okusawamiikun’s 30 Day Challenge!

Day 5: Favourite Afterglow song

Some of Aglow's songs have grown on me lately and their music has definitely improved since their first single. I'm not sure how it happened but I'm now torn between COMIC PANIC!!! and Hey-day Capriccio and I don't think this dilemma is gonna resolve any time soon. COMIC PANIC!!! is just . . . cute and catchy and the lyrics are hilarious—I haven't read the event story but Ran is so confused about what the others are doing, poor child. And the solos! They're all so bright and energetic

Hey-day has the upper hand musically though, I would say. I'm of the opinion that Aglow's early songs aren't particularly exciting but Hey-day has that tension and drive befitting of a spooky tune and Tsugu's chromatic runs and arpeggios? Yes you go girl, you're far from mediocre

I'm weird and don't pay as much attention to covers usually but look. Shunkan Sentimental is my fav ED of the anime adaptation of my fav manga ever and Aglow's arrangement is faithful to the original but wilder bless them. I have feelings

okusawamiikun’s 30 Day Challenge!

Day 4: Favourite Afterglow character

The amazing bread-loving Moca! I think among my top 5 Moca's the one I fell in love with for the most superficial reason. Like it wasn't her design or anything so she wasn't my immediate fav (Himari was best Aglow girl at first and I still love her lots), but Moca quickly rose to the top after I realised how delightfully funny she was. That was it, pretty much. She managed to get a giggle out of me every time she opened her mouth and to this day I never tire of her laziness and teasing and self-aggrandising. It kinda says a lot about her presence as a character, that that alone is reason enough for her to stay in the top tier.

I'm glad we're shown her serious side though. It's really lovely that underneath that attitude is the gentlest, most perceptive and caring girl who just happens to be an agent of chaos bc y'know, why not (the Valentine's event oh god). She's flawed too, inclined to watch things unfold instead of intervening when she should, and that and her subsequent development round out her character even more.

Oh and I should also mention that I'm halfway through Part 2 of Aglow's band story (I should finish it one of these days huh) and she's giving me pain thank you

And and! I may not have as much to say about her but that's only bc as I said, the main reason I love her is kinda shallow but by no means insignificant, and I don't identify with her much so I don't feel the need to pour my entire soul out aldkfjs

okusawamiikun’s 30 Day Challenge!

Day 3: Favourite PoPiPa song

All of them?? Okay no, I do have a lot of faves though so I'll pick the newest one for today just bc I'm kinda fresh off the hype train—what else but the wonderful B-side of this?

I should note that I only know classical music terminology and so have no clue how to analyse anything else, and also I just . . . like songs based on how nice their melodies sound and the emotional reaction I have anyway

Which is why most of my PoPiPa faves are the ones that you listen to and immediately associate with PoPiPa's sound, like KIZUNA MUSIC♪, 1000-kai Urunda Sora etc.—they're pretty and I am a simple girl who likes pretty things. What's the POPIPA!? is different though and I adore it. It's closer to something like Time Lapse but is its own thing and the solos? I literally died when I heard the chomamas, it was just so funny lmao but all the references are wholesome and PoPiPa sound nothing short of angelic when they sing together. Something about the quality of their combined voices sends me straight to the afterlife ahhh

Anyway PoPiPa's music is really good and just

Kimi to issho da yo

Forever for dreaming!!! (╥﹏╥)

okusawamiikun’s 30 Day Challenge!

Day 2: Favourite PoPiPa character

Idk how to talk about this girl without everything devolving into incoherent screaming and crying but I think I’ve been able to at least pinpoint the main reason she’s my fav since the last time I posted something gushy about her so here goes

Contrary to most people’s initial expectations Arisa is actually incredibly complex as a character. She puts up facades depending on who she’s interacting with because she’s scared of opening up and being hurt, which is super realistic and relatable. As someone who has no idea how to talk to people and finds it really hard to let her guard down for fear of being judged, I took one look at her and went, “Wow that’s me.” With PoPiPa, Arisa can be rude and blunt, but really she’s a soft fluffy ball of fairy floss who wouldn’t hurt a fly (so when she genuinely does mess up or hurt someone she cares about for whatever reason it’s the end of the world in her eyes . . . I wanna hug her and tell her it’s not) and the others see right through her antics for that reason. Correct me if I’ve got the wrong impression since I’m an only child, but I feel like Arisa unconsciously treats PoPiPa like the siblings she never had and that’s really cute? With older students and people she doesn’t know well she’s overly polite and afraid to show her cynical side, which is as integral a part of her as her eagerness to please—and that eagerness is sincere, it just comes off as forced because she overcompensates.

So pretty much any social interaction involves squashing down some aspects of herself and exaggerating others, and that speaks to me because I’ve often wondered what the ‘real’ me is after adopting varying personas in front of people for years. It’s not all fake, but not all real either, and that’s how it is for Arisa too. Seeing her struggle with communication handled so sympathetically and not just passed off as a funny tsundere quirk in the game stories makes me really happy. (The anime writes her a bit differently—I know it came first but I did get into Bandori through the game, which kinda took everything I love most about Arisa from the anime and honed in on those traits. Sometimes I feel like a fake fan for preferring her game characterisation but it’s heckin good okay . . . esp in events that haven’t come to EN yet)

So because she has so much trouble being honest, and knowing how hard she tries to monitor what she says and does even though it must exhaust the heck out of her, it’s incredibly gratifying when she drops everything and laughs and expresses her happiness and excitement without restraint. Every time she lets go of that inner voice telling her to dial it down or to act like the entire world has wronged her when she’s actually having fun, my heart rejoices. I’m so proud of how far she’s come since her days of shutting herself away and skipping school and I hope she makes many more friends and finds the courage to unabashedly be the person she wants to be, little by little.

I could go on about how she makes me laugh but also stomps all over my heart and how smart and admirable she is but let’s leave it at that I’M LOVE YOU YOU DUMB TSUN

The way the chibis bob up and down to the beat at the start of Romeo is so ominous it gets faster at an alarming rate and then just . . . stops

I half-expect some DDLC glitch to come out of it

Help it's 3am and I'm listening to Shunkan Sentimental on repeat and I can't stop pls send help I'm drowning in nostalgia

I'm not even a big fan of Aglow's music usually but oh god am I in love with this arrangement, that guitar distortion and the intense drumming and Ran kills it I'm. This is very biased I know, I should pay more attention to their other stuff I just. I can't help it, I was foolish enough to think maybe I was over FMA but clearly I will never be over it and I'm having feelings

Merry Christmas guys I couldn't ask for anything more on this blessed day

While we're all waiting for PasuPare's cover of DISCOTHEQUE to drop, pls appreciate these wonderful ladies chu-lu-chu-lu-ing (if you didn't know PoPiPa did this song twice live! One with all of them singing and one with Ayasa on lead vocals)

Couldn't get a good shot of Saechi or Rimi-rin unfortunately :(

okusawamiikun’s 30 Day Challenge!

Day 1: Favourite band

Please don’t ask me why I decided to do this now when uni just started but nonetheless I’m here to once again yell about PoPiPa. Idk what else I have to say really but my love for them has grown to the point that Roselia fell to second after maintaining equal first from the very beginning (I’m sorry hh I still live for them). PoPiPa’s interactions never fail to make me smile (unless it’s Double Rainbow in which case I consider filing a lawsuit for my heart every time I revisit it, which is . . . a lot shh). Weirdly I didn’t come to love them through the anime but was immediately drawn to them in the game. I know a lot of people find them bland in the game so uh, what did I see in them exactly? Honestly idk but they just have this simple charm that works, even if they seem kinda trope-y at first glance, bc of their easy chemistry with one another. Reading their stories is really like diving into their world and witnessing a tiny snapshot of their lives that leaves me all warm and fuzzy and wishing I had a group of friends like them. PoPiPa isn’t supposed to be about drama and heavy plots (but when the angst hits, oh boy it hurts bc it’s normal girls living normal lives and experiencing the pitfalls that come with that, which are easy to relate to). PoPiPa is about the small things in life you might miss if you blink, celebrating the moments of joy and supporting those you love through the hiccups and challenges. PoPiPa is about how high you can soar, together, all while being nothing but ordinary.

Also can I just say their lives are so much fun to watch? I especially love how the seiyuu are sometimes in character and act like themselves the rest of the time. Their energy is infectious and really shines through when they’re not restrained by their roles, but also seeing the characters come to life on stage adds milleniums to my lifespan so. The 4th live hit that sweet spot between the two imo.

Alright I may talk too much about Arisa on future days and I will try not to but no guarantees

I haven’t posted anything not related to Arisa on here and I promise I love the other girls too but I just? Have an urge to gush about why she’s my absolute fav?

I understand why she grates on some people and that’s totally cool, I wouldn’t be offended at all if you said outright that you hated her with a passion. But! I love her. I have since pretty much the first moment she showed up in the game.

• Yes she’s a tsun, yes I wish the writers would tone down that aspect of her personality a little so we’re not reminded of it constantly, but she’s more than just a trope. She has the emotional range of a tsun but also enough depth so that she’s not just always vacillating between her tiny angry bean self and her fluffy caramel-filled eclair self. I love that she’s a brutal realist and the logical thinker in any situation, not because she’s a smartass but because she worries about everything and that’s how she processes and works through her misgivings.
• I have A Thing for characters who seem like cynical sarcastic jerks but are actually super nice (which I realise sounds kinda like a description of a tsun but y’know, beyond the stereotype of getting pissy and blushing). Arisa may snap at Kasumi a lot but when Kasumi breaks her guitar Arisa just immediately goes with her to get it repaired because she doesn’t wanna see her cry and her actions are so much more reliable than her words.
• When she screws up at PoPiPa’s audition (even though they all kinda do) she’s the one who breaks down because she feels responsible and Arisa please don't, my HEART
• That exasperated but fond little smile she has in the game sometimes? There’s just this loneliness about it combined with the way her voice softens and idk she seems like the sort of person who would resign themselves to doing things alone and that also hurts my heart.
• I really relate to her need to put up a sweet polite front when she’s with people she doesn’t know well. It’s uncomfortable as heck seeing her act like that but it’s so obvious that she can’t keep it up for long and it tires her out and I feel her pain acutely, since I’m also a jaded pessimist who tries so so hard to smile and look approachable before giving up bc it doesn’t come naturally to me sob
• Her voice is adorable and Su-Suki Nanka Janai cracks me up because everything about it captures her quick-fire thought processes and dorkiness so perfectly

So um. Thanks for bearing with me I love my child <333

Hi what's good I have been shaking for hours I can't believe this is real

I only had 15k stars how did this happen . . . actually I'll tell you how it happened. I screeched the entirety of chomama while scouting and there was no sign of Arisa so I figured the lyrics were too tsun and driving her away so I reverted to Christmas no Uta, which worked in the Christmas gacha but there was no heckin way it was gonna bless me again right?? Wrong. Oh lordy. I'm deceased excuse me while I lie in this grave in bliss until the Summer event rolls around. I just. Arisa means so much to me and I'm way too emotional rn ghhh

Also can we have a moment of silence for my friend who I'm greatly indebted to for dragging me into AriLisa hell and who sank 20k stars into this vortex and didn't get a single 4*? I feel so bad for her

Have you ever been seized by a crazed desire to rip your own skin off bc that's been me on and off for the past week. Not that it would do anything except kill me but hello Aussie summer I'd very much appreciate it if you'd kindly get out of my face, I'm sick of the gross itchy sticky eczema that forces me to wield chopsticks with acrobatic talent no other fingers can match sCREW YOU

But if you think anything's gonna stop me from T1000-ing this event for PoPiPa you're wrong I don't care if it hurts or how stupid I look stiffly tapping away with the game at arm's length

Just gimme those live boosts I'm thirsty for a T100 attempt . . . soon . . . hopefully