From Yukina’s words, Poppin’ Party’s enthusiasm from before was shattered. Even though they (and Lisa) admitted that maybe Yukina’s words were harsh, they agreed. They were naive and the expectations they need to meet is a little beyond them and now they want to think things over
While all of them were down, I feel like the one most affected Tae but it was a little disappointing that we didn’t get her side more, even though they were all feeling the same way. I say Tae was more visibly affected because we’ve seen her be extra serious and mention not once but twice that she wants to work harder and that she knows what she needs to work on. We saw two band-aids on her fingers so she must have been working very hard, though maybe that was because she practiced hard for the live show? Anyway, I wish we got a little more out of Tae because I feel like she’s always in the background when we focus on Popipa while Kasumi and Arisa take more of the spotlight, and sometimes Saya. But either way, they all feel very down and now they’re even considering if they should even go through with the self-sponsored show at all but they just want to think about things more.
I’m glad they showed Yukina also pondering about her own words. Yukina is a very strict, very realistic person who can sometimes be harsh because she’s blunt. But even she knows that maybe she was a little too harsh with Popipa and I like that Lisa came over to voice that. People may see Yukina as a bitch for her attitude, but she does care for Kasumi and the other girls and only wants the best for them which is why she shows some regret. But Yukina looks like she’s going to face possible obstacles of her own later on with a certain cat-eared girl.
I don’t really know what to make of Chu2 just yet but I think I like her? I don’t really get how she’s a producer, I’d like to know more about that. I’ve sort of been following the RAS news and I did read the character profiles but I actually forgot them haha. So I’d really like to know more about Chu2 and why she spouts random English and why a girl as young as her is a producer. With Yukina turning down her offer, she wants to form her own band and get “destroy” Roselia. I found it hilarious that after kicking the trash can, she immediately went to put the trash back inside. Throw a tantrum, but keep the environment clean!
Rokka got lots of spotlight this episode and we got to learn a lot about her and why she has such love and admiration towards Popipa. She’s slowly growing on me, and I couldn’t help but laugh as she rehearsed what she was going to say because that’s extremely relateable and I know that pain. Rokka, nicknamed Rock, grew up in Gifu and was actually in a band in her hometown as a guitarist. She was a fan of Space and went to the last show there and that’s where she fell in love with Popipa. She came to Tokyo in order to start her own band but she hasn’t been successful so far but it’s her dream and it’s what she really wants to do. And she’s working real hard. She has a part-time job at Galaxy, works in the Asahi bathhouse to get a room rent free, and even has a scholarship with Haneoka. She’s working really hard for this, and lucky for her she was able to get a private performance from Popipa when Tae started playing the melody for Sing Girls. And through the song we saw her memories as a child, making her own guitar out of cardboard, hanging out with her friends, to her time now in Galaxy and the bathhouse. Now I feel like rooting for her, but I wonder how she and Chu2 and the rest of RAS are going to get together.
After seeing Rokka get emotional over their performance, Popipa is now even more determined to do their show as her story and emotions got to them. This episode was pretty slow but it was important for plot issues and character development. But one thing I really noticed from this episode was that while the girls are in full 3D, the background/secondary characters are 2D. I missed it at first with Marina last time, but I totally noticed it with Rokka’s relative in the bathhouse, and the musician girls from Haneoka. And I think Rokka’s flashbacks were in 2D until they showed her in present time. It’s…very weird. Why do that? I don’t get it and now it’s bugging me.
The performance was okay, I’m not a huge fan of Sing Girls but I thought the performance was dragged out longer than it needed to be. I think they could have integrated Rokka’s flashbacks sooner and it would have been stronger. The ED is nice, visually. The visuals in Jumpin’s ED are gorgeous, but I’m not a fan of the song. But hey, I love the visual update to Kizuna Music adding in the other bands because it made me hopeful that the other bands are going to get their time to shine. And they are, because next week will be a Hello Happy episode. And while I’m not a fan of them, I’m just glad that we’ll change gears a bit. Can’t wait for Afterglow and Pasupare episodes! <3
