#gamegift

Guide to Enstars, Jun Oosuka style

Tamao: By the way, how active are you in the events?

Oosuka: I’ve pretty much unlocked all stories from events after Mika-kun joined. End of the Marionette’s Strings is grouped into first half of 2016, so I’m good with everything from second half of 2016. But, there are scout stories that I haven’t unlocked yet.

Tamao: So you unlock everything, even stories that don’t have Mika in them.

Oosuka: I can unlock event stories as long as I play the event regularly after all. I guess it’s also because I want to stock up diamonds.

Tamao: You’re very thorough in collecting them.

Oosuka: I guess I am. Every Event Produce lesson can get you 7 diamonds*. That’s part of the reason why I run through them.

[*I think this should have been 6.]

Tamao: So you basically complete all the Produce Lessons.

Oosuka: Even the regular Produce – I’ve collected all the trophies up to 100% except 3-B. Oh, I haven’t done Switch Lessons yet. Before, in Mika’s event, the number of diamonds I had went down to 2 digits, so I thought the first thing I should do is to complete those normal and special scenarios. But the bonuses for the early lessons were voice clips, right? I was like, yes! I’m getting the diamonds! But it turned out to be voice clips. “Ah, it was voice clip…” That kind of thing (laugh).

Tamao: [Getting the voice clips] still makes you happy, but of course you wanted the diamonds too.

Oosuka: Even so, I got to complete quite a lot of them, so I managed to recover the number of diamonds quickly.

Tamao: Are you not putting any money into the game?

Oosuka: Nope, I’m f2p.

Tamao: Oooh…! Maybe we can hear something that can be useful for the players out there.

Oosuka: Previously, I mentioned I was an f2p in an event and that creeped the audience out (laugh). It’s like they’re thinking, “What are you talking about?” “You’ve gotta be kidding.” But I really haven’t spent any money playing this game.

Tamao: So you go through the game without cutting corners, farm all the diamonds without any useless effort.

Oosuka: That’s right. First, we get diamonds daily as login bonus, so in a month we can get 30 diamonds, right? I’d use one or two-thirds of that for events. But there are two events in a month, so I have to choose whether or not I use those 10 diamonds in a particular event. In the end, I can get more than I use.

Tamao: Aah, I see. That’s how you stock up the diamonds. But a female player who doesn’t normally play games that much may think, “You would go that far, huh…” I’m one of those female players (laugh).

Oosuka: I think there are people who consider what I’m doing is a matter of course, even more than I imagine. But I also think that’s not the case. I think I’m different from those who put money into the game in a timely manner.

Tamao: When I interviewed Kamio-san (Kuro’s VA, Shin’ichiro Kamio) and gathered feedback, there was an overwhelming proportion of people whose playing style was “I want to stay f2p as much as possible.” Accordingly, a lot of people said they wanted to hear Oosuka-san’s story.

Oosuka: I only realized that maxed 3* cards can be useful after I read that interview with Kamio-san. I just started to level them up after all this time.

Tamao: It’s hard to realize that sort of thing when you play alone, and other players out there seem to agree on that point. You get stuck when there is no one around you who knows the way around it.

Oosuka: Kamio-san said, “You can see the nodes on Idol Road, so before you power up the cards, you use a calculator and decide if you can use the card.” At that point, I understood that oh, this person is a serious one! I was surprised (laugh).

Tamao: But your line of thinking leans towards that, doesn’t it?

Oosuka: After events end, I level up my duplicate copies of 3*s to maximum. After that, I store them into the album right away.

Tamao: By the way, how do your units look like?

Oosuka: My Live Units look like this. My Dance, Vocal, and Performance units are all over 300k now, so I can clear everything with 3LP, except the Emergency Live. Also, I just can’t clear the second half Live with 3LP.

Oosuka: My strongest team is Vocal, but there’s room for improvement.

Tamao: When forming the Live Units, I’d leave it to the “Recommended Formation” button. How do you organize your teams?

Oosuka: I’d always tap the “Recommended Formation” button first. Then, I’d make sure to have the Unit Skills activated. Especially in my Vocal team, I’d activate the Handicrafts Club skill.

When Tsumugi-kun, Oshi-san, and Mika-kun are lined up, I get bonus 10% Vocal, and it makes a pretty big difference. When the Handicrafts Club had only two people, it was 5% if I remember correctly. So 10% is quite an increase! For Performance, Valkyrie skill gives 5% bonus, so I also make sure to activate it. Other than that, there’s Shinobu-kun’s Ninja Association, which gives 2% bonus of Performance stat. And 2% from Game Research Club*, and so on.

[*Pretty sure this should be 5%.]

Tamao: It’s always better to have Unit Skills activated, isn’t it?

Oosuka: What I want to do one day is to make Tsumugi-kun a leader, then include the two from Valkyrie and the rest of Switch. If I do that, Handicrafts Club and Switch skills should activate, I think…? When Tsumugi-kun appeared with his first 4*, I thought, “I must have it!” With just Oshi-san and Mika-kun, I could no longer activate Handicrafts Club skill after all.

Tamao: In the current rotation, we still don’t have Tsumugi’s high rarity cards (The interview was held in February 2017). The players are standing by.

Oosuka: In this round, Tetora-kun’s 5* finally appeared, huh? When Tsumugi-kun comes, I wonder if it’ll be about Switch? Or maybe the library committee?

Tamao: In the past, the student council’s vice president was part of the library committee, wasn’t he?

Oosuka: Then the ranking for that will probably be crazy.

Tamao: What is your playing style? Do you play a lot even when an event is not on?

Oosuka: The only time I play regularly is pretty much during the events. Also, I basically don’t scout for limited gacha. Not even solo.

Tamao: Do you not use those special cards in the events?

Oosuka: I don’t need them. In Halloween event, I had around 900 diamonds saved up. At that time, I looked up the ranking borders from previous events. Valkyrie ranking was an unknown territory, so I thought it’s dangerous to blow up 145 diamonds for scouting. Even if my teams could become stronger with the 5*s or 4*s, I decided it’s better to use those 145 diamonds to recover LP. At the end of the event, I only had 23 diamonds left, so if I had scouted I wouldn’t have been able to make it.

Tamao: Do you still keep your play style not to scout?

Oosuka: Yes. I’ve sometimes thought of pulling a solo, but if Mika-kun appears, I wouldn’t be able to scout. I don’t want that to happen… I want to save it for emergency. Even if I say emergency, I get uneasy if I save just enough for one 10-roll, so I want to save enough so I can do 10-rolls twice or thrice. Other than that, I’ll always without fail complete all Event Produce lessons to 100%. I’m f2p, so I’d have to choose when to use the diamonds. If I just need another LP to clear a live, I’d use a diamond. Also, I’d get those Lives up to level 30 as fast as I can. After that, I’d go for the Daily Produce lessons.

Tamao: Do you play the Daily lessons during events?

Oosuka: Those Live Requests appear even in Daily lessons, so I’d do them as much as I can since I want to farm the jewels. They may consume more AP but they give more experience points than Event Produce lessons. Of course, more Live Requests appear in Event Produce compared to regular Produce, so every time a Live appears I would have to use the diamonds. When you’re an f2p, that’s the hard part. It’ll make you want to raise your Rank, and you’d want more jewels. That’s where Daily Produce lessons come to play.

Sunday is a “quest” for experience points, so my strategy, for Sundays especially, is to “eat bread”. I’d first go through Produce lessons and rank up. Then I’d continue until my AP runs out, then I eat the bread and my AP replenishes to 200. When there are some 100 experience points left, I’d do a Daily lesson to rank up. When I rank up, my LP recovers, so before that happens if I’m lucky Live requests appear in those Daily Produce runs. If no Live appears, I’d do the Event Produce and clear one Live. Then I should have 2LP left, and if I carry that along and rank up, with the extra 5LP I would have 7LP. Then I can clear 2 Lives with 3LP each. If you do that, you can rank up 2-3 levels non-stop even if your Rank is already high.

Tamao: I see… What do you do with your Producer Points?

Oosuka: I only use it to level up [the cards].

Tamao: So this is where Oosuka-style and Kamio-style* differ.

[*Gamegift note: Kamio-san uses them to scout.]

Oosuka: Personally, I’m fine with just the 3*s I get from the events. Even if you scout in the points gacha aiming to bulk your teams up, the 4* pull rate is extremely low. That’s why I think diamond scout is better, so I use all those points to level up [the cards] instead. Conversely, once you level them up, it’s easier to predict their stats to a degree. According to Kamio-san’s method, it’s okay as long as you strengthen the cards that have maxed number of copies, so it’s the matter of how many duplicates you have. I do want the cards just for the sake of completion though…

Tamao: How do your Produce Units look like?

Oosuka: My Produce Units are pretty much fixed. We can now have four teams, so the first one looks like this.

Oosuka: With stats like this, there’s no way I’d fail in Lessons. I don’t want to fail just because I want to level up new cards, so I thought it’s better to level them up with points. When I play regularly, this is what I usually use. One thing though. Produce missions sometimes tell you to get 250 jewel fragments, right? I formed units to specialize in that. My second unit is for yellow.

This Midori-kun should also make medium yellow jewels drop more easily. The third one is for blue jewels.

The fourth is for red jewels.

The red jewel team has another role. If I remember correctly this Mika-kun card has the skill to raise FEVER, so I also use this team to activate FEVER twice. They pretty much became troops solely to farm jewels. But, there’s also a disadvantage to this. I just can’t get a lot of big jewels.

Tamao: I see. To clear the missions, you formed units accordingly. Gathering 250 fragments is a pretty bothersome task after all.

Oosuka: That’s why I made teams for regular use and for every color. That alone makes quite a big difference.

Tamao: It’s not rare to do those Lessons with regular units and miss clearing the missions by a hair.

Oosuka: Another trick is to also activate FEVER twice as you do it. For example, you can finish a Lesson during FEVER, then you get that FEVER boost when you start the next one. One more thing is to pay attention to the color of each Location. When you tap the Yellow area with Yellow unit you can get more jewels, right? I could get 500 [fragments] with that. If you do all this, you can complete all missions in one go. When I have certain jewels I want, I’d also use these teams to do Daily Lessons. During events, Live requests appear in these Lessons too after all.

Even if you do nothing but grind diamonds and actively participate in the event, in the end what you want is jewels. It’s better not to run out of both diamonds and jewels, but you do use them up. Also, I used to have my own rule: “The maximum number of diamonds I’ll use to replenish LP is 3.” I have a definite reason behind this. LP recovers every 30 minutes, right? When all LP recovers, the timer resets.

Tamao: Oh, I see. Good management is important for this kind of thing, isn’t it?

Oosuka: I think there are people who believe that the most important thing is to grind lots of diamonds. But if you go on and on, you would have to replenish even AP with diamonds. In that mean time, you should have spent a good 30 minutes. That means in that 30 minutes, you should be able to get one LP naturally, and it’s important to always make some room for that. Other than that, as I mentioned, breads are important for ranking up on Sundays.

Tamao: Everyone should treasure that one LP = 30 minutes isn’t it…

Oosuka: Don’t you think what we’ve talked so far is a matter of course to people out there? (laugh)

Tamao: No, I don’t think that’s the case. Beginners and those who don’t know anyone around them who also plays the game would find these things hard to realize. I think there are a lot of people who would use diamonds because they can’t be bothered. I’m one of them.

Oosuka: I always aim for efficiency in other games, just like this. Oh, I also have a rule to keep the event diamonds in the Present Box. I feel like I’m going to use up any diamond I have in hand.

Tamao: I know that feeling (laugh).

Oosuka: Yes, you would really use them. So it’s a safe. It’s just like when you put money in your wallet. You’ll end up using it (laugh). I can only keep them for a month, so after events end I’d retrieve them. When I do that I can feel, yes! I have more diamonds than the start of the event.

Tamao: (Tamao looks at Oosuka-san’s Present Box) You don’t have any sport drinks or anything like that.

Oosuka: I retrieve those all the time. I use up all sports drinks during events. Generally, my goal is to get up to the backgrounds, and I find it difficult to reach without using them. In Live requests, I use them for Emergency Lives. When I run out, I stop challenging Emergency Lives. But I use konpeito I get in the beginning to adjust the LP, since it can recover one LP at a time.

Tamao: Kamio-san also said he’d ignore Emergency Lives when he doesn’t have any sports drinks left. I see. This has become a really useful reference.

The Custom(?!): Scouting Contest!!

(Paraphrased) Just like previously in the interview with Kamio, Tamao and Oosuka will battle out their luck on limited scouting. This time, they’re pulling a 10-roll from The Four Fighting Beasts that focused on karate club members, and both of them had 4* guarantee. Oosuka’s phone is the green one, and Tamao’s is the white one. And the results are…!

Tamao: Oosuka-san got 5* Tetora-kun on his first pull!!! Tamao pulled an initial 4* Kuro-san, but he’s still from the karate club!!

Tamao: A spontaneous victory pose from Oosuka-san. But that’s not all!!

Tamao: Oosuka-san pulled 4* Kuro-san as well!! What is this godly pull…!?

Tamao: Well, who wouldn’t smile like this when something similar happens to them! Therefore, the winner of this contest goes to Oosuka-san. He won by a wide margin.

Behind the scenes:

1. Oosuka used the white board to write down today’s words of wisdom: “Eat bread!!”

2. Oosuka saw the banner from Kamio’s interview, where Kamio posed to make up the word “Stars!”, or “スターズ！” and Oosuka said he wanted to do it too. The picture is the pillbug pose, used for the dots on ス and the exclamation mark. (Image link)

Lastly, there were 3 shikishi giveaways, signed by Oosuka. Unfortunately the last day to enter was on May 18th… (I’m sorry I’m always late about these things.) Here are the messages on each shikishi.

1. Be careful! Of the number of diamonds you have left, of your mobile data. [Sukawo]

2. I scouted 10 times using diamonds others gave me. I got a 5*♡. Take good care of your diamonds. [Sukawo]

3. Please give me medium jewels!! If possible, red and yellow. Please. [Sukawo]

Tamao: It’s my pleasure to be working with you today.

Oosuka: The pleasure is mine. Holding my phone on one hand while getting interviewed is a novel experience (laugh).

Tamao: I don’t mind if you’re grinding on the event (laugh). First, could you please tell us about your first impression on Mika and what happened when your role was decided?

Oosuka: At first, I was only told, “Your role in Enstars has been decided.” At that time, the game was already released and I knew it’s getting richer and richer in content, so I thought to myself, “Wait wait, I thought they only cast veterans or young voice actors?” (laugh) So I was surprised when I got the offer. Then, when I got the character materials and looked through them, I was like, “His character setting is like a full course meal…!” He has heterochromia, speaks Kansai dialect… I wondered if I’m really up to the job. I’d never had a role that speaks Kansai dialect either (laugh).

Tamao: You’re from Kyushu, aren’t you?

Oosuka: Yes, Fukuoka. Kyushu and Kansai have similar intonations. But the details and vocabularies that they use are different after all, so for recording, I would have notes for the dialect. That’s also why even now, when I hear Kansai dialect on the TV, I would pay attention to it and see how it’s done.

Tamao: When you act as Mika-kun, do you have anything you like? Or is there anything you find to be relatable?

Oosuka: What I find relatable is how he’s lacking in self-confidence. I reflected again after KYOMAF event (an offline event held in September 2016) that I really don’t have confidence in myself. But there’s also a part of me that will go through it because there’s a strong voice inside me that says, “I have to do it!”. I feel that’s our common point. Putting it in a good way, he’s an honest boy. Putting it badly, he’s a foolish boy. He’s very straightforward. Although I also see it as a good point of his. Also, there was quite a long period of time between the time I finished recording and when he’s introduced into the game. In that period, I was really anxious thinking about what everyone will think. After it was made public, I see he’s loved by many and I’m relieved.

Tamao: He’s really popular, isn’t he? He also ranked high in the popularity poll from the other day.

Oosuka: The dakimakura one, right? I also voted 17 times (laugh). The MV wasn’t even released yet, but a Valkyrie member made it to the ranking board. But to be honest, Mika’s popularity as a character can become pressure at times.

Tamao: Certainly from a player’s perspective, I got a bit sceptical when they’re introducing a new character full of quirks this late into the game. What is this character going to be like? I wondered. But once I tried to open the lid, he turned out to be such a boy with no self-confidence, but very kind, and when Jun Oosuka-san’s voice is added—

Oosuka: I feel like my voice makes him more pitiful (laugh).

Tamao: No no! Conversely, I think it makes me feel more affectionate about him. I suppose you could say it stirs up one’s desire to protect him? (laugh)

Oosuka: Aah, so that’s why his [Gamegift] birthday article was like that (laugh). I was so surprised. A friend told me, “It was very poetic.”

Tamao: This is the second round I’m writing birthday articles for all characters, and year-by-year it gets more and more poetic (laugh). Among the characters, I think Mika-kun is a very unique character. It’s like this person called Mika-kun is incomplete in his own.

Oosuka: No matter what, Oshi-san is always already there, isn’t he?

Tamao: Yes, that’s it. That’s also what made it a bit hard to write at times. But from my point of view, he’s like someone who got deep into a Bible-like thing without himself realizing.

Oosuka: In a way, he worships Oshi-san like a god, huh.

Tamao: That image of his is really vivid, so I thought his existence is like that of Saint Peter. I also received feedback that says, “Mika-chan is that kind of boy.”

Oosuka: Among Enstars characters, Mika-kun seems to be someone who is worldly but is actually naive, and I feel that in a way he may be the least idol-like among them. He also feels like every other young man who could just be around the corner over there, but when he enters the stage he undergoes metamorphosis, which I think is his charm. I hope that part of him could be brought out in his singing as well.

Tamao: Can I ask you to elaborate a bit more about what you think about Oshi-san?

Oosuka: If I consider Valkyrie, Oshi-san looks like he’s pulling the team along, but in reality he’s very frail. There are a lot of instances where you can see Mika-kun being the one who’s supporting him—perhaps it’s the fragility that one doesn’t have unless they’re a genius. In Scout! Nocturne, I really like how we can see a glimpse of Ryuu-kun (Kuro Kiryu) and Oshi-san’s past. Also, Scout! Eccentric is a story that have all Five Oddballs in it. I could see how Oshi-san back then was a properly sociable person as well.

Tamao: I can see that. He also made matching outfits for everyone, didn’t he?

Oosuka: When he’s talking to the Oddballs, you can see his gentleness, and there are humane qualities that he doesn’t show in front of Mika and Nazuna. That’s what you may think, but he can be super cool just like in Tanabata event (Dance Performance! Thoughts that Bridge the Milky Way).

Tamao: That Oshi-san had a threatening presence like a demon god*.

[*trivia: “demon god” is here is 鬼神, consisting of kanji for “demon/ogre” and “god”. There are many readings and I don’t know which one is used, but one of them is apparently “kijin”, which is homophonic with “kijin” from “奇人/Oddballs”.]

Oosuka: As graduation gets closer, we get scenes suggesting Oshi-san “may one day cease being able to talk with Mado-nee”. I wonder if it means Oshi-san is becoming an adult, or if he’s on his way conquering something on the lines of unspoken trauma. By being separated from Mado-nee, Oshi-san may turn into an ordinary person, or he may become even more of a genius. I’d like it to be the latter, but also, I feel that Oshi-san is showing us his humane side more than Mika-kun does.

[It’s getting bulky so I’m only putting up one picture... There are more pictures in the original]

Tamao: After the third-years graduate, there will be units that have only one member remaining. Akatsuki is like that, and Mika-kun goes without saying. Personally, what do you think Mika-kun will do?

Oosuka: I think he’ll depend on the transfer student. Though there’s also a possibility that Oshi-san may leave him a parting gift. Maybe Oshi-san will leave him at the stage where he can look for friends even on his own, or maybe he’ll have those friends prepared already—I don’t know. But since Oshi-san has always been doing anything for Mika’s sake, I hope as a result Mika will become someone who thinks that he has to become strong. I want him to change from being a “doll” to a “human”.

Tamao: Are a lot of your favorite events related to Mika-kun, after all?

Oosuka: I suppose. My favorite, as I thought, is Tanabata event (Dance Performance! Thoughts that Bridge the Milky Way). I also like Halloween (React! Magical Halloween), but the event that shows Valkyrie’s awesomeness is Milky Way after all. That event story is where the line “Oshi-san’s sayin’ is absolute” got realized as it is. They managed to surprise that Eichi. To me, Mika’s singing is on a higher difficulty in that event so in a way I’m also bearing a grudge for that event (laugh).

Tamao: Milky Way was really good, wasn’t it? Oshi-san and Mika-kun couldn’t be any cooler.

Oosuka: I thought that must be the Oshi-san whom Mika fell for. It was what he was waiting for.

About the unit songs

Tamao: Speaking of singing, Valkyrie’s unit songs are great, aren’t they?

Oosuka: Really, I was glad I got to do it with Hiroki-san (VA of Shu Itsuki: Hiroki Takahashi). Actually, when I had my debut, I worked together with Hiroki-san. I was able to work together with him for a long time in a certain series*, so we have understanding of each other. Of course he’s also a senior I respect, so that makes our relationship like that between Oshi-san and Mika-kun. So even when I was singing, I was able to think, “it’ll be okay if I follow Hiroki-san.” When my role for Mika-kun was decided, my manager asked me to tell who the co-actor was, and when I told my manager it’s Hiroki Takahashi-san, I was given a triumphant pose with full strength (laugh).

[*I’m not sure which series, maybe Prince of Tennis 2?]

Tamao: Your relationship is very fitting.

Oosuka: It is. Actually, our height difference is about the same as Valkyrie. So when we line up it looks natural (laugh).

Tamao: Are there times when Takahashi-san gives you advices?

Oosuka: No, we pretty much don’t see each other in Enstars-related jobs. In the end I didn’t get to see him during the [unit song] recording either. For some reason though, I got to see Ishikawa-kun (VA of Tsumugi Aoba: Kaito Ishikawa) (laugh).

Tamao: How did you find the recording?

Oosuka: First, as an otaku, my reaction was, “AliPro!?”. A part of me thinks, even if a guy sings AliPro* songs, there’s no way anyone can hold a candle to the great Arika-sama! (laugh) When I tried singing as it is after I received the song, a part of me thought I was losing to the song. The bar was set high, I thought. I went through trial and error thinking about what I should do with it, but the interesting thing is, during the recording, the direction I got was more for acting, rather than for singing. For example, “Imagine there’s an audience beyond the mic and sing” or “Look intently when you sing”. Also, I got a direction, “bring out your emotions gradually towards the second half”. For that one, I think I was able to express the concept of Mika-kun being a “doll” well, so I was thankful for that direction.

[*Ali Project, the group behind Bewitching Theater. Lyrics (also unit’s vocal): Arika Takarano. Composition & arrangement (and unit’s keyboard): Mikiya Takakura]

Tamao: Certainly you can see a picture of something like a stage play expanding before your eyes.

Oosuka: As for the recording, Oshi-san (Hiroki Takahashi) and Nazuna-nii (Yuki Yonai) finished theirs first, and I was the last to record. For the most part I practiced with the singers in the demo tape. But I was able to [record] while listening to the rest of Valkyrie singing, and I felt like Hiroki-san’s singing pulled me along. I’m glad I was the last to record. But I hope one day we’ll be able to do that…

Tamao: In other words?

Oosuka: Being on the stage together, the two of us with Hiroki-san… no, with Yonai-kun as well—I want the three of us to sing together. I know it’s really difficult for that to happen, but it makes me think of the possibility of me and Hiroki-san wearing those Valkyrie outfits (laugh).

Tamao: Please wear different colored contacts too!

Oosuka: I can’t have piercings, so I’ll wear clip-on earrings (laugh).

Tamao: Valkyrie especially is a unit that has a perfected worldview, and since it’s their first unit songs, people had high expectations for them.

Oosuka: They were way too high! It was so scary. When I’m singing character songs, I’m the type to get super nervous until the release date. This time too, I was really at loss thinking about Mika’s “singing voice”. It was possible to sing in the way he speaks as it is, but I was also contemplating if Oshi-san would allow that.

Tamao: Oh! I see, that’s something to consider.

Oosuka: My interpretation is that Mika-kun’s singing in Bewitching Theater was what was born after Oshi-san’s training and maintenance. Regarding Mika, when I act as him I don't make up any sort of voice. So when I act as him “I” am the one who is out there, but his singing voice is what is produced after Oshi-san’s guidance. I hope you can capture that.

Tamao: I’m incredibly moved by what you said.

Oosuka: If I sing in the way Mika speaks in normal times, I thought it would be disrespectful to the song and AliPro. But, I bet there are those who expected the usual Mika, so I also feel sorry for them. But when I consider Valkyrie as a piece of work, Valkyrie as artists, I believe I did the right thing this time, so I hope you can accept it kindly.

Tamao: Well, I think you couldn’t be any more correct. I think that’s why it gained so much popularity too.

Oosuka: When I went to Tower Records a day after the release date, they ran out of Valkyrie’s CD. When I asked the staff, they said it was sold out. I replied with a sad face, “I see…” but the me inside was like, “Serious… Are you serious!?” (laugh).

Tamao: What do you think about the other unit songs?

Oosuka: There was a song preview event* on the other day so I got to listen to Switch’s songs. Now, I can pretty much sing them, somewhat.

[*Switch and Valkyrie cast and Satoru Kuwabara (2nd series music director) hosted an event where they previewed the songs and talked about their impressions and behind the scenes etc. There are sessions with the rest of the CDs too.]

Tamao: What? Really?

Oosuka: I like computer-programmed songs. Sound-wise, Akatsuki’s songs are unique and I like them too. The quality of Enstars songs are so high—you may end up not being able to tell if they’re character songs or artists’ songs. But they’re idols in the first place, so I do think that song quality is something that is demanded from them. But I get the impression that there are many songs that are polished really well. By the way, I have sung the opening theme at the karaoke. One thing though – and I think everyone agrees on this – when you sing Morikubo-san’s parts you’ll end up singing like him, no matter what.

Tamao: I understand (laugh). You will, won’t you.

Oosuka: I’ll never sing it in front of him, though (laugh). That song is also really good, isn’t it? I’d like Valkyrie, Leo Tsukinaga, and Switch to be part of it.

Tamao: I agree. There’s a disadvantage to the new characters who are not involved in the main story… By the way, have you seen Enstage?

Oosuka: No, I haven’t! One day, when Valkyrie participates in the stage play, I’d like to visit Mika-kun. Being in this line of job, there are times when I get to see my roles appear in stage plays. Before I watch the play, I would keep a slightly arrogant stance. Something like, “How will you act out my character, I wonder?”. But mysteriously, when the play starts and my character appears, I’d be all, “Foowaaaaahhh…! I said this! I said this!” and it made me give my stamp of approval (laugh).

Tamao: Enstage hasn’t finished the main story yet, so I think they’re at that stage wondering about how they should proceed if Valkyrie were to participate.

Oosuka: It's not for me to say, but a lot of characters that are introduced later are popular, so I think there are a lot of people in the audience who are holding up expectations. I’m looking forward to who will be chosen as his actor. Their character reproduction is amazing, after all. On the topic of character reproduction, I was surprised with Kitamura-kun! [who is the VA and stage actor for Arashi].

Tamao: That was an unfair move, wasn’t it? (laugh) From Knights, there were only two of them in the first part, but even so they were perfectly Knights.

Oosuka: By the way, I like tokusatsu. I didn’t know Maeyama-kun (Eichi’s stage actor), who was in Kamen Rider, was participating until later. I wanted to go.

Tamao: Maeyama-san was wonderful. His way of expressing that charisma of Eichi’s was solid.

Oosuka: You know, Eichi is up there on my list of favorite characters. This is my own selfish interpretation, but he reigned the academy by oppressing everyone, right? But I think the scenario inside Eichi himself may have been, “only until someone who defeats fine appears.” If I think that way, I don’t hate fine’s position—I don’t hate Eichi.

Tamao: Interpretation for Eichi’s character varies a lot depending on the person, doesn’t it? If there are those who see him as virtuous, there are those who see him as evil.

Oosuka: To Trickstar, he’s a villain. Valkyrie thinks the same too. In the app, there’s the main story, but there are also a lot of people who basically just focus on their favorite characters. So they may build an impression on another characters but stop at that.

Tamao: Ah, that may be the case. There are parts you won’t be able to understand unless you have covered everything, but there’s no way everyone is doing that.

Oosuka: Everyone plays the game with their favorite characters as their focus, and moreover, everyone has their own depiction of the stories in their minds. I’m one of the “people behind the scenes”, so I have to think about the relationships between my character and other characters, and by extension, everything.

Tamao: After you see a character’s bad side, you stop at that and that’s your impression… That sort of thing may be happening.

Oosuka: I think there are a lot of ways you can come to like them. By changing the way you view them, you may come to like characters you previously hate. As a result, you will have more favorites, and you may be able to have more fun.

Tamao: Do you have other favorites?

Oosuka: I like fine members, like Wataru Hibiki… Actually, all Oddballs are a pain, aren’t they? (laugh) Even Oshi-san, from Jun Oosuka’s point of view, is a pain (laugh). Other than that, I like Mika-kun’s classmates. Like Oogami-kun, or Naru-chan. As for first years, I like Midori-kun. I can sympathize with that favorite phrase of his, “I feel sluggish…” (laugh)

Tamao: The main story will be fully-voiced soon.

Oosuka: But [Mika’s] not appearing! I only realized after I gave my response on Twitter the other day. He’s not in the main story! (laugh) But I’m probably the one who’s scared of having it fully-voiced the most. I have to speak with a dialect after all.

Tamao: Because it will be voiced to the full anyhow, huh…

Oosuka: It’s not my official language (laugh).

Tamao: Come to think of it, there was a voiced drama in the unit song first series. Since Valkyrie only joined in the second series, they didn’t have the voiced drama.

Oosuka: That’s right. So in the probable event of Valkyrie releasing a drama CD, there will be at least three roles: Mika-kun, Oshi-san, and Mado-nee. So compared to Hiroki-san, I would have it easier.

T: Aah, I’d like to watch it…! But of course a live with voice actors would also be worth watching. So, will it be that? Something like Miku Hatsune concert?

Yes, yes. If possible, I want the songs to be rearranged into a live version, like adding call and response.

T: Aah…I want to watch… Please….make it happen…

This is still my own wish though (laugh).

T: But really, if it becomes reality, the fans would be really happy, wouldn’t they?

I agree. Compared to rhythm games, Enstars lacks that idol-like characteristic as a game. That is for certain, in my opinion.

When it comes to idols, rhythm game comes to your mind, right? During early development, we talked and talked for many times and for many hours, arguing about whether or not we should make it a rhythm game. But it became what it was in the end, and I thought that’s fine in its own way too. But that being said, I want to highlight more of their idol activities. I think unit songs are great too, and I’d like to expand that side more.

T: Any chance that it will turn into a rhythm game, or have a rhythm game version?

As for now, I believe there’s no way Enstars would turn into a rhythm game. But personally, I’m interested in the concept of “Enstars-type rhythm game”. Although, I don’t have any concrete idea (laugh).

T: In [Gamegift’s] previous questionnaire [1], we received a lot of questions in regards to the components in the Chinese version. But as for the Japanese version, it will be kept this way, and there would only be Dreamfes left to be run, right?

That’s right. And also, we are thinking of modifying the current event system.

It’s just that when I was developing Enstars, my highest priority was to make a game in which players can enjoy the characters and the story. I didn’t want players become not able to continue because they aren’t good at gaming. That’s one of the big reasons why we didn’t make it into a rhythm game.

The other reason is… I’ve never made a rhythm game, but I’ve seen rhythm games that are not interesting. I didn’t want to make a game like that. At that time, I didn’t have the confidence to make a good rhythm game. If I’d had that confidence, maybe it would have gone onto that direction, but if there’s an opportunity to make one in the future, I only want to make one of the best quality. That’s why this time I’m unwilling to (laugh).

T: What about the possibility of turning it into a console game…?

Ah… Well… I want that (laugh). Well, for now, I can’t do anything more than just wanting to. I also love console games.

T: For apps, it’s never-ending. That’s amazing in its own way, but for console games, there is an ending to them, so it’s like you get to complete it as a piece of work. It has its own charms.

It sounds fun to make a game where you clear the main story as Trickstar.

T: That sounds good!! That’s just…well…who doesn’t want to play that (laugh). Is there a possibility that the app will keep going?

Let’s see. Our company specializes in applications after all, so we will focus on that and keep going. But as a creative work, Enstars already went beyond Happy Elements. In other words, Enstars can go to places as we borrow other companies’ power, for example the adaptation into anime and stage play. I’d like to take on different challenges in the future too.

T: There wouldn’t be any other big media adaptations left out there, would it?

I suppose…there’s not a lot. A live concert, I suppose, as mentioned earlier… What’s left is, if possible, an event where you can physically attend to and experience, perhaps? Just like anime and stage play, it would be a big thing that wouldn’t be able to be executed by our company alone. We lack experience in that department and we are still fumbling… Well, it’s hard…

T: I can imagine.

I believe there’s a lot we could have done better, but as long as we are working as part of the production committee of that sort, we will put in effort to produce, as best as we can, a good piece of work of Enstars that we know.

How’s Gamegift?

T: Let’s change the topic. I’m glad to tell you that our Gameplay Diary and Birthday entries are read by so many people out there. By the way, do you also read them?

Yes I do!

T: How are they, content-wise?

I feel your love from your writing every time.

T: Thank you very much! But to tell you the truth, I worry every time I write them (Gameplay Diary and Birthday Entries are all written by Tamao). Every time I see comments like “That was good” or “I feel this”, I worry if I’ll get it wrong next time… (laugh)

Uh-huh (laugh).

T: I always ask myself if I’m analyzing this correctly, or if Happy Elements will get mad at me. But I really love everyone, so it’s super fun to write about them. It’s just that there were also comments that said something like, “Gamegift treasures the characters and celebrates [the characters’] birthdays, but the creators don’t.” I mean, all these things are originated from the creators… It’s really frustrating. By the way, why haven’t you celebrated their birthdays?

We couldn’t do it in-app, but to be honest we’d like to. There was a suggestion to do it on Twitter at first, but after a lot of discussions, we decided to make the Twitter focused on announcements, as mentioned earlier.

I personally like the idea of creating a PR character to make those posts, but we don’t have a system that can satisfactorily be executed. But we get a lot of saying that they can’t feel our love, that we stopped loving them… It really saddens me.

T: I understand.

It’s our fault for making them think that way, but what they say is not true at all.

T: Of course. Which is why when we proposed our birthday project, we said, “As of current, the creators are not celebrating the birthdays, so if it is something Gamegift can do, we’d love to.” And it’s not like we’re doing it because the creators won’t, but we were given permission and it’s a give-and-take. I want to let the players know that.

Yes, I see.

T: I think there will be a lot of response to this interview.

I hope a lot of people read it! In actuality, we don’t get to do this kind of interviews a lot.

T: I’d like it to be Gamegift-exclusive. Something like, “You can only hear Alex-san’s thoughts here!” (laugh)

(Laugh) Yes, but somehow it feels really homely here, and I can talk easily.

T: I think everyone is, after all, really interested in the people behind the piece of work.

I also think that it’s better for our feelings to be conveyed, rather than us being regarded as an organization that doesn’t reveal their faces to the public. I’d feel jealous if I see something like, for example, people requesting this producer from some game company to make their own Twitter account.

T: Are you not going to make your own Twitter account?

No, I don’t think I’ll be able to bear the responsibilities (laugh). I also think that it should be handled by someone with good writing skills. I don’t want it to be a half-baked attempt… I also think it’s important that they are not being particular about going public and can bring out their human side.

Alex goes to Animate

T: I’ll change the topic. What’s your favorite card?

Hmm…I wonder… It’s difficult. I don’t give a lot of thought about it, but recently… Nothing came to my mind immediately but I want to give an answer… Oh, if it’s recent cards, it’s the one that has that super dignified Tori-kun.

T: Oh, the Chick, isn’t it?

Yes. It made me think, “Wow, so there’s this side of Tori-kun too!”

T: It really hit you right in the feels, didn’t it. It was also dramatic.

Yes. Other than that, Mao-kun’s Spy card.

T: Agent was cool! A lot of Mao-kun’s outfits were simple too (laugh). So I got so excited when a really cool Mao-kun came, and did my best and got the card.

Yes, I feel that (laugh). The mood turned 180 degrees from the previous scouting, Greek Myth, and that was good.

T: The props slightly varied from card to card too. Do the illustrators come up with things like that independently?

Yes, they do. *He looks at Tamao’s bag* …Oh? Is that Yumenosaki tote bag, by any chance? (Yumenosaki tote bag that contains Three Oddballs set, sold in Winter Comiket in 2015.)

(Yumenosaki tote bag on the right, Tamao’s beloved Trickstar cushion they use at work)

T: Yes, I bought it. There’s a lot of things on my office desk too. I like Hokke, so you see nothing but blue checker (laugh). So if I am offered the opportunity to appear in the media somewhere, I’d choose to not reveal my face. I may not be anyone, but I’d probably become too shy to go shopping to Animate (laugh).

Speaking of that! It’s been on my mind. Like, is it okay if i go to Animate? (laugh)

T: Have you been to one?

Yes, yes. I go to Animate.

T: Really? Did they find you out?

Well, I’m probably not that well-known? Since that hasn’t happened. I’d go to the Enstars section, and in my heart I’d thank the high school girls who are browsing the merchandise (laugh).

T: But eventually, you will get called out, won’t you…

I’d like to go to events and the cafe too. I feel anxious now, although just a little. Also, I went to Tora no Ana just the other day (laugh).

T: I see! Well, I go there sometimes too…. (laugh)

(Laugh)

Message from Alex

T: Well then. The game’s first anniversary is coming up in April, so please give a comment on that… or if there are still other things you’d like to say, now is the chance…!

Alright. I’d like to speak from my own personal point of view. Today’s main topic… wait, don’t you think this is gloomy? Is this going to be okay? (Laugh)

T: Yes, don’t worry. Don’t worry. (Laugh)

Fortunately, the app is going well and it became really popular, and from the outside we may seem to be on the roll. But I still feel that communication with the players is our biggest challenge yet, and personally, I can’t say that we have done it satisfactorily.

And so, there are people from the office who are worried about that and we talked about the way we should go around it. We’d like to continue to grow, although a bit by bit, while keeping that on top of our mind. In regards to what and how we’ll do it, we’ll do it if it is within our abilities, and we’ll work hard so that we are able to convey better.

Also, a lot of the app updates were to fix errors, and to players, there’s not a lot of new features that make them happy, which also make me feel really sorry. We’d also like to revamp the app system, and I hope there will be new features to be added in the future that can make everyone happy.

The creative work that is Enstars couldn’t become this big without everyone. That gives me a sense of responsibility, rather than giving me arrogant thoughts such as, “Hey, I made this.” I also think that I have to do well as someone who stands in between the world of Enstars and the players who’d like to see it. I intend to work hard so that people feel glad that Enstars was born in Happy Elements.

T: To players, you are the person whom they can see most clearly. Which is why they are counting on you, I believe. There are times when you’d go public and get criticized, but I believe there are a lot of people out there who support you. So, on behalf of the fans, we will wholeheartedly support you from now on too.

Yes, I’ll do my best…!

T: Then please, come over for karaoke next month (laugh).

Yes (laugh). Thank you.

A visit to the workplace where the game is made!

Tamao: After the interview ended, Alex-san said something even better,

“Would you like to take a look around the workplace?”

Yes with pleasure!! So with that, please pardon my intrusion!!

As soon as I got into the foyer, there’s a refreshment space. Apparently this is where everyone is having their lunch. At 3 p.m., this place would turn into a war zone for scouting!

And what do I say, there are merchandise here and there… Two eyes are just not enough… Ah… I’ve got that one… *Gasp* I missed that one…!

Then, here is the entrance to the room for Enstars team.

The entrance to the holy ground!! Huh? Um, I don’t have to prostrate on the ground? It’s OK? OK. At the front is the Akatsuki tapestry. The right side is decorated with Trickstar and 2wink tapestries. Well then, let’s go in…!

First, this is the space for the illustrator team.

So this is the place…! This is where this wonderful piece of art and that wonderful piece of art of the characters were born! Aah geez, is it alright for a filthy being such as me step into this holy ground? My excitement reverberates throughout the quiet office room. I’m sorry.

Next up is the developer team.

In the foreground, we can see a Ra*bits cushion! And UNDEAD’s is next to it! I also use Trickstar cushion of the same series all the time. It’s gentle on your hips. Alex-san’s desk is towards the back of the room, where you can see a brown jacket hanging on the back of the chair.

Next up, there are no pictures but in the meeting room (separate from the room where we did the interview) there were also Enstars tapestry which made me really excited.

And that’s how it went. Well, well, Alex-san, you’ve certainly given me some really wonderful material this time…and just when I was saying that to him, a lady’s voice could be heard, directing towards us.

“Gamegift writer, I follow you a lot^^”

Why thank you very much I’m Tamao! Alex-san, who is this lady?! And turns out! She was K-san, the project manager and illustrator. Whaaa?! So she’s one of the gods! I-I’m very moved! I can never sleep with my feet facing towards their direction anymore…! [2]

♪♪♪ Well! So that was the interview with Alex-san from Happy Elements! What do you think?

The total time for the interview and tour to the workplace rounded up to two hours. The rough manuscript from the tape recording was 20,000 Japanese characters long! (t/n I guess in English words it would be a third of that?)

Alex-san, without worrying about the time, sincerely answered my questions with a smile from start to finish.

I hope I was able to convey what kind of person Alex-san is, and the management team’s feelings towards Enstars.

Gamegift will give Enstars our full support from now on too!

(t/n)

1. Gamegift fan questions to Happy Elements.

T: Are there enquiries sent regarding to that topic?

Of course when there are enquiries, we reply with “We don’t do it.” But individual replies wouldn’t be enough. So if we were to be publicly asked “Are you tracing?” and if we could publicly reply with “Of course not,” that can possibly resolve it. But there hasn’t been any opportunity to do so, and it keeps bothering me.

T: Why did it become such an uproar…

We are trying very hard to be consistent with illustrating the character’s faces, but conversely it became part of the reason of the doubts. We draw so that when you line up a character’s cards not only of recent ones but also of different rarities, you can see that they all have the same visual performance. So “being similar” is not a problem and I instead think it is a good thing. But there are also points to reflect on, such as overlaps of the angle, poses, and composition between illustrations.

I really understand what they’re trying to say. We will try to change the angle, composition, and draw different postures, and put great effort to bring out illustrations that look fresh in the future.

(Supplementary comment from the management team)

In regards to the process of creation of the cards, we do not use means of overlaying illustrations to trace. We put past illustrations of the characters and objects with similar point of view on the canvas as source material and reference, and we aim to “create a piece that does not generate a different impression on the facial features, even if the angle has been changed.”

To achieve that, there are rules we follow, such as drawing the exact locks of hair as intended in the original to the best of our abilities. Due to that reason, there may be instances where the illustration may give similar impression as past cards.

Every time illustrators try to device a new approach to create a piece of work, they would consult each other during the process.

T: There are players who investigated it, aren’t there.

At half transparency, they would look the same, wouldn’t they… Although it’s not like everything was the same.

T: What about when they say illustrations of different characters look similar as well?

That too, if you look at it closely, they’re different… So the problem is that the expressions and the angles are the same, after all. That can be fixed, and we’d like to improve from now on. Other point would be, well, each person has a habit in their drawings.

T: That can be part of the reason. Take a mangaka’s case: if they are on a serialization for a long time, there would be times where the composition of a cover page would overlap.

That’s true. But really, we are not slacking…

T: In the past year, Enstars continues to expand their creative content more and more. There are also other problems that have arised.

Yes. A lot happened.

T: Of course there are a lot of things you can’t talk about, but when you don’t answer anything, the players would take it as, “Are they not thinking anything?”

It’s true that we’ve become more careful [with how we proceed]. This is my first time managing an app of such a big scale, and it’s also a user demographic that I’m not used to, so I find it difficult to interact with them well. This is not an excuse, but something I have to reflect on, but I would be lying if I say I didn’t become timid after I got criticized.

T: I see.

It’s a hot topic, even around our team. We would start with thinking about how to respond to that problem, and look for the best way to communicate that [to the players].

T: This is kind of self-flattering, but I think this Enstars fanpage on Gamegift is an officially recognized fan club.

Uh-huh.

T: But it wouldn’t be here without the game’s creators, and people would not have found the articles on this fanpage to be moving if those creators, and the game, had been less than wonderful. I think it would be great if this fanpage can be one way to bridge the creators and the players.

You’re right. I hope there will be more platforms for communication such as this in the future. And LINE stamps too… Really, everyone was really disappointed… and shocked… To think that we missed [a character].

Regarding the LINE stamps

T: That became a big topic as well.

A lot happened at that time, and I can’t say anything more than that we didn’t check it thoroughly. But there is no way that we would not care about any of the character.

T: I believe that goes without saying.

I mean, LINE stamps! How exciting is that? But when it actually came out… you know… I can’t believe we did something that disappointing–I wanted to cry. I am really sorry.

T: At that time, there was also an apology on the official Twitter account. I think that also caused quite a big surprise among the players. “They apologized on Twitter!” they said.

To tell you the truth, there was a lot of argument among us whether or not [we apologized on Twitter]. Some were saying what if it would just add oil into the fire. To continue on the earlier point, we want to make more effort in communicating with the players properly, so as I thought… How do I say this… To apologize also means that you recognize you’ve made a mistake, and that’s also part of the reason. It’s to properly recognize that ending up with that kind of outcome is obviously strange. Although we had no other words than sorry.

And in actuality, we wanted to bring out the second set as fast as we could, so we negotiated a lot with the LINE company, and prepared to bring the second set out quickly.

T: I see! Is it alright to make that decision public?

Yes. We are making adjustments so that the second set could be brought out quickly.

T: By the way, are the new characters going to be included in the second set as well?

Yes. Valkyrie will also be included.

Regarding the making of the game

T: As for how the game will go hereafter… how far ahead are you in deciding things like in-game events?

As for the events, it’s around two months ahead.

T: Oh? That’s a tight schedule, to my surprise.

Yes, the schedule has become tight. But when there are a lot of elements to think about, such as writing of the story and designing outfits, two-week period is pretty much our limit. Right now (sometime in March), we are just about to work on what we have decided for May event.

T: Personally, I had expected it to be further ahead.

Yes, I’d like it to be a bit further ahead (laugh).

T: (Laugh) But of course. What is the flow of the making of the events? How do you decide things like characters and the theme?

It’s quite hard to decide which characters to appear since there’s a lot to consider about balance. When a character hasn’t appeared for a while, of course we want him to appear. It’s also the case with the unit rotation. But there can only be so many characters that can appear and engage naturally in the story. So we wouldn’t be able to spread things out equally for each character.

But as an example, in February, Valentine would be a staple theme for events. The Content Directors would decide on the characters and general outline of the story. Then the details are discussed further in meetings with everyone. We would also talk about outfit designs and the cards. After that, we would place an order to the writer. That’s the kind of flow we’re looking at, although the sequence of events may change depending on the situation.

T: The scouting themes can be quite surprising. Like Greek mythology, for example.

Yes. The illustrations for event cards would be based on the story, and no matter how, it would always end up with illustrations of scenes at school or idols on stage. And there’s a limit to that, so for scouting, we would imagine the characters in a shooting session for a scene in a movie or drama. That way, scouting would have much broader possibilities and we can come up with a variety of interesting ideas.

T: You can call that cosplay already (laugh).

(Laugh) Yes, well, they’re having fun.

T: Actually, I also do a lot of predictions for the next event and scouting, but I pretty much get it wrong every time (laugh).

(Laugh) That wouldn’t be surprising.

T: So writers write the stories, and illustrators draw the illustrations. Do they work in parallel?

Yes, quite. But if the story is not yet completed, the illustrators won’t be able to draw an illustration of that particular scene, so up to certain extent there are times when we are the ones who make a request to the writers. But conversely we would also do what we can with what is available first, and then draw the CGs when the story is up.

T: There are two writers, and I see that each of them has their own flavor. I think that has its own merit, but sometimes I also feel that the writing can be a little bit different from what is already established with the characters.

Let’s see… Certainly, that may be the case. To speak bluntly, minimum proofreading must be done to ensure that there is no inconsistency in what the characters say. But certainly, it hasn’t been done enough. In the case where characters may seem out of character or do not fit their set description, our Contents team continue to improve their competency in editing and supervising, so that we can produce a better piece of work.

T: The “shonen manga” and the so-called “otome game” styles differ by a lot, and I think there are many out there who find that difference jarring.

If I can speak on the team’s behalf, both styles are official as parts of Enstars story as a whole. Both writers are aware that they are writing the story in a particular style and we request them for that style. Each writer also has their own fan base. We are working out a way to find a good balance so that more people can enjoy our content.

T: Also, if you look at the players, I think there are a lot of them who do not read all of the main story. And in the first place, event stories are sequel to the main story, so there would be mentions of what happened in the main story. So there would be people who think that there’s no need for them to read the main story. On top of that, it focuses on Trickstar…which makes me happy, but Hokke’s monologues are long… (laugh).

The app would be the major medium to read the main story, but there are also novel and comic adaptations. As for myself, I’m quite glad that I read the novel thoroughly. Also, I want to find a way that efficiently allows new players to read the existing stories and catch up. But the vast amount of story is already a problem, as there wouldn’t be enough time no matter how much you read.

T: I see. By the way, the event in March (Marionette) was the first past event. The response to it was big, wasn’t it?

Yes. There were also a lot of people who became interested in the game’s story. In our office, we compiled the chronological order of unit formations and its members during that one year prior to the main story. It was pretty amazing (laugh).

T: That’s something to look forward to. That event was a past event, so the transfer student wasn’t present and the Produce events were not played from the transfer student’s perspective. It was a fresh take.

That was interesting, wasn’t it!? The dialogue options could catch you off-guard. “Why is it in Kansai dialect?!” (laugh)

To tell you the truth, in that event, deciding on what to do with Nazuna was difficult. If I could use this opportunity to explain, characters that are the 5* cards would normally become a character you can interact with in the Produce courses. But since he doesn’t talk, you can’t make a conversation. Inevitably, Arashi-chan replaced him in the Produce course. Other than that, what I hear a lot is that, “aren’t the unbloomed and bloomed the other way around?”

T: Right. According to the flow of events in the story, it should be the other way around.

You see, when we were making the animation of the 5* SD characters, we thought we couldn’t pass the opportunity and we wanted to make a Valkyrie one, so that became the bloomed version. Also, we prioritize the charm of an illustration to decide if it is bloomed or unbloomed, not the order in which the CGs appear in the story.

T: I see. But I’m sure that among those who like Nazuna, there are those who are hurt by the bloomed illustration.

That’s right. Since that can also be the case, we are preparing a feature that allows you to switch between unbloomed or bloomed illustrations.

T: Yes! I want it so much!

I figure you would, I really want it too (laugh). I thought we had to make it immediately, so we are preparing it quickly right now.

T: This is good news. The other thing I was curious about was that when a particular character continues to appear, it would make people wonder if the creators are playing favorites.

Do you mean in-game? I wonder… But there’s no such thing as, “This month is the end of the fiscal term, so let’s bring out the popular unit!” (laugh) We would decide on the plot of a story to match the season, and we try our best to make higher-rarity cards of characters that haven’t appeared much recently and include other possibly related characters. In that sense, characters that are well-known across their peers may have slightly higher chance of appearing.

T: What about when you select characters for merchandise?

We leave that part to the manufacturer. But of course we supervise those decisions as well.

T: I see. I believe adaptation to other media such as anime and stage play is a big step, but are you thinking of doing anything else?

I want it to have more songs after all. And also… a live concert.

Part3

(t/n)

T: Thank you! So just to clarify this to the readers and players, this interview represents Alex-san’s personal feelings, rather than a statement from the management team. So let’s cut to the chase. Have you ever appeared in front of the players at any time before your appearance as the MC on Nico Nico Douga live streaming at the end of last year? (Happy Elements Official Streaming ~A Festival of Big Announcements, Winter round~; streamed in December 2015)

I appeared for the first time in an interview for a certain media in August last year [1]. After that I became the MC in the Nico live streaming, and then I appeared on the official Ensemble Stars! (Enstars from now on) Twitter account wearing a Ra*bits hoodie… That’s about it.

T: That became a hot topic (laugh).

It did (laugh).

T: I think there are a lot of players out there who only know you by name, but have no idea who you are and what you do. Could you briefly introduce yourself?

With pleasure. Uh, firstly… I’m half-Japanese, and I was raised in America. After I graduated from the university, I worked in America for a bit before I applied to Happy Elements in Japan as a planner.

My first title I worked on was Ensemble Girls! (Engirls from now on). After that, there was a talk inside the company that they’re going to make the male version of Engirls, and I got to develop Enstars app as the main planner.

Mr. Alex’s profile Name: Alex Onsager Height/Weight: 175cm/60kg Birthday: 11th September Blood type: O Club/Circle: marching band club Likes: computers Dislikes: food waste Hobbies: gaming, programming Skills: piano, magic tricks Other detail: planner for Ensemble Stars. Mainly in charge of planning of the app.

T: What exactly does a planner do?

A planner’s job may vary depending on the company or the team, but in our case, I’m not the only planner. Among those planners, I’m basically in charge of coming up with the game systems, cards’ parameters…deciding drop rates, managing the difficulty level of the events…my job revolves around numbers. Other than that, I’m also the one who proposes new mechanisms and changes.

For more generally known tasks of planning such as world design, creation of characters, and general flow of the story, in our office, the one who is in charge of those is called the Contents Director.

T: As you are not someone who is involved in the world and character designing, do you have moments of surprise? Something like, “I didn’t expect he’s that kind of character!”

In case of character designing, I’m on the same boat as the players. I look forward to what kind of characters would appear next. And when those characters are ready to be introduced, in order to let players experience that feeling of surprise and excitement, I work on the app planning.

T: Are you asked for opinions in regards to designs?

If I have any concern, I would of course voice it out loud, but that doesn’t really happen. Our team has a unique policy where people specialize in what they’re good at. If we do that, we believe we can produce good results, so we don’t have to worry and we can leave the tasks to those people. And I believe that we are actually producing good results.

T: Are there other male staff?

Yes. Our team has around 25 people, and half of them are illustrators. There are 2 male illustrators.

T: So there are male illustrators in your team!

There are guys who draw the actual characters too. Apart from illustrators, there are also developers and those in charge of marketing and merchandise. The number of those males and females staff are divided roughly into equal numbers.

T: I think what generally players are most interested in would be the world design and the characters. Are those handled by female staff?

Yes. There is one Contents Director and one Assistant Contents Director. Once they decide on the characterization, it’s passed on to the illustrators for design.

T: I see. By the way, do you play Enstars?

But of course, I do! There are quite a lot of people in our company, not just those who work on Enstars, who play the games they work on. As for Enstars team, we eat lunch together. On the day a new scouting is released, we would scout together simultaneously at 3 p.m. (laugh).

T: Wow, that’s cool (laugh). Do you play the events as well?

Not every time, but if there’s a 5* card that I want, I’d go for it.

T: By the way, who’s your favorite character?

You know, I want to, but I can’t really decide on one. There’s so much variety to pick from, isn’t there… (laugh)

Ah, that’s right. Judging from the early visuals before the game release, Mashiro-kun caught my eye. I felt an emotional connection, somehow (laugh). And when I read the story and listened to his voice, I noticed his manliness despite his cute look, and I thought…Tomoya…is good…

T: (Laugh)

Other than that, characters that I thought were interesting are Tsukasa, Shinobu, and Wataru. And the new character, Shu. Also, if I was a girl, I think I would like someone like Kiryu-kun. He’s super nice! And also manly.

T: Certainly (laugh). What about your favorite unit?

This also changes every time, but now… I’m liking Ra*bits (laugh).

It’s not related to the game, but I listen to the unit songs a lot. I also go to karaoke just to sing those songs, but Ra*bits songs are just so good—

T: Ooh, that’s nice!

Yes. That’s part of the reason. Their stories always pull your heart strings. It’s nice.

T: Ra*bits have a lot of first years, so...how do I put it... they make you want to watch over them.

I agree. You can tell that they try hard to do their very best.

T: This was mentioned earlier but, you put on a Ra*bits hoodie and it was uploaded on the official Twitter account. At that time, it was rumored among the players that a new Ra*bits member was going to appear. By the way, are you familiar with the term “Ra*bits Oji-san”? (Tamao’s note: Before one could realize, it was already decided that Ra*bits fans are nicknamed Ra*bits Oji-san/Uncle/Old man)

Yes, of course (laugh).

T: I also bought all of the unit song albums. Every one of them is really nice! I listen to them on repeat during work.

Thank you very much! I get you, I get you.

For the albums, my favorite also changes depending on my mood. At first, I liked UNDEAD. I’ve always liked rock music, and my impression was that “they actually made a proper hard rock song!”

After that, I thought Akatsuki was super cool, and then fine was super fine, I was like, “they’re the best!”

Trickstar is also good, don’t you think? This also applies to Ra*bits but, it’s like their songs are trying to tell a story.

T: I agree…! And both of them were released at the same time too. Trickstar casts a lot of popular voice actors, and I believe there was a high expectation from the players. I think they didn’t betray that expectation.

I know, right.

T: At the karaoke, do you also sing songs other than Ra*bits’? Are you particularly good at singing any of the songs?

I can sing all of them in the order of the release (laugh). I wonder which one I like to sing… I guess UNDEAD, after all? It’s hard to sing, but it gives you a good feeling when you sing their songs.

T: Then, do you also, uh, say the non-melodic lines? Like, “Shake to your very core, ignorant fools!” for example (laugh).

You know, I always try to say those lines, but for some reason the karaoke that I frequent to doesn’t have the lyrics displayed, at all. Including Ryuseitai, everything! It’s hard.

T: It’s a lot of effort to sing unit songs by yourself (laugh).

Yes, I’d run out of breath quickly. That reminds me, isn’t there a collaboration with Kara-tetsu [3] in Tokyo right now? I really want to go!

T: Really? Then let’s use this chance and go! Please come to Tokyo.

Serious? That sounds fun.

T: Please let me write an article about your tour (laugh).

Then I’ll… try considering it (laugh).

“We are watching. We are listening. Your voice is heard.”

T: Let’s change the topic for a bit. I’m going to mention the Nico streaming again. In that streaming, you said that you are “watching Twitter.” Do you actually check players’ opinions quite a lot?

Yes. I check them as much as I can.

T: What do you see mainly?

Let’s see… For Twitter, it has a lot of content, so I just pick some and read them. Other than that, I also look at 2channel. It’s a bit scary, but I try to look through it, at least. And of course, I also read requests sent through the enquiries. When there are complaints, I try to look at those as much as I can.

You see, I also like games and I play a variety of online games. And I feel that communication between the management and players is always a problem everywhere. And I’m aware that our communication with Enstars players is not satisfactory. I feel that this is one of the big challenges we have as a team, but how should I put it…I have a lot to say.

T: Well, let’s hear it. Let it all out today.

We are watching. We are listening. Your voice is heard. That’s what I want to say. When there is lack in response from our side despite the amount of enquiries sent, or when our responses are dull, people may think that our attitude is cold or that we simply don’t care. I’m here to say that we’re aware of those criticisms.

Lack of action after listening to those opinions doesn’t mean that we are not listening. There are a lot of instances when we can’t act to response immediately, after all…But there are a lot of inner discussions among us. We would comprehensively discuss the matter, and decide on what’s best for the app.

That being said, I feel that there are too many things that are not seen (by the players) on the surface. We were trying to find ways to convey clearly to the players what we are thinking right now, what we are planning. And the proposal for the interview came at the right time. I’m thankful.

T: I’m also thankful for this opportunity. Do you have a concrete plan on that? It’s quite a complex topic.

It is. In big companies, there are teams that would specialize in communication with players, and they would create a Twitter account that focuses on that, or make official comments on the social media bulletin board, for example. I believe that kind of activity is very important, but for a company of our scale we can’t do that yet, and what I want to avoid the most is to execute a half-baked attempt.

As for Twitter, we couldn’t decide if we wanted to reply to the players at first. But since we wouldn’t be able to reply to all of them, rather than not being able to do it properly, we decided to narrow down our responses to announcements and statements from the official management team. But I do want to speak [to the players] more. So right now we are exploring ways until we have that concrete plan.

T: Until the other day, Engirls Twitter account was conversing with the players. But due to the increasing number of messages, it became an account solely for announcements.

Yes. Until recently, they replied to everyone.

T: That’s one reason, but I think there were also players who were wondering why Enstars didn’t do the same thing.

That’s true. In Merc Storia, there’s a character named Titi, and she would reply to all messages in the first few months. But the number of players increased and she had to reply until late…until 3-4 a.m. It was deemed impossible to continue.

And since she couldn’t reply to all messages, Titi’s activity is now restricted to “Titi Time”.

T: It’s hard, isn’t it…

It’s hard when there’s no one to specialize on that part. And considering the scope of audience Enstars has right now, I don’t think only one person can keep it running properly. And I don’t want it to be a half-baked attempt.

T: Do you personally have anything you really want to convey?

Rather than conveying, I think exchange is more important. I don’t want to just be on the side to say something, but I want to have a conversation with the players and tell them that I’m listening properly. I want to do more of that. But to give a concrete example, there’s one thing that really hurts me. It’s about the doubt where illustration tracing is in practice. [3]

T: Oh…there it is…!

Part2

(t/n)

1. Octoba In the interview they talked about similar things in this first part of this Gamegift one, like introducing who Alex is, how Enstars came about.

2. Enstars and Karaoke no Tetsujin collab. Website