Chapter 300 - 301: This Love-Triangle Shot Took Thirty Years of Skill to Frame!

Chapter 300: Chapter 301: This Love-Triangle Shot Took Thirty Years of Skill to Frame!

Because of Inori’s two music videos, Lacus’s entrance landed right at the very end. But that was fine—the ones who had to wait were the viewers; Inori’s "reality show" over here wasn’t about to pause.

Seemingly the same, yet actually different.

Without Inori’s intervention, the "butterfly effect" a supporting character could produce was relatively small. So, just as in the "original work," Lacus came under attack and then escaped.

But one difference was that Inori had given Kira a heads-up.

So Kira’s goal from the start had been to look for someone, which shifted the timing a bit from the "original work" and skirted around the original battle.

"Haro, Haro, Lacus..."

"Thank you, everyone, for your hard work~"

The pink spherical robot drifted out of the escape pod.

[Woohoo, and we’re off!]

[The second female lead finally makes her entrance]

[Strictly speaking, isn’t she the third female lead?]

[I know what you’re getting at—you mean "the other woman," right?]

[So cute, so awesome!]

[Hehe, super awesome!]

[??? What are those two above me talking about]

"Oh my? Oh my, oh my...?"

The moment Lacus floated out of the escape pod, she sensed something was off.

Everyone else was stunned, but then Kira instinctively went over and caught Lacus’s hand.

[Here we go again]

[Quick, go compare it to Episode Zero]

[Dying of laughter]

[Nope, once this episode’s over, I’m definitely making a MAD]

And behind the two of them, Inori drifted over, holding the Fyu-Neru that had just opened the hatch.

"Oh my? Isn’t this... a ZAFT ship?"

Kira wasn’t wearing an Earth Alliance spacesuit, but the onlookers beside her—Murrue and the others—were all in Earth Alliance uniforms.

It was just that this shot was a touch... delicate.

Kira and Lacus were holding hands, while Inori, holding Fyu-Neru, stood right in the center of the frame.

The next moment, however, Lacus noticed Inori.

She let go of Kira’s hand almost at once. "Inori-san! You’re Inori-san, aren’t you!"

Lacus clasped Inori’s hands.

Just like a little fan who’d come face to face with her idol.

"I’ve listened to all of your songs!"

Kira looked utterly bewildered.

And Murrue was left speechless.

Murrue glanced at Mu beside her.

Mu spread his hands and shrugged.

"Would you like an autograph?" Inori asked.

"Yes, please!" Lacus beamed.

[Holy freaking asking for an autograph]

[Holy freaking fangirl]

[This is so absurd]

[I’m done for, I’m gonna pee laughing]

[That White Album love-triangle blocking just now was lethal]

[Hahahaha]

The viewers in the GBN world were thoroughly enjoying this.

But the viewers in the everyday world had already blown up.

[If Kira’s a cute girl, I can’t even imagine what Athrun’s gonna want to do]

[So Kira really did turn into a girl]

[And now another new girl shows up]

[Gotta say, the new songs are genuinely great]

[Where’d this messed-up love triangle come from?]

[Kira gender-swap—lame gimmick]

[There’s foreshadowing—feels like Kira chose her own gender]

[Agreed, Kira’s way more insecure than in the original—I’m guessing it might be for physical reasons]

[Holy freaking, it’s basically the Songstress of the Void—is the next installment gonna be called The Wings of Farewell?]

[I love the White Album love-triangle composition]

[When Lacus ditched Kira and made a beeline for my waifu, I straight-up collapsed laughing on the floor]

[Isn’t this just another form of NTR]

[They really changed a lot]

[At first I thought it was a reset, turns out it’s a remake]

[They probably added AI elements?]

[I don’t think so. My wife’s songs are completely different in style from SEED. I think it’s intentional, meant to bring out my wife’s otherworldly quality. Bold guess: the production team might be digging into an alien side-plot this time]

[I heard ages ago that SEED had a scrapped side-plot about fighting aliens—does this remake feel like it’s drawing from that?]

[Feels like the difference between the Fate route, the Unlimited Blade Works route, and the Heaven’s Feel route in Fate/stay night]

[The movie gave those two a happy ending, and then the reboot kicks off with NTR, huh]

[How can you call it NTR? They’re all girls]

[Genderbending is a hallmark of 2D culture, an inescapable part of the fun]

[I don’t think it’s random—I feel like the reason Kira’s a girl is because alien genes were mixed in]

The viewers in the everyday world were far rowdier, and their danmaku had more energy too—it was just that the Popularity Points they yielded came at a discount.

Meanwhile, over here, Inori actually signed her name on the pink Haro with a pen.

And after signing, Inori held out her own Fyu-Neru.

"Could you sign mine too?"

"Mm, I’d be delighted to!"

Lacus smiled, then signed her name on Fyu-Neru as well.

[What is this, exchanging love tokens lol]

[Kira, oh Kira!]

[Holy crap, we’ve got NTR!]

[Is there a chance the Songstress of the Void is actually plural?]

[Let’s see what the English translation is, then]

[Grass (a type of exclamation), there’s no English name]

[Hiding it on purpose, huh?!]

Although she’d skimmed a wave of danmaku from the everyday world, Inori still focused mainly on the reactions of the GBN-world audience.

For the people here, everything was an "unforeseeable" future, and that gave the whole story a different flavor.

Lacus wrote her name on the Fyu-Neru as well.

Sharp-eyed, Mu caught what Lacus had written and quickly looked over at Murrue.

Murrue nodded.

What Lacus had written on it was this.

"Lacus Clyne."

That name was no small matter.

The current Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council was none other than Siegel Clyne—Lacus’s father.

She was, in every sense, PLANT’s princess.

"Ahem." Mu cleared his throat. "Miss, as you can see, this is an Earth Alliance vessel. To avoid causing any unnecessary confusion, please come with us for some questioning."

Lacus looked blankly at Mu, then turned her head to look at Inori again.

And at that moment, Kira drifted over too.

The scene itself was nothing special, but the broadcast hilariously cut to a big close-up.

In that close-up, Inori, Lacus, and Kira together formed a perfect equilateral triangle.

Suffice it to say, the cameraperson who captured this shot had at least thirty years of skill under their belt.

The viewers immediately started flooding the danmaku—stuff like "a love that’ll never reach"—instantly taking over the entire screen.

But the broadcast, rather mean-spiritedly, cut away right then, switching the scene straight to PLANT and over to Le Creuset.

And Le Creuset was, at this moment, giving his report to his superiors.

Including the matter of Heliopolis, and the matter of Athrun’s death.

"A fiancée?"

And the scene then cut back to Athrun’s side once more.

Athrun and Cagalli were chatting at the moment.

The two of them happened to be talking about his fiancée.

"Because of PLANT’s marriage laws, I have a fiancée."

After this shot, the scene switched again, returning to the Archangel.

This shot was practically shoved right into Lacus’s face...