After everything that transpired in episode 6, Utage’s head is a mess. On one hand as a loyal fan, she see and has a problem with the way Tamon’s seems to be directing all his affection towards her specifically. She likens it to “devaluing his fame” so to speak, which what led to her giving him an ear-full following the possessive shit he did and said. On the other-hand, she got an inkling that he may be developing strong feelings for her, but she’s still in deep denial about that, for understandable reasons. She has always been careful and hyper aware of the dangerous of fans delusions.
This is why during the outing with Tamon, it was difficult for Utage to really have fun during her usual “Tamon Ritual” routine she typically does with her friend. With how much Tamon has grown to care for her personally, the line between them that separate professional relationship to friendship or something more rapidly blurring. So Utage was really trying hard to show Tamon how his efforts of working hard is something all of his fans appreciate, not just her. She wants him to know how cool he is, which is why she decided maybe it’d be a good idea to invite him to his F/ACE documentary of their center competition. While he didn’t watch it because it was too painful for him to, it wasn’t in complete vain. Just seeing how much she lit up just watching showed Tamon what Utage appreciates the most. And while it sucks for him that she’s reluctant to take gifts (like the dupe rare Kappa Roll that he likes to collect), and she didn’t show the same joy while they were hanging out together, what did make him happy was knowing he has a fan who’s as earnest and committed as she is.
And while on the subject of fans, interestingly it was addressed in episode 6 about the side of fandom that’s absolutely batshit insane. Unfortunately Keito’s the one who has an uncomfortable number of fans who are just that. From stalking him, breaking and entering, invasion of privacy and so on forth, it’s not hard to understand why Keito has a wildly different opinion of his fans when he’s stuck with a load of bad apples. It’s also why as crude as he can be about it, this is his earnest way of looking out for his fellow members. He doesn’t want them to be suffering from the same ordeal that he’s dealing with. That’s why he had Tamon, Ouri and Utage all rounded up in his house so he could get answers on what their relationship is, and why they’ve been seen hanging out in public together.
Fortunately as wild as Utage is as a fan, she’s faithful to the order of conduct and is takes her job as a housekeeper very seriously. And as she had pointed out, the manager did in-fact request her to add helping assist with Tamon as a proxy manager so to speak because she had done so much to help him improve. And of course because of that, she was the first person the manager thought to turn to when their part-timer bailed on an upcoming job that they need helping hands for.
The job the manager needed Utage to do was be an extra helping hand for a shoot that’d take place over several days. It’s much harder to hide Tamon’s true nature when they are have to stay overnight at places, and there’s staff that’s not in the know of how the group dynamic actually functions off camera. That’s where Utage comes in, as she knows 3/5 of the members’ true faces. Utage as one would expect was completely committed to her job as an assistant. She did all the grunt work that was required of her without any complaint. And this was important particularly for Keito to see, as it proved that she’s committed to doing her job properly, and not seek to abuse it like problematic fans would if they were in her position. It was why Keito finally accepted her within their circle. In turn, thanks to being close to them, she was able to come to discover that despite Keito’s harshness, he really does care for Tamon. He knows about the things he likes and doesn’t like, which he points out to her to help maintain his role as Hottiehara.
And then we have Ouri, who increasingly been falling for Utage week by week. This episode, he finally came to realize his desire for her to ‘look at him’ isn’t to just become his fan, he wants her to look at him, as a person. He was shellshocked when he saw Tamon and Utage on the beach, mistakenly thinking from the angle he was standing that they had kiss. If there was ever a moment to put a name to the feelings that has developed towards Utage, Ouri definitely figured it out right then and there.
As for Tamon, likely because they are presently working that he has to be more cautious with his action, but he has toned down his approach to Utage to some extent. He wants her to know that he is paying attention to her, which is in part why he was the one who ended up finding her first (only to get stuck in the shed with her) after she had gotten locked in (no thanks to the director having rigged it for opportunity). Tamon wants to let her know that he notices how much effort she puts into not just the job, but making the banners for him as a fan. And it it does touch her heart, because it is meaningful to see your efforts being acknowledged.
It’s uncertain to say right now whether Tamon’s aware whether he’s actually falling for her at the moment. When it comes to the race of one knowing how they feel in their heart is love, it’s Ouri’s who’s undoubtedly in the lead. But I can’t imagine things are going to pan out well for him, as Utage’s heart is not about to be swayed in his favour.
Extra Note: I’m still under the weather at the moment, so with the exception of Love through a Prism (because all of its entries have been written up in advance) all of of my entries from Sunday are going to be delayed at least until the weekend now. If it comes down to that, then yes I’m going to have to release double or triple posts for some. Sorry for having to put them off a bit longer, I’m going to try my best to try to get them out soon!
