We finally get to see what the duo of Chiyuki and Kokoro can do! And it was a very intense episode full of conflicting interests of two rivals who must push themselves to prove themselves to others. And in the end that conflict did help them improve, albeit not kindly, but improved nonetheless and they ultimately came together to put on a really stellar show.
The overall arc of the episode was really exciting! In the beginning of the episode I wasn’t sure how I would feel about Kokoro and Chiyuki being on the “same team”. Kokoro’s a very timid person and quite frankly will just let anyone step all over her. Whereas Chiyuki is very headstrong and isn’t’ afraid to speak her mind, especially because it’s very clear that she doesn’t like Kokoro. And ultimately, even Kokoro admits that she hates Chiyuki! While the two were working together I was constantly on edge because I was just waiting for all of it to blow up. In the back of my mind I was definitely like “Why? Why did you guys put yourself in this situation??” Neither of you like! Especially you Chiyuki! You didn’t have to do this!
But as the episode progressed and the tension between the two never resolved I started to see the benefits of the two having to work together. Ultimately, they are able to push each other to be better. Kokoro has the experience of being a model (albeit a bad model according to Chiyuki) and can give Chiyuki feedback on her walk. Regardless of how Chiyuki feels about Kokoro as a model, Kokoro does have more experience in the field. Chiyuki has a very strong passion for winning and is willing to scrutinize Kokoro’s work. Honestly, if either of these were paired with Ikuto, there would not have been as much growth in this episode. He would have just been a push over and pulled the “It looks good, but maybe this!”, so in that regard I think Kokoro and Chiyuki having such conflicting personalities was fantastic. Plus! deep down they do envy each other and I’m glad they decided to include the moment where Chiyuki looked at all the work Kokoro put into resizing her designs by saying that 1) Yes, despite having the natural talent, Kokoro does not want to be a model and 2) if she were to put her passion for being a designer into modelling, Kokoro would absolutely crush Chiyuki.
I think what I liked about the episode is that we were able to get a little bit of character development for Kokoro and her manager. I haven’t read the source material, so I’ve really been in the dark for why Kokoro even became a model and why she ultimately follows through with what her manager says. I thought it was just because she was generally timid and nervous and tended to let people walk all over her. Which, is still fairly true. But, by bringing up we also get a really nice set up for the significance of the suit the manager is wearing and ultimately makes the grand reveal with her outfit at the end of the episode much more impactful.
And so comes the day of the fashion show. Unlike the previous episode I wasn’t as engaged with the actual outfits that were created. A majority of my focus on the episode was generally being peeved with Kokoro’s manager’s attitude. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she adds a little bit of spice to the anime but man… she’s mean. She reminds me of those mom’s who will project everything onto their kids and not let them have any autonomy. Ultimately, I think Kokoro did have an impact on her manager, but I don’t know if it’s enough for the manager to let Kokoro go.
I did like the idea that Kokoro went with to be able to show off Chiyuki. I’m not a model so I don’t really know how difficult it is to walk up and down the aisle with no breaks for as long as she did. But I worked jobs where I was on my feet for 10+ hours a day, so maybe it’s the same kind of exhaustion. It was nice to see the grand reveal of Kokoro taking a trip down the runway. Only the people who knew Chiyuki’s true size were able to scrutinize the decision. So when Kokoro stepped out everyone was just :0000000 whoa! So it was a great way to make a statement of “is height really necessary? you didn’t notice”. Or maybe it’s not that deep and they wanted to give a big surprise moment.
But they were successful! At the end of the day, Kokoro’s show was successful and all eyes were on Chiyuki! (Although, I think eyes were on Kokoro when she stepped out because she does have such a different aura than Chiyuki, but I digress and let them both have that happy ending). The hug between the two was a nice way to end the episode and while they still aren’t friends, they both allowed each other to grow more in the passions they want to pursue. Chiyuki’s words were mean, but deep down, I’m pretty sure that they were the words that Kokoro wanted to hear.
And so their show comes to a close. Next week we’ll get to see Toh’s show, and honestly aside from having the same theme as Ikuto we haven’t seen very much of him or any conflict with him since 2 or 3 episodes ago when he tried to get Ikuto to be his pattern maker. I have a feeling next week’s episode is going to be a roller coaster of emotions for not only all our characters, but also me as the watcher! Can you believe we’re going into the last episode already?
