We finally got to meet one of the other four members of F/ACE, and that’s Ouri… who’s as two-faced as you can get. Princely my ass.
We already knew that Tamon doesn’t really have any relationship with his unit members, but goodness, Ouri’s definitely a piece of work! So it’s really funny and very satisfying to see Utage not tolerating his bullshit and the way he bullies Tamon. She has a good way of constantly putting him in his place by effectively reminding him that she cares less and less about him each time.
Unfortunately for Tamon, it’s been decided that they’d have a competition among the F/ACE members to see who’s the right fit to be center for their next song. To top it off, it’s a lyrical ballad about heartbreak, which immediately puts Tamon at a huge disadvantage because he absolutely blew the first round due to not understanding the sentiment behind the song. Like… his idea of ‘heartache’, (which was the theme of the first round), couldn’t have been more off the mark for the song.
It doesn’t help that Tamon had always felt insecure having been chosen to be center for their unit, but despite that, he does actually enjoy his role. That’s why when this event was announced, it actually made him cry because he felt so frustrated about potentially losing his position. He has been working hard to do his part, but the threat of suddenly losing that spot was quite demoralizing to him, and he honestly didn’t know what to do.
And then we have Ouri, who’s the ambitious gloating type who’s hungry for the center position. He wasn’t taking it well to see how Utage is the type of fan who will not budge whatsoever. In-fact, he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact she just unflinchingly stands up to him. He’s definitely jealous of her unwavering commitment to Tamon, especially given that she still fully accepts him as Gloomyhara. So he thought it’d be a fun idea to strike a bet with her to be forced to come to his side if he gets the center position. But we’re definitely going to see that come back to bite him with the way he’s attempting to poach Utage to come to “his side”. Tamon really doesn’t want to disappoint Utage, and hearing his colleague say that to her in front of him may serve as a trigger to change that.
And we do see that much in episode 4, where Utage actually ends up impulsively accepting a bet against Ouri. To her credit she had immediately realized that was not fair to Tamon and assured he didn’t need to worry about the outcome of the bet. But on the flip-side, this was sort of the urgency Tamon needed to really kick himself into gear. Seeing Ouri challenge Utage to “come to his side” (which, even if he did win the bet, is never going to happen because Utage takes her job seriously), we saw that awaken the possessive side of Tamon– which was honestly, quite an eerie moment. But it does go to show us that to him, Utage is more than just a house-keeper/proxy manager.
We see this happen again later on, (though this time, it not so much in a possessive manner) when he returns from getting them some snack and beverages and announces he’s her boyfriend– without his wig and mask to boot. Thankfully that was only Ouri at the time who was speaking with Utage and not someone else.
Without a doubt, the the sweetest thing about this mission to “learn about love” was the way both Utage and Tamon went about it. At first Utage wasn’t going to agree to it, but with how earnestly he asked for the favour, she couldn’t say no. I think the wildest and funniest part was the initial idea Tamon had of festivals in his head. The whole time he was talking about it, I was like: DUDE, WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THESE IDEAS FROM?! I mean, he was going into this expecting to witness dramatic love and all that jazz!
For Utage, there came a point when she realized he was getting overwhelmed, and decided it’d be best if they approached this in a way he could enjoy himself in a normal way. After-all, this was one of the few rare occasions he actually had a day off. Utage really wanted Tamon to have the chance to experience an ordinary night as a teenage student. It was also the first time she put aside her role as a house-keeper/manager, and suggested they try to enjoy the rest of the festival as friends. I thought that was such a wonderful thing to do, especially since she remembered how Tamon envied students his age being able to do things he otherwise doesn’t have the luxury of doing now that he’s famous.
I think it also says a lot though how lonely Tamon must’ve been to not really understand how friends interact with one another. Initially he actually thought it’d be appropriate to refer to her as “Master Kinoshita”– though hilariously she didn’t actually shut it down, it was more like, ‘Why would a literal God refer to me as Master?’. She ultimately suggested to call her Kinoshita, but in the end, Tamon ended up settling with calling her “Uta-chan”– which was naturally not good for her heart, hahahaha!
But you know what I also really love about Utage? Besides the fact she’s super cool (how can you not love her?), I appreciate her ability to not just be super professional about her role, but she was actually able to briefly turn off her otaku filter and see Tamon as a guy. And that happened when she realized what he really needed in this moment, especially since she remembered that experiencing ‘ordinary things’ is something of a luxury for him (and something he quietly longs for) since he has become famous.
I also think it was a beautiful moment when she was able to explain to him that he actually does know what love is, or at least a form of it. His earnest efforts are all to make make his fans happy, smile and like him, she describes that as love. So it wasn’t as foreign as he thought it was, but the answer was right in front of him all long.
Though it was really funny to see that he felt in that moment he was in love with her, only to be immediately shut down and reminded “it’s the camaraderie of pretending to be friends, but not really.” –which damn girl, that’s COLD. But she did that in fear he’d think he’s in love with her, which she’s really being careful about to keep that line drawn between them. Even more so since he had already told her she’s special to him.
On the side note, it was really funny to see the clever way they showed Ouri was following them. Actually I laughed so hard when he entered the frame the first time, because I immediately recognized his shirt and realized it was him before he backtracked to get a closer look at the two. It even was even more entertaining to see how he was just at loss of what their relationship was considering it obviously wasn’t a date, but at the same time it looked like it could be? I did feel frustrated on Tamon’s behalf though that Ouri actually beat him to the punch when he told Utage that she looked nice in the yukata. Tamon been struggling so hard up to that point to tell her how pretty she was. Though much to my relief, Tamon didn’t just give up because of it, but rather found the courage to not only try to stand up for her (when he thought she was being hit on), but also say how he really felt. So I’m glad he didn’t chicken out on that. Good for you Tamon!
In the end, after all of that effort… the second round of this competition ended up being a freaking pool episode! I can’t even! Will Tamon actually get his shot to show that he understands love (a bit better) again?!
