Special Heroes: Loving Sea

[Fire Emblem Fan]

It's time for the second summer banner of the year, and this one brings us Female Alear, Petra, Clanne, a Harmonic with Goldmary and Bernadetta, and Dedue as the TT+ unit.

 

Edited July 4 by Fire Emblem Fan

[Sunwoo]

The disparity between Framme's spring alt and Clanne's summer alt is just kind of sad.

Also, apparently m!Shez continues to be the only male avatar to get a summer alt. Not that I really expected m!Alear to get one here, but eh.

[vikingsfan92]

Finally Goldmary but why did she have to be paired with the one black eagle I am not a fan of. 

[Tybrosion]

*Summer Dedue appears to be an axe infantry unit*

Wow, daring today yet again IS? If this was all you could come up with for Dedue, you may as well shouldn't have even bothered.

Oh, and I guess the summer banners are actually never getting another female TT unit. The latest one is still Summer Elincia from June 2022.

13 minutes ago, vikingsfan92 said:

Finally Goldmary but why did she have to be paired with the one black eagle I am not a fan of. 

Right now, IS probably really regrets using Summer Dorothea as early as they did.

So, they had to settle for Bernie here since they've used up most of the other Fodlan females at this point and continue to refuse to give the Ashen Wolves literally anything (except for a Legendary for Yuri).

[Flying Shogi]

Clanne is the most interesting unit on the banner for me. Depending on which skill is fully unlocked at 4 star rarity, I might pull a few copies.

[vikingsfan92]

43 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

*Summer Dedue appears to be an axe infantry unit*

Wow, daring today yet again IS? If this was all you could come up with for Dedue, you may as well shouldn't have even bothered.

Oh, and I guess the summer banners are actually never getting another female TT unit. The latest one is still Summer Elincia from June 2022.

Right now, IS probably really regrets using Summer Dorothea as early as they did.

So, they had to settle for Bernie here since they've used up most of the other Fodlan females at this point and continue to refuse to give the Ashen Wolves literally anything (except for a Legendary for Yuri).

I would have been extremly happy if they swapped Bernie and Petra tbh. But I guess that would be another solo Bernie alt.

[Ice Dragon]

I like that Bulwark is now a status effect, but I would like it more if it were from a C skill instead of a Harmonized Skill since Duo's Hindrance makes it impossible to use Duo and Harmonized Skills with any reliability in Aether Raids.

It's interesting that we're getting alternate tier-4 versions of the Even Wave skills instead of just normal tier-4 versions of the base skills. It sounds like they've decided what the standard additional effect is going to be for the tier-4 Atk and Res Wave skills and that they didn't match the skill effects they wanted Alear and Goldmary to have.

 

Anyways, the usual translation notes:

 

The name of the banner, "Loving Sea", is "大好きな海で" (daisuki na umi de), "At the Beach That [We] Love". "海" (umi) is ambiguous between "sea" and "beach". The "we" is also ambiguous because it's omitted.

Alear's epithet, "Seaside Dragon", is "海辺の神竜" (umibe no shinryū), "Seaside Divine Dragon".

Maritime Arts is "海水浴の体術" (kaisuiyoku no taijutsu), "Sea-Bathing Body Arts". As usual, "体術" (taijutsu), literally "body arts", is one of several traditional martial arts that is now under the umbrella of jujutsu.

Bonded is "縁" (en), "Link". "縁" (en) is commonly used to refer to "fate" or "destiny" in the context of interpersonal relationships, as in a fated encounter.

Bond Blast is "絆・神竜破" (kizuna: shinryūha), "Bond: Divine Dragon Break". This is the name of the Bond Blast Engage Attack from Engage in both English and Japanese. "神竜破" (shinryūha), "divine dragon break", is the name of the Dragon Blast Engage Attack from Engage.

Even Res Wave D is "竜の魔防の波・偶" (ryū no mabō no nami: gū), "Dragon Res Wave: Even".

Petra's epithet, "Faraway Sun", is "異境の太陽" (ikyō no taiyō), "Sun From a Foreign Land".

Breaker Bow is "波間の欠片の鋭弓" (namima no kakera no eikyū), "Sharp Bow of a Wave Trough's Fragment".

Spd/Def Crux is "速さ守備の十字牽制" (hayasa shubi no jūji kensei), "Spd/Def Cross Restraint". As usual, "牽制" (kensei), "restraint", is the name of the Rein skill series.

Clanne's epithet, "Summer Fan", is "夏の推しも尊い" (natsu no oshi mo tōtoi), "Summer's Favorite Is Also Precious".

Small Spade is "小さなスコップ" (chiisa na sukoppu), "Small Shovel".

Goldmary's epithet, "Coy Beach Divas", is "砂浜の恐縮女神" (sunahama no kyōshuku megami), "Grateful Goddesses of the Beach". "恐縮" (kyōshuku), "feeling grateful", is also used to express thanks and embarrassment in response to a compliment, i.e. English "You embarrass me with your praise". However, there is an archaic use of the word in its literal sense of "shrinking away in fear" ("恐" being "to be afraid" and "縮" being "to shrink" or "to shrivel"), which is also clearly being used here to refer to Bernadetta.

Diva-Pair Parasol is "耳目集める二人の傘" (jimoku atsumeru futari no kasa), "Attention-Grabbing Pair's Parasol". "耳目を集める" (jimoku o atsumeru), "to attract attention", literally translates as "to gather [everyone's] eyes and ears".

Even Atk Wave N is "近間の攻撃の波・偶" (chikama no kōgeki no nami: gū), "Near Atk Wave: Even".

Bulwark is "防壁" (bōheki), "Bulwark".

Dedue's epithet, "Loyal Life Guard", is "浜辺の屈強従者" (hamabe no kukkyō jūsha), "Muscular Attendant on the Beach".

Anchor Axe is "錨の斧" (ikari no ono), "Anchor Axe".

Niðavellir's epithet, "Founding King", is "建国王" (kenkoku-ō), "Nation-Founding King".

Niðavellir Ballista is "ニザヴェリルの弩弓" (nizaveriru no dokyū), "Niðavellir Crossbow". "弩" (do) refers to any weapon that functions like a crossbow, including ballistae.

Edited July 5 by Ice Dragon

[Ice Dragon]

2 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Anchor Axe is "錨の斧" (ikari no ono), "Anchor Axe".

Added Dedue's weapon to the translation notes.

It's the same as Small Spade, but with Atk/Def instead of Atk/Spd and granting Guard instead of Special charge rate +1.

 

The new Sacred Seals are Def/Res Snag and Atk/Spd Rein. I don't really care about either one. Atk/Spd Rein isn't bad, though. Just not particularly useful.

It's worth noting that Atk/Def and Spd/Def are the only versions of Snag that have a tier-4 skill at the moment, and the tier-4 Snag skills reduce the same stats on the opponent, so you'll almost never actually want to run Atk/Spd Snag 4 anyways.

 

So I just realized Alear has a ponytail in her summer alt. I knew something felt different about her that made her look cuter than usual, but I couldn't figure out what it was. It's very cute.

[Mercakete]

Okay, Bernie's towel is adorable. Also, "Let's show off!" "Let's not!" was so great. XD So, Dedue's the freebie and Clanne's the demote. Well, at least (hopefully) that'll make Clanne easier for me to get. That said, I'm a bit sad that his pickle quirk is being exemplified here instead of in a Farmer's Market banner alongside Hisame (the other pickle boy.) At least Clanne has a dagger here, so maybe a tome version of him will appear somewhere else.

Also, "They also have Godlike Reflexes!" ... Wow. Good job, description. (Man this feels lazy. XD)

Edit: Ugh, just noticed that Clanne's color sharing with Alear. I just want Clanne. He's one of my absolute favorites from Engage.

Edit2: Also, you know that list of your top 20 characters you want in Heroes? With Clanne in, I now have 2! (Tormod was the other who made it in this year.) I wonder if I'll get any of my other hopes fulfilled this year! ^_^

Edited July 4 by Mercakete

[Etrurian emperor]

Am I good at predicting things or what. Alear, Goldmary and even Clanne were all characters I pitched before.

I think its a good banner. Most people fit. Goldmary especially seems the type to go show off on the beach. After last Summer banner was really bad we needed a solid one like this.

[Ice Dragon]

On 7/3/2024 at 11:30 PM, Ice Dragon said:

Niðavellir's epithet, "Founding King", is "建国王" (kenkoku-ō), "Nation-Founding King".

Niðavellir Ballista is "ニザヴェリルの弩弓" (nizaveriru no dokyū), "Niðavellir Crossbow". "弩" (do) refers to any weapon that functions like a crossbow, including ballistae.

Added translation notes for Nidavellir's epithet and weapon from the Tempest Trial.

[Flying Shogi]

I basically have no orbs now but I got the 2 Clanne's I wanted. An Alear came in the same circle as the second Clanne so it went better than expected.

[Mercakete]

I guess it's canon that duo/harmonic heroes can't actually get very far from each other. Dang, man, how do they sleep/shower/use the restroom? I guess it's not so bad for ones like Dancing Sigurd/Diedre, or maybe even close friends like Ephraim/Lyon, but this has got to be an absolute nightmare for Bernie...

[Etrurian emperor]

Its pretty amusing that no one not already in the know would ever guess Clanne is a year older than Petra is. 

[Acacia Sgt]

6 hours ago, Mercakete said:

I guess it's canon that duo/harmonic heroes can't actually get very far from each other. Dang, man, how do they sleep/shower/use the restroom? I guess it's not so bad for ones like Dancing Sigurd/Diedre, or maybe even close friends like Ephraim/Lyon, but this has got to be an absolute nightmare for Bernie...

Man, the game just keeps getting funnier. XD

Though, as with the clothes, it likely is only enforced when needed. Or the distance is flexible depending on context. Like, maybe they must sleep in the same room, but can be in beds on opposite ends or so. I don't know, the whole thing is not naturally occurring anyway, so anything goes.

[Etrurian emperor]

So if Bernie has to poop she’s forced to take Goldmary with her. That’s awkward 

[Mercakete]

14 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

So if Bernie has to poop she’s forced to take Goldmary with her. That’s awkward 

Doctor appointments, too. And my gosh it must be awkward for married couples who are in separate duo pairings. Wasn't there one with Hawkeye's daughter and Louise? That particular Louise probably can't spend any intimate time with her Pent anymore without it being extremely awkward. I imagine Pent and Hawkeye had to come to some sort of agreement for the sake of that lady, because if they just tried to ignore her... Yikes.

(I'm clearly thinking about this in more depth than IS intended, but they should have been a bit clearer with their canon/thought it through a bit more and included caveats.)

However, this just makes a Sigurd/Arvis duo more interesting to me. (I suggested this one for a Valentine's banner with Diedre and her husbands/kids as the theme.) I wonder how they'd handle that/how long until one murdered the other. (Oh wait; it's canon that they can't kill a hero summoned by the same summoner as per the contract. Well.)