Despite this being a fairly serious and emotional series, they sure don’t pull any punches with the comedy because this episode was a RIOT. I already loved the comedy from Kaguya-sama and they really bumped up their comedy game to 11 with this series. I was absolutely dying at so many points in the episode and it was just an utter delight. Most of it being at the expense of Kana, but that’s why I love her lol.
I was honestly really curious as to how Kana was going to respond to being scouted as an idol. Though I admit it was both cute and sad how she tried to temper her excitement when Aqua asked her to talk, thinking it was going to be a possible confession. Gurl please, you guys met once on set as children and then didn’t come back into contact until more than a decade later. CHILL. It’s pretty obvious Kana has a case of the feels for Aqua. Whether she realizes it or not is a completely different topic though. After her hopes were dashed by realizing it was Ruby who wanted to talk to her finally gets asked if she wanted to be an idol with her. And as I suspected, the immediate answer was no and she gave some pretty valid points on how becoming an idol would set her acting career back a bit. However, you can tell that the decline of her acting career took a toll on her self-esteem as she doesn’t consider herself cute enough to be an idol. Girl, you cute as heck.
Before getting into the episode, I had a thought that the reason Kana would most likely agree to become an idol is if Aqua asked her to… AND LO AND BEHOLD I WAS CORRECT. But the thing that sent me into a fit of laughter was the absolute perfect comedic timing of Kana screaming that she won’t become an idol to a cut of her signing the contract with a sound effect that just tickled me. Though it does kind of rub me the wrong way a little by how manipulative the action was by Aqua basically calling her a pushover and using it to his advantage even if everything he said was the truth.
We get to dip our toes into how Reality TV shows work in Japan. I think we all know that reality TV shows generally aren’t as real as they claim to be, but it is interesting to see how they’re run. At least in Japan. It’s very interesting to see that they generally just let the participants chat however they want and the only thing they really need to focus on are the placements of the cameras and be aware what angle they’re being shot at. I do wonder if that’s all they’ll have them do or if they will end up raising the stakes to whatever could happen on this show. Considering how Aqua is acting out a normal, preppy high school student, it’s hard to tell whether or not the participants are genuine. Especially since they all come from different parts of the entertainment industry. It becomes especially evident when Yuki shows off a more calculating side of her despite calling herself timid. In regards to the audience, it makes sense for the participants to cater towards what they would want to see on screen while keeping some of their true traits hidden.
I’m glad they addressed Aqua’s feelings in regards to Ai. Despite the rather sussy vibes he gave off back when the series just started, there does seem to be a bit more complexity to them. I’m glad that they don’t seem to be explicitly romantic… at least I don’t think it is. It almost feels like way he puts Ai on a pedestal as someone far above his reach came into conflict with how he essentially became a close family with her. I don’t even know how to fully explain it and hopefully they’re able to delve into it more in the future. However, it is quite evident how much these feelings and experiences are tying him down. It’s always interesting to see that whenever Aqua is talking with someone, he’s always shown to be in the shadows while the other person is in the light. Possibly showing how the other person is more naive or pure in a way and isn’t weighed down by intense negative feelings like Aqua is. And while it was rather blunt and unintentionally insensitive when Yuki suggests that he needs to get over his feelings for Ai, I do think it is a necessary thing that needs to happen for him. Though it is very complicated since he doesn’t seem to want to continue once he gets his revenge. But that is a can of worms we won’t open today.
I really want to believe that Kaburagi isn’t another sleazy guy in the industry. Though some of his dialogue just isn’t doing him any favors. Like how does he know Ai’s relationship with guys? Bruh, please don’t be as shady as your dialogue has the viewers believe.
Not only do they delve into Reality TV, but they also touch on Youtube streamers, which makes me giggle. I totally forgot about the little tidbit of Strawberry Productions producing internet personalities from the second episode. Despite Kana bringing up some valid points about internet attractive being difficult, Miyako comes in saying that’s what the company has been promoting since the dissolve of B-Komachi. Which makes Strawberry Productions the perfect production to get an internet start up. Especially since I do feel like it makes sense to collab with a popular internet personality to be able to get a foothold into the spotlight. But I was not ready for the sheer ridiculousness of freaking Pieyon. When I saw him, I immediately though of Pien who is just as ridiculous as Pieyon. Though I definitely prefer Pieyon since Pien freaks me out. But oh my gosh, I was also not ready for the scale of manliness from Pieyon’s exercising theme. And I absolutely LOST IT when it showed Ruby and Kana doing the exercises alongside Pieyon. Just as Kana said, he truly lives up to the exercising channel he runs. Gotta respect the hustle.
Despite running them ragged, I couldn’t help but feel really happy for Ruby. Considering where she came from in her previous life, the fact that she’s able to exert herself to the limit like this and be able to move around must mean so much to her. Not to mention she just seemed so much like Ai in this moment as well by being so happy and positive during a very strenuous event. Ugh there goes my heart again.
However, after Ruby decides to have the group be called B-Komachi, the same name as Ai’s group, I can’t help but feel really apprehensive about that. Taking over the name B-Komachi is pretty risky. I watched a different anime a while back and it showed the drawback of taking on a previous group’s name where fans of the previous group got angry since they weren’t the original. And for sure, some if not a lot of Ai’s fans are not going to take this well. It’s bound to stir up some controversy in some form or another. Though I’m sure that in return it will garner them a lot of attention. However, it will be determined whether or not the good and bad reception will even out or one will stand out above the other. I know it’s not Ruby’s intention to correlate this sort of attention and that she’s doing it in honor of her mom, it just doesn’t feel like a good move overall. Though considering her naive nature, it makes sense to not think of the possible repercussions that could come out of this. With lying being the main theme of this series, Ruby’s naive disposition of wanting to be genuine rather than depend on tricks and lies shows a stark contrast to the theme. We already witnessed the repercussions what lying causes with Ai’s death and I do wonder what will happen to Ruby if she wants to continue without lying. Hopefully nothing terribly bad, but you never know with this series.
With how cute and funny the interactions with Kana and Aqua were, I was curious to see how Kana and Ruby can bounce off each other. They started off on the wrong foot with Ruby constantly mistaking/purposefully bringing up the baking soda situation. Though I’m sure they’ll get along fine. Especially since they always seem to be on the same wavelength when it came to their ire of Aqua taking part of the reality dating show. Despite how they often clash, it seems like things are starting to change between them. Especially in regards to how Kana may be viewing Ruby now after witnessing her go through that grueling exercise regime for an hour. Not to mention that Kana KNOWS that Ruby will make a name for herself in the industry in time since she has a similar vibe to Ai… I wonder why lol. Their dynamic is already fun to watch since Ruby is so optimistic while Kana is more realistic. I’m eager what their relationship will become like in the future as I would like them to become friends.
I was not expecting how absolutely hilarious this episode was. THE COMEDIC TIMING IN THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD. First it got me when Kana was screaming there would be no way to convince her to be an idol, only for it to show her having signed the contract to be one a moment later with a freaking sound effect that felt way more funny to me than it should. And then again when the music immediately cuts out when Pieyon says how much he makes a year just from being a streamer and Kana has to apologize for underestimating him lol. Also whenever Kana uses her delinquent speech, it always cracks me up. There were just so many good moments in this episode that had me cackling. It was such a nice pallet cleanser from the dark and melancholic aspects of this show and I’m absolutely living for it. I’m not looking forward to the negative feedback from the group name, but this show is just so interesting how many different areas in the entertainment industry it touches upon and the characters’ stories that I can’t help but see what happens week to week.
