We finally get into the play and I love how the first few moments of it actually made me feel like I was there in the seats watching the play. But man, the production for this play is so good. From having the characters fly around by being on wires, the sound design and timing, the giant screens, everything just made me want to actually see something like this in real life. Though I’m sure that it would cost quite a bit to see something as incredible production-wise like this. Going into this episode, I honestly didn’t know what I was in for. At first I thought we were just going to get a play-by-play of the entire play, but then I got something more.
PUT SOME RESPECT ON MY BOY MELT. My boy absolutely SHINED this episode where I am just blown away with the anime really blowing this part out of the water. I even went to look at the chapters this episode adapted to compare and the anime REALLY outdid itself with this one. Even going as far as to make Melt’s sword trick even cooler than it was in the manga. Since he just threw it up normally in the manga before doing his cool sword trick when he catches it. They really gave me so many reasons to like him in this episode and I had this feeling that I’d eventually like him after seeing him take acting more seriously after Sweet Today. But I didn’t expect him to make such an impact on me. Though it might be because I always resonate with characters who are actively trying to better themselves after realizing their shortcomings and to overcome them with hard work. So it felt only natural for Melt to just fly up my rankings.
I knew he had the potential to be a great character and boy did this episode prove me correct in that aspect. Melt’s story is actually fairly similar to Kana, but with different issues. Which is probably why I took a shine to both. While Kana’s fall from grace happened because of her terrible attitude and she had to essentially claw her way back into the spotlight, Melt has to prove himself worthy of being in the spotlight after a terrible performance thinking he was good. Because of that, I think Kana understands where Melt is coming from the best out of everyone. As both of them let their egos get the best of them and have suffered setbacks because of it. However, both are willing to put a large amount of effort to be redeemed in the eyes of the audience and in this instance, Melt absolutely nailed it.
We get to really learn the depth of Melt’s character and where he came from and why he is the person he is. I don’t even know how to touch upon what happened to him upon entering middle school… MIDDLE SCHOOL. That feels way too young to have gone through such an experience and the fact he doesn’t look happy about it makes it all the more disturbing. It’s hard to say if anything deeper from what he said actually came of that or he just gaslit himself to thinking “Oh, I must be popular” because of that experience due to an unreliable narrator. But I will leave it at that because that feels like way too much of a messy conversation to have and I am not well equipped to really talk about. Aside from that, Melt developed a mindset where he believed that all good things would come to him and he never had to try hard to achieve anything. It was this mindset and just being surrounded by yes-men that lead him down the path of believing he was fantastic at everything with little to no effort. Only for that to just bite him in the end after being humbled and shown that he was an atrocious actor.
While Melt overall still isn’t on the same level as the others in the play, he definitely showed us that he has the potential to eventually get to their level with the blood, sweet and tears he put into his practice. If he keeps going the way that he’s going, he’ll definitely make a bigger name for himself. To which even Kaburagi points out himself, which is why he pushed so hard for him. Which is honestly a very sweet sentiment, especially coming from him. Though it was a bit hard to see how many people were looking down on him and criticizing his performance. But to be fair, I think it’s not wrong to criticize something if you don’t feel like it’s not up the quality of the overall production. So I don’t think it was wrong for thinking he’s not good if he’s not. Especially in Yoriko’s case where it’s definitely within her right to criticize Melt after what he did her to drama adaptation with his horrible acting. So it makes sense why people wouldn’t have high hopes for him. Heck, I honestly didn’t think I’d see Melt after the first season, so the fact that he’s here only makes the overarching theme even more glaringly obvious: Second chances and redemption. And his redemption was honestly fantastic.
Sakuya is a creep, but I also understand where his frustration is coming from. From his perspective, Melt was just some kid who got the part because of connections and not his skill as an actor. And because of that, he has to lower his acting ability to match his so that his acting doesn’t stick out. For someone who has taken acting seriously and has cultivated this talent for some time, it makes sense why he would be especially hard on Melt. It isn’t until Melt shows Sakuya through his acting in their last scene that he HAS been putting in the effort that he finally earns the guy’s respect. Though at that point I couldn’t help but think that Melt didn’t NEED Sakuya’s respect since the guy is a freaking creep lol. But I suppose that being complimented by someone who is good at acting would help Melt see that his efforts were not in vain.
It was unrealistic for Melt to be good in all aspects of acting in the time that he had to practice, so setting him up to practice his absolute hardest in the scene where it mattered most was probably the best outcome per Aqua’s advice. And boy did he really put his all into that one scene, he even made Sakuya break character several times. He made sure that he had that his ultimate scene was polished to the fullest with both his stunts and emotions. And we know he put everything he had into perfecting that sword trick due to the practice sword’s grip’s color wore out where his hand would be holding it. I literally rewatched that part so many times because it was just freaking COOL. It reminded me a little of Zenitsu in the case where he couldn’t master all of Thunder Breathing’s techniques, but polished the one he was good at to perfection. Melt was able to find the connecting factor between him and his character and put forth all of the same emotions into his acting. The next step would definitely be able to draw out emotions of a character he doesn’t relate to, but that is definitely something he can work on later.
The abstract art sequence of his inner workings was also a beautiful display of animation. It definitely painted a beautiful picture of Melt’s evolution from a playboy kid who had everything fall into his lap to someone who is putting in genuine effort to be better at acting. For a hot second, I thought he would get a star in his eye, but I think it was more or less representing how he has the potential to have star eyes in the future if he keeps putting in the effort to get better. I feel like he’s similar to Kise from Kuroko in a way where he felt like he didn’t have to work very hard and had no actual passion for anything, until they found that one thing where they actually had to work for it. And yes, Kise is also one of my favorites from that series as well. But man, with that reuse of the start of the play from episode 1, you can tell they were saving the budget for this.
Melt is such a great character and I’m so happy that he was able to show so many people that he wasn’t the same lame actor he was in Sweet Today. He even got Abiko’s praise of bringing the scene in the manga to life. That is HIGH praise, especially from someone like her. Especially since Abiko didn’t even draw that scene believing it could be done in real life. That’s honestly crazy he was even able to pull off the feat. And while it’s hard to say whether or not Yoriko will be nicer to him now (since she might end up going down the route of “why couldn’t he have done this for my series?”), he was able to stun her into silence with his performance and even move her to tears by the end. Not only was Melt able to impress the original creator, but he was also his biggest critic. That’s probably the biggest accomplishment he could have done and I’m so proud of him. And that smile at the end? UGH, he’s so cute T^T. Good job, Melt!
