IDOLiSH7: Second Beat! Episode 14

Quick Note: Sorry this came out so late, I burned my fingers yesterday while I was baking so I couldn’t write it up… OTL|||

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Really? Like really? You are kidding me right now?

Rather than shock and feeling betrayed, I mostly annoyed because if this does turn out to be true, then it’s going to leave a really bad taste in my mouth. The only reason the why I am not jumping the gun to believe this is the absolute truth is because I am weighing the following possibilities:

A) Yuki’s Nightmare

One reason why I considered why I considered (A) Yuki’s Nightmare is because it has gotten to the point where he feels if it isn’t poison or stress that’s preventing Momo from singing, then he is the one to blame. So Yamato showing up in the dressing room putting drugs in Momo’s drink is part of his fears of how his enemies are targeting the ones he cares about. Yamato would be a good figment of that nightmare because he has shown to be openly hostile with him before.

The other reason why this could potentially be flagged as a nightmare is Yamato going on about not forgiving anyone who encroaches on Zero’s territory. To my memory I can’t think of anything that pointed to Yamato having a connection with Zero unless I missed it or it has yet to be mentioned to it, which is why I am at lost about why he would say such a thing.

B) Yamato is bluffing to scare the shit out of Yuki

It wouldn’t be outside of the realm of possibility for Yamato to take advantage of the scandal to scare the shit out of Yuki. This one I’d admit, is a bit more of a stretch considering the guy was caught red-handed with a suspicious package and Momo’s drink in hand. (Don’t get me started on their stupidity of drinking anything that has been opened. Isn’t that like the number one rule of common sense? Don’t drink anything that’s open?)

C) Yamato is working with an accomplice

So this one is kind of weird, but it exists for one reason: We know for a fact that the man who ambushed their press conference was not Yamato himself. He was there the entire time when Zero’s imposter pulled that stunt. So for that to happen, he would need someone to act as his alibi to ensure nothing gets traced back to him and his group.

But if he is not working with an accomplice, then the next thing that would make the most sense would be Scenario D: Zero’s Imposter took advantage of Idolish7’s press conference to escalate the rumors even further.

If Scenario C/D is actually happening, then I really don’t know what to say. It’s the kind of action that both makes me mad and doesn’t impress me. The latter is mostly because at this point, can I really say I’m surprised? Not really. At this point I was waiting for them to pull another stunt like this. Not to mention, throughout this entire season Idolish7 has been throwing curve-balls and has shown us how everyone is so tightly intertwined that they are all knotted up. I mean at this point I think apart from Mitsuki having met Zero when he was a child and being inspired by him (and Iori being too young to remember), I think Yamato would be the last one to be dragged into this mess that is tied to Zero’s Drama that seems to be haunting everyone in this freaking group. I mean for crying out loud, Kujo just confirmed that he had attempted to recruit Sogo’s uncle Satoshi, but was declined (which just raises the bar of suspicion around the circumstances of his death).

Nevertheless, I would be happy to be wrong because I think we can all agree it makes absolute no sense for Yamato to be doing this. It involves jeopardizing his entire group and their relationship with RE:VALE, who has been nothing but wonderful seniors to them. Like seriously, don’t drag the others into this shit.

Ah, speaking of the devil himself, let’s get to that next shall we? So it turns out a theory I had suggested a few weeks ago turned out to be true: Kujo picked Aya up for the purpose of  grooming her to become an idol, a back-up plan of a sort in case Tenn were to fail, or he wanted to produce more than one. Heck, even described them as his ‘last hope’, though I honestly wonder if he really would end his quest if he is still unsatisfied or fails to achieve the results he desires. Iori hit the nail on the head when he described him to be a ghost trapped in the past. We learned how he was Haw9 , Zero’s Manager and Stage Director, and that he feels like Zero had betrayed him, leaving him and Haruki behind in the middle of their dream. That’s why he wants to create an even greater legend, which explains this cycle of madness. He also confirmed our suspicions that he did approach Sogo’s uncle Satoshi, but was ultimately declined and was quite salty about it.

That’s why Aya and Tamaki had that spat about her not leaving Kujo’s side. I felt really sad for Tamaki because his intent was actually the opposite of Sogo’s fears: By working with Idolish7, it means he has a source of income to support his sister to come and live with him again. So he was utterly crushed and confused when she refused to live with him. This sure sucked because their happy reunion only lasted one minute before it got ugly.

First off, (to my surprise) Tenn hadn’t been able to connect the dots that Aya and Tamaki were siblings, so he was taken aback when he found out about it. But things got awkward when she sided with Tenn, and then announced that she too, is training to become an idol who will surpass Zero. Since he took care of her previous foster father’s debt and spoils her, she is happy and wants to be able to meet his expectations and repay his kindness. (Geh, it makes you wonder about her living circumstances before Kujo took her in. So even though I dislike and don’t trust the guy, all I can hope for is that he treats her well and she is in a better environment that she was in before, but I digress.)

But Tamaki wasn’t having any of it and was worried about his sister, (and understandably so) but geh, his temper got the better of him. Luckily Gaku moved in fast enough to protect Tenn from getting hurt, and Tamaki from getting caught up in a scandal of attacking him. Riku was also pretty reckless with the way he just outright told Tenn about how Kujo may have hurt Yuki’s former partner to get his hands on them with the guy standing right in front of them.

In light of this whole confrontation with Kujo, we were also able to get a couple of things out of his history with Zero. One was how Kujo and Haruki reacted differently to his disappearance. Kujo became obsessed with the objective to create stars who can surpass Zero’s legendary status, and Haruki decided to move on and entrust his compositions to a new group.

While things were looking somewhat bleak this episode, there were three instances of saving grace that made up for it (big time, before it was spoiled again by the questionable Post-Credit scene). The first was Iori brazenly challenge Kujo’s ambition: The second Kujo finishes saying he will craft the next legend, Iori savagely shoots him down with, “There’s no place for you in the new era. You’re nothing more than a ghost of the past.”  Oh man, I burst out laughing because that’s some ballsy way to challenge a guy who you were just warned has a dark side you should be careful of! And don’t forget, he is still in highschool, sheesh! But I suppose this is what makes Iori so admirable. He doesn’t have a shred of doubt that Idolish7, with Riku as their center can surpass Zero’s legendary status. Although I do have my qualms of when he tends to take over Tsumugi’s job (as it would be more appropriate for her to be in charge), I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy their team work because they really do have good chemistry with each other. Heck, that conversation about how they make a good team almost felt like a freaking confession scene!

The second was TRIGGER just being the wholesome group I love. After the truth came out about Kujo is trying to craft Tenn into the next legend, Tenn did the usual of trying to avoid addressing the matter, but neither Gaku nor Ryu were going to let this slide, so Gaku kept pestering him about it right up until they were going to perform on stage. And it was a for a good reason too, because they were worried about him and how he felt about the group. Thanks to that, we were able to have a precious scene of Tenn shyly admitted he considers them as friends, and Gaku and Ryu vowing no matter what burden he carries, they will support him and protect him. And if he will become a legend, they will become his trigger to do so. (SOBS) Yes, this is the wholesome content we all need. It just makes me so happy that Tenn has Gaku and Ryu by his side.

And then finally we have the third highlight: Mitsuki’s and Idolish7’s OG fans giving everyone a morale boost.
It just made me so happy to see Mitsuki be able to appreciate his fan this time, especially since she loved him even before he starting MCing. This is especially important because we saw how earlier Mitsuki felt too ashamed to face a fan. Now he can thank them with pride.

We also had our favourite I7 OG fangirl who has been responsible for promoting the group when they just started out and is also the admin of the Riku and Iori fansite. It was nice to see them encourage the boys to just be themselves, because that’s the best thing they could ask for.

I suppose an extra bonus would be that Sogo and Tamaki were able to make up, especially now that they now share a ‘common enemy’ as Tamaki puts it.

Next week is the season finale. Good grief, apart from Yamato’s shenanigans, I am still worried that another accident is still waiting to happen. That would be a sure way to end the season on a cliffhanger…

PS: Nagi, please don’t make me anxious about you suddenly vanishing when asking Tsumugi how she would react if any of them were to do such a thing!!!!!!!