This time, we’re reporting on the first “Women's-Only Meet” and “Community Mixer” that have happened in the past couple of days.
Shall we start with the “Women's-Only Meet”, Emma?

R-Right!

Um…
The Women's-Only Meet was held on July 23rd, 2015 at 18:00 in Shinjuku’s “Dining Bar Othello”.

This event let fans interact and get hands-on experience with the game while enjoying food.

It seems like there were only women there…
Oh! That’s why it’s called the “Women's-Only Meet”, right?

That’s right.
Until now, there have been plenty of meetups and tournaments held in various locations, but…
Since the TCG community has a very high proportion of men, women might feel like they can’t participate in events, and have a hard time breaking into the community themselves.

Whaaat! And even though it’s so much fun… that’s such a shame!

Fire Emblem has been supported by female fans for a very long time, so this event was created as a safe space where those fans could enjoy themselves.

I-I seeee!

Well then, Emma.
Shall we show off the meeting?

Let’s start with the entrance!
The Hero King Marth stands at reception!

As far as we could tell there were a wide variety of fans, from those who got into the series from long ago to those who just joined us with Fates.

And Producer Kawade started the event with greetings and a toast!
Everyone was talking over food and drinks, it was so lively!

Even though everyone had only just met, all sorts of conversations about Fire Emblem immediately blossomed!

Teaching Staff held lectures on playing the game too!
Some people even got to battle against Producer Kawade!

Producer Kawade’s Q&A Segment ended up filled with simple questions and manzai comedy alike…
You could really feel the passion from fellow fans, too!

And we got to hear your thoughts on the event, too!
“I came by myself, so I felt lost at first. But I was happy to end up being able to talk to all the other girls there.” “Female FE Fan meet-ups are rare, so an event like this is awesome.”
“The atmosphere made it really easy to converse, which was great”
It seems like everyone was able to have a lot of fun!

The event was two hours long, but it was over in a flash.
It really felt too short, but it seems like everyone had a lot of fun anyway ❤

It seems like there are gonna be more Women's-Only Meets in the future.
Definitely give them a try!

With that over, Emma,
next is the report on the “Community Mixer”.

The Community Mixer was held on July 25th at 16:00 in the “Cynthia” banquet hall of the Tokyo Dome Hotel.
…hey, it shares a name with my senior pegasus-knight from Awakening!

That’s right… it feels a little bit like fate, doesn’t it?
It’s right next to the Tokyo Dome City Hall, where the Fire Emblem Festival was being held that same day.

Attendance was high!
It seemed like a lot of people came over from the Fire Emblem Festival.

We had around 70 participants, yes.
I was really happy to see a lot of female attendees too ❤

There were a lot of Cipher illustrations in the decor!
It was so cool!

The Community Mixer also started with greetings and a toast from Producer Kawade.
Then, Everyone put their Fire Emblem fan-knowledge to the test in the Quiz Competition.

Ooooo, the quiz was really haaard…
What did they mean when they said that there’s a character other than Bord, Cord, and Barst missing from these cards?

Work that gray matter and think on it for a bit.
Readers, see if you can figure it out, too.

And after the quiz, there was a surprise musical performance from the Sound Staff!
It really is different hearing the songs live~

They performed five songs, and of particular note, there was a special arrangement of the Fire Emblem Theme.
Everyone who got to listen sure was lucky ❤

After the performance was Free-talk and free-battle time!
Of course, there was an area set up where Teaching Staff led instructive battles for newbies.

That area always seemed to be busy.
There were plenty of tables with lots of chatter, too.

And participants got to talk with Producer Kawade, too.
Ah, the food looks soooo tasty here!

And finally, there was Bingo, where you could win Fire Emblem goods.
Some of the prizes included illustrations signed by illustrators Daisuke Izuka and Yusuke Kozaki.

And we got to hear everyone’s thoughts here tooooo!
“I thought it was going to be unapproachable, but it was actually easy to enjoy the cards as a casual fan”
“Unlike typical TCG events, there were a lot of female participants, and getting to talk with each other about the series was great”
“It was pretty impressive to get to interact with people who came from as far away as Hokkaido”
“I really got a sense for just how many FE Fans there are”
It seems like the Community Mixer was a lot of fun too!

And it was sad, but eventually, it too came to a close.

People were playing Cipher, of course, but there was also a lot of talk, so it seemed really fun!

I’m quite happy to feel like it was a place where fans could share their thoughts and feelings together ❤
Even once the Mixer proper was over, people lingered at the event taking photos with those they’d met.

Producer Kawade had been waiting outside to see everyone off, but since no one left, he ended up being left by himself, huh?

Shh!
Don’t tell everyone that!

Anyway, the Women's-Only Meet and Community Mixer were a huge success!

Thank you, everyone!

What a joyous event…
We must hurry and prepare the next one.
There’s no time to waste.
Let's go home and prepare an emergency planning meeting immediately!

What?
W-W-W…Waaait!

Thank you to everyone who attended the First Women's-Only Meet and Community Mixer.

It was thanks to you all that such events were even possible.

We look forward to your continued support as we continue to plan more events like this for the future!

Producer Kawade

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