Fucking ouch. When Bandori really wants to pack a punch, they really can. This episode was a complete juxtaposition of the culture festival episode of season one where Saya ran to Popipa and made it just in time to perform the last song together, Star Beat. This was looking like the same thing but I had a pretty bad feeling. There did seem to be some hope as Rokka and Roselia stalled some time but it was all for naught. That Yukina glare at the end was perfect and encapsulates how I felt in the end.
That half-assed Popipa cheer in the beginning was good use of foreshadowing. Kasumi just starts, the girls join in at the end, it was completely awkward. I felt like that cheer really showed the band’s lack of communication and harmony that would later be proven in the end.
I want to say it boils down to Tae’s lack of priorities, but it’s not just her fault. She plays a huge role in what happened but there were lots of mistakes made. First off was no communication at all, not just from Tae but from Saya as well. From the beginning when Tae was helping out with RAS she showed concern, and even more when Tae told the girls that she would be double booked. Her face said it all, but she never spoke up about her worries to the others and just went with the flow, hoping that things would just turn out okay. But she was doubting herself that things would turn out alright, but not once did she ever bring these concerns up to anyone, only kept it to herself. Saya’s always been the non-confrontational type, we’ve seen so plenty of times where she never brought up her concerns when she was part of CHiSPA, and even with Poppin’Party when she just goes with the flow with whatever plans Kasumi comes up with. This is a part of her character that can cause conflict and this trait of hers only played another part of this whole mess with Poppin’Party.
But of course Tae takes the most blame. To be frank, she needs to get her shit together. There were plenty of opportunities for her to bring up Popipa to RAS and explain that she would have to leave early. If she wasn’t comfortable in telling CHU2, then she could have easily have told Layer. But she never said a thing and ended up doing the three-song encore and missing the school festival performance, a very huge and significant moment for Popipa. I can’t even imagine how crappy the rest of the girls feel that Tae put more importance in performing for a band with an old friend she hasn’t seen in awhile with people she barely knows, above her actual band with her closest friends that changed her life. Is improving her guitar skills more important than the precious time with her friends, especially on the day of their anniversary? Like damn, c’mon Tae.
But man I’m frustrated with Kasumi. The moment when Kasumi ran out of the school to get Tae was probably the biggest mistake of the night. The moment she left her band the deal was sealed. As the leader of a band, you should never leave your group hanging. Even if Tae wasn’t able to make it, they still could have performed without her. They could have done two things. One, Kasumi could have just filled in Tae’s parts or they could have changed the arrangement somehow to make up for missing Tae. Or two, after seeing Rokka’s amazing guitar solo, they could have asked her to fill in for Tae. Of course there would be the problem of Rokka not knowing all of Popipa’s songs, but considering how big of a fan she is I wouldn’t be surprised if she practiced and learned how to play some of their songs just for fun. Of course, they couldn’t do either because Kasumi made the stupid decision of going after Tae and leaving Rimi, Arisa, and Saya like idiots waiting for them for nothing. It’s just so sad that Aya made a fool of herself, Rokka did her solo, and Roselia did an impromptu performance for nothing. Yukina’s glare at the end I think was for both Kasumi and Tae, and was less anger but more disappointment. She saw Tae’s name on RAS’ poster so she most likely knew what happened, but I’m sure she’s extremely disappointed in Kasumi leaving her band behind.
And damn it was so hard to hear Tae’s crying, but it was even harder to see Arisa’s suppressed anger because she has every single right to be angry. She works hard on the student council and did everything to move the time schedules and planned ahead. And for nothing. I don’t know how Arisa is going to react, whether she’ll yell or continue to suppress her anger, but I feel like she’ll reach a breaking point. Another thing to consider is just how important this day was for Rimi since her sister came back from studying abroad. Who knows when she’ll be able to perform for her sister next time? And Saya, seeing as how Popipa is important to her and made her love music again when they came together the year before.
But all of this was so well done. None of this is bad writing, this is simply the characters making bad decisions and paying for it which is something we see a lot in Girls Band Party, and is something I love about the game’s writing. The girls have their flaws and many times in the game’s band or event stories they come up. It creates drama but also creates moments for characters to learn from their flaws and grow, and I can see this happening in the anime as well. It’s fantastic, this was a really stellar episode.
Saya is submissive, Tae has crappy communication skills, and Kasumi is too much of a romantic. She never planned ahead because she couldn’t believe that Tae wouldn’t make it in time. And that “act before you think” personality of hers really bit her when she left her band. There are individual flaws among the girls, but it all adds up to the flaws of the band in general with their lack in harmony. I really wonder how Popipa is going to bounce back from this. It also makes me worried that in the preview, we see Tae still performing with RAS. What the hell are you doing, Tae?
A huge cause of conern now is with RAS’ success, with CHU2 broadcasting their debut live, Tae might even feel obligated to continue with them as she is kind of “officially” part of the band now. After such a success it’s what the new fans would expect, right?
