This is a legacy article and was originally published December 19th, 2019.
It was somewhat shocking that during our Then and Now series for Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town there were a lot of responses about how folks didn’t know very much about the original Flower Bud Village incarnations of the characters! So, with SoS:FoMT having released in Japan and Harvest Moon 64′s 20th anniversary on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to do another article series. Presenting…
Denizens of Flower Bud: Popuri!
The daughter of Basil and Lilia, Popuri is probably one of the folks you’ll run into the most often during your daily routine thanks to her usually helping out with the store. While she and her Mineral Town counterpart are both the youngest bachelorettes in town, Flower Bud’s Popuri is by far the more adventurous sort. Before the mountain bridge is built in the first winter she still manages to climb her way up to meet the old couple at their dumpling restaurant, and is willing to go to dangerous lengths for a rare flower. She’s certainly Basil’s daughter alright… far from being simply “the flower girl,” Popuri could be a flower adventurer! Though she could still probably stand to be a little more careful.
Of course, she doesn’t just simply like flowers because they’re pretty. She’s quite knowledgeable about them too! With a enough expertise on the subject that I often times feel she really doesn’t get enough credit for, she proves to be practically a botanist in her own right and can say why flowers emit certain scents, medicinal uses, or which ones are dangerous. Though simply knowing isn’t everything, as she can use this wisdom to do things like live up to her namesake and make potpourri, as well as guide the player on how to cultivate a particularly rare flower: the Blue Mist.
I can’t only give her credit for being knowledgeable and adventurous though; she’s also got a good eye for people, even if they hide their feelings. While Gray is often considered by almost every character outside his family as a cold, or even scary person, she can still find a way to make him open up, and just like any flower bud, there’ll be something beautiful inside.
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