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Hapikaru
Listen, even if I submit it very close to the deadline, I still want to participate in the Change My Mind Challenge, because it sounds fun and I want more people to appreciate my favorite bean, Ako! She deserves way more attention than she gets and I hope I can Change your mind fingerguns
First she didn't quite catch my eye at all. I thought she was just "one of these chuuni characters" and kind of brushed her off... boy that was a big mistake. She may seem like a typical chuuni, but she actually just uses words that, according to the internet and herself, sound cool. This sounds like something I would've done when I was around her age, honestly. Just this trying to become "popular" or in her case "cool" is, for me at least, very relatable, since, when you're a kid, you want to be liked by everyone, so you look up whatever is popular (or should I say... cool?) to make yourself "be more cool and interesting" just like the ones you admire.
In Ako's case the ones she admires the most are Yukina, the lead vocalist of Roselia, and Tomoe, her big sister. There is something really pure about her idolizing them, despite her idolizing them for slightly varying reasons. Tomoe she idolizes because she's her big sister, always helping her out with things in a mature way, while in Yukina's case she idolizes her because of her i-need-to-get-to-the-top personality, even calling her cool, when she rejected her from joining Roselia for being too childish. Again, I feel like this is very relatable. We all have someone we idolize, may that be one of your family members, a member of a famous group or someone else, there is always someone we strive to be like, yet we know we can't be exactly like them. Even Ako knows she can't be exactly like her big sister, calling herself the second best drummer after her sister, yet she still does her best to be like her, learning how to play the drums and attempting to join a band just because she inspired her to do so.
But Ako wasn't only inspired to join, she also got someone else to join Roselia, Rinko! They've been gaming buddies for a while and without Ako, Rinko probably wouldn't have that many friends because of her shyness. After showing Rinko Yukina's powerful voice and how much fun she's been having after joining Roselia, she takes all of her courage and asks Ako if she can join as a Keyboardist, which Roselia had been looking for at that time. If I had a friend like Ako, I would also try my best to support her in any way possible, making me step out of my comfort zone like with Rinko's case, which isn't a bad thing of course. I have a hard time socializing, so having someone like that, someone pushing me out of that comfort zone, be it directly or indirectly, would be a bliss to me, since I actually want to be around people, yet don't know how to approach anyone. She was actually the reason I got a haircut, cutting off 20cm worth of hair, to start anew, to be like that outgoing little girl with pigtails I admire for her determination and outgoing personality and, despite that plan failing miserably, I can't say I didn't try. Thank you Ako for giving me the courage to try to change myself.
Okay, since I'm running out of time now, I'll just name a few points (sorta) out of order ^^;
- I really love her design in general. The purple hair and especially the red eyes emphasize her chuuni-like aura and how can you not love her twindrills.
- She has a
better fashion sense than megreat fashion sense! Even though her outfits are quite flashy, they still look cool and I'm sure that's the look she goes for! (Ako give me tips please) - Her favorite foods are potato chips and jelly beans and, honestly, I relate. I too would call the police if I lost my bag of jelly beans.
Sorry, I'm not that good at writing, but I did my best anyway!! and I also hope nothing came off as insulting;;
Rinon
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 ♡
Translate from Spanish to English
dayo
whee whoo this long as fuck anyway hello. it's me again (surprise surprise) anyway i really like how everyone's been gushing over their best girls, so it's time for me too as well :^) fortunately (or unfortunately either way) for me, my best girl lisa is p popular aka i doubt i can do her justice since most people. including the mods. probably already like her bUT i guess i could use this as a chance to share my story with her and therefore why my love for her means a lot to me ;;
- the beginning ☆
ok so backstory i joined bandori wayyy back near the end of the stargazing event, and immediately fell in love with it. i had trouble picking a best girl at first bc heck they're all too good? but then i did my first 10 pull, and scouted initial lisa & saaya's 3*s. by then i had an inkling that lisa stood out to me bc a) she had a really nice design b) her voice was cutE and c) she just wanted to see yukina smile again how precious and gay is that - so scouting her just solidified her ranking as best girl, as shallow as that was
cut to a few months later, and lisa's first 4* - lim swimsuit btw - was released. i was blown away, and pulled for her but failed otl still, i painstakingly grinned for her, hoping to have at least 2 more pulls to get her. then it was the last day of the event, and i was having a fucking horrible day. the details don't really matter, but i was really down in the dumps. i decided to scout once-
-and lo and behold she came home! i was so excited - my faves almost never came home, and yet lisa loved me enough to bless me with her lim 4*! for once i felt really loved, as silly as that sounds. that's why lisa is my best girl, and that's why i swore she'd always, always be - i'll forever treasure the gift of happiness she gave me that day.
- the mountain of troubles ☆
then again, nothing can be sunshine and rainbows, especially not in a gacha game :^) perm marching band lisa came swinging by, and i was ecstatic! back then, the ever naïve me believed so strongly that she would come home - why wouldn't she? lisa is a lovely, lovely girl who would care deeply for her fans - the fact that she came by once made me hope that she'd come again.
i was wrong.
four pulls later (with the first one being another 4* that cucked me and the game crashing on the last one) i had zero stars. i was so gutted. how could this happen to me? i put in all my faith, all my trust and all my heart in her and yet... and yet...
that's why i began to pull away from bandori, albeit unconsciously. and when valentines lisa dropped, i still bore hope - but not much. no surprise there that she didn't come home. it's quite sad to say it was bc of my gacha experience that made my drift from lisa, but it's the ugly truth.
- the resolution ☆
well, there is a happily ever after! i've been saving like mad ever since the scouting rates doubled, waiting for a lisa 4* to drop and for me to try again. i didn't have a shred of hope when i saw the roselia band story 2.0 cards, but i hoped that at least i could scout a new 4* with 5 pulls.
so i did my first pull. and saw rainbow lights. i remember thinking to myself, "calm down, there's no way it can be her... remember last time... remember when-"
'last time' no longer mattered - she came home.
she came home on my very first pull, and i almost cried. while my feelings aren't the same as that fateful day for they have become too tainted with bitterness, it was still a very, very satisfying sensation. i just... i just can't believe it. i see her now whenever i open jp bandori, and i'm almost speechless. she's so beautiful, and she's finally home. it almost makes me think that all that struggling, all that self-loathing, all that confusion was just to make this moment all the more bittersweet and precious.
will i still be able to love her the same way i used to? i doubt so. but we've gone through so much together, and i've grown so much from loving her. so that's why i love lisa, and even though i tried to change my own mind to stop loving her and let go, it never worked. so yeah, sorry for that word vomit and thank you for reading my painful gacha story spawned from my love for my best girl <33
