Idolish7 is back and oh my god, THIS EPISODE WAS THE DEFINITION OF CHAOS. What a roller-coaster of emotions! One minute I am concerned, the next I am laughing, crying and getting mad oh my gosh. Can we really say it was a mess? Organized chaos perhaps would be the best way to put it, but it was amazing!
Tenn finally explained Riku why he left his family behind, and as one should expect it was not a pretty story at all. He left because their father forgot his responsibility to entertain their customers at the club. It closed down because the club’s economic struggles were impacting the dancers, and it showed in their performances. Kujo taught Tenn that even amidst despair, their job is to sing and smile, and that’s one of the reasons why he decided to follow him.
But man Tenn you fucked up, big time. We all know how much Tenn loves his brother, but he gravely underestimated how much his departure scarred Riku. He was shocked when Riku told him he had thought he left because he hated taking care of him. And it is so frustrating that Tenn wasn’t able to properly finish explaining himself because of external interruptions (his frustration accurately summed up our mood). Based on Tenn’s reaction to Riku lashing out at him, I sincerely believe there is more behind the story of Tenn’s departure, and I hope he has a more… justified reason for his actions. Right now I am under the impression Tenn didn’t think of his decision as “abandoning” his family, but perhaps helping them. Maybe I am a bit mixed up because I need a memory refresh, so forgive me if I am completely off the mark– but it could be that they struck a deal where Tenn served as a “trade” to help his family. Otherwise why else would he have Kujo’s name?
Nevertheless, I don’t think Tenn would have been able to finish the story anyways because he pushed Riku into a corner for a while now. Frankly speaking, while we all need to acknowledge Riku was also in the wrong for cutting him off, I do find it rather rich of Tenn to expect Riku to take all of this in without flipping out. At this point, it is only natural for him to lash out because he is sick of it. And if there is a legitimate reason for Tenn leaving his family behind, then god damn it– he really should have started with that first instead of trampling on Riku’s heart! That’s no way to start an incredibly important conversation that has been left in the dark for far too long! I knew Tenn had nothing good to say when he was being soft in the beginning. All I could think of was, “Why is he being so nice right now, I’m concerned. I’m scared. Tenn is never this nice. THIS CONCERNS ME GREATLY.” Which is utterly depressing. That little bit of softness and wholesome bonding time is exactly what I want to see from these two, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen because he was about to set the bomb off. And sure enough Tenn flipped the switch.
Now it has gotten to the point that Riku so hurt and betrayed by Tenn, he can’t bring himself to listen to him anymore. And I don’t blame him for it. Heck, he was so upset, he sought out validation from his team like a child. It was a childish move, but I understand he was running high on emotions and was desperately looking for reassurance that he still had support.
God, how is it these two brothers are so bad at communicating with each other? I NEED YOU TWO TO HUG IT OUT ALREADY! UGHHHHHHHHHHH!!! That’s probably not going to happen for a very long time and it hurts my heart damn it!
Now I understand where Tenn is coming from when he talks about responsibility and Riku’s failure to uphold that. There are absolutely some things that Tenn said that I agree with (ie: the impact on those in the field around him, and Riku’s negligence to be responsible about his health). But at the same time, it is not his place to tell Riku he should quit being an idol. If the roles were reversed where he was the frail one with poor health, would he truly give up being an idol? There is no doubt that he has passion for his career, that’s why he takes his job so seriously, but if he were in that position where he had to fight tooth and nail to pursue his dream, would he really accept that? I wonder about that about that a lot.
That’s why for Riku to even get this far is a huge accomplishment, and it’s an understatement why he doesn’t want to let it go. And he shouldn’t feel he has to so as long as his team is wholeheartedly behind him and he himself takes responsibility of making sure he doesn’t over exert himself. Right now they are trying hard to accommodate him in the best way possible, and that’s a wonderful thing, especially since it is highly unlikely Riku would receive this kind of support from other agencies. If anything, his health problems would have immediately disqualified him.
It is also why I really feel for Riku, because it really is depressing how one’s health condition jeopardizes their dreams. It is especially frustrating when we know Riku can do it (provided he and his team manages him properly), and he has the talent to back him up, but his internal health is a different story. It is so unfair to deny a star like him of the opportunity to shine on stage. That’s why he needs to be smart about it. Reckless behavior of pushing himself despite his deteriorating condition will only have him digging his own grave.
Ugh, and when Tenn said Riku will only end up disappointing his fans, and if he wanted to sing, he should just sing at karaoke– oh my god, I love Tenn, but that was such a demeaning remark. He shouldn’t have gone there. TENN YOU FREAKING IDIOT!
At the end of the day, both of them are contributing to this on-going misunderstanding. So if we want this resolved, Riku needs to grow up and stop acting like a child, and Tenn needs to fix the way he communicates with him.
Apart from the heartbreak between the brothers, they did a good job of soothing our wounded hearts with the hilarious insanity of everyone crashing at Idolish7’s dorms. Everybody was there. Tenn was first to arrive, and cleverly brought King Pudding for Tamaki (promise or not, it can still be considered as a bribe or distraction haha), then Iori comes in asking Tamaki where he got that, and he says “Tenn Tenn”. Iori not realizing that’s Tenn’s nickname thought he was talking about a freaking cat, and because he wants to see it they go on a search for it. Iori we know he is a bright guy, but when it comes to cute things, gosh he quickly become dork and it’s hilarious! Then freaking Re:Vale shows up and lets themselves in. Momo is with Nagi and Sogo is with Yuki pouring his heart out. My god, Yuki had a scary look on his face when he said, “you can trust me”. (Sogo, listen to Yamato. I like the dude, but I also don’t trust those eyes either.) Oh and Re:Vale is responsible for eating all of Tamaki’s King Pudding, and naturally he started freaking out about it.
And top of all of that, we have Yamato and Ryu come back after drinking together and Ryu is DEAD ASS DRUNK AND HE’S ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS. (Freaking singing and cheering, I can’t. Ryu is best boy!) and yet despite being drunk Yamato, Ryu and Mitsuki all go for another round of drinking and proceed to get drunk even further. Gosh I love this trio. Hell, I love seeing rival groups interact like this. It’s so much fun. Last but not least Gaku finally arrives to make a delivery, followed by Tsumugi. He sees her and wants to spend more time with her so he comes up with an excuse and proceeds to confess to her in a roundabout way. KYAAAA~
But Gaku gets rejected because Tsumugi straight up refuses to form a special relationship with any idol, so he tries stripping that image by asking if she would be interested in dating him as a delivery man (though apparently she and some of the others STILL haven’t realized Gaku IS the delivery man.) ..only for him to get rejected again! Oh my god, I love Gaku and this ship, but even I am laughing my ass off at this point. Tenn called it pathetic (and yet he still rolled with Gaku’s “alter identity”), but honestly I think that was probably the most sensible workaround, because being an idol basically makes them “untouchable” to an average person. I feel so bad for him. He was rejected, but I’m sticking with this ship. I love how much he likes her and how he was so upfront about his feelings, even if it was in a roundabout way. Hang in there Gaku! I’m still rooting for you!
Looking forward to the next one! It’s been one hell of a long wait, but man it was absolutely worth it.
See you next week!
Tenn was manipulative in trying to get Riku to quit by telling him just one of the reasons the club failed. In Tenn’s defense, there is a lot more to why he left the family, but no, he can’t and won’t ever say it… And I love Tenn for it… This is very difficult to write because any adjective I truly want to use would spoil it… but there is nothing irresponsible, …. or inconsiderate on his part. Poor kid had to work with what he was given…and that put him in the position of looking like an idiot when he’s anything but.
Also, I loved how the sound changed as Iori realized Tenn Tenn(meow meow) was TENN (roar)
THIS EPISODE IS SOOO WORTH THE WAIT. I read the game story long time ago already and still amazed how they can manage to put all of these separated scenes into one mixed hotspot and still making it so funny and dramatic at the same time!? This episode is so Idolish7.
I love the scene where Tenn talk about his fans and tickets, the animation capture the feel of materialism over idol industry, while Tenn’s lines are all about his personal feeling to the fans. I still feel Tenn is unlikable in this part, but the ending with Trigger’s song is such a great choice to show Tenn’s feeling and temporary change the mood.
And poor Gaku haha, I always adore how Tsumugi prioritizes her works over personal feeling like a real manager.
I also got the impression that there’s more to Tenn’s leaving than he reveals. He absolutely thought he was doing the right thing when he left, that’s why he was surprised at Riku being hurt by that. And yes, he’s bad with words, that’s just his helicopter parent nature 😀 standing outside for 5 months did not help his attitude at all (I’d say kick him out again, but he’s a cat, he can just sneak back in :D)
I loved that the ending credits included the two songs with Ryuu as solo artist! Ryuu solo album when? 😀
Mensore!