Warning: there might be light spoilers about the ingame Arknights event Zwillingstrme im Herbst mostly related to Arturias motivations. Naturally there will also be spoilers about this story. Reminder you can read it legally for free in the Arknights official site. Prelude Suite: Cadenza Virtuosa is a prequel manhua about Arturia Giallo a central character related to a few Arknights events. Its divided in two chapters the first showing the moment she truly awakened her powers during childhood and the second focusing on her Leithanien relations. While technically the game already talks a bit about the major events narrated in these chapters I feel like its a very important read in order to feel them especially since Arturias bond with her mother is a core part of her character and something some of her Operator files focus on. But most importantly theres no such thing as I think Ive seen enough Arturia I dont need to read more. 500https://i.ur.com/BmqAx2J.png I hope whoevers got to the point of reading this manhua already got beyond the image of Arturia being a purely evil irrimedable woman who does fucked up thing just for fun that has been omnipresent in the fandom for quite sometime. While her original presentation made it very easy to mistake her for an over the top villainess and she is an antagonist and a wanted criminal the most important fact to keep in mind is that Arturia is sincere and actively opposes the idea of hiding your true self. When she comments about only helping people gain their freedom or really wanting to connect with and understand them its not just some rhetoric to hide her villainy or sadism: she means it. Which among other things leads to some fun scenes in game where people keep getting the wrong idea and misunderstand how her Arts works because even the actual characters from the story are fooled by her vibes and believe shes a typical manipulative illusionist. Personally after her first major appearance in the event Hortus de Escapismo and while I was still halfway through Zwillingstrme I started to see her in a somewhat meta way as someone with the role and power to force the others character arcs for better or for worse which leads her to do both good and evil depending on the kind of person shes playing and their circumstances thus Amiya defining Arturia as someone whose thoughts go beyond good and evil in her Operator Record. Shes a mirror and someone who freely embraces the torrent of emotions and while this made her a very cool and enjoyable antagonist and narrative tool I was still unable to really grasp her as a person. 500https://i.ur.com/bEwgGth.png Fortunately the latter half of Zwillingstrme completely blew me away and made her one of my favorite characters but I wont go too in depth about it as that would go beyond the scope of this review and far into spoiler territory and would need a lot more words as Id also have to talk about her narrative foil Federico and the overall themes of Arknights. What I do intend to talk about is how Cadenza Virtuosa also manages to show her humanity and core facets of her character playing a big part in why her personal arc in the game worked so well for me. 500https://i.ur.com/Wj8KM6t.png The two main relations developed in this manga are those with her mother Luciana and with her pupil Kreide. Luciana was her daughters first victim and a major key connecting Arturias over the top dramatic character arc forcer identity to the crude and harsh reality of Terra something that makes it easier to understand why so much of her motivations ideals and even her personality ended up being deeply connected to peoples suffering. Even her focus on experiencing chaos and emotions arent only because she uses her Arts to feel something still very important to her character mind you just a bit more in the background in this prequel specifically but also because she makes a deliberate effort to understand others and sees these emotions as the only meaningful things that can stand up against fate and death which she says herself in her voice lines. But going back to Luciana: as a diplomat in the rare safe haven of Laterano she kept feeling more restless and powerless knowing of the war and suffering outside the walls of the Holy City but being unable to do anything about it apart from signing documents and giving what she felt were meaningless speeches having abandoned her former dream of being a war reporter due to the chains that were her job and family which is why she strongly relates to the story she tells Arturia about the shackled giant who could have freed himself any time but was unable to do so due his fear and the years of imprisonment having destroyed his will to even try. But an interesting thing to note is that when she listens to Arturias performances and her deepest desires come light she does not imagine herself as the giant but as the hero who encourages it to take action which is exactly Arturias role everytime she uses her Arts on people considering her dream to be a war reporter and the fact that the giant she imagines wears priestly robes and has a Sanktas halo and wings its likely that the giant actually represents Laterano itself. This is connected to the main themes of the Guide Ahead event which was centered about the Holy Citys peace being built upon inaction and the unwillingness to risk itself in order to help people outside the Sankta. Arturias experienced firsthand the limits of Lateranos Law and the Sanktas Empathy. Luciana wanted to move Laterano into action with her photos and once Arturias music removed her restraints she instantly left everything behind her and departed. Unfortunately the real world isnt a childrens story and being a war reporter is an incredibly dangerous job: following her dream killed her. This is a core point of Arturias emotional conflict because while she keeps arguing that its better for people to live without regrets she actively laments the injustice of the world and that fact that none of her victims during Zwillingstrme should have had to die despite none of them regretting it and most actually dying grateful to Arturia for giving them their chance. She never really accepted her mothers death and thats the first piece building her ideals about a strong humanity and bringing empathy to more than just the Sankta. Regarding how she actually intends to make it possible well she talks about it in the game but here this is explored through Kreide. I dont think its a coincidence his chapter starts with Arturia performing a Seaborn and observing their version of unity which kinda opposes her own vision despite having some interesting similarity. 500https://i.ur.com/N47VHii.png 500https://i.ur.com/9yzBG4P.png I cant talk too much about Kreides character without venturing into yet another great Arknights event Lingering Echoes but the gist of it is that hes a really good boy who lived a terrible life and yet was able to face it with a smile never succumbing to his fate. Something he managed thanks to Arturia and the connection they developed through music music can bolster our hearts and connect them as one. A message that through him later also reached Ebenholz. This is I believe what most represents Arturias idea of a strong humanity strong souls capable of inspiring each other and working together to face the horrors and injustices of Terra her hope for an idealistic future which needs to include everyone and something deeply connected to Arknights themes and specifically Rhodes Island. Even she was impressed by how he managed to turn the cruel melody of his fate into such a brilliant opus. Kreides was certainly a most beautiful song. 500https://i.ur.com/WLV4gem.png Theres still so much I havent talked about Arturia. Her emptiness the way she expresses herself her approach to emotion the way she mirrors Federico and how good their bond is her dialogues with Amiya and the Witch King... but it would be longer than what Ive written up until now and would probably be more appropriate for a proper Zwillingstrme im Herbst review if only Arknights events were on Anilist which Id also have to reread if I truly wanted to write about it also Im not sure Id even be able to so yeah Ill stop here. TLDR: read Cadenza Virtuosa. It explores vital aspects of Arturias ideals and characterization there are sweet Kreide interactions youll never see in the main game and it has beautiful art which among other things makes the shadows of the Witch Kings followers even cooler.