Dear Kotori,
I am writing to wish you a very happy birthday filled with lots of love and happiness! You are always here to brighten up my day and I hope your special day is celebrated around the world by all your friends and fans. Every year, I continue to be inspired by you and always try my best to show my love and dedication to you. It is hard to put into words all the things I feel, but I am glad that I was able to meet you and discover the world of Love Live. I first got into Love Live when I was starting a new chapter in my life, so having both you and μ's as a whole during that time was very special to me. I still remember the first time I heard Blueberry♡Train in your New Year sheep event. I immediately looked up the song on YouTube to listen to it again because I was drawn to your voice. It seems like such a long time ago now, but I still hold all those memories dear to my heart.
You have taught me that it is okay to express our feelings, even when things do not go as we planned. We cannot put up an image of being invincible forever. When I read your diary entry about the “defeated Umi” doll you made because you thought that Umi was much more pretty and outstanding when she admitted she lost, I realized that you were on to something important. It takes courage to admit defeat, whether it be in real life or elsewhere. When we learn to be honest with how we feel, it can take a great burden off of us. Perhaps I am reading into it too much, but regardless, I like that you want to see the real side of how someone feels rather than an image they put up to seem stronger. Another thing that stood out to me from your diary was the line “[n]o matter how sad the memory or how painful the scar is, as long as you stay true to yourself, everything will turn into a happy memory”. Something happened earlier this year that upset me greatly, and it was very hard for me to come to terms with it. You have reminded me that instead of focusing on the sad things, I should focus on the good things that came from it and turn it into a happy memory. All these little things can become important life lessons and I am grateful to you for reminding me not to be so hard on myself.
Earlier this year, I finally accomplished my goal of getting a million bond points for Kotori. It has always been my dream to see that 999999 next to Kotori’s name on my profile. It is a shame that the profile numbers max out at that, but at least the real number is shown when you check the details. I hope I can reach 1.2m by the end of the year!
Here are my results for Kotori’s events since her birthday last year. I am always trying my best to get high ranks and represent her. I managed to get 5,000,000 points in the KotoHonk score match event, and it was a milestone for me because it was my first time getting 5m points in a Kotori event. As soon as I saw the Christmas Kotori, I knew I had to go all out because she was so adorable. I think it might be one of my favourite event cards of her because I love winter and Christmas-themed things. SIFAS got released this year and I decided to join as a casual player. When Kotori’s event UR was revealed on JP, I decided to start saving so I could tier in her event. My goal was initially to only go for top 100, but I made a last-minute decision to go as high as I could and see how it goes. My efforts paid off and I got top 3 as a F2P player. I was happy to do my best for Kotori and I will probably save my resources for the next Kotori event. I also got the 3* Kotori title during that event, so it was perfect.
For this year’s picture, I decided to do pixel art. I have not done pixel art for a long time, so this was a fun experience. I drew Kotori in the birthday outfit that was later made into a figure because I find it really cute. I also added little Umi and Honk nesos to her bouquet so they could celebrate Kotori’s birthday with her! As for the sweets, I decided to make cherry cheesecake bars! They were fun to make and tasted great, too.
Let’s celebrate your birthday again next year, Kotori! ♡
KotoriFanAwards2020