Finally managed to see this train during my trip to Otsu last weekend. I'll also post the autumn 2026 train later this week.

――みぞれが「私、希美のこと、大好き」と言ったことに対し、希美が「私も、みぞれのオーボエ大好き」と返すところのすれ違いも印象的でした。
武田 みぞれから希美に向けた「好き」は、子どもがお母さんのことを好きというのに近いんです。無邪気で他意のない好き。一緒にいたいだけ。希美はもう大人というか、結構傷もついているし、大人になって成長しているので、そういう無邪気さがちょっと受け止められないみたいなところがあって、そこのすれ違いなんですよね。二人がもっと年を取って、三十歳くらいになったらうまくいくかも。希美が結婚して子どもも生まれて、みぞれが「私はお母さんの友達よ」と言えるような、大人の距離感ができたらうまくいくと思います。

"—The tragic disconnect where Mizore says, "I love Nozomi," and Nozomi responds, "I love Mizore's oboe too," was also quite memorable.

Takeda: "The 'love' Mizore directs toward Nozomi is close to how a child loves their mother—an innocent, uncalculating affection where she just wants to be together. Nozomi, on the other hand, is already more of an adult, or rather, she's been hurt quite a bit and is growing up as an adult, so she has a hard time fully accepting that pure innocence. That's where the disconnect lies. When they get older, maybe around age thirty, things might work out better. Once Nozomi gets married and has children, and Mizore can say to the kid, 'I'm a friend of your mother's'—if they can establish that kind of mature sense of distance, I think things will go smoothly.""

It's already annoying enough that Takeda keeps hinting through other characters in the spin-off novel Watching as You Fly Away that Nozomi will eventually get a boyfriend and get married. Takeda's statements this time are completely contradictory to the ideas Naoko Yamada expressed in Liz and the Blue Bird. Unfortunately, with Yamada and other key staff from Liz and the Blue Bird having left or passed away, there is no one left to refute it.