It’s been a month since the last important Fire Emblem update and ironically both the 25th Anniversary concert and Fire Emblem Cipher sites have updated, yet there’s been nothing major on the Fire Emblem if front.
Renka, a singer wrapped in a veil of mystery
Still, the concert site does share a new piece of vital information, which is the identity of the singer of Aqua’s song in the trailers: a debut singer by the name of Renka (literally “lotus”).
If you’re confused, the person supplying Aqua’s in-game voice–Lynn-san who was introduced during the Fire Emblem Cipher livestream–and the person singing her song are two different people. Which isn’t too bizarre as not all singers are actors and vice versa.
Here’s what Intelligent Systems said: Aqua’s singing voice is unique, possessing a pure and divine quality, with the ability to represent both strength and fragility. After looking at many candidates “as soon as we heard her [Renka] sing, we knew she was the one”.
Fire Emblem if main visual (something looks different…)
As mentioned Renka is still a debut singer and her debut single is none other than Aqua’s song and the theme song of Fire Emblem if, “if ~hitori omou“. Because of the lack of context, it’s difficult to translate the song name, but it could mean “if ~ one’s thoughts”.
In any case, her single releases on 1st July 2015, after the game comes out in Japan. Fans can either purchase it as a CD for 1,296 Yen or a limited edition CD and DVD bundle for 1,836 Yen. The latter comes with two extra MVs and a reversible cover designed by Yusuke Kozaki.
To learn more about Renka, feel free to take a peek at her official site (Japanese) and our forums.
Unrelated to Fire Emblem if, I’m unsure if this was already present earlier or added during the site update, but the special concert is said to contain (at least) two parts: the “Hero-King” part and “Light Inheritors” part. Marth fans and Genealogy fans, rejoice!
Whitewing sisters on the left, signed Lissa card on the right
As for the Cipher site, a lot has been added since its initial unveiling, but to be honest there’s not much there that we didn’t already know, from the livestream event or otherwise. Of note, there will be rare cards signed by the characters’ Japanese voice actors.
Beyond the official sites, a number of Japanese fans have reported seeing promotional displays for Fire Emblem if inside certain Japanese retail stores.
(Images courtesy of Japanese fans)
Unfortunately, perhaps out of politeness (or tradition of posting super-blurry pre-release pictures), nobody so far has managed to take any clear images of the displays.
However, if you stare hard, you can glimpse artworks of Marx, Hinoka and Sakura and most notably Leon, Nohr’s “Dark Knight” prince (featured in the right-hand image).
Furthermore, there seems to be a screenshot of a male Avatar with dark blue hair (although, if you didn’t know, Nintendo already confirmed Avatar customisation on their official twitter a month ago).
The rest of the display simply covers information we already knew from the April Nintendo Direct, but information most customers (i.e. non fans) probably aren’t aware of. Either way, hopefully somebody will come along with clearer images soon!
