#also touma. but i felt like at first touma felt very flat. like he was just there to be a love interest. now i still feel like parts of his | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kamenriderlogik27 · 3 years

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Saber headcanons part 4: Kento past + pre-caliber

-Like Sora, even though his dad was a swordsman, he went to a regular public school up until the day his dad betrayed the SOL.

- The public school might be where he first met Touma (not sure about this yet since we don’t know who Touma’s parents are nor know his relation to the SOL)

- If he did end up meeting Touma at school, then their first meeting would have to be on the playground. With Touma preferring to read a book instead of play with the other kids.

- some of the other boys get annoyed at his lack of interest in joining their game, and they start picking on him. Kento, being his father’s son, detests the site of bullying and comes to Touma’s aid. After chasing away the bullies, Touma invites Kento to read with him to which Kento accepts; the start of a strong bond that transcends time.

- Even though his dad wanted Kento to follow in his footsteps, Kento’s parents (suggesting that he has a mother) encouraged him to look into other careers such as a policeman, firefighter, soccer player, etc.

- Because his dad was always away on missions, there would be times where Kento wouldn’t see his dad for moths on end. But his dad always made sure to write him letters of his adventures.

- Even though Kento was there the day his father betrayed the SOL and witnessed his father attack kamijou Daichi, he ended up fainting before he could see anything else and woke up two days later in the Northern Base’s clinic due to Ogami finding him and bringing him there.

- Kento searched everywhere, high and low, for Touma and Luna, and waited at their promised place everyday just in case they came by.

- After almost a year of waiting and not finding them, he started to believe that they were both dead and instantly blamed himself for his father’s actions.

- Wanting to at least try and make things right, he started asking Sofia and anyone he could come across in the SOL about anything regarding his father, the betrayal, and what happened that day.

- After finding out that no one really knew anything, he decided that he had to become a swordsman himself in order to investigate more.

- He became the current Espada, Shinsen’s, student after begging Sofia to help him become a swordsmen. However, in order for Shinsen to fully accept him, Kento had to prove himself worthy and complete difficult tasks such as running for a specific amount of time, cleaning a very large ballroom, etc. which Kento did without complaint.

- (according to RiderWiki, Shinsen took Rintaro under his wing after Nagamine died. I found this out a day after writing Rintaro’s headcanons. After reading it, I first thought that oh, maybe Rintaro and Kento really did grow up together then. But that still doesn’t answer why Rintaro seemed to be surprised at his presence in ep 2 and 3 and why he used formal speech when talking about and to Kento as if they didn’t grow up together. After thinking for a good long while, here’s what I came up with.)

- As Shinsen had already taken Rintaro under his wing after Nagamine died, He had trouble figuring out ways of teaching his two students in similar or different fighting styles (as Rintaro was still the successor of Nagare and Blades’s title and thus had to be taught a fighting style fit for the swordsmen of water.). Rintaro, not wanting to burden Shinsen as well as wanting to take more after his master’s fighting style, suggested that he learn Blades’s fighting style through books by himself so that Shinsen could focus on training Kento.

- Even though Shinsen felt guilty at not being able to properly teach Rintaro what he needed to know, it still worked out perfectly since Shinsen could properly train Kento while Rintaro studied, and then both boys would be able to practice what they learned by sparring.

- Kento was always super focused on training and bettering his technique, but he was still a kid at heart and wanted friends. however, at the same time, didn’t really believe that he deserved friends. This didn’t stop him from attempting to have friendly conversations with Rintaro during breaks while sparring though.

- However, due to Rintaro’s personality and habit of taking things too literally, Kento was never able to start up a fun conversation with the water swordsman apprentice that proved to be even slightly similar to the conversations he would have with Touma and Luna.

- Being as young as he is and having gone through so much pain, I can actually see Kento almost seeing Rintaro as a possible, unintentional replacement for Touma. But because Rintaro has gone through some shit himself and want’s to focus on his own path, he kinda goes against the image of Touma that Kento unintentionally put on him. The frustration Kento gets from this fact builds up so much that it explodes one day.

- That one day happened to be one of the rare days where Shinsen would be teaching the boys a new technique at the same time, since it was a pretty basic swordsman technique that didn’t require any particular style. Unlike most times where Kento would usually wait until a break or after sparring to strike up a conversation, Kento instead started speaking as the boys sparred. At first he talked about things like the weather and what they both had eaten that day (of course with Rintaro not saying much other than “can we please focus?”) then his words slowly got more aggressive to the point where Kento started mocking Rintaro’s lack of character.

-Rintaro of course, tried his best to ignore Kento and focus on sparring, but when Kento asked “who do you take after, your mom or dad?” he finally felt as if he had to respond.

- R: “I don’t know...”

K: “How can you not know? Don’t you have a family?”

R: “The SOL is my family.”

K: “Are you dumb? The SOL is an organization! They can’t be your family! A family AT LEAST has to have a mother and father!”

- The last sentence Kento said brought Rintaro to tears, so he quickly yells “You don’t know anything!” and runs off back to the base.

- For the next year, Rintaro refused to participate in anymore lessons and spars with Kento, and would always run the other direction if he so much as saw Kento appear anywhere. Kento did feel really guilty about what he said, especially after Shinsen scolded him and explained Rintaro’s situation and past. That being said, he tried his best to find Rintaro to apologize, only to always watch the boy’s back as he ran away.

- Somewhat fed up with having to chase the water swordsman apprentice, Kento came up with a plan to have Ren capture Rintaro and tie him up so that he couldn’t escape. He honestly wasn’t expecting his plan to work so well, but because it did, he was finally able to talk to Rintaro and ask for forgiveness. To which, Rintaro gave under the condition that they both work hard to become swordsmen. After this incident, Kento saw Rintaro in a new light. He wasn’t a boy that could possibly fill up the whole Touma and Luna left, instead, he was Rintaro; a fellow apprentice who was really talented and smart. And Kento really admired him for that.

- The only reason why Kento flew in on his magic carpet in ep 2+3 is because he was on a mission somewhat far away and wanted to see Touma as soon as possible once he was done.

- Despite being overjoyed that Touma was actually alive AND had been introduced to the SOL/become a Kamen Rider as well, Kento was actually super nervous about meeting him again. He thought about what he would do and what he would say. He wondered how he would ask Touma about Luna, and how he should explain about what happened that day 15 years ago. When Rintaro told him about walking into Touma’s bookstore while riding his blue lion, Kento thought that maybe riding in on his magic carpet might be a good conversation starter if anything got too awkward.

-He’s literally imagined his and Touma’s reunion hundreds of times after he heard that Touma was alive. He also wanted to ask him questions like “where did you go to school?” “What college degree do you have?” “Did you go on any adventures?(bookwise or real life)” ect. Kento just really wants to know how his friend has been all these years.

- Kento is actually a neat freak and low-key OCD. He can’t stand being messy and has his own, somewhat professional way of organizing. Though he’d rather let others clean if there’s a way for him to opt out.

- Kento is very fond of fictional novels, especially if they’re books that he read with Touma and Luna back in the day. However, he has no patience for non-fication, and secretly finds them very boring. His favorite genre of fictional novels would have to be adventure, fantasy and anything with super heroes. However, he does have a secret soft spot for romance (to the point where he has his own ships), and would rather die than admit to this fact.

- Is on the book side of the “Book vs. Movie” argument because he has never actually watched a movie to the end. Whenever he finds time to watch a movie, he ends up being so tired that he falls asleep before the climax. Reading a book at least gives his eyes something to focus on, plus books are like ‘a movie in your head’.

-Kento kind of gives off a ‘spring’ feel to me, so I think that his favorite scents could be fresh laundry, calm lavender, and a warm spring breeze.

- Doesn’t dog-ear books, thankfully. But he does end up using weird objects as book marks. (i.e. an old receipt, a library card, post-it note, basically anything small, flat and within hands reach.)

#kamen rider #kamen rider saber #kamen rider espada #kamen rider blades #fukamiya kento #shindo rintaro #kamiyama touma #akamichi ren #saber headcanons #this got super dark #honestly though this boy has been through a lot so it HAS to be somewhat dark #took me a while to write this 'cause thinking up kento's past was a bit difficult

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btskismet · 4 years

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Kismet (Chapter 24) : A BTS Jin imagines fanfic

First ever fanfic. Contains some fluff, violence and smut. Please read sequentially as it is a long story arc. Please provide feedback! My IG is btskismet.

November 20, 1944

Days passed and Jun-seok knew he was head over heels for her. He denied it every single day when he woke up but as soon as he looked over to the other side of his quarters and saw her curled up body sleeping in the other mat, he totally would change his mind. Each day the Captain told him to keep her there, the more he learned about her that got him so enamored with her.

His orders to get the other Korean soldiers to change their loyalties to Lt. Akagi was even slightly set aside from his mind because of her. He knew that it was disobeying what the Shosa and the Captain set out for him, but he couldn’t do it since he would always go back to his quarters as soon as he finished work in the makeshift hangars of the planes.

Every morning, after having a quick breakfast in his quarters with her, he left to go to the hangar to work on the plane engines. Officer Watanabe was able to get some of the engines for repair but the hangars were 1 hour away from camp and it was quite difficult to go back to camp if he had several engines or plane parts to repair. He worried about being away too long from the camp as she was alone in his quarters. He only hoped that the cook was protecting her as well since she was quite the asset - quick learner and really interested in making herself useful. She studied the recipes for the meals of the soldiers and even cooked more than once this week, as the cook was starting to like her enthusiasm in doing more work that he thought she would put in.

Officer Watanabe allowed him to leave a little earlier than the other soldiers as they were both concerned when it was time for dinner. The mess hall tent was filled with many soldiers during dinner and some would visit the cook every now and then to ask for more condiments or food. If they knew that a woman was in there, it would definitely become dangerous for her.

So, he'd leave an hour before dinner was served and be at the kitchen to see her helping the cook. The cook, who always looked stressed during dinnertime, would be asking her to speed up on preparation as there were always several dishes served in the mess hall tent. There was also the meals for the Shosa and General to be prepared if they were in camp.

Everytime Jun-seok would arrive, she and the cook would let out a sigh of relief since Jun-seok always helped in the kitchen. He had skills in cooking and the cook was grateful to get an extra pair of hands to help.

After the dinner rush, the two of them would retire to the quarters and have their own quiet meal together. But it never stays as quiet as they always had something to laugh about and learn from each other.

He found out that she was the youngest of the three daughters her father has and she was the only one who didn’t have her own family. Her sisters wed the heirs of the other coffee plantation owners in the province and have their own kids. As the youngest, she made her father proud by learning about growing coffee and roasting it properly. When the Americans invaded them, she learned their language as easily as possible and even worked in a cafe for the GIs. When the Japanese invaded, she had to resort to helping her father in the Mayor’s office, especially when it came to the coffee farmers she knew very well. She pushed herself to learn Nihonggo so she could communicate for the farmers and to understand what the soldiers and officers would ask for so relations between them would be smoother.

“I noticed that if I learned your language, Japanese soldiers would be nicer to me and the people I speak for. I know in other provinces, they have had it tough with so many of them being killed or hurt, just because they didn’t know how to speak to the soldiers. But some can be very brutal...”, she said to Jun-seok that night during dinner.

Jun-seok felt a little embarrassed to hear how other people were treated as he was part of the army. But he also had a feeling of disdain for the whole army, as he was from a country that was subjugated by the Japanese as well.

“I know what you mean and how difficult it is.”, he said to her as he was grabbing some seaweed from the bowl in front of him as they were eating dinner.

“How would you know how difficult it is, Ittohei?”, she asked quizzically, not understanding his meaning.

He looked up and realized he said too much. It took her a couple of seconds to realize it and then she asked, “Ittohei, I’m sorry to ask but... are you Japanese?”

Jun-seok could see how smart and well-informed this lady is. She figured it out from just one statement that he probably wasn’t but wanted to be sure. It is expected from Koreans like him that they should say either two things to respond to this type of question: Yes, he is Japanese and No, he is not but he is a proud Japanese citizen.

Both were lies and left a bad taste in his mouth.

He looked around before saying a flat no to her.

She nodded and started awkwardly eating her rice with her chopsticks (she learned to use them in a matter of days), quietly considering his response. Based on the way she reacted, Jun-seok knew she was thinking if she would ask where he was really from.

“Are you Korean just like Akagi-san?” she asked pointedly and put down her bowl and chopsticks just to wait for him to respond.

“How did you know he’s Korean?”, he asked. “People talk. We all know that the Koreans in the army have been physically hurting us more because they seem to be getting a lot of pain and pressure from the Japanese soldiers. I know they have much to be angry about with their superiors and even your country also occupied by the Japanese. But it’s not fair to take it out on my people.”

Jun-seok contemplated this. She seemed well informed about a lot of things in the Japanese army and the government. Guess that’s what you get for working in a government office.

“Will you mind change about me if you knew I was Korean?”, he asked her.

“I’m not going to lie - I don’t like the Koreans as much as I don’t like the Japanese who are here. I am just thankful we are generally treated better than others. But... you are not like them. I don’t think you’ve been here long enough to truly know how it’s like here. That’s why you’re still very kind.” She looked at him plainly and he realized this is the woman he met that first day when she was defending the old man who was beaten up by the Japanese soldier. He saw in her face the visible sadness that she was carrying that was caused by all the atrocities done to her community.

“I’m sorry. I really don’t know what to say.”, Jun-seok hung his head and felt helpless.

“Don’t be sorry. You just follow your superiors like everyone else.”, she said. “Is my father dead?”

Jun-seok looked at her and vehemently said no. “He’s absolutely fine. Trust me on this.”

“Alright. Does he think I’m dead?”, she asked him. “No, he thinks you’re missing and went to the mountains to your relatives who are there.”

She became quiet for a couple of minutes and continued eating. Jun-seok felt a little nauseated as the answers he provided her were definitely not ideal. He was now concerned that she might escape, now that she knows that her father is still alive.

“Is the Shosa keeping me here because he thinks I’ll tell my father and go to the mountains to start a revolt?”, she asked a little angrily.

“Well, more of tell your father and people might revolt after. Not really you leading it.”

She had a bit of a scowl on her face and said annoyingly, “The Shosa should’ve known me better than this. No matter how much anger and pain I feel from the death of the farmers and their families that day... I wouldn’t even dream having people revolt against you.”

Jun-seok became quiet and she might have seen on his face his unspoken question of why.

“Because if we did, we are going to lose and more people will die. I am not about to place the lives of my community at risk that way. This is also the reason I haven’t left and I’m just waiting for you to tell me when I can go home. I would rather wait for the time the Japanese army is done fighting or if they give up. They sooner will do so anyway.”

Her words reminded him of his father who worked hard to keep the peace and co-exist with the Japanese to keep his family safe. He understood how that was and knew he was doing the same thing.

“Yes, I am Korean.”, he said to her calmly.

“Alright then. So, what’s your real name? I know that Touma Sakurai is your Japanese name and since I will still be staying here until you all decide what to do with me, I think I need to meet the Korean that’s in front of me.”

This woman never ceases to amaze me, Jun-seok thought. He felt his heart being tugged again by her casual confidence and bravery.

“My name is Kim Jun-seok.”, he said.

She reached out her right hand. Jun-seok didn’t quite grasp this and she told him to stretch out his right hand. She took his right hand and placed it in hers. Then she shook it and introduced herself.

“That is a handshake, my friend. It’s my way of saying it’s nice to meet you, Jun-seok.”, she said after.

Jun-seok liked hearing her say his name. As he was feeling the softness of her small hand in his, he couldn’t help but move his thumb over her hand and knuckles, feeling the soft skin.

She noticed this but didn’t let go of his hand. She looked at their hands together and smiled a little as he did this.

“You’ve never had a handshake before?”, she asked him coyly.

He swayed his head with a smile. She laughed a little and told him that after they shake hands, it’s customary to let go.

Jun-seok suddenly let go of her hand and said sorry and she giggled. Jun-seok could feel his face and ears getting red because of embarrassment and this made her laugh more.

“Hey, don’t worry. It’s an American custom and at least I shared something new to you. Not just you teaching me your cooking all the time.”, she said sweetly.

She just doesn’t know how much she’s taught me already, Jun-seok thought.

---- to be continued ----

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nitewrighter · 6 years

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I understand you’re super busy with other fics and presumably your life etc, but do you think you’d ever write that ‘There were dragons when I was a boy’ shimada thing? (Btw love your writing you’re so skilled!)

Awww thank you!

—

Hideyoshi sat unceremoniously and sipped a beer, watching the fireflies hover over the garden from the engawa of his home. Technically it was a summer villa for the main branch of the family, far away from the bustle of Hanamura, but Sojiro had put him up in it some years ago, with a small security team and some help to maintain the deceptively large house. It was a muggy night, the screech of cicadas and the chirp of frogs mingling in the heat of the thick air. A tiny electric fan whirred next to him. The heat would have been oppressive if he were a younger man, but he was happy to let the heat sink through to his bones.

Hideyoshi Shimada was a figurehead. He knew that much about himself at this point. His word had some sway over the remains of the council, but he also knew loyalty wasn’t what it used to be in this family. Hanzo’s departure, his abandonment, had shifted perspectives. With Genji dead, the only remaining member of the next generation of the main branch was Hanzo, and if he had rejected the role of their scion, their head, what would that mean for the clan’s future? They had resources, obviously: ancient investments in land and hands deep in corporate pockets, drug and weapons trafficking, a few protection rackets for lower tiers in the organization, and even after all these years no one paralleled their assassins, but the dragons… the dragons were what set them apart from every crime family and every Yakuza ring in Japan.

“Hoo!” he heard a huffing exhale, the wood of the engawa creaked behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see a 30-something woman flapping the front of her blouse, unsticking it from the sweat of her torso and fanning it slightly with the fabric, “That’s all the laundry done,” she put her hands on her hips, “I’m heading off for the night. Need me to grab you anything before I go, sir?”

Hideyoshi shook his head. “You should get out of this heat, Chiyo.”

“It’s not a problem, sir, really,” Chiyo smiled. She pushed a sweaty strand of hair back from her face, “But you don’t need to tell me that twice. You take care of yourself, all right?” she said, smiling as she walked off toward the front of the villa.

Hideyoshi took another sip from his beer and the light flickered on him as a moth fluttered on it. “Touma,” he called.

A rather burly looking man, clearly suffering from the summer heat in his black suit jacket, stepped out onto the engawa. “Got a problem, boss?”

“See Chiyo gets to her car safely then take the night off,” said Hideyoshi.

“Boss, I don’t really think I should. The other council heads said—”

“How old is Kanna now, Touma? Eight?” Hideyoshi sipped his beer.

“Eleven, sir,” said Touma.

“Growing up fast, I see,” said Hideyoshi, “Before you know it she’ll be the one too busy for you. Take the night off.”

“But sir, with the recent–”

“I am aware of the situation, Touma,” Hideyoshi spoke calmly but firmly, setting the beer can down on the wooden boards of the engawa, “See Chiyo safely to her car and take the rest of the night off. That’s an order.”

“I—Yes sir. Have a good evening, sir,” Touma bowed before walking briskly after Chiyo.

Hideyoshi continued watching the fireflies in the garden for a few more minutes. The screeching chirp of cicadas was a comfort to him, like white noise. A drop of condensation rolled down the side of his beer can and he sipped it once more and then gave the can a slight shake to assess the level of beer left.

“I know you’re out there,” he said, sipping his beer again.

Two red eyes glinted against the dark silhouette of a large maple at the edge of the property and a figure leapt down and landed soundlessly in the close-trimmed grass of the garden. At first Hideyoshi thought he was clad all in black and white and red, but as he stepped from the shadow of the trees and into the yellow and silver light of the porch light and moon, Hideyoshi saw that the black and white and red were not clothes, but mechanical parts. a steel faceplate glinted in the light, and two furious red eyes peered out between that faceplate and a forehead guard that seemed to be modeled on the Shimada clan’s own headbands.

“You’re the one, aren’t you?” Hideyoshi said as the figure walked toward him.

The figure gave a single nod.

“The others—Taken out by your people as well?” asked Hideyoshi.

The figure shook his head.

Hideyoshi studied the figure. “All you?” he said, gesturing at the figure with his beer can.

The figure gave another single nod.

“Well… I can’t say I’m not impressed,” said Hideyoshi, sipping his beer, “Can I get you anything? Sake? A beer?”

“You know why I am here,” said the figure, drawing his sword.

“I wouldn’t have sent Touma off if I didn’t,” said Hideyoshi.

“You wish for death?”

“You mowed through the bodyguards of other clan members easily. Touma has a little girl. I didn’t want her to lose a father.”

“He knew the risks when he joined this organization,” said the figure, his grip tightening on the sword handle.

“But he is not the one you are here for,” said Hideyoshi.

“No,” said the figure, pointing his sword towards Hideyoshi, “No, he isn’t.”

Hideyoshi calmly finished his beer and set it down. “I know this means very little to you at this point, but I am sorry, Genji.”

A visible shake traveled down the blade of Genji’s sword. He quickly steadied the blade and his stance tensed further. “How did you know?” was all he said.

Hideyoshi calmly extended a hand and a greenish-blue light began spiraling around the tattoo up his wrist, “You forget I am of the main branch as well,” he said, a small teal dragon traveling up the length of his forearm, “Never as impressive as my brother or Sojiro’s, but where the dragon doesn’t lend strength, he lends wisdom. I have advised my brother, and your father, and my dragon advises me,” the dragon dematerialized, “But I didn’t need a dragon to know it had to be one of our own doing the assassinations. I was wracking my brain over who it could be for the longest time. But the dragon knew, though I feared the idea myself. As soon as you passed into this garden… we knew.”

Genji’s red eyes narrowed. “Well you will not live to speak it to another council member,” he snarled, touching the steel of his sword to the side of Hideyoshi’s wrinkled neck. In an odd way, the cool of the steel was a slight relief on the hot muggy night.

“Who did this to you, Genji?” said Hideyoshi, his eyes trailing up the red fibers of Genji’s prosthetic arm.

“You did,” the flat of Genji’s blade pressed insistently against Hideyoshi’s neck, “You. The council. Hanzo. You made this monster. What you see before you is every bit my choice. I am whatever I need to be to tear this organization apart from the roots.”

“This is my fault…” Hideyoshi looked down, “I thought by abstaining… I could shut the very notion down. I had hoped it would never come up in our meetings again. I assumed I had the same power I had when your father lead the clan… but I was wrong. The council was already turned in Yuriko’s favor… Genji, I—”

“Where is she?” Genji gripped Hideyoshi’s shoulder with his scarred remaining hand, “Where is Yuriko? Where is Hanzo?”

“The council pushed me to the margins… There’s very little they tell me anymore. I can’t tell you where they are,” said Hideyoshi, “And even if I could–They’re my family, Genji. They’re yours, too–”

“No,” Genji replied.

The blade lifted from Hideyoshi’s neck and quick and smooth plunged itself cold and sharp between his ribs. Hideyoshi’s breath went shallow and wet as he felt the blood start spilling into one of his lungs.

“Don’t,” Genji shifted the blade and Hideyoshi felt the blade pierce the other lung, “Call this,” Genji wrenched the blade out of Hideyoshi’s side, tearing it through his brittle ribs and sternum, and sending blood spraying out onto the wooden boards of the engawa, dripping onto the grass and gravel beneath it, “A family.”

Hideyoshi only made some soft choking sounds–no screams, no words with blood-filled lungs. With the last bits of his strength Hideyoshi braced one arm against Genji’s organic shoulder, while cupping one hand to the steel of the cyborg’s faceplate. He felt the darkness closing around him before he could will the strength to pull Genji into an embrace. The pain dulled itself out to a screaming white noise, blurring his senses. Hideyoshi remembered two young boys in clad in blue and green playing out in the very garden he was in now, catching fireflies and laughing. Genji broke away from him and Hideyoshi’s torso buckled in on itself from the exit wound of the blade and he collapsed to the boards of the engawa. His last breath was not a breath, but air forced out of him by the blood flooding his lungs.

With that, Genji wiped the blood off of his blade and sheathed it once more, then pivoted on his foot and clambered back up the maple to vault over the high wall of the garden. He landed easily on the other side and put two fingers to the side of his helmet, turning on his comm.

“–probably off brooding again like the goddamned drama queen he i–Genji! The hell have you been!?” McCree’s voice buzzed with some feedback and Genji grunted in pain with the volume in his ear.

“I’m fine,” said Genji, “I was having some issues with my comm.”

“Well I’ve been holding down this stakeout without you,” muttered McCree, “Reyes has been this close to calling interpol on your shiny metal ass. You have any idea how hard it is imitating your accent and that reverb on your vocoder? Get your ass over here.”

“Understood,” said Genji.

Genji clicked out of the comm channel and brought his hand down from the side of his helmet. He caught sight of blood on his organic hand, then sighed and wiped it off before slipping off into the night.

#overwatch #genji shimada #overwatch fanfic

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operationrainfall · 4 years

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Title Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Developer Atlus, Nintendo Publisher Nintendo Release Date January 17th, 2020 Genre RPG Platform Nintendo Switch Age Rating T for Teen – Fantasy Violence, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol Official Website

Let me just get this out of the way – I was a big fan of the original Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. I’m well aware of the so called controversy of the original game, and it in no way impacted my enjoyment. So when I saw the original game was getting an upgraded port in Encore, I knew I had to play it. Not only did it feature a revamped build of the original Wii U exclusive, it came packaged with the optional DLC as well as some entirely new content in the EX Story. Thanks to the kind folks at Nintendo providing us the opportunity to review the game, I buckled down and got through as fast as possible. Four years later, am I still a fan of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, or did this Encore fall flat?

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The first thing you should all know about Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is that it’s a game all about the theme of spreading happiness and creativity through art. In the game proper, that art is predominantly split between musical performances and stage acting. It embraces Japanese culture and all its many quirks, while showcasing the glamour of the entertainment industry. Besides that, the game is also a hybrid of two rather different series – Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem. You wouldn’t be faulted for wondering how easily those mesh together, but I can assure you it works shockingly well. Not only does Encore have key elements of both series, such as various character classes, a weapon triangle, exploiting enemy weaknesses and crazed extra-dimensional dungeons, it manages to also stand on its own two feet while inheriting the best aspects of both source materials. That said, for the majority of game, you’re going to see more SMT influence than FE, but once the credits roll, I felt both were well represented. This is also a game that benefits from being a JRPG, for one simple reason – this game’s strong suit isn’t the plot. That’s not to say the story isn’t interesting or entertaining, but after playing it a second time, I couldn’t help but notice several things the plot doesn’t adequately address. Thankfully, the genre is also known for having captivating personalities, and Encore has that in spades. You’ll really grow to love every character in the story, from the main cast to the supporting characters. They’ll all grow and become more fully realized as you play, and if you devote yourself to all the Side Story content (which I highly recommend), you’ll really get rewarded with some touching and hilarious moments.

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While the story (split into several chapters broken up with Intermissions) isn’t the tightest or most complex, it does provide a good structure for how things progress. Tokyo is under assault by invisible forces called Mirages. They are after the distilled creative essence of humanity, called Performa. It’s found in crowds that are inspired by music or theater, so every time some big event happens, Mirages strike. They drain our Performa until we’re just empty husks, and it provides a powerful boost of strength to these Mirages. You’re probably wondering how you fight back against such a threat, at least if you haven’t played a Persona or SMT game before. If you have, you know that it takes fire to fight fire. A small percentage of humans can see Mirages, and by joining forces with heroic ones, they become Mirage Masters. These humans are empowered by their Mirage, granted powerful armor as the Mirage itself turns into their primary weapon, called Carnage. Thus equipped, you and your band of heroes fights back, repelling these otherworldly invaders (portrayed on the map as floating red wraiths) and returning things to normal. Just be wary, since some evil Mirages have possessed prominent humans to do their bidding. There’s other parts to the story, such as the mystery of Tiki’s lost memories and an incident a few years back where a group of people vanished, including Tsubasa’s sister, but I’ll leave those portions for you to discover.

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Speaking of characters, let’s spend some time discussing the main ones. You play as Itsuki Aoi. He’s a mild mannered boy known as the Prince of Denseness, yet his support helps all his friends grow and reach their ultimate potential. He’s not quite an avatar, but he’s also the least fleshed out character in the game. Then there’s Itsuki’s childhood friend, Tsubasa. She suffered some serious trauma as a child, yet has still managed to grow into a loving and strong person. She’s also a ridiculous fangirl, and often gets so perplexed she walks into walls and gets tongue tied, inverting word order. Or take Touma, a hot headed action hero in training that uses confidence to hide his insecurity. There’s the old pro Kiria, entertainer extraordinaire and literal ice queen, at least until you reveal her soft and fluffy side. Then there’s Ellie, a girl of mixed ethnicity with a sharp tongue who has aspirations of Hollywood fame. For those who prefer innocence, there’s the sweet and demure Mamori, a young actress with her own popular cooking show that wants to protect those she loves. Finally, there’s the cold and brutally honest Yashiro. He starts out as a bitter rival to your team, but eventually you convince him to look past his misconceptions and discover the pain he’s hiding.

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But that’s just the main characters. There’s three other important supporting characters, and they’re all tremendous as well. Your boss is the busty and flirtatious Maiko, a one time model that runs the Fortuna agency with iron determination. There’s nothing she won’t do to help her stable of artists prosper, and that especially includes getting completely drunk while making connections. Or there’s Tiki, an ethereal green haired maiden whose name may sound familiar to Fire Emblem fans. Devoid of any physical form, Tiki only exists in the Bloom Palace, a extra-dimensional realm accessible from the Fortuna office. Though she has no memories, that doesn’t prevent her from showing off her loving and helpful side, always willing to help out her Big Brother! And finally there’s my favorite, Barry Goodman. A former metal rocker and Mirage Master, Barry has seen better days, but he’s always willing to train new talent. He’s also a worse fanboy than Tsubasa, and his brash and quirky personality provided some of my biggest laughs.

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Now, none of the plot or character would much matter if the game wasn’t fun, but Encore is a delight. In large part, that’s due to the complex and kinetic combat. You fight with a team of 3, and your goal is to attack the enemy to pinpoint their weaknesses. Once you’ve done that, by using a Skill that exploits it, you’ll initiate the titular Sessions. Essentially, this is a giant chain of attacks that proceeds from a single one, ignoring enemy defenses. Initially this only involves your current team, but eventually you’ll acquire the ability to include your sub cast of characters, leading to massive combos. When you have one foe left, you’ll deal Overkill damage, providing great rewards of cash and Performa. As you level up, your Carnage learn new Skills, and you get to choose which you keep and which you toss. Additionally, you can change out any member of your team whenever you want, other than Itsuki. This allows you to bring in the right character for the task at hand, and manipulate the field of battle to your advantage. Just keep in mind, only the characters in combat level up their Carnage, while everybody levels up their character level regardless.

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You also have at your disposal powerful Special and Ad-lib Performances. Special Performances use energy you’ve filled up in your meter by attacking, and has some tremendously powerful effects. Some of my favorite examples are temporarily increasing enemy weaknesses, healing your entire team, fatally killing enemies and much more. Ad-lib are also quite powerful, but only activate randomly when characters use Skills with the corresponding attack type. For example, if Ellie uses a Bow attack, she may use One-Sided Love, which damages all your foes and charms them to boot. If instead you use a Lightning Skill like Maziodyne with Itsuki, you might activate Back Chorus, zapping the entire field. Last of all are Duo Arts. You won’t have access to these until the latter portion of the game, but once you do, they make a big difference. They often trigger during long Sessions, and have two of your teammates join together for tremendous and powerful attacks. A great example is The Tunnel Home, where Barry, dressed like a giant dog, races to catch Mamori’s axe, and then charges the foe headfirst with it, ripping them to shreds. Keep in mind that while both Ad-lib Performances and Duo Arts are random, having a higher Luck stat seems to trigger them more often, since Ellie, who has very high luck, seemed to trigger these types of attack the most.

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Like any good RPG, you can upgrade your gear, crafting more powerful weapons. This process is called Unity, and it’s done at the Bloom Palace with Performa dropped by defeated foes. When you gather enough, you can have Tiki conduct a Carnage Unity, making a new weapon with enhanced stats and differing weaknesses by fusing the gathered Performa with your Mirage. Eventually you can craft +1 or higher versions of the same Carnage, which is useful when you can’t find the right Performa to make a new weapon. Also, whenever you make a new one, you have a chance to learn a new Special Performance, meaning it’s in your best interest to keep on fighting so you can make stronger weapons and learn more abilities. For the most part, I felt this loop worked very well, and only hit a wall that forced me to grind for parts a couple of times in my near 50 hour experience. Another type of Unity is Radiant Unity, where you use special Performa found only in the many Side Stories to learn new abilities that you don’t have to equip and which are constantly in use. A good example is Open Audition, which lets your sub cast of characters jump into Sessions. An integral one is learned by Itsuki, called Director Itsuki, which lets you switch foes after you kill one and keep the Session going. Finally, like any good Fire Emblem, you can change your class. You do this with (you guessed it) Master Seals, which are either mission rewards or found in hard to reach corners of dungeons. This lets you further customize your experience and changes the look of your Mirage, though I admit I found the starting forms preferable to many of the downright strange looking upgraded classes. But that’s just a matter of personal preference, you might find that you love the look of these new forms.

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Although the plot isn’t Encore’s strong suit, that isn’t the same as saying the writing falls flat. I found most of the dialogue very funny and revealing, whether it be conveyed in some grand speech or in digital messages called Topics. In the original Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Topics were relegated to the Gamepad, and notified you when one of your characters had something to say, or when you could start a new Side Story. Though Topics are alive and well here, instead they’re relegated to the + button. This wasn’t problematic per se, but oftentimes I would open up the main menu, which is separate from the Topic menu. This only cost me a few seconds to close it out and open the right one, but it was far less intuitive than originally on the Wii U. That said, the Topics are often hilarious, showing banter between Itsuki and his friends. The Topic menu also helps keep track of which Side Stories are in progress, and is where you’ll find the dungeon maps. I loved the Side Stories in the game, since not only did they showcase more of the cast’s personalities, but they provided powerful upgrades and Backup Skills for the sub characters. My only issue was when it wasn’t clear how to progress certain missions, such as when Tsubasa is on the hunt for a stray cat, and the clues you’re given are entirely open ended and unnecessarily vague. The missions that involved combat or just progressed like a Visual Novel were much more to my liking, since I get frustrated whenever I get stuck. That said, it occurred to me as I played that if there’s ever a VN made of Encore, it would most definitely be a Harem VN. Itsuki becomes the love interest of ALL the female characters, even though he’s too dense to realize it. Even the men all respect and admire him. In other words, there’s a universe in which Itsuki finally learns the full extent of Maiko’s many charms, and that’s a tale I would definitely read.

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The dungeons in Encore play out very much like a Persona game. Enemies will appear and chase you, though most can be stunned with Itsuki’s sword to gain First Strike during battle. There’s also terrifying Savage enemies, black wraiths that can’t be knocked down and which generally are 10+ levels higher than your team. Though dungeons aren’t littered with traps and false floors, they each have a unique gimmick that makes traversal a challenge. While the very first one is incredibly basic, the one immediately after that is a giant step up in terms of complexity and difficulty. It has you manipulate empty mannequins, raising or lowering their arms, then progressing through the cuffs to reach new areas. There’s another that is full of devious cameras that take your picture and return you to the very beginning, not unlike the Wallmasters in Zelda. Pretty much each dungeon is distinct looking and offers a robust challenge, and none other than the first can be breezed through. Most took me more than 2 hours, and the final one easily took 8 or more. Thankfully, early on Tsubasa acquires the Traport skill, which lets you transport yourself back to Fortuna HQ, where you can heal your team with a soda. Depending on the type of can, you will also increase the luck of certain characters temporarily. I had no issue with this, other than my confusion about the very first dungeon having a heal spot, and none of the others. But so long as you don’t mind a little back and forth teleportation, you shouldn’t have any problems getting through these dungeons. Just put on your thinking cap and get ready to fight back hordes of Mirages.

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It wouldn’t be a satisfying RPG without tough bosses, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore delivers. Every time I thought I was getting overpowered in the game, the next boss would prove me wrong. None of the bosses here are easy, at least on the Normal difficulty I chose. Most of them can wipe you out in a couple turns, especially if your team is weak to any of their attacks. Each boss usually has a posse of minor foes, and while that might seem unfair, since they can summon more, they’re there for a reason. Namely, so you can defeat the minor foes to build up your Session meter and then unleash powerful attacks on the bosses. I enjoyed the challenge provided by these fights, and only found a handful to be a pain. One was a doppleganger of Yashiro that could split himself into clones, and which would go into a counter stance to parry any physical attacks. Another was Excellus, a floating mechanical mage that changed his resistances during the fight, and which could hit my team with unrelenting magical attacks. There’s a couple others, but overall I wasn’t upset with the more difficult bosses. They just required I be willing to grind up my levels and equipment a bit, a skill I gathered recently thanks to games like Persona Q.

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Now, it wouldn’t be fair to talk about Encore without touching upon the new content. First of all, you have a rather silly (yet awesome) ability at the start to choose whether or not Tsubasa wears glasses in the game. As a fan of the sexy librarian trope, I opted for it. Besides that, the DLC which was previously only available to those that paid for it is part of the main package now. It’s essentially free, since this version of the game costs as much as the base version of the original, $59.99. The DLC, which opens up a couple dungeons into the game, includes 3 areas you can tackle. One is full of Savage enemies that reward you with Tomes which help level up faster; another area gives you Skill Books, for learning new Skills much faster; and lastly one has Detritus, which can be traded for stat boosting Incense. While I’m fine with these options, I didn’t use them much. Mostly cause there was no story there, you can’t save in these areas, and frankly Savage foes are a giant pain in the ass. What I would have preferred was an area full of Rare Mirages, which often drop hard to find Performa necessary for powerful Carnage Unity. In my entire playthrough, I maybe encountered 10 of these Mirages, and what’s worse, they aren’t tied to any specific area. That wasn’t a huge problem til later in the game, but it is worth mention.

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However, the real draw for Encore is the EX Story. It all takes place in a new dungeon called the Area of Aspiration, where supposedly your dreams are brought into physical form. I admit I was tentatively very excited about the EX Story, as I hoped it would provide an excuse to spend more time with this world. Unfortunately, I have to confirm it’s rather short and insubstantial. The story tied to the Area of Aspiration only involves Itsuki, Tsubasa and Kiria, and none of the others. While it’s cool you can find new costumes there, and I appreciated unlocking the use of Tiki, Maiko and Barry in Sessions, that’s also not the same as them being playable characters. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for tiny green dragons, busty ninjas and knights clad in dog-armor, but I also don’t feel like the process of unlocking them was fulfilling. In the main story, you progress in Side Stories and learn more about your teammates, and then those revelations empower them. Here, you just open a chest and get new features. Plus, I’m still not clear how Maiko and Barry, who lack Mirages, magically get the ability to fight Mirages, which the game states over and over again is the sole province of a Mirage Master. And though you can’t get through the Area of Aspiration all at once, since parts of it are gated behind other content, it’s still over way too soon. It only has 3 chapters and one boss. I was really hoping for a meaty dungeon to spend hours and hours in after I beat the final boss. Instead, I got maybe a couple hours of extra content that left me wanting more than the one new song, “She Is”, rewarded to you at the very end of the experience. Which isn’t to say I hated the EX Story, I didn’t. I just feel a game of this caliber deserved better.

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As for how the game game looks and plays, both are fantastic. Even though the original Tokyo Mirage Sessions was on the Wii U, and while the limitations of that console are still apparent (reused enemy models, limited draw distance, a seemingly sprawling map that’s only composed of a few areas), it in no way prevents this from being a beautiful game. I love how random passerby are rainbow colored, or how the Fortuna office gets decorated after various performances with posters, or even the neon portraits of your team during battle. Hell, even though they reuse enemy models with a new coat of paint, there’s a good variety of foes, from giant clown heads to winged raiders to hideous giants and top-hat wearing ghosts. Of special note are the game’s bosses, which each are stunning looking and showcase a distinct aesthetic style. And each of the characters’ different Mirages are all full of personality that is matched by their design. Musically, I love the game equally. While the main combat and exploration themes are somewhat laid back, I live for when the music of performances enters the fray of battle. I still tap my feet to the Duo Arts “Dream Catcher” and “Give Me”, and am always impressed by the Kiria’s bad ass tunes, such as her Ad-lib Performance “The Labyrinth.” There’s tons of rocking tunes in Encore, from a wide range of genres. I never thought I liked J-pop, but Tokyo Mirage Sessions may have proven me wrong. Oh and though I am not fluent in Japanese in the slightest, I loved the personality and pop provided by the vocal cast, in and out of combat.

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Now, while I like almost everything about Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, reviewing games for this many years has trained me to view things critically. As such, the following are minor frustrations that dragged the experience down a bit. One are the bestiary’s enemy locations. These can be viewed from your main menu, and are integral when you need to farm the right Performa for weapons and skills. Unfortunately, the enemy locations found here don’t correspond to the actual area map. Another issue is that I wish that once you see a scene, you can skip it entirely the next time. Often right before a boss fight there’s a ton of dialogue, and while you can speed through it, you can’t skip it, and you definitely can’t skip Topic notifications that are story related. This made the final boss fight all the harder, since there’s a massive scene right before it, and it takes a good minute and a half to speed through it. I also kind of wish the map wasn’t on the Topic menu, but the other huge main menu, since it can be time consuming transitioning between them. It’s also a bit irritating that you’ll get notifications of a side story about to open up, then have to wait til it’s triggered. This is after you level up your Stage Rank, which is in itself a nebulous process, since there’s no counter that tells you when it’s full, unlike character and Carnage level. And one last thing that really irritated me was that I always had tons of money in-game, literally millions, but not enough things to spend it on. The Carabia boutique has a very limited supply of equipment, and none that is really game changing. Even buying all the costumes from Harajuka left me millions in the bank. I almost wish this game took mechanics from a game like Persona Q, letting you farm materials that you trade in to create new equipment regularly. Other than these, I very much enjoyed the game.

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All in all, I’m still very much a fan of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE after beating Encore. It’s basically the same game, just with a bit of extra content thrown in and some minor quality of life improvements such as the Quick Session option and faster load times. While I was ultimately unimpressed with the EX Story, I still appreciate being able to play one of my favorite Wii U exclusives on my Switch portably. If you’re a fan of Japanese culture and love crazy RPGs full of heart, you owe it to yourself to play Encore. Now I just have to cross my fingers and pray we get a true sequel that improves on this already fantastic experience.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

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REVIEW: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Title Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore

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