Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-24187738-20180225155956/@comment-31015333-20180226224547

Takami Chika (twitter: @kei_pointo)

When I saw this prompt, I was… well, not sure what I’d write about. Aqours isn’t a group of girls that can only change a life in one way. In fact, while it may be pretty chuunibyou to say this, Aqours has impacted every single one of my lives in different ways. My social life has been transformed ever since I’ve started cosplaying as Ruby, allowing me to create a wonderful group of friends who could bond over cosplay (and other Love Live Sunshine shenanigans)—whom of which I would consider to be the best friends I have. My physical life has been transformed ever since I’ve started learning Aqours dances, getting me to exercise in ways that I’d never even think of doing in the past (like trying to upgrade my cartwheel to a Miracle Wave back handspring hahaha…). My anime life has been transformed, too, because now I can’t be loyal to any one girl which is why I changed to Chika since the previous best girl Mari essay that I wrote.

Because there’s so many things I could write about, I’ve decided to stick to a single life of mine, and a single Aqours activity that changed it. The life that changed was my dream life, and the activity that changed it was a single song's performance at the First Live: AZALEA'S Tokimeki Bunruigaku.

—

I never really liked leaving my comfort zone. And I mean that in every single way. Trying new things, going outside, leaving my home state—I avoided all of it like the plague. The point is, trying new things was not my thing, and I never saw myself as somebody who would want to branch out.

March 5th, 2017 marked the day of the live viewing of Aqours’ First Love Live in NYC. To go to it, I’d have to leave the state. However, many of my friends were going, and they’d already bought tickets for me, so I couldn’t complain much. I loved the seiyuus to death, anyway.

And so the day came. In this uncomfortable place with a whole bunch of strangers, I was a little less than thrilled. Or so I was, at least, up until the live itself started.

Up to that point, I’ve seen Aozora Jumping Heart performed over and over again. It was basically performed everywhere the girls went, and it was even live streamed, making it one of the few songs legally accessible on YouTube. However, if somebody asked me when I first saw the seiyuus performed, I’d say March 5th, 2017.

AoJan went by in a flash. Then KoiAqua started. Then Aqours Heroes. Hand in hand. Daisuki Dattara. YumeTera. And then the subunits. Genki Zenkai. Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no, with Shukashuu's breathtaking performance. Then Torikoriko, with its charmingly long “mon mon time.”

Torikoriko ended, and AZALEA began their MC. Talking and casting their pinkifying Torikorikoriko~ spell, I realized that at this point, I was pretty much completely enchanted. I didn’t think there was much more they could do to make me fall more in love.

However—following up that obvious red flag—I was wrong. They could enchant me again, and in a way more profound than anything ever had before.

The next song that came up was Tokimeki Bunruigaku.

Suddenly, after moving so quickly for so long, time slowed.

In fact, it felt like it stopped completely.

The music of this song I loved so dearly began to play, and the girls began to sing.

Why. Do. I. Think? Why. Do. I. Think? Something like this dreamlike scenery. Something like this dreamlike happiness. …They’re not a dream if I call them dreamlike.

At that point, I was still. I lowered my penlights and stared blankly. The crimson petals gently falling onto Arisha as she sung those lines, solitude under the light from the ceiling that let the petals drop. The sheer beauty of her outfit. The power of her voice as she sung these lyrics—lyrics to what would very soon become my favorite Love Live song, if not my favorite song of all time.

…I realized that this feeling wasn’t a dream.

All this complex talk is background music. Where is my curiosity? The name that came to my mind—was not what I expected.

At this point, I started whispering along quietly, singing. The emerald green petals gently fell behind Suwawa, granting her a charm like I’d never seen before. And again, I felt this unprecedented feeling—something I never could’ve imagined existed in this outside world. The place was vast, and it was a lot of work to get out into. But who could’ve known that it was hiding this? Who would’ve known the outside world—

And then yellow petals began to fall.

I wonder why, this lid of emotions—when I tried opening it, everything came flowing out. I wonder why, even just thinking about it—my ears would become hot.

Kin-chan’s voice entranced me. A voice I’d always considered to be the best of all Aqours was resonating throughout the entire venue. I couldn’t define the feeling. Heck, I still can’t put it into words. At that point, I couldn’t comprehend what was in front of me. I had tried something new, going outside on my own for once. I tried opening this new thing known as the outside world, and, my feelings, completely overflowing, carried me to the chorus.

There are different types of excitement. I just began to understand that.

The flowers bloomed. The three girls of AZALEA, spinning their arms in a circle, creating gorgeous flowers of green, yellow, and red—it looked nothing short of magic. I was watching what I, to this day, still describe to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It was something I’d never seen anything remotely like before—an excitement that I had been completely oblivious to.

So research is necessary. So please help me.

Releasing their arms, the petals scattered.

It’s not something you can find on documents—it’s much more personal. So research is necessary. So help me uncover this mystery.

Aqours, or to be specific, AZALEA helped me uncover this mystery.

It was the feeling of going out and finding something new. Something you never knew you would’ve loved so much, but you never would’ve found if you never went out to go experiment and find it. This feeling… it made me realize that I knew what I wanted to do with my life now.

I had a new dream—a dream that I never even thought possible from a person like me. It was a dream to go out into the world and see scenery I’ve never seen before. To live in a new place with different flora and fauna than what my state could have ever house. To look more into this feeling and discover that there are things worth looking for in this world—things that once you find them, you realize how much you’ve been missing out on.

To look for that excitement again and find that dreamlike state—

Indeed. Research would be required.