hajime shino ✿ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
looseleaves) wrote2017-10-28 08:49 pm
looseleaves) wrote2017-10-28 08:49 pm
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〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Hajime Shino/"Bluebird"
CHARACTER AGE: 15
SERIES: Ensemble Stars!
CHRONOLOGY: Post-Mall Live
CLASS: Hero, but probably more like a "support" hero. He has no ability to fight.
BACKGROUND:
Ensemble Stars takes place in Japan, at Yumenosaki Academy: a private school that is best known for its "idol course"--a specialized set of classes meant to shape and teach young idols. It works essentially like an idol agency within the school. For the most part, Hajime and his unit--Ra✽bits--are in the background. They serve to be more of a 'lesson' to the player (referred to as Anzu from henceforth.)
At the very start, the narrative that unfolds is a pretty happy-go-lucky one. Anzu is a transfer student that immediately is helped out by three of her classmates, the class president, Hokuto and his two friends (Subaru and Makoto). They (and one more, yet to be introduced to Anzu) make up the unit "Trickstar". As they introduce Anzu to their school and how the idol course is structured, slowly, it becomes evident that not all is as it seems. Anzu is witness to an unofficial DreamFes (a competition between units/idols) and sees how heated things are in the Academy, and due to its unofficial nature, the oppressive Student Council steps in. Anzu and the Trickstar trio are able to outrun the punishment, but Anzu faints after some roughhousing from one of the opponents onstage, in his dash to escape punishment. While (seemingly) unconcious, Hokuto explains to Anzu about how the school is borderline rotten, how the only people that truly achieve the dreams they had when they entered the school were idols who fit into the cookie-cutter mold that was expected of them. Due to the influence of the school council, rarely do any students want to oppose them in any way, meaning that the units that succeed are only the ones that have student council members in it.
This is what Hajime's unit, Ra✽bits, is brought in to demonstrate. A scant few chapters later, Subaru and Anzu run into Hajime, who is manning the ticket counter for his unit's own official DreamFes. Due to it being official, the audience is not only their classmates as in unofficial DreamFes, but also people that will attend from outside the school. Their opponents, however, are Akatsuki, the strongest active unit at the time. Ra✽bits, being the newbie team they are, aren't bent on absolute success, but all of the members put in their best to try and shine for an audience onstage. Hajime in particular is noted for not only having a beautiful voice by Subaru, but it's brought up several times how much he's worked hard to afford costumes and the like for their unit as well as studying their routine. As they go onstage after Akatsuki, however, they are greeted with an empty audience. Due to the way voting works, and the fact that Akatsuki has the vice president as its core, no one stayed to watch Ra✽bits. Subaru and Anzu see this firsthand as the only people in the audience.
Although Ra✽bits sing their hearts out for Subaru and Anzu, it's clear that all of them--including Hajime--are pained.
We see Hajime again in Revolution, where he is once again working at the ticket counter--but this time, the battle is against Trickstar and Akatsuki. He plays a minor role afterwards, supporting and cheering on Trickstar, celebrating with them when they eventually win. The student council's unit (fine) eventually loses to Trickstar, ushering in a change in the school's systems.
Note: if you take a look at the wiki's Main Story page, you'll see that the last chapter is currently not translated. The manga, novels, and constant event stories referencing the events of the Main Story (as most events take place after the Main Story) make it so players will already know that Trickstar actually succeeds. Hajime's mentioned canon point takes place after an event in late spring, but is not mentioned as event stories rarely if ever expand on the world as it relates to Hajime.
PERSONALITY: The first words that come to mind when thinking of Hajime are "kind" and "shy".
Upon first glance, he's your typical wallflower--easily anxious, fretful, but with a golden (if easily breakable) heart that shines through. Truthfully, that is a succinct way of expressing who he is; he's not a character that comes with incredible hidden depths or tragic backstory. There are, however, nuances to his character that could be overlooked when you just subscribe to him being a "wallflower".
Hajime comes from a middle-poor class family. It's both hinted and stated outright that he bears a lot of responsibility after caring for his two younger siblings, likely due to his parents working to provide for the family themselves. As a result, he's very thrifty and actually has a good amount of street smarts, with his VA noting that he's the type of boy to fret over the small things, like limited times sales at grocery stores. He clearly has a place in his home, and due to the care and thoughtfulness of his actions, it's clear that he's more than just 'big brother' but could almost stand-in as a parent with how responsible he is. Often, he's the one taking the initiative to do things and serve others, like how he is the one who's always making the tea in the Tea Club, and how he throws himself into part-time gigs for his unit. Of the four Ra✽bits members, he's the one that is most often seen doing side work in terms of manual labor.
His anxiety is notable, but what is most important is how he overcomes it. Instead of running away from the sources of his anxiety, Hajime is noted for always carrying around a lavender satchel and uses it to calm himself down due to its soothing scent. Despite the fact that he says he was scared of Eichi, the Student Council President and the President of the Tea Club, Hajime doesn't just skip out on going. He still shows up, still engages in the club, still actually speaks to Eichi despite being anxious about it. He's visibly nervous and sometimes is over-formal, but he doesn't just quail at what he fears. Hajime may be scared, but he doesn't want to just stay standing still--he wants to change, he wants to get better at not only being an idol, but being a person.
Due to Ra✽bits' image of being "cute", Hajime can't cut his hair, as it clashes with their aesthetic. It's often, however, that other characters say things to Hajime that denote him being more feminine--for example, Subaru saying that Hajime asking him to take care of him (as is common for a junior to say to a senior) sounds like a "marriage proposal", and that he'd be set "if [he] had a wife like [Hajime]" in Salon de Thé. Of course, Hajime is quick to retort 'I'm a boy, though, I wouldn't be a wife...' He's mistaken for a girl a lot, sometimes is given feminine roles even by the PC, and is known for having male fans. This tends to upset him, and sometimes make him uncomfortable. Hajime likes what he does, but he realizes some of the things he likes are feminine, and unlike others (Arashi comes to mind) he can't quite take it in stride and often flusters over it.
His admiration for the people around him shines through in his kindness. Even those he doesn't have particularly strong ties with, he's kind and cordial to them, often complimenting them and their unique strengths. For the people he does know, he tends to let them be somewhat indulgent, like how he calls Eichi onii-chan when Eichi asks him to. It's a two-sided coin, though: most of his compliments also reflect how he feels in comparison. He notes in Marching Band that "[Subaru] once encouraged me by telling me that he liked my singing voice. I think it's thanks to [Subaru's] words that I've made it this far." While the compliment must've helped, it downplays Hajime's strong work ethic and his ability to learn, which no doubt are the primary reasons he matured.
Unreliable indirect characterization can sometimes make Hajime's actions confusing. The person most notorious for this is Tsukasa, a member from another unit, Knights. He and Hajime are friends but it's under strange circumstances, and with the addendum that Hajime is close to someone Tsukasa admires (Eichi) without expending much effort while Tsukasa tries very hard to get close to Eichi with some of his plans backfiring. Tsukasa sees Hajime as a friendly rival and notes that Hajime is able to perform near-flawlessly with a good amount of skill. On the other hand, in the exact same moment, Hajime thinks that he struggles to keep up, needing to constantly be thinking about his actions to make sure he's on-par. Previously, he'd called Hajime's ability to get on everyone's good side his "cunning". While neither of these seem to fit Hajime, it does seem to shed light that he may not be as inept or untalented as he thinks he is.
POWER: Hajime has no canon powers. As such, he'll gain the powers of musical manipulation. He has three distinct abilities:
1) Empathic Voice: his songs will stir certain emotions in the audience. It can be used to soothe the masses, a rallying cry, etc. At its weakest, all it can do is stir up those feelings, not outright control or force them. All it can do is emotionally resonate with people, not control emotional reactions. Since these are emotional suggestions, they're fairly easy to dismiss after a performance. During the song, it's very hard to separate natural emotions from the emotions suggested unless you're trained in the powers of empathy.
2) Buff Song: his songs will be able to bolster people's morale, strength, magic, and heal. At its weakest, it's a very slow and minimal regenerative effect/magic boost/strength boost. It's a direct augmentation to the audience's abilities rather than spurring them to feel. At its strongest, it can make someone do twice of their ability potential (their 100% + 100% more), heal large wounds, or bring a numbing effect/boost morale. He can cycle through the buffs within one song, but this takes a lot of focus and energy.
3) Shield Song: his song provides a nullification shield for the audience listening. It can be individual across all of the audience (smaller mitigation) or encompassing one area (bigger mitigation). At its weakest, it can provide a shield from bruising. At its strongest, it will be able to negate a few (2-5) near-lethal hits before it breaks. Of the three powers, this has the longest recast time because of its strength, and takes the most energy to expel. Even after training for a few long months, it's unlikely to impossible to stack this song over the others.
The most important problem/conundrum that occurs with these is that, at least not without a lot (4+ months of daily practice will cause improvement) of constant practice, two effects cannot occur at the same time. He can't influence emotions while also healing and buffing, and he can't really change between effects suddenly. He'd have to end the song he's singing and start a new one for the new effect to take place, which takes up valuable time. In a life-or-death scenario he can just stop his song in the middle and start a new one, but that demands that he be ready for that to happen. The only "exception" to this is Buff Song, as he can switch between healing/buffing seamlessly at the expense of more focus and energy. He does not need accompaniment for his songs to take effect, as he can sing acapella, and the song subject does not effect the effect it has on people, only what he wants them to feel. Example: if he sings a sorrowful love ballad but feels nostalgic, people will feel nostalgic. They can also feel sad because the song is sad, but that won't be Hajime's doing. In other words, he has to feel those emotions too, to be able to spur them in the audience--without his own emotions as a basis, he can't reach them.
Along with all of these stipulations, due to the nature of singing/performing, this power can be incredibly stressful and exhausting. Keeping this up for hours on end is very hard if not impossible, and is very taxing on his body. He's not used to singing for hours at a time, so he would need to train not only his powers but his actual music prowess, as his powers won't activate with a badly sung song.
CHARACTER NAME: Hajime Shino/"Bluebird"
CHARACTER AGE: 15
SERIES: Ensemble Stars!
CHRONOLOGY: Post-Mall Live
CLASS: Hero, but probably more like a "support" hero. He has no ability to fight.
BACKGROUND:
Wiki: Hajime's profile
Wiki: a page detailing how Yumenosaki works
Wiki: Main Story
Wiki: all non-main scenario stories Hajime is in
Ensemble Stars takes place in Japan, at Yumenosaki Academy: a private school that is best known for its "idol course"--a specialized set of classes meant to shape and teach young idols. It works essentially like an idol agency within the school. For the most part, Hajime and his unit--Ra✽bits--are in the background. They serve to be more of a 'lesson' to the player (referred to as Anzu from henceforth.)
At the very start, the narrative that unfolds is a pretty happy-go-lucky one. Anzu is a transfer student that immediately is helped out by three of her classmates, the class president, Hokuto and his two friends (Subaru and Makoto). They (and one more, yet to be introduced to Anzu) make up the unit "Trickstar". As they introduce Anzu to their school and how the idol course is structured, slowly, it becomes evident that not all is as it seems. Anzu is witness to an unofficial DreamFes (a competition between units/idols) and sees how heated things are in the Academy, and due to its unofficial nature, the oppressive Student Council steps in. Anzu and the Trickstar trio are able to outrun the punishment, but Anzu faints after some roughhousing from one of the opponents onstage, in his dash to escape punishment. While (seemingly) unconcious, Hokuto explains to Anzu about how the school is borderline rotten, how the only people that truly achieve the dreams they had when they entered the school were idols who fit into the cookie-cutter mold that was expected of them. Due to the influence of the school council, rarely do any students want to oppose them in any way, meaning that the units that succeed are only the ones that have student council members in it.
This is what Hajime's unit, Ra✽bits, is brought in to demonstrate. A scant few chapters later, Subaru and Anzu run into Hajime, who is manning the ticket counter for his unit's own official DreamFes. Due to it being official, the audience is not only their classmates as in unofficial DreamFes, but also people that will attend from outside the school. Their opponents, however, are Akatsuki, the strongest active unit at the time. Ra✽bits, being the newbie team they are, aren't bent on absolute success, but all of the members put in their best to try and shine for an audience onstage. Hajime in particular is noted for not only having a beautiful voice by Subaru, but it's brought up several times how much he's worked hard to afford costumes and the like for their unit as well as studying their routine. As they go onstage after Akatsuki, however, they are greeted with an empty audience. Due to the way voting works, and the fact that Akatsuki has the vice president as its core, no one stayed to watch Ra✽bits. Subaru and Anzu see this firsthand as the only people in the audience.
Although Ra✽bits sing their hearts out for Subaru and Anzu, it's clear that all of them--including Hajime--are pained.
"Shinonon... was crying, you know. He was okay until the performance ended. But after it ended... His cute face was sopping wet and he was sobbing! If he had cried, having fought and lost fair and square, it would be fine, you know. Because there is value in that. Because it should be that you only grow as strong as the amount of tears you cry. But the "Ra✽bits"--... Shinonon... could not even fight." — Subaru, Rebellion: Chapter 39
We see Hajime again in Revolution, where he is once again working at the ticket counter--but this time, the battle is against Trickstar and Akatsuki. He plays a minor role afterwards, supporting and cheering on Trickstar, celebrating with them when they eventually win. The student council's unit (fine) eventually loses to Trickstar, ushering in a change in the school's systems.
Note: if you take a look at the wiki's Main Story page, you'll see that the last chapter is currently not translated. The manga, novels, and constant event stories referencing the events of the Main Story (as most events take place after the Main Story) make it so players will already know that Trickstar actually succeeds. Hajime's mentioned canon point takes place after an event in late spring, but is not mentioned as event stories rarely if ever expand on the world as it relates to Hajime.
PERSONALITY: The first words that come to mind when thinking of Hajime are "kind" and "shy".
Upon first glance, he's your typical wallflower--easily anxious, fretful, but with a golden (if easily breakable) heart that shines through. Truthfully, that is a succinct way of expressing who he is; he's not a character that comes with incredible hidden depths or tragic backstory. There are, however, nuances to his character that could be overlooked when you just subscribe to him being a "wallflower".
Hajime comes from a middle-poor class family. It's both hinted and stated outright that he bears a lot of responsibility after caring for his two younger siblings, likely due to his parents working to provide for the family themselves. As a result, he's very thrifty and actually has a good amount of street smarts, with his VA noting that he's the type of boy to fret over the small things, like limited times sales at grocery stores. He clearly has a place in his home, and due to the care and thoughtfulness of his actions, it's clear that he's more than just 'big brother' but could almost stand-in as a parent with how responsible he is. Often, he's the one taking the initiative to do things and serve others, like how he is the one who's always making the tea in the Tea Club, and how he throws himself into part-time gigs for his unit. Of the four Ra✽bits members, he's the one that is most often seen doing side work in terms of manual labor.
His anxiety is notable, but what is most important is how he overcomes it. Instead of running away from the sources of his anxiety, Hajime is noted for always carrying around a lavender satchel and uses it to calm himself down due to its soothing scent. Despite the fact that he says he was scared of Eichi, the Student Council President and the President of the Tea Club, Hajime doesn't just skip out on going. He still shows up, still engages in the club, still actually speaks to Eichi despite being anxious about it. He's visibly nervous and sometimes is over-formal, but he doesn't just quail at what he fears. Hajime may be scared, but he doesn't want to just stay standing still--he wants to change, he wants to get better at not only being an idol, but being a person.
Due to Ra✽bits' image of being "cute", Hajime can't cut his hair, as it clashes with their aesthetic. It's often, however, that other characters say things to Hajime that denote him being more feminine--for example, Subaru saying that Hajime asking him to take care of him (as is common for a junior to say to a senior) sounds like a "marriage proposal", and that he'd be set "if [he] had a wife like [Hajime]" in Salon de Thé. Of course, Hajime is quick to retort 'I'm a boy, though, I wouldn't be a wife...' He's mistaken for a girl a lot, sometimes is given feminine roles even by the PC, and is known for having male fans. This tends to upset him, and sometimes make him uncomfortable. Hajime likes what he does, but he realizes some of the things he likes are feminine, and unlike others (Arashi comes to mind) he can't quite take it in stride and often flusters over it.
His admiration for the people around him shines through in his kindness. Even those he doesn't have particularly strong ties with, he's kind and cordial to them, often complimenting them and their unique strengths. For the people he does know, he tends to let them be somewhat indulgent, like how he calls Eichi onii-chan when Eichi asks him to. It's a two-sided coin, though: most of his compliments also reflect how he feels in comparison. He notes in Marching Band that "[Subaru] once encouraged me by telling me that he liked my singing voice. I think it's thanks to [Subaru's] words that I've made it this far." While the compliment must've helped, it downplays Hajime's strong work ethic and his ability to learn, which no doubt are the primary reasons he matured.
Unreliable indirect characterization can sometimes make Hajime's actions confusing. The person most notorious for this is Tsukasa, a member from another unit, Knights. He and Hajime are friends but it's under strange circumstances, and with the addendum that Hajime is close to someone Tsukasa admires (Eichi) without expending much effort while Tsukasa tries very hard to get close to Eichi with some of his plans backfiring. Tsukasa sees Hajime as a friendly rival and notes that Hajime is able to perform near-flawlessly with a good amount of skill. On the other hand, in the exact same moment, Hajime thinks that he struggles to keep up, needing to constantly be thinking about his actions to make sure he's on-par. Previously, he'd called Hajime's ability to get on everyone's good side his "cunning". While neither of these seem to fit Hajime, it does seem to shed light that he may not be as inept or untalented as he thinks he is.
POWER: Hajime has no canon powers. As such, he'll gain the powers of musical manipulation. He has three distinct abilities:
1) Empathic Voice: his songs will stir certain emotions in the audience. It can be used to soothe the masses, a rallying cry, etc. At its weakest, all it can do is stir up those feelings, not outright control or force them. All it can do is emotionally resonate with people, not control emotional reactions. Since these are emotional suggestions, they're fairly easy to dismiss after a performance. During the song, it's very hard to separate natural emotions from the emotions suggested unless you're trained in the powers of empathy.
2) Buff Song: his songs will be able to bolster people's morale, strength, magic, and heal. At its weakest, it's a very slow and minimal regenerative effect/magic boost/strength boost. It's a direct augmentation to the audience's abilities rather than spurring them to feel. At its strongest, it can make someone do twice of their ability potential (their 100% + 100% more), heal large wounds, or bring a numbing effect/boost morale. He can cycle through the buffs within one song, but this takes a lot of focus and energy.
3) Shield Song: his song provides a nullification shield for the audience listening. It can be individual across all of the audience (smaller mitigation) or encompassing one area (bigger mitigation). At its weakest, it can provide a shield from bruising. At its strongest, it will be able to negate a few (2-5) near-lethal hits before it breaks. Of the three powers, this has the longest recast time because of its strength, and takes the most energy to expel. Even after training for a few long months, it's unlikely to impossible to stack this song over the others.
The most important problem/conundrum that occurs with these is that, at least not without a lot (4+ months of daily practice will cause improvement) of constant practice, two effects cannot occur at the same time. He can't influence emotions while also healing and buffing, and he can't really change between effects suddenly. He'd have to end the song he's singing and start a new one for the new effect to take place, which takes up valuable time. In a life-or-death scenario he can just stop his song in the middle and start a new one, but that demands that he be ready for that to happen. The only "exception" to this is Buff Song, as he can switch between healing/buffing seamlessly at the expense of more focus and energy. He does not need accompaniment for his songs to take effect, as he can sing acapella, and the song subject does not effect the effect it has on people, only what he wants them to feel. Example: if he sings a sorrowful love ballad but feels nostalgic, people will feel nostalgic. They can also feel sad because the song is sad, but that won't be Hajime's doing. In other words, he has to feel those emotions too, to be able to spur them in the audience--without his own emotions as a basis, he can't reach them.
Along with all of these stipulations, due to the nature of singing/performing, this power can be incredibly stressful and exhausting. Keeping this up for hours on end is very hard if not impossible, and is very taxing on his body. He's not used to singing for hours at a time, so he would need to train not only his powers but his actual music prowess, as his powers won't activate with a badly sung song.