Can I draw Eromanga forever?

The rehearsal room at dusk.

An ambiguous light slanted in. Lin You stood against the light, his expression somewhat blurred. All he could make out was the silvery hairline by his ear, a glimpse of dawn. He could also hear the soft, gentle voice between his lips... where night and day met. His cheeks, rosy or dark, were indistinguishable; the light reflected from them seemed like a finished work of art.

In the hazy air, the face of a handsome young man is depicted.

Kasumigaoka looked at this scene with his eyes flickering.

The girl named Deng was also looking at Lin You at this moment, her eyes immersed in his handsome profile.

The reason the girl follows "Kasugano Yuu" isn't Eromanga, light novels, or songs. Instead, it's the livestream notification "Kasugano Yuu's Chat Time" that arrives on her phone one night when she can't sleep, reminiscing about her disbanded band.

The slow, calm livestream seemed like he was just mumbling to himself, sharing: "I found an amazing ramen shop today." So boring, just chatting? Yet, surprisingly, I could listen. The bland, leisurely chatter had the feel of a literary essay, perhaps an illusion, interspersed with subtle humor and jokes, a gentle touch. All of this—just like this song...

Thumb, thump, thump, thump...

“You’re tarnishing our dreams…”

"Goodbye—the sparks that bloomed last night..."

"........."

Lin You continued to play and sing softly.

in fact--

Lin You is unsure how to keep CRYCHIC alive, nor how to teach the gravity girl, Gao Songdeng, to sing. The girl's complex thoughts, the complex concerns of puberty... are all difficult to understand.

This time, can CRYCHIC form a lifelong group?

Not sure.

Lin You felt that, at the very least, "Yoshiki to Kame" was a piece of magic music he could listen to for a lifetime. He loved the transparent dawn and the hazy fireflies in the song. Was it the ultramarine dawn of June? He wasn't sure, but the song always felt so beautiful. He was just a willful and arrogant time traveler, singing his favorite song to the girl he loved.

It is summer, and CRYCHIC has started again.

Volume 151: Chapter There are too many loser Aine!

The next day.

LiveHouse "RiNG" in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

——LIVE performance of "CRYCHIC".

The performance hall was bustling with activity and a boisterous crowd. This livehouse, much larger than STARRY's, exuded a youthful, fashionable, and girly band vibe...

Lin You actually likes STARRY more, with the store manager and the sound engineer giving extra credit. As for the band—

"——It's Xiaoxiang, Xiaoxiang is on stage! We'll soon be able to see the performance of "CRYCHIC", the band that You always said he liked!"

Hong Xia said excitedly, waving her hands towards the stage. Suddenly, she raised her slender palms to the side of her face and whispered to Lin You, "You, can they play "Spring Shadow"? "

Lin You: "Why are you playing 'Haruhi Shadow'?!"

“Huh? ………I don’t know either. Why are you so fierce, Yuu?”

Hong Xia frowned slightly and blamed him slightly in a sweet voice.

Kita blinked curiously. She had no idea about the previous performances of "Kasuga Shadow"...

Ryo, with her blue hair, mouthless face, and teardrop mole, sat on a bench at the edge of the crowd, acting pretentiously. She maintained a cool demeanor—more like an eccentric, with a slightly chilling aura around her. Pochi took the opportunity to hide beside her, crouching in a corner, peering out a pair of prying eyes.

Lin You said, “I’m used to it.”

Hong Xia tilted her head: "?"

Having said that——

"Spring Shadow" is the first song of Ku Lai Xi Ku, and it was also the track that was almost completed at the time of debut. It is perfect to play it at the band's resurrection live!

When the prelude sounded and Xiangzi's soothing and gentle keyboard sounds, like spring, floated over, the whole audience fell silent - in fact, Lin You had a slight urge to cry.

Unlike the frantic performance at the band's final live performance, the listener's perspective is enhanced by the C-band veterans' status. Finally hearing a complete live performance of Kasuga Shadow, surprisingly... it's a keyboard version, and it doesn't break Suze's defense, it might even make a girl cry?

"What an unpredictable stage of fate..."

Lin You made the sound of a giraffe.

"That's what a band is like..." Hong Xia didn't understand Lin You's sentiment, but echoed it with her own tenderness and sensibility, "You, our next rock performance will be even more unpredictable! Because Kita-chan is here!"

"Hey hey... Hong Xia-senpai, I will do my best!"

Kita said immediately.

The bright yellow-green pupils shone, and in the performance hall where the light was converging and the stage lighting was on, there seemed to be another dazzling light.

Is it Hongxia or Xiduo?

Lin You thought… His gaze darkened slightly as he glanced to his side. Although the stray cat was nowhere to be seen, Aiyin, Chitsuka, and the five-member group still known as Shinkawasaki were also present.

They are all band girls... Qianzhu can barely be considered half a band girl?

Aine Jun joined in the fun - in her own words, she was friends with all five people on the stage!

As for Nina and the others, it was mainly because of the bond between Xiangzi and the "mercenary keyboard player". Riki was not very popular, but Mu was familiar with Subaru.

When Aine was shouting, "Great! Everyone played so perfectly!"...

Xiaozhi frowned slightly, seeming to have some reservations. However, he eventually calmed down and simply said quietly, "For a high school band...it's really impressive."

The keyboard player is just okay...

"Hey... Satoshi is so strict," Nina complained. "Sho-chan and the others are obviously far superior to the average high school student, right?"

"Why...are you eavesdropping on me?!" Xiaozhi glared at her like a cat whose tail was stepped on.

"...?"

Renai gave an innocent expression.

You were obviously talking to yourself, right?

If it weren't for the fact that they were in a livehouse and couldn't move freely, if the space was a little wider, she might have had a good argument with Xiaozhi!

The simple and straightforward girl didn't understand yet - Xiaozhi would also feel embarrassed, because such a strict evaluation was directed at herself.

If it were Xiaozhi, she would not stop at the current level: almost only the emotional rendering is brilliant, green, immature, and too hard. If she played a song other than "Spring Shadow", she would definitely be exposed by the audience's sharp reaction in the next second.

When the girl warned herself like this—

"Thank you everyone! The song we just sang was "Spring Shadow"..." Xiangzi said on the stage.

During the applause lull, she exchanged pleasantries mid-session. Her demeanor was as graceful and lovely as a young lady's. In fact, she had just accidentally mentioned her "stocking-dropping" habit. Then, she looked toward the center of the stage.

"Deng, don't you want to say a few words?"

"what…………"

The girl standing blankly in the center of the stage seemed to realize only then: she was the lead singer.

The lead singer should be responsible for introductions and interaction. Thinking of this, her hand holding the microphone tightened slightly, and she immediately bowed.

“Thank you everyone—!”

Amidst a burst of shouts like "Little Light" from a fan club, the girl raised her face shyly and nervously, her eyes wandering. Seeing Lin You a little further away, she slightly stood on tiptoe - forcing herself to calm down.

Deng exhaled deeply and spoke again:

"We're 'CRYCHIC'... We disbanded once, but we just got back together a while ago. 'Haruhi no Kage' is a song for the five of us. I didn't perform it well at our last live performance, so we disbanded right after we finished playing it..."

"Deng?...It would be better to introduce the members here?" Xiangzi reminded.

"what--"

Deng came back to his senses and repeated:

"I, let me introduce everyone!..."

The short-haired girl lowered her head, staring into the microphone as she spoke, her voice so soft it sounded like she was crawling on the ground. At the same time, one could hear her breathing heavily.

"...Lixi! Stay with me too..."

"Our train station is different, but Li Xi always sends me to my doorstep..."

"Also, Su Shi also sends me home. And Xiangzi also sends me home... Mu, Xiao Mu also..."

Li Xi: “……?”

She was a little shy at first, but then things got weird? ...What's going on? Wait, if it's Mu, will he really send the lantern home?

I always feel that this inexplicable introduction of band members... must be directed by Lin You!

Li Xi's beautiful purple eyes stared at a corner of the audience.

Lin You looked normal.

at this time--

Deng continued speaking intermittently, as if feeling embarrassed: "The next new song is... It was written and composed by Mr. You... Ah, it's a song written by You, You-kun, and it's called "Ya Ming Ke To Kame"!"

Although I tried very hard to make amends, it seems that I still accidentally let something slip?

"elder brother?"

"It does not matter……"

A corner of the exhibition hall.

Kasumigaoka Utaha leaned against the wall, her voluptuous figure standing still. She wasn't used to such scenes; she hated noise and bustle, and so far, she had only attended Lin You's live performances...

Maybe, I like Ero-kun more... The style of music that You-jun sings during his live broadcast, those piano.ver ballads, especially the sad songs about being dumped, aren't they more suitable for me?

The girl thought with a feeling of self-abandonment.

At this time-

The sound of keyboard was heard, it was Xiangzi's keyboard sound.

Kasumigaoka's body trembled suddenly, and she raised her head. She listened to a female voice that was completely different from the one she heard yesterday...

Compared with gentleness, the singing style is more sad and melancholy.

"You're trying too hard..."

Kasumigaoka recalled Lin You's comments about the lead singer. She didn't find her dislikeable, even though the girl in the band might be her love rival.

The atmosphere was quiet. When the song entered the fourth minute, the accompaniment suddenly stopped, leaving a gap as if it was short of oxygen.

Gao Songdeng almost sang:

“If I could depict a sky where summer has yet to arrive…”

"You'll probably make fun of me, right?"

"Dream of the Dawn—I can see the moonlit night sky..."

"........."

In music, you can try to raise or lower the pitch at any point, especially when entering a new section, staggering the accompaniment and vocals to create a well-arranged arrangement.

For example, the anxious beat of "God knows...", with the vocals leading the subsequent powerful drums and electric guitars, moving forward together.

Creates a tension.

This is also a common technique used in animated songs (ANISONG). It can directly create a "gap" with a very frustrating feeling, which may be as short as a single beat or as long as an entire sentence...

No matter how long this "gap" lasts, the physical sensation of "climbing" and the increasingly anxious emotions brewing during this period will completely explode at the climax of the song!

In other words... cool!

In anime songs and electronic music... or simply put: VOCALOID songs, this technique is very common in the arrangement of paragraphs. Songs with a sense of high speed and a rush, like the running of Japanese dramas, that express strong emotions are especially known for the clever use of wrong beats.

In this VOCALOID song with a soothing, even slow, rhythm, "Yoshiaki to Kame" does not have the kind of consecutive swan songs that almost "force the cover to die", but an extremely restrained and gentle beat.

"........."

The stagnant accompaniment leaves a large gap, dissipating the previous momentum and ensuring a sense of breathing between the lyrics. This is a big plus, because this song is about breathing hard, living hard. Although not screaming out loud, it is holding back and then letting out all at once, just like an explosion after endurance, holding a breath and then releasing it. It's like a desperate confession...

For example, in "Tower of Flowers", the more upbeat the pitch is at the beginning, the more depressing the pitch is at the end.

Deng's highly emotional, powerful and controlled singing voice can always easily penetrate into the soul and make it shake, while her voice as soft as the breeze penetrates into the heart and fills every gap in the heart.