Just finished the Liberators event...well, not "just", did it like a week ago. Work just HAD to coincide with CB. I limited myself to 3 mentions of Okto, this included, when writing this since the horse has been beaten to a fine, red mist by this point already.

First, let's start of with the things I like. Muimi was pretty funny here. I liked the part where she transformed into her Liberator outfit and the first thing that came to her mind was "Why do I look like a hero of justice!? I wanted to be a villain!". Second, Asura's slow realization that he's not actually real was really well done. "You see, I'm not human. How do you think I brought these people into Eden in the first place? Haha, just joking, stop looking at me like that, Mira. I'm a human that has memories, just like you are. For example...wait...WAIT". Paraphrasing, but you get the point.

Third, the ending was decent. I liked how Mira resolved not to dwell on memories, but to share them instead by aiming to become a photographer. I say decent, because of course they had to shove Okto in even at the last second. "Promise me you'll find Okto so that I can take a picture of you both!"

Alright...let's get to spicier parts. First, I don't like how weak the story opening was. People are acting a bit too excited in a festival...so what? It's a festival, let them be. I agree with the Knight Chief on this point. They really should've teased Mira's silhoutte or something somewhere in the prologue to hook people to read the rest of the story. HOWEVER, this could be my fault because I didn't watch the trailer for this event, if there was one. This argument could also be used in I Wish because the opening was just "oh no! sky turned red", however, I can't really complain there because they teased Aira and Shinatsu already in the trailer. And that tease was indeed what really amped me for that event.

Second, I don't like how Kaya and Nozomi just talked their way out of liberating Inori and Carmina's fans respectively. Nozomi, especially. I wish, uh, she did her idol things instead. Assuming I understood Nozomi's premonition correctly, in which she is afraid of writing an unsatisfying song in the future, which was the reason she hesitated to liberate them, I wish she just wrote a new song there and then anyways, then sung it to liberate everyone. This could be a bit complicated since one of Carmina's song is already called "Shining Future", but my point stands that as an idol, she really should've done something else then just talk. Kaya is a bit more complicated, what more could she have done? Beat the delusions out of Inori? At this point, it's more of a question of if it was the correct choice to include Kaya at all in this event.

Finally, you see how most of my praises come in the form of the NPCs, Asura and Mira, and not the established characters? In a game like this where getting attached to characters is all the rage, this is not a good thing. Similiar problem with the TSKot event, at least Asura and Mira have unique designs. EX Mira, anybody?

In terms of difficulty, this was a pretty easy event to read. Read this event and you'll never forget the word 未来. There was one line that I hilariously misinterpreted, though. When Nozomi was confronted by Mira on why she insists so much on the future, I thought Nozomi said something like, "can't deny it, there's only so much an can idol do to inspire hope from the stage," when in reality, she was agreeing that no matter how hard one works, the future is uncertain anyways because she saw so many children try to become an idol, only to fail. I suppose the 子 there should've been a giveaway. I would say the Memory Defrag is a good reading starting point because of how short and easy to understand the interactions were, but Okto was in. every. single. one. I personally slogged through this despite the ease, the only saving grace is that it was short. Also, I like the detail of the nameplates referring the Seven Crowns with their titles instead of their names. No particular reason, I just think it's cool.

Next up, the winter-summer Nakadashi event. This is where I'd say I'd catch up with the main story first, but I had already done that by the time of writing this. I'm a bit scared, though...while the story looks comfy which should be a nice palate cleanser, there's Yuni which is one of the harder characters to understand. Not to mention, 6-hour long story...? That's the time I take to get through 3 episodes! But well, there's really nothing I can do but to power through it.