AMA Setsu-AMA

[Yellow Bommen]

What are your favorite Persona games?

Thanks, Setsuna.

 

[PoryKid575]

What do you most want to improve on?

 

[Setsuna]

What are your favorite Persona games?

Persona is something I've only started getting into in the past several years, I didn't grow up with it or anything besides having really vague memories of P4A. The idea of it being a very long character-focused RPG really appeals to me and the idea of living a normal social life in current day society and using those social connections to get stronger and unlock new skills to fight enemies is really unique. I love things like Love Live or Machikado Mazoku or Persona that take place in what's basically our own world with just a little touch of something fantastical or magical.
Persona 5 Royal is my favourite, it's one of the first games I ever got to play together with my bf at a very special time in my life, and I love it just for that. But for the game itself, I love the setting, I love some of the characters (Ann, Futaba and Kasumi being my favourites), the music is great, and I'm sure I've mentioned this somewhere before but it makes me feel incredibly cool as I play it in a way almost no other game has. The way the menus look, the sound design, the costumes the phantom thieves wear, the act of being a criminal hero hiding in plain sight, the way you can see what the general public thinks of you at any moment, the kinds of moves you can pull off in combat like holding the enemy at gunpoint to rob them, these all contribute to P5 having a really strong visual identity not only in how it looks but how it feels to play. When I play Persona 5 I feel like I am a phantom thief striking down evildoers with blade and gun in hand, and it feels amazing. I don't think it's perfect and I do think it has some rough points but I think it's a great example for me of how a video game can be good for reasons other than telling a good story or the gameplay being fun. I feel like I'm in its world and experiencing it all myself and that makes me incredibly emotionally invested when I can really just fall into something like that.
I'll always play Royal over the original P5 because, let's face it, it's like the equivalent of playing Pokemon Emerald or Platinum over RS or DP. It's extra content with basically no drawbacks. Having Kasumi as a playable character and learning her story is great, the final palace of the game is wonderful with a really interesting story, the grappling hook feels like it should have been in the original to begin with, Showtime attacks are really cool to see, Persona Traits feel really strange to play the game without, guns feel more comfortable to use, it's mainly a lot of smaller things that really contribute to a smoother experience.
I also want to mention that I enjoyed Persona 4 Golden enough to replay it three times in order to get all the achievements. It carries a lot of the aspects I love about things like slice of life anime and I really enjoyed how Personas were portrayed in that game, as the worst parts of yourself you wouldn't want to accept due to things like societal pressure. Having more of a focus on the members of my party and giving each of them their own arcs does make the story feel formulaic, but I can't say I'd forget or say I dislike any of the party members in that game.
And because a conversation on Persona is never complete without "who's your best girl" especially for a Love Live fan, my god, I would have dated Yukari if I was able to in P3 (due to playing as the female character), I dated Rise in every single playthrough of P4, and dated Kasumi while playing P5R, but would date Ann on repeat playthroughs. Yes I love the Lovers Arcana is it obvious

What do you most want to improve on?

I love this question, but it's a tough one. I feel like I'd answer it with everything and nothing at the same time. I had a really great conversation with someone recently about how I don't really like to accept that I'm the best at something. I'm going to go on a tangent here but I hope it just generally explains my thought process.

For example I don't think I should ever genuinely tell myself "I'm the best at writing", because a lot of what makes my writing good comes from the people I ask for help. When I write, I'm very emotionally invested in it and that leads to something you can tell is something the author cares about, but there's also lots of stuff I'm going to miss, or maybe I'll exaggerate it to get my point across, or maybe it doesn't flow well to read because I'm just rambling. When I ask a friend to beta read something for me, I don't say "Do you think this is good", I'll say "What needs to change" because I am not perfect and I want to hear what they have to say. Even if I disagree I'll say "Okay, why do you think that" to get a better understanding. I like to think it keeps my ego in check and it makes sure I never take other people for granted, especially those I go out of my way to ask to help me out.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I don't think I'm perfect and that telling myself "I need to improve at this" seems very healthy for my thought process and doesn't let things get out of hand. I have several, several flaws and everything is something that I can continue to improve on, so it's hard to decide on one specific thing. I've also been trying very hard to get better at specific things when I need to as I've matured so it's hard to pick only one thing from that list as well, that's why I say I'd answer with everything and nothing.
I guess the thing that I would really want to improve on is how I see myself like, physically, or in spaces in real life, if that makes sense? I don't think I'm the prettiest, I don't think I'm confident trying to talk to people in person, I'm very shy and sometimes just making eye contact can be hard, and I seem to have it drilled into my skull that my presence in a room is just getting in the way of other people and that I should only speak when spoken to.
I act the way I do here because I'm comfortable enough to and built up that confidence to jump into a space like this or a small gathering and just start talking as if I already know people, but I severely lack the confidence to do that in real life, which isn't helped by the past few years being absolutely dreadful for my anxiety, I feel like it's gotten a lot worse if I'm being honest. My assumption is that once I build that confidence up, I can just start acting naturally and have a better time existing as a person around people. I can't say I make for good company or am completely comfortable around someone in person, even if I've known them for several years. I don't want to feel that way about myself, it makes things really difficult on occasion.
There's also a habit I have that I should be trying harder to break. I'm not going to share details.

Thanks for your questions!

 

[Zero Seven]

I really appreciate how much thought and detail you put into your answers. It's impressive how you dive deep into your thought process. Now, a question:

What do you think is the biggest internal challenge you face in becoming the person you truly want to be, and how do you see yourself overcoming it?

 

[Setsuna]

I really appreciate how much thought and detail you put into your answers. It's impressive how you dive deep into your thought process. Now, a question:

First of all, thank you! It's awesome to hear that. It's a really big deal for me to have someone come in and take the effort to ask me a question, so in my mind, I want to give them a response that's worth the effort they put in. I'm the kind of person to get a simple thought across in a paragraph or two and I think it makes my AMA thread unique to me and a lot more interesting to read than just a boring one word answer for everything. I'm glad they left a good impression on you!

What do you think is the biggest internal challenge you face in becoming the person you truly want to be, and how do you see yourself overcoming it?

I think this is sorta related to the last question I answered, where I mentioned I have a lot of trouble with how I see and think about myself, especially on a physical level. I've taken different small steps to improve things, such as trying out a new hairstyle or buying more/different kinds of clothing and trying to be more comfortable wearing them in public. But a lot of it is just mental, I think (in my situation at least, maybe not everyone's) that a problem with how I think about myself can be fixed by changing how I think about myself. Over the years I've spent a lot of time learning to be kinder to myself, reassure myself when my anxieties come up, and especially acknowledge and remember when I feel good. I think continuing to handle myself and my mind/emotions with care is sort of like getting the foot in the door in terms of going down the path to overcome it, the higher my tolerance and patience become the easier it'll be for me to improve in the future. It's good to both acknowledge when you feel good about yourself and give yourself confidence as well as to remind yourself when you face difficulty that you aren't weak or pathetic, but instead that you're in that situation because you're trying and making an effort, and that it's more than reasonable to take a few losses. I suck at it sometimes, but I'm so, so much better than how I was years ago.
Backpedaling to the whole "taking steps on a physical level" thing, there's still a bunch of things I want to try and having enough money and confidence in the future to do so will only boost me forwards I think. Sometimes I like to watch fashion videos on YouTube and I sorta passively gain an interest of what I want to wear by seeing people on the street or seeing art of my favourite characters or maybe my favourite seiyuu had a nice photoshoot or had a collab with a clothing brand. There are still a bunch of things I've yet to wear or ways to see myself in the mirror that I think it's a very exciting and fruitful road to journey down. Cosplay is also something I've wanted to do, especially with a friend of mine, and once I build up more confidence I think a really fun con or event and a really cool photoshoot especially with them would be a memory I'd cherish for the rest of my life and give me that confidence when I need it.

Another thing I think has become a really big roadblock to my satisfaction is my current financial situation and the worry of job security in the future, but that's so many years in the future as well as something I'll have to consider for the next several decades, with so many outside interactions from other people that I can't say I'm the person holding the key to fixing that. That's more external than internal, I think. I'll put in the effort, I'm slowly planning how I'm gonna go down a career path and hear from people that it's both worth the effort and will pay well, but it's more like that's the next thing I'm trying out in my life, and it's about doing what I can and taking anything that happens in stride and moving forward rather than "I'm securing an air-tight future through my own actions".
There was a time earlier in my life when I felt like I made it. Like I had my stuff together, I was happy waking up and going to sleep, and while that time is sadly behind me, having confidence I was making good money (for how I lived at least) and that I was good at my job and people liked me there was a major reason why I was happy. I think once I'm able to find myself in a situation like that again, where I can tell myself I made it, that I'll be able to fully become the person I've always wanted to be. Then that goal post will move forwards, and I'll continue improving and struggling in my life. Be happy for what you have while reaching for greater heights, y'know?

Thank you for your question!

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

What are you doing today to celebrate Riko's birthday?

 

[Setsuna]

What are you doing today to celebrate Riko's birthday?

First of all, happy birthday to this beautiful girl!

Often I don't do much for everyone's birthdays, but I never miss them because I'll always get to see such lovely art of everyone thanks to social media. Especially if it's a character I love, like Ayumu or Setsuna, or my favourite character from some other series like Himari Uehara I'll check the birthday hashtags and retweet all the good art I like or check if the seiyuu has said anything for their birthday (I have fond memories of Aikyan making some posts for Yoshiko's birthdays) but unless I'm in the mood for something special I'll often just be happy with that.
Oh, and if I'm in the mood to read, I'll pray someone's made a good birthday fic or something too.

There's been so much good art of Riko today, and between that and Aqours Jimo-Ai Matsuri, I'm absolutely thriving. Especially because of Spanish speaking fans! It's a wonderful day to love Riko Sakurauchi. 🤍

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but what are your top 5 favorite Love Live songs? And what are your top 5 favorite LL songs from each group independently?

 

[Setsuna]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but what are your top 5 favorite Love Live songs? And what are your top 5 favorite LL songs from each group independently?

It has not been asked! But I'll also say while I'm on this topic that if you ask me something I've already answered without realizing I've answered it, I'll link you to my previous answer along with any extra information I might be able to add onto it. But also like, don't ask me stuff if you know I've already answered it, cause there's cooler stuff to ask me and have me share my thoughts on.

Now this is... such a hard question to answer. Like, overall, especially. I could create a whole list of songs I love and it's so hard to narrow that list down lol
Just going through one list there are 56 songs give or take that I could try to burn down into just a top 5, so to try and make it easier, I'll go through each group individually and bend a couple rules just to get a fulfilling answer. This is a big task and I have an absolute ton to say about every group, so enjoy your wall of text!

• µ's

µ's is a group where I don't listen to them as much as I think I probably should. They've always sorta felt like they were before my time and I'll occasionally go and look for those songs I think I'll like because I hear them talked about (things like Psychic Fire, Soldier Game, or Loveless World) but it's not too often a µ's song really sticks with me. So I've probably got a strange top 5! It would probably be:

5. Yuujou no Change
4. Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE
3. Korekara no Someday
2. Natsuiro Egao de 1, 2, Jump!
1. No Brand Girls

• Printemps

Printemps is probably the group I've listened to the least out of any of them, so I have the least to say about them. Given subunits have less songs to begin with it's hard to fill these spots for a group I'm not as interested in. Love Marginal and UNBALANCED LOVE are my favourite Printemps songs because they remind me a lot of older J-Pop I grew up around and wish I listened to more, but the rest of the group's music doesn't really fit into that category, so I'm less interested in something like WAO-WAO Powerful day! or even MUSEUM de Dou Shitai?, honestly.

5. MUSEUM de Dou Shitai?
4. CheerDay CheerGirl!
3. NO EXIT ORION
2. UNBALANCED LOVE
1. Love Marginal

• lily white

I think lily white is underrated! You might notice that with sub-units (especially those within µ's) I'll often love the newest or oldest songs and not be too interested in what came in-between. lily white is something I wouldn't often go out of my way to listen to, but would always enjoy if it happened to come on shuffle play or something. I got interested in listening to more lily white both because of the fact that Rin's singing voice is wonderful and... Binetsu Kara Mystery and A-NO-NE-GA-N-BA-RE! are songs I was introduced to through in-fandom memes lol

5. Kimi no Kuse ni!
4. Shiranai Love*Oshiete Love
3. Binetsu Kara Mystery
2. Shunjou Romantic
1. A-NO-NE-GA-N-BA-RE!

• BiBi

BiBi is my favourite µ's sub-unit! Big surprise, right? The one with Eli, Maki, and Nico? I enjoy listening to them, especially when I was first getting to know the µ's sub-units, but I think they have an awkward issue where the quality of songs has gotten so much better over so many years that it's hard to enjoy BiBi as much as something like the newest Nijigasaki solo or sub-unit songs. That being said, BiBi is a group I've listened to on my own time fairly often, and songs like Cutie Panther, Love Novels, and PSYCHIC FIRE are classics.

5. PSYCHIC FIRE
4. Trouble Busters
3. Diamond Princess no Yuuutsu
2. Love Novels
1. Cutie Panther

• Aqours (full group songs)

I hope you know that picking only 5 Aqours songs is like torture! Aqours has always been incredibly solid and I love their newest songs just as much as their oldest ones and love everything in between just the same. Given my history with the group there are so many songs I love for so many different reasons. There's so much extra stuff I could say about several songs I didn't even get to include in this list. Aqours has been and always will be amazing. You could swap Daydream Warrior and WONDERFUL STORIES around, depending on whether I'm thinking of gushing about how much I love Arisha (and the rest of the group's vocals, Aikyan especially) or thinking about how much I love the story of Sunshine. When thinking about ranking Aqours songs specifically, I'd have to go with WONDERFUL STORIES as number 1. Dreamy Color is also something really special, but just barely couldn't fit the list.

5. Aqours Pirates Desire
4. Aozora Jumping Heart
3. Mitaiken HORIZON
2. Daydream Warrior
1. WONDERFUL STORIES

• Aqours (excluding full group songs)

Because I'm choosing to see this stuff as a different category, it means I get more opportunities to mention more names. By "excluding full group songs" I mean anything that doesn't include all 9 Aqours members and isn't a sub-unit song. So mainly stuff like solos, duo/trio songs, or songs given to a specific year group. So basically, this is my excuse to mention my favourite Aqours solos, and the fact that the first-years songs are wonderful.
5. Waku-Waku-Week!
4. Perfect SEKAI
3. Far far away
2. Hajimari Road
1. Akogare Ranraran

• AZALEA

It's probably no surprise I'm a big AZALEA fan, given the fact I adore both Dia and her seiyuu an incredible amount. They have several songs I'd easily go out of my way to listen to or play on rhythm games if possible, and GALAXY HidE and SeeK might honestly be one of my favourite sub-unit songs ever. I think AZALEA is underrated in the same way lily white is, but it's because anything that has to be compared to Guilty Kiss is fighting a huge uphill battle. I think almost everything AZALEA's put out has been fantastic.

5. Tokimeki Bunruigaku
4. Kuuchuu Ren'ai Ron
3. Torikoriko PLEASE!!
2. INNOCENT BIRD
1. GALAXY HidE and SeeK

• CYaRon

Man, Aqours just has really good sub-units, doesn't it? CYaRon isn't one I'm nearly as familiar with as the others, but there are a couple songs here that have really hit me. I appreciate that the lyrics of some of their songs are a lot heavier than what you'd expect from a "cutesy" type of group, too. For CYaRon, it's a no-brainer what my top pick is, and then everything else is just a list of the other songs I enjoy arranged in a way I'm currently feeling.

5. Genki Zenkai DAY! DAY! DAY!
4. Kaigandoori de Matteru yo
3. Kinmirai Happy End
2. Kodoku Teleport
1. Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no?

• Guilty Kiss

Guilty Kiss is the most popular sub-unit for good reason! They're one of the ones I listen to the most and just like AZALEA I think nearly everything they've put out has been awesome. I think the Aqours sub-units in general are a great example of how varied LL's discography as a whole can be and I think things like Shooting Star Warrior or even Strawberry Trapper catch newer fans by surprise. They're just so good, I could put almost any GK song on this list.

5. Shadow Gate to Love
4. Guilty Night, Guilty Kiss!
3. Strawberry Trapper
2. Guilty Eyes Fever
1. Shooting Star Warrior

• Saint Snow

One of the coolest things about the boom Aqours seemed to have in 2020 was Saint Snow getting their own single. Dazzling White Town seemed like a big deal when it came out especially because all Saint Snow had was just a small handful of songs for the anime, and it's still sort of a crime we didn't get a full version of DROPOUT!? performed. I'm including Awaken the Power here for obvious reasons.

5. CRASH MIND
4. SELF CONTROL!!
3. Dazzling White Town
2. Awaken the Power
1. Believe Again

• Nijigasaki (full group songs)

It's painful having to pick only 5 Nijigasaki songs, and since solos are kinda their whole identity, I thought I'd separate them from everything else. I think Nijigasaki kinda has a trend where if I love a song it's either because it gets me super excited or absolutely makes me cry. I have a lot of emotional attachment to most of these songs and I could talk a lot about almost any of them, really. The songs that make me cry are so heavily associated with their meaning in Nijigasaki's story as a whole (both in real life and in the context of their stories in-universe) that it's hard to see them as just some extra piece of music the group was given, I've always seen them as extensions of those stories that will always live on in my heart.

5. Yume ga Koko Kara Hajimaru yo
4. Ryouran! Victory Road
3. Colorful Dreams! Colorful Smiles!
2. Fly With You
1. Mirai Harmony

• Nijigasaki (solo songs)

Almost every single solo that the entire group of Nijigasaki has put out could make this list. Whether that's because I'm biased or they're just genuinely that good is up to you. TOKIMEKI Runners, Just Believe, and Fly With You are the best albums from Nijigasaki, I'd listen to pretty much everything from any of them, but Love U My Friends has some songs like Koe Tsunagou yo or My Own Fairy Tale where I might say those are my favourite solos from those characters, or some specific hits like MELODY or Tele Telepathy I've always loved. The solos from the first season of the anime are also almost all totally fantastic (Sorry Saikou Heart) and there are also characters like Rina or Ayumu who I don't think have ever had a bad solo. To keep things interesting, I'm just going to keep to one solo per character.
I also haven't listened to anything from the movie trilogy as of writing this, so for all I know I could be putting PHOENIX or Stellar Stream at the top spot instead.

5. My Own Fairy Tale
4. Eutopia
3. DIVE!
2. Analog Heart
1. Walking Dream

Other songs that immediately came to mind and didn't make the list were 5201314, Aoi Canaria, Audrey, Awakening Promise, Butterfly, CHASE!, Cooking with Love, Diamond (especially live), Dream with You, Eieisa, EMOTION, I'm Still..., Ketsui no Hikari, Koe Tsunagou yo, Margaret, Märchen Star, Muteki-kyuu*Believer, Nemureru Mori ni Ikitai na, Poppin' Up!, Queendom, Say Good-Bye Namida, Solitude Rain, Starlight, stars we chase, Teletelepathy, Tsunagaru Connect, VIVID WORLD, ☆Wonderland☆, Ye Mingzhu, and Yume e no Ippo. And because Waku Waku! Monday Morning doesn't fit into any of these categories, consider it an honorable mention as well!
So simple answer, I love almost everything and wanted to at least mention their names.

• AZUNA

Surprisingly, as an Ayumu and Setsuna fan, AZUNA is probably my least favourite Nijigasaki sub-unit, mainly just for their overall aesthetic and for the story reason the group formed in the first place. They started off really heavily learning on the aesthetic for Dream Land! Dream World! which I wasn't personally a fan of, and following them was something I wasn't really thinking about when the other two captured me immediately. However, I really liked where they went with Maze Town, Folklore ~Kanki no Uta~ is a great song (despite being a really strange thing to pair with Maze Town?), I love Kakushiaji! because my dad is a big fan of it, and I'm of the opinion that Happy Nyan! Days is such a ridiculous song that loops back on itself, going from "what the hell is this" and becoming "this is actually really good". So I like to joke that I'm burdened with the fate of having the funny cat song as my favourite AZUNA song. If I'm counting correctly, "Nya" is said 43 times in that song. If you include backing vocals you could probably quadruple that number.

5. Cheer for you!!
4. Kakushiaji!
3. Maze Town
2. Folklore ~Kanki no Uta~
1. Happy Nyan! Days

• DiverDiva

DiverDiva is not only my favourite Nijigasaki sub-unit, they're probably my favourite sub-unit in all of Love Live. I was immediately captured by them, and in my opinion, they've never made a song that falls below being good. It's probably the only group out of the entire franchise I can definitely say I've listened to and loved everything. Love Triangle is a song where I memorized almost the entire thing across different points and would enthusiastically sing along whenever it'd be performed as my friends and I watched the lives. As far as I'm concerned DiverDiva started off amazing and has never made a bad song. Ai's raps are often the highlight of their songs for me, and it's a bit risky to admit I think she's been better in almost every DiverDiva song than her own solo songs. The idea of the unit being two members of Nijigasaki who view their collaboration as a rivalry instead feels really unique and their aesthetic feels like it slots in perfectly with Nijigasaki as a whole.

5. Saika
4. Shadow Effect
3. THE SECRET NiGHT
2. Eternal Light
1. Love Triangle

• QU4RTZ

To me, QU4RTZ feels like a great example of the idea that if you can really nail down what the aesthetic and kind of music your sub-unit has, the better it can be. Sing & Smile!! and Beautiful Moonlight were both really pretty songs that I think really highlighted the calm singing vocals. I love SIF2's description of Beautiful Moonlight as "nightlife pop". QU4RTZ is sweet, cute, and calming which matches its members really well, especially in something like Not Sad or Make-up Session ABC, but I think ENJOY IT! is the best song to showcase what they are. Not to mention a lot of their stuff is super catchy.

5. Not Sad
4. Sing & Smile!!
3. Make-up Session ABC
2. Beautiful Moonlight
1. ENJOY IT!

• R3BIRTH

R3BIRTH is not a group I've listened to a lot. That's partially because they don't have a lot of songs in the first place, I'm just ordering the 5 songs they have rather than having to narrow down a list. They've always been good (MONSTER GIRLS was better than I remember, honestly) but R3BIRTH is really interesting because of the tri-lingual aspect of it and it feels more like they're trying to find exactly what to do with them instead of following one idea. Go Our Way is a really interesting song because it feels like a 12-person song that's led by R3BIRTH and also happens to include Nijigasaki, and when I listen to the beginning or end of that song or an actual R3BIRTH song like Look at me now, I think they already have something great and just need to settle into it. Though it's also immediately obvious that songs like Vroom Vroom and especially Bubble Over were inspired by K-Pop and I think that's also a great direction for the group, even if the style doesn't interest me nearly as much.

5. Vroom Vroom
4. MONSTER GIRLS
3. Feel Alive
2. Bubble Over
1. Look at me now

As for groups like Liella, Hasunosora, and their sub-units or rival groups, there isn't a lot I've listened to. But from what I've heard at lives, CatChu and 5yncri5e did catch my attention. I remember liking Distortion and especially loving Jellyfish when I watched the Unit Koshien live.

Now that I've gone through every group, I think I can at least try to decide on a Top 5. But since this is the kind of thing where my opinions could change constantly and I don't really want to lock myself into saying "this is my number 1 favourite!" I'll say that in no particular order, I think my top 5 songs overall would most likely look like this:

Mirai Harmony, Daydream Warrior, Fly with You, Walking Dream, and Love Triangle.

Thanks for your question! This one was very fun to answer.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

Three members of the three main Love Live groups (that I know) are murdered... And three other members are the guilty party... Who and who and why? >.>

 

[Setsuna]

Three members of the three main Love Live groups (that I know) are murdered... And three other members are the guilty party... Who and who and why? >.>

What's with you people and killing off my girls???
...Or well, that's what I'd probably say if I wasn't really expecting this question.

So I think there are two ways to interpret this question, one is the whole "Honoka tomato sauce" or "The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog" kinda angle where it's all a prank for fun and the other is like genuine murder, makes me think of something like Danganronpa.

For µ's, I think Honoka is the obvious choice for victim in both scenarios, but for different reasons. We have canon evidence (if you consider SIFAS canon that is) that Honoka would play the victim in a prank, but if the murder was real, she'd be a prime target because in many ways Honoka is what keeps µ's together and having her be the victim would instantly sow chaos within the group. If it's a prank, I think Nico would be a great fake killer because of her over-the-top personality and her interactions with the other members, but I could also see Rin playing the role because it'd be fun for her, though I also think she'd feel a little guilty afterwards despite the rest of the group reassuring her it was all for fun.
If it's real though, there's only one answer. It's Kotori, and you can't convince me otherwise. She would manipulate the rest of the group near effortlessly, and she'd be so convincing as the childhood friend of the victim that almost no one would even consider her, even Umi. She'd probably only come undone after a lot of pressure from Eli and especially Nozomi, and it would be very hard for them to accuse her. I think I have an... interesting view of Kotori as a character when it comes to fantasy scenarios or headcanons?

Aqours is tougher because it doesn't feel like there's much of an obvious choice.
Ruby cannot even be a prank victim or Dia would chew everybody else out for decades. You, Kanan, and Dia can defend themselves well enough to not be believable victims or caught off guard. I don't think Yoshiko could really be a good victim, saying Chika for the same reasons as Honoka is lame, and Mari is someone I'd see more as a killer than a victim.
Riko could probably be a good fake killer if she was pressured into it and decided to take it seriously, I think she's got a vibrant enough of an imagination to play the role well. Yoshiko seems like she'd be a good fake killer on the surface as well, but you can't tell me she wouldn't be seen through instantly. They'd all point their fingers at her and she'd last 5 seconds defending herself, maximum.
Maybe there could be some sort of argument made for You killing Riko to have Chika for herself, but I think that's such a boring unoriginal answer. I think I could be convinced of Dia or Mari being a killer, but I could see Dia as a situation of "I killed them to protect Ruby" and Mari as "I never wanted to but I had to", and I can't see anyone else in the group being a convincing victim of either of those situations.
Regardless of the situation, Hanamaru would be phenomenal at discovering the truth of the case, and everyone in the group would underestimate her. The girl's incredibly well-read and would have studied so many crime stories, she'd be an incredible detective. Besides that, it's hard to give any answers I'm certain of.

Kasumi is absolutely the prank victim for Nijigasaki, and she didn't even intend for it to happen. She likely walked into the club room, some other club members were discussing the scenario, and they all forced her into the role. You know who started that conversation? Shizuku. She's the obvious prank killer, but she doesn't even care that everyone knows it was her. She wants to play the role, and play it she shall.~
For a genuine murder, I think there's a really interesting idea of Rina being pushed to kill through the use of her board, like as if it's some sort of entity on its own that takes control of her body. (The electronic one, with the light-up screen, I mean. Not the paper notebook.) In which case I think someone like Ai, Mia, or maybe even Kasumi could be an interesting victim. Someone who she'd never want to actually hurt.
Another interesting angle is that Karin could be a great killer, based on the gap between who she wants to appear as to people and how she really is with her insecurities. She'd get jealous, over time things would ramp up, and she would get to a point of "People will appreciate me more if my competition was gone". Setsuna, Kasumi, or Lanzhu seem like good fits for a victim.
If that isn't what we're going with, I think there's an obvious answer for a murder victim. It has to be Yuu. For a similar reason to Honoka, but even stronger. Every single person in that club depends on Yuu, genuinely loves her, and would be devastated if she was killed.

Thanks for your question! Interesting headcanons or theoretical scenarios with these characters are really fun to come up with. Though for the record, I love these girls so much, please never put them in any harm's way!

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

I think I have an... interesting view of Kotori as a character when it comes to fantasy scenarios or headcanons?

Coooooongratulations! You've won yet another question! I'm dying to know more about what you mean by this, so, yeah, 'can you please go more into this?' I suppose. :p

 

[Setsuna]

Coooooongratulations! You've won yet another question! I'm dying to know more about what you mean by this, so, yeah, 'can you please go more into this?' I suppose. :p

Sooo... this is one of those things I've never really fully outlined or said out loud before, just sorta been a constant thought in my head. I'll take the time to mention that obviously, none of this is a real aspect of the character or Love Live in general at all. Just brainrotten ramblings of some person with strange thoughts.

So... Kotori is a really cute, really sweet character. Childhood friends with Honoka, usually the one who lets her do what she wants instead of Umi scolding her, and her voice is super cute and higher pitched. I guess a good way of summing up this kind of headcanon I have for her is that instead of a character like Ruby who's genuinely sweet and innocent, I view it more like it's a ruse and Kotori's just pretending.

Something like this gif of her shooting one of her group members with a water gun and smiling, or having a sort of secret identity like Minalinsky makes me think she just appears cute to people on the surface and uses that to her advantage, and enjoys tricking people. In some sort of fantasy setting I could see her as the type who would pretend to be a princess or a noblewoman only to reveal later that she was secretly a demon hiding her identity to overthrow the king or something, or someone pretending to ask an adventurer for help before ambushing them later to attack them and steal their gear and money.
Being seen as a really cute girl, an idol, and a maid is an easy way to charm people and get into their hearts, and I think the moments where I can sorta find an opening to say "here, she breaks the facade and this is what she's really like" is really appealing to me. She'd be sweet on the outside but a cunning master of deception on the inside, lying coldly right to your face with the sweetest of smiles. How could anyone as cute as her do anything wrong?

Don't get me wrong, I don't always see Kotori like this! I stand by the actual canon depiction of her character like 99.9% of the time and this is more of a fun "what if?" sort of scenario that is just fun to think about.

Thanks for your question! Again, this kinda stuff is just fun to make up and think about, so I hope it's at least a little entertaining. Hearing headcanons like this and occasionally making my own (if there's enough to grasp onto) is so fun for me.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

Okay, I promise this is the last one, but your response feels just like what I've read from people who argue for the 'Darth Jarjar' theory, and I wanted to both ask you your thoughts on that, and share that comparison with you LOL. XD(so the question would be 'what are your thoughts on the 'Darth Jarjar' theory?')

 

[Setsuna]

Okay, I promise this is the last one, but your response feels just like what I've read from people who argue for the 'Darth Jarjar' theory, and I wanted to both ask you your thoughts on that, and share that comparison with you LOL. XD(so the question would be 'what are your thoughts on the 'Darth Jarjar' theory?')

Okay well first of all I have to tell you that comparing Kotori Minami to Jar Jar Binks is like actually insane behaviour lol

So I'm not super familiar with Star Wars, so I can't comment on the details. But from what little I know about it, the theory seems super funny at the very least. Jar Jar seems like the perfect kind of character to pull a move like that with, the whole "he was the villain the whole time" deal.
It feels like the kind of thing that's super fun to hear and imagine, but it's like the old Game Theory episodes where they said things like "Wario is 10 feet tall, I have the math to prove it!", a really fun thought but nothing to take seriously.

Don't you dare promise me this is the last one, keep feeding me stuff...

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

If you could choose where to live, with the stipulation that it MUST be in the state of South Carolina, where would you choose and why?

 

[Setsuna]

If you could choose where to live, with the stipulation that it MUST be in the state of South Carolina, where would you choose and why?

That's weirdly specific, so it's funny and interesting to me!
My immediate thought was Myrtle Beach, because it's the one place in South Carolina I do know and have seen some pictures and videos and stuff of. It's definitely a place that would be cool to visit at some point in my life, because I like big touristy cities and the climate and the beach would probably be really pleasant. Though the thing is, I feel like it'd be difficult living in a tourist town? Probably more so growing up, but even current day I think knowing that the city I live in would get flooded full of people who know they're on vacation, I think it'd make living and working a lot more stressful during tourist season. I like the idea of being close to the biggest city in the state without actually living in that city myself, that's more or less always how I've lived. So looking at a map, I think something like North Charleston or Mount Pleasant would be nice. Mind you, I don't really know anything about those cities.

Thanks for the question, that's interesting!

 

[𒈟Lavemu𒐫]

What do you like the most about the castlevania series?

also love your new yoshikoyohane spooky theme!

 

[Setsuna]

What do you like the most about the castlevania series?

Y'know, that's hard to decide on. I think I say "that's a tough question" to all of them but I mean more like, I guess I've never thought of this specific thing, which is surprising to me!
At first, it was probably the music. I discovered the series because my brother had been playing Dawn of Sorrow and I heard this song and thought it was cool, then went to look it up online when I got home. As I played the series more I really enjoyed the music more, and I could talk a lot about the specific songs I like and mention my favourite songs from all those games, I just don't wanna get too carried away. Portrait of Ruin especially stands out to me in its soundtrack, though, and it made me want to play more of it and explore the rest of the games too.

The gameplay is definitely what kept me hooked though. Dawn of Sorrow was my first Castlevania game and it sorta kickstarted my whole love for the entire Metroidvania genre. I enjoy 2D action platformers a lot, things like the Mega Man games or Cave Story or that kind of thing, so I kinda just fell into metroidvania-era Castlevania pretty easily, and most of the games were very comfortable for me. Having a game in that genre where I could explore a map full of different areas that opened more and more as I beat bosses, where I could level up my character and find new cool kinds of weapons or armour in a setting/aesthetic I wanted to explore, that was the coolest thing about it and still is to me.
Dawn of Sorrow can be a fairly grindy game if you want it to be, sometimes having to replay the game if you want all of the strongest weapons and the reward for collecting all the souls in the game, which is its own grind. But I've never even disliked that about the games. There's always a new area to explore with its own interesting visual theme whether it's a painting of a Victorian city, a cursed chapel overrun by demons and ghouls, or the many clock towers filled with traps featured in the series. There are new enemies to fight that all look impressive or unique with interesting powers, things like the Puppet Master or Legion or Blackmore, and so many of them come from different mythologies or folklore that's cool to learn about. There are always cool weapons to find or spells to cast, and it's always rewarding to level up and keep doing more damage like I would a traditional RPG. The exploration, progression, aesthetic, and fluid... gamefeel? They all combine into one perfect package for me, and I'm now cursed to compare every other metroidvania games to them, where I'll fall in love if it can remind me of those favourite aspects.
So it's hard to really answer with one specific thing. I hope you'll accept just the general gameplay, the way it feels to play them, and the kind of aesthetic they deliver through their gameplay, as one general answer for this question.

I am more than willing to talk about my love for Castlevania, though. Thank you for the opportunity!

also love your new yoshikoyohane spooky theme!

Thank you! October is always a great opportunity to give the fallen angel some love. Since you guys were getting your spooky themes out early this year, I figured I should join you. I expected to take a lot longer putting this one together, but things just sort of fell into place and I'm satisfied with what I made. As far as I can remember, whenever I've actually been on PC for October, I've come back to this queen of dorks for an account theme, she's honestly just perfect for it. Not being able to find art of the character I planned to use at first meant I was coming back to Yoshiko this year as well.

"It's Yohane!"

 

[Yellow Bommen]

What are your favorite Castlevania games?

Thanks, Setsuna.