Hmm... Hiiro will get along with Jun easily. They're both "muscles characters" who bond over a shared interest in physical activity/working out. Izumi on the other hand, I'm not sure. I think Hiiro and Jun could be a breath of fresh air for Izumi who is used to dealing with pushy people in his unit. Hiiro is pushy in his own way, but he's respectful to his seniors and excited to learn from them. I wonder if Tsukasa will somehow be brought up in their conversations, like if Izumi will compare Hiiro to Tsukasa? They have some kind of one-sided rivalry on Tsukasa's end, so I wonder if that could come up. I feel like Hiiro has totally stagnated especially within Alkaloid, so I hope TearS has some kind of real story that does something for him.

It's hard to say. Matrix crushed me really. Like I'll still love Rinne, Hiiro and Niki forever. But my interest in the story waned significantly. Now, I don't have any particular hopes for their stories. Ibuki piqued my interest immediately. I heard Okinawa and instantly grabbed onto him and decided he was going to be my guy. On top of that he is also American, so this was really exciting to me. It felt personal. Japanese American characters with Indigenous backgrounds are not common. I saw the little audition video where Ibuki was being silly and punched the camera and I absolutely knew he was the one. Perhaps this was extremely foolish of me, but we will see. I was disheartened by Ibuki's introductory story, because I found it insensitive. Nonetheless, I already was pretty sure I wanted to produce him at this point. I wasn't ready to commit to saying I loved him yet, though. What we saw from him in the first half of VS Audience revitalized my love for Enstars. I was like "Yep. The trio just became a quartet." Ibuki skyrocketed up the list of characters I love. I am very selective about who I produce, so this was a big deal tbh. Anyways, I've put up with so much bullshit with the Amagis over the years and their OG backstory is so absurdly offensive that it makes you wonder how they could top that. But if the message of the Okinawa arc literally becomes "Colonization is good actually," I'll probably have to draw the line there. It would probably be my breaking point. That said, I can't really leave a hyperfixation until something new comes along, and they tend to last quite a while. My last one was six years I believe. I guess I don't have a fully definitive answer to this question. If Ibuki's story really sucks I'll also start trying to organize and I'll be formally complaining to Happy Elements so they have that to look forward to.

Eichi wants to grow ES because it's his company, his childish fantasy that he will stop at nothing to obtain. Ibara is ruthless and a tactician, but he isn't delusional and idealistic like Eichi. Eichi pictures what he wants and starts slashing down everything in his way to get there. He uses the corpses of the people he has crushed like a staircase in hopes he will one day climb high enough to achieve his personal dream world. That's why he is doing these things. The other thing is, Eichi has been somewhat flippant about preservation of and respect for cultures for a while. He once said to Keito that he would burn down the Buddhist temples. Obviously, this didn't happen, but it's a cruel threat he made because he knows Keito is Buddhist and that the religion is important to him. Oh, and lastly, I'm not a fine-p, but I've heard from a friend that even Wataru is growing frustrated with Eichi's stagnation. In other words, the writers are self-aware. They know what they are doing.

You are not alone in your grievances about Hiiro's treatment, believe me. I have an entire video essay in the works about the Amagis as Ainu characters, and the issues with Hiiro definitely get worse than microaggressions in the text. I could go on a long rant about the many ways the writers' biases shine through the story. But I'll save it for when that time comes.
Don't worry about people attacking me. I don't expect anyone would because I haven't said anything particularly unreasonable or inflammatory. I was harsh on Ryuseitai and fine fans who neglected to read up on Okinawa until now, but they can probably take the heat. Besides, it's never too late to start educating yourself. People mapping out lore and trying to lead discussions while conveniently leaving out the glaring politics of this story has started to bug me. But what really annoys me is when such a person starts to flounder and give a half-assed or performative response to being questioned about it. Ultimately, I respect the work being done by these individuals. They're clearly putting time and heart into it, there's no doubt about that. It's nice of them to try and assemble the plot for people in an easy to digest format. But I can't say I respect the manner in which it's being done, or all of their behavior. Sorry for being abrasive about this, but also not really sorry. Bleh 😝 You see, like I've said before, I see Ryukyuan people as my siblings. And, to be transparent, I have discussed the story of Ensemble Stars with my Ryukyuan friends because I wanted to hear their opinions. Recently, I phoned one of them up and we chatted about the things I've been seeing on social media in regards to the subject. Obviously, I don't speak for my friends or anyone else but myself. Still, I want to be clear, this outrage is not simply my own. I know at least some real Ryukyuan people have found the story and people's responses concerning. I wouldn't be acting with such conviction if this wasn't the case. By the way, since last time people didn't listen, I'm gonna reiterate this. If you think you know the Enstars fans I'm referring to here, don't go after them. Don't send them anons. Seriously, I mean it. I just strongly believe that if they want to guide people through the Okinawa Arc, if they want to understand the story they are reading for themselves, they better start giving it the deep thought it demands. Ultimately, Enstars is steeped in political commentary. People are fine talking about how it criticizes the idol industry, for example. So don't clam up when it's time to talk about the really uncomfortable stuff. I understand it's hard. Intimidating. You don't want to step on anyone's toes. My frustrated outburst a little while back probably didn't help that atmosphere, so I apologize. I'm hoping, going forward, I can instead foster a better environment where people are comfortable to talk about Okinawa and Ensemble Stars. That's what I want in the end, for people to talk. And to do it genuinely, not just for show.

It is really uncomfortable to me that it has taken this long for people in the fandom to talk about the Okinawa Arc critically or show interest in learning about the history of the Ryukyu Islands, and it's still hardly even the bare-minimum. Especially a sentiment I saw that the introduction of Ibuki is what facilitates looking into this. This might offend some people, but I beg to disagree. The moment it became clear Okinawa is a place of significance to the Ensemble Stars plot, fans should have taken the time to start educating themselves. Especially Ryuseitai fans and fine fans. This pertains to your favorite characters. What took so long? I'm happy to see people are taking the steps to do this now, but really. Come on. You have to be reminded to do it? Do you even care about the story you're reading (assuming you're keeping up)? Yes, I'm being harsh about this. The same way we have had to be harsh about the Amagis. I'll make a racket. Which, you mention fans care about how Rinne and Hiiro are treated. I will let you know, this is a development in the past two years that started on Twitter because of some provocative posts challenging the way people approach them. Giving a shit about the Amagis was not an inherent quality this fandom had. It was pushed on them. And I'm gonna push the Okinawa business on them, too. You're all gonna be hearing from me about it for a while. I don't call myself the world's most annoying for nothing. Youko is diving right into this subject! I'm a Japanese history student at a famously woke university and I just so happen study under someone who specializes in Okinawa's history. So bring it on Enstars fandom. Let's pick apart what we're dealing with here in the writing.