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mobage_manual
Welcome to Recommending Characters! In this section of the blog, I’ll be making an overview of a certain character from one of the franchises I’m into once every two weeks, as well as highlighting their best and most important moments in canon, in hopes that it’ll make the readers interested both in the character and in the game itself!
This time, I’m back with another Project SEKAI character, though this time she isn’t a member of Wonderlands x Showtime, but Nightcord at 25:00 like the first character I tackled from this series: Ena Shinonome! A slightly misunderstood but popular character nonetheless, I was happy I got to write about another character from my favorite unit!
A slightly misunderstood but popular character, Ena (alias ‘Enanan’) is the artist behind the artworks for Nightcord at 25:00’s songs, put together by Mizuki, their PV maker and editor. However, her individual works not attached to any of the group barely get any attention, which she doesn’t take too well… But before saying anything else, let’s go over her profile first, both when the game first came out, and now after the 3rd Anniversary!
Profile & General Overview
"Fufufu, I'm getting so many likes. ...however..."
Like I said, Ena Shinonome is the artist of Nightcord at 25:00, a four-member circle that uploads songs to the internet without revealing their names nor faces to the public. She was born on April 30th, making her a Taurus (and also the oldest character if we don’t count the Virtual Singers), and she’s 1,58m tall. Her voice actress is Minori Suzuku, who doesn’t have any other prominent roles in other mobage that I know of, but has an impressive singing voice. As for schooling, she attends night classes at Kamiyama High School, placing her in class 2ºD. Other details on her profile include a few likes, hobbies and specialties, as well as dislikes. She’s also the older sister of Akito Shinonome, member of Vivid BAD SQUAD.
"All I want is just to keep improving."
As Project SEKAI moved one year forward with its 3rd Anniversary, some of the data on the characters’ profiles has been modified accordingly, though in Ena’s case, the only thing that has changed along with her quote and appearance is the class she’s in, moving up one grade to 3ºD, though there’s a lot to be said, story-wise. Despite being teased in the trailers as someone who frequently checks and posts in social media…
… In reality, this is the way she deals with not having her art skills recognised, even though she’s the daughter of a famous artist and has been painting ever since she was little… This also ties to the reason why she joined N25 – Kanade was the first person to actually acknowledge her art and find meaning to it, continuing to draw even now. However, she still has a lot of complexes and pent-up feelings about her art, which are explored further in the Main Story, which is what we’ll be seeing next!
Stories:
Main Story Highlight
As I’ve already described in Kanade’s entry, Nightcord at 25:00’s Main Story focuses mostly on Mafuyu, but it also presents everyone else’s conflicts and character arcs, and Ena is no exception. In fact, she plays a crucial role during the climax of the story, confronting Mafuyu by saying that although she might want to disappear, there’s still value in what she does, a thing Ena herself thinks she doesn’t have, as her art has been frequently ignored and criticized by those close to her, thus being jealous of Mafuyu’s skills and frustrated at how she’s still depressed even then.
Once again, though they end up coming to terms with each other, Ena’s story isn’t explained further until her song events, so let’s go over those next.
Events:
Unsatisfied Pale Color
No matter how hard I try, no one sees my art...! Even if some do, they end up feeling nothing...!
I know just how hard it is!! Way more than YOU do!!
I mean, look at me... I don't have anything…
No talent... Nothing... Not like you…
After being one of the most wished events by the fandom, Ena’s first focus event was released almost three years ago, finally exploring some more or her struggles with art already teased in N25’s Main Story as she tries signing up to an art contest to prove herself and her skills against her father’s advice, who is a successful artist. What will happen when her piece doesn’t win any of the prizes? An event just as intense as the song that accompanies it, which is one of my personal favorites.
Associated song: Infinitely Gray by surii
On this Black Canvas, I paint
(If it's still possible for me to grow as an artist...)
(No, I don't care if there's zero chance. I don't care if that door closes on me...!)
I'll start going again…
(I'm done running... It won't be easy and it's gonna hurt... But I don't care how long it takes...)
(I absolutely vow to become the artist that N25 really deserves...!)
Ena decides to face her past by signing up again to her old art classes, led by professor Yukihira, who once criticized her artworks to the point of running away in frustration. But as she compares herself to her old classmates, she starts to doubt herself once again… A long awaited event after her first song event that I found to be surprisingly good and introspective, both the first time I read it and now when I was revising it for the entry!
Associated song: Nomad by balloon
Someday, this wish will transcend the morning sky
To be fair, each day feels like a struggle since no matter how much I draw, I keep getting told how awful my drawings are.
But this is what I want to do. This is the path I've chosen.
I don't care what anyone says. I'm not gonna stop drawing.
While continuing in Mr. Yukihira’s classes, Ena has troubles with her next assignment. That’s when she runs into Mafuyu on the way home, and offers her a place to have dinner seeing how the other girl doesn’t want to go home… Will inspiration come forth when confronted with the reason why? While this event isn’t as angsty as the other two, this is actually a sign of Ena’s growth and character development, so I appreciate it regardless!
Associated song: “I”nan desu by rerulili
Other Events:
Besides her three song events so far, Ena was also featured as the banner in two non-song events as well, those being Tell me your Problems! Exciting Picnic and Paint what you like ♪ Rainbow Canvas.
First off, Tell me your Problems! Exciting Picnic follows right after Mizuki’s first song event, Secret Distance, which had Ena worried about them as they seemed to be worried about something. In sight of that, Airi (who is Ena’s friend from middle school) notices that Ena is also troubled, so she decides to organize a fun trip with the three of them, plus Shizuku, from her same group. A few other meetings and shenanigans ensure when they get lost in the forest, though…
On the other hand, Paint what you like ♪ Rainbow Canvas features a worried Honami as she’s tasked alongside Emu to teach kids how to paint animals in one of the walls of their local zoo, but is terrible at painting and drawing. In sight of that, she seeks Ena’s advice, who is also looking for something she was missing in her last assignment. A fun and lighthearted event with an unusual trio who actually get along better than imagined!
Other events that don’t feature Ena as the banner but that are still important to her character include My Footprints, Your Destination (for the continuation of the conflict with Mizuki) and Ringing Sounds at the Summer Festival (for more on her relationship with her brother, Akito).
Fun-facts:
As school years tend to group people born between April of one year and March of the next one, Ena is the oldest character in the Project SEKAI cast of original characters.
Out of the entire cast, she’s the one that wakes up the latest, which is a funny contrast with her brother, Akito, as he’s one of the two characters who wakes up the earliest.
Closing thoughts:
While going through the stories again as I searched for quotes, I was once reminded of how hard-hitting Ena’s story is. As someone who frequently creates artistic content (such as this blog!), I’m quite familiar with the feeling of frustration at not being recognized for your work, and I know I’m not the only one. Out of the N25 members, she might be the one I feel the least connected to, but this stands nonetheless, and overall, people should give her a chance and try to see past her behavior in the Main Story like many complain, which is just this frustration directed at someone else.
And with that, this entry has come to an end! Once again, I apologize for the delay, as this was scheduled to be posted yesterday, but university is keeping me busier than ever, despite the lax posting schedule. I’ll have some more free time from now on, so I’ll try to prevent this from happening again! And in the meantime, you can vote for the next entries I’ll be tackling between February and March, approximately! Here is the link for the poll, which will be open until January 14th! See you in two weeks!
