Bana-nice!
There was no revue this time as the episode slowed down for a much needed slice of life episode instead. As exciting as the revues are, we really needed an episode to focus on the relationship between Karen and Hikari after last week.
This time, instead of being in a revue where the girls are pitted against each other, we have an SoL episode of the girls coming together instead. Not just Karen and Hikari, but the rest of them too. The episode was rather simple this time, with not as much symbolism as the past episodes. Karen bolts upright out of bed and runs around the dorm after seeing that Hikari isn’t in the room. Not finding her anywhere, Banana suggests calling her, so Karen does and in the background Karen hears trains but Hikari says nothing and hangs up. The school has a strict curfew, where they also have to send in a off-campus notice, which neither of them do, so this makes the other girls have to cover for both of them until they get back. At first Hikari doesn’t reply to Karen’s calls and texts until she sends pictures of herself in aquariums in front of jellyfish tanks and nothing else, making Karen run around the city to different aquariums. Which I thought was pretty mean of Hikari because she’s making Karen spend so much money on the aquarium entrances and trains. Then again, she did the same thing. Eventually Karen calls Hikari again and this time she does pick up and they start talking. The episode went back and forth between them, hearing them talk about many different things from London, to them as kids, food, etc. They must have spoke for hours where eventually at night time, they met up at the base of Tokyo Tower, where they first made their promise as kids to each other.
Hikari explains her behavior from last episode, explaining that if Karen were to lose the revue, she would lost the most important thing for a Stage Girl. But unfortunately this was left very vague and she didn’t really explain what she meant, leaving even more questions to what she even means. But that’s why she locked Karen in the storage, but…locking her in the room still would have made her lose the revue because she would have missed it. Pretty funny that Hikari didn’t realize that.
Though, Karen is still adamant in the both of them being able to stand on stage together. Hikari says only one can, but the giraffe never said only one has to pass. Maybe they both can dazzle the most together and pass. Which brings it back to these mysterious revues. We never really got set rules for these revues, and I’ve always been suspicious and a little concerned about them. We don’t really know how many more battles there’ll be, we don’t know if anyone can get eliminated. All we know is that if the girls talk about the auditions outside of the revue, which they have quite a bit, then they can get “fined”, and we still don’t know what Giraffe-san meant. There’s still so many mystery and uncertainty around these auditions that makes me a little nervous. So far the show has been pretty lighthearted and positive with some competition, but that doesn’t mean something darker won’t happen later on, especially when Hikari said that something valuable to a Stage Girl can be lost. It makes you think a lot, and I don’t even know how to look at this show anymore. But as I think that, the girls stand atop a slide, and the show zooms back to show them standing in front of a glowing Tokyo Tower, in the same spot where one of the girls would stand in front of the covered tower in position zero after winning an audition.
After that, the girls arrive in the dorm at six in the morning because they ran out of money for transportation. The previous night back in the dorms the girls had to cover for them in a hilarious way. For the most part, these girls get along really well with each other despite being competitors for the tiara. However, I kind of have my eye on Kaoruko and Futaba, mostly Futaba. She had a serious expression when Kaoruko joked to her to let her win when they eventually fight each other, and she never answered. Even though they’re both really close, I can see Futaba turning on her friend quickly. I have my eye on Kaoruko also because she was ready to get Karen and Hikari in trouble for breaking the rules if not for Mahiru chasing them away. Things are friendly now, but I can see some conflict arise soon.
Also, bless Mahiru. This poor girl saved Karen from getting in trouble, totally covered for her, and Karen STILL ignores her when she gets back. Not even a thank you or anything. That’s just….sad. It’s really driving me nuts, but at least Mahiru is playing the tragic role in a fun way? Also, Banana-chan is adorable! A more laidback episode, but still pretty good. I like the strides in character interactions we got this time, but I’m still a little concerned for the future. What is Giraffe-san hiding, and what are these auditions really?
