♥ Kanata Shinonome (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
truecaptain) wrote2017-06-09 10:50 pm
truecaptain) wrote2017-06-09 10:50 pm
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Please put the NAME of the character you are applying for and their FANDOM in your email *SUBJECT LINE*. Please format it like so: Hermione Granger - Harry Potter.
You may remove any instructions on the app [in brackets].
BASICS
Your name or nickname: Emi
Your year of birth: 1993
A reliable DW account the mods can PM to reach you: goldsteins or truecaptain
Link to your hold comment: http://sixthiteration.dreamwidth.org/2016/03/04/holds.html?thread=239467#cmt239467
Referral: N/A
Character name: Kanata Shinonome
Character type: Fandom AU
Fandom/Canon: AKB0048
Character DW journal: truecaptain
Does this character have previous CR?: yes!
HISTORY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AKB0048_episodes (anime episode summaries)
http://akb0048.wikia.com/wiki/Kanata_Shinonome (wikia page that is lacking)
http://myanimelist.net/manga/38047/AKB0048_Heart-Gata_Operation (this a brief summary of the manga, unfortunately it is untranslated. i've written up summaries for each and have included some scans and am more then willing to provide more if needed)
http://rainbowtrain.dreamwidth.org/3123.html (Manga summary)
Kanata also has the added bonus of coming in post being in a previous game, Aather. Although she was there for well over half a year before meeting her personal end in the game, Kanata's stay in the game itself was little over a month. A brief rundown of Aather is that it was a game where everyone who appeared had amnesia. They were brought to this world due to the fact that a being known as the Darkness was being lured to their worlds by the character in question. They were summoned to Aather to protect them from that Darkness and to keep it from spreading to their world. Of course, righteous idea this might be but it was hardly that easy.
Their run-in with the Darkness is what forced them to lose their memories. And in order to regain those lost memories the characters would have to play in events known as Games. These games ranged from as menial as activity bingo to as dangerous as receiving cards to play and harm other teams with. You had to play, though, because if you did not then two things would happen. One, the simplest, would be that you would not regain your memories or abilities from your life. The second was that games also pushed back the Darkness and were needed as it closed ever in on them.
All characters were separated into color coded teams. There were the "heroes", where most characters ended up, and the "knights" who were a special group. Whereas heroes all had to work in a team, while the knights were put into two groups they had agency. They did not win or lose with their team. Whereas everyone one if a single person showed up to a game in a team, a knight could only win by their own merit and if they were present. At the same time they were given a special role within the game which included being able to offer "quests" to characters so they could gain supplies they'd otherwise not have. Their responsibility was also to check something called the Book which is where dropped characters ended up. This drop method, while the most common, was considered the word as it meant the character had become weak against the Darkness and were put in there as a preventive measure.
The role of the knights in Aather is important here as Kanata learned first thing that was what her role was in Aather. She was a rare situation where the character she replaced on her Knight Team has retrieved all their memories and decided to stay, so he specifically welcomed her and told her what her role would be. This, aided by the fact that two canonmates were already in the game, set Kanata on her path for how she would behave the entire duration of her stay in Aather. She was meant to help people and her juniors looked up to her, so she proclaimed day one that she would win her memories back fast and return home.
And so she did.
Kanata performed amazingly in games. The amount she won far outnumbered the amount she lost and she always tried to value the teams she was put with. Her position in working with teams was something that troubled her within her first day and it also effected her the rest of her duration. She had to perform her duty as a knight early on when a new member of Carnelian appeared and she was asked to check the book. She learned which member it was, told the person who asked, and asked if they would be okay or needed anything. She was promptly told it was none of her business and that, as a Knight, she should only care about the team she's working with at the moment and not to "exceed her responsibilities".
Obviously, as a girl who's always tried to help people and took the idea of being a knight seriously this both angered and troubled her. The following day a fellow Knight told her not to worry about it and continue trying to get to know the teams if she wanted. This did shape her though, because for some time she was hesitant on voicing her opinions within a game unless she knew the people she was working with. At the same time she became inherently aware of the differences between the Knight team and the teams. The knights were seen as individuals where as the teams were seen as a collective, and their popularity and reputation defined how they would survive in terrible games.
She would also later learn that because they weren't seen collectively this was also bad for the knights. As in one game, a version of the aforementioned "use this card for points and to harm another team," she learned that a game similar to this one ended in every single Knight dying. That was all because they teams did not have alliances with them or a strong connection with a singular team overall. This turned a girl who wanted to only play the lesser cards worried about if they would survive, especially given that this particular game was run by the Darkness itself. In a twist, however, not a single knight was killed in this game--
Although, the Darkness nearly did not allow them to leave and it was through the power of emotion, song, and willpower that the people of Aather were able to break free of its hold and return to the realm known as Camelot.
Fighting the Darkness through song and friendship was the very definition of Kanata's time in Aather. Kanata was within Aather for the duration of a realm known as Camelot. As Aather was built around the idea of fairytales this was indeed the very same Camelot that King Arthur rule over. Except, due to the Darkness, it was covered in snow. Each game melted the snow and brought forth spring, but as it turned out this wasn't a cause of the Darkness itself but a being known as the Snow Queen who thought that be freezing Camelot she was protecting it.
One of the games had Kanata and a team known as Coral tell off the Snow Queen for doing as much, joined by various other teams unknowingly. The following day when the Queen confronted Guinvere and Lancelot, Kanata offered her support after the Snow Queen disappeared. It was not soon after that a large scale Darkness attack happened and the patron of her branch of knights, Beauty, succumbed to it. However, every single knight and nearby team members used the power of their friendships (and in Kanata's case song) to stabilize her and manage a temporary retreat of the Darkness.
After this, springtime hit full force in Camelot, and for Kanata it meant her story was drawing to a close. In the time that she had been there, Kanata had made it to almost every game and had won nearly all of those. She'd begun realizing that most of her past she already understood, but it still came as a surprise when Beauty approached her giving her a choice: She could become a Legacy Knight and stay to help fight the Darkness or she could go home. As she had always promised that she would win and go home fast, she stuck by the decision to do just that although she'd made many friends since then.
However, this would not be the last time she was seen in Aather. On occasion good ended characters, those who went home, had the option of returning to Aather in things called alumni events. These were generally just events to see old friends and meet new teammates, but Kanata reappeared for a few of them to support her fellow 0048 members that were still there.
As Aather came to its close every character that had left was called back to help fight the Darkness one last time. They relied on the bonds they made to push it back once and for all and declare that they wanted to live. It was through all of their efforts that the Darkness was finally pushed back from Aather and that all those who were lost to it were able to return. It also ended in the power to world travel between all the worlds that they had come from, though this was never something Kanata would have utilized. The Darkness was not defeated and from Aather they could see other worlds were under attack by it and so their story continued...
The major reason for choosing this CRAU is fulfilling a character arc that Kanata never got to see through in canon. This was her succession of Takahashi Minami. One of my goals in playing her in Aather was to allow her to come to terms with it and while she hasn't quite she's at a better understanding of it now. In one of her first games, every character's "true heart" manifested. It was some symbol of who they really were and for Kanata and Nagisa they appeared as Takamina and Acchan respectively. Kanata didn't remember what the original Takamina had appeared as so it's only through Chieri's declaration that any of them realized what it meant (that both Nagisa and Kanata would become successors).
Except for Kanata this wasn't a moment of happiness as the current Takamina was her idol. She refused to believe it and concentrated instead on calming Chieri down, but it's something that stuck wit her. When she eventually has the memory of Takamina asking her if she was the only reason Kanata couldn't progress would she take her down Kanata breaks down. She could never turn away Takamina but there's a sudden realization that her dreams would never be met if her hero remained part of the group.
This eventually led into something known as a heart game where characters entered a manifestation of the character's troubles and true self. For Kanata it appeared in the form of her angers, frustrations, and the death of her father. To successfully reach the end one had to meet one final boss: Takamina. She stood in the way to the room that was Kanata's dreams, her truest self, and said she could not let others pass as she wasn't giving up her position yet. While no one had an answer for this dilemma, the impressed upon Kanata her own abilities and willfulness to succeed.
On her very last day in Aather she told one of her friends that no matter what she was going to find a way for both her and the current Takamina to sing side-by-side.
PERSONALITY OVERVIEW
Kanata Shinonome has always been a person who loves the people around her. When she was younger, she loved the smile on her father's face and bring smiles to others. As she grew older this hardly changed, except now she wanted to protect their smiles. She understands that everyone needs to work together and that they're all moving forward with the same goal, this is such an important thing to her that she doesn't waver from it. The closest she comes is when she acts alone to defeat the DES ships after the nearly kill Takamina in episode eight, and this was only because she thought she'd lose her and couldn't protect her.
Protecting those around her is part of Kanata's qualities as a leader, as the person chosen to be the next Takamina. Takamina will always put the others around her before herself. She's angered when she's told not to follow Chieri and says that her duty as a captain comes before anything else! She doesn't have a good concept of doing for herself. So much so that when Takamina out right asks her if she's supposed to be the next Takamina already but she was the only one standing in the way would Kanata get rid of her? Kanata can't answer that, she's physically pained at the idea of taking away her hero's dream for her own. Furthermore, towards the end of the series, Mimori/Mariko says that if she wants to be a successor, Kanata has to be greedy. So when Akihabastar is being attacked and all of the girls are thinking of their dreams, Kanata doesn't admit her own but instead says "for the promise I made!"
The two years Kanata spent in 00 before the series started appears to be a mixed one. By this I mean, we can tell she had good times but at the same time she grew more frustrated. She was a member of the 75th generation, nicknamed "the unlucky generation". This is because at the start of the series it was only she and Mimori left as everyone else in their generation had quit. Furthermore, a member of the 76th Generation, Youko/Sae, became a successor before the members of the 75th. Kanata says this had upset them because she and Mimori had both worked so hard but will still passed up by the junior. Likewise, when Kanata learns her little sister, Sonata, joined AKB at the start of the series she becomes infuriated. It's not so much because it's dangerous, although it is a factor, but because she didn't want Sonata to feel the same frustration and failure that she did at never making it.
Kanata consistently feels frustrated with her inability to succeed. This is seen as early as "Heart Type Operation" where she apologizes to her family for not being a proper idol and then towards the end of the series when Mimori succeeds Mariko. She knows she works hard and that she's capable, but she's not sure why she never progresses (which, of course, is because she can't succeed Takamina until the current one graduates). Despite this, she says that she's not jealous of the others for moving ahead.Or, to better word it, that while she wishes she could move on she wants to support her under-classmen and friends and is truly happy for them.
Thanks to Mimori, however, Kanata was able to overcome these feelings. It's thanks to Mimori that Kanata is able to begin to love singing again. She had been too bitter and frustrated before that she'd began to think it was all worthless. This was different in comparison to Heart Type Operation where she showed her radiance in battle and love for people, but it seems she did become quite a bit jaded in the year that passed and Sonata's appearance at 0048's theater did not help matters. While she had always worked hard and is quoted by even Chieri to be "successor level," until that point her idol aura wasn't the best it could be--the best it once was. Thanks to Mimori telling her it was okay to still believe in her dreams and love music, Kanata was able to return to her old self.
Kanata has always put the show and 00 above everything else. The group itself has always been important to her and so it doesn't matter what troubles she has to face-- she'll do it. She's one of the first to suggest they do a concert on a dangerous area and the moment she finds out how their variety shows are helping those under the entertainment ban she has the others follow along. Kanata is the captain of the trainees and is a constant support system. Whenever one of the girls is in trouble she chases after them and tries to help. And even when they pass her either in becoming a successor, getting solos, or even placing in the general elections she's endlessly supportive.
Despite her father's death, Kanata is also shown to be a person to easily bounce back. A really good example of this comes from the manga in that a building just nearly crushed her and the other members of 00 and she had glass shards sticking out of her leg, but she tried really hard to be energetic and helpful. Of course, this is a bit of an extreme one, but it's shown in the anime as well. Mostly this comes off in that if people say encouraging things it's easy to ignite passion in her. The best one is in Heart Type Operation when Juno antagonizes her about her father's death and being part of DES herself, Kanata wants to fight her with everything she has but the others stop her, encourage her, and persuade her not to do it alone. Then at the end of the series when she speaks about how there's no way Chieri could get over her dad's death so fast. Sayaka and Takamina both turn and tell her that they're there and that Akibastar is important to all of them and so Kanata's demeanor regarding it changes.
At her core, Kanata is dedicated and serious. She puts everything into her practicing and even Yuuko says that "this girl is amazing". She works hard to do her best in everything she does and is even seen practicing late at night when no one else is. She takes her role as a member of AKB0048 and the captain of the trainees with utmost seriousness. Kanata doesn't act on anything without meaning to finish it and, furthermore, is more then willing to do things like attacking people if it means protecting the ones she loves. However, she's also dedicated in the sense that, usually, she is able to choose the best option for everyone involved...
...This, in some ways, has come from all the people and lessons she's had. First, her father who showed her strength and following her dreams. Then, Acchan, who showed her how to truly be an idol. And lastly, Takamina, who became her guiding star. The things that each of them taught her, Kanata holds dear and doesn't forget. It's shown even with Mimori/Mariko in that when she allowed her to cry and feel pain-- like Abel had before-- she passed the same thing on to Chieri when she needed it. She's not dedicated to only her studies, but much more obviously to the people around her.
The current Takamina is Kanata's role model and the person she wants to take after which worries Takamina-- as, for one, she knows Kanata was supposed to replace her,-- but even she says that "Kanata truly is the next generation's Takamina". Despite how serious and dedicated, sometimes harsh, Kanata can be she's also shown that she can be both caring and loving. Although she bottles up her disappointments and heartaches, Kanata can relate to people and it's in her nature to help them as much as she can.
At the end of the day, Kanata is very much a cheerful girl. She can feel down and disappointed in herself, but generally appears confident around her peers and takes charge. She's known as the leader and for that can be bossy and strict if necessary. She also has a fierce temper and sternness that becomes more evident when she's upset, but is generally kind. Her temper only appearing when the people around her are hurt and sternness when she's worried about how things will go for everyone. While most people would say her and Sonata are opposites, Kanata herself has a playful and teasing nature and enjoys messing with Makoto. Mostly, she's just a girl who felt a lot of heartache and just wants to protect the smiles of those around her.
PERSONALITY QUESTIONS
What skills does your character bring to the situation?:
Kanata has many different experiences from both her time in 0048 and her time in Aather. The first and most obvious ones are her abilities as an idol. She can sing and dance at professional levels and is said to be amazing at both. Kanata was also taught both modeling and acting, but she's still rough at both of those. The latter skills won't be able to help in the village, but she would occasionally try to perform entertainment-- even hope-- through song. It's what idol do.
The first thing idols in her canon have to learn is combat. This is because most of their concerts take place in dangerous locations and if they can't defend themselves they will die. The girls are trained in how to pilot robots, but they're also taught how to sabers and perform hand-to-hand combat. In Kanata's case her father was teaching all of this to her since she was a little girl so before she was even taught some of it she knew what to do. The others have stated that she doesn't only have the endurance from idol practice, but she is physically strong and powerful.
Alongside this, Kanata has good shooting aim. She's seen shooting both guns an a bow-and-arrow (the latter of which was the form of her kirara). While she's never hunted before she does know how to target and shoot what she's after. Alongside this the idols are taught a certain degree of stealth to be able to sneak into and infiltrate enemy areas.
Finally, Kanata comes with an understanding of not one world but multiple. She grew up on a desert planet and knows how to survive under those harsh conditions. Due to being stranded on a planet she's also learned how to investigate and find potentially edible foods there. This in some ways makes her more hardened to the impossible weather changes of the village and capable of still trying to survive and do what needs to be done under those conditions.
Explain how your character would react to the following:
- Discovering that their memories may have been tampered with:
If this was Kanata straight from AKB0048 this would be more of a problem, but coming from Aather she's all too accustomed to the idea of not having her memories. She also received them out of order so she has faced more than enough confusion about her life previously. However, in Aather she had a way to get them back and return them to normal. If she were to become aware of the fact within the village she would be determined to find out a way to get them back (and wonder if this was some weird attack by the Darkness).
- Having to do physical labor to survive:
As an idol Kanata is used to practicing hours on end without stopping until something is perfected. She's also trained in combat and has been since a young age, so she is able to push herself to her physical limits. She's well toned and doesn't lack muscle, but despite all of her training she does't really have any farming or fishing experience. Partly because she grew up on a desert planet and partly because the idols are more like soldiers than any sort of craftsmen.
That said she isn't unused to having to act to get what she needs to. Kanata spends most of her free time practicing and in much the same way she'd come to that judgement within he village. Her goals are always more altruistic in nature and to help the whole rather than only herself. While gross she wouldn't be afraid to get dirty while helpin with farming and she certainly has a fair enough shot to help in the hunting of animals.
- Having to share resources with others:
There are several factors in favor of Kanata here: The first being that she's shared a dormitory room with Mimori for two years and lives under shared facilities with at least thirty underage girls. She's used to not having enough hot water or trying to squish nine people to use the sink at once. Two, Saharastar was under the same entertainment ban most planets were, and they did everything possible to break the people's spirits. This included providing little way of work and food, supplying only a meager amount of rations. Before joining AKB0048 Kanata would have been used to very limited food and likely ensured her younger sister had more than she did.
In the case of Aather it was in very many ways similar to the village. Characters had to do quests to get goods and while the variety went further, it did include food. Most characters were able to eat at games where it was provided, but when games were roughly once a day and more often than not sweets, they still had very limited amounts there as well.
Kanata isn't a selfish person, if someone needed help or food she would give it to them even if it left her with little to nothing herself. If she obtained a fishing pole and someone needed it she would let them borrow it without thinking about it. She's an honest and earnest girl and helping to take care of people is who she is. While she is by no means used to starving, she isn't unaccustomed to lack of food. The auditioning for AKB0048 always mandates being able to work together and the girls who fail in that respect are immediately cut.
- Being unable to leave the area:
Kanata is used to traveling the galaxy but it's also not a necessity for her, especially not when she is unable to perform a concert. For the last three, nearly four, years she's also lived on Akibastar which aside from the city they live in is virtually destroyed. The city itself lies within a dome and is only a few miles wide, as this is where she largely spends her time, she is in some ways used to those limitations. Except in Akibastar there's plenty more places to go.
Aather was much more similar to the village in that short of the houses they lived in there wasn't much else to see and you couldn't go further. However, in both respects there was always the availability to push and grow beyond those boundaries. Where the similarities between the village an Camelot lie they also end. In Aather she never formally left Camelot for the next realm, so she doesn't have experience with the growth of the world but she knows of it.
So while pushing beyond those boundaries won't be the main thing she does-- they won't completely go to the wayside. Kanata has a dream to follow and friends to return to, if there's a chance she will help to try and achieve it. She's become a bit wreckless in that sense given she was killed twice within Aather and everything there could eventually be brought down through joint effort. She will want to believe in the strength of the people in the village to accomplish leaving if they wanted to.
- Doing without modern conveniences and technology and/or being around tech more advanced than they're used to:
Kanata comes from both the future and another galaxy. She's used to things such as spaceships, holographic communicators, and giant mechas. Similarly, technological warefare is also considerably more advanced. Idol outfits are made of cloth that acts as armor, they wear a gel that prevents radiation, and their weapons while powered by their own aura also has some technological base.
Despite this, other applications of life are fairly normal. People are still seen with flat screen televisions, people are still needed in factories, and manual labor is still very much present. This is because while humankind has advanced because of necessity, creativity was essentially banned with entertainment. The only thing that gets advanced is items of necessity and practicality. Even Akihabastar, one of the places that defies the entertainment ban, is a fairly modern town short of holographic upgrades for their media streaming.
In this way it's a pretty weird situation. Most likely on her home planet Kanata was used to very sparse technology. They would have had electricity, television, and motor vehicles but as seen with other planets that would be the extent. She is certainly used to the existence of technology and the total lack of it within the village would be disconcerting but it's also not something that would be as an extreme culture sulk as other space-aged series.
Aather also lacked technology and at best ran on our magic. Anything there was modern and there was a lack of entertainment such as televisions and game system. The only real accommodations they had were electricity, heating/cooling, and plumbing.
- Being separated, possibly permanently, from loved ones and their previous life, including loss of powers, if applicable:
With regards to powers AKB0048's series gives a rather interesting spin here. Kanata's powers aren't things that you would be able to utilize in any given scenario. They're not magic that can move things or the ability to read minds: It's a reflection of her soul. An idols power is only visible depending on how radiant she is at the moment. It's also not something they can force, it appears when they're at their truest self.
In this sense Kanata is not reliant on her abilities. She's learned that the more she believes in herself and puts forth her best effort the more her idol radiance shows, but functionally it's also entirely conditional. When she sings she can't make someone feel something they're unwilling to and short of a dangerous situation she is not able to produce magical weapons or shields. It is largely glowing and a resonance with the world around her.
So in most ways the lack of power will not effect her in her day-to-day life, but on a psychological level it will. She's used to being able to produce a kirara when singing or feeling most confident, this kirara is a reflection of her soul. If she were to sing with all of her heart or give a speech and it didn't appear they would be a sense of loss she would have to grapple with. However, the larger loss would appear in something much more complex and leave her a little confused in the beginning of her stay:
When a member of 0048 becomes a successor they have something that is called the "succession fever". What happens during this state is that they resonate with the person they're succeeding, they're literally taking on part of that person's soul. Two years ago Kanata took on the soul of Takahashi Minami. While this didn't change her personality or history, it's described in canon as something you feel to your very core. No one's really explained any of this to her so she doesn't exactly understand what happened to her and as this is deeply rooted with an idol's radiance, their power, the part of her that resonated with Takamina will suddenly disappear. This will be a very intimate loss that she won't have an understanding as to why and will create some mindfuckery for her until she's acclimated (it also means should powers every return that she would go through another fever).
The loss of people will be much, much more difficult. Kanata left her homeworld of Saharastar at thirteen and left there her sister and her mother. While her sister ran away and joined 0048 last year, she hasn't seen her mother since that time. Due to the entertainment bans and her being a technical terrorist it's unlikely she's had any contact with her at all. In this way she will not miss her home planet or her mother as they're both something she abandoned long ago and came to terms with.
It's the other members of 0048 and Akibastar that will have the largest impact on her. Specifically the losses of Sonata, Mimori/Mariko, and Takamina. Sonata due to the fact that although she finds her younger sister annoying and childish, Kanata does love her and in many ways she's the last family she has left. Mimori because the two of them have been through so much together. They were the 75th Generation, the so called "Unlucky Generation", when everyone else gave up they were left with broken dreams and heartache to fight on. Mimori is Kanata's best friend and the person who supported her with smiles and kindness in spite of those heartaches. She recently made a promise to become a successor as soon as possible so they may sing on the same stage together once more. The fact she may be unable to fulfill this promise will be something that both stings her and will drive her within the village.
Takamina on the other hand is her guiding light. She's the other's biggest supporter and always looks for her validation. The difference here, however, is that her relationship with Takamina was more idolizing than with Mimori. They were friends, or Kanata would like to say they were, but Takamina is who drove Kanata to be a bigger and better person. So in this way this will translate to the village, instead of allowing herself to become depressed or sullen she will use the spirit Takamina showed her to put her all into everything.
Stemming from her time in Aather, Kanata has spent time away from Akibastar. She's lived through the same possibilities before but there was always a chance to get home. Kanata will want to strive to find something similar and won't give up hope that there remains a chance to return home. Of course, this is unlikely to go well for her and there will be many setbacks, but so long as she can still breathe she will continue to try.
WRITING SAMPLES
http://eachdraidhlogs.dreamwidth.org/67130.html?thread=7311674#cmt7311674 & http://eachdraidhlogs.dreamwidth.org/67130.html?thread=7312186#cmt7312186 two old Eachdraidh comments
http://sixthiterationooc.dreamwidth.org/73586.html?thread=2550130#cmt2550130 Current 6i tfm
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BASICS
Your name or nickname: Emi
Your year of birth: 1993
A reliable DW account the mods can PM to reach you: goldsteins or truecaptain
Link to your hold comment: http://sixthiteration.dreamwidth.org/2016/03/04/holds.html?thread=239467#cmt239467
Referral: N/A
Character name: Kanata Shinonome
Character type: Fandom AU
Fandom/Canon: AKB0048
Character DW journal: truecaptain
Does this character have previous CR?: yes!
HISTORY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AKB0048_episodes (anime episode summaries)
http://akb0048.wikia.com/wiki/Kanata_Shinonome (wikia page that is lacking)
http://myanimelist.net/manga/38047/AKB0048_Heart-Gata_Operation (this a brief summary of the manga, unfortunately it is untranslated. i've written up summaries for each and have included some scans and am more then willing to provide more if needed)
http://rainbowtrain.dreamwidth.org/3123.html (Manga summary)
Kanata also has the added bonus of coming in post being in a previous game, Aather. Although she was there for well over half a year before meeting her personal end in the game, Kanata's stay in the game itself was little over a month. A brief rundown of Aather is that it was a game where everyone who appeared had amnesia. They were brought to this world due to the fact that a being known as the Darkness was being lured to their worlds by the character in question. They were summoned to Aather to protect them from that Darkness and to keep it from spreading to their world. Of course, righteous idea this might be but it was hardly that easy.
Their run-in with the Darkness is what forced them to lose their memories. And in order to regain those lost memories the characters would have to play in events known as Games. These games ranged from as menial as activity bingo to as dangerous as receiving cards to play and harm other teams with. You had to play, though, because if you did not then two things would happen. One, the simplest, would be that you would not regain your memories or abilities from your life. The second was that games also pushed back the Darkness and were needed as it closed ever in on them.
All characters were separated into color coded teams. There were the "heroes", where most characters ended up, and the "knights" who were a special group. Whereas heroes all had to work in a team, while the knights were put into two groups they had agency. They did not win or lose with their team. Whereas everyone one if a single person showed up to a game in a team, a knight could only win by their own merit and if they were present. At the same time they were given a special role within the game which included being able to offer "quests" to characters so they could gain supplies they'd otherwise not have. Their responsibility was also to check something called the Book which is where dropped characters ended up. This drop method, while the most common, was considered the word as it meant the character had become weak against the Darkness and were put in there as a preventive measure.
The role of the knights in Aather is important here as Kanata learned first thing that was what her role was in Aather. She was a rare situation where the character she replaced on her Knight Team has retrieved all their memories and decided to stay, so he specifically welcomed her and told her what her role would be. This, aided by the fact that two canonmates were already in the game, set Kanata on her path for how she would behave the entire duration of her stay in Aather. She was meant to help people and her juniors looked up to her, so she proclaimed day one that she would win her memories back fast and return home.
And so she did.
Kanata performed amazingly in games. The amount she won far outnumbered the amount she lost and she always tried to value the teams she was put with. Her position in working with teams was something that troubled her within her first day and it also effected her the rest of her duration. She had to perform her duty as a knight early on when a new member of Carnelian appeared and she was asked to check the book. She learned which member it was, told the person who asked, and asked if they would be okay or needed anything. She was promptly told it was none of her business and that, as a Knight, she should only care about the team she's working with at the moment and not to "exceed her responsibilities".
Obviously, as a girl who's always tried to help people and took the idea of being a knight seriously this both angered and troubled her. The following day a fellow Knight told her not to worry about it and continue trying to get to know the teams if she wanted. This did shape her though, because for some time she was hesitant on voicing her opinions within a game unless she knew the people she was working with. At the same time she became inherently aware of the differences between the Knight team and the teams. The knights were seen as individuals where as the teams were seen as a collective, and their popularity and reputation defined how they would survive in terrible games.
She would also later learn that because they weren't seen collectively this was also bad for the knights. As in one game, a version of the aforementioned "use this card for points and to harm another team," she learned that a game similar to this one ended in every single Knight dying. That was all because they teams did not have alliances with them or a strong connection with a singular team overall. This turned a girl who wanted to only play the lesser cards worried about if they would survive, especially given that this particular game was run by the Darkness itself. In a twist, however, not a single knight was killed in this game--
Although, the Darkness nearly did not allow them to leave and it was through the power of emotion, song, and willpower that the people of Aather were able to break free of its hold and return to the realm known as Camelot.
Fighting the Darkness through song and friendship was the very definition of Kanata's time in Aather. Kanata was within Aather for the duration of a realm known as Camelot. As Aather was built around the idea of fairytales this was indeed the very same Camelot that King Arthur rule over. Except, due to the Darkness, it was covered in snow. Each game melted the snow and brought forth spring, but as it turned out this wasn't a cause of the Darkness itself but a being known as the Snow Queen who thought that be freezing Camelot she was protecting it.
One of the games had Kanata and a team known as Coral tell off the Snow Queen for doing as much, joined by various other teams unknowingly. The following day when the Queen confronted Guinvere and Lancelot, Kanata offered her support after the Snow Queen disappeared. It was not soon after that a large scale Darkness attack happened and the patron of her branch of knights, Beauty, succumbed to it. However, every single knight and nearby team members used the power of their friendships (and in Kanata's case song) to stabilize her and manage a temporary retreat of the Darkness.
After this, springtime hit full force in Camelot, and for Kanata it meant her story was drawing to a close. In the time that she had been there, Kanata had made it to almost every game and had won nearly all of those. She'd begun realizing that most of her past she already understood, but it still came as a surprise when Beauty approached her giving her a choice: She could become a Legacy Knight and stay to help fight the Darkness or she could go home. As she had always promised that she would win and go home fast, she stuck by the decision to do just that although she'd made many friends since then.
However, this would not be the last time she was seen in Aather. On occasion good ended characters, those who went home, had the option of returning to Aather in things called alumni events. These were generally just events to see old friends and meet new teammates, but Kanata reappeared for a few of them to support her fellow 0048 members that were still there.
As Aather came to its close every character that had left was called back to help fight the Darkness one last time. They relied on the bonds they made to push it back once and for all and declare that they wanted to live. It was through all of their efforts that the Darkness was finally pushed back from Aather and that all those who were lost to it were able to return. It also ended in the power to world travel between all the worlds that they had come from, though this was never something Kanata would have utilized. The Darkness was not defeated and from Aather they could see other worlds were under attack by it and so their story continued...
The major reason for choosing this CRAU is fulfilling a character arc that Kanata never got to see through in canon. This was her succession of Takahashi Minami. One of my goals in playing her in Aather was to allow her to come to terms with it and while she hasn't quite she's at a better understanding of it now. In one of her first games, every character's "true heart" manifested. It was some symbol of who they really were and for Kanata and Nagisa they appeared as Takamina and Acchan respectively. Kanata didn't remember what the original Takamina had appeared as so it's only through Chieri's declaration that any of them realized what it meant (that both Nagisa and Kanata would become successors).
Except for Kanata this wasn't a moment of happiness as the current Takamina was her idol. She refused to believe it and concentrated instead on calming Chieri down, but it's something that stuck wit her. When she eventually has the memory of Takamina asking her if she was the only reason Kanata couldn't progress would she take her down Kanata breaks down. She could never turn away Takamina but there's a sudden realization that her dreams would never be met if her hero remained part of the group.
This eventually led into something known as a heart game where characters entered a manifestation of the character's troubles and true self. For Kanata it appeared in the form of her angers, frustrations, and the death of her father. To successfully reach the end one had to meet one final boss: Takamina. She stood in the way to the room that was Kanata's dreams, her truest self, and said she could not let others pass as she wasn't giving up her position yet. While no one had an answer for this dilemma, the impressed upon Kanata her own abilities and willfulness to succeed.
On her very last day in Aather she told one of her friends that no matter what she was going to find a way for both her and the current Takamina to sing side-by-side.
PERSONALITY OVERVIEW
Kanata Shinonome has always been a person who loves the people around her. When she was younger, she loved the smile on her father's face and bring smiles to others. As she grew older this hardly changed, except now she wanted to protect their smiles. She understands that everyone needs to work together and that they're all moving forward with the same goal, this is such an important thing to her that she doesn't waver from it. The closest she comes is when she acts alone to defeat the DES ships after the nearly kill Takamina in episode eight, and this was only because she thought she'd lose her and couldn't protect her.
Protecting those around her is part of Kanata's qualities as a leader, as the person chosen to be the next Takamina. Takamina will always put the others around her before herself. She's angered when she's told not to follow Chieri and says that her duty as a captain comes before anything else! She doesn't have a good concept of doing for herself. So much so that when Takamina out right asks her if she's supposed to be the next Takamina already but she was the only one standing in the way would Kanata get rid of her? Kanata can't answer that, she's physically pained at the idea of taking away her hero's dream for her own. Furthermore, towards the end of the series, Mimori/Mariko says that if she wants to be a successor, Kanata has to be greedy. So when Akihabastar is being attacked and all of the girls are thinking of their dreams, Kanata doesn't admit her own but instead says "for the promise I made!"
The two years Kanata spent in 00 before the series started appears to be a mixed one. By this I mean, we can tell she had good times but at the same time she grew more frustrated. She was a member of the 75th generation, nicknamed "the unlucky generation". This is because at the start of the series it was only she and Mimori left as everyone else in their generation had quit. Furthermore, a member of the 76th Generation, Youko/Sae, became a successor before the members of the 75th. Kanata says this had upset them because she and Mimori had both worked so hard but will still passed up by the junior. Likewise, when Kanata learns her little sister, Sonata, joined AKB at the start of the series she becomes infuriated. It's not so much because it's dangerous, although it is a factor, but because she didn't want Sonata to feel the same frustration and failure that she did at never making it.
Kanata consistently feels frustrated with her inability to succeed. This is seen as early as "Heart Type Operation" where she apologizes to her family for not being a proper idol and then towards the end of the series when Mimori succeeds Mariko. She knows she works hard and that she's capable, but she's not sure why she never progresses (which, of course, is because she can't succeed Takamina until the current one graduates). Despite this, she says that she's not jealous of the others for moving ahead.Or, to better word it, that while she wishes she could move on she wants to support her under-classmen and friends and is truly happy for them.
Thanks to Mimori, however, Kanata was able to overcome these feelings. It's thanks to Mimori that Kanata is able to begin to love singing again. She had been too bitter and frustrated before that she'd began to think it was all worthless. This was different in comparison to Heart Type Operation where she showed her radiance in battle and love for people, but it seems she did become quite a bit jaded in the year that passed and Sonata's appearance at 0048's theater did not help matters. While she had always worked hard and is quoted by even Chieri to be "successor level," until that point her idol aura wasn't the best it could be--the best it once was. Thanks to Mimori telling her it was okay to still believe in her dreams and love music, Kanata was able to return to her old self.
Kanata has always put the show and 00 above everything else. The group itself has always been important to her and so it doesn't matter what troubles she has to face-- she'll do it. She's one of the first to suggest they do a concert on a dangerous area and the moment she finds out how their variety shows are helping those under the entertainment ban she has the others follow along. Kanata is the captain of the trainees and is a constant support system. Whenever one of the girls is in trouble she chases after them and tries to help. And even when they pass her either in becoming a successor, getting solos, or even placing in the general elections she's endlessly supportive.
Despite her father's death, Kanata is also shown to be a person to easily bounce back. A really good example of this comes from the manga in that a building just nearly crushed her and the other members of 00 and she had glass shards sticking out of her leg, but she tried really hard to be energetic and helpful. Of course, this is a bit of an extreme one, but it's shown in the anime as well. Mostly this comes off in that if people say encouraging things it's easy to ignite passion in her. The best one is in Heart Type Operation when Juno antagonizes her about her father's death and being part of DES herself, Kanata wants to fight her with everything she has but the others stop her, encourage her, and persuade her not to do it alone. Then at the end of the series when she speaks about how there's no way Chieri could get over her dad's death so fast. Sayaka and Takamina both turn and tell her that they're there and that Akibastar is important to all of them and so Kanata's demeanor regarding it changes.
At her core, Kanata is dedicated and serious. She puts everything into her practicing and even Yuuko says that "this girl is amazing". She works hard to do her best in everything she does and is even seen practicing late at night when no one else is. She takes her role as a member of AKB0048 and the captain of the trainees with utmost seriousness. Kanata doesn't act on anything without meaning to finish it and, furthermore, is more then willing to do things like attacking people if it means protecting the ones she loves. However, she's also dedicated in the sense that, usually, she is able to choose the best option for everyone involved...
...This, in some ways, has come from all the people and lessons she's had. First, her father who showed her strength and following her dreams. Then, Acchan, who showed her how to truly be an idol. And lastly, Takamina, who became her guiding star. The things that each of them taught her, Kanata holds dear and doesn't forget. It's shown even with Mimori/Mariko in that when she allowed her to cry and feel pain-- like Abel had before-- she passed the same thing on to Chieri when she needed it. She's not dedicated to only her studies, but much more obviously to the people around her.
The current Takamina is Kanata's role model and the person she wants to take after which worries Takamina-- as, for one, she knows Kanata was supposed to replace her,-- but even she says that "Kanata truly is the next generation's Takamina". Despite how serious and dedicated, sometimes harsh, Kanata can be she's also shown that she can be both caring and loving. Although she bottles up her disappointments and heartaches, Kanata can relate to people and it's in her nature to help them as much as she can.
At the end of the day, Kanata is very much a cheerful girl. She can feel down and disappointed in herself, but generally appears confident around her peers and takes charge. She's known as the leader and for that can be bossy and strict if necessary. She also has a fierce temper and sternness that becomes more evident when she's upset, but is generally kind. Her temper only appearing when the people around her are hurt and sternness when she's worried about how things will go for everyone. While most people would say her and Sonata are opposites, Kanata herself has a playful and teasing nature and enjoys messing with Makoto. Mostly, she's just a girl who felt a lot of heartache and just wants to protect the smiles of those around her.
PERSONALITY QUESTIONS
What skills does your character bring to the situation?:
Kanata has many different experiences from both her time in 0048 and her time in Aather. The first and most obvious ones are her abilities as an idol. She can sing and dance at professional levels and is said to be amazing at both. Kanata was also taught both modeling and acting, but she's still rough at both of those. The latter skills won't be able to help in the village, but she would occasionally try to perform entertainment-- even hope-- through song. It's what idol do.
The first thing idols in her canon have to learn is combat. This is because most of their concerts take place in dangerous locations and if they can't defend themselves they will die. The girls are trained in how to pilot robots, but they're also taught how to sabers and perform hand-to-hand combat. In Kanata's case her father was teaching all of this to her since she was a little girl so before she was even taught some of it she knew what to do. The others have stated that she doesn't only have the endurance from idol practice, but she is physically strong and powerful.
Alongside this, Kanata has good shooting aim. She's seen shooting both guns an a bow-and-arrow (the latter of which was the form of her kirara). While she's never hunted before she does know how to target and shoot what she's after. Alongside this the idols are taught a certain degree of stealth to be able to sneak into and infiltrate enemy areas.
Finally, Kanata comes with an understanding of not one world but multiple. She grew up on a desert planet and knows how to survive under those harsh conditions. Due to being stranded on a planet she's also learned how to investigate and find potentially edible foods there. This in some ways makes her more hardened to the impossible weather changes of the village and capable of still trying to survive and do what needs to be done under those conditions.
Explain how your character would react to the following:
- Discovering that their memories may have been tampered with:
If this was Kanata straight from AKB0048 this would be more of a problem, but coming from Aather she's all too accustomed to the idea of not having her memories. She also received them out of order so she has faced more than enough confusion about her life previously. However, in Aather she had a way to get them back and return them to normal. If she were to become aware of the fact within the village she would be determined to find out a way to get them back (and wonder if this was some weird attack by the Darkness).
- Having to do physical labor to survive:
As an idol Kanata is used to practicing hours on end without stopping until something is perfected. She's also trained in combat and has been since a young age, so she is able to push herself to her physical limits. She's well toned and doesn't lack muscle, but despite all of her training she does't really have any farming or fishing experience. Partly because she grew up on a desert planet and partly because the idols are more like soldiers than any sort of craftsmen.
That said she isn't unused to having to act to get what she needs to. Kanata spends most of her free time practicing and in much the same way she'd come to that judgement within he village. Her goals are always more altruistic in nature and to help the whole rather than only herself. While gross she wouldn't be afraid to get dirty while helpin with farming and she certainly has a fair enough shot to help in the hunting of animals.
- Having to share resources with others:
There are several factors in favor of Kanata here: The first being that she's shared a dormitory room with Mimori for two years and lives under shared facilities with at least thirty underage girls. She's used to not having enough hot water or trying to squish nine people to use the sink at once. Two, Saharastar was under the same entertainment ban most planets were, and they did everything possible to break the people's spirits. This included providing little way of work and food, supplying only a meager amount of rations. Before joining AKB0048 Kanata would have been used to very limited food and likely ensured her younger sister had more than she did.
In the case of Aather it was in very many ways similar to the village. Characters had to do quests to get goods and while the variety went further, it did include food. Most characters were able to eat at games where it was provided, but when games were roughly once a day and more often than not sweets, they still had very limited amounts there as well.
Kanata isn't a selfish person, if someone needed help or food she would give it to them even if it left her with little to nothing herself. If she obtained a fishing pole and someone needed it she would let them borrow it without thinking about it. She's an honest and earnest girl and helping to take care of people is who she is. While she is by no means used to starving, she isn't unaccustomed to lack of food. The auditioning for AKB0048 always mandates being able to work together and the girls who fail in that respect are immediately cut.
- Being unable to leave the area:
Kanata is used to traveling the galaxy but it's also not a necessity for her, especially not when she is unable to perform a concert. For the last three, nearly four, years she's also lived on Akibastar which aside from the city they live in is virtually destroyed. The city itself lies within a dome and is only a few miles wide, as this is where she largely spends her time, she is in some ways used to those limitations. Except in Akibastar there's plenty more places to go.
Aather was much more similar to the village in that short of the houses they lived in there wasn't much else to see and you couldn't go further. However, in both respects there was always the availability to push and grow beyond those boundaries. Where the similarities between the village an Camelot lie they also end. In Aather she never formally left Camelot for the next realm, so she doesn't have experience with the growth of the world but she knows of it.
So while pushing beyond those boundaries won't be the main thing she does-- they won't completely go to the wayside. Kanata has a dream to follow and friends to return to, if there's a chance she will help to try and achieve it. She's become a bit wreckless in that sense given she was killed twice within Aather and everything there could eventually be brought down through joint effort. She will want to believe in the strength of the people in the village to accomplish leaving if they wanted to.
- Doing without modern conveniences and technology and/or being around tech more advanced than they're used to:
Kanata comes from both the future and another galaxy. She's used to things such as spaceships, holographic communicators, and giant mechas. Similarly, technological warefare is also considerably more advanced. Idol outfits are made of cloth that acts as armor, they wear a gel that prevents radiation, and their weapons while powered by their own aura also has some technological base.
Despite this, other applications of life are fairly normal. People are still seen with flat screen televisions, people are still needed in factories, and manual labor is still very much present. This is because while humankind has advanced because of necessity, creativity was essentially banned with entertainment. The only thing that gets advanced is items of necessity and practicality. Even Akihabastar, one of the places that defies the entertainment ban, is a fairly modern town short of holographic upgrades for their media streaming.
In this way it's a pretty weird situation. Most likely on her home planet Kanata was used to very sparse technology. They would have had electricity, television, and motor vehicles but as seen with other planets that would be the extent. She is certainly used to the existence of technology and the total lack of it within the village would be disconcerting but it's also not something that would be as an extreme culture sulk as other space-aged series.
Aather also lacked technology and at best ran on our magic. Anything there was modern and there was a lack of entertainment such as televisions and game system. The only real accommodations they had were electricity, heating/cooling, and plumbing.
- Being separated, possibly permanently, from loved ones and their previous life, including loss of powers, if applicable:
With regards to powers AKB0048's series gives a rather interesting spin here. Kanata's powers aren't things that you would be able to utilize in any given scenario. They're not magic that can move things or the ability to read minds: It's a reflection of her soul. An idols power is only visible depending on how radiant she is at the moment. It's also not something they can force, it appears when they're at their truest self.
In this sense Kanata is not reliant on her abilities. She's learned that the more she believes in herself and puts forth her best effort the more her idol radiance shows, but functionally it's also entirely conditional. When she sings she can't make someone feel something they're unwilling to and short of a dangerous situation she is not able to produce magical weapons or shields. It is largely glowing and a resonance with the world around her.
So in most ways the lack of power will not effect her in her day-to-day life, but on a psychological level it will. She's used to being able to produce a kirara when singing or feeling most confident, this kirara is a reflection of her soul. If she were to sing with all of her heart or give a speech and it didn't appear they would be a sense of loss she would have to grapple with. However, the larger loss would appear in something much more complex and leave her a little confused in the beginning of her stay:
When a member of 0048 becomes a successor they have something that is called the "succession fever". What happens during this state is that they resonate with the person they're succeeding, they're literally taking on part of that person's soul. Two years ago Kanata took on the soul of Takahashi Minami. While this didn't change her personality or history, it's described in canon as something you feel to your very core. No one's really explained any of this to her so she doesn't exactly understand what happened to her and as this is deeply rooted with an idol's radiance, their power, the part of her that resonated with Takamina will suddenly disappear. This will be a very intimate loss that she won't have an understanding as to why and will create some mindfuckery for her until she's acclimated (it also means should powers every return that she would go through another fever).
The loss of people will be much, much more difficult. Kanata left her homeworld of Saharastar at thirteen and left there her sister and her mother. While her sister ran away and joined 0048 last year, she hasn't seen her mother since that time. Due to the entertainment bans and her being a technical terrorist it's unlikely she's had any contact with her at all. In this way she will not miss her home planet or her mother as they're both something she abandoned long ago and came to terms with.
It's the other members of 0048 and Akibastar that will have the largest impact on her. Specifically the losses of Sonata, Mimori/Mariko, and Takamina. Sonata due to the fact that although she finds her younger sister annoying and childish, Kanata does love her and in many ways she's the last family she has left. Mimori because the two of them have been through so much together. They were the 75th Generation, the so called "Unlucky Generation", when everyone else gave up they were left with broken dreams and heartache to fight on. Mimori is Kanata's best friend and the person who supported her with smiles and kindness in spite of those heartaches. She recently made a promise to become a successor as soon as possible so they may sing on the same stage together once more. The fact she may be unable to fulfill this promise will be something that both stings her and will drive her within the village.
Takamina on the other hand is her guiding light. She's the other's biggest supporter and always looks for her validation. The difference here, however, is that her relationship with Takamina was more idolizing than with Mimori. They were friends, or Kanata would like to say they were, but Takamina is who drove Kanata to be a bigger and better person. So in this way this will translate to the village, instead of allowing herself to become depressed or sullen she will use the spirit Takamina showed her to put her all into everything.
Stemming from her time in Aather, Kanata has spent time away from Akibastar. She's lived through the same possibilities before but there was always a chance to get home. Kanata will want to strive to find something similar and won't give up hope that there remains a chance to return home. Of course, this is unlikely to go well for her and there will be many setbacks, but so long as she can still breathe she will continue to try.
WRITING SAMPLES
http://eachdraidhlogs.dreamwidth.org/67130.html?thread=7311674#cmt7311674 & http://eachdraidhlogs.dreamwidth.org/67130.html?thread=7312186#cmt7312186 two old Eachdraidh comments
http://sixthiterationooc.dreamwidth.org/73586.html?thread=2550130#cmt2550130 Current 6i tfm
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