On April 28, Blue Archive added two new characters alongside the new event story, 'The Path of the Shinobi ~Fashion Show Security Mission!~'.

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This time, the spotlight is on Michiru and Tsukuyo of the Ninjutsu Research Club.

In a sense, this update felt like a turning point for them, moving them beyond the image of kids simply playing ninja and showing them as girls who had grown a little more mature.

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Their Bond (Memorial) stories, meanwhile, depict the everyday life that comes after that, so I wanted to leave a few brief impressions after watching them.

Chidori Michiru (Dress)

Chidori Michiru is the head of the Ninjutsu Research Club, a ninja club at Hyakkiyako Alliance Academy.

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She has cute raccoon ears and a tail, and while she is overflowing with enthusiasm, she also has an adorably scatterbrained side.

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She tries to promote the club through her YouTube channel, 'Michirucchi,' but things never seem to go quite as planned, which is also very much part of what makes Michiru feel like Michiru.

The newly added Dress Michiru comes from the setup of her being hired as security for a fashion show and ending up in a dress.

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The combination of her long straight hair and the dress really brings out her cute, delicate charm, and there were a lot of reactions along the lines of “This made me appreciate Michiru all over again,” with her fanbase growing quite a bit as well.

By raising her affection in the cafe with gifts and reaching Bond Rank 6, all of Dress Michiru's bond stories are unlocked, while the Memorial image can be obtained at Bond Rank 3.

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The story begins after the fashion show security mission, when Michiru tears the dress while practicing ninjutsu in it and goes with Sensei to have it repaired. The fact that she actually wore the very outfit that needed mending to the repair shop is just so perfectly Michiru.

Some time later, they got word that the dress was finished and went together to pick it up.

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Saying, “Now that it's repaired, I should try it on,” she changed into it, and then followed that with, “I should test how it wears,” naturally turning the outing into a date. In truth, though, part of her motive was simply wanting to shop for ninja goods.

After the shopping was done, Michiru gave Sensei a capsule toy as a small gift in return for spending the day with her.

By pure coincidence, there was a toy ring inside. Since she happened to still be wearing the dress, the whole moment came across almost like a proposal.

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Michiru panicked, threw down a smoke bomb, and ran off, leaving the ring behind with Sensei.

???: Nice, that looked natural.

Because of this, Michiru ended up being dubbed “the woman in Kivotos who has made the most progress”, and she has been showing up quite actively in all kinds of fan works as well.

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She may not be aware of it herself, but part of me wonders whether she is actually an astonishing expert at this sort of thing.

Ono Tsukuyo (Dress)

Ono Tsukuyo is a member of the Ninjutsu Research Club, and although she is an impressive 180 cm tall, she has a timid personality and has long considered her height a complex. (For reference, Michiru is 153 cm.)

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Like Michiru, her story also begins with her being hired as security for a fashion show and ending up in a dress.

Looking at Dress Tsukuyo's design, the black, white, and gold dress, which boldly shows off her upper-body silhouette, creates remarkable synergy with her tall frame. She looked so striking that Michiru was almost slightly overshadowed.

By raising her affection in the cafe with gifts and reaching Bond Rank 6, all of Dress Tsukuyo's bond stories are unlocked, and the Memorial image is also obtained at Bond Rank 6.

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The story begins with Tsukuyo becoming a model after wearing a dress during the fashion show security assignment, then receiving another modeling offer not long afterward.

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When Sensei heard that Tsukuyo was modeling because “there was a condition she couldn't refuse,” he became concerned enough to go and check on her.

It turned out that the condition was simply that she would be given a pamphlet for a preview screening of a ninja movie she likes. Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Sensei wrapped things up by treating Tsukuyo to some good food for all her effort.

Not long after that, Tsukuyo ended up working as a model for an art academy. The owner who had given her the pamphlet asked so earnestly that she felt she could hardly refuse, but unexpectedly, she discovered that the work suited her very well.

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That was because her specialty had always been tree disguise techniques, so unlike fashion modeling, being an art model—where all she had to do was stay still—felt much easier to her.

The art academy instructor was so impressed by Tsukuyo's almost genius-like aptitude that she even offered to double her hourly pay and asked her to keep modeling.

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So because of this natural talent, Tsukuyo found herself unable to fully step away from modeling work.

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Before long, she even ended up taking part in a fashion show.

She overslept and ended up being late.

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As she and Sensei hurried toward the venue, she said there was a shortcut she had found while doing parkour training as part of her ninja practice, and suggested they take it.

Tsukuyo managed to get over the barbed-wire fence, but her clothes got caught on it. Somehow, it had a familiar sense of déjà vu.

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It left the impression that Tsukuyo was still very much herself, and the fashion show wrapped up more or less without incident.

Tsukuyo got caught even 4 years ago..

Wrapping up

Dress Izuna also turned out beautifully. I am really looking forward to her release.

That wraps up this review of Blue Archive's Dress Michiru and Tsukuyo bond stories.

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In this Path of the Shinobi event story, the members of the Ninjutsu Research Club showed major growth not only in their appearance, but mentally as well.

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Meanwhile, the bond stories still let Michiru and Tsukuyo feel very much like themselves, which made for a warm and pleasant finish.

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Since this is the first Ninjutsu Research Club story in four years since the first The Heart of the Shinobi event, I think it would be well worth logging in this time and spending some time with these charming ninja girls.