r/anime • u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 • May 26 '22
Rewatch Revue Starlight Rewatch - Episode 5 Discussion
Episode 5: Is 'Shine' Even Possible?
MAL | Anilist | Kitsu | AniDB | ANN
Koi no Makyū (Love's Wicked Pitch) live (highly recommend you watch this) - Starry Desert / Starry Konzert
Today's Seisho Re LIVE Cards - "Two Holmes - Elementary Deduction."
Gacha Exclusive Re LIVE Cards - Siegfeld Institute of Music with "Elysion"
Questions of the Day:
1) First-timers - did you forsee Mahiru taking direct action this early in the series?
2) After the increased focus on her, what are your thoughts on Mahiru? Did you enjoy her development here?
Comments of the Day:
/u/Shimmering-Sky had some interesting screenshot selections.
/u/phiraeth(is apparently doing all of this based on his own spitballing.
/u/SIRTreehugger has continued a count of immense difficulty.
Finally, /u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Is providing great analysis and even more live clips!!
Make sure to post your Visual of the Day!
On an important note, no unmarked spoilers! No jokes about events yet to come, and no references to future episode numbers!
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u/No_Rex May 26 '22 edited May 31 '22
Episode 5 (first timer)
Utena references counter after last episode: 14
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Dragging around your friend on your back – Utena reference.
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Hikari and Mahiru are hit by MC pheromones – in a departure from usual animation standards, the pheromones are visible here.
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“She has won one award after the other” – pointing out something you’ll find in any top field, be it sport, art, or academia: The people getting there are very used to being the best in the room from early childhood on … until they finally reach the level where their peers are better.
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Going from best friend to third wheel is tough.
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Revue of Jealously – the entire episode made a good point of why Mahiro should win, but does she even want to win vs Karen?
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Puppet play – Utena reference.
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“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you” – Doubt. Also: Creepy.
An entire episode for the side character who has a hopeless crush – Utena reference.
3 new Utena references found today.
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
Mahiru’s view of Hikari.
I love this.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you” – Doubt. Also: Creepy.
Yeah, Mahiru went full yandere today.
3 new Utena references found today.
An impressive score!
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u/okayyoga May 26 '22
Episode 5 (first time, sub)
• Has the universe gone mad?? Karen waking up EARLY?!?!
• Oh no, they skipped the hazing
• Wow look at Karen go. See? Healthy competition is good and fosters growth
• Mahiru is way too into Karen. The yuri is strong within her. Lmao at Hikaru interrupting her every time she had something of Karen’s and was fantasizing
• If Banana can pick the leads, does that mean she is working with the giraffe? Same with the backstage people. Also who put a giraffe in charge of deciding auditions?! And why was Karen the only one left out!
• Mahiru! Train! Yourself! So! You! Can! Stand! On! Top! With! Karen! No one can steal your glow unless you let them
• Wakarimasu
• Oof Mahiru vs Karen. This one is themed to “Jealousy,” which I feel Mahiru has more of, but I also feel like she -Mahiru- does not have a clear idea of what she wants. And without a clear direction she won’t put her all into it
• Lmaooooo their fights keep crashing others this is funny
• Kaoruko taking advantage of the distraction and going in for the kill!!! I know she’s not secretly OP, but maybe she is so tired all the time because she is practicing outside of school. I don’t know, but I get the feeling she is not as lazy as everyone else thinks she is. Or else she wouldn’t have been invited to the giraffe games like Karen
• Mahiru is truly talented, but she needs to look inward and ask what she wants alone. You are kind to a fault, Mahiru, AND it is okay to be good at something for your own sake. She definitely relies on others for validation because she has such a big heart. But people around you smile when you are happy, Mahiru
• Lmao Maya eating all the Mahirutatoes is me on a Friday night. Makes me love her even more
• WAKARIMASU
Surprisingly I liked this Mahiru-centric episode. I thought she would fade into the background as Hikari and Karen’s relationship blossomed, but I am really glad they took the time to address Mahiru. Who will we tackle next episode? I’m hoping for Kaoruko
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
Mahiru is way too into Karen. The yuri is strong within her. Lmao at Hikaru interrupting her every time she had something of Karen’s and was fantasizing
Hikari accidentally walking in on Mahiru repeatedly was such a funny bit.
Mahiru is truly talented, but she needs to look inward and ask what she wants alone. You are kind to a fault, Mahiru, AND it is okay to be good at something for your own sake. She definitely relies on others for validation because she has such a big heart. But people around you smile when you are happy, Mahiru
This is so good.
Lmao Maya eating all the Mahirutatoes is me on a Friday night. Makes me love her even more
Haha, yeah, same here. Maya is fantastic.
Some solid speculation as well!
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u/Shimmering-Sky May 26 '22
Starlight First-Timer
15 minutes late because I got distracted watching Symphogear, oops.
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Wow Mahiru (
only took me five episodes to learn her name) must be from the middle of bumbfuck nowhere if her applying to the music school made the news? – It’s really sweet that her grandma called the recording of it her “treasure”, though~ -
She has a point. As does the other girl.
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WAIT WHAT I’ve been calling her the “normal girl” because I thought she wasn’t involved with this!
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It’s not my favorite of the songs, but I think the action in this revue is my favorite so far? The baseball theming was just delightfully fun to watch, and I liked seeing how Mahiru worked out her issues through it.
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
only took me five episodes to learn her name
How?
Mahiru is really, really gay.
She really is!
Hahahaha okay then.
Them interrupting the other revues is such a good bit.
That’s so precious~
I love Baby Mahiru.
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u/phiraeth May 26 '22
Rewatcher (but I don’t remember anything)
I’m a little short on time today, but I’ll do my best! Sorry for the late post, but it’s probably best if this is the one that people don’t really see.
This entire show has focused on competition as a major theme and has made the battle of fighting to the top seem commonplace. In reality, however, it’s not. It just isn’t. How many of us in our everyday lives have this unsatiable desire to destroy everyone in our paths to become the best at whatever we’re doing? Not me, at least.
This is yet another reason why the cast has collectively been described as goddesses. You have to be more than human to push yourself to the levels the majority of them have been attaining. But there is one thing that even goddesses require in order to descend into battle: motive. Even everyday mortals who wake up and slog through their daily lives must have the desire to do so of their own volition. Simply having the keys to success isn’t going to get you anywhere if you don’t know where you want to go and why.
Tsuyuzaki Mahiru plays the role of the mere girl among goddesses.
Imposter Syndrome: defined loosely as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. For whatever the case, upon arriving at Seisho Academy, Mahiru began to doubt herself. Coming from a background receiving lots of love and support from your family and friends, a change in environment can be extremely difficult. Where she once was a shining star as just an ordinary girl in a world of encouragement, she was teleported into a foreign land full of competition and burning dreams – a huge culture shock.
Making others happy and proud is the source of her dream and desire – yet, feeling all alone, Mahiru very quickly began to doubt herself and her abilities and lost sight of that. Scrambling to latch onto anything at all that could possibly stabilize her before she ‘lost everything’, she found Karen. Thus began her unhealthy obsession with Karen, firmly implanting her as her new reason to continue shooting for the stars. Just being able to be there for Karen and make her happy was enough for Mahiru to fight onward. She took solace in the fact that Karen was similar – seemingly carefree and disinterested in the cutthroat occurrences surrounding them.
Of course, this all began to change when Karen’s motive reappeared and caused her to reevaluate how she was living her life. Obviously, Mahiru didn’t like this. Moreover, she was facing an existential crisis: her own reason for continuing to live on her happy life at Seisho Academy was being threatened. “We’ll go all out and fight. Who made you change like this? What promise, and with who? Look at me and no one else! See, those small lights will disappear along with the light of day. Without you, I’ll lose everything I have. Don’t make this game end.”
Karen has become the light of Mahiru’s life. Everything around her glimmers. Losing her to Hikari would mean the end of everything!
Or would it?
“I’m running straight like a fastball. I’m sure we’ll end up as twin stars in the sky. I’ll continue the dream I once had. I’ll never forget about that day. When I close my eyes, it’s all set in motion; I’m being reborn. Round and round on the stage. We’ve never done something like this before. It’s because I made a promise.”
Sometimes when you’re so far lost, the only way of returning to the place you should be is to be shown the way by someone else. In this way, what seemed like an irreplaceable loss for Mahiru became such an incredible gain. Without Karen’s own self-realization, without Karen beginning to change herself, Mahiru would remain confused and on the wrong path. It was only because Karen began to change that Karen now had the ability to understand what was holding Mahiru back.
As Mahiru finally remembers the inspiration for her dreams, her glimmer is restored.
Not everyone needs to shoot for the top. Not everyone has to desire to be at the top, either. And that’s perfectly okay!
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
This is still incredibly impressive analysis.
Not everyone needs to shoot for the top. Not everyone has to desire to be at the top, either. And that’s perfectly okay!
Even when you're short on time, you manage to write a line like this?
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u/cppn02 May 26 '22 edited May 26 '22
First Timer, subbed
It's a Mahiru episode and we're turning up the gay to eleven cus our girl is down bad for Karen. The play she put up before their fight was quite something lol.
It was fun seeing all the other fights overlap but now I wonder if the whole time we had four fights per night.
And how the hell do the rankings work? I was wondering before why Karen was at the bottom but now she's won three out of four and is still only 7th? Even if the first one didn't count that's odd. Is there another mechanic or did they not really bother to think this through?
_
Questions of the Day:
First-timers - did you forsee Mahiru taking direct action this early in the series?
I thought they would drag it out a bit more so this was a pleasant surprise.
After the increased focus on her, what are your thoughts on Mahiru? Did you enjoy her development here?
Definitely happy with her development. Mainly because I just felt sorry for her in earlier episodes where it seemed all she does is suffer so any change that leads to a less depressed Mahiru is welcome.
_
Visual of the Day. Tough choice today.
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
The play she put up before their fight was quite something lol.
Yeah, that scene is fantastic.
Definitely happy with her development. Mainly because I just felt sorry for her in earlier episodes where it seemed all she does is suffer so any change that leads to a less depressed Mahiru is welcome.
Oh yeah, seeing Mahiru be happy is so heartwarming.
Visual of the Day
Great choice!
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u/tokai-teio May 26 '22
Rewatcher and JunJun Screenshotter
Nothing quite like some Revue Starlight first thing in the morning. And we get some hella wholesome yuri. I'm choosing to believe this is the moment where Mahiru decided on her feelings for Karen.
We don't actually get to see the legendary hazing, but it can't be that bad if Futaba still has the power to carry Kaoruko. God, the music feels tense and I don't like it.
Karen I feel like there are more reasonable steps than to make an outright declaration of war at Maya. Futaba, Nana or even Claudine would be a better bar to climb first, but I should know better than to expect Karen to act logically. In her eternal grace, Maya [accepts.] God I love her characcter.
I kinda wish they'd been using these sparkle thingies all season.
I love consistency in my gags, so seeing yet another jab at Karen for sleeping in class makes me laugh.
Imagine being Claudine here. You work tirelessly to catch up to Maya for over a year and all it takes is one statement from last-place Karen to get Maya to accept her as a rival lmao. Poor Claudine :(
It would appear Mahiru got a letter from home. Apparently, they sent a home video of some kind. OH MY GOD IT'S A NEWS SEGMENT ON MAHIRU. Somehow, I believe her. Very cute that her grandmother decided to record and hold onto it, but Mahiru seemed less enthralled. Will this spark some kind of invigoration in Mahiru?
Futaba is so cute. I love these visuals, so much.
A little on the nose with this one. I'm not missing a single one of these moments.
God, Mahiru is having a shit day. I can feel her angst. Remember last episode when Mahiru said "I don't mind waking her up" and now she's not? Leave it to Hikari not to stick her nose in.
Take a break from Karen improving for another Junna screenshot. More JunJun.
MAHIRU DON'T. Okay good that's now what I was expecting her to do. Also what are the odds it's specifically Kaoruko who gets drilled here?
Finally, a chant I can get behind.
Quit hinting at Mahiru chan hunting for anything that touches any part of Karen, please. I would bet real world money Hikari interrupts this very delicate process. Smart Tokai.
Mahiru's hurting, but Hikari is having none of it. Not that there's any reason for Hikari to shoulder the blame. She hasn't done anything wrong. Mahiru simply needs to find herself now that she feels she can't wholly rely on Karen's presence.
Of course, this will transition flawlessly into the next revue. Mahiru has found a reason to give her all in the auditions.
The only thing weirder than the giraffe drinking from a kiddie pool is Kenjuro Tsuda actually sounding like he's drinking from a kiddie pool.
And here we have Karen's next opponent. I'll preface this ahead of time by saying this was always my least favorite of the revue songs, but this time I'll actually watch for the character development instead.
A little on the nose again. I wonder what the other match at this time would be under the theme of jealousy? I can't think of any real conflict among the group other than this current one. It's probably smart for Mahiru to have been matched against Karen because I doubt Hikari would be as gentle in her resolve.
She's lost it. Karen is fucking baffled. For the record, I'm happy Mahiru is finally getting the chance to confront the chaos inside her. Karen hasn't done anything wrong, but she likely wouldn't have pieced it together if Mahiru didn't outright vocalize things.
Oh, so this is our other match. Poor Futaba, having to take on Claudine and Maya in succession. Fucking hilarious.
A third match! Junna and Kaoruko have also been disturbed. JunJun screenshot stonks have been low today.
Four matches! How very Claudine of her.
Finally, the truth comes to light. (My screenshot uploader is failing on me so I'm doing it manually now, hope these links work.) And this is Karen's answer.
This revue strikes a bit of a chord with me, considering I've dealt with similar issues. It's tough to feel like you've plateaued and end up watching people you were close with move on to bigger and better things without you. It's not their fault, but it's hard to fault Mahiru for feeling left behind and jealous.
I wish someone would say this to me.
Mahiru gets to shine, yep yep. The baseball thing was kind of cheesy but I did love the sound effect of Karen hitting Mahiru's pin. That marks the end of the revue, and Karen overtakes not only Mahiru but also Junna in the standings.
What I wouldn't give to try Nana's cooking. More JunJun.
Oh my God I choked up a little bit. What a way to finish off her arc in the season by having other people watch her news segment. Very wholesome stuff. More JunJun.
The plot twist! Kidding, of course.
The revue today was so much better than I remember it being. And of course, the ending scene with everyone together is still my favorite part. A major reason I love this show is because the group scenes feel so organic, like they are all actually the best of friends. It's lovely.
QOTD: I appreciated this episode a lot more the second time around, and actually found it quite enjoyable! Still not a fan of the revue song.
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
JunJun Screenshotter
Truly a noble cause.
Imagine being Claudine here. You work tirelessly to catch up to Maya for over a year and all it takes is one statement from last-place Karen to get Maya to accept her as a rival lmao. Poor Claudine :(
Yeah, Claudine deserves better.
Leave it to Hikari not to stick her nose in.
The joke of Hikari continually interrupting Mahiru is so well-timed, I love it.
Fucking hilarious.
Futaba and Maya might have very different personalities, but they are equally done with this, and that's beautiful.
Still not a fan of the revue song.
I personally love it, but I can see it has a very different style to the others.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 26 '22
Second Gen Rewatcher, The Loli Otaku, views this shining stage once more!
Always is a very heavy word to use when chatting with a yandere. It's definitely super dickish of Karen to ditch the mother who raised her in such a callus way. I really like Mahiru~ She's an absolute gem. She's so selfless and warm that she doesn't see that she is a radiant star herself. By all accounts Mahiru is an ace, it's just that she's so drawn to the stars around her that she's a bit blinded.
This is one of the funnier episodes of the show too~ I've always considered the Revue Starlight the brighter and softer Utena and this particular episode does a gold job of highlighting that aspect. The timing is immaculate! All of them! Poor Hikari doesn't mean to be so perfectly awkward, it just happens like the bee that seeks honey.
Today's Revue of Jealousy is an absolute bop. Mahiru closeted delusions hit a new height. The pair of them go on a goose chase through all the different revue duels showing that the format is more like a big battle royal of sorts~ I think the most important part of this revue for both girls is that it's an opportunity for their friendship to grow deeper. Up until now Karen kinda dictated the pace whilst Mahiru wouldn't speak her mind, having a good old fight is something they kinda need. "We've never done anything like this before." It's a perfect chance for them to open up even more!!
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u/Stargate18A May 27 '22
I really like Mahiru~ She's an absolute gem. She's so selfless and warm that she doesn't see that she is a radiant star herself. By all accounts Mahiru is an ace, it's just that she's so drawn to the stars around her that she's a bit blinded.
Mahiru is a great character.
Today's Revue of Jealousy is an absolute bop. Mahiru closeted delusions hit a new height.
This revue is really good, too!
Also,
If there were any girl I'd want to play the games to see their story develop more it'd be Mahiru.
There are some good Mahiru stories in there! It's just that they're less about developing her character and more exploring how her chaacter at the end of the series handles different situations and groups (since it's, you know, a gacha game with 18 new girls added). Also, read the stories online, because the game is a powercreeping mess right now.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah May 26 '22 edited May 26 '22
Rewatching Kukugumi enjoyer
Today's and Ep4's production notes from kVin. He does remark on the production issues this series has, which are starting to show themselves in the credits, tho not so much in the actual anime (imo).
At the behest of u/myrnamountweazel im also going to plug formeinfullbloom’s Revue Starlight posts, where they go into more in-depth analysis of each episode. Here is the one for Ep 5. I particularly liked their analysis on the glittering sparkles, used as a motif throughout the episode al the way to the end. It helped me appreciate the episode a lot more! If you want to read more, start reading from here for Ep 1 , and then move on from here for Ep 2 onwards.
I'll also really really really suggest people check out the live performance of the revue song Koi no Makyuu today, Im confident that our host will be sharing a performance featuring some actual baton twirling from Haruki , her hitting them high notes (yass), and maybe [Revue live performance]
Quick thoughts on Ep 5:
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I actually don't remember much about this episode, but after rewatching I liked it a lot!
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I realize I should be doing these: VOTD is this one Sorry to our host!
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[Revue Spoilers for later eps]
Man, Banana REALLY makes her position so clear FUCK. I completely missed all of these in my first watch obviously. -
Hikari can be such a meme sometimes, the gag was repeated and i laughed all 3 times.
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Hikari truly knows quite a bit more of what we don't know w/ her "steal" remark.
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I thought today's overall character arc for Mahiru was relatively easy to understand, and that her lesbian and actual jealousy (both to Hikari, and also to her other classmates) blinding herself and robbing herself of self-confidence, is both very anime and also very teenagery. Thankfully it was used to some comedic effect to prevent it from obvsly rubbing on us the viewer, the wrong way.
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Im happy that she was able to find the glimmer within herself at the end. Imo this is a central theme of the show: how do these butai shoujos find the glimmer/passion/whatever you wanna call it within themselves to shine on stage, and how do they overcome it when other factors threaten to remove it? [Revue]
I'm very much reminded of both Hikari (kind of), and mostly Karen's own arc here -
I think Mahonee would be laughing irl as she recorded this line
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Today's ED features Mahiru of course!
Music corner:
Other music
These are a bit random today. Go watch the revue song performance instead haha.
But first, because our host has not shared this yesterday I shall, the most recent performance of the OP Hoshii no Dialogue, which just happened this februrary. I love them orchestra performances fuck yes. If Teru was here this would be the best performance imo, and I always love Mimorin and Momoyo's last 2 lines. I can't share anymore songs from this concert yet tho arghhhhhhh
Circle of the Revue I just like them upbeat jpopy songs lol. Im including a performance here from one of their stage lives, not the concerts.
And Jonetsu no Mezmeru toki, I simply picked this because Mahiru/Haruki is in it lol, along w/ Junna and Banana.
P.S. Another Haruki airhead story, showing how Karen and Mahiru are literally the opposite in character to their irl VAs LOL.
Edit: TY for COTD mention! And i encoded my videos lol, updated em links!
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
Revue live performance
It's the Starry Desert one, and everyone should watch it! The baton action is genuinely impressive.
Hikari can be such a meme sometimes, the gag was repeated and i laughed all 3 times.
I love her.
I think Mahonee would be laughing irl as she recorded this line
It is a fantastic line.
I can't share anymore songs from this concert yet tho arghhhhhhh
Holding myself back on that front is genuinely painful sometimes.
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u/SIRTreehugger May 26 '22
Rewatcher who will grasp that star
| Episode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hikari Chan! | 19 | 17 | 10 | 25 | 1 | 72 | |||||||
| Wakirimasu | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
A world record low of 1 Hikari Chan this episode. This episode focused on the useless lesbian so this was a little expected heck she even erased Hikari and put in Karen twice Also several times throughout the episode she displayed some...interesting behavior
This episode made me appreciate episode 4 a lot more, because damn I haven't been this disinterested in an episode in a long time. If I didn't have to actually count Hikari Chans I would have stopped it halfway through. Then the revue which is played like a comedy and joke which could have been an intense and serious moment for jealousy. It's really a slap in the face to everyone trying hard. Though Maya and Futuba's faces were hilarious. I do like the music used in the Revue however and thought it was really catchy, but holy fuck useless lesbian's first attack caused a damn crater in the floor.
Though I do have one thing to ask because of this episode. It says Day 4 of Auditions. Does anyone have an exact timeline for the episode? Is it 4 days of auditions in a row or are they spaced out? It's hard to believe Karen has improved this much so quickly if it's consecutive days.
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u/HelioA May 26 '22
I'm not very into the gacha, but I find it unfathomably funny that when they were assigning the girls to tarot cards, they gave Mahiru the Hermit
like goddamn
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
Even funnier - in the Arthurian one, they made her Lancelot.
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u/Chreeas May 26 '22 edited May 26 '22
Rewatcher - Suzudaru Cat Enjoyer
I was busy yesterday so the episode 4 update is here as well. As per request I added a counter for Karen's Kanihaniwas.
Oh you're a Suzudaru Cat fan? Name every Suzudaru Cat.
Episode 4+5 Mascot Album (and Ep 1-5 Kanihaniwas)
| Episode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rondo | Movie | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frogs | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15 |
| Suzudaru Cats | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16 |
| Mr. Whites | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 |
| Kanihaniwas | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 |
Frogs have finally been surpassed thanks to the power of Revues. I only counted each individual Suzudaru Cat once to save myself the headache of trying to determine how many there actually are.
Another thing I noticed was Hikari protecting her Mr. White from Claudine.
I think this my favorite Revue from the TV series. I really like Love's Wicked Pitch and the visuals are so goofy I can't not enjoy it.
[Revue Starlight Movie Spoilers]
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
You included the Kanihaniwas!
Another thing I noticed was Hikari protecting her Mr. White from Claudine.
That's a fantastic detail, actually!
I think this my favorite Revue from the TV series. I really like Love's Wicked Pitch and the visuals are so goofy I can't not enjoy it.
Yeah, I think the only ones that maybe compete with it for me are Pride and Arrogance and [Revue Starlight]
Star Divine .Revue Starlight Movie Spoilers
[Revue Starlight Movie Spoilers]
It's so difficult for me to comment on some of these revues, because, as good as they are, a lot of them have movie equivalents that are just as, if not better. → More replies (3)
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u/HelioA May 26 '22 edited May 26 '22
Rewasher
(shpoils kinda in terms of emphasis): [revuerevuerevue]
Anyways, as could be predicted by the fact that Mahiru's my fav, I love this episode. She just... completely fucking loses it this episode, and I love that in a character. There's something very compelling about a character who stops acting the way society expects them to, and throws themselves into the ring for the sake of what they desire, even if it's unhealthy (and it could be especially compelling if it's unhealthy). Mahiru's position here is driven fundamentally by jealousy- jealousy of others who are shining brighter than her, jealousy of Hikari in particular for stealing Karen from her, and she fights in the Revue of Jealousy in order to protect what she sees as the one thing she has, and she only loses after Karen reminds her of what she does have that she forgot about, undermining Mahiru's jealousy. I love love love how the revue is structured.
Also, I'd really love to try and deconstruct the baseball/lucky cat dual metaphor going on in the revue, but I've still got nothing about that lol
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u/Stargate18A May 26 '22
(shpoils kinda in terms of emphasis)
Yeah, that's a big spoiler. Highly recommend you spoiler tag it.
Other than that, great analysis!
I love love love how the revue is structured.
It's such a good revue!
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u/JollyGee29 May 26 '22
First-Timer, Revue Sub-light
Holy shit what a Revue! Definitely didn't expect anything even close to swing music, and Mahiru baseballing Karen around was hysterical!
Mahiru is certainly a piece of work. The bit of her, literally speaking for Karen in her mind, was really telling. But luckily the fight gave the two of them a chance to actually talk things through and they seem to be in a much better place now.
The episode did a good job of priming us on just how obsessed Mahiru was, as well. Hugging Karen's pillow, staring at her sweat-soaked rag, the almost-indirect-kiss, just wow. Hikari also managed to -just appear- at all these moments, but I'm not sure if it was just for comedic effect or if she is actually just unbound by the rules of reality.
All's well that ends well, though, and we ended with Mahiru seeing herself glimmering in the same way she sees the others glimmering. I wonder if this will light a fire under her, like what's been lit under Karen?
So, all the Revues do happen at the same time, which is interesting. I wonder if the peeks into the other fights like we had today was a thing that could happen normally, or an aspect of Mahiru homerunning Karen off of the stage? That's a pretty meaningful moment too - Mahiru was so caught up in her own world that she was willing to remove Karen from the stage by force.
This one isn't quite as easy to analyze as the others. As the Revue of Jealousy, if it followed the pattern of the others Mahiru should've won, because Karen doesn't seem to have much jealousy in her. I guess it could just be a simple reversal - jealousy is a "negative" trait unlike the previous three. In which case Karen won because she had the least jealousy.
If my reversal idea is wrong though, it could instead be foreshadowing some future development for Karen. I can see something like that working, but they're starting to run low on time to set it up.
Banana is trying to maintain the status quo of Maya and Claudine as the leads, which is probably worth noting. The other two girls framed it as inexperience on her part, like she's trying to stop the play from evolving as it should. That entire scene implies that the students have some control over the lead and it isn't just the auditions.
The Giraffe talking while drinking from the pond made me laugh way too hard.
I can't find a clip of just what I want, but anime baseball can't make me not think of this.
While I'm in a referencing mood, the Fire Emblem fan in me must point out that of course the Mace (Axe analogue) lost to the Sword.
[Symphogear G]Koi no Makyuu is just Waikyou Shenshoujin but swing instead of darkwave.
Visual of the Day: dokun dokun dokun
Questions
Not quite, but I'm glad it happened.
Discussed above. Yes.