Oh no.. oh no no no no no no… I knew this sort of thing was coming. Everything was essentially leading up to this, but it didn’t make it any less stressful. This was probably the last thing I read in order and just started jumping around reading specific scenes lol. The happy sadly had to end and thus, the drama we’ve all been waiting for and was stated at the start of the season is finally commencing. Not that it’s anything to celebrate, but we’re finally on the road to see what exactly happened and BOY DID WE GET AN ANSWER.
But before we delve into the drama, I want to appreciate the happy times first. Iori finally got the boys to focus on figuring out what to do for the theme song with Idolish7 in charge of costumes, Trigger with dance choreography and Re:vale taking the reigns on the composition of the song. It was the ultimate collaboration that took the strength of all three idol groups… Well, two of them at least. Not sure if costume designing are Idolish7’s strongest suit, but they are a creative bunch so I’m sure they’ll be fine. The part that had me rolling was just how stressed Yuki was over composing the song. I was actually feeling pretty grumpy after writing up my Digimon post as that series is currently the bane of my existence, but seeing grumpy Yuki just lifted my spirits almost immediately. And I laughed pretty hard over how Yuki was just so done with Riku’s change requests. The guy is in the middle of a mental breakdown and Riku just comes in and asks for some pretty outlandish changes lol. Made all the more funny when Sogo comes in and Yuki immediately thinks it’s Riku and starts pinching his cheeks. Poor Sogo lol. Also Tenn attempting to dance to a beat only for Yuki to message and change it. Grumpy Tenn also helped lift my spirits XD.
While it was a small scene, I really liked the moment between Mitsuki and Tamaki. It was subtle, but I feel like it highlighted both of their growth that they went through last season. Instead of just doing things that Tamaki found fun, he’s now taking his job seriously and is putting his best into what he does to make others happy. He’s not being selfish anymore and is putting others’ feelings ahead of his. And I love that he acknowledges that Mitsuki has been putting his all into trying to make others happy and he wants to be someone like him. It was so heartwarming to hear Mitsuki tell Tamaki he wished he could help him tune out the mean things people say about him. Especially because Mitsuki had to go through the pain of hearing so many complaints about him in the second season. He knows how it feels to have people dislike what he does despite the effort he’s putting in. However, Mitsuki was able to pick himself back up despite it all thanks to Nagi and now he’s able to be a support for Tamaki and boy was that headpat adorable.
Because of that adorable transaction, Yamato gets inspired to try and do the same with Nagi. Out of everyone, Nagi is probably the most mysterious and is probably dealing with a lot of his own baggage secretly. However, Yamato knows how it feels to be bogged down by personal baggage and wants to be able to help out Nagi especially with how much he’s helped him and cared for him. Unfortunately, Nagi dodges the question, which is a bit disappointing since we saw just how much telling the other guys about his past helped Yamato. Not to mention that allowing the others to hear about it, helped them all get closer to each other. And while Nagi loves everyone in the group, it still feels like he’s keeping them at arms length, not allowing them to get to know him better. Which leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Though I admit I laughed when Nagi just took a picture of Yamato while he was trying to be genuine with him. Even if it was a tad inappropriate.
I can’t say too much in regards to Sogo’s interest in composing since I know where it leads. But I will say that if Sogo is interested in composing music, Yuki is definitely the best mentor for him in that regard. Sogo’s love for music came from his uncle and of course the anime wouldn’t let us see his face, the cowards and him dabbling into music composition would be the next best step. And what Yuki brought up is true, Haruki’s compositions are limited. It won’t be long until they run out so someone has to take up the mantel in composing their songs unless they hire someone else. Though that does make me wonder what would become of i7’s music if they were to change composers. Though I guess I already know since I listen to their music lol. But it makes me wonder what the fans in universe will think of the shift in music that is bound to happen. However, I do think this will be a good experience for Sogo as well since he had held himself back from so many things growing up and I’m sure he will grow to love music even more if he learned to compose music. Not to mention this could be the first thing that Sogo creates himself. I’m rooting for you, Sogo!
But dang, these boys really had to stay up for 24 hours… Well, more than 24 hours since they were already up and about before they were hurled into this situation. When it showed Yuki coming into the room looking as if he’s going to die, I felt that. I’ve also got to give my kudos to the managers as they had to stay up with their boys so they could keep an eye on them. Thankfully, this last minute all nighter proved to be successful as they were able to put together everything they needed to accomplish within the allotted time. And for some reason, I had a feeling Happy Creation was the song that Yuki was composing but then was like: wait, but wouldn’t the song need to have all three groups singing? So I retracted my guess to Welcome Future World as the song… only to be right with my first guess when Yuki started playing the song he composed. Initially I was like: Wait, why are they using this song with only Idolish7 and Re:vale- Oh. Which will lead us right into the other, more sinister part of the episode.
We get a small revelation of Haruka having been trained by Kujou at one point, only for him to be considered as a failed project when Tenn asks about him. Which explains a little as to why Haruka believes Tenn will be dropped eventually. We then switch over to see just what Haruka is up to… Plotting with the rest of this newly formed group that has yet to be named with Ryo. Ryo has officially been appointed the president of the Tsukumo Productions and immediately wants to make an example of whoever crosses him. Thankfully i7 isn’t being targeted this time since they’re too new. Though that doesn’t mean they won’t get caught in the crossfire… However, Ryo sets his sights on taking either Re:vale or Trigger down. It’s left up to a vote between all the members and of course Toma wants to sacrifice Trigger due to his misplaced blame on the group, which saddens me. Minami votes for Re:vale from a more logical standpoint of wanting to “remove popular figures quickly.” Torao didn’t care, which left the deciding vote up to Haruka and OF COURSE Haruka would choose Trigger. And thus, the plan for Trigger’s fall has officially commenced.
The scene between Yaotome Sr and Ryo was pretty interesting. Considering it ended up being a battle between two terrible people. It’s not everyday we see Yaotome Sr try and negotiate with someone even worse than him and the dynamic between them was rather intriguing to watch. Especially when Ryo essentially demands Yaotome hand Trigger over to him. We were made aware early on that Yaotome Sr is indebted to Tsukumo Productions and was being financially backed by them. We knew this would eventually become one of the reasons for Trigger’s tragic fall and Ryo made it very clear that Yaotome Sr would be putting himself in firing range if he refused his demand. And of course, being the prideful man that he is, Yaotome Sr gave a definitive NO on handing Trigger over to him. Which was probably something that Ryo had been hoping for as it cracked Yaotome Sr’s polite facade for a brief moment. And I have to admit that it was hilarious that Yaotome Sr told the manager to throw some salt around the office after he left.
He calls in Momo to talk to (who ends up bringing Yuki along) after his rather stressful talk with Ryo and boy did we get a lot of information. The Athletic Club that Momo talked about in episode 1 is brought up again and was actually the thing that Ryo was interested in. It also explains why he had Torao approach Ryo in the first place and was probing him for information. He believed that Momo’s little club was a modern day Chiba Salon and in a sense, it kind of is with a bunch of people in the industry gathering together. However, the biggest difference is that the Athletic Club was made for people in the industry to gather together and have fun. Though there is a risk that it could end up turning into something like the Chiba Salon over time.
But hoo boy… Yaotome Sr is going to end up eating his words when this is all over. He is heavily underestimating just how much Ryo is capable of. In a sense, Yaotome Sr was always the hunter. But now he’s most likely going to end up being the prey as he’s letting his confidence blind him from a big threat that has him in their sights. As much as I’m sure everyone wants to see Yaotome Sr fail, I don’t think anyone wants to see him be defeated by someone like Ryo. Especially at the cost of Trigger. And Momo is completely right that his attitude and unwillingness to change is going to end up biting him in the rear eventually. Most likely sooner than later. It’s a battle of power and fear and considering we already know that Trigger is going to fall, Yaotome Sr will most likely end up realizing his mistakes. And I must say, this could be an interesting chance for Yaotome Sr to get character development. Once the method he’s put all of his faith in fails, he may be left with no choice but to change. Which would most likely do some good for those around him.
Man, they really came out here swinging at poor boy Ryu. Fairly early on, I feel like they put a target on his back with Ryo having Torao meet up with him to see if he was a leader in the modern day Chiba Salon in episode 3. And in that same episode, Torao mentioned that Hanamaki was having trouble with her agency and set them up to meet some time. Not only that, but Ryo is making his move against Trigger and seeing Ryu meet up with Hanamaki is rather… concerning. We’ve been made aware in episode 2 that she’s not doing too well at Tsukumo Productions and wished to leave. And I believed it when it was first brought up.
However when Nagi insisted on helping Hanamaki with her situation and instead of seeming relieved, she started panicking. Which is like: RED FLAG, RED FLAG. And then several more red flags were raised when Hanamaki stated that it NEEDS to be Ryu who helps her. Girl, if you weren’t sus before, you sure are now. And man, for Ryu to try and negotiate Hanamaki’s position over the phone was BAD. Something that tedious should never be done over the phone. Especially from their side of things, it did look like Ryu was trying to “steal” her and bring her over to Yaotome Productions… which is exactly how that situation was misconstrued as it showed up later in the local paper that he was “madly in love with her and forced her to transfer.” This was a pretty obvious set up on Ryo’s part with Hanamaki most likely in cahoots with him in one way or another. Most likely through Torao considering he was the one to bring her up to Ryu in the first place.
This whole thing was foreshadowed all the way back in episode 2 where Hanamaki was talking to Riku and Iori about her situation and then Riku offered for her to transfer to Takanashi Productions. This is most likely what Iori was trying to prevent Riku from doing as he stated that the transferring of agencies are an extremely delicate manner and if handled the wrong way it would lead to severe consequences. And that is exactly what Ryu is experiencing right now. The fact that the series early on put spotlight on Ryu basically foreshadowed to this moment. He was the one who would help Trigger become stronger, but ironically ended up possibly being the start of their downfall. Ryu definitely had good intentions, but his naivete and goodwill was taken advantage of and used against him. But not only that, they even foreshadowed Ryu’s naivete in wanting to help someone by talking to the other party for them in episode freaking 1 of this season when he was talking to Sogo. Freaking Idolish7 and their foreshadowing game.
Way to have reality just hit us upside the head this episode. It was too good to be true for the happy times to continue. Lots of stuff went down this episode and we’re diving head first into the aforementioned fall of Trigger arc. I guess that’s the reason Happy Creation ultimately only has i7 and Re:vale singing in it as Trigger most likely will be cut out of the broadcast for that song due to this scandal. It almost feels like Yaotome Sr’s methods back in season 1 are being used against him here. Though the difference is that Ryo isn’t digging up dirt on their pasts, but orchestrating situations that are being made to make Trigger look bad. But man, I feel really bad for Ryu. He’s going to feel TERRIBLE about this happening. While it may not have been his fault that this happened, he still made the mistake of getting involved with an entertainer’s transfer. And like Iori said before, taking someone as popular as Hanamaki is going to incite the wrath of the entire industry. This most likely will have everyone turn against Yaotome Productions. Everything we’ve seen so far this season has been slowly accumulating to Trigger’s inevitable fall and I am not ready to see it come to fruition. We also have some of Nagi’s baggage coming up to the surface with this new guy showing up and being a “troublesome acquaintance” of his. Ah Idolish7, when you get the drama ball rolling, you never roll it down an incline, you just drop it from a skyscraper lol.
Also, the new character’s voice was driving me insane because it was so familiar… only to find out that it was my dumb punny basketball husband’s voice in Kuroko. Gosh dang it…
