How I Appear In Your Eyes

Hibiki Wataru Starter Kit

wataru hibiki from ensemble stars feels like the kind of character you have to make a conspiracy corkboard for to understand what the fuck is going on in his brain ever. if that is an activity that sounds fun to you, here is a handy list of stories featuring him!

  • i am focusing event/scout stories
    • this list does not include every single chapter idol stories or collab stories
    • if you believe i am missing a story, please contact me!
  • order is chronological within the game's timeline.
  • if translations exist & the creator TOS allows me to post links to them, i will.
    • if you would like me to take down the links to your translations, let me know and i'll do so!
  • bolded stories are especially important/ABSOLUTELY required reading. italics are personal favorites. bold italics are both.
  • for questions/comments/etc you can reach me anonymously via neospring, or via tumblr and twitter (i am @ maskspurpose on both as well)

Unrelated Soapbox Moment

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Ensemble Stars !

stories from the first game, starting with the war era and moving on to the following year. For a complete picture of the war(tm) and the five oddballs in general, I recommend reading all the reminisce stories, even ones that do not feature wataru at all. similarly, reading the main story in its entirety for context on fine storylines, eichi, hokuto & trickstar is something i'd recommend.
i've put focus here on wataru's personal character arc over the course of the school year, which you should get a good idea of by reading the bolded stories alone, but a lot of the unbolded ones also include some extremely good breadcrumbs to pick up!

general cw: although this arguably is an element that improves over time (as in, its worse in stories that were released earlier), there's a running joke about wataru forcing tomoya to crossdress, something tomoya dislikes. it's mostly played for laughs in an incredibly tasteless and transmisogynist way. im adding this warning at the beginning because i honestly cannot remember every story this happens in, but i'll make a note of it when i do.

  • also adding a cw for jokes abt sexual assault, usually in the same stories & context
War Era
  • Rocket Start, features both theater club & oddballs content. primarily a story about how trickstar was founded, set before the live between (ex)fine and (ex)Valkyrie
  • Element, needs no further context or introduction. foundational. required reading for both fine and oddballs content.
    • translation by maluridae
    • Further reading: Daydream, a short story set immediately after the events of the final live in element, told from eichi's pov. you can find a translation here!
    • Further further reading: The 2023 Element anime & the short story Blackbird. Elaborates on some part of the original game version, but some lines from the original story were cut, so imo you shouldn't substitute one with the other. Blackbird (episode and story) specifically goes into Wataru's reasons for joining fine which we didn't have until then.
      - CONTENT WARNING for suicide ideation, self-neglect & medical environments, all in the context of eichi's chronic/terminal illness
      • Translated by iridesenescence here
      • Translated by Kana here
  • Reminiscence * Marionette, while chronologically set before element i am including it here specifically for the final chapter. "oh its just a cameo" you may think, but it's both incredibly important for wataru AND nazuna. stan nazuna and ra*bits, it's what wataru would want.
    • translation by doublerainbow82
    • content warnings: shus controlling behavior towards nazuna and mika is a major plot point. minor cw for the wataru & tomoya thing as it's not the focus of the scene itself.
Spring, Ensemble Stars!
  • The Flag's Honor * Flower Festival, the earliest performance of fine, at this time still minus eichi who is still in the hospital. set before the Main Story and trickstar's rebellion
  • MAIN STORY HAPPENS HERE, i would generally recommend anyone read the full thing (if you haven't yet) or alternatively watch the anime which does a decent job of adapting the general beats of it, even if wataru doesn't show up until fairly late in the story. wataru appearances are in the following chapters, though I recommend you read a few before/after for full context
    • Kingdom 88
    • Ensemble 120-128, 132, 133
  • Circus, fine & 2wink event and the first fine event released chronologically. stream rainbow circus!
  • Performance, theater club, led by wataru, perform lesbian romeo & juliet. one of the most important wataru stories imo.
    • the second half of the story was translated here by esotl on tumblr.
    • iirc no transmisogyny about the characters wearing dresses in this one!!
    • cw for depictions and discussions of suicide. its romeo and juliet.
  • Keep in Character! The Spectacular Cinderella Show, another theater club story, this time with focus on tomoya and featuring akatsuki! part of a collection of stories around the summer festival at yumenosaki
Summer, Ensemble Stars!
  • Amusement Live, primarily a story focusing ra*bits and 2wink, but wataru is also there. has some important stuff specifically on his relationship with tori!
  • Magnolia , fine story focused on tori and yuzuru, origin of the life-sized wataru doll lore.
  • Tanabata Festival, once again an event that has several stories devoted to it. this is the part mostly focusing ra*bits and akatsuki. wataru MC's the event. this is the part where keito goes "bakyuun".
  • Milky Way, the OTHER tanabata story, this is the fine vs valkyrie one!!! the one where eichi gets really into cannibalism jokes and an important conversation between eichi and wataru in the final epilogue, important in the context of both fine in general and eichi in particular as well as for oddballs crumbs!
  • Dance Floor, fine spend time together and go to Karaoke. Difficult to describe just why exactly it's important but it IS.
    • final two chapters are translated here
  • Summer Vacation, fine and UNDEAD travel to a tenshouin holiday resort, notable for orientalist costumes and some really minor oddballs content. wataru is barely in this one but gets some really good lines and fun moments.
    • general cw for racism due to the setting (a holiday resort on a private island owned by the tenshouin family) and some comments directed at adonis by other characters (not as bad as some other stories, still present tho) in the story as well as, again, orientalist costumes.
  • Restaurant, wataru and eichi run the school restaurant for a bit. notable for the fact that the wataru card it comes with briefly had a mistake where he had six fingers on one hand. i think they shouldve canonized that.
  • Quarrel Festival, eichi tries to get keito to rebel against him. wataru turns souma into a baby. mostly important as an eichi and keito story.
  • Aquarium, kanata-centric. madara blahaj. has some cute rei & wataru content tho they're not the focus, as well as some stuff between wataru and hinata! not necessarily a recommendation for a wataru story but a story i recommend in general because it's fun and cute!
  • Cinema Theater, wataru and shu coach 2wink on filming an ad movie. more wataru & hinata stuff!
Autumn, Ensemble Stars!
  • Music Festa, wataru and rei team up to teach some of their juniors (and izumi) about cool- and cuteness
  • Rosicrucian Story, theater club!! mostly about tomoya, but some good wataru content too. and natsume is there! since it doesn't really have a lot of actual plot or development and is primarily a tomoya crossdressing bit i cannot recommend it, but...
  • Showtime, sora and wataru put on a magic show with shu in the audience. very cute.
  • Toyland, fine and 2wink collaborate again, this time to promote a toy shop! this list really made me realize how many times 2wink and fine collab.
Winter, Ensemble Stars!
  • Jingle Bells, fine's starfes story, notable for being the one where wataru calls eichi baby girl. tori's first christmas center story (branco being the second). central mostly to tori's arc within fine.
  • Eccentric, the five eccentrics meet each other and talk about old memories. associated with eccentric party night!
  • Kiseki, features a conversation between hokuto and wataru which is, at least partially, about the war and their roles in it, as well as the role wataru played in trickstar's rebellion/the main story until this point. extremely fucking relevant for that alone but also Stan Eden Please.
  • Phantom Thieves Vs Detectives, a ra*bits & knights story that INEXPLICABLY features wataru very prominently and is one of the most important stories for him both as a character and specifically within the context of theater club and his relationship to tomoya.
    • translated by enstars-translations
    • cw: some stuff about tomoya being uncomfortable with wataru as well as some transphobia from izumi directed at naru. neither is as bad as it is in some other stories, but it still happens.
  • Transparency and Masks, direct follow-up of phantom thieves and equally important for both wataru and theater club. features some foreshadowing for EP:Link.
  • Opera, how the fuck does wataru keep making akatsuki participate in theater stuff when keito allegedly hates him. explain. wataru and eichi have some insane conversations in this one.
  • Dream Travel, further story cementing the character development in fine, some metaphors from phantom thieves vs detectives return and wataru and eichi are generally kind of insane about each other. not a must-read but like. a good read. it's fine.
  • Diner Live, eichi revives knight killers to advertise a diner and wataru decides he wants to compete with him. extremely fucking important for eichi hamburger alone, but also an easy rec in general.
  • Triumph of the Emperor, the closest thing fine has to a repayment fes story. interesting to compare to flowerfes especially! mostly tori, but wataru had the 4* for this event and i think it kinda showcases how their relationship has grown over time so i'll recommend it!
Spring (2), Ensemble Stars!
  • EP:Link, THE story connecting the first and second game (as you may be able to tell from the title) and important for that alone but also one of the most important wataru stories and one of the few ones directly centering him, don't let the eichi & subaru 5*s fool you, this story is in large parts just about the relationships various other characters (mostly eichi, hokuto & tori) have with wataru.

Idol & Sub Stories

None of these are required reading and the best I can offer in terms of CWs is a general warning for transmisogyny and jokes abt sexual assault/harrassment in ones ft. theater club.

  • managment story ft. hokuto, translated by flip here + direct link
  • the gods play, a story ft. kanata and rei in class, translated here - backup direct link
  • cinderella burning at the stake's stage, a tomoya story, ft some fairly important information on wataru & tomoyas relationship, translated here
  • emperor assassination, does not officially feature wataru, But. translated by maluridae here

Ensemble Stars !!

yay! for now a bit of a WIP because chronological order is harder for these and they're not quite as well-archived as es! stories due to being still-ongoing/the big wiki story wipe from august 2021. apologies.

Spring, Ensemble Stars!!
  • Tempest, timeline-wise a direct follow-up to the events of Ep:link and one of the first events in es!!. parallels flowerfes and sets up the general tone and relationship situation of fine stories for the second game. wataru center, though i think the story itself mostly focuses eichi. stream tempest night.
    • official translation in the eng app!
Summer, Ensemble Stars!!
  • Neverland, theoretically a valkyrie event but it features wataru teaming up with nagisa to form the temp unit ultissimo. story themes centers how difficult communication can be, very fun.
    • official translation in the eng app!
  • Fist of Idol: Togenkyo, at this time not fully translated by fans but about to be released in the english version of the game. trickstar and fine make a movie together. doesn't center wataru, but him and eichi have some moments.
    • official translation in the eng app!
  • Burning Azaleas, tsumugi scout story with some wataru & hokuto interactions that build on some of the stuff established in kiseki. it honestly kind of slides off my brain so i'm not sure how much it builds on the stuff from kiseki rather than repeating it for the es2 audience, but i'll recommend it anyways.
Autumn, Ensemble Stars!!
  • Primavera, fine event story. eichi center, but the story focus is on tori and yuzuru's relationship to each other. at this point i don't think it's required reading for wataru specifically, but it may be important for the general fine storyline of es2.
    • official translation in the eng app!
  • Dramatica, companion gacha story to the first dramatica stage play (stage plays put on irl that are in-universe made by wataru's theater circle), wataru doesn't feature heavily but shu hangs out with a pig, so i would call it a win. tomoya & hokuto centric overall.
    • does not have an accessible translation that i am aware of
  • Ghostic, STREAM GHOSTIC TREAT HOUSE!!!!. the fine halloween story fans were asking for for years. the story itself is mostly tori & yuzuru centric. yet another story where wataru and eichi are like ambiently evil in the background and have some insane dialogue. foreshadows sanctuary a little bit which is fun because it released after sanctuary.
Winter, Ensemble Stars!!
  • Sanctuary, part of the second part of the main story, important continuation of both tomoya & eichi's relationship with wataru, picking up threads from both ep:link and transparency & masks. one of the wataru stories of all time, but not particularly good to anyone else in it. can be a bit tedious if you have no interest in the overarching plot of ES2s main story 2.
    • TL, including minitalks! here
  • Hot Winter, wataru prepares the ensemble square christmas party. cute but insubstantial.
  • SS Finals, follows up on some of the plot threads in sanctuary. theoretically important for fine lore and because it explains the events of Sanctuary a little more than they have been until this point. I don't really recommend it.
    • Official Translation in the ENG App
  • Fleeting White, Wataru's second theme scout. It's cute but generally speaking insubstantial, reminiscent of both diner live and hot winter.
    • TL by iridesenescence here
  • Altered, picks up a lot of threads from war era, the first story really focusing the oddballs relationship to each other in ES2. Your enjoyment of it will depend on your feelings on ex-fine's general existence within this & has a bit of a weak resolution but overall decent and like. Oddballs content, yay. Requires the context of both Element and Blackbird.
    • general cw for suicide ideation
    • translation by mika_enstars here
  • Easter, wataru's shuffle unit story, payoff to all the fine & 2wink collaborations we've had. eccentric breadcrumbs, some absolutely excellent wataru moments!!
  • ANIMALS, tomoya has a penguin, ANIMALS circle story!
  • Atlantis, the fine climax event. Most important for Tori and Wataru but works as a good payoff for some of the things that were set up throughout and the dynamic between Tori and Eichi. Really good, absolutely gets my wholehearted recommendation.
    • Translation in Progress here
    • Translation of
Spring, Ensemble Stars!! Year Two
  • Evil Telephone, first shuffle of the second year, doesn't feature Wataru as a member, but Natsume and Hokuto's relationship to him comes up a couple of times, so within that context worth reading! Retconned some stuff regarding how Natsume joined Dramatica
    • Translation by mia here
  • Fairy Tale, second Eichi center with a Tori 4* but also features some imo really rare and therefore precious moments of Wataru's internal thoughts. Also sets up the following story a little bit. Currently untranslated and a bit contentious within fandom for some of the characterization, IMO really solid, so ymmv
  • VS Audience, Wataru's part in this chapter of the main story, not fully translated yet but from what I've seen really good especially for Wataru and allowing him to grow as a character. Sets up future plots which at time of recording aren't out yet.
    • Translation (in progress as of 11/11/24) by citrinesea here

Others:

  • Wonderful Journey, global exclusive scout story about DRAMATICA. as a global story it's not officially canonized but it's fun! the second time wataru sends keito a love letter to get keito to do something and the second time it works.
    • translated by seisoukan here
  • DRAMATICA, a difficult recommendation since the stageplays can be difficult to hunt down & exist mostly in the form of rips from the limited DVD runs & streams (please do not share links to either of these publically as this can lead to them being taken down and made even more inaccessible than they already are!), however if you can watch them i absolutely recommend doing so, especially if you've come this far. there's layers.
Edit Report
Pub: 06 Dec 2022 18:01 UTC
Edit: 11 Nov 2024 11:01 UTC
Views: 3466