Okay, so the first thing that really pops out with this piece is that is absolutely feels like a visual novel/anime. This to me is neither a good or a bad thing, I'm just stating a fact. The dialogue sounds like it's been translated from Japanese, which is a language that is very different to English, both in its structure and its expression. This means that to an English speaker something translated blunt force trauma like this sounds very stilted and unnatural - no one talks like this. That being said, that IS exactly how a lot of anime and Japanese media is translated, visual novels and games especially, so you have definitely captured that style. This will likely not make too much of a difference for your intended audience, who is presumably familiar enough with this type of dialogue, and in fact it probably reads as very faithful to the original game. However, if you are looking to appeal to English speakers who are used to English media, I would suggest smoothing out the prose. If you want to stay more true to the original Japanese story, then that's fine too since your fandom probably wouldn't mind.

With that out of the way, the story seems to centre on acting, and I have never played this game but my fandom blindness wasn't a huge drawback here. It was quickly apparent that one of the boys is struggling with his action scenes, while the other does better at them due to being more fit. You manage to weave in a lot of backstory with this, such as the gardening hobby and the fact that these two are childhood friends, and you also set the scene pretty well. The interactions between them also show a deep familiarity, I like how Tasuku wasn't able to show praise, even though he wanted to, but Tsumugi asked him about it right then, as if reading his mind. It goes the other way too, when they're doing their little action improv, and Tasuku is able to read Tsumugi and tell when he was approaching a physical limit. Another fun thing is how they had to read each other for the improv itself, and what they were supposed to be doing - Tsumugi decided on a coach/student relationship, and Tasuku had to mould to that, deciding how to play it as a coach.

It was a little odd that the crowd sees two guys fighting and assumes it's a show. Even if they are recognisable as actors, they could still be in an actual brawl, so maybe more cues should have been given to the bystanders to indicate this isn't for real? After all, action acting isn't ever *just* about the action, it's also about the motivations of the character, and you'd expect an actor to tap into that. A few more lines of dialogue that indicate what the set up scenario is (for example, is Tasuku a boxing coach in this etude? Is he training Tsumugi for a championship of some sort?) would also serve to resolve the above issue by making it more explicit that it's an act for the audience, as well as make the etude itself more interesting.

The fact that Tsumugi has actually researched some forms of fighting was a very nice touch, even if he doesn't have the muscle strength to perform them correctly. I'm imagining the rest of the troup being these burly manly men, who want to protect this weaker-looking guy, so it's good that he's taking initiative. The whole thing has sweet friendship vibes, and I liked how by the end they were able to be a bit more open with each other. It felt like they grew as friends a little bit.

From what I found out about A3! this piece does keep very close to the spirit of the game, having two if the actors perform a bit, and I'm always a sucker for a friendship story. The material easily lends itself to the one-shot format, and this was a neat idea, both introducing the characters and letting them develop a little bit. Cute story overall, I'd say.

-Red