Ikebukuro Christmas Concerto Episode 6 Part 1

Things start with narration about Tanngrisnir, going back to a time when he pulled Thor through the skies. All Tanngrisnir did was look forward; nothing else mattered to him. Narration then says that the day where after he fails, he’ll start looking around. He’ll know the things he didn’t see before, and that would be his Christmas gift. Like the one who ran with him and laughed with him back then.

Things tune back to the present as Tanngrisnir says he sees Team Claude about 300m ahead. He seems taken with the way their team runs, seeing himself back in the day in Yule. It also makes his injury tingle again.

But even so, Tanngrisnir says he can’t put in a bad showing now as both a teacher and a sleigh runner. He’s about to tell everyone to go for the last dash when he stumbles. You call out to him and ask if he’s okay.

He says he is, he just fell into his old habit of bracing into his bad leg. He tries to apologize to Melusine and Pollux for being bad at this despite his teacher position and stuff, but Pollux cuts him off saying it doesn’t matter now.

Pollux says that all there is to it right now is to keep going as you feel like, focusing power into his artifact. He follows up by saying challenging things is what makes things fun, especially with him.

Melusine talks to Tanngrisnir and says they share the same sadness, then asks if his old happy days were lost through someone’s fault or by some thing happening. She thinks back to the night her dragon form was seen by the one she loved, and in accordance to her role she left in tears. She thinks tearing off her own wings would have hurt less. It’s a law of that world for any dragons to leave if their true forms are seen.

Ever since she came to Tokyo she kept questioning something. She then tells Tanngrisnir they shed the same tears and asks him to smile for her. It’s something all of them have been hoping for, even if all of them came together through random chance. She smiles herself, and you agree with her, smiling and nodding.

Tanngrisnir is taken aback by everyone, jaw drop and all. You then say you want to cross the goal with him. After a moment, Tanngrisnir agrees to run with everyone until the end of the race, managing to get his bum leg to keep working and maintain the team’s speed.

He isn’t able to ignore the pain from his injury though, and his artifact being nonfunctional at the moment stands out all the more. He asks why it is it won’t work as Claude’s team is just out of reach.

Title card pops up and as tradition for Housamo events, the title is the whole event’s subtitle: Thunder Echoes on the Holy Night. Location is stated to be in the fifth checkpoint, the skies above Tokyo.

Camera tunes back in at the arena as Andvari commentates. It’s the final stage of the sky and no more blockers have been put out. This is a flat out race between the remaining teams, and the end point is also the starting point, the Ikebukuro Sports Arena. Winner is whoever manages to grab the star decoration on top of the Christmas tree there.

Scene shifts back to you guys as you manage to catch up to Team Claude. He looks over like he was waiting for you, and like he’s going to challenge you. Claude starts talking about the Olympics in his old country, and how this would fit right in. He also laughs about participating in it himself.

Pollux says the Olympics were a thing back in his world too, and now he has another reason to not lose. You can either straight up issue a challenge to Claude, say you’ll be bothered if he already thinks he’s won, or ask if he’s being complacent.

Going with A, he says he likes the way you look when you say that. He then describes you as someone who continues to resist even when fated to lose. He calls you beautiful and that you’d be perfect as his bridegroom. Snow asks him to hold off on things because the audience is waiting for things to get a move on.

Claude agrees, then says it’s time for their last sprint. Both sides go silent for a bit, then Claude yells out a latin quote meaning “great fear is concealed under daring.” Both teams boost at the same time, but Team Claude slowly begins taking the lead.

Tanngrisnir is impressed and says Yule’s legs as a reindeer are perfect. Pollux tells him not to be so emotionally touched at a time like this but admits they’re fast, even faster than with him going all out in the sky.

Melusine says you guys aren’t out yet and asks for his hand. Her wings combine with his shine, making your sleigh accelerate and start to shake like it’ll fall apart. The sleigh is fine with speed, but it isn’t proofed against gravity. You tell the team the thing might break and ask if anything can be done.

Pollux tells you to hold on, and Tanngrisnir asks if Pollux can steady their pace. Pollux says the team is still missing something as he tries to rack through his adventuring experience for ideas. He isn’t able to come up with anything though.

Melusine says you’ll be in danger at this rate. Pollux looks at how Tanngrisnir is running and realizes it resembles something from his past with the Argonauts. Some incident with a storm where his star shone above with two others supporting it from the side.

Pollux then figures something out and asks/yells to Tanngrisnir as he runs. He asks Tanngrisnir if he remembered how he ran back when he could, and if he had a partner with him. Someone who would forgive anything of him and someone he couldn’t have done without with.

Tanngrisnir is surprised by the question, and Pollux says he realized something about Tanngrisnir’s time in the lead, that he ran like it was natural to have someone next to him.

Tanngrisnir goes quiet and stars remembering his past. He first remembers Thor, then he remembers his partner smiling intensely next to him. He then starts talking about how he pulled Thor’s chariot with his brother. Tanngrisnir then asks if Pollux is suggesting that has to do with his artifact not working.

Melusine says a good leader is needed for a team, but one person can only ever do the work of one person. She thinks back to her time as a queen as she says this. Anyone who ever did something great historically had someone with them to help, but those greats sometimes forget that, forgetting those people as they get taken in by their own worth.

As Melusine speaks she wonders if she’s talking to her old self instead of to Tanngrisnir. She then asks if Tanngrisnir really did run alone back then. He goes quiet, and you try to talk to him as you stare at his back.

Tanngrisnir seems to remember as the gap between the teams shrinks. Claude makes a challenge to you guys calling it a dance. You can either say you’ve never danced before, agree, or say you’ll take the lead.

In any case Claude tells his team it’s time to pull out all the stops and tells them to entrust him with their power. Yule acknowledges and turns to the others. Snow agrees and turns to Nomad, who says he’s ready to go whenever.

Snow starts things off, activating his NP to gain the power of three bodies. Phantom bodies of Snow start accompanying Yule and Nomad, adding power to the sleigh.

Nomad moves next with his NP to power everything up through Snow’s body doubles, and the light from all this makes the all the runners glow brilliantly.

Yule goes next and chains in his NP, which makes Team Claude trail in a rainbow of colors as straight up unbindable speed is added, with Claude focusing all of everyone’s powers. Claude then activates his own CS to direct everything, and the team speeds off in an instant.

Pollux is shocked about the chain artifact activation making them speed up, and Melusine is surprised about all their concepts synergizing into one thing. Tanngrisnir is wondering if they’re showing it off as a way to win and is impressed with Claude’s power. You yell about how you’ll all lose at this rate and ask if anything can be done.

Tanngrisnir reaches out without thinking about it, then thinks about how he should be able to keep up with them. You call out to him, and he starts reliving that first time he heard Tanngnjostr. He talks about how amazing Tanngrisnir is and how he wouldn’t be able to do the same thing.

Tanngrisnir remembers about how there was three of them, him, his brother, and Thor. Tanngnjostr seems to say that if anything happens he’ll take charge because the two of them are one.

Tanngrisnir then starts remembering to the time before he made his achievements and asks how it was that he could go to the battlefields. The he remembers it was because he wasn’t alone, that he has someone who could bring out his own powers. Someone who helped him forget the pain of failure.

Things tune back to the present as Tanngrisnir says he was wallowing up in his own self, and apologizes to Tanngnjostr because it was thanks to him that he could pull the chariot. Then he feels Melusine’s and Pollux’s feelings reach him.

He looks up, conviction in his eyes. Tanngrisnir then asks everyone to send their power to him. He says it may be a selfish request, but pleads with you guys to go along with it. Pollux agrees right away, as does Melusine. She turns to you, and you agree to do it too.

Pollux moves first, using his NP to steady the sleigh’s movements as an application of his divine protection. It also wards away the wind and opens a path.

Melusine goes next, using her ability by calling for the winds of blessings that seems to form a tailwind for you all. The sleigh drives forward even faster, giving off a golden light. You tell Melusine how amazing it is or how amazing she is. If you go with B she doesn’t realize you’re complimenting her specifically at first until Tanngrisnir tells her that, especially about how everyone is complimenting the way she is now with her wings out.

She’s shocked, so you nod and/or smile. She’s surprised and touched, then says he body feels lighter. Then Melusine thinks and wonders what the weight she felt was, what the sadness she carried with her all the time was. She thought that dragons collected things of value, and that it was because she had valuable things that she was loved.

Melusine thought she couldn’t be loved as just a normal woman, so she lived as a dragon and obeyed her world’s laws. It was why she couldn’t let go, but letting go would have been for the better. She wanted to ask that person as just herself, not as a dragon or a rich lady, about whether they loved her.

Melusine smiles as she lets go of her old feelings, and you move next to activate your power. You raise your sword above, and after using the invocation chant, you use the power to cut the chains of gravity. This releases the limits of speed upon the sleigh.

Tanngrisnir feels all this power going into him, which he describes as direct, dignified, fierce, and composed. He admires the strength of it all, then says it’s time to show off all your abilities. He asks Tanngjostr to lend him strength, then chants his NP command, finally getting it to activate.

The wheels of thunder appear by his legs, described as being made to reach places together with another and conceptualized as activating when working together with someone. They combine everyone’s powers into one and drive the sleigh forward.

Pollux is amazed, Melusine is at a minor loss of words at the speed boost, and you say Tanngrisnir is amazing. Tanngrisnir says the feelings he forgotten has returned, apologizes for causing problems to the team and says it’s time to take back his honor. He calls for one big push to catch up to Team Claude, and the team zips faster than ever before.

Hardly any time passes until you guys catch up. Claude is shocked you guys managed to do pull out so much potential. Tanngrisnir says it isn’t his power, but everyone’s. Thanks to everyone being together his leg no longer hurts.

He briefly thinks back to his past and how he didn’t do it all alone then, then says to everyone that it’s time to go win this thing. Claude says he won’t let you guys go so easily, then challenges you to battle. You can either say let’s go to Claude or Tanngrisnir. Either way, the episode battle begins.