Ena Shinonome And The Struggles of Being an Artist

 Ena Shinonome is a character from the multimedia franchise Project Sekai also known as Colourful Stage Featuring Hatsune Miku. Ena belongs to the unit 25-Ji Nightcord De also known as Niigo. Niigo is a group of 4 who came together to make music together. Ena is the illustrator for the group and she does it together with 3 other girls called Mizuki, Mafuyu and Kanade. Mizuki is in charge of making the music videos, Mafuyu is in charge of the lyrics/mixing and Kanade is in charge of the composition. Ena before joining Niigo went through a lot and has even went through a lot with Niigo as well. Today I want to delve into Ena as a character, highlight her experiences and explain why she is relatable to me.

Ena is the daughter of the artist Shinei Shinonome. Ena wants to become an artist just like him and to her she was doing well with her art studies. So she decides to ask her Dad for some advice regarding which art school she should attend. But her Dad tells her she shouldn't bother applying because she hasn't got the talent to get into art school and trying to do so would be too painful for her. This understandably shocks Ena because as I mentioned, to her she was progressing well with her art studies and that shock quickly turns to anger as she gets mad at her Dad. However her fears would quickly come true as her art teacher harshly criticises her and Ena decides to quit the art classes she was taking. But what really confirmed it for Ena was her trying to get into art school and her failing to do so. She'd accept that she had no talent to speak of and honestly Ena doesn't have any talent. Ena, despite being a great artist, isn't talented and she isn't good enough to become a professional. This is what her Dad means, he knows that she'll have to try so hard to become an artist and he knows that Ena won't have the resolve to chase that. I mean, he is quickly validated because Ena literally quits at the first hurdle when she was criticised so how is someone who quits so easily going to be able to chase the fleeting dream of becoming a professional artist?

However this is Ena in the beginning. As the story progresses the more Ena gains resolve and to quickly prove that, Ena doesn't let go of art completely. Although she had to settle with a normal school she doesn't just stop making art. When she heard Kanade's song, it inspired her to draw something relating to the song and Kanade noticed this drawing then decides to invite Ena to help out with the music circle. This doesn't invalidate the fact that Ena doesn't have talent because as I said, Ena is a great artist but at a professional level she isn't and that's the point. And that would be fine if all she wanted to do is draw for fun but her objective is to become an artist so drawing for fun isn't going to cut it. 

Ena would join Niigo and continue helping them with the music by making illustrations for the songs. However something happens to Niigo which had a negative impact on the group. Mafuyu suddenly disappears so the group has no one to write lyrics. This obviously worries all of them but it turns out Mafuyu was releasing music individually under the artist name OWN and OWN is an artist that the other 3 think is very talented. Mafuyu also has the desire to disappear entirely therefore wouldn't release music all together. When Ena learns this it frustrates her. And I can understand why people might view Ena negatively because she is being pretty harsh. But if you think about it from Ena's perspective, what she saw was this person who had all the talent in the world and they were willing to throw it all away. Ena is someone with no talent so here she sees someone with everything she's ever wanted and they were just gonna throw it all away. To Ena it's a waste and she knows if she had that sort of talent she would embrace it as much as possible. This is why Ena gets so annoyed, she wants Mafuyu to continue because someone as talented as that should be embracing their talent instead of shutting it away.

After Mafuyu made the decision to try to continue, Ena decides to try something too. Ena still really wants validation for her art so she decides to enter an art competition. She decides to do an actual painting but she needs to buy new art supplies which shows just how much she has neglected it. But you can tell she wants to put all her effort into it. However it's precisely why she put so much effort into it which ends up hurting her in the end. Because she doesn't win any prizes and this devastates her. She wants to throw art away all together again and has the desire to disappear. This to me is Ena at her lowest point. Although during her mddle school years she got really hurt you can attribute a lot of that to her being immature. Although she is still got a sense of immaturity she has grown up a little since that time so you'd think maybe she'd have learned by now that she has no talent and maybe in that time she could have accepted it but it's clear she's still that same immature girl who desperately wants validation. Ena has been stagnant in that time and hasn't grown up at all, which is why it's her lowest point. And what saves is her is the support from the rest of Niigo and Kanade even making a song for her. It gives Ena the strength to carry on. 

Which leads her to actually confronting her feelings. Ena realises that her art is beginning to be lackluster when it comes to the illustrations she's making for Niigo. Obviously the rest of Niigo would be improving. Kanade has always been this genius composer, Mafuyu has always been this talented lyricist/mixer and Mizuki has always had a strong interest in video editing. The others were leaving her behind and Ena knew she had to do something to catch back up. She decides to go back to the art classes she was talking during middle school. These classes are run by famous artist Yukihira Saneatsu. And he is someone who doesn't hold back in criticising his students which was obviously one of the reasons Ena ran away to begin with. The prospect of going back scares Ena because she knows the students she studied with would be so much further ahead than her and she knows that it's going to take a lot of effort to catch up. When she goes back her fears come true, everyone around her is so much better and Yukihira is as harsh as he's always been. Ena is so frustrated but this time it's not frustration directed at Yukihira but actually at herself. She knows running away was a terrible decision, if she just had that resolve her Dad was talking about maybe she wouldn't have ran away and she would be on track to becoming an amazing artist however here she is a million miles behind everyone else. So what does she do? You'd think Ena would just run away again but she makes the decision to stay and fight for this. Finally a sign that the immature girl from middle school might actually be changing and gaining that resolve.

Ena continues to attend Yukihira's art class and one day Yukihira gives the class the subject "incubation." Ena is unsure on how to depict this so as a result her drawing gets harshly criticised by Yukihira. Again Ena whilst she is frustrated she accepts his criticisms but instead of her just moving on she requests that she works on the assignment after class. Ena at this point clearly wants to improve so instead of just moving on, she tries to figure out how to depict the subject so she can gain that sense of understanding. But she continues to struggle with it and what changes her outlook on the subject is Mafuyu. Ena's initial interpretation of incubation was a human hatching from an egg and being amazed at the new world the human was about to explore. But she begins to realise a different interpretation to incubation and that is someone who is trapped and awaiting to be freed. The way Mafuyu inspires this interpretation is that Ena sees her as someone who is trapped but that wouldn't be enough to completely make a good drawing. What cements Ena's interpretation is when she sees Mafuyu working on Niigo stuff because she sees someone who is truly at peace with themselves as they are able to do what they want if only for a fleeting moment. Ena finally realises that incubation means being trapped awaiting to be freed but also the excitement a person can feel when they are freed. She wasn't able to depict this properly before because she didn't have an example that she could see right in front of her eyes. Obviously Ena has known Mafuyu for a while but they always work online, with Mafuyu being at Ena's house Ena is able to really see Mafuyu's true nature. Also another point to bring up is Ena really wants Mafuyu to stay true to her feelings but obviously before Ena tried running away from art, you can argue that Ena at that time wasn't staying true to her own feelings. Ena knows what it's like to run away from something she loves doing, not only is Ena acting the way she is because Mafuyu is her friend but because she knows that running away from what you really want to do isn't going to help, it means that Ena in a way can relate to Mafuyu which gives Ena a personal incentive to act and try to help her. Ena even talks to Mafuyu's mom on the phone so she could let her stay at her house. Ena is trying her best to protect Mafuyu and give her a space where you can truly pursue something she wants to do. 

Ena is progressing well in Yukihira's classes. Ena acknowledges that his criticisms are getting less harsh and Rin even acknowledges that Ena doesn't look like she's in pain when she's drawing. However Ena knows that she is still miles behind everyone so that desire to continue improving is of course still there. But at this point the reason Ena decided to even go back to studying art was because she felt her art was becoming lackluster for Niigo's activities. When the subject of what she wants to do in the future is brought up she's a little unsure whether or not art school would be for her. She knows that it would take a lot of work to get in but her hesitation in whether or not she should pursue it a little questionable. Rin brings this up to her, the Ena she knows would continue drawing no matter what and up until this point Ena has had that attitude. However the reason Ena feels this way is like I said, she knows she's far behind and she knows she'll have to improve so much, I think the reason she is hesitant is due to the feeling of still not being good enough, like she's not worthy of being able to go to art school. However at this point in Niigo's story, their sekai has had an expansion. A lake appears with objects within it. The objects are things close to Mafuyu's heart and one of the objects was Ena's sketch Mafuyu. Ena realises that her art does have the ability to reach others. Maybe there was a chance for her to pursue going to art school.

However even though Ena does see that her art has the ability to reach others, she still isn't sure if pursuing art school is a good idea. She attends her Dad's art exhibition and when she looks at her Dad's paintings she eventually comes to the conclusion that a lot of her Dad's paintings had a degree of pain to them, like when her Dad painted them he was in pain whilst he did so. Ena quickly learns that her Dad despite being this talented artist nearly quit because no one would give his art attention. This is where we can come to an understanding on why her Dad didn't encourage her to pursue art in the beginning. Her Dad is so talented and if someone as talented as him found it difficult to pursue the path of being an artist, someone like Ena who has no talent will find it much much harder. Of course her Dad could've been less harsh on her but he knows that it would take great resolve to chase that path and someone like Ena who he sees as someone who doesn't have that resolve, things would be even more painful for her in the future. Ena's Dad was on the verge of quitting but after Ena was born he made one last painting and to him he had this new responsibility to protect the life he brought to this world. But he quickly realised, by nature he couldn't stop painting because it is embedded within his very soul, if he stopped painting he couldn't protect the life he brought to the world so he decided to continue. The way I like to see it is Ena was the reason he decided to keep painting. And I think that's really sweet. Ena also realises that being an artist was something she could never see herself be separated from. In a way Ena is just like her Dad, parting from painting would end up hurting her more but it's through all of Ena's development that she managed to reach this point. She went from running away in the beginning, to then confronting her feelings and her ability as an artist and that way she was able to improve little by little. But more importantly, it's in this moment she gains her resolve. Ena knows that the path to becoming an artist is probably going to hurt, if she is anything like her Dad she'll most likely experience the same things he has. But Ena is now prepared to face that head on.

I think now I'm going to go into some personal reasons as to why I like Ena so much. Ena is shown to compare herself to others and feel as if she is so far behind. As someone who is an artist, that's something that is natural. I don't draw but I do music and there's been points where I've compared myself to others and felt so far behind as well. Ena is also shown to think she is better than she actually is and eventually she is brought down to earth. I have also experienced this, I thought I was a better musician than I thought I was, it was only when I saw people better than me that I realised I wasn't as good as I thought. Ena also is shown to seek validation for her art and I've always wanted to be noticed for my musicianship. I think what I'm trying to get at is Ena is such an amazing portrayal of what it's like to be an artist. To someone like me I find her deeply relatable. I think when a story has a character that is able to closely reflect your own experiences that character becomes a representation of who you are as a person and for me that character is Ena. At some point when a character is reflection of who you are, they become more than just a character and become something that validates your existence. 

Overall Ena is a character who has experienced a lot of growth. Her story might not be finished yet but at this current point it's really clear to see that she has developed a lot. Starting out as that immature and weak minded girl to becoming someone who has gained resolve. From someone who struggled to draw at a good level to eventually being able to put her feelings into the things she draws. Ena's portrayal should be a good reference for any of us who like to do creative things. Her story is something us as artists can relate to and cherish. From the beginning till now we have seen a character who has experienced so much and it's through her experiences that she was given the chance to grow and that has given us the chance to see such a brilliant character.