Cherry blossoms dance on the momentary stage

Every time the curtain rises, Sakurafubuki Shieri always bows deeply before taking the microphone.

Amid the heat of the lights and the murmur of the audience, her eyes always gaze straight ahead.

The first time Shieri sang, it was at a night market in a small port town.
The audience was mostly drunk, and no one was listening seriously.

But still, she sang.
Even as her feet got stuck in the rain-soaked mud, her voice trembled, as if making flowers bloom above the mud.

Seeing her like that, people dubbed her the "Lotus Diva."
A flower that blooms beautifully even while sinking in the mud - that way of life was exactly who she was.

As the years passed, her existence, living between the worlds of enka and rock, was called heretical.
She was too intense for enka, too passionate for rock.

But she laughed and said, "I simply sing my song, with all my soul."

On a night of falling cherry blossoms, she performed her new song, "Utena Floating on the Lotus."
The stage was filled with the roar of a guitar and the deep bass of Japanese drums.
The moment her voice came out, the entire venue held its breath.
It was no longer music, but a prayer.

The song spoke:
--Bloom beautifully even in the mud.
--No matter who laughs at you, stick to the sound you believe in.

As she finished singing the final verse, a gust of wind blew across the stage, scattering cherry blossom petals.
Many in the audience shed tears at the sight.
They were not tears of sadness.
It was proof that Shieri's soulful voice had reached the depths of their hearts.

And then, as the stage lights went down, she quietly murmured.

"Utena is a lotus flower.
This song is a flower for all those who live at the bottom of the mud."

That night, her singing voice transcended the city, echoing endlessly on the wind.
It was like a single lotus flower floating in the night sky, illuminating the darkness.