Mashiro-iro Symphony (PC & PSP)

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Spoiler for reply, anime ep 3:

In the end i guess it's one of those "it's a spoiler only if you know what it means" cases. There haven't been any hints of Airi's financial situation after all, and even the supermarket scene, with Airi worrying about how to get the biggest discounts possible, hasn't raised any questions. I guess people are likely to assume it's just a quirk of hers, a "perfect housewife"/perfectionist tendency, and not necessarily link it to her being poor.

Further masked by the aspect that Miu seemed impressed/excited about the cheap prices as well (so obviously an acceptable interest from a lady from said school), and that Airi leaving classroom will likely be attributed to her not wanting to eat together with everyone because boys/Shingo are/is there ... yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if people don't pick it up just yet. The show has been dropping hints indeed, but they are easy to misinterpret, the crafty bastards.

That said, when next week rolls around, I expect a few "Ahh, so that's what it actually meant!" moments from the anime-only audience

Spoiler for Anime Episode 3:

I wonder if all these clues might be a little bit more obvious to a Japanese audience, but are a bit obscured here by everyone's various cultural barriers. Like I'm not sure there's the same sense of "shame" in someone shopping at a grocery store that's "below your social strata". Or of being spotted with a "commoner's lunch" in a class of social elites. Or even of having to maintain a certain image due the social status of your parents to avoid being shunned. (Or, as I did kind of explain in the other thread, of not being willing to ask for help once you were assigned a task, because failure to live up to the expectations of others would be "shameful".) All that may happen to some degree in some some "Western" circles, but I think it's not nearly as common or prevalent. It seems to me that the way a lot of these things play out here are very laced in Japanese cultural mores, so that might also contribute to the general confusion people seem to have particularly about Airi and her motivations. I find that people keep trying to pigeonhole her into stereotypes that don't entirely fit.

Basically, the entire issue with Airi is about her public face and her private face (honne and tatemae). She exposes her "honne" (true feelings/self) to Shingo after becoming friends with Sakuno, which is totally fine in that context. But then, when he enters her school, his being there threatens to break her "tatemae" (façade), which is probably the main reason she's so uneasy around him in particular at first. So she switches "faces", hoping that he'll distance himself from her -- it's a defense mechanism so that she can preserve the image she thinks she must portray in that social context. This comes across as "tsundere" (and sort of is in the sense that a tsundere isn't being honest about their true feelings), but it's not by any means that she's trying to cover the fact that she's fallen in love with him (at least not nearly so simply), rather that a part of her actually wants someone to see through her façade but she's scared of the implications. He threatens her by making her lose her resolve about maintaining the façade she's been depending on.

Certainly some of this analysis is possible because I played the game and know where this is leading. But at the same time, I have to wonder if a Japanese viewer may be a bit more quick to pick up on some of these little signs and to understand Airi's motivations a bit more instinctively. Certainly, I feel most of the answers we've been getting so far from anime-only viewers have been unsatisfactory, but at least next episode should -- as you say -- lay a lot of this issue to rest. Of course, it'll be followed promptly by Sana's abrupt change...

[Mahou]

Spoiler for General impressions:

The obvious part first: The art style is very different due to the rosy cheeks and the generally more younger/playful looking character art. Miu looks in the VN quite younger whereas in the anime I thought she appeared older or just taller. Airi as well looks in the anime more serious due to the non existant rosy cheeks. I won't judge which is better, but I did not expect it to be honest

It was said before that most parts were quite faithful to the VN. I wished that a few of the humor parts would be kept like The Uryuu - Uryuu pun, Miu "wanting" Shingo when Sakuno said she "wanted" her which Shingo misinterpreted. Or how Sakuno wanted to try on Shingo's underwear and suggests him to do the same as she would not mind it .
The part where Hayato and Shingo managed to befriend the teacher would also have been nice as a general development. Though, I'm fine with the parts they decided to put in the ~ 24 minutes per episode.
As for Airi: Her dialogue with Sakuno in the anime how she feels uneasy around Shingo when they are alone, was not in the VN wasn't it? Maybe it was the VN-version of Sakuno phoning with Airi after the first(?) day in school. The VN made it quite obvious that Airi would appear at the supermarket, due to her reaction when Sakuno talked about the bargain sale on the previous day . I did notice the zoom-in of her shopping bag in the anime, but honestly did not think much about it. I cannot wait to see anime-Airi in her home clothes *lol*.

As for keeping responsibility to oneself: In Germany it's mostly that you should be head-strong/strong-willed, able to assert yourself competitively, but still ask if something isn't manageable in school life. Whereas I guess the asian culture is more about reputation in some cases. Most cultural functionalist theories rate the collectivism in Asia as very high which approves of the idea that it's important which image you have in front of others and that the well-being of the group takes priority to one own's well-being symbolically. And from what I've read you are shown the value of fitting into a team in Asia as soon as you hit elementary school. If you cannot fit into a group, you will have difficulties later on.

This short spoiler will be mor VN-centric of my enjoyment so far

Spoiler for VN:

It's such a fantasic change to play a VN with no real drama as of yet and which can make you smile on a rather regular basis. Airi in her homely clothes was hilarious especially as I did not expect this kind of combination in comfortable clothes . Sakuno was good with speaking out aloud of what Shingo was maybe overthinking. Angie's comedic scenes are as good as always. "Goodbye my future husband. I think I failed the test.". The point which took me off-guard was Sana's change of character when Miu asked in the classrom if Shingo would join her club. Heavy usage of Miu-bias for Sana O_O.
And of course the best so far: Shingo and Airi's cute and shy-ish talk before and after she asked him to accompany him to the supermarket's bargain sales. Shingo's indirect confession that Airi is his "weakness" and he did read the atmosphere and tried to improve the situation because of her was lovely (I think it was roughly in this context). The drop of "-kun" and "-san" was surely one big step forward .

[hyl]

Spoiler for marble live stream on niconico and a game spoiler:

Last week there was a live stream of Marble (Both Micco who sung the ending for the anime and the guitarist of the duo) in nicovideo. It was mostly talk about random stuff, but during the entire stream she sung Suisai Candy (which sounded very nice live)and songs originally not sung by her like Seikan no Hikou, Natsu Machi , but also she also did her own version of Sayonara Kimi no Koe: the song that played during Pannya's departure scene in Miu's story. Her softer and more soothing voice worked surpisingly well .
edit: after listening it a few more times (premium nicovideo members can acces livestreams, past airing date) i am starting to like Marble's version more than Aki Misato's version 0_0

[hyl]

Spoiler for episode 4 :

Well start with this, I completely forgot about the part in the game when Airi was walking home with the group , that she was acting wierd. In the game she did that, because it was hinted that she was hiding something (in this case where she was living). The anime skipped that.
As for episode 4, i was surprised that it was focused almost entirely on Airi. I know that the anime would continue where they left last week after the supermarket and i was also aware of the study session at Airi's place and her birthday but i did not think that the anime is pushing us to Airi to be the main heroinel for the end of the anime this openly. I guess that i was also fooled by seeing Miu in the previews.
About Miu, in the game you found out where she was working when you were in her route, which took place a little later. I don't mind that little change.
What also was changed is when it was revealed that Sana was not showing her true self: she hates men but pretended not to. In the game it was during lunch when Shingo was invited to the club. find it slightly disappointing that this was over too quickly :/
I think that the anime did this is, because the anime wanted to show the real Sana without actually going to Miu's story yet. I guess that Shingo won't be joining the club yet.
Atleast we get to see Ange in the next episode, which i did not play because i dislike Ange a little.
edit: maybe i should play her route, before the next episode starts to compare the anime with it.

Spoiler for edit episode 4:

And i was actually looking forward to this scene

Too bad it was altered for the sake of fitting in the plot :/

Aleast we get to hear her call Shingo a kuzumushi

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by hyl

Spoiler for episode 4 :

As for episode 4, i was surprised that it was focused almost entirely on Airi. I know that the anime would continue where they left last week after the supermarket and i was also aware of the study session at Airi's place and her birthday but i did not think that the anime is pushing us to Airi to be the main heroinel for the end of the anime this openly. I guess that i was also fooled by seeing Miu in the previews.
About Miu, in the game you found out where she was working when you were in her route, which took place a little later. I don't mind that little change.
What also was changed is when it was revealed that Sana was not showing her true self: she hates men but pretended not to. In the game it was during lunch when Shingo was invited to the club. find it slightly disappointing that this was over too quickly :/
I think that the anime did this is, because the anime wanted to show the real Sana without actually going to Miu's story yet. I guess that Shingo won't be joining the club yet.

Spoiler for Episode 4 comparison:

Yeah, basically the main change they did in this episode compared to the game is that they wanted to make sure that they wrapped up all of Airi's story to the end of the common route in this episode, so because of that -- for time reasons -- they couldn't develop all the hints for the other routes as they did in the game. Instead, they'll give the other characters their own episodes/mini-arcs.

The Miu/Sana development was a good way of "expediting" that part of the plot and bringing it up to speed, even if I do agree that it felt a bit rushed and sudden in the anime. They've dropped short hints about the coming Miu arc in every episode so far, but only small teasers. This episode was even more of a tease, with Miu blushing as she was going to ask Shingo that question. But speaking of which... what was Miu going to ask Shingo anyway? She implied that it wasn't about the club... I wonder if she was going to ask him if he wasn't over-exerting himself, in reference to what she said later while petting Pannya? An interesting thing about Shingo's interactions with Miu here: he was acting uneasy/uncomfortable, but they didn't show him blushing.

All in all, compared to my "plan", I didn't expect that they'd give this episode so much finality, but given that they did that, it makes sense that they use next episode as a "transition", and thus the Ange episode. Probably the joining of the club will happen after that?

Originally Posted by hyl

Spoiler for episode 4 :

Atleast we get to see Ange in the next episode, which i did not play because i dislike Ange a little.
edit: maybe i should play her route, before the next episode starts to compare the anime with it.

Spoiler for Episode 5 predictions:

Well, I don't by any means expect they'll go very far into her route here; probably more "a day in the life of a stray maid" with a little bit of her goal explained. This is mostly stuff that you find in her portion of the common route that was skipped over a bit. Interesting that they also show a number of Airi shots too (but I'm not sure I recognize the outfit... is that the blouse underneath the dress, or is it a different outfit? In any case, I'm guessing a fight with her mom?)

As for Ange's route in the game... I don't dislike it, but I will say that I think it feels rather out-of-place. To me, Ange works better as a side-character and comedic relief, so that's sort of how I had to take her route -- like an "omake" route. Still, it does have its charm, even if I find it hard to take too seriously.

[hyl]

Spoiler for spoiler outfit:

yes, it's a standard black blouse underneath the white uniform. Sad to say that i only recognize it, because when looking for images of Sana a month ago i saw it on a dakimakura >_>

Edit: you can slightly recognize that black blouse under uniform if you look closely at the official art from Izumi Tsubusu's artbooks, but most people don't notice it

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by hyl

Spoiler for spoiler outfit:

yes, it's a standard black blouse underneath the white uniform. Sad to say that i only recognize it, because when looking for images of Sana a month ago i saw it on a dakimakura >_>

Edit: you can slightly recognize that black blouse under uniform if you look closely at the official art from Izumi Tsubusu's artbooks, but most people don't notice it

Not going to bother putting this in spoiler tags (because it's a bit sad that we have a game thread and pretty much every single post is a spoiler ) but yeah -- that makes sense. I thought that might have been what it was, as it makes sense given the uniform design.

And yeah... did an image search for Sana and saw that dakimakura... It's okay, but I think they can do better. I still like the Sana tapestry + pillow case I got with the PSP game.

(And as a random aside... noticing our posts one after the other really does emphasize how similar Sana and Corticarte look. Unbelievably, I didn't actually clue into this resemblance until it was pointed out to me, despite the fact that I liked both characters very much. )

[hyl]

I immediately saw how those 2 looked alike, eventhough i knew it after playing Mashiphony because i never saw polyphonica.

It's almost like Kallen Stadftelt and Izayoi Aki, the resembles are easily spotted

edit : my preorder bonus from the psp game was just a Miu telephone card from Amiami

edit: maybe if you are interested i can record the marble live stream from last week and upload a video of her singing Sayonara kimi no koe in a few days (if posting such links are allowed of course)

[Mahou]

Spoiler tag just to be sure:

Spoiler:

I liked Airi's homely clothes in the anime version. In the VN it looed somehow more funny due to the general art style I guess though I would have loved to see in the anime their inital reaction when Airi had opened the door . I'm fine with how they shortened the study session as I think there was nothing too plot-relevant within it.
They obviously changed the location in which Sana revealed her true face of park <-> classroom. Maybe it's just to not enforce a too visible "route" they follow seeing that in the VN Sana changed simply when Miu asked if Shingo decided wether to join her club or not.

It's funny how such a sudden change in Airi's character made her skyrocket in my "book" of being that more likeable. Though eating only cabbage? Ugh ... in Germany you'll eat it as a kind of sidedish. Her many small blushes are cuuute .
Let's see how Ange works out. In the VN you had Shingo's mandatory visit to her appartment @campus.

[hyl]

Marble's version of Sayonara kimi no koe

video synch is off, but it was already a pain to record live streams from nico nico douga

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by hyl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYAZzh2IsYk
Marble's version of Sayonara kimi no koe

I like it! Here's to hoping that they use it in the anime (and all that implies) and that it ends up cleaned-up and on a CD at some point.

[Mahou]

Okay~ I must ask: Will Sana stay forever so b*tchy/rude in the routes or will she get "better" again eventually? I know from what I've read that she has more focus on Miu's route (ignoring the PSP version), so I hope at least there she stops being so annoying once I'll play Miu's route.

Seeing how I enjoy the pc-version immensely, I may import the PSP-version at some later point in time and pray the custom office won't interfer I don't need ero-scene's everywhere seeing that there's the pc version for that "need" *lol*

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Mahou

Okay~ I must ask: Will Sana stay forever so b*tchy/rude in the routes or will she get "better" again eventually? I know from what I've read that she has more focus on Miu's route (ignoring the PSP version), so I hope at least there she stops being so annoying once I'll play Miu's route.

I'll put this in spoiler tags just to stay safe...

Spoiler for Sana's character development:

Keep in mind that everything you saw of Sana at the beginning was just an act, and after the "switch" you expose her true, "rotten" personality. (This is basically the complete opposite of Airi, whose true self was actually very nice, but she was being cold to Shingo to keep up her image.) Sana's character is certainly developed greatly in Miu's route, and this will help explain some of her behaviour. In the other routes, she never totally stops giving Shingo a hard time, but she clearly doesn't hate him nearly as much as she says she does (as is explained in Miu's route, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference). Sana doesn't get fully developed until her route in the PSP game, where they fully explain the reasons for her mistrust/hatred of men.

[hyl]

Spoiler for spoiler Sana:

Prett much everything that doesn't spoil too much has been said by Relentlessflame. In my opinion Sana will get very likable by the end of Miu's story, eventhough initially she seems like a standard rude manhating character, she does have a very caring personality (especially towards Miu). Even going as far as making some sacrifices for her best friend Miu.

edit:
Sana litterly exploded ,when she revealed her true personality for the first time in the game. The anime is quite tame on that part.

[Mahou]

Thank you both, I guess this is somewhat a relief. I still have my pure bliss with Airi's route after deciding to not "rush" through the VN.

Spoiler for Airi:

Her interaction with Shingo gets better and better. She noticed that Shingo is willing to give up his own pace in order to increase the general atmosphere and it seems that he acts outside of this mindset when he's around her lately. I think Sakuno hinted at it as well. Anyway, it's kinda funny how everyone was telling them they were acting "suspiscious" and Airi has used the pre-inlove trait of always asking/wanting for Shingo's opinion "What do you think about it Uryuu" "Don't you think this tastes good Uryuu?", etc . The rain scene with her surprising bathtube invitation was simply wonderful. The awkward moment in class + "interrogation" from their friends was classic and well done.

[Kaname Langley]

Originally Posted by Mahou

Thank you both, I guess this is somewhat a relief. I still have my pure bliss with Airi's route after deciding to not "rush" through the VN.

Spoiler for Airi:

Her interaction with Shingo gets better and better. She noticed that Shingo is willing to give up his own pace in order to increase the general atmosphere and it seems that he acts outside of this mindset when he's around her lately. I think Sakuno hinted at it as well. Anyway, it's kinda funny how everyone was telling them they were acting "suspiscious" and Airi has used the pre-inlove trait of always asking/wanting for Shingo's opinion "What do you think about it Uryuu" "Don't you think this tastes good Uryuu?", etc . The rain scene with her surprising bathtube invitation was simply wonderful. The awkward moment in class + "interrogation" from their friends was classic and well done.

I like Airi and wanna how to play her route. Help me please!

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Kaname Langley

I like Airi and wanna how to play her route. Help me please!

Well, first you need to know that the game is only available in Japanese right now; it has not yet been translated into English. Second, suffice it to say that you first you should buy either the PC game (contains adult content) or the PSP game (all-ages; Limited Edition also available). (All those links are at Paletweb because they'll ship internationally, but other stores carry it too.) Then, once you play the game you can follow either this walkthrough for the PC version or the first section here for the PSP version. This game doesn't have very many choices or complicated gameplay, so it's not very hard to get on the route you want. That's basically it.

[Marina2]

Relentlessflame, can you spoil Sana route in PSP for me?

Actually, I just want to know two things

Spoiler for 2 things:

1) Why she hate men?
2) How she become interest in Shingo? (How did Shingo make her love him?)

There is funny thing for me right now. Some people called Airi with her surname, "Sena" ,but called Sana with her given name. Those two names are really similar.It took me two weeks before I knew they were talking about different person LOL.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Marina2

Relentlessflame, can you spoil Sana route in PSP for me?

Actually, I just want to know two things

Spoiler for 2 things:

1) Why she hate men?
2) How she become interest in Shingo? (How did Shingo make her love him?)

I actually started writing a blog post about Sana's route a while ago but never finished it... I really should do that. It covers this in more detail. But for now...

Spoiler for Sana's Route (MAJOR spoilers):

Sana has a little brother (Leo) who is at that age where he's a mouthy brat and thinks all girls are gross. Meanwhile, after Sana's mother died, Sana tried to take on more of a motherly role to look after her younger brother, but he rejected it outright. He said he doesn't want an older sister, but he'd rather have an older brother. This really hurt Sana, but because she really loves her younger brother, she tries to do as he wishes. She dresses in "boyish" clothes and starts talking in more "boyish" mannerisms. She even starts to believe that she never had any appeal as a woman in the first place. But it seems like no matter what she does, it's never good enough, and all she ever gets from Leo is insults. (The insults Sana dishes at Shingo are typically modeled after the insults Leo heaps upon her, including the most famous: "kuzumushi".)

So basically Leo says he wants her to be more like a boy, but the main model she has for a boy (her brother) is an annoying brat (keep in mind she's been in all-girls schools all her life just like Airi, and her father works all the time so she doesn't see him much). So she basically comes to believe that all boys are jerks and the world would be better off without them. Meanwhile, the person she admires most -- Miu-senpai -- is the perfect image of compassion and kindness. When Sana sees Shingo getting close to Miu, she feels protective, and doesn't want Miu's selflessness and kindness to be tainted or hurt by a boy (just like she's been hurt by her younger brother).

When Miu remains accepting of Shingo and welcomes him to the Club, Sana is basically forced to keep interacting with him. She doesn't understand at first what Miu sees in him, but she loves Miu, so she has to go along with it. Various things happen that force them to spend time together, and she starts accepting him little by little. One day, Shingo meets Leo and the "disguised" Sana, and this eventually leads to the whole backstory being revealed. Sana, frustrated that she can't bring her younger brother's smile back (after their mother's death), asks Shingo to show her what it is to be a man (following Leo's stated wish). But Shingo believes that Leo doesn't actually dislike her as a sister, and pledges to help Sana as her friend. Later, Shingo gets injured while tending to one of the animals, and he tries to brush it off, but Sana gets angry at him because he's still putting on a front in order to not be a bother to her, rather than being open and honest like a true friend. So all that to say... through various trials, they came to understand each other and trust each other.

By this point, Shingo has also become friends with Leo, and he's happy to have the "older brother" he wanted. Leo also starts showing up at the Club, where he becomes friends with Miu and Sakuno. While Sana's still a bit annoyed that he treats his older sister like dirt, she's happy that he's starting to open up and be more sociable. Eventually she overhears Leo having a "man-to-man" talk with Shingo where Leo explains that the reason he "hates girls" is because they're weak and cry too easily (unlike boys who are strong and stoic), and if Sana were his older brother (not a sister), she wouldn't have to cry. Sana's deeply moved that her brother really does love her after all. By this point, Shingo and Sana had become irreplaceable parts of each other's lives, so it was only a matter of time before they decided to confess. On Leo's birthday, while Sana was stuttering over her own confession to him, Shingo gave her two presents: one stuffed animal for Leo, and a second for her, and asked her to be his girlfriend. Overjoyed, she tearfully accepted (audio clip)...

...and the next day said "let's break up!"




...but that's not by any means where the story ends. What follows is one fo the most sugary-sweet cute romances I've seen in a VN. Up to that point is basically only the first half or so (and I cut out an awful lot -- it's actually a pretty long route).

[hyl]

Spoiler for spoiler :

Eventhough her little brother started out as a brat (and i really dislike him for that, like "kidnapping" Pannya for a while, but he did get scolded by Sana after finding it out), he get's more tolerable after he helped a certain other animal (it's a spoiler for the Miu route, so i am intentionally being vague)

edit:

Spoiler for Opinion Sana's route overall:

Eventhough i did like it, i find the story a bit long / padded at the end. Not too much happens after new year and the story still goes on till Miu graduates. Most of the other stories (not counting the epilogue) and besides Miu's story ended at Christmas.

edit

Spoiler:

atleast something big happens in Miu's story after new year, unlike Sana's story :/