Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight Episode 7: Nana Daiba

Wakarimasu~

Banana finally shows her two sides to us, and it throws me for a loop (ha).

The premise of this show has been completely turned on its head as we learn that Nana and the rest of the girls have been living in the same time loop for who knows how long. I’m in complete awe. I knew there was something strange about Banana ever since she suddenly stepped into the production team. And I did find it very strange that she pushed so hard to the production girls for Maya and Claudine to be the leads. There were hints and clues in the past 6 episodes that pointed to Nana’s strange behavior, and now it all makes sense.

Nana saw their first production of “Starlight” to be the happiest in her life. The show was a success and all the girls in her class were happy. We saw as they celebrated Nana took pictures and videos of the party for her memories, but the best memory of all was when she finally adopted her nickname “Banana” that all the other girls gave her. Because she’s tall, sweet, kind, and nourishing. She’s helpful and she loves to be everyone’s “Banana”. Nana looks back on these days very fondly but has a little spat with Maya when Maya slowly catches wind of what Nana wants. She’s an extremely talented girl but chooses to not do her best in hopes of having the same exact “Starlight”, which angers Maya. Even when the same girls do the same show, the stage will not be the same. Things, however, go well until two girls from her class drop out the next school year. That’s when I think Nana’s switch was flipped and she has a certain stage in mind.

Maya Tendo, who we thought was a shoe in for the Top Star tiara, was actually defeated by Nana. Nana was the one that passed the audition and became the Top Stage Girl. She suddenly met with Giraffe and I think got in over her head, tampering with matters she doesn’t really understand. Giraffe enticed her with the tiara, as well with the proposition of being able to have whatever stage she wanted. Any stage, at any time. Whatever she wished for, and her wish was to repeat the days of “Starlight”, where it glitters and shines so brightly. And this same segment in time has been repeated in a time loop multiple times, so much that Giraffe lost count.

It’s not hard to see just how lonely Nana is. She wishes for this same stage no matter what. The robotic tone in her voice and blank expression was unsettling to see. The fact that she hangs on to this time in her life is very concerning. It makes me wonder why this little moment in school made such an impact in her life for her to want to repeat it over and over. She values her time in school very much, taking pictures and videos on her phone at every moment, hanging up pictures around her room, and just “being everyone’s Banana”. Nana didn’t give a reason to why she stayed behind with Junna during the break when all the other girls went home. It’s like she never wants to leave the school, so her home life comes into question. Why is Nana like this? Nana seems to care for her friends a lot, as the reason why she loves the first “Starlight” is because it’s a time when the girls won’t have to face difficulties. There’s no pressure in growing up, there’s nothing that will scare her, there won’t be rejection, pain, or sadness, because nothing will change. Why would Nana go so far to save everyone from that, even though she knows the others want to change and want to improve themselves? Has Nana been hurt?

But now her status quo has been infringed upon by Hikari’s presence. I think Giraffe brought Hikari himself in order to change things up simply because he’s bored. He’s even said that he has no idea how many times they’ve repeated the same thing, but now things are a lot more different now because Hikari is here. Hikari has hinted that she already knows about these revues. She was probably informed by Giraffe and was sent to challenge Nana’s time loop to put a stop to it. It explains Hikari’s aloofness towards Nana in the beginning, and that creepy scene in the elevator just became even creepier. In fact, many things that Nana has said or done, like taking pictures and videos again, are all very telling.

Nana has made herself the antagonist of Revue Starlight, though it pains me to call her one because she’s not exactly evil. She’s just a confused and lonely girl, but that head turn and the silent ED was extremely unsettling.

I’m in complete awe from this show. It continues to get better and better, and the fact that they dropped a huge plot twist right in the middle of the show makes me wonder what we’ll see from now on. The way this show is going, it’s easily going to be AOTS and a contender for AOTY. I look forward to a Nana vs. Hikari fight in the future, and for all the plot details to come together.