Title: Madness Beasty
Characters: Wonderlands x Showtime members (excluding Nenerobo), Leo/Need members, Rin (Wonderland Sekai, voice only)
Part 1
Phoenix Wonderland
Emu
Now, to the next area, go go!
Saki
Go!
Nene
Emu’s also having fun even though she’s showing them around, huh.
Rui
It’s probably because she’s already acquainted with Tsukasa’s younger sister and her friends.
You don’t dislike that though, do you?
Nene
Mm… Well, that’s…
Tsukasa
Rui, Nene! If you don’t keep up then we’re gonna leave you behind!
Nene
Right, right.
Rui
Hehe, we rarely get such opportunities to show others around, so let’s enjoy it as much as we can, okay?
Nene
… Alright.
Tsukasa
We’ll be introducing the Phoenix Coaster here next!
Ichika
Ugh… I-it’s so high…… And it looks so fast……
Tsukasa
That’s right! The “Go! Go! Fenny!” roller coaster we rode on our way here is designed for families, but the Phoenix Coaster is designed for youths instead!
It’s no exaggeration to say that it is now Phoenix Wonderland’s star attraction after the roller coaster was renovated!
Nene
That’s almost the same as whatever’s written in the visitor’s pamphlet though.
Tsukasa
Grr……!
Rui
Then, shall I add on?
The lights on the Phoenix Coaster actually change based on the season.
It also reaches much greater heights than the Fenny coaster. Thus, the view from its peak, especially at night, is very well received by riders.
The camera at the peak is also angled carefully to ensure each commemorative shot has a beautiful background.
Plus, the portrait photos are extremely popular among visitors. The photos that are taken from behind as you descend from the peak are also highly praised for how they appear as if they could leap out of the frame at any moment.
Ichika & Saki
Ohh!
Nene
See, that’s how you do it.
Tsukasa
Y-you did a great job, Rui.
Rui
I did my own research on this theme park’s attractions because I noticed that they each have their own charm points which would be good to study.
Shiho
I was wondering what kind of person he was since you mentioned that he produces performances with Tsukasa. He seems surprisingly pretty reliable.
Saki
Yeah! I’m sure that Rui does his best to ensure that even the most absurd of big bro’s ideas can be made a reality!
Ichika
I see. Kamishiro seems amazing.
Tsukasa
Now, next up is… Oh, right! Apart from the attractions, we should also introduce the theme park’s hidden gems1!
Emu
Ah! Kay kay~ ☆ I’ll do the introducing~!
If you follow this road and steppity step to the right, you’ll get to this path! Since very few people come this way, you can sit back and relax at the benches!
Rui
Hehe… Furthermore, the Fenny monument at the opening of the road there has immaculate positioning.
Honami
Ah, did you mean that it serves as a hidden photo hotspot?
Rui
Right. It’s certainly splendid as a photo hotspot.
More importantly though, that monument creates a fine blind spot.
Ichika
Eh?
Rui
In the rare times when a security officer chases me down, I just need to hide in that monument’s blind spot to shake them off for sure.
Honami
U-uhm…?
Emu
Ah! Now that you mention it, Rui did get chased around by the security officers who caught him holding one of his guerilla performances before ♪
Tsukasa
That sure did happen…
Or rather, I feel that you often hold your performances in such areas.
Rui
Hehe, when I ponder over how great a crowded area is, before I know it, I’m already heading my way here.
Honami
U-uhm… since Emu and the others are laughing, it probably isn’t as weird as it sounds… I think?
Ichika
Wh-who knows?
Tsukasa
Alllllright! We’ll be showing the flat rides2 next! I heard that the ride over there recreates rain and wind realistically!
Rui
Hehe, it’s a good and immersive attraction.
Although personally, I wish they would at least go the lengths to recreate realistic lightning like we did in our earlier performances.
Saki
L-lightning?
Nene
Ahh… I didn’t think you would truly go ahead with that plan back then.
Emu
It sure was amazing, wasn’t it~ It went all brrrr kaboom booooom!
Tsukasa
But thanks to that my hair got singed countless times and became frizzy.
Honami
Uhm… it’s not a made up story? I-it truly happened?
Emu
Yeah! Rui thinks up of many, many amazing performances ♪
He can make all sorts of things, and he even made a robot called Nenerobo, y’know!3
Leo/need
A robot!?
Rui
Hehe, it will perform in today’s performance later, so we can introduce it to you all afterwards if you’d like.
Honami
Y-yes, please do!
Ichika
Not sure what to say but… Amazing, huh?
Shiho
The conversation got so intense that I couldn’t follow up.
Saki
Ahaha… They are the people who decided to work with big bro to put up shows after all.
Ichika
Yeah, perhaps this kind of strangeness is their norm instead.
Honami
Hehe~. Tsukasa, Emu and the others all seem to be having fun together, so I believe it’s all fine.
Saki
That’s right!
Part 2
Wonderland Sekai
Tsukasa
Alright, let’s practice hard for today!
Emu
Yeahh! Nene, let’s do our best!
Nene
… Right.
Sigh…
Rui
That’s a huge sigh you’re letting out there. Is something the matter?
Nene
Ah… It’s about Hoshino…
Emu
Ichika? You’re also her friend now, right!?
Nene
Mm… I guess you could say that… But we didn’t even exchange contact information, so I was thinking…
Tsukasa
Is that so? Then you should hurry and meet her again to get her contact.
If I recall correctly, Ichika isn’t very proactive as well. So it would be better if you approached her soon.
Otherwise, in the worst case scenario, your precious budding friendship will just gradually die off.
Nene
Eh…?
Emu
EHHH!? That’s a no go!
Nene! Since Ichika and I are schoolmates, I’ll try and ask her for her contact info for you tomorrow!
Nene
Ah! Emu, um… You can hold off on that…
Emu
Wha?
Nene
… I don’t want to rely on someone else to get this sort of thing done for me.
Rui
If I recall correctly, Ichika said she wanted to learn how you sing, right Nene?
If so, you don’t have to panic so much. I think you’ll somehow know what to do when it comes down to it.
Nene
Y-yeah… But…
Rin's voice
Neeene!
Emu
Ah! Nene, Rin's here!
Nene
Ah… I’ll be back in a bit.
*Nene leaves*
Rui
……
Tsukasa, Emu, could you hear me out for a moment?
It’s regarding what Nene talked about earlier. Why don’t we give her a little assistance?
Tsukasa
Assistance?
Rui
For example, giving Nene and Ichika an opportunity to meet up by cutting back on practice or something.
Thankfully, we have a lot of time before the next contest begins. There’s no need to hurry and practice so hard at this point, right?
Tsukasa
… Yeah, you’re right. I don’t mind if we do that.
But, even if we create such an opportunity, would they really be able to successfully exchange contacts with each other?
Rui
That will be up to Nene to make the best of the opportunity. I just thought we could collaborate and help her like this.
Emu
Really!?
Rui, Tsukasa, let’s do that! This is Operation: Friendship between Nene and Ichika!
Tsukasa
Wha–, I have to join in too!?
Rui
Hehe, then once we inform Nene about the break from practice, we’ll start the operation.
The next day, after school
Miyamasuzaka
Rui
I didn’t think that Rin would suggest to Nene to exchange contacts with Ichika before we could guide her.
Tsukasa
Yeah, it’s like a godsend.
But how do you plan to ascertain that they managed to exchange contacts?
On one hand, you have to get closer otherwise you won’t be able to see them. On the other hand, if we stay on such an open path, we’re done for if they even look back for a moment.
Rui
Hehe, nothing slipped past me. First, we have to get close to those bushes.
*Rui leaves*
Tsukasa
O-okay.
*Tsukasa leaves*
Rui
Now then… If I’m not mistaken it should be around here…
???
Tsukasa, Rui, over here~!
*Rustling sounds*
Tsukasa
Emu!? Why did you pop out of the bushes!?
Emu
‘Cause this is a secret path that leads to my school’s courtyard~♪ I found it when I went exploring just after I entered!
Rui
Thus, if we advance through these bushes while hiding, we will get as close as we possibly can to Miya Girls’ school grounds.
Now, shall we go and watch over Nene’s perseverance?
Miyamasuzaka Girls' Academy - School gates
*Nene and Ichika chatting and smiling*
Tsukasa
Seems like it all went well, huh.
Rui
That’s right.
(Good work, Nene. And… I’m happy for you.)
Miyamasuzaka
*Footsteps sfx*
Nene
……
Emu
Neeene!
Nene
Whoa! Emu!? And Tsukasa and Rui…!? Don’t tell me… you guys saw everything!?
Notes
- お得なスポット this was hard to translate partly because of the combination of words Tsukasa used. お得 generally refers to something that’s value for money, very worthwhile, or a good bargain. スポット is just literally ‘spot’, an area.
Now, because he was saying in the line directly before this that Wonderhoi shouldn’t just show L/N the attractions (アトラクションだけでなく、お得なスポットも紹介しなくてはな！: not just the attractions, but these お得なスポット too), one thing that can be immediately gathered from this is that these spots are not paid rides at the theme park so it’s like scenic spots in a sense. But Emu immediately shows them a secluded area where people can relax peacefully because not many people go to this area. Followed by Rui talking about the Fenny-kun monument which is the photo spot/hotspot for the area. Tsukasa interestingly never tells them off for this, and his next line is just a comment about how ‘yeah that happened before’ @ Rui’s shenanigans.
So what on earth is the value/worthiness of the benches that Emu talked about (apart from being able to relax there because footfall is low)? It seemed more like they were showing less-known parts of the theme park that only regulars/the staff would know about. Another problem is that Tsukasa used ‘spot’ specifically, so I had two options that I favoured: hidden gems or hidden spots. However, either way, these options would lose at least one of the meanings that Tsukasa had in his phrase. Hidden gems was able to convey the value and the secrecy of the locations, but it is too vague and does not explicitly refer to an area. Hidden spots however, removes the whole value aspect, but conveys the area. But it also changes the meaning: hidden areas is not the same as whatever “a worthy area” is, with the explicit example being… benches with less human traffic that you can sit at.
Yeah this note became a ramble but it was really hard trying to convey what has no other similar JP equivalent in this context except for good value bargains/deals and paid stuff that are worth every dollar spent on it. And then you remember that these areas that Wonderhoi showed aren’t even paid attractions, it’s just spaces that are really pogchamp. :sbibo: (Return to text)
- The exact term Tsukasa says here is ライド型のアトラクション (literally: attractions that are rides). They already were showing L/N around the theme park and essentially giving a tour of the place, showing them two kinds of roller coasters already… which are rides. I wrote “flat rides” here because Tsukasa’s description of the ride was very vague, only about recreating rain and wind realistically, and I thought it might make sense that they would be showing L/N a different type of attraction from the roller coasters. It would definitely sound better than saying “next up we are gonna look at the rides!” I hope (Return to text)
- “ネネロボちゃんっていう、ロボットまで作れるんだよ！” What Emu said exactly is: He can even make a robot called Nenerobo-chan! Nenerobo already exists and if I wanted to retain the “a robot named Nenerobo” part with this, having her say he can make doesn’t really feel right? I’m not sure how to phrase this sophisticatedly, but no matter if you rephrase the sentence as “He can make all sorts of things, even a robot called Nenerobo-chan!” or maybe “He can even make a robot called Nenerobo-chan!”, I don’t think it lines up with the fact that Nenerobo already exists, and if referring to Nenerobo specifically, past tense has to be used like “He can make all sorts of things, and he even made a robot called Nenerobo-chan!” (Return to text)
TLDR this story laughs at my suffering