to “pyroxene”, which is a silicate mineral that is known for its familiar crystal formations:

Prior to the official English localization of TWST, many fan translations used “Pyroxene” as the name for the aforementioned location because of how its name is written in Japanese. And thinking about it, it seems to make sense. Vil, a sparkling celebrity, comes from Pyroxene, and he himself is twisted from a character from Snow White, a film which depicts a mining cavern with many jewels. I believe Cater, another Pyroxene resident, describes its people as generally glitzy, so this also fits the “jewel” or “crystal” image that the word pyroxene invokes. (Indeed, many characters from this land tend to be regal or “shiny” in some way, be it Vil, Cater, Vargas, Trein; Jack is the only one that isn’t immediately obvious). To be clear, “Pyroxene” was NEVER an official English name, even if it may have been somewhat true of the Japanese.

Both EN and JP (some things in JP, like the world map, are written entirely in English) games then revealed that “Pyroxene” would be localized as “Shaftlands”. (If I recall correctly, JP first showed the localization name in book 6 when Yuu and co. are consulting a world map.) This threw a lot of fans off because “Shaftlands” sounds notably less glamorous than “Pyroxene”.

The name still manages to maintain the mining reference though—mining shafts (rock shafts, ventilation shafts, and service shafts) are utilized to make mining more efficient and safe. “Shafting” may also refer to the strategy of excavating a vertical tunnel from the top-down, which is true of what the Seven Dwarves seem to do in the movie. Either way, the ties to mining are very clear and this may have been where the localized name placed its priorities rather than finding a name that befits the “glamour” of the people that come from it.

Now, Shift Lands… 😅 I’ll be completely honest, I have NO IDEA where this one came from since it seems like both servers already set “Shaftlands” to be the definitive name for that country as much as fans seem to dislike it jevajVahwbbwfwhD. I don’t see a connection between mining and “shifting” unless I guess if you want to count how mining can include “shifting” around/going deeper to find valuables. Even then, this is vague at best.

Many fan translators and Japanese speakers (in my own life) I consulted about this suggested it must be a typo on TWST JP’s part so that’s also what I’m choosing to believe 😂 A little odd that it hasn’t been corrected yet if it is actually a typo though… We’ve gotten the second update to Tapis Rouge by now and there’s been no attempt to “fix” Shift Lands so OTL maybe it is the intended spelling all along?? I feel so conflicted about this…

[prince-kallisto]

Crowley’s Ending Prologue Speech Comparison: Manga vs Game

This is a part 2 to my earlier post regarding the beginning of Crowley’s prologue speech- I didn’t have enough room to put all the photos I wanted haha! 🤣 curse you mobile limitations! Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑)

The official English translation of the Twisted Wonderland manga does differ from the game dialogue. And with Crowley in particular, a lot of liberty is taken with his form of speech. As noticed in the previous part, he seems to use more archaic language than he does in game.

This part of his speech is often repeated in trailers, so I thought it would be nice to compare these as well, since it seems to be a vital speech that is setting up the future of the game’s story. (The manga cuts out several lines of his speech, so I’ll only be comparing the lines used in the manga)

The official English manga translation reads “Thou who art guided by the Dark Mirror…follow the wish of thine heart, and take the hand thou seest reflected in the looking glass. For I…and for them…and for thee…little time doth remain. Take care to never let go of that hand.”

The English game dialogue reads “You, whose image the Dark Mirror did beckon forth…If your heart bids it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror….To me. To them. To yourself. The hour grows long, and time is scarce. Keep your grip steady, no matter what may come…”

Although I do like how the manga uses terms like the “looking glass” (a more direct reference to Alice Through the Looking Glass, the sequel book to Alice in Wonderland), I feel like the manga speech comes off as a bit more clunky than the game speech. Only a little bit though, I still adore it!

I love how the manga chose to translate this speech with more archaic language, because interestingly enough, Crowley speaks in a more usual way in the rest of the manga! He does not use “thou” or “thee” or “doth” like he has throughout his opening speech. It’s as if he’s adjusting his speech to be modern (yet formal) for the students, but speaks more archaically in the privacy of the Mirror Chamber. Since most of this speech is directed towards the Dark Mirror (in part 1 that I linked up above), it makes me wonder if he knows his benefactor also speaks and understands this old fashioned language. Like an old friend whose as old as he, like another Fae or even one of the Great Seven.

I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts on the matter, or like which one you prefer! ٩( ᐛ )و As I mentioned in part one, I cannot read Japanese so I cannot attest to the “accuracy” of either official translation. But if any of you can read Japanese, I’d love to also hear your thoughts about this!

[lopposting]

Some more Lies of P translation notes!

Some cool translation details that I thought were fun that didn't fit anywhere else.

[long!]

[Spoilers]

In the Korean version, Geppetto is speaking an "old-fashioned"/archaic form of Korean to reflect the time period that the game is set in

Set around the turn of the century (late 1800s), mimicking the Belle Époque of France's industrial revolution, we can guess that the game's events take place during the late 1800s. Given Geppetto's status as "old geezer", we can guess that he's closer to 100 than not, so he would have been born around the early 1800s. I might not be completely accurate - basically, he's speaking as an elderly person might speak in current time to culturally reflect his age; other times I notice he's using some words that are now out of use.

From the game's initial trailer:

깨어나거라, 아들아. 이제 이 아비를 기쁘게 해다오. Wake up, son. Make this father happy/proud.

The word he uses for "father" is "Abi" (아비), which is an archaic word for "father". In current day, korean speakers would generally use "Abeoji" (아버지).

The -gura(거라)/-DaOh(다오) conjugation is also an additional syllable that has since fallen out of use, or is considered archaic, in current korean:

아들아, 네 심장을 다오. Son, give me your heart.

하지만 알아 다오, 나는 너도 사랑했단다. But know this, I loved you too. English VA version: In my own way, I grew to love you.

This is also apparent in Geppetto's final letter at the end:

우릴 방해할 자는 이제 없을 거란다. 너를 위한 크라트를 다시 만들어주마. (-juma, Supposedly, only a "superior" speaker can use -juma) 그때까지 호텔에 조심해서 머물러 다오. 너를 누구보다도 아끼는 아버지가.

He also uses the -Oh ending again. (although he does call himself "Abeoji" 아버지 here and not "abi" like the trailer. He uses "Abi" again in another instance when responding to a guesture)

It's a very cool detail to me. I think it's a bit missed opportunity that, as far as I know, the english version doesn't seem to reflect this! Although to be fair, I'm struggling to imagine how they would. 19th century english/french maybe isn't as different or isn't different in the same ways from "modern" english that 19th century Korean would be from "modern" Korean. [Well, my only education on this stuff is from watching episodes of Dae Jang Geum]. I haven't checked to see if any other character (like Antonia) speaks this way. [Pls message me if Geppetto also speaks like this in your or any other language version!!]

Lies of P, Blood, puns, and the P-Organ

The P-Organ, in Korean, is referred to as the P기관. 기관 (gi-gwan), however, doesn't necessarily correlate directly to the word "Organ": It's quite an interesting word to choose because it can refer to any system of moving parts, both organic or mechanical; and it can mean an organ, a machine, or even a governmental body or institute.

As you may have heard by now, the game's titular pun revolves around the fact that the english character for P sounds the word for "blood" in korean (피), making the title (P의 거짓 P-ie Geojit?) read like Lies of Blood, in a nutshell. The title Lies of Blood then fits into the becoming-real flesh-and-blood themes of the game, perhaps also suggests that the deception in Krat has cost the lives of many - and, of course, references the lying of the titular character, who is inferred to be none other than (P)inocchio! So, in Korean, the P-Organ (P기관) becomes something like the Blood Engine. Which rather sounds like a euphemism for a heart!

[Perhaps: It's also a bit of narrative that Geppetto refuses to refer to it as our heart, unless he refers to it as belonging to Carlo.]

In English, this wordplay no longer exists, and so it's rather awkwardly literally translated (as the P-Organ).

How do you say, "NEOWIZ"?

I've seen a few people ask about the pronunciation of NEOWIZ (Lies' publishing company). Hangul is phonetic, so you could (technically) say the official pronunciation of NEOWIZ (네오위즈) is Nae-Oh Wiz and not Neo (like the Matrix character) -wiz.

However [in my opinion], I don't think this matters, because when something is translated to another language, it often takes the pronunciation of the language it is read in. Kind of like how in english you would read the capital of France correctly as Paris (with an S sound at the end), and not "Pari" (french pronunciation).

Also, Krat is consistently pronounced by in-game characters as "Krot" (Long O, rhymes with "Cot" or "Not") in the english version. In the game korean releases, "Krat" is written as 크라트, which would be pronounced and read as "Krat" (short A, rhymes with "Rat" or "Cat").

[I think the devs also say "Krat" too. The rounder "O" pronunciation of "A" in words seem like more of a European pronunciation in general]

The "Youngest of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood" and Gender

In Korean culture, Age is particularly significant in both Korean social hierarchy and language, and the role/position of being the youngest in a group is a particular role known as being the "maknae" (I mean, I definitely think this also exists in the western world, people definitely would understand being the "youngest" one in your family, but it's slightly different from that).

Despite being a member of the brotherhood, she refers to her brothers as "Oppa", which is when the word "brother" is used by female speakers to an older male subject (Remember Gangnam style?) [A male speaker would use "Hyung". I debated putting this one in, because to me, it seemed kind of obvious, but I did see others asking about this.]

[Given that the developers are from a korean studio, I am choosing to believe that the subtitles provided by the game's "korean" version are the text/script as originally written intended by the developers!]

[yuurei20]

Hello Yuurei! Hope you having a good day/night!

Is there any canon indication that Lucius is Treins familiar?

If there is, then can a dog be considered a familiar? I am confused about the animal/pet/familiar/dire beast thing in twisted.

Like, are the bats of Lilia canonically his familiars? I believe you posted that no, it wasn’t. Or it was someone else that records Twst info, I don’t remember the name tho, srry.

Where is the line between Familiar and Pet? Is it because the animal has a certain level of magic or sentience?

Because. Crows as familiars? Makes sense, they are naturally very smart and are scary in their own right. Cats? Yeah makes sense, they are natures human manipulator with their cuteness.

I am willing to bet jumping spiders can be familiars, for their size, they are pretty darn smart. And are just the Cutest!!! Jamil would be terrified if Yuu actually was a beast tamer with many familiars and send spiders to haunt him.

If you are able to respond, thank you very much. If not, it’s okay, I really don’t want to put more questions about info you so carefully craft and analyze.

Because god damn, you make GODS work along side many other blogs to translate and give your own analysis of characters that I just. (⊙_⊙)(°ロ°) ! Cant express with words.

Hello hello!! Thank you so much for this question! You are very much too kind m(_ _)m And I love your amazing ideas!

We do have canonical confirmation that Lucius is Trein's familiar!

2. Dog familiars might not be mentioned in the game? But they were mentioned by Yana! In a tweet from earlier this year she said,

"In the early stages of (Kalim's) character design he had a small monkey for a familiar. Other students had their own direbeasts or familiars as well, including owls, penguins, puppies, etc."

And the lines between pets / familiars / direbeasts are a very interesting point!

While Trein himself says that Lucius is his familiar, when Rook asks if Lucius is Trein's pet Trein says yes, and then calls himself Lucius' owner.

Whereas Trein seems devoted to Lucius, Lucius has been bought off at least once, intentionally hiding from Trein in a scheme with Ruggie and getting paid in tuna for his cooperation.

When Crowley calls Grim a familiar Grim insists he would never serve a human, so it seems the Twst interpretation of a familiar involves a degree of servitude? Perhaps Lucius participating in Animal Linguistics classes for Trein is a part of their familiar/owner arrangement? (not confirmed in game)

While Riddle never directly calls Grim a familiar he does say that, without his magic, he is "naught but a pet cat" (Grim denies being anyone's pet anything).

What direbeasts are seems equally vague in the game, and most of what we know possibly comes from Idia in Book 6.

He explains that Grim is a direbeast with high blot density that has been magically fused with "some kind of animal." (In a separate scene he explains that he has heard of "ultra rare cases where (phantoms) manage to blend in with direbeasts," which seems like it may be leading to something? But maybe not!)

Overall the pet/familiar/direbeast borders seem a little blurry, and Grim has been labeled as all three at different times by different people. And that's not all!

Grim is also referred to as a monster as early as the Prologue, with the characters using the English word "monster" (as can be heard in the audio), which might be connecting back to a theory related to Ortho.

And in Book 6 Crowley, audibly, calls Grim a monster, but the word "direbeast" has been included as a hidden meaning. So is the game using the words "monster" and "direbeast" interchangeably? Or is this meant to be a reference to how we don't really know what Grim is yet? Or does Crowley actually know he is a direbeast, but is still calling him a monster?

And another interesting point arose in the official English-language translation of the Heartlabyul manga: Grim originally calls himself "a man who will become a great mage" (in both the manga and the game), but I don't think the kanji used (男) is meant to be confirming that Grim considers himself human. The English language is more limited (man = humankind or male human), which is probably why the EN server had Grim call himself a "spellcaster," instead.

But the manga is being localized by a different company (VIZ Media) and they wrote this line as, "I am a monster who will become a great mage," in what might be the only instance of Grim choosing a label for himself (but I still need to check the rest of his in-game dialogue to be absolutely sure).

3. The "bats = Lilia's familiars" theory was not me! :> This is my first time hearing it, and while it seems entirely possible, I have not come across anything in the game to confirm or deny it yet!

While Lilia's bat motifs seem to have been largely inspired by a bat-based goon of Malficent's from the animated Sleeping Beauty movie, I occasionally see conversations about why, out of all the motifs available for Yana to choose from, did she go with that one in particular?

The best explanation I have found (and this is unofficial), was: it might be a pun. In Japanese, the word for bat (コウモリ) is pronounced very similarly to 子守, which is close in meaning to "babysitting."

(Yana is a very big fan of puns and wordplay and it comes up a lot in her work, i.e., the Broom/Bloom Birthday series).

4. You might be right that the difference between the three has something to do with sentience and magical ability! Idia comments on both after declaring that Grim is a direbeast, but if "pets" are at the lower end of the "sentient/magical" scale, for example, I am not sure how they differentiate between direbeasts and familiars in the Twst universe. Those who are willing to enter into servitude vs. those who are not? (This is purely conjecture)

5. I love your idea about jumping spiders! Spiders seem largely absent from the game, but they also do not really come up in too many Disney movies (I think?), so that might be why!

Thank you again for this question! I apologize for only offering more questions in response--this is all so interesting to think about!

[y2klostandfound]

Yoshinaga Takumi (Game Design Director and Scenario Writer), Moro Mayumi (Designer and Modeling Team Leader) and Yumiko Miyabe (Art Director) Interview about Space Channel 5 on 4Gamer.net (11/11/2022)

Translation in English:

An interview to celebrate the second anniversary of the "Space Channel 5 Uki Uki Music Festival Online". The two designers look back on the secret behind the birth of Ulala and the Morolians.

Writer: Tetsuya Inamoto / Photographer: Yusuke Masuda

Two years have passed since the online event "Space Channel 5 Uki Uki Music Festival Online" was held on November 13, 2020. The event was held to commemorate the "20th anniversary" of the musical action game "Space Channel 5"

(hereinafter referred to as SC5), which was released for the Dreamcast in 1999 , and the release of "Space Channel 5 VR Aratakata☆Dancing Show (Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash)" (PC / PlayStation 4 / Meta Quest , hereinafter referred to as SC5 VR) in February 2020. However, due to the spread of COVID-19, the original plan was changed to an online live performance without an audience. It has been decided that the live goods that were scheduled to be sold before and after the event will finally be sold online from this fall.

I am prepared for comments like "Now?" and "I forgot!", but this is a rare opportunity to deliver an article related to SC5. So, following the developer talk to commemorate the "almost 20th anniversary" delivered by 4Gamer in 2020, I offered to interview the design development team of the game who were not involved in the talk, and they kindly accepted. I immediately gathered two people.

Appearing this time will be Yumiko Miyabe, the art director for SC5, and Moro Mayumi , the designer. Miyabe, the "mother of Ulala," and Moro, the "mother of the Morolians," are in charge of not only the characters, but also the world view and background construction. They have kept many of the art pieces they worked on during development, and this time they looked at them and talked about those times. Also, Takumi Yoshinaga of Sega, who was the chief planner at the beginning of development and also participated as an advisor in SC5 VR, joined us to supplement the topics related to the development.

Takumi Yoshinaga (left)

Game design director and scenario writer for Space Channel 5. He is the father of SC5, having launched the project with director Takashi Yuda and been mainly responsible for game design. He is still with Sega and is involved in the development of the Puyo Puyo series, as well as working as a story and game design advisor for Space Channel 5 VR: Arakata☆Dancing Show (Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash), developed and released by Grounding.

Moro Mayumi (center)

Designer and modeling team leader for Space Channel 5. As a designer who joined the company at the same time as Miyabe, she was involved in the development of Sega Saturn titles, and worked with Miyabe in the Digital Media Production Department before joining the 9th Research and Development Department, where she was one of the first to design the enemy characters, the Morolians. She is also in charge of CG modeling production as the modeling chief. She was appointed art director for Space Channel 5 Part 2.

Yumiko Miraye (right), currently working in the Communications Promotion Division of the General Affairs Department of Sega Sammy Holdings, is involved in planning important company events

. She was the art director of "Space Channel 5." As a designer, she worked primarily on movies for Sega Saturn titles, and after working in the Digital Media Production Department, she joined the 9th Research and Development Department, where she was responsible for designing the main character Ulala, as well as other characters and stages. She later served as director for "Space Channel 5 Part 2." Currently, alongside her work as an artist, she produces and sells soft vinyl figures of Ulala and the Morolians under the brand name "Space Sofubi Dan," officially licensed by Sega.

Two designers who joined the company at the same time participated in "Space Channel 5," which required a female sense.

4Gamer:

　Thank you for joining us today. I previously heard that when you gathered the development team at 4Gamer, Miyabe-san and Moro-san joined the Digital Media Production Department around 1997.

Yumiko Miyabe (hereinafter, Miyabe-san):

　At that time, we were part of Sega's First CS Research and Development Department. At that time, Sega had a lot of hardcore male fans, but a project was launched in which a female character would be the main character, and in order to appeal to a wider audience, I was asked to be a staff member who could be involved in the development from a female perspective.

　Yuda-san (Yuda Takashi, SC5 Director) asked me for advice because he thought that I have a more general player-like sense than he does and that I'm also knowledgeable about fashionable things. However, at that time, I was in my 20s and had just joined the company for the third year, so I thought it might be a burden to be in charge of the design alone, and I nominated Moro-san, who was a designer at the same time as me, to join us.

Mayumi Moro (hereinafter, Moro):

　Although we were on separate teams, the home console development departments were on the same floor, and there were no walls between us, so we all got along well. I also remember when Miyabe-chan approached me. "Yuda-san told me he had a plan for me, and I replied, 'I'll do it if you're with me, Moro-san,' and he was like, 'What do you think?'" (laughs).

Miyabe:

　I remember what Yuda said when he called out to me. "I'll put your name in the credits" (laughs). I'd had my name in the credits before, but I thought it was a great honor to have my name listed as a "character designer".

4Gamer:

　That's a killer line (laughs). By the way, what titles had you two been involved in up until then?

Miyabe:

　When we joined the company in 1994, it was the year the Sega Saturn was launched, and when I first joined the company, I was involved in the production of the opening movie for "NiGHTS".

Moro:

　I was originally part of the "Victory Goal" team. Next, I worked on "Let's Make a J-League Pro Soccer Club!" I was in charge of field design for "AZEL (AZEL Panzer Dragoon RPG)" and also helped with "Sakura Wars".

4Gamer:

　And then Yuda invited me three years later in 1997.

Miyabe:

　As far as I remember, I think there were 11 people in total, including me and Moro-san. Just as we were starting to feel like we were going to do something new with this group, we were transferred to another department.

4Gamer:

　I was transferred to the Digital Media Production Department.

Moro:

　That was a strange event. I had to transfer departments to be involved in the development of SC5.

Takumi Yoshinaga (hereinafter, Yoshinaga):

　SC5 could not be made on CS due to line restrictions, so we, the development team, were entrusted to the Digital Media Production Department led by Makino (Yoshifumi Makino). This department has been working on video-based titles since the Sega Saturn era, and since Yuda and Makino were good friends, the transfer of the development team went smoothly.

4Gamer:

　As for your job, was it "general" design?

Moro:

　Yes, I was really happy when they asked me to do not only character design but also concept art. I originally joined a game company because I wanted to do character design, but I had not been able to do character design until then. At that time, Yuda said, "I want to leave the general design to female staff," and I was like, "What a wonderful offer, Miyabe-chan, thank you for bringing me such a wonderful job!" (laughs).

Miyabe:

　You're welcome (laughs).

Based on the "retro-future" concept proposed by Director Yuda, the designers created the world of SC5.

Moro:

　In order to work in design, I had to be transferred to another department, so I was a little hesitant about that, but I didn't think I'd get a chance like this again, and it seemed interesting to do something new, so in the end I said, "I'll go."

4Gamer:

　Miyabe-san, you were entrusted with the important role of art director, but did you feel any pressure?

Miyabe-san:

　Yuda-san had made the concept of SC5 clear, so I was able to proceed without any hesitation except at the beginning. I was instructed to think in the so-called "retro-future" direction, for example, for televisions, instead of remote controls, they should have evolved dial-type channels, and for cooking utensils, instead of microwaves, they should have frying pans flying in the air, like the future that people in the past would imagine. Always taking care of that led to a design that is "like SC5". As

　for the background design, we all came up with a specific direction, referring to the Art Deco style of New York in the 1900s, and we proceeded without deviating from that. I realized how much easier it is when the foundation is solid, and by not deviating from that, I was able to design it well when the sequel came out later.

4Gamer:

　What was the process for constructing the worldview from the design stage?

Moro:

　First, we designed the "Spaceport" stage at the beginning of the game, and then used this as a basis for the rest of the design.

Miyabe:

　It was a very extravagant way of making it, including actually making a model of the rocket for the spaceport. I remember looking at the rocket model and talking about curved surfaces like, "This R is good, but this R is not good." Through such exchanges, we continued to work on it until Yuda was satisfied.

4Gamer:

　Was it easy to design the game because the concept was solid?

Miyabe:

　No, that's not the case. It took months to complete the spaceport for the first stage, and one day I was called in and scolded, "You're the art director! Why haven't you done it yet?" I remember that

　Yuda was going on a business trip to the United States for a week, and he made me promise to finish it by the time he came back, so I, Moro, and Okazaki (Ken Okazaki, SC5 designer) were all blue in the face, and we made a schedule for the three of us, minute by minute, and somehow we managed to complete it.

Moro:

　At the beginning, we made it down to the smallest details. I made the outside of the spaceport, and Miyabe designed the interior. This was my first time designing a field like this, and it was a concept art that was completed after many revisions, so it's a memorable piece.

Miyabe:

　I don't think you'd spend this much time on game development these days. We even made things that didn't appear in the video.

Moro:

　The background of SC5 Part 1 was a movie, so we drew three-dimensional drawings and cross-sections and sent them to a CG production company. We were desperate to convey it as faithfully as possible. (Showing a picture of a file) This is an example of an instruction manual, and it specified not only the color, but also the material of the walls and the degree of reflection.

4Gamer:

　So it was an analog method of showing the drawings you made and making the CG.

Moro:

　Yes. Even after the CG was completed, we had to go back and forth with the CG company and say, "This is wrong, so please fix it." It was a very difficult process, but it was worth it in the end because we were able to get a satisfactory result.

Yoshinaga:

　Strictly speaking, the designer gave the drawings to the CG company and had them model it, and then we received the simplified model, attached the camera here, and had them render it again in earnest. It was a very inefficient way of making things, which is hard to imagine now. I think it was the first time that both Miyabe and Moro had done this job, so I imagine it must have been difficult.

Miyabe:

　It was tough (laughs). But it showed us how high Yuda-san's goals were. Even though we had been told "this is not right" every time we drew it, we were able to put it into the best possible form in the last week, which was a huge event for us.

4Gamer:

　When was that?

Miyabe:

　It was when I was still at Otorii. The team next to me was making "Jet Set Radio", and I remember struggling to see it from the side.

　After the spaceport was built and the design was coming together to a certain extent, Mizuguchi-san (Mizuguchi Tetsuya, SC5 producer) joined us, and the number of people increased and the scale of the project grew, and it became easier to talk about various things from that point on.

4Gamer:

　So that was the timing when Mizuguchi-san joined us.

Miyabe:

　Mizuguchi-san is amazing. I once accompanied him to a presentation to the president, and at that time Mizuguchi-san did not bring any materials. He had such presentation skills and political power that he was able to explain everything verbally and convince him. Thanks to him, the development after that became much easier.

4Gamer:

　Mizuguchi's joining was a big turning point for SC5.

Miyabe:

　Yes, that was true. Whenever there was a concert that we wanted to use as a reference for production, he would immediately say, "Go see it," and the environment changed completely.

Moro:

　He was very tolerant of the input of his staff. The reason why the department was moved to Shibuya was because "if we're in Shibuya, we can catch the current trends, so if we're making cutting-edge games, we should move there" (laughs). From plays to concerts to exhibitions, he let us go to anything that could be used as a reference for game development as part of our work.

Miyabe:

　Like opera. I also remember going to Sabu-chan's play.

Moro:

　I went! I think it was Kitajima Saburo's "Matsuri." He said it had all the entertainment for the masses, so we had to make sure to see it.

Yoshinaga:

　It was a very easygoing time, so we would go to a late-night movie, go back to the office, work, and go home in the morning, or go shopping on our days off and stop by the office on our way home. Work and private life were not really separated, and the company felt like another room.

Moro:

　We decorated the basement floor with potted plants, and when someone's birthday came, we all bought presents and celebrated. It wasn't the atmosphere of a game development environment.

Yoshinaga:

　I wore a Morolian costume and went out to Shibuya. It wasn't a promotion or anything, just for fun.

Miyabe:

　When I went to Center Street at night wearing a costume, I got harassed by a gang and barely made it back home (laughs). Anyway, Yoshinaga and I were always stuck in development, so we did that kind of diversion (laughs).

4Gamer:

　It's not because it was a long time ago, but because it was a department led by Mizuguchi.

The design of the main character, Ulala, was extremely difficult. The shocking fact that she didn't have a face until just before the end of development

Miyabe:

　I think so. It wouldn't have been allowed at Otorii (laughs).

4Gamer:

　How did you proceed with the character designs? I read in articles from back then that Ulala was difficult...

Miyabe:

　That's right. The Morolians were actually easy to create, already completed by the time they were at the Great Torii, but the main character just never made it...

Moro:

　There was a design competition for the main character. Miyabe and I had drawn candidates that we put up on the wall, and the staff voted for them. My design was pretty basic, but Miyabe's design was superior from the get-go, and I thought "I've lost" just by looking at it.

Miyabe:

　I don't remember... The first thing Yuda told me about the main character was, "Make him a character that can be recognized just by his silhouette, like Astro Boy." At that time, I decided on this hairstyle, which (showing an illustration) is an arrangement of the hairstyle of women in 1960s science fiction movies, with the top of the head high and the ends curled, with the ends divided into two. At the time, there were no words for "two tails" or "pigtails," so I explained it as "two ponytails tied high on the head."

4Gamer:

　At this point, it seems like Ulala's atmosphere was pretty solidified...

Miyabe:

　We had a good feeling about the hairstyle from this stage. It was a hairstyle that we hadn't seen much on game characters, and it met Yuda-san's conditions.

　But it was a long journey from here to the Ulala you know today. We didn't decide on the face until the very end...

4Gamer:

　The face? The illustration doesn't give the impression that she's drastically different...

Miyabe:

　The body model was already complete, but the face was missing. It was already too late to make the illustrations, so I drew the CG textures myself and attached them to the model to check. Even after moving from Otorii to Shibuya, the face was not complete, and in the end, Okazaki even got angry and said, "Miyabe-san, please stop messing around."

4Gamer:

　What was the turning point from there to completion?

Miyabe:

　I still think about what the trigger was, but there was no decisive moment. It was more than half a year of adjusting the drawings, shapes, and positions of the facial features little by little, and the optimal solution is what I can only say is that Ulala's face is what it is now.

Moro:

　When I was completing Ulala's face, I was researching makeup. I watched her struggle with making detailed adjustments, such as the thickness of her eyebrows, the color of her eyeshadow, and the thickness of her lips.

Miyabe:

　I was so desperate that I don't remember much (laughs). Anyway, I kept making it until it was good, and when I intuitively felt that "this is cute," I immediately added bones and motions, and there was a moment when it just clicked. To be honest, I don't know what the key points were that led to that point. When I was making it, I really thought that a miracle would happen.

4Gamer:

　So that miracle happened.

Miyabe:

　It may have been a miracle. Anyway, everyone around me was scolding me, and they were waiting... I was making it while thinking that it would never be finished...

4Gamer:

　What was the reaction of the staff to the completed Ulala?

Miyabe:

　I think it was good, but I don't remember much about it either (laughs).

4Gamer:

　(laughs). What about Yoshinaga-san?

Yoshinaga-san:

　I left the design, including the characters, to Yuda-san and the other designers, so I wasn't too worried myself, and when it was completed, I just said something simple like "I see" (laughs). I knew that they were worried, but I was in a state where I didn't have time to think about it. The game design work itself can be done without a face.

Moro:

　In the end, I think it was just Miyabe's insistence. No one could see the goal, it was just "Miyabe is satisfied".

4Gamer:

　It's wonderful to have an environment where you can work so thoroughly.

Yoshinaga:

Miyabe:

　That was really thanks to everyone around you. It was also helpful that programmer Nakanishi (Nakanishi Jin) created a tool called "Super Jin-kun" (laughs) at an early stage, which allows you to easily test play SC5 on the program.

It's a tool that allows you to play the game without SC5 footage, control the tempo of the music, and manage input with an Excel file. Because of that, the game itself could be separated from the design, and development could proceed while Miyabe was struggling.

Moro:

　Our design work was also progressing.

4Gamer:

　Moro, what other things did you design besides the Morolians?

Moro:

　I was also the leader of the modeling team. Miyabe-chan was designing ordinary characters in parallel, and the team modeled them one after another.

Miyabe:

　But Moro created things like "Space Granny."

Moro:

　That's right (laughs). And for me, Space Michael was probably the biggest job!

4Gamer:

　Did you design Michael, Moro-san?

Moro:

　I used my privilege as the modeling team leader to design him (laughs).

4Gamer:

　Were you unsure about Michael's outfit? The outfit in the PV at the time was quite different in impression, wasn't it?

Moro:

　We had a lot of discussions with everyone in the development team about what kind of atmosphere we wanted to create. In the end, we decided on that all-silver outfit that respected the PV.

4Gamer:

　By the way, who was in charge of the main characters other than Ulala?

Miyabe:

　Ulala and Pudding were me. And Jaguar's face.

4Gamer:

　Are the face and body in charge of different people?

Miyabe:

　As for Jaguar, Okazaki designed the body, and I designed the face. Okazaki said, "I can't make a face."

4Gamer:

　There was also a concept drawing for Fuse, who doesn't appear on screen.

Miyabe:

　I wonder if that was me? I don't remember it well, but when I revealed it on the official Twitter a while ago, I was surprised to see that fan art was already being made.

　(After discovering a CG of Ulala's face among the files) This is the finished version of Ulala.

4Gamer:

　Oh, it's Ulala!

Miyabe:

　Actually, there's a secret to the texture on this face. I just pasted a single drawing I made. As a result, the left and right sides are asymmetrical, and the shape of the eyes is slightly different, but that makes it look more human.

　This is a behind-the-scenes story, but when we were making "Space Channel 5 VR," Okamine-san (Mineko Okamura, SC5 assistant producer, SC5 VR director) told me, "Ulala just can't look cute," so I actually advised her that her face isn't symmetrical.

4Gamer:

　That's an unexpected technique. From an amateur's point of view, I feel like a symmetrical face would be more well-balanced...

Miyabe:

　I didn't intend it that way, and it's just a matter of hindsight, but I think that the analog-like, or human-like, feel led to the creation of an attractive 3D character's face.

Moro:

　Even though it's a single image, it's just the texture, so the eyelashes and mouth are made with different polygons and move, but the angle of the eyelashes is different on the left and right, and Miyabe-chan's attention to detail is also in that area.

Miyabe:

　It's all the product of chance, so it's scary to imagine what would have happened if that chance hadn't happened.

4Gamer:

　Did you compromise somewhere or give up?

Miyabe:

　That may be so. I'm really glad it was completed.

4Gamer:

　It was completed on May 30th, which is Ulala's birthday.

Miyabe:

　It was May 30th, 1999. I think it was the middle of the night, but I woke up Mizuguchi-san, who was taking a nap (laughs), and showed it to the remaining members and said, "Wow, that's good!" I was so happy that I printed it out and put it up all over the office (laughs). I remember that when Yuda-san came in the morning, he saw it, shook my hand and said, "Congratulations!" and I was really relieved.

4Gamer:

　That's a great story, but I'm sure the game was released at the end of 1999!?

Yoshinaga:

　That's incredible. The other day I was sorting through some old emails, and I found an email I'd sent to Mizuguchi reporting the master-up, which was dated November 20, 1999. The game was released on December 16, so it was a really incredible schedule.

4Gamer:

　Even back then, when there were only physical media, were you able to release it on schedule with the master-up at that time?

Yoshinaga:

　I think it was because software was produced in-house at that time (laughs). Maybe we benefited from that.

4Gamer:

　By the way, do you have any stories about the design of the Morolians?

Moro:

　When the design was almost at the very beginning, everyone was calling it "Moro alien" as a temporary name (because Moro made it). Later, when we had a meeting to decide on a name again, we were like, "Why not Morolian?" "Isn't it Morolian?" "Isn't Morolian good?" and it was decided as it was, and we were like, "All right!" (laughs).

　Following that same vein, I also designed boss characters, such as "Coco Tapioca" and "Morolina," as variations on the Morolians, and I drew them with their movements in mind.

4Gamer:

　Moro's design drawings and the game screen are almost the same.

Moro:

　As I put my hands to work, the image spreads and it's completed, so it was always fun and I don't remember having much trouble.

Miyabe:

　He's a genius. After the Morolian was completed, I was able to leave the design to Moro with confidence. I felt that he had a great sense. I once again thought that I was glad that I had him involved in the design.

4Gamer:

　How did you feel after the release?

Miyabe:

To be honest , I was just relieved when it was completed.

Moro:

　There was an atmosphere of having done it.

4Gamer:

　As media, we are most impressed by the promotion after the release...

Moro:

　That's right. They did some really fun promotions, like taking over Shibuya and playing SC5 on the big screen at Q Front. I was really happy that they were overflowing with the desire to have as many players as possible play such a fun game.

Miyabe:

　I think that Okamine's promotion planning skills were really amazing. It was a good way to incorporate the culture of Shibuya. It's hard to imagine that the Asahi Shimbun would publish an extra edition.

"Space Channel 5 Part 2": The position has changed. The hardships of being in a higher position are compounded.

Yoshinaga:

　Manga artists, musicians, and people who are now considered influencers have told us that SC5 is really fun, and it was very refreshing to see reactions from a different direction than the game industry.

4Gamer:

　Let's talk about "Space Channel 5 Part 2". Miyabe-san was the director and Moro-san was the art director for Part 2, but did the development structure change significantly?

Moro-san:

　Part 2 was full polygon, the development staff became larger, and the number of designers increased. However, it was difficult to convey the world view and concept that Yuda-san built in the previous work to the new members.

4Gamer:

　There were many things that were not written down, but were grasped by everyone's senses.

Moro-san:

　Yes. I thought that the SC5 series would continue in the future, so I decided not to do much design work myself, and to leave it to young people who can design to train them. I explained the design concept, but it was difficult to come up with a design that I was satisfied with. That's true, because the purpose was to train them, and most of the designers were inexperienced.

　However, we held design study sessions together, and after a few months, they gradually understood, and I was happy to see them create something good. Pine was also designed by Rie Miyauchi, one of the members, and the final stage also came up with ideas from members of the design team, and we were able to improve the quality of the final stage by saying things like, "Everyone is the best!"

Miyabe:

　Part 2's Purge was designed by Moro, right?

Moro:

　Yes. Purge's face is not as detailed as Miyabe's, but I spent a lot of time making it cool. The robot of the dancing troupe was also designed by me, and since it is a new character with the same position as the Morolian from the previous work, I created many variations so that it would not lose to the Morolian. It took a lot of time to decide which one to use, and I feel like I was told, "Moro, please stop messing around" (laughs).

4Gamer:

　I heard that Miyabe-san was appointed as director, so he was no longer involved in design?

Miyabe-san:

　Although I was a director, I felt that I was able to do my job with a lot of help from Yoshinaga-san. Mizuguchi-san also told me that it was better for a director not to do any work at all, but I didn't understand that, and I was worried that when I reported the progress, I would say that I hadn't done anything, so I started to take on design work myself. I designed Ulala's costume for Part 2.

4Gamer:

　Did you have any difficulties?

Miyabe-san:

　There was pressure that comes with a sequel. Mizuguchi-san, Yoshinaga-san, and I would get together every day and discuss the concept of Part 2 and how to come up with ideas, like "What does the tagline for the movie sequel say?"

Yoshinaga-san:

　That was also thanks to the environment at the time, because we all worked together at the company until late at night every day, and we had many opportunities to talk on a daily basis. Also, before Part 2, I think we went to see a musical in America.

Moro-san:

　We went to New York to see "STOMP". Mizuguchi-san suggested that we "broaden our horizons." I remember going to toy stores on Broadway with Yoshinaga-san and using the things I saw there as references. I was also very impressed when I went to E3 during the previous game, and SC5 was the only game I was able to go overseas for work.

4Gamer:

　So the influence of the environment that Mizuguchi-san created was reflected in the work in Part 2 as well?

Yoshinaga:

　I think that was the case. We had more staff, and we were able to make the game from a state where everything was already decided from the beginning. In the previous game, we had to reluctantly cut one stage due to schedule constraints, so for Part 2, we reflected on that and firmly decided the specifications and delivery date. It's only natural (laughs).

4Gamer:

　(laughs). There was a scene that was scrapped in the previous game.

Yoshinaga:

　I think it was between the third and fourth stages. It was a scene where a robot climbs a large building and fights.

4Gamer:

　Didn't you revive that scene in Part 2?

Moro:

　We didn't use it in Part 2. We weren't conscious of reusing it, and there was no point in forcing it in...

4Gamer:

　At the time of Part 2, the decision had already been made to withdraw from the Dreamcast, and it was also released on the PlayStation 2.

Moro:

　It was difficult to make it on the PS2. Compared to the Dreamcast, the texture capacity was smaller, so we struggled with how to make it look the same as the Dreamcast version with as few textures as possible.

4Gamer:

　Moro-san, your involvement in development has also changed significantly between your role as a designer in the previous game and your role as art director in Part 2.

Moro:

　That's right. In the previous game, I was drawing under the art director Miyabe-chan, but this time I was in Miyabe-chan's position and had to manage more than 20 designers as a middle manager.

　At first, I asked Miyabe-chan how I should make decisions as an art director, but then he told me something like, "You have to make the decisions yourself," and I reflected that it was true.

Miyabe:

　Moro-san has been a member of the development team since the beginning. We can communicate with each other, so all I can say is, "Do your best."

4Gamer:

　Thanks to all that hard work, the user response after the release was good, wasn't it?

Miyabe:

　Actually, when Part 2 was released, I had to leave my job due to various circumstances. While I was on the Azusa Express heading to my hometown of Nagano, Yoshinaga-san called me on my cell phone and said, "You've been inducted into the Platinum Hall of Fame! Not Gold (for the previous game), but Platinum!" in the review in Famitsu magazine, and I cried. It was impressive that Yoshinaga-san, who is usually calm, called me excitedly.

4Gamer:

　That's a good story! Although Part 2 is an older hardware, it has been ported to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and is still available.

Yoshinaga:

　Part 2 was well-received, so there were various developments. There were plans for a mobile phone app and typing software.

Fan support leads to the next step. The result is "Space Channel 5 VR Aratakata☆Dancing Show (Space Channel 5 Kinda Funky News Flash)."

4Gamer:

　As a Sega character, Ulala in a white costume has become established.

4Gamer:

　Time has passed since the release of SC5 Part 2, and Miyabe-san has become a freelance artist, and Moro-san has now been transferred to Sega Sammy Holdings, where he is working in a job unrelated to design. What were your thoughts when you found out that a new game, SC5 VR, would be released in 2020, the 20th year since the release of the game?

Miyabe:

　I thought that the worldview of SC5 would never go out of style, and the game system was complete, so I always thought that a new work on that line would come out at any time.

Moro:

　I thought, "Yoshinaga-san has finally made a new VR work!" I remember that when the anime "Sega Hard Girls" was aired, the director showed me the VR of SC5, and I thought that it had come true.

Yoshinaga:

　That's a bit of a jump in the story (laughs). When we were making the Sega Hard Girls anime, the director made a CG model of the SC5 field to be used in the main story, and at the launch party he showed us a demonstration of it in VR video.

4Gamer:

　Did that lead to the later KDDI VR demo or SC5 VR?

Yoshinaga:

　No, that's a completely different story. The projects after KDDI were led by Grounding (laughs).

4Gamer:

　Miyabe-san, you were in charge of designing new characters for SC5 VR. How was it?

Miyabe:

　As for the design, I received a personal request from Director Hotta (Noboru Hotta, SC5 VR Director). At first, he asked me to draw a single illustration of a character that would be the player's avatar, not for the main game, but for an event, so he asked me to draw a relatively light illustration. After I sent that, the modeled 3DCG was completed relatively quickly. I was a bit taken aback because I had expected the work process to be like the beginning of SC5's development, where the illustration would be made and then the level of completion would be improved.

　After that, he was able to appear in the main game of SC5 VR in a more polished form, so the scope of his activities was wider than initially expected.

Yoshinaga:

　I think the speed of completion was also due to the fact that it was for an event. It's completely different from the relaxed way of making things in the past.

　However, there were voices on the site saying "as expected" about the completion of the requested characters.

4Gamer:

　So the characters created for the event ended up appearing in SC5 VR as they were.

Miyabe:

　Yes. The player characters appear as twins of the player avatars in SC5 VR. There is also a new character, the space pirate "Jaguars", who was created relatively slowly under Hotta's supervision. Hotta is a very logical person when it comes to game development, and he was originally a designer, so he gave specific instructions such as "I want you to show a little more skin" for this character, which made it very easy for me as a designer.

4Gamer:

　Who designed Betsumoro?

Miyabe:

　I think Betsumoro was designed by Hotta. The Morolians were already a completed design, so I was surprised that they turned out to be such a great design. Even if it's a sequel, I realized that the world will expand if we leave it to new staff, not just the same development staff.

Yoshinaga:

　In SC5 VR, the Morolians speak and sing in human language for the first time, so I wanted their appearance to be clearly different, so I went for a monotone direction that wasn't colorful, and I thought white would be good, and it glowed faintly, and it became a color scheme unique to VR.

4Gamer:

　I was surprised that it was a new thing without any sense of incongruity.

　Now, while you have time, I'd like to ask you to say a word about the goods that will be on sale this time...

Miyabe:

　(Looking at the acrylic stand) I think the lemon yellow Ulala costume is amazing. This color was Yoshinaga-san's choice, wasn't it?

Moro:

　The way goods are made has changed since SC5. We made a lot of things back then, but now there are more familiar and usable things, and the content has diversified.

Miyabe:

　I think it's wonderful that fans cherish game goods, as they associate them with their memories of the work. I make figurines because I have such strong feelings about them.

Yoshinaga:

　How does it feel to license out a character you designed and make it?

Miyabe:

　There aren't many people who make figurines independently with this kind of contract. I sell them at events, and people who know Ulala come to buy them, and some are surprised to hear that I'm a designer, so I think I'm doing something complicated (laughs). Fortunately, Yoshinaga-san not only acted as a liaison, but also gave me advice on how to make and sell the figures, so I'd like to continue making things that everyone will be happy with, while relying on Yoshinaga-san when I'm in trouble (laughs).

The official "Ulala" soft vinyl figure is currently on sale at the "Space★Sofubidan" website, a toy manufacturer run by Miyabe. The prototype was created by character designer Ryo Taniguchi, who also created "Miraitowa" and "Someity."

4Gamer:

　It's been a long time, but I'd like to ask you two to say a few words to the fans who love the game and what Space Channel 5 means to them.

Miyabe:

　In my case, I'm like a relative in my current position. I'd be very happy to see their activities from afar, and I'll rush over if something happens. If there's anything I can help you with in the future, I'd be happy if you'd call out to me.

　I can only say "thank you" to the fans. I'm one of the fans now that I've left Sega, and I'd like to continue to work with fellow fans to promote SC5. I might be able to deliver the voices of the fans to Yoshinaga and Moro... so let's talk if we have the opportunity.

Moro:

　This is the first time I've done everything from concept art to character design, and it's a title that I have a lot of attachment to. When I see these goods, as someone who made the goods at the time, I would like to make them again, and if I can help, I would like to be called, just like Miyabe-chan.

　There are still many people who have been fans of SC5 since Part 1, and I'm overwhelmed that there are now two generations of people who love it. I'm very happy that it has been loved for so long. I think that the support of the fans will lead to the next step, just like SC5 VR, so I hope you will spread the word about the fun and cuteness of SC5 on social media. I sometimes see it and give it a "like" (laughs).

4Gamer:

　It's the kind of game where it wouldn't be surprising if something new suddenly happened with SC5. I look forward to your continued success. Thank you very much.

[fwoopersongs]

[Book Rec + Reaction/Thoughts] The Lantern and the Night Moths 灯与夜蛾 by Yilin Wang

An anthology of translated poems by five modern or contemporary poets and accompanying essays by the translator, @yilinwriter.

You can find the pronunciation guide and list of corrections here!

The cover art, a beautiful expression of the tone of this collection, is by Taiwanese artist Ciaoyin (check out her gorgeous insta!). I'm looking forward to the arrival of the physical book as my tab absolutely does not do it justice xD

Anyway! The official release date is 02 April 2024 though there have been some very thoughtful reviews by early readers already. Here, here, here and here.

(It was an ARC that I received too… though in the time it took to put this together, the ebooks have already gone out to readers >.< typical snail yj!) 

Instead, I’ll tell you who I think would be interested in this book or might benefit from reading it, then share things that are cool about it from the perspective of a bilingual hobbyist translator + lover of ancient poetry and lyrics.

Who should read it?

If annotations, translator’s notes and reflections spark joy for you...

If you’ve ever read poetry translations and been intensely curious about what goes on under the hood...

If you’re a translator yourself wanting to hear another voice...

Definitely check this out!

Also if you’re CN+EN bilingual and have ever read something in English that references Chinese terms and concepts etc. except ONLY in English, pinyin or wade-giles and been utterly frustrated by the ensuing guessing game (like me) Fear Not.

That will not be a problem here.

I really appreciate how Chinese words are used naturally where needed for concepts and quotes - they are also translated for those who can't read Chinese so no one is left out. It made this book of and about translation (and more) super comfortable to read! The solution is so simple, so direct, so rarely used that I am amused.

Oh, but do note that the Chinese characters are in simplified though!

The poems are organised by their writers who are listed here by order of birth year, not appearance in the book:

秋瑾 (Qiu Jin, 1875 to 1907)

废名 (Fei Ming. 1901 to 1967)

戴望舒 (Dai Wangshu, 1905 to 1950)

小西 (Xiao Xi, 1974 to _)

张巧慧 (Zhang Qiaohui, 1978 to _) 

Altogether, that covers nearly the last 150 years up to now. I’ve never really been into poetry by poets in such relatively recent times, in part because I’d been holding on to this stereotype of them spurning Classical Chinese and ancient poetry in the first half of the 20th century (not entirely true, as I came to realise xD). It made sense and was understandable, but felt sad.

Yet am I the target audience for this book?

Very much so.

In ways I didn’t think I would be too! It was so much fun to experience this both as a reader and a translator that I thought I’d share it here, where we are appreciating Chinese poetry together.

If you didn’t think you’d enjoy modern Chinese poetry, hey, give it a chance!

Oh yeah - on the way home a while back, I was talking to a friend about translation and was surprised to hear that her impression was that it ought to be a straightforward process. Like isn’t it a 1:1 conversion? At some point, ‘what’s the difference between something google translate might return, and how you would say it?’ was asked, and oh that was a delightful question to my ears! I showed her one of my comparison sheets where an original text is laid out alongside multiple translations line-by-line, briefly explaining some common and unique choices and how the people who had translated those probably arrived at the various interpretations. She was pretty amazed to see that the answer to her question was: very different. Hey, it’s a complicated process!

But there’s only so much one can explain in the space of a train ride. That’s why The Lantern and the Night Moths is a book I would also rec to someone like this friend of mine - open minded and curious but never having the chance to think about or encounter the craft of translation.

Like Yilin says, ‘the meaning of a word cannot be fully expressed in one single translation, nor through a series of translation attempts’. She then explains why with great attention to detail and some solid examples from one of the poems with word choices loaded with subtle connotations :D

What's interesting about it?

Okay, for one, Yilin shared a playlist of music that she listened to while working on this book. Here is the link to the spotify one and the one on youtube. Check them out! They sure put me in the mood to read xD (favs: 别知己, 小神仙 & 去有風的地方) Afterwards, this made so much sense like - ah! an audio moodboard.

She's also putting together these adorable mini profiles of each poet along with a cmedia and tea rec to match their vibes. Go see them on her instagram xD

Now to business...

structure

What really helped keep the reader’s focus was the way each section is organized, how the poems and accompanying essay were presented and finally the short bio of each person right at the end. 

The poets are first introduced through five or six of their poems, works well suited to this purpose. Their voices, distinct through the vision, ambition and emotion of their words, are brought across by Yilin’s sensitive, thoughtful and poetic translations into English. These translations were also creative and transformative in a way that made so much sense after reading one of her reflections on the process, how she ‘must guide it with gentle hands to ensure its spirit is kept alive and intact during this transformative, and often excruciating process’. A rebirth into another language!

Personally, I’ve come to think of reading translations as looking at a work through another’s eyes. So it’s delightful when the translator’s presence is discernible, and even more so when the reader is given insight into their intention and process via commentary. 

Yilin’s essays coupled with the poets’ bios at the end provide a means to go back and appreciate their works in context of their circumstance and inspirations. Similarly, to read the translations with a changed perspective.

I don’t know how much of a thing this is with translated poetry anthologies in English - can count the number I’ve read with both hands lol, and they’re all of the ancient chinese poetry variety - but I really like this design.

drawing on poets who came before them

Remember how we’re always recognizing traces of inspiration from ancient works (to them) in poetry of the various dynasties? 李商隐 Li Shangyin of Tang for example, was influenced by 楚辞 Verses of Chu and folklore and mythology such as that in 山海经 Classic of Mountains and Seas, 李白 Li Bai frequently references poets and history of the 魏晋 Wei-Jin era, and 王维 Wang Wei was clearly familiar with Buddhist scriptures which were translations themselves! 

Just like the late Táng poets whom he praised for boldly deviating from the voices before them, Fei Ming used popular references and tropey shorthands ‘in contexts utterly different from the original, reimagining them anew’. Dai Wangshu, too, ‘boldly re-envisioned what modern poetry could look like by revisiting the classics’. In fact, in his very relatable ‘To Answer the Visitor with Classical Imagery’, I see Li Bai’s 春夜宴桃李园序, Qu Yuan’s 离骚 and lots of - as the title says - classical imagery, as if pulling out painting after painting to describe a feeling.

And Dai Wangshu’s faith in the translatability of poetry, that ‘poetry isn’t what is lost in translation, but rather, what survives it’ reminds me of what a friend, @xiakeponz, said that I agree with so much - because readers can ‘experience something in their own individual way through (your) shared humanity rather than language alone’.

poetic tradition and beyond

Between the lines of contemporary poets Zhang Qiaohui and Xiao Xi, I can really see the charm of plain vernacular, how it can be beautiful, incisive and clever in turns. Even as it seems to have moved further than ever from the structure and language of literary Chinese, the themes that inspired common motifs remain a part of life. Mother and divinity, homesickness, finding oneself, tributes to admirable spirits and the issues that trouble society - just in a new form and with different ways of expression.

Qiu Jin

So many FEELINGS about what Qiu Jin was doing - ‘I awaken the spirits of women, hundreds of flowers, abloom’. I would love if she could see the world now. So many things for her to rouse and fight against, but at the same time just as many to be proud of. I am so in awe of her, but now hearing her loneliness and struggle there is a soft spot in my heart for those too. 

conclusion

So so so…

Qiu Jin’s admirable fire and lonely resolve. Zhang Qiaohui’s precious ability to express beauty in the mundane and in pain. Fei Ming’s utter delight! He is having so much fun and when* I’m vibing, I feel it too. Xiao Xi’s critical eye and keen observation of the world. Dai Wangshu’s whimsical charm and passion for translation. Finally, Yilin Wang, the connecting thread wound through them all, bringing them together so that we may be acquainted. 

*Reading his poetry is like unwrapping a seamless, many layered present. A gift that keeps giving - if only you have a key 😅 Fortunately, Yilin has halved our struggle 🤣

I’ve had such a great time with them all. And if you come, I hope you will too!

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC’s Lucien Reunion Date English Translation

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!! ⚠️

This post contains a detailed spoiler for a date that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

Lucien’s 2023 CN Birthday Event (The New World)✧ Birthday Story | Birthday Prologue | Birthday Date (You're here!) | ASMR | Birthday Party

It turns out that on a day like this, I'm allowed to have both loneliness and warmth at the same time.

Translation under the cut~

Special thanks to @/ivioivioivi for helping me translate some sentences. I am really thankful that you replied to my messages even in odd hours :"D.

[T/N: I don't want to break the flow, so I'll say it now. You need to at least read Lucien's 3rd birthday date and phone call (Looking Back Date+ Saplings of Love Phone Call) first to understand half of the date. It's even better if you've read all of his birthday dates and birthday R&S/stories. YEARS worth of build-up pays off wonderfully and painfully on this date :". Some non-birthday dates that get referenced/I think are important to understand his growth are:

Standstill date (I forgot the official EN localization of this date, so here is the fan translation ver of it. The 'old game' in this Reunion Date is a reference to this date).

Wild Luxury Date (not a direct reference, but MC's idea to book a B&B for his birthday can be traced back to them going to a wild luxury hotel LOL. Because of the 'memorable things' that happened here, they've been exploring many kinds of hotels ever since then.

Tidying-up date (The date dives deep into how Lucien dealt with his pain and grief- that is, by trying to abandon them because he didn't know any better, there's no time to slow down and properly deal with it :". But because of the 'complex feeling' (that he FINALLY got to understand in Reunion Date) he's unable to do so.

Also, a casual reminder that his birthday is also his parents' death anniversary since they got into a car accident during his 7th birthday- it'll come into play on this date ;).

ANYWAY, this date is such a TREAT for ppl who have been liking him for years and watching him grow slowly.

[Subtitled Video Ver - TURN ON CC]

VERY recommended to follow along with the voice acting for a more complete experience! It's just that he never sounded this vulnerable before :"". And BGM choice is really superb hhhh. I don't expect them to use that angsty BGM from last anniv.

[Transcript Ver]

I'm looking at the phone screen with one minute left on the countdown and placing the candle into the cupcake I secretly baked in the evening.

MC: 51, 52, 53......

I silently count the time, and at the last second, I push Lucien's study door open and turn off the lights.

MC: Happy birthday to you~

MC: Happy birthday to Professor Lucien, the smartest professor in the world~

The dim candlelight gently illuminates Lucien, who is sitting at the desk. He seems stunned for a moment, but soon, a joyful smile fills his eyes.

Lucien: So, the idea of celebrating my birthday at a B&B was just part of your surprise.

MC: I can't have you guessing everything. I still need to prepare some unexpected surprises for the birthday boy.

It's rare that Lucien doesn't have to go on a business trip this year, and there are no additional work assignments at the institute.

So, I booked a B&B in advance, taking two days off together. We'll celebrate his birthday while enjoying a brief vacation.

I smile and place the cupcake on the table, brushing away the strands of hair that hang in front of his eyes.

MC: And since we're both on vacation, every second from now on is worth celebrating.

MC: So, it's now a special midnight blessing time~

Lucien: [chuckles] And what blessing are you going to give me?

He wraps his arm around my waist, allowing me to sit on his lap.

His deep pupils dive into the depths of my eyes along our pressed foreheads, and even our breaths become intimate.

MC: Hmm... Midnight blessings mark the beginning of your birthday, so I'll start by wishing you... to be yourself on this day.

His pupils briefly contract, and it seems like even his breath has slowed down a bit.

MC: Usually, we often do things we don't particularly like for various reasons.

MC: Whether it's playing a role or fulfilling responsibilities, life is often filled with many “have to's”.

MC: But the privilege of a birthday means that today, you are the most important person in the world.

MC: So, on this day, do everything you want to do and be as comfortable as you can be.

MC: That's my midnight blessing.

The candlelight light is long, silently enveloping both of us and turning this small space into the whole world.

Lucien: (whispers hoarsely) Then I'll accept it.

His warm breath touches my lips, lingering into the first long trailing note of a wish.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

After he blows out the candle and finishes the cake, I follow his wish and nestle into Lucien's embrace.

I occasionally use my gaze to trace his face. Although I don't know what he's busy with, I'm happy to spend every moment with him.

Spending it in silence is fine too.

Lucien: Several student papers that I was helping to mentor were sent over just in time. I'll finish them quickly.

MC: Take your time reading them~ This way, I'm also absorbing the essence of wisdom.

He arches his eyebrows, leans against my head, and then shifts his gaze back to the screen.

The mouse wheel sound bears witness to the continuously flipped text, and suddenly, I detect a brief moment of silence.

Lucien appears to have no reaction. His gaze is lingering and seems to have also frozen in this moment.

Did he encounter any problems?

I tilt my head and find the cursor paused beside a cited reference, flickering silently.

An obscure and minuscule string of English appears in the lower corner, with only "1996.98~99" discernible.

Lucien: MC.

MC: Lucien?

Our simultaneous saying left me momentarily stunned, and he seemed to be surprised as well. The hold around my waist tightened imperceptibly.

MC: What's wrong?

Lucien: (tenderly) Nothing, I just wanted to call your name.

Lucien: In order to give you my undivided time for the next two days, I just need a little more time.

Lucien: (softly) You go ahead and sleep.

MC: (smiles) Don't stay up too late then.

With a familiar warmth beside me, I don't say much. I simply raise my head and lightly peck his lips, only to realize that he hasn't let go of my hand.

Lucien: Just stay by my side, I'll take care of getting you back into bed with me.

—-------------------------------------------------------

When the alarm clock goes off, I sleepily roll over and discover that the other side of the bed is empty.

The hour hand has just pointed to six o'clock, and I shake off my drowsiness, getting up to search for Lucien's figure.

MC: Did he leave this early? There isn't anything urgent at the research institute, is there…

I'm contemplating whether to send him a message when the door is pushed open.

Lucien is uncharacteristically dressed formally, and I wonder how long he's been outside as he's covered in the chilly air of early autumn.

He probably doesn't expect me to wake up so early, but he just stands there indifferently.

It's as if he's stripped away all emotions and turned into a blank slate in human form.

Somehow, I don't ask him where he went. Instead, I walk over and instinctively take hold of his somewhat stiff and cold hand, placing it against my own face.

MC: Why didn't you wear a scarf? Come here quickly-

Before I can finish speaking, he envelops me in his embrace.

It's an incredibly tight embrace.

Lucien doesn't say anything, yet it's as if he's telling me something.

I simply tighten my hug, letting this silence continue.

The chill fades away as if bidding farewell, and the person in my embrace slowly opens his mouth.

Lucien: (quietly) MC, I went to do something very important.

Lucien: It feels like I'm years late, but fortunately, nothing has changed.

I can't see Lucien's face at this moment, but I can only feel his voice, soft as if not wanting to disturb a certain tranquility.

Lucien: But because of this, I seem to have some new questions.

Lucien: Can you help me with these things I haven't quite figured out yet?

He speaks vaguely, yet there's a genuine sincerity in his words.

A vague idea forms in my mind, something that I can't pin down, but I don't want to put off either.

I gently brushed his bangs with my fingers and looked at him calmly.

MC: Of course, I'm willing to help. How do you want me to help you?

This question seems to have stumped Lucien. He ponders for a while and then smiles helplessly.

Lucien: I don't know either.

MC: Well, it's wonderful. The world has left you with a special puzzle on your birthday~

Lucien that's somewhat at a loss makes me unable to suppress my laugh.

MC: It's okay. After all, growing up doesn't necessarily mean always moving forward. I'll help you find the answers.

—-------------------------------------------------------

I lead him into the living room, where the golden sunlight streams over the horizon, casting its glow upon us.

MC: But since student Lucien doesn't have a direction, I'll have to guide you in my own way, so you better cooperate with me.

Lucien: I'm more than willing, Teacher MC.

MC: Very well. First... let's start by filling our bellies!

—--------------------------------------------------------

After eating, as Lucien places the suitcase in the trunk, I suddenly recall something and retrieve the car cooler from the storage room.

Lucien: It seems that Teacher MC is indeed well-prepared.

MC: Hehe, I must protect my main course well~

And this way, you can go wherever you want.

I don't want to impose any pressure on him, so I simply think to myself and smoothly take the driver's seat.

MC: Today, let me be the escort for the birthday star.

Lucien: What if I also wish for MC to enjoy herself?

MC: You can't use the blessings I gave you against me!

I laugh and pinch his nose. Before starting the car, I come up with a great idea.

MC: Let's play an old game.

Lucien: Aren't we supposed to go to the B&B you booked?

MC: We have plenty of time, so we can have some fun before heading to our destination.

MC: No need to rush, taking it slow is also good. It's also the birthday star's privilege.

Lucien: [chuckle] I can't help but want to be this willful birthday star every day now.

MC: In that case, I'm fully on board!

I grip the steering wheel with both hands, waiting for his response.

MC: So, what's the number in your mind?

Lucien: How about... 389?

MC: Got it!

I enter the number into the map app and, without any reservations, start the car towards the unfamiliar location 18 kilometers away.

I don't drive too fast along the way. Rather than rushing to the destination, it's more about enjoying the scenery along the route. I ask him for the next random number when we encounter red lights.

MC: When did they start repairing the bridge here?

Lucien: It seems they started construction last year, and judging by the progress, it should be completed within the next six months.

Lucien: I hadn't noticed that park over there before.

MC: I remember that this place used to be a lake?

Lucien: Mm, they probably redesigned the walkway, and it seems like cars aren't allowed in anymore.

With Lucien's various choices, we leisurely travel the road, watching this extremely familiar city give birth to new branches in unfamiliar corners.

Time has always been silent, seeping into every crevice, every building, every plant, and every person's face.

The city also seems to be growing up with us, shedding a certain part of itself and transforming into something more fresh and new.

And as Lucien and I walk through these changes together, it's hard to say whether I feel more nostalgia or anticipation.

Until the red light appears, I have no idea where I've driven us to.

In the unfamiliar scenery, warm light falls upon Lucien's face.

MC: Now, do you have any places you'd like to go or things you'd like to do?

This time, I didn't ask him for a random number but instead posed a question during this brief moment of silence.

Perhaps it's only after walking many paths that you'll discover the one you want to take.

The red light flickers and the countdown numbers slowly extend into his field of vision.

Lucien: I want to... look at the flowers.

—-------------------------------------------------------

Under Lucien's guidance, we continued to drive for a while.

The unknown world gradually added familiar sights, and the road ahead also widened.

The road of the old street is wider than it was three years ago, as if it had been freshly paved with asphalt, shining brightly in the sunlight.

Heading uphill all the way, not far ahead, I can vaguely see a massive white building.

Unlike the last time, Lucien confidently directs the way this time—until we park in the parking lot next to the white building.

In the distance, the hills and fields are vibrant, and osmanthus flowers dance silently in the wind like tiny specks of light.

They complement this massive white building, radiating splendid beauty, which makes my eyes well up with emotion.

It turns out that something new has already bloomed on that empty lot.

MC: So, this hospital has already been built…

Lucien: Um, it will officially open to the public in a few months.

Lucien shows no intention of getting out of the car and calmly gazes ahead.

I also follow his gaze. The hospital is surrounded by hills and forests, and we listen to the distant chirping of insects, telling the secrets of the wilderness.

The wind rustles through the leaves, and the lush greenery and deep red hues cast beautiful light and shadow under the sunlight.

MC: Were these trees here before?

Lucien: I believe they were also transplanted here in the past two years.

I lean against the steering wheel, looking at the scenery in front of me that is entirely different from what I remember, and I can't help but not know how to describe my feelings.

MC: Can a hospital be built so quickly?

Lucien: Of course, it's even faster since this hospital is a crucial project for expanding clinical teaching bases in Loveland City.

He said it naturally, causing my gaze to unconsciously shift back at him.

Perhaps my gaze is too probing, so Lucien casually slumps down on the right side of the dashboard.

Lucien: Actually, I've been here a few times before due to work reasons.

Lucien: While their primary research focus is orthopedics, they also want to incorporate related studies in neuroscience to treat more complex and critical diseases.

Lucien: That's why the hospital director approached me for a collaboration.

MC: You surely agreed, right?

Lucien: Do I appear so easy to persuade?

MC: You're far from being easy to persuade.

I reach out and gently caress his cheek that's nestled between his arms.

MC: (smiles softly) It's clear to me that you've always known what you want to do.

In the sunlight, Lucien seems to smile more comfortably. He nuzzles my palm, bringing himself closer to me.

Lucien: Although they are still lacking in clinical expertise in neuroscience, Lucien's Bioscience Research Center has already signed an agreement with this hospital.

Lucien: I will provide them with the necessary research theoretical support.

Lucien: However, to bridge some gaps, I recommended one of my former classmates from my doctoral program to them. Whether they can persuade him to join depends on the efforts of the hospital director.

Lucien appears nonchalant, but I can hear so much sentiment in his words.

It's Lucien's own research institute that concluded the collaboration, and even though he's aware of the shortcomings on the other side, he still chose to cooperate.

He probably unconsciously hopes that the things that are growing anew on that land will turn into something even more beautiful.

Perhaps because I've been staring at him, Lucien seems to have also understood the unspoken words I haven't uttered.

Lucien: The reason I agreed may be because, at some moment, I felt like I had touched upon a coincidence called fate.

MC: Should scientists believe in these things?

Lucien: [chuckle] It's needed once in a while.

We can't help but laugh together.

MC: How about we get down and go for a walk?

MC: Perhaps fate has other words to speak within this coincidence.

While that's what I'm saying, I actually don't know what else fate might have to say.

We don't enter the hospital; instead, we aimlessly stroll around.

That empty lot is no longer just a distant memory, nor does it remain stagnant in its place.

We walk up the hill and see a slightly small but uniquely looking shop by the side of the side road.

It quietly nestled amidst the woods directly facing the hospital, the rich aroma of coffee blending gently with the scent of fresh grass.

MC: This shop is also new, right?

Lucien: Indeed, I didn't expect a new coffee shop to open here.

Our gazes collide, and in each other's eyes, we see the same expectation.

MC: Let's go check it out then!

The simple and elegant decor made the whole café look clean and bright.

There's only one owner in the store, even though it's not yet opening time, she warmly welcomed us.

Owner: I didn't expect to have customers at this time.

Owner: The sunshine is lovely today. Why don't you two sit over here and enjoy the beautiful scenery?

She says as she leads us to a floor-to-ceiling window on the south side. Looking at the scene in front of me, I unconsciously hold my breath.

Emerald green, golden yellow, and crimson red – time unfolds the colors it has painted to depict life in front of this window.

It's as if the four seasons silently cycle, but at this moment, it kindly extends all of its vistas, leaving the shadow of time here.

Owner: Not far away, they've built a new hospital, and it seems the director is very environmentally conscious as they've planted many trees in the vicinity.

Owner: Looking out of this window, there are two very special trees, and I observe that only during this season of the year is there such a unique view.

MC: ...It's really beautiful, thank you for your recommendation!

After thanking the boss, we're sitting in front of that window.

Lucien gazes out of the window, slightly lost in thought. The colorful light and shadows fall delicately on him, as if embracing him, sinking him into the shade of the trees.

MC: I wonder if this place is directly facing the window where the little boy used to be.

He pauses for a moment and looks at me amidst the gorgeous display.

MC: At this moment, can we also see the four seasons in his eyes when he looks outside the window?

Lucien: (smiles while looking away) Probably so.

Lucien: After all, it's what has grown anew on this land.

His voice is heavy and resolute.

MC: That's wonderful.

Lucien: Hmm?

MC: They are so beautiful, it's truly wonderful.

Memories are now distant and unattainable, but they still remain here. And in such a birthplace, all the beauty that has grown is so delightful.

MC: Perhaps this painting-like scenery is also a gift from fate to you.

Beneath the play of light and shadow, the girl's face is filled with the colors of sunshine, and she smiles warmly.

Lucien always feels that the emotions that he couldn't figure out the answer to seem to open a small crack, allowing even more indescribable feelings to pour out.

When discussing the collaboration compensation, he proposed donating two trees in the name of the research institute as a partial substitute for the hiring fee.

At every moment when he came here alone, he could clearly feel the spreading branches and twigs.

Perhaps, the meaning of time lies in the fact that nothing stays in one place, and this is also a form of trace and continuity.

It's just that, some changes would be better if they happened slower.

He always selfishly thinks this way.

Lucien: Probably... it really is a gift, isn't it?

Lucien: However, there may be more to it than just fate.

The colorful world is distant yet clear, all frozen in the eyes.

Because of you, I can see the traces of time so clearly.

It turns out that everything has passed for so long, long enough that I'm almost forgetting the name of this feeling.

It turns out that on a day like this, I'm allowed to have both loneliness and warmth at the same time.

It turns out that what I felt was sadness.

—--------------------------------------------------------

=Flashback Start=

The cemetery in the early morning is dark and solemn, with only a few stars twinkling in the sky.

The streets at four o'clock were too deserted, so Lucien bought a particularly simple bouquet of flowers from a newly opened stall at the door.

He passed through the freshly painted iron gate and walked slowly along the gravel path.

The paper's reference seemed to pull him into the light and shadow of time that he couldn't speak or think of yet also couldn't forget.

There were always two busy figures, always smiling with their eyes forever gazing into the distance.

These long-ago scenes that feel more like yesterday are strangling his breath and cutting open his wound today.

The time devoured by enduring anxieties of emptiness returns in its entirety today, as it does on all other 'todays'.

Some kind of longing dug into the wound, causing him to suddenly pause before tucking the girl in his arms into the quilt.

He pondered for a long time, and in the end, he decided to put on a suit.

That period of time was like this road, neither long nor short, but he spent many years on it.

Lucien stopped before the graves, gazing at the familiar names on it, and heaved a long sigh.

What should he say? He didn't know.

He simply gently placed the flowers down and reached out to touch the name on the tombstone.

The dust had settled in the gaps, and he cleaned it meticulously, even those stubborn stains were carefully wiped away.

He silently gazed at those two clean names, looking at them again and again.

Lucien: I seem to... miss both of you.

Today belongs to both of you, yet it also feels like it belongs to me.

When I abandon my name, I can treat it as a day that only belongs to me.

Now that I stand before you, does it mean that the distant past has slowly arrived at my side?

When I leave, the time left for you both will come to an end, and the time ahead should be reserved for her, or maybe for the me who's blessed by you.

Is that okay?

Lucien knew that no one would provide him with an answer. He simply sat there, no longer dwelling on anything.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, until the slowly approaching light from the distance began to illuminate him.

=Flashback End=

—--------------------------------------------------------

MC: You can open your eyes now!

Lucien opens his eyes under my guidance, and I happen to collect the last decoration.

Lucien: The issues troubling me seem to have somewhat disrupted your preparations.

MC: That's not entirely true.

Noticing that Lucien has picked up on some clues, I place the cake on the small couch and pull him down to sit.

MC: No matter how grand the birthday celebration is or how it is celebrated, the focus should be on the person who is celebrating it.

MC: You are the most important.

MC: Everything I've done is simply in the hope that they can appear more fittingly before you.

The warm light falls on the small arched couch, enclosing our figures leaning against the glass within it.

Outside, it started raining at some point, the raindrops hitting gently against the window. Much like the indescribable feelings, the world was shrouded in a misty haze.

Lucien: It feels like we're inside an egg here.

MC: Right? I think so too.

MC: So, let's just imagine we've briefly returned to the state before venturing into the human world and taking a rest here.

Lucien: Hmm, what's outside the window then?

MC: Outside the window is the place we'll go to.

MC: It might rain today, it might be clear tomorrow, or there might be a sandstorm.

MC: Every day, the weather will be different, there will be many sad things, and there will also be many happy moments.

Lucien: Can sadness and happiness... exist at the same time?

MC: Of course they can.

MC: Because they are both important to you.

I gently stroke his brow and gaze deeper into him through those eyes filled with emotions.

Lucien: (in the most fragile tone you ever hear-) ….Then, can you hug me?

I don't speak; instead, I answer him with my actions.

Perhaps I had also waited for a long time, waiting for him to come to me, letting me accompany him and giving me the right to comfort him.

Lucien: I went to meet some very important people today.

MC: Um.

Lucien: I miss them very much.

MC: Mm.

Lucien: But I feel happy again because of you.

I bite my lower lip hard and feel my eyes slightly welling up.

Lucien: I don't know how to handle these emotions, but I also feel a bit childish like this.

MC: I don't think so. I really like you just the way you are now.

MC: Being candid and clumsy, like a child without any worries. It's a kind of growth for you too.

Lucien: But today is obviously my birthday, isn't?

MC: It's precisely because today is your birthday that you can be like this.

I can't help but hug him even tighter.

MC: Sometimes, I feel as if we're growing up like layers of an onion, with each year wrapped around the last.

MC: Even though you're growing older, you still have all the previous ages you've been.

MC: You are also the 26-year-old Lucien, the 20-year-old Lucien, the 18-year-old Lucien, the 14-year-old Lucien – you are every version of yourself from different time periods.

MC: So, you can think rationally, but you can also be indifferent; you can be passionate, yet feel discouraged at times.

MC: When we grow up, we don't abandon ourselves. Every version of you from the past is still within your heart.

MC: You will see them, comfort them, and accept them.

Behind me, Lucien is silent, but the slightly tightened arms seem to quietly reveal something.

MC: What did the ten-year-old Lucien do today?

Lucien: Mm... I read a very special book.

MC: And what about the fourteen-year-old Lucien?

Lucien: I went to Venice, took photos at the Bridge of Sighs, and accidentally dropped my camera.

MC: Hmm, and what about when you were seventeen?

Lucien: Spent an entire night in my own independent laboratory.

MC: Wow, you! You didn't pull an all-nighter at twenty as well, did you?

Lucien: When I was twenty… I was given a graduation ceremony that I think is a bit special now.

MC: And what about you today?

He slowly lifts his head, his soft fingertips caressing my cheek.

Lucien: I went to meet important people

Lucien: And returned to your side.

MC: So you see, today may be your birthday, but it's also a special book day and a day for a bit of luck to escape.

MC: It can be an all-nighter day or a day for sleep. It's your graduation ceremony, and it's also the day of your important people.

MC: It doesn't just belong to happiness, it simply belongs to you.

MC: Happy birthday, Lucien. You don't have to be just happy.

The droplet on the glass window reflects the candlelight, resembling burning osmanthus petals as if time itself has paused by our side.

Lucien finally smiles, his eyes sparkling.

Lucien: I think, I know what wish to make now.

He wraps my hands together in his and looks at the candlelight.

It seems like he's saying a lot of wishes, and only after a while does he rest his forehead against mine.

MC: I hope all your wishes come true.

Lucien: Well, this Miss will have to work hard because it's not just from the present me.

Lucien: I just took the opportunity to make up for all those days I forgot to make wishes.

MC: Right now, I feel like I'm accompanying the past you.

MC: Would you call me silly for feeling this way?

Lucien: (whispers softly) Of course not.

His warm lips gently cover mine, devout and solemn.

Lucien: Furthermore, for the future me, the present is my past.

At the moment the candles were blown out, the sound of fireworks bursting in the distance could be heard. Colorful fireworks exploded outside the window, decorating the night sky.

It turns out that the rain had silently stopped at some point.

Lucien: It looks like there will be fireworks outside the window.

MC: It's welcoming you.

At this moment, there are less than 10 minutes left until the end of Lucien's birthday.

I grab his hand and run out of the B&B, running onto the street.

The street scene is incredibly lively, and for some reason, the celebratory fireworks keep lighting up the night sky, leaving colorful streaks in their wake.

Pedestrians pause for a moment, and I hold Lucien's hand. We walk through the crowd and I excitedly turn back to him.

MC: Lucien, it's wonderful that you came into this world.

MC: Thank you for coming into this world, thank you for coming to my side.

Another burst of fireworks soars into the sky, and the world is so beautiful, as if gathering all the colors of this moment into his eyes.

All the accumulated emotions are like the fireworks at this moment, making him vibrant and alive.

I see him take my hand and wrap his other arm around my waist.

Perhaps this isn't even a dance, we're just embracing each other and spinning around while laughing.

It seems like only the two of us exist in the world.

Lucien: MC.

I hear him calling my name.

Lucien: Thank you, for giving me this beautiful world as a present.

MC: Then I hope even more that whether I participate in your world or not, you will have the beauty of the whole world.

Lucien: Don't worry.

Lucien's eyes are filled with a smile, and the lamp's warm glow makes him look incredibly bright.

Lucien: All my time is as dazzling as you.

-

[Phone Call- coming soon]

-

[Lux's small rambling corner]

Dying rn after two sleepless nights, so I'll say a little for now and will add more after resting for some days orz. But really, I think what makes this date good can be felt with heart. Every single sentence is golden and worth to be screaming about hnghhh.

Where should I start??? Everything about this date feels perfect. I don't even know where to begin🥹 I genuinely think this one is his best birthday date. The pay of years' worth of build-up and the metaphors are perfect, and GOD, how this date consists of everything that makes them unique and lovable to me.

I didn't anticipate that the writers would skillfully weave together past birthday dates on this occasion. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if this marks the final instance centered around the theme of the past self. Embracing every version of your past self that makes up 'you' is truly a fitting conclusion.

It's INSANE how his writers are able to build up the whole thing over the span of 6 YEARS like??? The way his change and growth happen little by little as we accompany him in those years, watching him now just being himself, frankly expressing his emotions and longing, and taking the initiative to be vulnerable for the first time, I can't help but feel emotional sob sob. Trust me, I CRIED the first time I read that part when he asked for a hug. We've seen him being vulnerable before, but him being the one who takes the initiative is an entirely different matter. I mean, Lucien????? the same guy that says he's okay when he got heatstroke???/hj.

Anyway, with each birthday, Lucien seems to discover something new. Like last year when he finally found a place that can be called home, this year, what he found was the loneliness and sadness from the past that he hid so deeply because he just didn't understand and had no time to deal with it. After his parents' death he give himself a new name and abandoned his old one. Like cutting off his past memories, put them in small box, locking them and hid them. Back then, he probably thought that he would never open that 'box' again and he would eventually forget its existence. But every time he get reminded of them, like in this date when he saw their names in reference he'd see the key of that 'box', reminding him of its existence.

Now, because of his encounter with her, he is gradually able to slow down, slowly understand his feelings and emotions. And so, he finally opened that 'box', went to the cemetery to see his parents and clumsily told them what he unconsciously always wanted to say, letting years of sadness and missing from losing them filled him. With this, he also slowly accept his every past self.

Like the fireworks after the long rain, his present self is alive and vibrant. Be it sadness or happiness, Lucien, I'm glad that now you can experience and accept both.

[kafus]

i really need to talk about why Gestalt is the perfect song to kick off Kaf's new era a little bit or i'm going to explode

talking about this requires some background knowledge and i'm aware most people who are going to read this probably don't know that much about Kaf so i'll talk about her history a little bit - Gestalt is Kaf's first solo release in a whole year. this is a considerably long time for her, and it's because the person who had been writing her songs for/with her for her entire career, Kanzaki Iori, left Kamitsubaki Studio early last year due to personal complications with himself as an artist (he is still on very good terms with Kaf and the rest of Kamitsubaki's staff!!)

additionally, Kaf's music with Kanzaki had always primarily been centered on various bittersweet and painful themes, but especially the pain of growing up/becoming an adult. this was especially pertinent because Kaf started Being Kaf when she was 14 years old, so she was singing from a place of genuine teenage angst. as she began to inch closer to adulthood and then became an adult herself, however, the feeling of her music shifted from singing about a far-off adult future, to an incredibly immediate one, with songs like her final song with Kanzaki, Kaikou, but especially Kyoukankaku which also came out during those last few months of Kanzaki being around. (i will spare you a whole ramble about these songs, you just have to take my word on the thematics up to this point lol. feel free to look into it further if you like)

so, Kanzaki leaving left Kaf in a bit of a limbo state for a while since so much of her musical identity was built off of her work with him and the topics they explored. she would need to form a new musical identity and figure out where to go from Kanzaki leaving... she spent about a year releasing her last songs with him as well as pumping out covers and collaboration songs with other musicians. but now, finally, she's back to releasing her own work! Gestalt was actually debuted at her KAIKA concert back in January, but only now has the studio release and full music video come out.

Gestalt is representational of her finally entering her new era after this big transitional period. even the official english description for Gestalt says:

KAF embarks on the next stage of her journey.

and oh boy does she!!!

Gestalt looks and feels like a super fun dance song in both the song itself and the MV. the description also says:

Over a year since KAF's last solo release, "Gestalt" is a 'killer dance tune' for the modern age.

and they're right. it is a killer dance tune. this shit slaps. but there's more to it than that.

it's immediately apparent when looking at the lyrics that there's more going on here - take this bit from the official english translation of the first verse for example:

From emotions to configurations When they start to break down I lose all understanding In so many ways Ahh I can't breathe Celebrating suffocation I can't take this

doesn't sound very fun or happy right? sounds chaotic. kaf is suffocating. she is losing her shit. but then it's followed up with:

Drop the beat! This disruptive Unnatural Forbidden gathering "Don't come here" "Don't look there" This is where it all starts to get good It's greedy Warped and twisted But hold me tight It's so hard to get it right, this losing game Seems like working together is the only way

to me, this is Kaf inviting the audience to dance with her amidst the chaos that she and all of us are suffocating in. the "unnatural and forbidden gathering" part is referring to how her and all of us are outcasts of society, how us trying to dance and experience joy while suffocating is looked at strangely. but the only way to survive in "this losing game" (of adult life) is to Work Together! be together!! dance together!!

that idea of being together in spite of suffering is the core message of the entire song, which is even brought out by its title, Gestalt. Gestaltism is essentially the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, that the whole is worth more than the individual components. both the title and the lyrics of the song emphasize togetherness and dancing as a whole.

this is already a much more optimistic take on those themes of Adulthood Hard and Life Is Pain, portrayed in a much peppier way than Kaf is generally used to. it's familiar, it feels like Kaf, but there's a new spin on it now! it really feels like Kaf is debuting her new era with explosive energy. it's very much "i lived bitch" to me - she's an adult now like she always dreaded being but despite it all she's dancing within the chaos and you should join her for that in this new era!!

but it actually goes deeper than that, because Kaf's MVs have always been made thoughtfully and usually pertain to the meaning of the song, and this one is no different. the animation also ties back into this transition and meaning.

^ these screencaps are from Gestalt (2024) and Just Forget About It (2019) respectively. both music videos were directed by Kawasaki Kenji, who worked on most of Kaf's older music videos and was the person who defined her visual style for a good portion of her career. older Kaf MVs almost always had some element of Kaf existing in real life environments, like some sort of alien girl wandering the streets of Tokyo. she was often put into very mundane locations with a good amount of wide shots, creating this ethereal feeling.

well, Kenji implements those themes into Gestalt for sure... a lot of the MV feels like an older Kaf MV. but there's a couple MAJOR differences...

instead of just idling around and looking wistful like in her older videos, she is DANCING!! and the usual typography in her videos is extremely stylized and much more colorful than usual, plus the environments are decorated with a ton of colorful and overlapping shapes breaking up the relatively mundane and even melancholic looking environment (for the record, "gestalt" is also a type of visual design involving closed shapes, so the typography and shape language here also ties into the title of the song lol).

essentially what they've done here is draw back on the Kaf everyone knows and loves but gone hey, now it's colorful and explosive and high energy! this is new, too!! which is exactly what the song is trying to do as well! familiar themes but portrayed in a completely new light

and as one last aside, it is also worth mentioning real quick that Kaf's current outfit for the year or so, Raichou, was debuted at her concert in January where this song was also debuted, and while not specific to Gestalt, her character designer PALOW really made sure to change how Kaf looks a lot more than usual this time for her new era. Kaf has a new main look every year or so and those outfits can define entire eras for her, and usually they're darker and heavier on the blue, but Raichou is nearly devoid of any blue and has a very different feel. they even changed her hair to be cut flat, something she hasn't done before.

anyways TLDR; my takeaway from Gestalt is i'm dancing with Kaf in this new era amidst the world being on fire so hard. joy and whimsy in the face of suffering bitch‼️get ready because Kaf is going to keep making banger music in new ways the likes of which we have never seen!!! this song is literally a perfect transitional song drawing on Kaf of old and bringing her into the new. absolutely genius. Piedpiper has done it again. thank you Jazzin'park for your service

[linabirb]

Deep Cover ENG Translyrics

*shaking* hhi so i've mentioned a few times that i actually sort of. write translyrics a-and i wrote these like. in an hour. i am not insane btw. i am so normal.

a note: we don't have an official eng translation rn and i do learn japanese and can speak it a little bit, but i am definitely not fluent, so there can be some mistakes and also these lyrics might not be the most accurate because i changed some stuff to add more rhythm (?) to the lyrics and just because i thought it sounded cool. but i still tried my best to keep it as similar to the original ones as possible!

also i do write translyrics often but i don't have that much experience with translating stuff to english so. um. pls be nice ;w;

i wish i could add a recording of me singing it to show how they're supposed to sound, but. my voice is too weak for this song djdkkd i think these should sound good though :'D

(UNDER)

Feeding off of you, don't say it's over

(UNDER)

I've achieved my goal, but it's still getting colder

It's so dumb, it's so dumb, but

My rage can't be stopped, can't be stopped!

You're so lame!

(UNDER)

The queen is here, that's the role she's playing

(UNDER)

You think a thief like you can save them?

It's so dumb, it's so dumb, but

My love can't be stopped, can't be stopped!

It's so hard!

I wonder who should I get rid of?

Oh, you're guilty? It's what you deserve

That's why I have become your fangs and claws

The hero that everyone has been waiting for

My answer? You should already know

"Stop it, please" Oh, please, I thought you wanted more

Why would you stop me now?

A mission, a motive and a goal, that's what I need

I beg you, beg you now

Please give me my next reason to live

(UNDER)

Put your mask on, king, and don't stop faking

My faith's too strong and you'll never break it

It's so dumb, it's so dumb, but

It's true, I forgot, I forgot!

I'm so bored!

(UNDER)

Your memories are lost inside this prison

(UNDER)

Wish to defeat me? How funny, what's your reason?

It's so dumb, it's so dumb, but

Let's go and knock this damn door down!

That's why you have become my reason to live

What you're waiting for, go and choose "Not forgive"

Empathy is an illusion, don't listen to it

Evil is evil and that's what you have to defeat

Why would you stop me now?

A mission, a motive and a goal, that's what I need

I beg you, beg you now

Please give me my next reason to live

(UNDER)

(UNDER)

What I'm looking for has to be correct and just

This hopeless future, I want it to be crushed

It's so dumb, it's so dumb, but

I'm the one that you can trust

That's why I have become your fangs and claws

The hero that everyone has been waiting for

My answer? You should already know

"Stop it, please" Oh, please, I thought you wanted more

Why would you stop me now?

A mission, a motive and a goal, that's what I need

I beg you, beg you now

Please give me my next reason to live (x2)

(UNDER)

Number one! A parasite, good for nothing

(UNDER)

Number two! A slut that has no shame

(UNDER)

Number four! A queen wearing a fake crown

(UNDER)

Number five! Cutting them open, failure of a savior

(UNDER)

Number seven! A liar wanting to stay hidden

(UNDER)

Number eleven! A useless prison warden

It's so dumb, it's so dumb, but

Can you stay behind, stay behind, just shut up

Translation notes:

"Feeding off of you" is a reference to Kotoko calling Haruka a parasite and "don't say it's over" is a reference to Haruka's relationship with his mother and "wanting her to hug him again as she once did".

"The queen is here, that's the role she's playing'' I really wanted to keep the "queen game" part, but I just couldn't make it sound good, so at least we have this :')

"You really think a thief like you can save them?" The original one had "stealer" but I thought "thief" sounds better in this version!

"It's true, I forgot, I forgot!" At first I wanted to keep the "can't be stopped" bit, but I just really couldn't come up with anything related to it and then I thought that Mikoto having a part that sounds different would be really cool in a way.

"Wish to defeat me? How funny, what's your reason?" Please feel free to correct me, but I genuinely don't know if Kotoko is asking Es if they want to "defeat" her or if she's talking about Es assuming that Kotoko wants to "defeat" them, it doesn't help that she also says "Laughable justice" after this, but I went with the first option.

"This hopeless future, I want it to be crushed" The original lyrics mention the "dirty future" and I. Have no idea what she means by that, so I went with this.

"Number one! A parasite, good for nothing" LISTEN, HER SAYING EVERYONE'S NUMBERS LIKE THAT SOUNDS COOL. Also, I really did want everyone's parts to rhyme, but I just couldn't come up with anything and all my ideas sounded weird, so I decided to keep it this way, sort of like Kotoko is yelling at them and really calling them out?

[digitalwitchmayura]

[incomplete] Unofficial miscellaneous Mayura trivia

What is the meaning of the ‘Wiz’ in ‘Nanika Wiz Mayura’?

Nanika with (ghost name) was a common format for ghost titles, starting with Sakura/Nin-i-tan

A tribute and clever pun to the legendary Wizardry series - a series of role-playing video games, developed by Sir-Tech, that were highly influential in the evolution of modern role-playing video games. The original Wizardry (released in 1981)was a significant influence on early console role-playing games such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Originally made for the Apple II, the games were later ported to other platforms.

 Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna, released by Sir-Tech in 1987, is famously the hardest game in the history of computer RPGs. There is nothing harder. The majority of those who have played it were unable to leave the very first room. It’s like the ancient blueprint of the RPGs we know and love today. 

I find it a groundbreaking feat that the game was re-programmed from scratch and is somewhat playable within Mayura’s dialogue, despite being an English game this is the biggest obstacle to translate for me. 

Wizardry has recently opened an official english site for the first time to promote the remake, you can see the history of it there

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

help, I don't understand Mayura's references!

That's okay, me neither when it comes to many of them.

many of her references stem from a magazine called Micom BASIC(マイコン BASIC), one of the oldest running gaming magazines focusing on microcomputers.

up until as recently as 2022 it was near impossible to find any archives of Micom BASIC, but you can check out some scans of them (untranslated) here:

 https://retrocdn.net/Category:Micom_BASIC_scans

https://archive.org/details/micomBASIC19841994

 also highly recommend this translator's blog if this sort of stuff interests you - @thearkhound they've made some really accurate and insightful english translations of never before seen interviews with legendary game devs like Shigeru Miyamoto from Micom BASIC.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

but as someone who struggles with having the attention span to complete classic RPGs  (many being obscure, japan release only and too expensive on the second hand market as well) it's helped me immensely to casually watch Gamecenter CX and the Wizardry OVA to get a better grasp of some of the terms and spells she uses.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SA-GCCX English Subtitled Downloads and Information:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wizardry OAV (1991):

Some versions of your translation differ with what club Mayura is the president of, what’s the deal with that? Which club is she the president of?

To be honest it’s hard to say because she changes the answer every time, but there is a part of Mayura’s script as well as a little javascript code on her now defunct official blog which randomly generates a club title, picking from various retro gaming keywords, before twitter’s API was destroyed there was a widget where you could hit 'join club' by sharing it to a Twitter hashtag. from what I can gather She’s formed a whole lot of gaming clubs and is simultaneously leading all of them at once.

How come Mayura identifies as both a wizard and a girl? (or ‘Why is she a Digital Witch?’)

(a few explanations for this but TLDR; there’s a ton of inconsistencies spanning my various translations of Mukei’s homepage, it seems like wizard and witch are interchangeable in retro RPGS, sorry if it’s confusing) 

During the earliest days of RPGs ( especially J-RPGS from the years 1982-1987), Wizard was usually a gender neutral or unisex character class. 

Native Japanese speakers say “mahoutsukai” normally to mean ‘wizard’ in Japanese. mahoutsukai – 魔法使い (まほうつかい) : a noun meaning ‘wizard’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Depending on the context and situation, this can also mean ‘witch’ in Japanese.

The Japanese kanji for ‘wizard’ is Mahou Tsukai, which is directly ‘Magic user’ and does not specify a gender, Mayura’s favourite game (and ghost namesake) is Wizardry and a majority of her personality and dialogue is based around it, so it felt fitting to translate it to Wizard. 

“Witch”/”Digital Witch” and “Wizard” are used in english interchangeably in (untranslated) 2010s iteration of Mayura’s blog so I'd say it's probably up to personal preference, both are correct

in the history of programming, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) is a computer science textbook by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman with Julie Sussman. It is known as the "Wizard Book" in hacker culture and refers to programming or hacking as magic, using sorcerer's spells to invoke the processes within the machine . (which I'm too uneducated to fully understand but my reasoning is that wizards = hacker and technology related)

Why does Mayura speak so strangely?

Her only knowledge of human culture or the 21st century is learnt solely through archaic RPGs and reading through strategy guides or obscure out of print magazines like Micom BASIC. According to her extended lore, 400 years ago she was a human living in the real world,  but she was an orphan and the village she lived in shunned her and tried to burn her at the stake. it's said in some of the Mayura Maniacs reference sheets that before her current life as a desktop buddy, she was an orphan and an alchemist named Unyx took her in as his student, protecting her and teaching her to control her magic powers. in order to save her from being executed, he had to transmute her soul into a 6-pointed star bracelet. Mayura was 20 years old at that time and lost all memory of her previous life when she was re-awakened in the 20th century and many of her favorite games were released in the founding years of gaming before my time during the 80s and 90s

[p5x-theories]

What We Know About P5X

(updated 6/9/24)

Persona 5: The Phantom X (P5X) has previously had three beta tests, the first of which ran from March 29th to 31st 2023, the second of which ran from August 18th to 25th 2023, and the third of which ran from January 16th to 31st 2024. The open beta, essentially the game's official launch, began on April 12th 2024. Here’s a summary of what we know about the game itself so far. Hopefully this’ll be useful, whether you're new around here or not!

I also keep updated posts about the game's story, playable characters, and other useful information, which can be found in this blog's pinned post (along with this post!).

Keeping this as succinct as I can, but it's still a little long, so under the cut it goes.

Overview

P5X is a turn-based RPG mobile game with gacha elements, developed by Black Wings Game Studio and published by Perfect World Games. While not directly creating it, it is officially licensed by Atlus and Sega. Atlus has apparently been very involved in its production, including Shigenori Soejima designing the protagonist and his Persona.

The game's setting has been confirmed to be an alternate/"parallel" world to Persona 5's, though translated promotional information also confirms the plot has something to do with these two worlds interacting through "time and space".

As Perfect World Games and Black Wings Game Studio are Chinese game companies, P5X is produced in Chinese, with no current official English translations, though the third beta had files that possibly indicate future plans to translate the game into English, Spanish, and Japanese, among other languages. The dialogue in-game is voiced in both Japanese and Chinese, with Japanese and Chinese voice actors for the characters.

Right now, we know the game is available on both mobile and PC, but it’s unconfirmed whether it will release anywhere outside of China, Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, and Korea, though it's stated to be under consideration. The first three of the beta tests were closed betas, available only in China, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong, where players could sign up for a chance to get in, and actual beta accounts were given out via lottery. The open beta requires only a Chinese phone number to sign up, although the Taiwan/Macau/Hong Kong version also allows players to log in with a Google account.

Note that there was some confusion about whether the open beta was the game's official launch at first, due to the language barrier. Posts on this blog prior to 5/15/2024 often refer to it as the "fourth beta" instead, and may erroneously suggest it was just another beta test.

There are specifically two main gachas in the game- a character gacha for gaining teammates, and a weapons gacha for gaining better weapons for those teammates. While the game is extremely similar to Persona 5 overall, there are many aspects, obviously including the gacha, that differ from it, which are summarized below and detailed further in another post.

The Characters

So far, there are 18 new Persona users. These characters can be divided into story teammates and "Phantom Idol" (gacha-only) teammates.

The story teammates so far are the protagonist (codename Wonder), an owl named Ruferu in Japanese which has sometimes been translated as "Luffy" by fans (codename Cattle), an athletic classmate of the protagonist's named Motoha Arai (codename Closer), and a boy from another class with an interest in cooking named Shun Kanou (codename Soy). These teammates have all joined as part of the plot of the game. A fifth story teammate, student council member Riko Tanemura (future codename Wind), has also been included frequently in promotional art, though she has not actually joined the team in the revealed story yet.

The "Phantom Idol" teammates ("Kaidoru" in Japanese) are described as being cognitive beings created by Wonder's Velvet Room attendant, Merope, to assist him in the Metaverse, based on people Wonder meets, though they are only copies. So far, they include Motoha's friend Tomoko Noge (codename Moko), first year student Kiyoshi Kurotani (codename Key), Wonder's family friend Kayo Tomiyama (codename Okyann), college freshman from China Yaoling Li (codename Rin), aspiring acting student Reo Kamiyama (codename Leon), Yaoling's traditionally-dressed neighbor Yukimi Fujikawa (codename Yuki), rich high school student Seiji Shiratori (codename Fleuret), injured ice skater Kotone Montagne (codename Mont), an online friend of Wonder's who goes by the name YUI (codename Bui), children's fashion model Haruna Nishimori (codename Riddle), unemployed fisherman Toshiya Sumi (codename Sepia), the runaway daughter of a local politician whose real name may be Miyu Sawara (codename Puppet), and an aspiring nurse working for her family's store named Minami Miyashita (codename Marian).

The original Phantom Thieves from Persona 5 also appear as Phantom Idols: Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Crow. Datamining also found some of Wolf’s battle voice lines from P5S at least in the first beta, and an icon from P5S with Sophie in every beta, suggesting they may later be added as well. No sign of Violet has been found yet, other than the Faith Arcana card in the files. Joker, at the very least, seems to have some larger role in the plot, as Wonder has a dream about them fighting at the start of the game, and later what seems to be a Phantom Idol Joker comes out of nowhere to rescue Wonder and Cattle in Mementos. Wonder is also able to use his universe's Leblanc to visit the Leblanc of Joker's universe, and spend time with the P5 Thieves there.

There is also a multi-chapter Persona 5 Collab event, which involves the P5X and P5 Phantom Thieves meeting in strange Metaverse locations that mix aspects of both P5 and P5X's Palaces. Similar to the PQ games, the teams cannot leave these areas until they defeat the ruler of each area, and afterward, none of them seem to retain their memories of the events, though they regain these memories when they enter the next location to appear.

Munehisa Iwai, Tae Takemi, and Chihaya Mifune also return in P5X. Iwai runs the weapon gacha, Takemi sells medicine like in P5, and Chihaya tells fortunes. The other original P5 confidants’ portraits and 3D models have been found in every betas' data, and the Councillor Arcana card was with the other cards in the second, third, and fourth betas' data specifically, but it’s currently unknown whether they’ll actually return in any capacity.

Music

Several new songs have been heard in P5X, five of which feature vocals by Lyn: the opening song "Ambitions and Visions", "Last Strike", "Wake Up Your Hero", "Shadow", and "Fatal Desire". The new instrumental tracks so far include background music for the first two Palaces, background music for special fights, a new music track for Mementos and some other areas affiliated with Mementos, and some music for P5X's rhythm minigame/side quest, where Wonder plays music as a member of his school's music club.

Locations

The majority of P5 and P5R’s locations have been confirmed for P5X, including Yongen-Jaya, Kichijoji, Shibuya, and Shinjuku, but the protagonist lives in a new location called Zoshigaya, and goes to a new school called Kokatsu Academy located in Shimokitazawa. Another school named Kiga High School has also been mentioned.

(Note that not every store is exactly identical to the P5 version; the Big Bang Burger in Shibuya is now called Boom Bang Burger, with no apparent traces of the space theming, and the Crossroads bar in Shinjuku has also been rebranded. Leblanc was also rebranded to a generic coffee shop in previous betas, but in the open beta has been turned back into Leblanc.)

Mementos and the concept of Palaces also return in P5X, though there are some differences. Mementos' floors are no longer randomly generated, and now have set layouts. Related to this, Mementos also now operates as a sort of hub, with characters entering Palaces through Mementos, from the entrance to each Palace located within the massive floors of Mementos. Mementos also has special battle locations apparently similar to “domains” in other gacha games, where completing the fight gives special items to strengthen characters and weapons, generally themed after P5′s Palaces (so far Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro, and Okumura's Palace-themed "domains" have been found, as well as one that doesn't seem to match any known Palace).

Basic Game Mechanics

For the most part, P5X operates extremely similarly to P5, both in and out of the Metaverse. One notable difference is that there is no calendar- days can pass due to the story, but they're not numbered, instead listed as simply "Yesterday", "Today", and "Tomorrow". There are also more time slots to perform other activities, as Wonder can do two after school activities, two activities even later in the day, and then a final one at night. Performing activities also costs hourglasses, which refill at a rate of 5 per real-world day.

One interesting and more significant change made in this category is that Confidants have a total of 20 ranks, instead of the series-standard 10, though there are still only 10 ranks that actually progress their story. They also haven't been associated with any Arcana, though the P5R Arcana cards have all been found in the second beta's data.

The UI elements of combat look a little different (as well as all the skill animations), appearing to be more optimized for mobile play, but otherwise it seems largely the same to P5, though one notable difference is that Navigator skills can be called in at will (and then have a cooldown), rather than occurring randomly. There is a new kind of special ability called a Highlight, which is similar to P5S’s Showtime attacks where the character executes a special move with their Persona, though not all Highlights are attacks, and some heal or have alternative effects instead.

The protagonist can gain Personas in combat (or from the gacha), though it no longer requires talking to them, and instead appears to have a random chance of occurring. Challenge battles in the Velvet Room, like in P5R, are available to attempt. Palace exploration also seems relatively standard, even if the Palace itself and the method of entering it is different. One major change is that several shadow/Persona designs have been censored in the mainland China version of the game; this includes Incubus and many others being given shorts, Bugs' stomach being repaired with the blood removed, Mara being given a large hat, Hell Biker and other skeletal Personas having a helmet/mask that obscures the skull, and several female Personas like Lamia being given shirts. However, these changes are purely cosmetic, and also seem to be reverted in the Taiwan/Macau/Hong Kong version (and possibly the Korean version as well).

Miscellaneous

It’s worth noting that because the game has yet to be officially translated to English in any capacity (outside of a single file confirming its English title as "Persona 5: The Phantom X"), character names can only be absolutely confirmed when they’re either written in Japanese kana (as opposed to the Japanese kanji characters that names are typically written in) or spoken aloud in official material, to confirm which reading of the Japanese name is the intended one for this specific character.

The characters do also have Chinese names, of course, but as the voice acting defaults to Japanese, and the game is set in Japan, the names that would most likely be used by an English release (if it ever happens) are their Japanese ones. As such, the Japanese names are the ones presented in the Characters section earlier in this post, and the main ones that this blog uses.

All the codenames, however, are written in English, and thus the most easily confirmed as official.

[prince-kallisto]

Crowley’s Opening Prologue Speech Comparisons: Manga vs Game

Now that I got my hands on the official English translation of the first volume of the Heartslabyul manga, I have collected yet another edition of Crowley’s opening speech haha!

The official translation is on the left (apologies for the poor photo quality), and the popular fan translation is on the right. I included the fan translation because many have us have relied on the wonderful work of the manga translators, so I thought it would be nice to compare the two ٩( 'ω' )و

The official manga translation reads “Ah…my cherished benefactor. Wicked bloom that doth nobly enthrall…thou art the fairest one of all. Magic mirror, on the wall. Who is the…”

The fan translation reads “Ah, my loveliest highness…Dignified in all your nobility, a most wicked flower. You are truly the fairest of them all. Mirror, mirror, on the wall, reveal this to me. Of this world, who is…”

I put the Japanese text and the official English translation of the in-game lines. The English game translation reads “Ah, my dear esteemed benefactor…My proud, beautiful flower of evil. You are truly the fairest one of all. O magic mirror, thy wisdom I entreat…reveal unto me the visage I seek…”

Since I cannot read Japanese, nor have I been able to find what the Japanese version of the manga says, I cannot attest to the “accuracy” of these lines, or if there’s a flexibility to how Crowley’s lines can be translated. Perhaps the manga adjusted the end of Crowley’s speech to be slightly shorter to save on space? (The Twisted Wonderland novel does not have this speech by the way, at least to my knowledge)

The official manga translation seems to value the rhythm of the words (enthrall, all, wall), and having Crowley speak in an archaic form, with “doth” and “thou art.”

I’d like to add that “enthrall” refers to charm or being spellbound attention-wise. But the archaic version of the word also refers to being bound in slavery. Since the manga translates Crowley with archaic terms, I thought this would be interesting to point out! Perhaps he is “enslaved” by his benefactors beauty, or perhaps in a more literal sense?

Both the EN game and manga seem to keep the identity of the person Crowley is speaking to gender neutral, using “benefactor.”

Crowley’s relationship with his benefactor very very subtly shifts between the game and the manga, but it’s essentially the same thing with different language used. The game calls them his “dear esteemed benefactor,” as in respect or admire. But the manga uses “cherished benefactor,” as if this is someone that Crowley loves dearly and holds them close to his heart. The game does say “dear,” but it somehow feels a little more direct in the manga haha because he’s not just referring to his respect/admiration, but maybe it’s just me. But the game also implies this, with him saying “MY proud, beautiful flower of evil.”

I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts about this! If any of y’all can read Japanese and can compare this to the original game text, I would be honored to know about this as well! \(//∇//)\ Does anyone have a preferred translation either? I really like the game translation, but the official manga with the archaic speech is personally growing on me!

Edit: Part 2 for the ending part of this same prologue speech

[yuurei20]

Hello! It's me again. Thank you for answering my last ask.

I went and found some more voice lines. Sadly, I cannot screenshot the audio, but here's the English translations of the lines from Jack's dorm uniform, Rook's Halloween costume, Malleus' GloMas outfit, Kalim's New Year getup, Silver's Halloween costume, and Silver's Birthday Boy clothes. It's worth noting that Deuce calls Kalim "Asim-senpai" in the New Year's duo.

Hope this helps! (I only have the Jack, Malleus, and Rook shown here, the rest I got via the helper cards in Crafter's Gauntlet battles. lol.)

Hello hello, thank you so much!! I checked the audio on all of the above cards and with the exception of the usual removal of honorifics, the official translations on EN are all perfect! :>

Have put together an original dialogue/literal translation comparison just for fun, but they're all great as they are!

Jack's phrasing here is probably meant to be a wolf-based pun, as the word he is using (かます) both means to defeat a person/win a challenge in one go, and is also pronounced the same as the word 嚙ます, for "to bite."

So technically he is saying both "let's bite them" and "let's finish them off" simultaneously, which isn't really something that can be portrayed in English.

Ruggie's response of "熱くなっちゃって" is kind of Ruggie saying, "You always get so heated!" or "passionate" or "worked up."

The word "hade" (派手) comes up a lot with Kalim, but can be so difficult to express in English. It can be said as "flashy," "gaudy," etc. Basically, to go very big!

Deuce's response is the same on EN and is a word of encouragement (it is actually かます again, from Jack's Duo, as Deuce is encouraging Kalim to take out their opponent), but Deuce is also saying "please."

And then there is Deuce's use of last-name-senpai being changed to a first name without an honorific which, as you say, is worthy of note!

Deuce's way of expressing himself connects directly to his past violence and his present-day efforts to reform himself; an important part of the character that might just be impossible to translate into english. (More here!)

Malleus and Sebek's lines are both perfectly accurate on EN, although "-sama" has been removed from Sebek's dialogue.

The game has an interesting relationship with the "-sama" honorific. Sebek's "Malleus-sama" gets rewritten into "Housewarden Malleus" or dropped, while it is localized as "Mr.," "Master," "O Great," "O mighty" or "Count" with other characters.

Rook's Halloween Duo dialogue is perfectly accurate! Interestingly, while Trey and Riddle both have "roses" in their nicknames, Riddle's is pronounced as the English/French word "rose," while Trey's is pronounced as the Japanese word "bara" (薔薇).

(All of Rook's nicknames (including changes made between servers) can be found here!)

Silver's Halloween Duo is also perfectly accurate, with just the loss of "-senpai" from Silver.

Leona's line is a great example of how flexible the Japanese language is, depending so heavily on context as it does: technically all Leona is saying is the word "show," in a command form. He isn't specifying what it is that he wants Silver to show to him, so while we can infer that this would probably be "show me what you've got" or "show me how it's done," etc, in English, he could technically also be saying "show me what's in your hands" or "show me what you're hiding," etc.

(If you've ever wondered how some translations can vary so wildly between sources, this is part of why!)

Silver's Birthday Duo is also perfectly accurate, missing only the "-kun" from Ruggie.

Unlike Cater, who also uses honorifics in 100% of his dialogue (except with Trey in important situations), when Leona overblots Ruggie doesn't shift to calling him by name: he calls him a casual form of "you," which is equally fascinating. (More here)

Also, combined the above screenshots with their corresponding audio for reference, here!

[sirius-bus1ness]

LETS TAL ABT MY CHARACCTERS @thinkingnot @radio-to-trenchcoat-demons @theverywest HELLO u guys were the one in That post yeah? safjgajsgfas its been months sorry for the very late but!!! I have new stuff now :333 (anyone who wants to be tagged in future updates for this story lmk below)(ill be realeasing some notes on how the game works, the compnay, the effects of the game and how big its impact really is, etc)(and,ofc, more characters later!!!)

FOR NOW THO

Characters are divided into three categories: the main character, who are often in the plot both irl and in the game, the side characters, who are players that are either solely in the game or in real life*, and npc, who are just. NPC in the game. They will be important, definitely, but they would never show up irl. They're not real (although they do have actors, but they are separate from npc)

ANYWAY!!!! These 5 are my main characters. First up, Ruth Hernandez aka RuthlessAce. Used to be KingofSpades in the game, before she left playing for college(which she didnt actually last long in, bc she was scouted by some weirdo to work in the government)(her deadname is June, which will have to be used in the start of the story cause it's abt her realizing she's a woman, and the journey of her transition. She's 25, and FIlipino(like me!!!)

She's very cheerful and chill, in the present. She wasn't always, back in elementary and highschool, and in fact is part of a trio that goes around towns and get into fights with other gangs/groups. They have good reason for getting into fights, but only sometimes. She's sporty and friendly and well-liked when she was a boy, and while not veyr good academically she was very personable and people smart.

SHE is the lady in the corner, with the braids and weird bangs. It slides down her face fr. like thatguy from bsd.

Second!

Trixie Dela Rosa, the love interest, aka ManicPixieDreamGirl!. She is. So blorbo. She have an old name, but she's not trans like Ruth, she's actually just lead really strange life. She was a genius born to a poor family, in an urban area (ruth is from rural). By the time she was five, she's fluent in english and tagalog(filipino language) and learning ilocano(another filipino language). In school, youre supposed to be in prep school for two years, at four and five.

She starts, instead, elementary at five skipping the second year. It was supposed to be just like, some sort of indulgent thing we refer to 'saling kitkit' or kitty is joining literally translated. you're there but you're not supposed to be actually there. Unfortunately, she IS too smart, and she is doing amazing so they can't just make her repeat the year to match with other kids her age.

I have a bunch of fun thoughts about her childhood exploits and why her 1st grade teacher HATES her. (not really, she was just really annoyed nad easily upset)

ANYWAY. She have multiple younger siblings. At six, she has two other siblings. It's around that time she met Mrs. Dela Rosa, an old school teacher who married a rich man. The teacher LOVES her, a lot, and finds her intellegence very delightful and her mischief endearing. At seven, Trixie - Sophie still, then - her parents had twins.

One day, she overheard her parents talking about Mrs. Dela Rosa wanting to adopt her. And well, she is a brilliant child, and an observant one. Her family is struggling. Her parents, at first, didn't wanna agree. But Trixie got a sharp tongue and good at getting what she wants, and Mrs. Dela Rosa was offering jobs with good income plus scholarship for the four kids, in exchange for Trixie(the old lady is desperate, and so is her husbadn. they can't have children and they Want trixie.)

Trixie gets adopted, and proves her genius, skips a bunch of grades, getting the official exams bc money can get her anything now. At 10 she can speak 5 languages and play 3 instruments. She's mostly tutored now, only going to school to socialize with other kids. she's not actually in any specific class, she just goes wherever she wants(power of money)

anyway, at 15 she got sick and started playing paraiso. she was sick for 5 years, and i have a legit list of all the things that made her sick. things go, she becomes a streamer as a hobby while joining her adoptive father in his work, and things are going brilliantly for her rn. except for the angst of technically being sold(even if she decided it, even if she chose it, she was a kid. she was a kid. she doesn't regret it, but she was a kid.)(she wishes someone woudl fight for her, just one).

AHAHAHA ITS OBVIOUS I HAVE A FAVOURITE HUH.

nEXT .

Arthur Prince. The man, the legend, the best friend ever. GHe is flamboyant and loud and shining star. Attention SHOULD always be on him, because he lacked it as a child deserves it!!! Him and Ruth had been friends since they were kids, and man do they adore each other. Tight, attached to the hip, probably would kill for each other, definitely committed crimes together. He is MadRukh in game, and YES it is a reference to rook, the chess piece. Ruth's name is a reference to a card game. It is matching, or so they claim. tbf, they were 15 youre honor.

He is half filipino half british, and his dad sends child support from the land of the queen. his mother remarried a japanese man and had two more children. He is in the Philippines, being raised by his uncle, because he felt out of place with his mother and his father's paretns are assholes! not that he told anyone but ruth that, lmaooooo.

He's just happy they send him money (and that he plays Paraiso with his younger siblings)

He lefthis uncle's home at 15 btw. because that man was taking the money his paretns were sending him for his own children. He's also a streamer, and in the same sort of group/guild with Trixie, called seven deadly sins. He's lust, she's pride, and a bunch of others. he is aroace and if he had pennies everytime he coparented a child he sees as his siblings with a lesbian who hates him, he'll get two pennies which is good, its just weird it happened twice. (this is trixie, who took under her wing his middle sibling and-)

AND ELIAS VIDARRRR

brilliant agender bitch who is arolesbian. they get ALL the ladies in the school, and has been the lesbian awakening of soooo many people. Her past? a mystery. her present? ALSO a mystery. where do they get the money? how does he blow up his place every few days? why did the governement not come to check the danger? NO ON EKNOWS!!! It is the last part of the trio of gangsters in their town, it and arthur and ruth. they beat up people who harass girls. and also everyone else, because they have NO mercy. or sense.

the only solid thing about elias is that she is brilliant innovator with a little brother who loves her very much and completely dedicated in keeping her alive, except for when he is with arthur and playing paraiso.

shes the spiky haired one, with the heart glasses and scientist coat.

and last bt certainly NOT the least,

Aeon Vidar, aka SeashellInAHole!! An AI whose body Elias constantly updates as years pass by. He is so so precious. Him, Arthur, and Arthur's little sister Amethyst (FuryInMyVeins) form a party in game and goes to shenanigans. family, you may say. he is content being spoiled by both arthur and elias, who often takes him to carnivals and shit just so they can compete on who takes care of him better. He does not Care abt it. In fact, he finds it hilarious and fun, because his favourite is Anthony, Ruth's older brother. he is only a little bit lying.

Him and Amy are 13, and they are so so siblings. twins, even.

Notice, my readers, that elias has no in game name. This is because she LOATHES PAraiso. the game, the company, the headset nad the pods adn EVERYTHING. the only reason she has the paraiso messenger app on it's phone is because she needs it for if Aeon needs to contact them while his kiddo's in game. and no, btw, elias did not make Aeon, she's a gift from their mom <333 who definitely exist and is not at all connected to paraiso, wink wink nudge nudge.

The fact that elias look so so similar to the Gardener, with the shade of red hair, and aeon has a braid styled just like that in game god is a coincidence and unconnected and people should not talk abotu it (foaming at the mouth SOMEONE ASK ME ABOUT IT)