Training camp is underway. They get to practicing, there’s awkward moments during the bath scene, and they all get to meet a pretty important person introduced by Riko-sensei. And this person turned Nanami’s world completely upside down.
The training camp goes the way expected. They practice and eat curry and stuff, but there’s lots of weird awkward moments with the three lesbians. They each have a crush on each other and being together makes things tough. The bath was probably the worst part. Even though I’ve been watching anime for years, I still can’t wrap my head around Japan’s public/shared baths. Having to change in front of friends for PE is embarrassing, but you get used to it after awhile. But I can’t imagine getting naked with friends, family, or even with a bunch of strangers. I feel like it’s crossing a weird line, but that’s just a huge cultural difference for me. This thought continues into my head as the girls (mostly Sayaka and Nanami) realize their situation and get embarrassed of seeing their crushes completely naked next to them. Like….ahhh, man. That’s….that’s something. It was interesting, and funny, how nonchalant Koito was though. It was pretty interesting hearing their thoughts as they went to bed and again reinforced how awkward this whole situation was, but also relieving for them.
What I mostly cared about this episode was when Ichigaya came into the picture and spit out some truth to Nanami. Apparently Ichigaya is from Riko-sensei’s troupe, but he was also a student from their school and one of the student council members when Mio was president. He’s happy to be helping the kids out and he seems like a pretty nice dude. He makes a passing comment where he tells Nanami that she’s really hardworking, and how he thought that student council presidents just order people around. This catches her attention and right before he leaves for he day, she walks him off and asks him to clarify what he meant. Like, what was her sister like? What he said next completely crushed her. And I probably shouldn’t feel so much glee at seeing her heart shatter, but I think this is something Nanami seriously needed to hear. Ichigaya tells her that her sister was kind of a pain in the butt, ordering everyone to do everything for her. She dropped all the work on them, which could be hectic. He even recalls a memory where Mio forgot to do her summer homework and she made everyone in the council help her with it. Really, she was as imperfect as she got. She was bossy, a tiny but irresponsble, but she was still a good person and they all liked her. Nanami only remembers a perfect sister with great grades, but Ichigaya doesn’t recognize that Mio. The “perfect” Mio was how she made herself seem to her sister, but she was completely different to others. This parallels again with the main character in the play. Probably the final nail in the coffin was when Ichigaya told her that he personally thought that Nanami was a more well-suited student council president than Mio was.
It’s blunt but necessary. He wasn’t exactly being cruel, he was just being honest but recounting these memories fondly. He didn’t speak ill of Mio. But the things Nanami learned was heart shattering as she realized that the sister she worked so hard to become was just an image she saw, not who her sister really was. So if this persona she’s playing right now isn’t true, then who the hell really was Mio, and who is she herself?
Hopefully this moment is when Nanami starts realizing that she should just decide to be herself. The scene in the end with Sayaka was pretty special. Koito notices that something is definitely wrong with Nanami, but Sayaka does as well and approches her as the others play with fireworks. This scene was special because Nanami entrusted Sayaka with this reveal. It’s such a huge thing for Nanami and Sayaka realized that she really did have Nanami’s full trust, and it made her pretty happy. Though that stare from Koito in the end was concerning. I wonder what she was thinking, but I’m guessing that maybe it was a tinge of jealousy.
I wonder how Nanami will grow from here on out. This has got to be significant enough where her character is going to make a huge turn for something else. Though I’m guessing there’s going to be more drama and suffering. I don’t think Nanami ever truly properly grieved her sister’s untimely death, as she latched onto this “perfect” image of her. Poor Nanami, this is really going to be a painful experience for her. :/
Hehe, I really thought you would like this episode a lot because of Sayaka’s victorious smug face at the end.
A bit random but have you heard of the Revue Starlight Vocal Soundtrack? It’s awesome. “Hoshitsumi no Uta” is quite moving. It reinforces that KuroXMaya is the pairing of the YEAR. TO HELL WITH ANY OTHER PAIRINGS lol.
Haha, I wouldn’t really call her face at the end there smug, but more happy than anything.
And yes I have! Someone uploaded all the songs on Youtube in one video and I’ve listened to it over and over. My personal favorites are definitely “Only the Star Knows” and “Pride and Arrogance”. Maya’s voice is definitely my favorite. It’s a really powerful voice and not one you’d usually hear in anime but I really love that uniqueness. Listening to the songs and reading the lyrics has just made me fall in love with Revue Starlight even more.