Before we start, you may notice a new section at the very bottom of this blogpost. Those are my notes when I was going through this event. After my massive blunder of almost missing the entire point of the last event, I decided to start taking notes instead of simply trying to recall things when writing my blog posts. I also had one for the previous blog, but I forgot to save it...

It's incredibly messy and isn't intended to be a way to enjoy the story. As I keep saying, read the story yourself! I'm just publishing it because why not, it's more content. And feel free to call me out on things when I get something wrong.

tl;dr

The Story Itself

• The story does accomplish its goal of developing Anemone and Clear, but...
• I feel like I noticed several dropped plot points in the story?
• Also, Ninon. Minimal presence and is relegated to the side content, but there might be a reason for it...

Difficulty

• Starts with Riri throwing 2 ancient proverbs right off the bat, but gets easier than that.
• Also missed several Nephi Nera lines.
• But this time I understood the story without needing to read it twice.

The Story Itself

You know how Anemone and Clear are. One is a quiet girl that doesn't talk much and takes her job as a Chevalier way too seriously. And the other...well, I admit, I always saw her as a pretty normal girl, but apparently, Clear doesn't open up much according to Riri.

Well, I'll take her word for it. I'm not the one in the same guild as her after all. And if I saw her as a normal girl all this time, I guess that's because she truly doesn't open up much.

The story's purpose here is to tackle these two issues by putting the two girls having these issues in the same room. Sounds like a bad idea. It is.

During their cultural exchange, the Gio Gehenna crew go to the beach and Anemone is having none of it. While others are having fun and whatnot, she's glued to Nephi Nera because muh Chevalier. Clear is saddened at this sight and hatched a plan. The two likes flowers as revealed in one of the sub stories, so Clear figures they should try to bond through that.

So, Clear brings up the Phantom Flower, a flower that blooms once every 3000 years in Hinterland. After some nagging, Anemone eventually caves in with the excuse that Nephi Nera wouldn't be opposed to her learning more things.

Also, the rest of the group tail them because they probably also realized that putting two schizos together is a bad idea. Although the real reason is that they clear their path by killing monsters.

The journey to Hinterland is mostly le heckin wholesome fanservice. Not complaining, we got a balls to the walls event just last month and a lighthearted story to balance is out is appreciated. Of course, it also has some conflict, wouldn't even count as a story otherwise.

If you read the tl;dr text above, there are some dropped plot points in the story, and unfortunately, this includes some of the conflicts. I'll talk about this in a different section, but for now, I'll talk about the plot point that survived until the end, the bandages.

Episode 1, when Anemone and Clear split up to shop, Anemone encounters a cat. She got scratched. The townspeople around her start to notice that she's restless and Anemone being Anemone think them as enemies and start acting up. Clear comes and defuses the situation. After that, Clear gives Anemone a bandage to cover the cat scratch.

Episode 2, right after Clear and Anemone finish stocking up in town, Clear got too excited and tripped. She mildly graze herself and pulls out a bandage to cover it. Anemone, seeing this, offers her own medicinal herb because it'd heal faster. Clear is excited to receive it, of course. And the rest of the group is glad to see them getting along.

When reading this, I didn't expect the bandage to mean anything. I thought this scene was simply here to symbolize that the two are starting to open up, as they're finally willing to give and receive help.

Episode 4, drama happens because Clear can't give a clear answer why Anemone wants to befriend her. They split up again in the bamboo village. Clear goes to a grandma and confides in her. Long story short, Clear wants to be seen as a kind saint, but now even she doesn't believe in herself anymore because Anemone saw right through her. Grandma tells her she should focus on her desire to befriend Anemone and that she should outright tell Anemone that.

Anemone wanders alone and encounters another cat. The cat suddenly steals her bandage and without knowing why, Anemone decides to give chase. Turns out, the cat has a runt and wants to use the bandage to help it. The runt is dying anyway and Anemone doesn't think the bandage would help. And here comes the wham line.

Anemone, for some reason, decides to heal the runt. Both felines are grateful, but Clear manages to sneak up on them. Anemone is surprised and pins Clear down in reflex.

Now that the two of them know that they both have healing powers that they hide from others, they finally realize that they're the similar. Anemone thinks this is the reason why Clear wants to befriend her, but it isn't.

Episode 5, the two arrive in a graveyard and they start getting spooked. Clear tells her it's fine to turn back, but sunk cost gets to Anemone and tells her she wants to keep going. More drama. Anemone tells Clear she can turn around alone since this journey has always been a solo journey that happens to have two people going to the same destination anyway. Clear tells Anemone she only wants to help since Anemone seems genuinely disturbed by the spookiness, and finally reveals that Clear wanted to befriend Anemone because she always looked disturbed from the beginning.

Something something it's only natural to want to help people that seem troubled.

Episode 6, Clear reveals that Hinterland isn't real and apologizes. Anemone reveals that she always knew and also apologizes because she kept pushing on despite knowing that. Meanwhile, the rest of the group are fighting monsters and Kyaru gets a bit too excited, turns into her Princess Form, blasts the monsters which then turns into a firework show.

Anemone is amazed by the sight, saying that there are flowers blooming after all. Clear notices some scratch on Anemone and was about to heal it until Anemone stops her, telling her to simply use a bandage, so that they match.

The story ends with Anemone and Clear finally being able to express themselves by acting angry when they find out that the rest of the group was tailing them. They decide to pretend they're leaving, and Ninon helps them escape with her ninja techniques.

The dropped plot points, which I'll discuss later, made it a little bit confusing to follow along. I kept going "ah, the story will go like this! ...wait, that's not it?" multiple times when reading. And I don't think subverting the audience's expectations was their intention. Because the plot points aren't twisted at all, they're just...gone.

The use of an object when executing the Bookends trope is similar to the Love and Punishment event. There, Lyrael used a muffler to pacify Barachiel because she learned that sharing a muffler is an expression of love that she learned from reading Io's love novel. Here, the two girls matching bandages symbolize them finally getting along. I liked it there, I like it here. While the stakes are much lower here, the execution of the scene is much better since it was given an animated scene. Always wished we at least got a CG of Lyrael and Barachiel sharing the muffler.

Overall, I think this event was a sliiiight step down compared to last year's Enchanting Fairies event. That event simply focused on Nebbia's and Ameth's relationship, that also served as a build up to Dive Astrum since it's revealed there what it really meant for them to be sisters.

I forgot to mention this on the last blog, but I also think Summer Dream Refrain > Good Things Club. Both events have "shock" moments. The former, Precia bit Eris and ranted her ears out. The latter, Misora shot herself in the head. The former's shock moment was actually foreshadowed since the beginning, with Precia getting excited about a wish-granting beach and her withdrawing when meeting her dad's murderer. Misora shooting herself came out of nowhere, and you'd only expect that if you knew Misora was a mentally ill girl in the first place. It was still a good shock moment in terms of shock value, but even Kariza wondered if he missed any hints.

Now, let's talk about the elephants in the room. There are three plot points that I think were dropped. I'll start from the most serious one.

Episode 2, after playing in the river, Clear and Anemone end up near a waterfall. The fastest way to Hinterland is to climb the waterfall. Clear insists taking a detour, Anemone insists climbing it. In the end, the two climb the waterfall.

Monsters attack, they get careless and Anemone falls and twists her ankle. When Clear checks up on her, she figures that some bandages won't help Clear's injury, however, she drifts off and starts thinking "but if I heal her with magic, then..."

Two adventurers come and the healer heals Anemone. However, Anemone notices Clear's hesitation from before...

After reading the rest of the story, it could be simply because Clear is just being secretive here. After all, Clear doesn't reveal her healing powers to Anemone until 2 episodes later. However, looking at it from Anemone's perspective, a distrustful person that came from a dog-eat-dog world, it is natural to think that Clear was intending to leave Anemone to die there.

After the latest main story update, this really isn't that far-fetched...maybe this is just set up for the future? After all, Gio Gehenna would lost a ton of power with Anemone gone. But as for the present, this is just an awkward, unresolved plot thread.

Episode 1, Clear and Anemone split up in town when stocking up for the journey to Hinterland. It goes badly for Anemone because she doesn't know jack shit about Landosol and keep bouncing from shop to shop. She eventually freaks out before Clear comes in to calm things down.

I thought Clear was going to teach Anemone all about Landosol. Like how Kokkoro taught how things work to KSKN. But it didn't happen because they left for Hinterland. This one isn't too serious because it'd just be a plot retread and somewhat boring.

This is more of my fault because I usually skip boss fight dialogue. However, I do think it's a bit awkward that the murder penguin doesn't make an appearance at all in the story. The in-story explanation is of course because KSKN and the rest of the group took care of them. Still, you see that little penguin that shows up on Clear's chibi sprite? I thought the story was going to be about the two taking a small detour to deal with the penguins and from there, one penguin decided to stick with Clear.

It is undeniable that Ninon has minimal presence in the story. She appeared once in Episode 3 and immediately the group decided that she needed to fuck off so she wouldn't get in the way of Clear and Anemone. She appeared again in the epilogue to help Clear and Ninon escape.

However, she has a whole side content dedicated to her. And I personally really enjoyed it, I liked how Ninon made impressions of other characters.

People have compared this event with the New Year's Gourmet event, because Muimi and Neneka didn't do shit there. This probably won't help Ninon's case much, but I do think her helping Clear and Anemone escape was an irreplaceable feat that only Ninon could've done. Anemone noted that running away from Nephi Nera would be hell because...well, have you seen Nephi Nera? And Ninon's ninja techniques was probably essential there.

Still, I think a closer comparison would be the Dive Astrum event. Main story was about Ameth and Sumika, side story about Seven Crowns. Just like in this event. Main story, Clear and Anemone. Side story, Ninon. Everyone there still had big roles...but comparing anything to an anniversary event is already unfair anyway.

And one more thing...we might be seeing Ninon again soon next month. Remember in I Wish when Shinatsu brought up that Ninon is an influential writer known as the Master of Haikus in her world? Since now we know that the Sol Tower in Shinatsu's world is above Togoku instead of Landosol, we might be seeing Ninon Alter because Ninon is a massive weeb and Togoku is basically the Japan of LoA.

I mean come on, we have to see her, right? It'd be a massive missed opportunity if not. Satomi Satou was already in the recording booth for this event, so might as well also record the lines for Ninon Alter, right? Right!?

Difficulty

Didn't fuck up big time this time. Got the point of the story in my first go but there are still some missed lines thanks to Riri and Nephi Nera. I didn't really take note of which lines I missed from Nephi Nera, just that I missed a line in an episode, but I did take note of which ancient Chinese proverb I missed from Riri. Thanks a fucking lot, Riri.

First one, 隔靴搔痒. It means to scratch an itch through your boots. To scratch an itch from outside one's boot; to attempt an ineffective solution, copy pasted from Wiktionary.

Second, 群軽折軸. It means small things will become a big thing if there are a lot of them. From Sanabo. So, make sure use those Labyrinth passports before you gather more than you can handle, you fucking slackers!

There might be more proverbs, but if it isn't here, that probably means I understood it after hovering some of the kanjis and promptly forgot about taking a note for it.

99% (905/911) comprehension.

Well, that's all for this blog post. See ya in the next one.

Well, that's all for this blog post. See ya in the next one.

Looks like they decided to use the summer event to set up Clear's betrayal instead of resolving it.

Notes

prologue:

• gio gehenna cultural exchange, go to beach
• anemone is having none of it, thinks of it as job only, clear sad
• clear hears about the the wish-granting beach
• think of going on adventure north with anemone to hinterland, 3000 year bloom once phantom flower
• both like taking care of flowers
• anemone accepts, it's convenient for her. she wants them to act separately though, and nephi wouldn't object to her learning more things
• clear "better than nothing, ig"
• 3 missed lines. 2 from riri 1 from nera

episode 1:

• clear and anemone shop in town
• anemone don't know how shit work
• people around her get concerned
• anemone get pissy, thinking they're enemies
• clear calms the situation down
• clear explains things
• (you), nephi and kyaru are watching
• kyaru wonders if it's okay to let them do this
• nephi "let her learn"
• suddenly, someone is screaming about summer being stolen

episode 2:

• journey continues
• clear falls and injures herself
• wanted to use her own bandage, anemone offered her medicine
• the group is watching, nephi says see, anemone is actually kind, and riri notes clear is kinder than usual
• clear and anemone run into a river
• fanservice scene
• they end up arriving to a waterfall
• the fastest way to hinterland is to climb it
• clear wants to go around, anemone wants to climb it
• not explicitly stated: clear wanted to spend more time, so go around
• they end up climbing
• sky monster
• clear flies up to deal with it
• anemone gets attacked and falls down
• anemone twisted her ankle
• clear wanted to heal her, but hesitated
• because also want to spend more time?
• some adventurers find them and help them
• anemone noticed the clear's hesitation
• there's another proverb here i think

episode 3:

• the adventurers were going to a beach event
• they invite anemone and clear
• they go and think the event is a bit weird
• they buy an ice cream and taste each other flavor
• anemone gets pranked because it turns her and clear's tongue yellow
• the ice cream merchant was kyaru in disguise
• suddenly, ninon comes
• the group can't let ninon know the duo is going to hinterland
• they decide to distract her by playing along her training
• shit goes wrong
• nephi suggests a couples' event for a more relaxed experience
• suddenly, monsters

episode 4:

• anemone asks clear why she puts up with her
• anemone accuses clear that she's not who she really is
• clear doesn't deny
• they split up again
• clear confides to a grandma that she wants to be seen as a saint
• but now she can't even believe that herself
• thinks maybe that's why riri is awkward around her
• riri herself reveals that clear doesn't open up much
• grandma suggests clear to just outright say to anemone that they want to get along
• anemone goes for it
• meanwhile, anemone was thinking to herself
• a cat stole her bandage
• she gives chase, not knowing why
• turns out, the cat is giving the bandage to its runt kitten
• anemone notes that it won't help, and the weak are supposed to die anyway
• anemone decided to use healing magic to help the kitten
• clear sees this
• anemone pins down clear in response
• clear says that they're the same, that power...

episode 5:

• they both have healing powers
• clear didn't know why she wanted to befriend anemone
• now she knows, both of them are harboring secrets
• clear says she won't snitch, and asks anemone to continue the journey
• in graveyard
• anemone is scared
• clear is fine with turning back
• anemone gets sunk cost and doesn't want to
• anemone says clear can just go back herself since the journey has always been separate from the beginning anyways
• anemone is wondering why people put up with her again
• clear says if someone is in trouble, it's only natural to want to help them
• real reason why clear wants to befriend anemone, the latter always seemed troubled
• they continue the journey

episode 6:

• clear reveals that hinterland isn't real and apologizes
• anemone reveals that she knew all along and apologizes
• they tell each other that they don't need to apolgize, because both of them are "not who they really are"
• meanwhile, the group is fighting monsters
• kyaru transforms into pform and gives the two a firework show

epilogue:

• the two find out that the group has been tailing them, both angry
• they decide to act angry for a bit, finally letting them emote how they really feel
• anemone and clear both drop the formalities when calling each other
• since they are trying to act angry, they decide to run away from the group for a bit
• ninon helps them out
• 2 missed nephi nera lines

dropped plot points:

• monsters that steal summer
• anemone not being familiar outside of gio gehenna
• why clear hesitated to heal anemone