Episode 4 Story Discussion

[Sp-24]

Hopefully not, because he is supposed to be inside PD intact, just like Persona is, and how he was in Double's stomach.

EDIT: Just noticed that spoiler: Pietro looks more than two years old.

[Renvalt]

There is an extra detail that Renvalt hasn't mentionned about his summary of the story that should please a lot of people that seem to think the plot is Star Ocean 3 again. (Kinda glad I decided to translate the cutscenes with Google Translate. Even if the translation is nowhere near perfect, it does give a good gist of what is going on).

Will cover the info in a spoiler box(there's a few extra notes about the anime included) just in case, but here it is:

Spoiler!

In one of the two cutscenes before the actual Story Mission takes place(specifically, it's the one right before she explains the new ARKS organization, Ciela plays an audio message(or it's an audio communication) from Ulc, who is now ARKS's commander. She explains that lately, there has been a number of odd/irregular ARKS members that have begun appearing, and she wants us to investigate the issue.

So if you fast forward back to the Story Mission, you can realize that the 'training' mission with Hitsugi is basically a pretense to keep an eye on him(though Ciela is quick to point out at the end of the cutscene where you meet Hitsugi that he seems to behave a bit more like a girl).

In other words, there's a very good chance that somehow, the people of Earth have been able to connect to ARKS, most likely due to how their revolutionary worldwide internet system works. If you've been watching the anime, then you should know that the anime serves as a prelude to the events of Reborn: Episode 4.

Especially since in the anime's first episodes so far, the characters clearly don't somehow enter the world. They're just playing it as if a normal MMORPG. And also, the anime happens 1 year before Reborn: Episode 4, so in that 1 year gap, clearly something happened if somehow the girl had managed to 'enter' the 'game' of PSO2(given the first cutscene in which we see her, she literally pops out of her computer screen.

Therefore, it's likely that based on what I just stated in the Spoiler Box, that this might not be a remake of Star Ocean 3's plot.

Well now... that is some valuable info there. And if you ask me, I'd say that makes the anime worth watching. At least so that they can clear up this little nugget of confusion - specifically on WHEN they gained the power to transcend space-time data (if I had to guess, Aika's presence on Earth is somehow related to this in some manner; she's the only person there that is effectively a living, breathing OOparts with regards to Earthling society).

Spoiler!

Wait Luthor got reborn literally?

That's kinda the joke I'm making about Pietro. Since he behaves as flamboyantly as Luther was known to, but has more antics that make him seem like a one-man Katori/Saga gimmick (albeit he has to use reverse-animal abuse to do it - by which I mean his pets are abusing the hell out of him).

[Sp-24]

The PSO2 craze in the anime starts over 9 months into your cryosleep, so there wasn't anyone logging in and out during episodes 1~3. The anime keeps hinting that PSO2 is "real" and not just a game, and you are outright told that Earth is in a parallel universe and isn't the real world to your virtual one in the latest story.

[untrustful]

That's kinda the joke I'm making about Pietro. Since he behaves as flamboyantly as Luther was known to, but has more antics that make him seem like a one-man Katori/Saga gimmick (albeit he has to use reverse-animal abuse to do it - by which I mean his pets are abusing the hell out of him).

Ah, maybe it's like a dev insider joke.

[Nanaha]

Why is this happening?

[Rupikachu]

I just copypasted outa the game the First 3 sierra convo boxes (I skipped Pietro because i don't care bout that luther copycat).

Basically It's wakeup. Sierra introduction. Ulc Talking. Suush what a pain. Google translate it at your risk

Spoiler!

Rupikachuさーん。
こっちこっち、こっちですよー！
おはようございます、気分はいかがです？


あっ、挨拶遅れました！　はじめまして！
私、Rupikachuさんの
専属オペレーターとなります、シエラです！

無事、目覚められたようでよかったです。

体にもおかしなところはないですか？
ダーカー因子も……はい、きれいに
浄化されてるみたいですね。

おやっ？
首をかしげられてるご様子。
もしかして、記憶が曖昧だったり？

そういうことがあるかもと
医療部から連絡は受けてました。

ではでは、僭越ながら
専属オペレーター、シエラ。
状況の説明をさせていただきますね。

Spoiler!

貴方はですね、『A.P.238/2/20』に
惑星ナベリウスにて『アークス』入隊の
修了任務を行いました。

かの修了任務の後、すぐにアークスとして
頭角を現していった貴方は、数々の冒険を
繰り広げ……

ダーカーや、ダークファルス……
さらには、全ての元凶である【深遠なる闇】との
戦いで、目ざましい活躍をされました！

いやあ……振り返ってみてもすごいことです。
そんな人が今私の目の前に……！
……あ、すみません、説明途中でした。

今現在、【深遠なる闇】の復活から
二年ほどの時が経っています。

驚くのも無理はないです。
Rupikachuさんにとっては
一瞬だったと思いますし。

貴方は、【深遠なる闇】との緒戦ののち
ダーカー因子の集中浄化のため
コールドスリープに入ったんです。

その間も【深遠なる闇】たちとの戦いは
続いていましたが……ご安心ください！
アークスは健在！　宇宙も健在です！

そしてついに
Rupikachuさんも復帰……！
これでアークスは万全の体制です！

……でも、そう簡単にいかないのが
世の常ってことなんですよねー。


ダーカー因子の浄化が終わったばかりの
Rupikachuさんにすぐ
起きてもらったのは、お願いがあるからです。

あ、でも、そのお願いをお話しする前に
これを渡しておきますね。


これぞRupikachuさんのための
物語を紡ぎ出すもの！
その名も『ストーリーボード』です！

身体動かすのも兼ねて
それの扱いにも慣れておきましょう！

Spoiler!

おかえりなさい！
どうでしたか、なんとなーく使い方とか
わかってきた感じです？

ま、わからないことがあったら
お気軽お手軽にこの私、シエラに
聞いてもらえれば大丈夫ですからね！

なんといっても私は
Rupikachuさん専属の
オペレーターも兼ねてますから！

ということで、続きまして
アークス総司令からの大切なお願いです。
こちらをご覧ください。

Rupikachu！　お久しぶり！
私のこと覚えてる？　ウルクだよ！
あれよあれよと、総司令にされちゃいました。

記憶が曖昧になってるかも、って話だから
本当は直接会いたかったんだけど……
シャオ君にいろいろ押しつけられて、忙しくてさ。

声だけになっちゃってごめん。
きちんと会うのはまた今度ね！

ま、つもるはなしはさておいて……
ちょっと貴方にお願いしたいことがあるの。

最近、正規のアークスとは思えない
出自不明のアークスが、ちらほら現れているんだ。

情報部に調べてもらってるんだけど
カスラがさ、報告ちゃんとしてこなくて
なーんか隠してる感じなんだよね。

そこで、貴方にも別口で
調査をお願いしたいの。

怪しいアークスの目星はついてる。
ちょっとの間、つきっきりで
監視してみてくれないかな。

起き抜けでこんなこと頼んじゃって悪いけど
貴方が動くのであれば、カスラだって
文句言えないし、よろしくお願い！

以上、ウルク総司令からの
連絡でした。

なるほど、Rupikachuさんに
声をかけたのはそういう理由だったんですねー。
納得です。

ウルク総司令、シャオから指示系統を引き継いで
とっても大変そうにしていましたからねー。
私からもお願いしたい感じです。

ではさっそく、出撃の準備をしましょう。
準備が出来たら私に話しかけてください。

あ、あとですね
アークスの組織体系なんかも
結構様変わりしてるんですよ。

興味がありましたら
いつでも私に聞いてくださいね。

[Selphea]

From what I could gather, Ciela wanted you to investigate the sudden surge of unregistered ARKs, which is why she gets the player to follow Hitsugi (Shota). When they meet, Ciela comments that Hitsugi is suspicious because he looks like a boy but acts like a girl (yes wtf), but otherwise couldn't find anything wrong.

After that the whole Dark Falz and zombie thing happens. In the debrief, Ciela says it seems to be Photons™ that allowed the player to cross worlds to save Hitsugi on Earth - she needed help and the player went to help her and that resonated with the Photons™. BUT she admits she can't explain how exactly that works and tells the player to keep quiet about it.

She does refer to Earth as "Isekai" though, aka "Alternate World". And that happens to be the same term typically used to refer to fiction about Earth characters being transported to the MMO world.

Interesting reversal in that the people from PSO2 consider Earth as the Isekai, when it's typically the other way round.

[Meteor Weapon]

Well at least its amusing to watch, so I'm guessing Ciela/Sierra is gonna be our permenant personal navigator for EP4 in certain crucial missions such as TD4?

[Sp-24]

Well at least its amusing to watch, so I'm guessing Ciela/Sierra is gonna be our permenant personal navigator for EP4 in certain crucial missions such as TD4?

She introduces herself as your personal operator.

[Meteor Weapon]

Yeah, I know but was wondering if she'd stick around in TD since Melitta is a pain in the ears to listen