Special Heroes - Summer Firsts

[Ice Dragon]

I would like to merge up Fjorm because she continues to be best kōhai, but can't really justify spending that much of my budget with F/GO summer and CYL coming up. I'll probably have to settle with just merging up Tharja and hoping that Fjorm's Double Special Heroes banner is favorable to her. At the very least, both summer banners last for another full month, so I have plenty of time to procrastinate figure out how to spend my gacha budget.

Ymir and Eir is super cute, too.

Spurn 4 is nice to have as a new Dodge 4 option. The new tier-4 Boost skills look pretty cool, particularly because the come with Guard built-in and function on both phases. The other new skills don't leave much of an impression on me.

 

2 hours ago, Tybrosion said:

Yeah, about that....

[New OC SPOILERS]:

So fluffy.

Spoiler

Yeah, that's definitely a Rearmed Hero and an Arcane weapon even if the weapon's name in Japanese doesn't match the usual naming scheme.

Which means we have an Arcane beast weapon, and it has a completely unique Clash-like transformation effect. And damage reduction that activates if the attacking unit moves at least 5 spaces to attack, which I find super funny. The Clash effect also continues to add stats up to 6 spaces moved.

The weapon's effect itself is literally Freyja's Binding Necklace plus Null Follow-Up with a Spd check and bonus damage based on Spd.

 

[Tybrosion]

TT+ Final Map [SPOILERS]:

Spoiler

https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/comments/14s04lo/begins_july_7_2023_utc_nihility_dream_1_tt_final/

Yeah, the boss is the new OC and not Summer Ymir & Eir.

 

[Ice Dragon]

And the usual translation notes:

 

The banner name, "Summer Firsts", is "初めての夏に" (hajimete no natsu ni), "In [Their] First Summer".

Ivy's epithet, "Tidal Breeze", is "吹き渡る潮風" (fuki-wataru shiokaze), "Ocean Breeze Blowing Through". "潮風" (shiokaze), "ocean breeze", specifically refers to the salty wind that blows in from a body of saltwater.

Divine Draught is "喉潤す水神の杯" (nodo uruosu suijin no sakazuki), "Glass of the Thirst-Quenching Water God". "杯" (sakazuki), translated here as "glass" in context, specifically refers to a cup for alcoholic beverages.

Soaring Guidance is "飛走の先導" (hisō no sendō), "Guidance for Fliers and Infantry". "飛走" (hisō) is a novel compound of "飛" (hi), "flying", and "走" (sō), "running", therefore "[units that] fly and [units that] run" or "fliers and infantry".

Fjorm's epithet, "Seaside Thaw", is "氷の姫と夏の海" (kōri no hime to natsu no umi), "The Princess of Ice and the Summer Sea".

Ice-Bound Brand is "氷海の剣" (hyōkai no ken), "Sword of the Frozen Sea". They will literally call it anything but a "sword". At this point, I'm pretty sure they think "sword" is a metric unit of measurement.

Frostbite Mirror is "絶氷の聖鏡" (zekkōri no seikyō), "Sacred Mirror of Absolute Ice". Compare with Ice Mirror, "氷の聖鏡" (kōri no seikyō, "Sacred Mirror of Ice"), Nifl's Bite, "絶氷ニフル" (zekkōri nifuru, "The Absolute Ice, Nifl"), and Domain of Ice, "絶氷結界" (zekkōri kekkai, "Domain of Absolute Ice").

Spurn is "回避・怒り" (kaihi: ikari), "Evasion: Wrath". As usual, "回避" (kaihi), "evasion", is the name of the evasion stat in the main series and the name of the Dodge effect, and "怒り" (ikari), "anger", is the name of the Wrath skill.

Tharja's epithet, "Beach Dark Mage", is "渚の呪術師" (nagisa no jujutsushi), "Sorcerer on the Beach".

Seashell Bowl is "硝子の小鉢" (shōshi no kobachi), "Glass Bowl".

Ymir's epithet, "Seasons of Life" is "命をはぐくむ季節" (inochi o hagukumu kisetsu), "Season to Cultivate Life".

Sparkling Sun is "真夏の生命の輝き" (manatsu no seimei no kagayaki), "Brilliance of Midsummer Life".

Fireflood Boost is "生命の業火静水" (seimei no gōka seisui), "Hellfire/Still Water of Life".

Donnel's epithet, "Sunny Villager", is "村人の夏模様" (murabito no natsu moyō), "Villager's Summer Design". Literally "Donnel's summer version".

Wooden Tackle is "木の漁具" (ki no gyogu), "Wooden Fishing Tackle".

Eitr's epithet, "Hand of Nothing", is "虚無のしもべ" (kyomu no shimobe), "Servant of Nihility".

Arcane Nihility is "魔器・虚無の角" (maki: kyomu no tsuno), "Arcane Weapon: Horns of Nihility". As usual, "魔器" (maki), "magic weapon", is the term used for both Arcane weapons and Rearmed Heroes.

Edited July 7, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Xenomata]

TT seals are Spd/Res Ideal and Atk/Res Rein.

Spd/Res Ideal comes just after the release of LegGuinivere, who is probably the unit who'd appreciate it the most. It's otherwise just an alright seal for your units who need a Spd and Res boost together.

Atk/Res Rein is technically weaker than Catch or Solo, but it does have a use in allowing a unit like Witchy Nowi to be a slightly better debuff zone. Nowi specifically would be able to inflict Atk/Res -12 and Spd -4 with her refined Grimoire. It's also the first Sacred Seal to inflict a debuff on the enemy, and its Atk debuff is kind of working twice as hard to cover both Def and Res for the wielder.

[Ice Dragon]

Oh, hey, two actually good Sacred Seals at the same time.

Spd/Res Ideal is obviously intended to be given to Legendary Guinevere just like how Def/Res Ideal was obviously intended to be given to Duo Askr. Also a decent general-use Sacred Seal for infantry in game modes that need lots of Sacred Seals.

Atk/Res Rein is a pretty solid pick for dragon fliers if they don't need Distant Counter (D) or it's being used on a different unit. There are also a few slow, bulky tome fliers, namely Eitri, Duo Thorr, and Yune, that could potentially prefer the condition-less +4 Atk/Def/Res over the +5 Atk/Res from Catch or the +6 Atk/Res from Solo.

 

Also datamine question (in case anyone has more patience than me to read through Reddit posts and comments):

Spoiler

Do we know for certain if the new Arcane beast weapon is exclusive to cavalry?

I see that people are assuming it's exclusive to cavalry due to its transformation effect being similar to the cavalry transformation effect, but with a Clash-like effect instead of an Impact effect, but I haven't seen anyone actually confirm that it's exclusive to cavalry.

 

[Humanoid]

18 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Also datamine question (in case anyone has more patience than me to read through Reddit posts and comments):

The wiki lists it as requiring the Adult (Cavalry) weapon as a prerequisite, but I don't know if the information was sourced from a data mine.

[Etrurian emperor]

Well that’s an impressively bad banner.  So much wrong with it.

Ivy being all alone on the banner is just wrong. She could have a beach dynamic with her little sister, her retainers or her rivals, but instead she’s stuck with a bunch on randos.

The rest of the characters seen picked without rhyme or reason. Why is Tharja on an oc/engage banner? Why didn’t that slot go to Hortensia or Ganglot who do have their peers on the banner. I fear IS is gonna go have Tharja say to Ivy “we both have big breasts and love avatar kun”

The two oc girls don’t have a dynamic so them both getting on the banner is just weird and devoid of theming.

And it’s an all female banner(not counting TT). They didn’t even pretend to give male characters some representation this time around, not even the lame demote. You’d think Alear and Robin would be around if they’re going to tie Ivy to Tharja.

Funnily it’s only Donnel, the complete afterthought who I think is decently chosen.

[Ice Dragon]

33 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Why is Tharja on an oc/engage banner?

Because this isn't an Engage banner. Ivy is the odd one out.

 

34 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I fear IS is gonna go have Tharja say to Ivy “we both have big breasts and love avatar kun”

It's easy to forget that Tharja canonically doesn't have big breasts and that they just get exaggerated by artists.

[Humanoid]

I'm more alarmed at how much bigger Tharja's eyes have grown, not her bust.

[Othin]

  

6 hours ago, Tybrosion said:

Yeah, about that....

[New OC SPOILERS]:

  Reveal hidden contents

https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/comments/14rwlc8/datamine_july_6_2023_new_story_character_eitr/

This character already has data for a weapon (which you can find in the comments, and it's seemingly an Arcane Beast weapon), so this our probable TT boss.

Noooooooo 😞

22 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Because this isn't an Engage banner. Ivy is the odd one out.

Specifically, it's a banner with 3 Heroes characters, 2 Awakening ones, and 1 Engage.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Othin

[Xenomata]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

It's easy to forget that Tharja canonically doesn't have big breasts and that they just get exaggerated by artists.

*uncomfortable cough*

Quote

• Nowi: Tharja, you're so boingy!
• Tharja: ...What?
• Nowi: Didn't you hear me? I said you're boingy!
• Tharja: And what does that mean, exactly? ...Do I even want to hear this?
• Nowi: You know! Your figure! Like, your hips and your...other parts! Boingy!
• Tharja: Gods. Where do you learn such things? One moment I'm dealing with a simpering innocent, and the next... *sigh*
• Nowi: Sooo...can I see 'em? Your boingy bits, I mean...
• Tharja: Why are you even asking ME, anyway? There must be others with more *ahem* "boingy" bits than me.
• Nowi: Oh, no. I've checked out EVERYBODY in the whooole army, and you know what? You're the boingiest of them all. ...Trust me.

-From the Harvest Scramble DLC of Awakening

Her Japanese roster entry is also explicitly "Has the nicest body in the army". So maybe it's not the curviest, but it's still the sexiest body among the Shepherds.
Not to say that artists aren't prone to exaggeration... but the fact she's stated to be sexy in-game probably didn't help matters much.

[GrandeRampel]

What a weird and nonsensical banner. Still it has Ivy and a Tharja demote on it so I have to pull. I wonder if many others feel the same way as me.

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

Her Japanese roster entry is also explicitly "Has the nicest body in the army". So maybe it's not the curviest, but it's still the sexiest body among the Shepherds.
Not to say that artists aren't prone to exaggeration... but the fact she's stated to be sexy in-game probably didn't help matters much.

The wording in Japanese is "一番スタイルが良い" (ichiban sutairu ga ii), which means "has the best figure". The word for "figure" here, "スタイル" (sutairu), is used to refer to a (specifically feminine) person's proportions and physique. The word doesn't have implications of sex appeal by default.

 

It's also perfectly believable that Tharja could have the boingiest breasts among the Shepherds without actually having large breasts because, based on their in-game and official art, none of the playable characters in Awakening canonically have large breasts other than maybe Aversa.

[Mercakete]

Wut.

Uhh okay, so all girls except Donnel (I think) (of all people) is the freebie. Well. Guess I can skip. Glad Fjorm's joining her sisters and Nifl, but still no Hrid. Really thought her silhouette was Mist, which got me hopeful. Also, Ivy's here alone. Guess they really wanted to make Summer Ivy, whether or not she fit on the banner. Hopefully this means we'll get other Engage units someday? Maybe IS is just overcompensating from when the fans were all "No more Fates royals!" and "No more 3 Houses!" and are thinking "Dang, we need to slow down on new games." And then this happened.

Anyway, onto the positive impressions. Utility-wise, Ivy's great. I have a couple of speedy fliers (specifically, Bunny Ashe and New Years Elm) who want to take advantage of that Guidance skill she has. Also, her lines and delivery are just so good. XD And then there's Tharja. Okay, so, she's pretty random, but the way that line was delivered was hilarious. XD It's like "If this doesn't work, I'll kill whoever started that rumor." Also, she sounds like she's at her wit's end (maybe because she saw Groom Robin.) The way her intonation shifted from "whatever. I don't know" to threatening/crazy was great. Also, her weapon seems like it makes Ideal/push skills more viable.

Interesting that Ymir and Eir are here. I happened to free pull (with a ticket, I think) my first Ascended Eir on that last banner she was on (and I already have regular Ymir.) The "pushing up sunflowers" thing is funny. That said, I don't think I'll aim for them.

So, I guess if I happen to get Ivy, cool. Otherwise, I don't care about this banner, personally.

Edit:

Pff. I just saw Fjorm's damaged art, and I like how it implies that Fjorm accidentally sliced up her water squishie of Feh herself. X3

Edited July 6, 2023 by Mercakete

[Ice Dragon]

Speaking of art, what exactly have the Askrans been feeding Fjorm? I swear her thighs grow each time Maeshima draws a new version of her (not that I'm complaining or anything).

[Tybrosion]

3 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Speaking of art, what exactly have the Askrans been feeding Fjorm? I swear her thighs grow each time Maeshima draws a new version of her (not that I'm complaining or anything).

I mean, I have to assume Askr has much more plentiful food and more variety of food than the snowy wastelands of Nifl.

That, and I guess Askr has to have plentiful food when they have a lot of gluttons (but mostly the Ilyanas, who could individually match Kirby in an eating contest) in the Order of Heroes.

[Sunwoo]

7 hours ago, Xenomata said:

*uncomfortable cough*

Her Japanese roster entry is also explicitly "Has the nicest body in the army". So maybe it's not the curviest, but it's still the sexiest body among the Shepherds.
Not to say that artists aren't prone to exaggeration... but the fact she's stated to be sexy in-game probably didn't help matters much.

I'd heard about that being the original version of that conversation, and I think I was happier when I forgot it even existed.

[Ice Dragon]

23 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Eitr's epithet, "Hand of Nothing", is "虚無のしもべ" (kyomu no shimobe), "Servant of Nihility".

Arcane Nihility is "魔器・虚無の角" (maki: kyomu no tsuno), "Arcane Weapon: Horns of Nihility". As usual, "魔器" (maki), "magic weapon", is the term used for both Arcane weapons and Rearmed Heroes.

Added translation notes for the Tempest Trials boss.

[Xenomata]

16 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

The wording in Japanese is "一番スタイルが良い" (ichiban sutairu ga ii), which means "has the best figure". The word for "figure" here, "スタイル" (sutairu), is used to refer to a (specifically feminine) person's proportions and physique. The word doesn't have implications of sex appeal by default.

I know it doesn't have to mean sex appeal by default (especially if it's only specifying a feminine physique which I didn't even realize the Japanese language had a specific term for it), but I think the implication is still there if the Shepherds are out comparing who among the women have the biggest boingy bits. Not that I claim to know how the Harvest Scramble conversation between Tharja and Nowi goes, but I can't imagine it's that far off-base if it got translated to that in english...

16 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

It's also perfectly believable that Tharja could have the boingiest breasts among the Shepherds without actually having large breasts because, based on their in-game and official art, none of the playable characters in Awakening canonically have large breasts other than maybe Aversa.

Tiki is about the next "boingiest"

[Etrurian emperor]

Oof. IS really, REALLY didn’t want alear on the banner it seems. Both Ivy’s description and dialogue mention Alear being on the beach too yet they’re not on the banner.

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

I know it doesn't have to mean sex appeal by default (especially if it's only specifying a feminine physique which I didn't even realize the Japanese language had a specific term for it), but I think the implication is still there if the Shepherds are out comparing who among the women have the biggest boingy bits.

The term isn't for the boingy bits, but the entire body's proportional balance. Things like long legs; a distinct waist; average, slim, or athletic build; etc.

For a character from a recent anime that uses more realistic body proportions (i.e. something I can still remember off the top of my head), Murashige Yuzuki (村重結月) from Skip and Loafer would count (she also literally gets referred to as such in the script).

(It's also worth noting that long legs somehow always seem to get mentioned in the same breath, and Tharja's legs are literally half her full height in her official art.)

 

33 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

Not that I claim to know how the Harvest Scramble conversation between Tharja and Nowi goes, but I can't imagine it's that far off-base if it got translated to that in english...

The flow of the conversation is pretty much identical in both languages, with Nowi acting like a little kid that just learned how squishy boobs are and Tharja absolutely having none of Nowi's shenanigans.

The only major difference is that "your hips and your... other parts" is explicitly "お胸もお尻も" (omune mo oshiri mo), "both [your] breasts and [your] butt".

Given what I can tell of Nowi's personality, the English script honestly feels a bit weird. She feels like the type to just blurt out "your boobs and butt" in English with absolutely zero filter instead of dodging around the wording. It's obviously localized as it is to not offend Western sensibilities (also because English lacks an inoffensive word choice, unlike Japanese), but it still feels out of character.

 

40 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

Tiki is about the next "boingiest"

Based on the in-game and official art, after Aversa, its either Tharja or Tiki. It's really hard to tell because neither of them are all that boingy, even more so when you compare them to characters from other games.

[Xenomata]

56 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

The term isn't for the boingy bits, but the entire body's proportional balance. Things like long legs; a distinct waist; average, slim, or athletic build; etc.

I meant in the context of the Harvest Festival dialogue (the guys in the army talking about who has the boingiest bits being why Tharja and Nowi are talking in the first place), unless the term was used in the japanese conversation as well.

56 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

The flow of the conversation is pretty much identical in both languages, with Nowi acting like a little kid that just learned how squishy boobs are and Tharja absolutely having none of Nowi's shenanigans.

The only major difference is that "your hips and your... other parts" is explicitly "お胸もお尻も" (omune mo oshiri mo), "both [your] breasts and [your] butt".

Given what I can tell of Nowi's personality, the English script honestly feels a bit weird. She feels like the type to just blurt out "your boobs and butt" in English with absolutely zero filter instead of dodging around the wording. It's obviously localized as it is to not offend Western sensibilities (also because English lacks an inoffensive word choice, unlike Japanese), but it still feels out of character.

Nowi shows some hints of maturity in her english dialogue, but otherwise it does seem kind of out of place in hindsight, especially considering she then asks if she can touch Tharja's boingy bits... why dodge around it if you're gonna ask to feel her up in the next line. And then proceed to feel her up while she sleeps.

...maybe we should have gotten the version of that conversation where they're talking about Tharja's hair...

Edited July 7, 2023 by Xenomata

[XRay]

22 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Speaking of art, what exactly have the Askrans been feeding Fjorm? I swear her thighs grow each time Maeshima draws a new version of her (not that I'm complaining or anything).

Maybe they have been feeding her Tharja's and/or others' boingy bits. Haha.

That Atk/Spd Finish 4, Frostbite Mirror working against melee foes, and moving Distant Counter out of the A slot are probably from Corrin: Starry Seer. Spurn and thick thighs are from Malice. Time's Pulse 4, tier-4-ness in Spurn, and being a god sword are from Byleth: Vengeance Vessel. All those boingy Manuals let Fjorm inherit more than just skills I suppose.

Edited July 7, 2023 by XRay