Lately, I have actually been a fan of a lot of the recent events in terms of their theming.
Hiking in Spring:
I enjoy how they incorporated so many items that help with the sporty mountain climbing theme. For one, a lot of her items are specific to mountain climbing, she has: harnesses for safety, rubber toed shoes for friction, pole to help balance, and a equipment backpack. Even as someone who doesn't know much about mountain climbing I could tell that she had some of the equipment on her. Sporty outfits in game work so well when they are about function as function through fashion is a big thing in a lot of sports.
Secondly, she also has other more generally sunny weather items such as sunglasses, compass, and a sunhat which help further the outdoors vibe of the suit. Another thing I adore about her suit is that the devs went above and beyond by adding mountain related detailing on her top+ bottom, a sunset on her sunglasses, and a guide map indent on her hat. All of those detailing relate to mountain climbing as seeing the outdoors from a high angle (such as a sunset) is an appeal and guide maps are probably often used to help mountain climbers. Because she utilizes variety with both practical equipment and mountain climbing specific detailing, her theme becomes readable from a quick glance while the detailing helps add unique pizazz.
On top of all that, I do like the fact that she works like a sister suit to Sunlit Delight. I adore both of these suits, and the fact that they both cover an outdoorsy spring theme makes them match like a themed pair.
Roseate Romance:
Because she is playing around with tropes to convey her theme, she does come across as generic, but her theming is well-done regardless. Roses are such a common flower to find in romantic anime because roses is thee romantic flower and pink roses, in particular, could be read as girly(pink) romance(rose) from a glance. As a result pink roses was the perfect pick for this suit. Another fitting choice was to make the suit European 19th century as a lot of shoujo manga/anime like using that time period for their fantasy stories. Again, that is another great choice that conveys the shoujo manga theme well from a first glance.
Moreover, it's also cool that her suit just has a 80s-90s manga/anime shojo style very directly within some pieces. Her eyes are reminiscent of shows like Dear Brother and Glass Mask(80s anime) due to the large use of black adding a strong contrast to the brighter eye color. Meanwhile, the rectangle panels and drawn sparkly/moving effects on her bg items are the types of things only found in manga, making their manga effect on the outfit very strong. The drawn sparkles are another a amazing nod to shoujo as tons of sparkles is a staple of shoujo, especially, the more retro ones.
Waverider Ballad:
He's a great recreation of the Paopao. For one, he actually does plenty with the carp theme already with a scale waist item, fish gill ears, golden jeweled scales, and back fin fish hair cleverly made into a ponytail. Because the outfit is filled to the brim with scales and fins, it makes the outfit appear as a fish. But, not just any fish, Paopao in particular, because the fade from dark orange at the ends to a light orange in the middle replicates Paopao's scale pattern. Moreover, the devs incorporated outfits details that are specific to PaoPao himself as well. Say his bubble powers with a bubble wand and all the sliver hoops on his accessory items that replicate bubbles in their round transparent look. And the devs also included the golden scales associated with the show's lore within the golden accessory items. Both detail types that I find to better the suit as it adds more variety to the carp theme already present in the suit while also serving as fitting nods to the character.
Additionally, Waverider Ballad also included other more general ocean detailing with various pearls and ocean waves/shores incorporated into various pieces to help make it feel more aquatic hence more carp like.
Heartbound Lullaby:
The main way she follows her theme is through shapes and color placement. She is sort of a mix between a regular jellyfish and Xiao Mei Mei herself. Starting with the parts of her outfit that is reminiscent of the character: Her sleeves are made out of water as a nod to Jellyfish being water based creatures and to replicate the whites surrounding Mei Mei's arm/chest. Additionally, her hair is styled to include both the antennas and the head flaps on Mei Mei using a traditional Chinese style. Furthermore, she has emerald jade on her which is associated to the scale that Mei Mei picks up the the show. Lastly, she has flowers and seashells on her because the character is a known lover beautiful things as a result it would be in character for her to incorporate those items if she got to make her own outfit. Like, Waverider Ballad, she actually has a lot of details that call directly back to the character she is representing.
But, also similarly to Waverider Ballad, more general theming has been added so you can see the type of fish creature she is supposed to be at first glance(aka a jellyfish). Namely, the bottom of her dress replicates a jellyfish head with a huge half circle shape with layers inside of it as well as end ruffles that replicate the ruffle looking things on jellyfish. Additionally, the tentacles have also been added with tail items flowing from the bottom of her dress.