nuf said

Appreciation post for Kokoro's three bodyguards.

Got top 100 for Afterglow Yay edit:typo lol

Everybody out here being worried about the Angsty HaroHapi event, and I agree. BUT:

I present to you, the idea of;

ANGSTY AFTERGLOW.

I swear, CraftuEggu, don't you dare hurt the good childhood friends.

Edit: This post has been up for quite some time now, and not until now have I realised I wrote Hate instead of Hurt...

This is gonna be a bit of a story so get comfy with your choco cornets.

I didn’t get into Bandori until the English release of the game. A couple of months before the game was released, I was looking through all of the character profiles, and trying to decide on a best girl.

At that point, Ran caught my eye. She seemed like a strong, fierce, yet awkward girl who really cared about her friends. I liked her character a lot, and I still do! But today, we’re not here to talk about Ran, but another girl who stole my heart.

So anyway, the night before the English release, I decided that I would reroll until I got a 4*, since I hear that it would help my teams a lot in the earlier events. At that point though, only the Poppin’ Party girls had 4*s. I hopped into the shower that night, hoping to decide who was my best Popipa girl once and for all since I had been trying to decide for the past week or so. So I went through them all one by one.

Kasumi- a genki leader. I generally have a soft spot of genki leaders. Arisa- a Tsundere. I liked the way she spoke, because it sounded a lot harsher than a lot of female tsunderes. Rimi- she wants to stand on her own two feet. She’s shy, but she wants to change that about herself, which I really liked. Tae- she seemed pretty chill, and she likes bunnies.

And then there was Saya.

I had never really considered Saya before that point. In fact, she was the one from Popipa that stood out to me the least. She had a nice design, but she kinda just seemed like a typical mom friend. She was just…there. She was neutral (like she is to a lot of people). There’s not a whole lot to dislike about her.

But anyway, I took a closer look at Saya, read up on her character a bit. Her family owns a bakery? Baked goods a.k.a. my favourite type of food in the world? I think she went a bit further up my list. She seems really nice and I like her design, so I’ll reroll for her, I thought.

On my 7th or 8th reroll account, I got her!! I got her 4*!! I was so happy I was screaming.

The first thing I learned from her card was that she likes scrunchies! Honestly, I thought that was really cute, and it was something that (kind of) came up in the anime when she had matching scrunchies with her old bandmates. Though they didn't explicitly say it, I thought it added a nice touch, and I'm really glad they added it. I thought that the fact that she wanted matching scrunchies with the rest of Popipa was really sweet as well!

The more I got into the stories, the more I learned of her character, the more I grew to like her, and she eventually ended up becoming my best girl. Which is why I find the name of this contest so ironic; Saya Yamabuki literally changed my mind.

I felt like Saya was the complete opposite of me; she cared about the people around her, she was supportive, and she was friendly. She’s mature, but she can still be silly at times. The fact that she can manage a band on top of helping out at her family’s bakery and looking after her siblings is something I really admire about her. My favourite characters have at least one aspect that I really relate to; Saya was was different. She was someone I look up to, and she’s someone I want to be like. She’s someone I’d want to be friends with, since I’ve felt like I’ve always had to be the ‘mom friend’ in my group of friends. I’ve always what it would be like if I had a mom friend. Not too long ago I started watching the anime, and I’ve gotten up to a couple of episodes after Saya’s joined Popipa.

At that point I realised maybe Saya wasn’t the complete opposite of me. Saya kept a lot of her feelings to herself. She tried to do her best to help the people around her, and to make sure that she wasn’t causing anyone problems, so she’ll decide things on her own. That’s why she pushed Kasumi away, even if she wanted to join. That’s something I really relate to a lot. I want to make sure I’m not bothering anyone most of the time, I make a lot of decisions without consulting anyone because of that. That only grew to make me love her more though, because I understood what she was going through.

I almost cried a couple of times during her arc. When Saya finally joined Popipa, when she finally decided to do something for herself, rather than for the people around her, I was almost in tears. She grew so much as a character, and I think I grew to love her more than I already do.

I made a few edits for her birthday, which I've posted on here and on twitter! I also wrote a little letter to her on my twitter post ♡

To sum it up, Saya Yamabuki is a sweet, supportive girl who deserves all the happiness in the world. I hope this mini-essay is enough to raise you’re opinion of her, even if it’s a little bit. Thanks for reading! Since you’ve made it this far, here’s a choco cornet from Yamabuki Bakery ♡

I did it!! ; u ;

So, in case you haven't seen on the BanPa Discord, Scared Squared's buttons have been available here for a while now.

Within 10 minutes of them coming out, I bought 5 Kaoru buttons.

They came in the mail last week, and since then I've been wearing them all over myself EVERY SINGLE DAY.

(there's one more, but it's on my pants bc why not)

ANYWAYS.

Pretty much everyone in school has been giving me weird looks.

My teacher pulled me aside and was like "Why do you look like a walking button display?"

I just said this:

"I'M GAY AND I LOVE A GIRL!"

He just shrugged, and I realized just how much people are used to my weirdness.

TL;DR I LOVE A GIRL NAMED KAORU.

Spoilers for Roselia’s episode 2 story, because I have to talk about my feelings for it ;w;

Can I just say how much I love Roselia’s development in the new story? First off, the new story gives us insight as to what kind of band Roselia is. It’s so easy to miss (which is why the members themselves missed it), but half of the members don’t really see Roselia as a band in the same way that PoPiPa or Afterglow do. They’re not in Roselia for the sake of being in the band. Rather, they just see the band as a means of achieving their own goals. Sayo, because of her complex with Hina. Yukina, because of her complex with her dad. Lisa, to help Yukina achieve her goals. Sure, they’re friends and they care about each other, but they’re not really thinking about how to move Roselia forward as a whole, but thinking about how to move themselves, as individuals, forward.

And it’s just really realistic to me, the way they thought about Roselia. It’s like sometimes in real life, “I’m doing this volunteer work to make my resume look better, not because I actually care about this cause.” But in the story, the members of Roselia actually moves past that to appreciate Roselia and its members as one, cohesive unit. They’ve definitely been feeling the unity all along, but the new story is them realizing it. Like, “I knew this volunteer work is meaningful, but I’ve learned to actually appreciate it.”

Bandori’s writing is top notch and it gives me so much emotions ;;

Edit: ALSO SO MUCH DEVELOPMENT FOR SAYO. I was so happy that when Yukina went back to being strict, Sayo was able recognized that what Yukina is doing isn’t right, and instead worked with Lisa to try and figure out how to fix everything.

I've only been part of the Bandori fandom since its WW release, but Misaki has already wormed her way into my heart with a speed and intensity that's frankly terrifying. If given the time, I could scream about her for days on end, but I've tried my best to condense it all down to something that's vaguely coherent, haha. This is very long, but I worked hard on it, so it would make me really happy if y'all could read it and give me a chance to explain how deserving Misaki is of your love ♡. Here goes~

Let's start off with a quick introduction! Okusawa Misaki is a first year at Hanasakigawa Girls' High School, in the same class as Kokoro. She is a Libra, and her birthday is on October 1st, ironically making her the youngest member of Harohapi. Her favourite food is anything from a family restaurant, since anything on their menus is a safe and tasty choice! On the other hand, she won't eat anything with cilantro in it. She's in the tennis club, and sews felt dolls for her little sister in her spare time. She's also taught the rest of HaroHapi to make them - they all gave Kanon felt dolls for her birthday recently! Misaki's motto for living life is "nanigoto mo hodohodo ga ii" (everything in moderation) - she doesn't like exerting herself. But that seems to have changed since joining HaroHapi, even if she won't admit it~

Misaki was training for her part time job - handing out flyers in the Michelle costume - when she was involuntarily scouted by Kokoro to become the DJ of Hello, Happy World! She had quite a rocky start with them at first, with Kokoro forgetting her name all the time and the sanbaka not hiding the fact that they liked Michelle much more than her.

Despite all this, despite the fact that she didn't join of her own volition, and even despite the fact that she likes to live life moderately, Misaki works so, so ridiculously hard for the band! She regularly does a physically strenuous activity like DJ-ing in an extremely hot and heavy suit, she writes both the songs and lyrics for HHW (based on Kokoro's ideas, but she might as well be speaking an alien language for how hard Misaki has to work to decipher them, haha), she books all their studio rehearsals and lives, she endures the loneliness and alienation of having to live a double life, and she does all this knowing her efforts will never be fully recognised, as long as the sanbaka don't know she's Michelle. When I first saw Misaki, her DJ and soft futch aesthetic made her stand out to me, but it was really the way she does so much and never asks for anything in return that cemented her as my best girl! (There's this one live interaction in which Kanon calls out, "Misaki-chan!" (not "Michelle", like the rest of HaroHapi), and Misaki answers, "Thank you, Kanon-san..." in such an exhausted and sad voice that my heart just broke???)

Joining HaroHapi has been really good for Misaki, though! It's so inspiring and heart-warming to watch her character develop so wholesomely because of the band ♡. Misaki used to be a very mild person who didn't get passionate about many things, and who tended to dismiss things as impossible before she tried them. But HaroHapi has really expanded her world~ It's so cute to see how fired up she was in the Hello, My Happy World event, even going so far as to help with maintenance to secure the live venue! Not only that - Misaki has also become more patient and more of a creative thinker from dealing with the sanbaka. DJ-ing inside Michelle has even made her a better dancer and tennis player!

Having said all of this, it's so, so evident that despite how pessimistic and tsundere Misaki acts, she loves her band with all her heart. When the suits were going to arrange a live for HHW, Misaki remembered Kokoro's earnest feelings of wanting to rely on their own efforts and stopped them. When she's out shopping, Misaki thinks to buy gifts for her band members to make them happy! She willingly changed into her Michelle persona to calm her band members down when they were nervous before a live. She even cried when she admitted that she hated seeing the HaroHapi members sad (look at that red face and frustrated pout!! So cute aaa...) The Hello, My Happy World event is also incredibly significant in showing this. Misaki admits that seeing HHW happy makes her happy, that she likes doing lives with them, and outright says that she treasures them! (You know I astral projected into the stars in this moment, lmao.) Her love for her band is just so precious, and it's a huge part of why I love her so much~

Now that I've gotten the big stuff out of the way, here's a list of Misaki's quirks that I find endearing, and which really round out her character!

• She has a strong sense of responsibility! In the beginning, Misaki only stayed in the band because she didn't want to leave Kanon at the mercy of Kokoro's antics. Misaki also worked really hard organising the live in the Hello, My Happy World event because she was the one to suggest it. And this hilarious 1koma as well~
• Despite how blunt she can be at times, Misaki really cares about the people around her. She tried to reassure Hagumi when she was worried about liking girly things! And she's especially supportive of and gentle with shyer people like Kanon and Rimi. She praises Kanon's playing, is considerate of her tiredness after the Phantom Thief events, and helps her find her way when she gets lost! (Which is pretty often, poor Kanon, haha.) And Misaki's voice is always so gentle and warm in her live interactions with Rimi, it makes my heart flutter~
• Misaki is an amazing big sister who's really good with kids! She loves making felt dolls for her little sister, and tries to preserve Hagumi's innocence, which ends up with her inventing this ridiculously endearing Michelle persona. Misaki is truly the mum friend of HaroHapi! (Funny when you remember she's the youngest, isn't it?)
• Not a quirk, but I think there really can't be a better seiyuu for Misaki than Kurosawa Tomoyo. She brings out every facet of Misaki's character perfectly - her low-pitched, cynical internal monologue, the awkward stiltedness of her love confession in Phantom Thief and her Michelle persona, the gentle and patient tone she uses for Kanon and Rimi, and even the rare moments when she's happy or excited! Moyochi's voice for Misaki is so beautifully husky and honey-smooth~ i'm jsut.......... gay y'all
• Misaki isn't good with displays of affection and gets flustered super easily! Her blushing face is just too cute~ ♡
• Despite her straightforward manner, Misaki is surprisingly conscious of etiquette! She won't call Kanon without the -san honorific just because she's her senpai.
• She doesn't really have much self-esteem - she thinks it's amazing that people can remember her birthday, and believes she's too ordinary to shine on stage with HaroHapi as herself, which is why she won't get out of Michelle. This hurts my heart a lot because I think Misaki is so incredible and shines so brightly and deserves everything I JUST WANNA GIVE HER A HUG AND TELL HER SHE MEANS THE WORLD... ;;;u;;;;
• Her sarcastic smile is so cute, yet strangely terrifying...?
• "I'm green and I don't want to talk about it."
• Look at her adorable smirk!!
• She has a super cute friendship with Arisa, which began in the Sakura Blooming event. They bond over how much of a handful the vocalists of their respective bands are!
• She doesn't own any formal clothing, so attended a Tsurumaki family function (with some of Japan's most important people on the guest list) in her school uniform, haha~
• She just?? carries around an abacus for whatever reason??? Lmao

Anyway, I think this got way more incoherent towards the end, sorry about that! There are a thousand more reasons to love Misaki that I could name, but this has gone on for long enough, holy crap. Seriously, if you've made it this far, you deserve a gold medal and ALL OF MY LOVE.

I just hope I've managed to bump Misaki a few ranks up in all of your lists, or at least gotten y'all to appreciate her more as a character! There can never be enough love for Misaki~ ♡

EDIT: I totally forgot to say this, but do you ever just think about how ridiculously amazing and talented Misaki is as a DJ and composer? She literally learned something as complicated as DJ-ing in less than a month (assuming that's how much time passed before HaroHapi's first live)! And if you've listened to any HHW song, you'll hear that they're far from simple songs?? HaroHapi is the band with the most complex instrumentation that goes far beyond just the typical rock band arrangement - they have horns, strings, basically a full orchestra in most of their songs! Just how incredible is Misaki to have learned such complex orchestration and composition techniques in such a short time?

I'm a composition student, and let me tell you, it is NOT EASY. I'm not joking when I say I had a breakdown in the process of writing a relatively simple flute-clarinet duet for an assignment, simply because I wasn't familiar with either instrument and the sheer scope of research I needed to do to write well for them was overwhelming. I'm pretty damn sure Misaki doesn't play every single instrument in the orchestra, so to quickly pick up on composing for a whole ensemble, and so sophisticatedly at that, is just unbelievable. NOT ONLY THAT, she also probably had to learn to create the tracks electronically in a music production program, and then mix/master everything so it's ready to be played from her DJ turntables. Y'all I just... can't find the words to describe how much I love this incredible girl sometimes... i cry myself to sleep thinking about one (1) okusawa misaki every night

Only Ako's FC.

Change My Mind Challenge

[WARNING : MY POST OF CHANGE MY MIND CHALLENGE CONTAINS SPOILER! FOR THOSE WHO DON'T PLAY JP VERSION, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!]

My best girl is Sayo. In my opinion she is the most interesting character to be explored in Bandori because her background and......her conflicted relationship with Hina.

This is my list of reasons why Sayo is my best girl :

• She has feminine voice (not too cute, which is my favorite type of voice). She is one of the most polite character I think (I prefer characters who is polite). Plus, she looks very graceful
• Her hardworking personality is her positive trait, though she is known as strict person.
• From the start of story, she is skilled at guitar, made Yukina got impressed with her guitar play. (although in her opinion Hina is better. But don't worry, Sayo! For me, you're the best!)
• Her personality is very unique (known for her bitter personality), considering Bandori (and idol theme game) have a lot of cheerful/sweet/friendly characters and if there's any not-too-friendly character, it's just calmer or cooler.
• Sayo's problem is relatable in real life (a lot of people have said this). I get the similar problem as her, I find myself being inspiration to my closest friends only to have them outshine me in things we're into together. At the same time I'm envious but I also can't truly hate them (not even I can distant myself like Sayo did to Hina)
• In Roselia story she frequently was in conflict with Ako regarding "admiration-to-your-older-sister". However, she willingly helped Ako to study in one conversation, implying she care about her.
• [MINOR SPOILER] I love how the staff explored her story and her relationship with Hina, from beginning until the resolution (Umbrella in The Autumn Rain). Even in 3* Sayo 's first story (from Umbrella in The Autumn Rain) told the reason why she dislikes carrot.
• [MAJOR SPOILER] And the notable part is................about her relationship with Hina, which became the major point of her story. We know that Sayo has been envious with Hina for long time. However, as a sister, obviously, she still care about Hina. The first development occured in Tanabata event, when she wished to spend more time with Hina. And yes, she make it herself. (implied in Umbrella in the Autumn Rain event)
• [MAJOR SPOILER] And the best point is.............HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Sayo realized that Hina always be there for her, even though she often became mean to her. In this moment, she decided to express her frustation to Hina, leading to her resolution. Later, Sayo became warmer and nicer. The notable example is when she decided to learn how to bake cookies in order to make cheer Roselia like Lisa usually do (Mismatched!? Silly Sweets Classroom Event Start! event). tl;dr : She goes from "Angry girl who quit herself from her band after performing" to "Nice girl who bakes cookies to cheer you up".
• Along with Hina, she actually likes junk food, especially french fries (yes, who doesn't?)
• I remembered in one time she said that she doesn't really care about appearance, which is her similarity to me.
• Bonus : She actually likes animals (maybe dogs)

Her picture is from card of the new Roselia event. I edited it with template from canva