When one door closes another one opens…
Where to begin? I suppose we will start off with the devil himself, Yaotome’s CEO Sousuke. He put an offer on the table of speeding up their debut process, but only if Sogo and Tamaki agree to join his agency as a duo. He also did some background checks, exploiting Tamaki’s wish of hoping to be reunited with his long lost sister, Aya who disappeared two years ago without a trace. And god damn it, that was so dirty! I shouted, “OH HELL NO!” when he started going on about how Aya is probably forced to work in order to help make meet ends every since the family she was adopted into went bankrupt. This guy is such a manipulative bastard – I’m sure Aya is fine! In fact, I have this weird feeling Aya might be that girl with green eyes. At first I thought maybe Aya might actually be that red-head girl we saw gushing at the TV, but then I realize she might be a red-hairing (I’ll see myself out) red-herring and it’s actually her older sister who said perhaps she will watch the performance then! Furthermore, the two have been separated two years ago so I am sure if it were the little red-head, she probably would have mentioned her brother since she is a devoted fan to the group.
And thank god Sogo was Tamaki’s partner. He not only recognized he needed to get Tamaki out of there, but he also immediately shared what happened with Tsumugi, as well as the secret. Tamaki on the other-hand, my god– he got some nerve to tell the rest of team that he and Sogo will be quitting! ESPECIALLY WHEN SOGO SAID NO! Mitsuki was rightfully furious about it, but Iori was the complete opposite, “Just quit then.” Well that’s a reckless comment to make. Luckily Sogo and the others managed to persuade Tamaki to open up about his situation with his sister, and all agreed to speak with the President Takanashi Otoharu – who then dropped the bombshell none of them had anticipated. IDOLISH7 have to break up.
This happened because of Yaotome’s CEO made them their next target, and President Takanashi was not about to let that happen. He understand exactly how dangerous Sousuke is, describing him as a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to destroy them so thoroughly, they will never want to perform again. For the rest of the group’s future,Otoharu was willing to make the sacrifice of debuting Sogo and Tamaki as a duo, who are in the prime condition to do so. He needs to get the ball rolling so its harder for Yaotome to take them out, even if it means it may take a few years for them to finally regroup as seven once again.
But then at the brink of destruction, a miracle happened, they have been invited to the famous nation-wide broadcast, Music Festa! It is a ten hours LIVE broadcast hosting performers from small indies to the hottest artists on the market. Now IDOLISH7 has one last chance is to make the most of the nation wide broadcast to get their name out there, and should they fail – IDOLISH7 will be separate into separate units.
There is no doubt in my mind his own son Gaku screwed him over. Of course it could have been Tenn, but because we saw a lot of the focus on him, I firmly believe it was Gaku who made the suggestion to the Music Festa Producer to invite iDOLISH7 to broadcast. Regardless, whoever was responsible for recommending them, unbeknownst to them – they literally saved the group from being divided up, or at least bought them enough time to be given one last chance.
Although the episode has heavily focused on the first major conflict Sousuke created, I really appreciated the scene where Iori told Riku to stop watching Tenn’s performances over and over again. He made an excellent point how Riku has been chasing Tenn’s shadows, and he needs to stop doing that in order to properly forge his own style and identity as a idol. Funny enough he promised he will make him a super star, which led me to realize, if Iori didn’t have to accept being a trainee as an idol for his brother’s sake, he probably would have been happy working as the group’s manager. Statistics are his jam after-all!
Now we can’t forget about the secrets right?
Secrets, secrets and more secrets!
Oh my god! Tamaki actually has a serious side! Who would’ve thought?! Holy smokes he looks even better when he has that solemn expression on his face. I don’t know who Haruki is, but I get a sense it might be a friend, who is perhaps dead? What really threw me off guard was his comment how he didn’t think he would be emotionally invested in them (the group). At first I started freaking out because I thought maybe he might be a double-agent or something (and maybe he is), but since he wished for a miracle, he is probably just praying for their success. BUT MAN, SHOW ME MORE OF THIS SIDE OF HIM!
I am also getting a sense Mitsuki’s character arc is coming up next. With so much at stake for the Monsta Festa performance, Mitsuki has to work even harder to gain recognition and develop a fanbase. Currently he is the ranked last, and doesn’t have much attention. Although the president probably has not reported this directly to him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he picked up on it due to the decline of popularity where as the others are stable or on the rise. I think it is only a matter of time before he learns (if he isn’t aware of it already) the truth that he was only accepted because of Iori. It is such a sad thing because Mitsuki is absolutely charming, but he is getting out shined by the rest of the group, and he knows it as he fears he will be either drag them down, or be left behind. I hope he will be able to find a talent that only he has that will help him sky-rocket them to popularity.
Last but not least, the biggest secret of all: IDOLISH7’s Anonymous Songwriter/Composer. Whoever is responsible for producing their songs is currently Souske’s biggest headache. However it appears we have an additional problematic character emerging, the blond dude who is responsible for composing TRIGGER’s songs. He is getting shit on and threatened to be fired by the CEO all because his songs are failing to outshine IDOLISH7’s . Now it looks like he will become spiteful of them – which will be bloody stupid, but likely to happen. It will be very interesting to see whether or not our Anonymous composer will emerge in this event, and I wonder who it will be!!!
God I love this show!
If my info’s right,
Spoiler&
Haruki is someone connected to the missing legendary idol Zero. The Haruki plot point should be answered by the end of the series, assuming the anime only wants to cover Part 1 of the game’s story.
I recall Idolish 7 merchandise being rather prevalent at the Ikebukuro branch of the Animate anime store in Tokyo (this particular branch catering mostly for otaku women – I was one of the few male clientele in that shop). Character plushies, poster scans for sale, etc., even the store elevators had audio ads done by the VAs as their characters.
I think that the blonde songwriter and Nagi are somehow related, or at least their arcs are. We are getting some focus on him in upcoming episodes and he looks similar to the blonde songwriter. There are no coincidences in this series.
Also Riku’s name means 6. Kujo Tenn’s surname means 9. 9 is the upside-down 6. I think Tenn chose this surname because he cares about his brother. Meanwhile Iori is actually One, his name means One, so he is helping the manager
I actually thought about that too, but mmmm I’m not entirely sure. It did catch my attention however how Nagi was staring when Iori made the comment about the composition. I get the sense he might actually know who is responsible for it.