tl;dr

• Another story where the characters just takes turn doing their things...this one isn't really that bad though, because...
• The interviews flow really well into the drama of this story, and I especially like the part where...
• Nozomi "doesn't" listen to Chika and Tsumugi.

• It's a summer event. Another 100% comprehension.
• I'm genuinely considering retiring this section of my blog because of how easy it has become for me nowadays.

• The word live is changed to concert, for some reason.

The Story Itself

Carmina is prepping for a summer live, and Christina asks KSKN to interview each member for content for a Carmina book. And so he goes interviewing each member...one by one...

If you've read my previous blogposts, I've always criticized stories like this, where there are episodes "dedicated" to each characters. Sure, giving them some spotlight is good, but I wanna see them INTERACT with other characters. If I want to read stories where the focus is one character and one character only, I'd read bond stories. Bond stories already cover solo character stories, so when an event feels like bond stories, it feels like a waste of an event.

Anyways...as I said, this one really isn't that bad. I enjoyed the interviews, especially when KSKN asked one Carmina member her thoughts on the other members. I guess this could count as character interaction, if you squint your eyes hard enough. Eventually, KSKN asked Nozomi how Carmina was founded, and the other two members how they got wrangled by Nozomi. This is the set up for the drama later.

I'll go over Nozomi's interview real quick, because Chika's and Tsumugi's are more important; Nozomi was having her first idol audition at the beach, monsters attacked, security dealt with it, audition continued, audition done. But there was a child crying, Nozomi felt like she failed because she couldn't make everyone smile, and from then on, she swore to become a singing, dancing, fighting idol.

On an unrelated note, I think this flashback is set slightly later than the "flashback" in the Alches event, where Nozomi was still barely able to dance. Her having auditions here implies she had gotten to a decent level already. Flashback in quotation because I don't think there was an actual flashback, it just came straight from Nozomi's mouth.

Both Chika's and Tsumugi's interviews are more important because they're the driving force of the drama of the event.

In Chika's interview, she joined Carmina because she wanted to use her song summoning to help protect people. But all they did was sing and dance, so she didn't see much of a point to being in Carmina. And then, she went to look for some monster hunting quests after practice. She got one, almost got overwhelmed...but Nozomi and Tsumugi came to save the day. Chika then asked Nozomi why, Nozomi answered, because they were now a unit, and units fight together.

In Tsumugi's interview, she joined Carmina because she wanted her clothes to be seen by the world through the stage. Unbeknownst to the fact that Nozomi would also wrangle her up into the stage, even though she only wanted to work from the shadows. Tsumugi almost resigned from Carmina because she couldn't handle juggling between her practice and her shop...but Nozomi and Tsumugi came to help her manage the shop. Tsumugi then asked Nozomi why, Nozomi answered, because they were now a unit, and units stick together.

So, what do the interviews have to do with the drama? During the night, Nozomi is inspecting the stage even though she's supposed to be taking a break. A fan suddenly appears, panicked. Turns out, some monsters are going for the stage. Nozomi fends off the monster while the fan calls for help. Of course, help comes, but Chika and Tsumugi are angry at her. Nozomi asked why, and they answered, because they're a unit, and units are supposed to fight as one.

I should mention that Chika is especially PISSED, even Tsumugi notes that quiet people are the scariest when angry.

The following day, they force Nozomi to take a day off while the other two handle things. Eventually, KSKN shows them his notes during his interviews. They learn why Nozomi tried so hard to protect that one fan. They make up with one another and Chika asked Nozomi if she promise not to do that ever again. Nozomi said...she'd probably do the same thing again, just this time, she'd also bring along Chika and Tsumugi. Chika and Tsumugi just shrug this time, "guess that's how our leader will always be".

All in all, pretty touching story, despite the slow set up at the beginning. I still feel like the interviews could've been condensed, but I like that there's an actual pay off to the slow build up.

Difficulty

Yeah, nothing much to say here. Summer event. 100% (844/844) comprehension.

Regarding retiring this section, I think I'll keep it around because this is the only section "appropriate" enough to talk about my comprehension score. The purpose of that score is to tell you, the readers, how much I understood the story so that you can actually trust my ramblings.

Translation Differences

Already covered in the tl;dr. Just another case of localization unnecessarily switching things around I guess.

That is all for this blogpost. See ya on the next one.

Between this and the Alches event, my opinion on Nozomi has improved a lot. Now I see that she's an actual idol that sings, dances, and fights. I guess her (and Kaya) being so severely underutilized in the Liberate the Eden event ruined my opinion on her somewhat. Yes, I bring this up because Liberate the Eden just got added to Side Stories, deal with it.