Happy Live, Show Up! Sofia and Miyabi Route - Ending! Honestly? It was...

Just a few minutes ago I completed Sofia and Miyabi's routes, which means that my journey with Happy Live, Show Up! is done. Honestly, it wasn't a great ride at all, but at least it explains why I felt "off" for most of the 35 hours I spent reading this story.

Back when I started, I decided intentionally to keep Sofia as the last route to go through (except for Miyabi, who is forced after Sofia), and in retrospect, that was the best choice I made, or it would've made this visual novel even worse to experience. The main reason is that Sofia's route is the "canon" route, per se.

By that, I don't mean that the authors made it clear with any real, tangible line or game mechanic, but rather the fact that it was MASSIVELY bigger than all the others. I'm pretty convinced that it was probably more than twice as big or, well, that's how big it felt at the very least.

A final group picture for the five heroines of the story. Them not including Jean in the photo was another smack in the face to be honest even if they tried to justify it with that talk after.

An traditional beauty, Miyabi is not the character I like the most visuals wise. Clarice takes that crown, but her voice and personality...

Sofia's story covers Akito's past, his conflict with his parents, and the newly introduced character of Miyabi, a rival he had back in the days when he still did magic shows. At the same time, it also touches on all the heroines and gives them closure in a way that doesn't include the protagonist. Yes, it sort of felt like an omnibus, which is something you do when you want things to be "alright" for everyone even if they weren't picked as the winning heroine. That's another clear mark of the "canon" route.

Miyabi's character was adorable, and it felt heart-wrenching to go through her pain in Sofia's route, way more than the eternal "lovesick" Clarice, who is always the one with the biggest drawback when she's not selected by Akito at the end. Miyabi's clash with Sofia was nicely handled, but just like at the very beginning of the series, I found it hard to like Sofia despite her being a very good girl.

One part of it was her way of speaking, perhaps? I found it hard to sit and listen to her talk slowly and painfully in every line. I know, I know, that's her entire character. Being unable to talk properly is the result of her trauma, but believe me, that doesn't make it any less annoying.

Dancing is apparently another quality that Miyabi has, but we haven't seen enough in this entry. Hopefully the fandisk will show that more.

Sofia's looks are top tier as you can see, but if you hear her talk you'll understand why I had trouble trying to stay focused during her route.

The thing that kept me going was that I knew there was some more content with Miyabi later, and yes, Miyabi's route delivered. It was short, very short, to the point that it felt like an afterthought to the developers, but I really liked her, and each scene only brought me more happiness. Miyabi's language misunderstandings never get old!

Now that I've finished, I had a look at the fandisk information, and it looks like the fandisk is basically a full-fledged after-story for Miyabi, covering their long-distance relationship and the inevitable happy ending. This piqued my interest to read it despite the bad experience in the main game, but it'll be something I'll do after I've had enough time to decompress from this. Maybe in a few months.

Clarice finding her own way in the Sofia's route was a nice progress even though it was kind of lacking when you think about her route.

The final puppet show that Sofia did after absorbing Akito's magic. Her journey together with her friends before they went on their own ways...

My final route experience is Miyabi > Pechka > Roo > Sofia > Karentia > Clarice, and my final heroine ranking is Miyabi > Clarice > Pechka > Roo > Karentia > Sofia. They really did her dirty with that boring route for Clarice; I still like her character a lot, but they really didn't manage to use her character to her full potential.

Overall, Happy Live, Show Up! was not a great experience, and I don't really recommend it to anyone. The setting had potential, but the direction of the story felt way too lacking compared to other titles from the same company, like Hoshizora no Memoria (which I plan on replaying at some point).