iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

And knowing the devs always use the imagery that can be interpreted in a number of ways when they want to leave things deliberately vague, the red and blue stars in the finale, on one hand, obviously are a metaphor for Kokona and Shizuka, but they may also be a metaphor for Betelgeuse and Sirius.

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I kind of like how the afterstory of Sirius ends with such a dreamy feel to it… It’s almost like when you’re on the border of awakening, but you want to ensure that your dream ends in the way you want it to, so you quickly imagine how it ends moments before you’re fully awake.

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But for now—I’m so, so glad that Kokona and Chisa’s shared dream has come true 😭💔 It’s only after you’ve reached the finale that you understand what that dream was all about. And even if I think the original intention was to show their whole path, just knowing they made it there is enough.

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I have so much to say! And now that the story is complete I can do proper write-ups too, so hopefully I’ll get to that once I sort out some other plans.

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Besides, when you look back on everything they did in the past half a year, knowing they already knew they were going to close the game at that time really puts things in a perspective.

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I spent the whole day yesterday reading the finale, and it was just so great 💔 I can’t express enough how much respect I hold for Bandai and KMS for staying true to their vision for the story till the very end.

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I want an acrylic standee with Chisa in that dress 🥹

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I guess, that does mark her own progress in willing to trust her comrades more.

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Now, speaking of Yae, until she decided to open up to Kokona and Shizuka, I never realized that no one apart from Noa and Hana actually knew how she ended up coming to Sirius… The audience knew it since it was shown in the anime, but she never spoke about that to anyone before, not even to Kath.

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On a different note, it’s probably worth noting that Shizuka ends up being the one who tells Yae that she’s not alone, but Kokona’s ”you’re not alone” is reserved for Chisa. I think it somewhat matches their roles in LesMis.

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Not really a surprise for me, because Kokona being able to see right through Chisa who is super evasive about her true thoughts was telling enough. But it does make me wonder what exactly made her develop that trait. Was it lonely childhood and the need to fit in with the group not to be left alone?

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She’s become so much stronger. And it’s very interesting how Kokona and Shizuka are contrasted with each other in terms of perceiving others’ emotions. Kokona is very sensitive to others’ feelings, so she instantly notices that something is off with Yae, whereas Shizuka remains oblivious to that.

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Her case is similar to Chisa’s in that the change doesn’t happen overnight—instead it’s tiny steps that one by one connect into a path that allows for that change. And I think it’s exactly because she was able to admit experiencing jealousy to herself that she could be genuinely supportive of Yae.

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Went over Stella Generalprobe once again yesterday, and I think it in fact tackles that as much as it can… For one, Kokona displays quite a range of emotions there, still in a rather subtle way (Shizuka is able to pick up only on a tiny fraction of that), but for her that’s a huge progress.

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Looking at my collection of Kokona’s cards like “I don’t know how I will live without you” 🥲

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…also, the synopsis for Stella Generalprobe. Why does it mention Kokona and Shizuka going to attend a performance, when that is not what they are actually doing at all? By the 3rd anni, the multiverse has seeped even into the story descriptions.

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Iʼm also curious about Koyomi playing Poseidon... It was easy enough to guess from Irohaʼs recent story, and it suits her in a number of ways, but I do wonder where the devs intend to take it.

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By the way, Thus Spoke the War God ends with Apollo and Ares offering nectar to Ganymede (not on the stage, but somewhere down the line)... I donʼt want to overthink that, given the finale will be out tomorrow, but.

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I love that feeling so much, though. One second you are just looking at the surface, trying not to overanalyse, yet the next second you are already drowning in the abyss of the girlsʼ hearts. Isnʼt that exactly what Shamo said to Yae in her first focus event?

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Going over even the tiny part of the story makes you feel once again that all the characters carry so much emotional baggage... Canʼt help but think that the game would have probably collapsed under its weight had it kept going.

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Thatʼs part of the reason why her winning the auditions and Noaʼs reassuring words never brought her any comfort... She needed the confirmation that she did well from the people she didnʼt know and couldnʼt talk to directly (and who thus wouldnʼt conceal their real thoughts out of politeness).

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Back at the time she failed in Cinderella, more than being ashamed that she hurt the feelings of her troupe members, she was terrified that sheʼd shattered the ideal image of Kathrina the actress she was striving to uphold so hard in the eyes of everyone around her.

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Kathrinaʼs episode made me finally realize that the reason Noa took her to the place where she could hear the impressions of the audience was that Kathrina may not seem like it, but sheʼs strongly affected by what others think of her...

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So with Yae you really end up going over a lot of stuff. Makes perfect sense, given sheʼs one of the focus characters for the finale.

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As the youngest member of the troupe, she messes up a lot, and learns a lot too, so I can think of multiple instances where she realizes whatʼs important for an actress... And I went over all of them yesterday, and none of them was the one required.

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They also did something extra-evil, because Kokona and Kathrinaʼs episodes are rather obvious, and Shizuka, Chisa, and Pandaʼs episodes may be a bit more tricky, but still relatively easy to find, but good luck figuring out what Yaeʼs episode is...

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Because the missions donʼt link to specific episodes, they just provide a general description of what happens there, and itʼs up to you to find the right episode on your own.

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By the way, so much respect to the devs for staying true to themselves till the very end. Theyʼve launched the missions that require you to revisit specific parts of the story, so that you come to the finale prepared... But of course itʼs not as easy as it may sound.

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I never exactly thought of comparing the script of Sirius and Gingaza versions, because it didnʼt occur to me that there could be something important in that missing scene, but maybe the entire reason Kathrina could overturn Kaguyaʼs fate and stay in Japan was because she didnʼt have the memories.

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So, on one hand, it highlights Kathrinaʼs growth as an actor and as a person, but on the other, itʼs interesting that in the original scene Kathrinaʼs Kaguya never said the lines about regaining her memories...

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Checked it, and itʼs indeed the very same scene they were performing with Kokona, when her concentration got disrupted, and they ended up skipping a page...

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Now that scares me... If they didnʼt, thereʼs a good chance thereʼs something in the lyrics they couldnʼt release until finale 👻

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