It’s so refreshing to have an episode that’s not about Karen and Hikari. I’ve already made my opinions about not being the biggest fans of them. But also, I just wanted the show to focus on the other girls without Karen having to be involved! Karen doesn’t need to be involved in everything! So it was great to take a look at another friendship with an equally close bond.
Here I thought Mahiru was too dependant on Karen, but at least when Karen was ignoring Mahiru she was able to still do things on her own. That’s not the case with Kaoruko. Kaoruko is more of a bratty princess that can literally barely do anything on her own without Futaba around, and that’s because she makes Futaba do things for her like waking her up and rubbing her feet. Things have been like this since they were little girls. Kaoruko’s family owns a traditional Japanese dance studio in Kyoto and she was her town’s precious little doll, and Futaba was always there for her to vent and just hang out. I have to admit that the scene was adorable though, and that Futaba’s bike from their childhood days transformed into a motorcycle, with Kaoruko still riding on the back happily. The issue that first led to Kaoruko’s irritation was the fact that she didn’t get a single lead role after auditioning for “Starlight”. She goes up to the production girls and yells at them that she’s never not had a lead role before, conveniently forgetting that she can audition more than once. The script writer girl is blunt with Kaoruko and tells her that her acting was awful and lacked passion. It was empty and she didn’t deserve a role and it angered her, even going so far as to ask Futaba to give up her role and give it to her! Like damn! She thinks she’s so entitled that she can just make her best friend give up a role that she worked hard for.
Which is the last straw for her. Futaba’s been practicing with Claudine in secret but Kaoruko found out and was furious. Top 10 Anime Betrayals type of furious. She calls Futaba a backstabber and Futaba moves in with Claudine. Kaoruko tries to do things on her own but has so much trouble. So instead of realizing her appreciation for her best friend who puts up with her crap every day, she decided to play the dramatic victim and announced her quitting of Seisho. Maya went up to her and warned her that she’ll be upset if she goes through with this, because the people that follow and watch out for her will miss her. But Kaoruko doesn’t understand what she means and she leaves, but hesitates in front of the bullet train. Of course, just like she wanted, Futaba arrives at the station to stop Kaoruko. But they end up arguing. They get interrupted with the audition notification, and of course it’s between them.
In terms of music, this was probably my favorite revue so far. I’m a huge sucker when traditional Japanese music is mixed in with modern pop/rock and this was perfect. Futaba and Kaoruko’s voices go really well together too. The revue stage this time was simple and straightforward as it was just a traditional Japanese house, but symbolizes their roots from Kyoto, especially Kaoruko and her strength in traditional Japanese dance. The message Futaba needed to get through Kaoruko was simple. She talks about how she was last place in the Seisho Academy placement test, and since then she’s been working really hard because she wants to improve. She bluntly tells her that she won’t give up her lead role, because she worked really hard and earned it! Kaoruko doesn’t earn it because she hasn’t been working hard, which the other girls have said as well. She’s just been going with the flow and relying on Futaba the whole time. Even though Maya and Claudine usually get the lead roles, the other girls never stop trying to improve because she want to shine the brightest they can. Futaba and Kaoruko made a promise when they were little that one day Kaoruko would shine so bright and Futaba would be the first person to see that, which is always why she’s followed her. Kaoruko finally realizes this and they fight their audition with Kaoruko winning.
The next day, Kaoruko shows a completely new attitude and waits for Futaba early with the motorcycle helmet on which got a laugh out of me. Also when she gave sweet thank you gifts to Claudine and Maya, but Maya only got one tiny little candy. Hopefully from now on Kaoruko will really have a new attitude and work hard because she kind of irritated me with that bratty princess attitude of hers. And hopefully their friendship will be on more equal ground too.
After the credits we got a scene with Banana on the revue stage with the giraffe. On the floor beside her was the “Starlight” script and a photo of them from their first rendition of the play. Banana seemed a little irritated, and now I really agree with what I’ve seen some people say about her: She really wants things to be the same. I really can’t wait for her episode next week.
