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project-sekai-facts · 1 year

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The complete guide to the Project SEKAI April Fools Unit Swap

Attempted at least. This post refers to the official unit swap AU that was available on the Japanese server in 2022, and the Global server today. Not this years JP April Fools event, and not the Virtual Singer universe merger from last year. Just for clarity.

Introduction

For April Fools Day in 2022, Project SEKAI introduced an alternate universe where the five main units didn't exist. Instead, the 20 main characters were sorted into five new units, based around the same themes as the original five. These units are: Aoharu/friends, YUME YUME JUMP!, FANTASISTA SQUAD, Happiness Sentai Sunny Sunny☆Wonder!, and Kyujitsu, Shumijin Doushi de. Each unit was given a game-sized cover song with an accompanying 2DMV, as well as a few area conversations to give us some information about the unit. In this post, I will be going through everything we know about each unit, as well as how each character's history is altered in this universe.

Note: Tumblr image limit is a thing so you are just going to have to take my word on some of this. Or, y'know, play the game.

Fan TL used (also sekai.best)

The rest of this post is below the cut because it is LONG.

Total word count: 3788

Lore

The biggest question here is if the SEKAI still exist. And the answer is most likely no. SEKAI are never mentioned or even alluded to in the special area conversations. This actually makes sense, since most of the SEKAI (Empty excluded) would have no reason to exist, due to the circumstances causing their creation not happening in this universe. I'll cover this more when talking about alterations made to character history.

While, yes, three out of the five special covers included Virtual Singers, from a production standpoint this was probably the easiest option. Aoku Kakero!, Ifuudoudou and Positive☆Dance Time all featured Virtual Singers in their original SEKAI covers, and all had their audio recycled in the April Fools covers. This was probably because it would mean less recording and less time reworking line distribution. Also the lack of Virtual Singers probably would disappoint a lot of fans, considering the entire game is themed around Vocaloids.

So for now, we're just going to go with there being no SEKAI in this universe (except maybe the Empty SEKAI, more on that later).

That said, there are definitely motivations held by the new units or individual characters that could potentially create different SEKAI, due to being similar enough to the causes of the creation of the main universe SEKAI.

Unit Overview

Unit 1: Aoharu/friends

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Aoharu/friends (Youthful/friends on the EN server) is the April Fools universe equivalent of Leo/need, being a band unit comprised of childhood friends (in this case, two separate pairs rather than a single group). The members are Ichika as vocalist and guitarist, Saki as keyboardist, Airi as bassist and Ena as drummer. The band was formed by Saki when she returned to school after a long hospital stay, because, like in the main universe, she wanted to make the most of her time in high school.

The unit name translates to Youth/Friends. Aoharu is actually a lesser-used reading of the Kanji 青春. The more common reading is "seishun" meaning "youth", while "aoharu" directly translates to "blue spring". The reading used is probably a reference to their cover song, Aoku Kakero! (Run into the blue!).

So what do we know about each member?

Ichika is still a big fan of Hatsune Miku, and mentions that she can play some Miku songs on the guitar. She expresses interest in going to see a Miku concert with her bandmates.

Saki spent some time in the hospital prior to high school, where she became a fan of Airi. When she returned to school, she created a band to make the most of her youth. She invited Airi to the group because she gave her energy and courage in hospital. She says that she wants to go camping in the mountains and visit the beach with her bandmates. Saki maintains her ambition to try everything she can while she's still in high school.

Airi used to be an idol, but suspended her activities for unknown reasons (presumably the same reason as in the main universe). However, in the official translation, she says that she is an idol, and consistently talks as if she is still active as an idol. She was invited to join Aoharu/friends by her fan, Saki, and joined because she had wanted to try playing in a band. She later invited her friend Ena from a different school to join the group. She's still very serious about practicing and puts her all into the band's activities. Airi mentions that she wants to see an old idol colleague's debut concert with a new unit. This group is probably YUME YUME JUMP!, meaning that Shizuku and Airi still know each other in this universe.

Not much is known about Ena. She was invited to the group by her friend Airi, is learning to play the drums, and still attends Kamiyama night classes, but not much information is given beyond that. She is a little nervous about being around Ichika and Saki and isn't always sure how to address her underclassmen. It's also mentioned that she still maintains a friendly yet teasing relationship with her brother Akito. Extremely important to note is that she doesn't make any reference to art or being an artist at all, meaning that she might have quit art in this universe.

Also of note is that there is no School SEKAI. The School SEKAI was created by Leo/need's collective desire to rekindle their friendship and fulfill their promise to form a band in high school. Ichika and Saki do not mention or reference Shiho and Honami at any point, and they instead formed a band with Saki's idol (and her friend). From this we can gather that either Ichika and Saki were never friends with Shiho and Honami, or that Leo/need's friendship fell apart permanently.

Another interesting thing to mention is that Airi and Ena use recolors of the School Rock shop costume. The blazers are switched to their respective image colors and Airi's skirt is given a plaid pattern.

Unit 2: YUME YUME JUMP!

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YUME YUME JUMP! is the April Fools universe equivalent of MORE MORE JUMP!, though the similarities are minimal outside of the idol theme and Shizuku being present. The members are Shizuku, Shiho, An and Kanade. It is implied that the unit was formed by an agency, with Shizuku being the only permanent member at first. Their manager encouraged the other three to join, even if only temporarily.

The unit name translates to DREAM DREAM JUMP!. According to the unseen manager, the "Yume" refers to the big dreams An and Shiho have (despite the name being decided before they joined permanently), but also refers to the term "yumeyume" (努努). When written in Kanji, it uses the character for Effort. YUME YUME JUMP! contains hope that they overlap their efforts to reach their dreams.

As for the characters:

We don't actually know much about Shizuku at all, other than that she was an old colleague of Airi's. YUME YUME JUMP! is a new unit, which means that Shizuku was formerly part of a different unit. Presumably, her past is intact and she was formerly in the unit Cheerful*Days. She is still very doting towards her sister as well.

Shiho joined YUME YUME JUMP! as a temporary member. She initially didn't feel that she was cut out for being an idol, but realised that it's not bad being a professional musician. This implies that she never took up bass at any point in this universe, or at least never pursued it professionally. This is basically confirmed in the official translation, as she states that part of the reason she joined is because she thought working as a musician would be a good opportunity, suggesting that it's not something she has done before. Despite the gig not being permanent, she still plans on taking it seriously.

An also joined the group as a temporary member. Again we don't know too much about her. She makes a reference to Haruka, confirming that they are still middle school best friends in this universe. She doesn't make any references to RAD WEEKEND, RADder or street music as a whole, suggesting that, like Shiho, it isn't something she pursued in this universe.

Kanade was hired as the group's composer, but was encoraged by the manager to perform as an official member. Kanade became the group's composer to try and save people with her music, the same as in the main universe. By the time of the group's debut, her goal changes from wanting her songs reaching the audience, to wanting the group's songs reaching the audience. She still has incredibly poor fitness and Shiho mentions that during the first week of practice, Kanade had repeatedly been running out of breath during warm-ups. However, by the time of the unit's debut, she is able to perform an entire song. She also mentions that she stays up late at night composing music and struggles to get up in the morning, another trait carried over from the main universe.

Once again, there is no SEKAI. The Stage SEKAI was formed by Minori's dream to become an idol, and Airi, Haruka and Shizuku's desire to go back to being idols/be able to enjoy it. We know Airi (on JP) and Haruka both quit the idol industry and Minori doesn't mention wanting to be an idol. Shizuku is the only member to still be there, and her story has been altered enough to make the Stage SEKAI impossible.

Their outfits are recolors of MORE MORE JUMP! outfits. Shiho wears Shizuku's outfit (with an extra armband), An wears Haruka's outfit and Kanade wears Minori's. Shizuku keeps her usual outfit.

Unit 3: FANTASISTA SQUAD

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I tried so hard with this one because they only exist for fanservice but I can't just say that and move on.

FANTASISTA SQUAD is the April Fools Universe equivalent to Vivid BAD SQUAD, though they also take a lot of influence from WonderlandsxShowtime due to the member line-up being the boys from both groups. They are blatant yaoi fanservice. In the words of Tsukasa, they are backstreet entertainers. Similarly to Vivid BAD SQUAD, the unit is formed of two duos who had previously been performing independently of each other. Tsukasa is the leader of the group and invited BAD DOGS to join his unnamed duo act with Rui, thought this is slightly different in the official translation. In the translation, Akito mentions that he tagged along when he heard that Rui and Tsukasa were forming a unit, with no mention of Tsukasa inviting the younger two.

The unit name is derived from the Italian noun "Fantasista", which can refer to either "a football player with technical and imaginative abilities", or a variety performer. The terminology fit the description of the group, so Akito suggested it as a name for the unit, having vetoed Tsukasa's original name of Pegasus Dogs (derived from Tenma, meaning "pegasus").

The members also come up with stage names that are derived from their family names. Tsukasa is Pegasus Tenma, Toya is Blue Willow Aoyagi, Rui is God Generation Kamishiro, and Akito is Daybreak Shinonome.

Akito and Toya's story remains completely unchanged up until Vivid BAD SQUAD Main Story 1. BAD DOGS is implied to have existed prior to FANTASISTA SQUAD, with Tsukasa using "Dogs" in the original group name, and Toya stating that the group name does not contain a reference to Rui, confirming that the "Dogs" part is a reference to Akito and Toya. However, their goals seem to be different in this universe, as once again RAD WEEKEND is not mentioned. In spite of this, Akito still is serious about pursuing street music and still met Toya. There are multiple possible explanations for how they still managed to meet, some of which include:

RAD WEEKEND still happened and caused Akito to get into street music seriously, finding Toya as a partner, he just doesn't mention it

Something else caused this

the pair met through other means, and ended up getting into street music

or arguably the most likely option, the developers didn't consider if it made sense, they just wanted to supply fanservice

Toya and Tsukasa maintain a brotherly relationship the same as they do in the main universe. Tsukasa actually invited Toya to join him and Rui's performance unit, and Akito followed after Toya. Akito still finds Rui and Tsukasa weird and annoying like in the main universe, and was initially reluctant to perform with them, but says that he can't leave Toya alone with them.

Both Rui and Tsukasa still show a strong passion for performing (and also directing in the case of Rui). Rui keeps his skills in engineering in this universe, with An mentioning that he built the power suit seen in his untrained Runaway Thought Process 3* card in a YUME YUME JUMP! area conversation. Tsukasa also keeps his ambition to achieve world fame, hoping that FANTASISTA SQUAD will advance into backstreets worldwide.

How exactly they met and started working as a duo is unknown. The events are not referenced and it can't have been the same as the main universe since WonderlandsxShowtimes does not exist in the April Fools Universe. While the explanation for this is fanservice again, I came up with a hypothesis that aims to explain how they met. We know that in the main universe, Rui was a street performer. Prior to Tsukasa recruiting him for WonderlandsxShowtime, he used to perform one-man shows in the city or illegally in Phoenix Wonderland. It's heavily implied that Tsukasa still has an interest in acting, and he still aspires to become a world-famous star, so it is possible that they met through a street performance. Again, this is an assumption and there is no evidence to suggest this, hence I called it a hypothesis.

The Street SEKAI doesn't exist in this universe, since RAD WEEKEND doesn't seem to exist in this universe, or at least had no significant imapct on Akito or An. Since the Wonderland SEKAI creator is in this unit, I will discuss that SEKAI too. Wonderland SEKAI probably doesn't exist in this universe. The Wonderland SEKAI was created when Saki asked Tsukasa why he wants to become a star actor, with the SEKAI forming due to the fact he forgot the reason. Tsukasa's dream to become a star is mentioned in his home screen dialogue, but he doesn't pursue acting in this universe. It is possible that some version of the Wonderland SEKAI could exist, but it might not be the same. However we don't know enough about Tsukasa's past in this universe to make a confident judgement.

Akito and Toya keep their usual clothes in this universe, while Rui and Tsukasa use the Street Parka shop outfits. Tsukasa wears the default version and Rui uses variant 3.

Backstreet's back, alright!

Unit 4: Happiness Sentai Sunny-Sunny☆Wonder!

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Happiness Sentai Sunny-Sunny☆Wonder! (The Happiness Rangers Sunny Sunny☆Wonder! on the EN server) is the April Fools Universe equivalent of WonderlandsxShowtime, being a show troupe at Phoenix Wonderland's Wonder Stage. The member line-up is Emu, Haruka, Kohane and Mafuyu, with Mafuyu taking the role as leader due to being the oldest. The group was formed as an extra-curricular group (outreach group on the EN server) with the aim to make children smile with shows.

Their unit name refers to the persona's the characters use in the troupe. The quartet take on the roles of Sentai (rangers) who defeat bad guys and make children smile.

Emu is still scared of Mafuyu's false persona in this universe, but everyone thinks that she's just nervous about spending time with a second year student. She strives to make Mafuyu smile genuinely, but has had no luck so far. She is the one who gave Mafuyu her sentai name, because she finds Mafuyu's persona to be "unshakeable" whenever she tries to make her smile. However when Mafuyu questions it, Emu lies and agrees with Kohane that the name was chosen because Mafuyu is a great leader. Emu's sentai name is Sunny Sunny Happy Emu - "here to put smiles on your faces today!".

Haruka joined the group despite her lack of acting experience because she liked their motive to make everyone smile. Other characters refer to her as an idol and we learn from Minori that she was formerly part of ASRUN, presumably leaving for the same reason as in the main universe. Her sentai name is Stoic Challenger Haruka - "you can't become an idol in just a day!".

Kohane is still a huge fan of the Phoenix Wonderland theme park, so Emu invited her to perform on stage with her instead of always watching from the audience. In the unit's first area conversation, she has her original appearance with longer hair and glasses, but changes to her regular appearance from the second conversation, which is referenced in her sentai name. She becomes incredibly flustered by Haruka's "idol smile", consistent with the main universe. Kohane is initially embarrassed about performing as a sentai, but starts to get used to it after a while. She's also still an incredibly gifted singer, as mentioned by Nene. Her sentai name is Makeover Beast Kohane - "behold my indomitable hammie spirit!".

Mafuyu still struggles with depression in this universe and puts on a false "nice girl" persona when talking to other. She ends up dropping it to play a villain role, but everyone except Emu thinks she's just a talented actor, and fails to realise that it's her genuine personality. Mafuyu herself just tells the others that she was excited to play the villain role. Haruka and Kohane then unknowlingly write a story for this villain character that heavily resembles Mafuyu's reality. Her sentai name is Goodness Smile Mafuyu - "the unshakeable senior who's always sparkling!". For her 'villain' character (later rewritten to be Goodness Smile's true identity), she is known as Darkness Smile Mafuyu.

There is an extremely high chance that the Empty SEKAI exists in this universe. It is explicitly shown that Mafuyu is still dealing with depression and although not stated, the cause is presumably the same as in the main universe. The Empty SEKAI was created because Mafuyu lost her sense of self and needed a safe space, which is implied to be the case here, since she acts the same way as in the main universe.

Emu keeps her normal performance outfit, while Haruka, Kohane and Mafuyu use recolors of the WonderlandsxShowtime Virtual Singer costumes. Haruka uses MEIKO's, Kohane uses Rin's, and Mafuyu uses Luka's.

Unit 5: Kyujitsu, Shumijin Doushi de.

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Kyujitsu, Shumijin Doushi de. (Hobbyists on Days Off on the EN server), is the April Fools Universe equivalent to 25-ji, Nightcord de., being a group hosted on Nightcord. The member line-up is Mizuki, Honami, Minori and Nene. The group was created by Mizuki as space for people to relax and talk about hobbies. They have recently started offline meetings, shown in their area conversations, where they go to different places such as restaurants and Phoenix Wonderland.

Like 25-ji, Nightcord de. their unit name is very literal. They are a group of hobbyists who meet on weekends.

Mizuki is the founder and leader of Shumijin. They like making videos and collages, as well as fashion, watching anime, and reading manga. They have given the circle members advice on different fashion brands to buy. They are really happy they made the group because they don't have a lot of friends to talk about their hobbies with (lost touch with their friends on EN) and they hardly go to school.

Honami's hobbies include gardening and walking her dog. She maintains her fondness for apple pie, and asks the group if they can buy some during their first offline meeting. In a homescreen voiceline, she mentions that the circle will be visiting her house, and she's making them her special apple pies. She and Minori grow quite close once they start meeting offline, and they start walking their dogs together prior to the second offline meetup.

Minori is still a massive fan of Haruka, but she also enjoys learning idol dances and writing in her diary. She has given the members suggestions of ASRUN albums to listen to, which Mizuki really liked. After watching Haruka perform at Phoenix Wonderland, she becomes so enamoured that enters a trance and believes she was walking through a field of flowers. Something that should be noted is that she never mentions wanting to become an idol, or audtioning to be one, suggesting that she either gave up, or simply never had that dream. Regardless, she seems pretty happy to support from the sidelines.

Nene's hobbies are still playing PVP video games, watching movies, and going to see musicals. She has recommended movies to the other circle members before, and Honami particularly enjoyed a comedy that she suggested watching. She mentions that she isn't good at interacting face to face, and discovering the chat group was really nice because she didn't have to face that problem. That said, she does enjoy their offline meetings. Like with Minori, Nene never mentions her ambitions from the main universe in this one. Her dream to become an actress in musicals is never brought up, which could mean that she never returned to acting after forgetting her lines in the school play. Her giving up on her dream is actually extremely likely, especially when you consider that in the main universe, Rui was the one who encouraged her to try again when he got her a job in WonderlandsxShowtime. Since Rui is a part of FANTASISTA SQUAD in this universe, this probably never happened.

Unfortunately we can't really talk about SEKAIs here, since the equivalent would be Empty SEKAI, but Mafuyu is in a different unit. Instead I want to talk a little about something Mizuki says in the English translation. In the original Japanese, they say that they don't have many friends, which is consistent, considering that this is alternate universe is set very early on in the game's timeline. However on the English server, they say they've lost touch with a lot of friends. But who exactly are these friends. Based on their comments about skipping school, we can infer that their past is almost identical to the main universe, with the exception of being part of N25, since it doesn't exist. Going off of the main universe, the only possible answer is Rui. Why they use a plural for one person is unknown and was probably just an oversight by the developers but I'm in too deep now and decided to write about it. It's possible that the developers were trying to hint at 25-ji, Nightcord de. having existed in the past of this universe, but I doubt they were thinking anything that deep. Thank you for your time.

Something else that's very interesting is how this is the only unit that isn't related to music. The original N25 was an underground music circle, whereas Shumijin is just a chat room.

The outifts that the members use are recolors of the Midnight Fiction shop costume, with the exception of Mizuki who uses their regular N25 costume.

Outro

Unfortunately this is only two sections long, but we really don't learn much about this universe, since all we get is three area conversations per unit (some of which supply absolutely no useful information) and some homescreen dialogue. I originally planned to review the area conversations between the SEKAI Virtual Singers, but ultimately scrapped it because it would be too much content to cover in a realistic amount of time.

Anyway, I hope this is useful for fic writers/fanartists, or just people who were a little interested in the event.

Does any of this even make sense or should I be banned from loreposting

Extremely disappointed in the EN server for not adding a single Backstreet Boys reference in the Fantasista Squad area conversations. The opportunity was Right There.

#this is literally longer than my final project for my course I am going to cry #project sekai #lore #we'll put this there for now #aoharu/friends #yume yume jump!#fantasista squad #Happiness Sentai Sunny-Sunny☆Wonder!#kyujitsu shumijin doushi de.#not tagging characters

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gnomey22 · 1 day

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Failtopia Ship Popularity

The shipping side of the Failtopia fandom has never really been all that popular, considering how small the 'fandom' itself actually is compared to how many people casually watch the series, but what does exist about it is quite interesting. Not necessarily in a good way, but it's fandom shipping, of course it isn't.

What I specifically mean is, both existing seasons of Failtopia have had surprisingly similar formations of ships, and I'd like to break that down, explain why exactly the nonsense happened this way, for no other reason than my own enjoyment, and the five people who will ever read this post.

First off, the Erica ships.

Failica and Eribo are easily the most popular out of the S1 and S2 circles respectively, having far more vocal supporters than any other ship in the runnings. The connecting thread between them is clear to anyone who's watched the series - They both feature everyone's favourite character, Erica. A key difference between them, however, is also very obvious. The former is an F/M ship, and the latter is F/F. This discrepancy exists because, while Erica being a lesbian is possibly the single most popular headcanon in this entire fandom, it didn't become popular until S2. In S1, Erica was seen as a tsundere for not liking her male best friend, but once everyone collectively realised where her affections more likely were, a majority of people jumped ship. (Not necessarily to Eribo, at first, but I'll get to that.) Given her fan-favourite status, partially because of her attractiveness, it was only natural that the centre of the shipping scene would revolve around Erica, but it took until a certain outing to a botanical garden for people to get their acts together on what ship.

Next up, the inconsistently implied secondary ships.

Roseyawn and Marion don't even come close to the Erica ships' popularity, but they're definitely part of the discussion when we're talking about the most popular ships. The peaks of their popularities would probably rank at the third and fourth spots, but it's clear which one has more staying power, given the immediate end of the other. Both ships were heavily implied as a possibility throughout their seasons, with Rose and Pirahnyawn seeming to carry out an actual relationship in S1, and Mar and Orion flirting fairly often in S2, with Mar's romantic feeling being outright canon. However, Orion is a married man, and turns Mar down every time he tries to go further than flirting. On the other hand, when I say that only one Failtopia ship has been de-confirmed as endgame, I do not mean them. I mean Roseyawn, given that Pirahnyawn's daughter was canonically born and raised by him alone. Both ships exist directly because of canon interactions, but the same idea also works to their detriment - Roseyawn more than Marion.

Then, we have Lanchi.

Not two ships this time, but a single one that lasted throughout both seasons, the only one to do so. For good reason, too, even if it isn't obvious on the surface. It originated in S1 for much the same reason Roseyawn did, because of certain implications in their interactions. However, unlike Roseyawn, these interactions actually spelled out a positive image of their relationship. They failed to reach the heights of their fellow ships' popularities, but they were undeniably the third place contender. The very same statement applies to their popularity in S2, a season where Lanc doesn't even feature, but Chi does, and her lore explicitly states that the insane actions she took during the timeskip between seasons, were inspired by Lanc. She takes on his mannerisms throughout the remainder of the season, so even when Lanc himself is not present, the spirit of Lanchi remains prevalent. The other two S1 ships did not have this luxury, so they both died out.

Finally, we have the ones nobody wants to acknowledge.

These ships were only temporary in popularity, and mainly came about because of sheer desperation from the fans, scrounging for some shipping fuel they felt was missing at that point in the series. S1 had D*koboat, a literal pr*ship that likely only got its cult following because it was an alternative to Failica after Erica temporarily left the narrative, even having the same tsundere dynamic if you imagined it. S2 had Friendshrimp and Erichi, two ships that only barely don't count as pr*ship, because of technicalities regarding the ages of Friend and Chi, even though those weren't confirmed during the very short timeframe where these two ships gained their tiny followings. Shrimp, like Erica, was a fan-favourite that people wanted to ship, but they quickly realised that they just didn't have any good options. Erichi was, unfortunately, the original F/F ship for Erica, but because their relationship was made so clear to be nonromantic, it didn't last. They couldn't last, because they weren't made for that purpose.

TLDR: The big three ships of S1 were outdone by the big three ships of S2, and the other ones do not exist in Ba Sing Se.

#failtopia #failboat miitopia #failboat #not tagging characters #will tag the ships I favoured #eribo #marion #lanchi #and that's it #hope you liked the rambling #you probably didn't care and that's fine

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