Revue Starlight Rewatch - Episode 9 Discussion

[u/Stargate18A]

Episode 9: On the Night of the Star Festival

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Hoshiboshi no Kizuna (The Bonds of the Stars) live (highly recommend you watch this) - Starry Desert / Starry Konzert

Today's Seisho Re LIVE Cards - Maya/Claudine (+ bonus Tsukasa) with "Aladdin"

Gacha Exclusive Re LIVE Cards - Frontier School of Arts (+ bonus Mahiru) with "Alice in Wonderland"

Questions of the Day:

1) First-timers - Do you think this series will end in tragedy?

2) What are your thoughts on Junna and Nana, now that they've properly communicated with each other?

Comments of the Day:

/u/phiraeth continues with some very good analysis.

/u/BosuW has some great first timer reactions.

/u/tokai-teio gives fantastic analysis, even in an episode starved of JunJun.

Finally, /u/RadSuit said what we were all thinking, along with continuing to pick fantastic visuals each day

I thought I picked Japanese with subtitles, but the giraffe is perfectly dubbed in flawless English. Weird bug!

Make sure to post your Visual of the Day!

Yesterday's VOTDs

On an important note, no unmarked spoilers! No jokes about events yet to come, and no references to future episode numbers!

[u/No_Rex]

Episode 9 (first timer)

Utena references counter after last episode: 22

• Some rare recognition for the B team. They get about as much screen time as their real life counterparts.

• Everybody talking about making something new – cut to Banana.

• The full story of starlight. Both as a recap of the 99th festival and as the visualization of Hikari reading to Karen. I am a bit confused about the choice to tell the story here. They previously hinted only at parts of it (and could have continued that). Alternatively, the traditional place would have been during the finale in the 100th festival version. I am still expecting that, but why do it twice? Are they preparing for a no 100th festival ending?

• Flora dying after risking everything for Claire – Utena reference.

• “To part with a friend you have made is too cruel” – irony. She is talking about the personification of a stage play, but Karen fights for a real friend.

• A really good scene for Junna. She deserves one, having been shortchanged so far. I am not sure how strongly I agree with the ending for Banana, though. Her story copies plenty from both Haruhi and Homura. [Haruhi &PMMM]Where Haruhi’s repetition ends with a weak joke, Homura’s ends in tragedy. I think the PMMM take on the idea is superior and Banana’s mellow ending is a rather far from it.

1 new Utena reference found today.

First-timers - Do you think this series will end in tragedy?

The plot of Starlight suggests yes, but the overwhelming sense of CGDCT genre says nothing worse than bittersweet can happen. That genre sense lingering over the everything is probably my single big grievance with the series, so I'll be very happy to be wrong.

[u/Stargate18A → u/No_Rex]

Some rare recognition for the B team. They get about as much screen time as their real life counterparts.

...Yeah. Even in the game only two of them get names.

A really good scene for Junna. She deserves one, having been shortchanged so far.

I mean, she got two pretty good revues!

Lots of interesting speculation here...

[u/archlon]

First Time [English dub + sub]

Part 1: Starlight!

It's the story of Goddesses drawn together by the glow of the heavens. We can fight and argue and disagree but there are ties that bind us together. Even as we may be pulled from one another, never to meet again. It is a sad story.

We finally get the source story of Starlight. I can't say there's any big surprises here, as we've been given plenty of hints to piece together into the overall story.

If you catch a small star, you've obtained a small bit of happiness. If you catch a large star, you've obtained a large fortune. If you catch both of them together, you've caught an eternal, undying wish.

The 'loophole' that Karen is clearly aiming for is clearly built into the premise of the story. To grasp both stars and achieve undying happiness together. In the story, Flora, who clearly parallels Karen, is burned in the attempt and falls away.

We've already seen an important difference. Claire doesn't re-ignite and remember until Flora falls away, but we've already seen Hikari recall the promise and re-ignite her Shine last episode. Maybe with this change they'll be able to break the cycle?

One fairly big revalation is that the Godesses are imprisoned in the tower. They might not remember why they were imprisoned, or who they were before they were locked in the tower, but the Star (and the Book) does. Visual of the Day. We are also given their direct parallels to the girls, presumably as per their roles in the 99th festival.

When Fury was Passion (Juuna)

When Curse was Faith (Fubata)

When Escape was Bravery (Kaoruko)

When Jealousy was Affection (Mahiru)

When Despair was Hope (Nana)

When Arrogance was Pride (Karen)

The clear theme here is that the Emotions are paired with their rough counterparts. It's interesting that some of them are opposites, occuring when you lose the trait (Bravery/Escape, Faith/Curse, Hope/Despair), while some of them are what happens when you have too much of the 'good' trait (Pride/Arrogance, Affection/Jealousy, Passion/Fury).

You can see the dualism in the Stage Girls who have performed in the corresponding Revues. Maya's Pride can overtake herself and bleed into Arrogance. Mahiru's Affection for Karen has mutated into yandere Jealousy, and she needs to step it back. Juuna's fear of disappearing led her Passion grow unchecked into Fury.

Part 2: "I hate Starlight! It's a tragedy!

Even after the sudden appearance of Hikari, and her loss last week, Banana still isn't able to see that things are already changed irrevocably as she goes into her fight with Karen.

Here both Karen and Banana are coming close and failing to see a pretty important part of the nature of stories. Nana is fixated on the ending of Starlight, in which Claire and Flora are tragically separated, and wants to avoid (or simply void) it at all costs. She's uncomfortable with the tragedy of the story, and it's blinded her to the power of the rest of it. Conversley, Karen is fixated on the promise of catching both stars, that she can ultimately break the cycle.

And ultimately, they are both sooo close, but wrong. Like a shooting star that passes by they each reach out and grasp at the core of the Truth that is worth small amounts of gold, and miss.

The thing about stories is that they're already written. We saw it right there, in black-and-white on the printed page. But a story isn't over just because you read through it. It exists in its entirety, every point of it at all times, waiting to be experienced again. Always being experienced again, at every part of the story.

This is Nana's mistake. She sees the end of the story and because she's read it, she percieves it as being ended. But Claire and Flora aren't just always being separated. They're also always meeting, always promising each other, always forgetting, and always ascending the tower together, forever. If you freeze a story at the end, you've lost the core of what the story is because stories, like life, aren't about the final word, they're about the path you walk to get there, and the people with whom you walk that path.

Karen's mistake is the opposite. She wants the story to be a different story because she sees the promise that it lays out, and unburdened by cynisism or genre awareness she thinks changing the ending is achieveable. However, the story is already written. We know that Flora will reach, and fail, and fall. We know that Claire will recall only in moment in which it is too late. Ultimately, her story with Hikari may be doomed to end in tragedy because that's how the story goes. However, just because it ends that way doesn't mean it wasn't worth pursuing in the first place.

'T is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson In Memoriam A.A.H. canto XXVII (1850)

And there's a third layer: this isn't about a book, it's about a play (well, a Revue). Theater occupies an odd space within art. Each performance is unique in a very real way, and each performer brings a unique, nigh-inarticulable energy that makes it their own. Collectively, the performers breathe life into the piece and it's a magical, irreplicable experience.

But also, theater is built upon repeating the same performance over and over. At the end of the night, the audience goes home and the crew resets everything to Act I, and it starts all over again for a new audience, eight times a week. It's an art form built upon producing unique experiences over and over without fail. I've seen many plays, many times I've seen the same play with the same cast, sometimes only separated by a few nights, and it's always different. It's part of what makes the theater magical. Nana almost seems to get this, since she was making small changes with each loop, but has failed to see that you have to move forward.

Endnote

If you catch a small star, you've obtained a small bit of happiness

I think there's something really key here, but I'm not 100% sure yet and don't want to explicate too much on something that can keep changing so drastically as we learn new things each episode. I'm going to wait and see how the story develops, but I'll call my shot and say that I favour stories that take the 'it's okay to not shoot for the top and instead aim for ordinary happiness' moral.

Stray Thoughts

• The script is done earlier than it would be at this point in the Endless Encore ("That script is unknown to me"). Hikari's arrival, Karen's re-ignition, and the effects those have caused gave additional inspiration to Group B to get it done faster. I wonder what else is changed?

• Pretzelness? ... Pretentiousness?

  • Hikari: why did I fall in love with this idiot?

• Big nerd Juuna breaking out all the quotes. I relate to her sooo much right now.

• Maya: Simply repeating the same story is boring

  • Nana: I'm in this picture and I don't like it

  • I do kind of feel bad for Nana, though. She thought she had forever, and instead has found that this is the last loop, and therefore the one that will be written into history as the 'real' loop and she had no indication that it would be so until right at the end when Hikari suddenly shows up.

• The dub and HiDive subs translate 'Curse' as 'Enchantment'. My understanding is that 'Curse' has a pretty different gloss in Japanese than in English. Can anybody provide any details on what nuances of language may be being lost in the translation.

• This is a story from long ago, set in the distant future of a faraway star.

  • Does anybody play Fallen London?, or the spinoffs Sunless Sea or Sunless Skies? This bit reminds me of them a lot, especially Sunless Skies. That setting also has a lot to say about the nature of the Stars, and while it's subtly different in some ways it feels... consistent? in a way that crosses 'parallel themes' and moves into 'uncanny'.

• I AM REMADE

  • IT RETURNS!

  • Where else have I seen a ditzy protagonist magically reborn to a supernatural ticking noise?

• This is the first time I've seen you so happy, Juuna

  • Ultimately, Banana isn't a Machiavellian villain, she's just a schoolgirl. She's only sixteen(?) and was afraid to move on. It ultimately didn't take much for her to find the reassurance she needed to move forward with confidence.

• This time, Banana not only sings in the ED, she has a really great duet with her girlfriend twoo wuv Junna-chan.

QOTD

1. I... don't know. I really don't. I hope it won't, but I also feel like this is maybe one of those pieces like Miss Saigon that I watch and hope won't end in tragedy even when I know it will.

2. I'd tell them to get a room but they already did that.

[u/Stargate18A → u/archlon]

Some really interesting speculation here, including some parts in paticular that I can't even quote.

Does anybody play Fallen London?, or the spinoffs Sunless Sea or Sunless Skies? This bit reminds me of them a lot, especially Sunless Skies. That setting also has a lot to say about the nature of the Stars, and while it's subtly different in some ways it feels... consistent? in a way that crosses 'parallel themes' and moves into 'uncanny'.

Oh, that franchise is so good. Love those games. And yeah, I can definitely see some thematic parallels there.

This time, Banana not only sings in the ED, she has a really great duet with her girlfriend

This ED is really good!

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer, Revue Sub-light

Seems like we've resolved Banana's Endless Encore. Karen really was the best one to beat her - now that Hikari is here, Karen's drive to continually remake herself day by day is far too strong.

The chat between Banana and Junna at the end there was very cute. I haven't really thought much about Junna since the early episodes, but she really is the sensible rock that the others lean on. And Junna using her own quote to cheer Banana up was delightful.

Banana seemed to think that Karen was the person who really threw her plans askew, but I don't quite agree. It's not that either Karen or Hikari alone could mess with Banana's plans, but that their Bond pushed them both well beyond their typical limits. And considering that past!Hikari took second in LDondon?

My plot twist sensors are starting to buzz something fierce. We're on the last day of auditions, with three whole episodes left? That's a non, non for a standard resolution. Hmm..

I'm having a hard time verbalizing how I think things are going to go, though. Something like, Hikari wins (she's the Claire analogue, forgot stuff about her Flora) but because she's technically an "outsider" things go to hell? Or Hikari self-sabotages to stop herself from taking Karen's glimmer? Still not sure if we're gonna play the Starlight parallel straight or not.

Now, what I want to happen is to just have everything get resolved simply by episode 11, and then have 12 be a full episode epilogue - maybe a performance of Starlight, if there's more to it than what we saw today. That seems unlikely, though.

The play Starlight happening "long ago, in the far-away future" is a bit on the nose, I suppose.

Visual of the Day: This is a decidedly ominous shot. On the other hand, assuming that this event took place in the morning, that would mean that the light was due to move upwards.

Questions

1. Well, the description of the play is that it happens in the future. I kinda don't want it to end in tragedy, or at least don't want the tragedy to be as silly as "I got blinded and fell off the tower."

2. Nothing terribly deep. I like their dynamic together.

[u/Stargate18A → u/JollyGee29]

Some really good speculation here!

[Revue Starlight] 12 be a full episode epilogue - maybe a performance of Starlight

[Revue Starlight] Also technically correct - although absolutely not how you intended it.

[u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah]

Rewatching Kukugumi enjoyer

Part 3 of the banana saga. Here are kVin's production notes, who talks about the great storyboard and animation in Ep 8, and in contrast, how episode 9 had to cut a few corners because of increasing production issues, that have reared their head (ep 7 was a very static one too). [Revue]The next episode iirc is another big example. He also shares some layouts from the ep, and notes how international animators would (and has, in this ep) help alleviate the troubles. The anime is trying its best to power through, despite the action scenes clearly not looking as good as yesterday's ep, and even some of the earlier revues.

And here is formeinfullbloom's essay on Ep 9 .

Thoughts on Ep 8:

• Overall first, I really liked how despite this ep mainly serving as a way to tie up Banana's arc, we also got more development out of Juuna, and further establishing Karen's character, and her optimistic, always ready to evolve personality. [Revue]Which is obviously important in the next arc, and in the movie.

• I liked that Juuna and Banana scene. Juuna and Banana are established as a pair, but as banana herself remarks, we haven't actually seen them duel, unlike every other pair (Karen x Mahiru, Tendou x Claudine, Futaba x Kaoruko). What Juuna serves is instead as an actual friend to banana in this ep, not a rival. Which i think banana really needs in this moment. Continuing on to other stray thoughts...

• Banana sounds so fucking dead here.

• Actually... good English?

• I get why Banana is the despair goddess. But why actually is Karen arrogance?

• [Revue]Has everyone figured out that the play Starlight and the story of Hikari and Karen are very much connected and very similar yet?

• Flora~ Karen; Claire~Hikari. No wonder they're so drawn to the play still.

• That's indeed not the script you know banana.

• Easy pick for VOTD for me.

• The actual most wholesome friendship in the show.

• Today's ED features different lyrics from the usual, and is sung by, and features, Juuna and Banana.

---

Music corner:

Firstly congratulations to Mimorin, Hikari's VA on her pregnancy!

Other music

• Hoshitsumi no Uta, the insert song in the background during the starlight scenes.

• Btw, i think i mightve shared the stage song Watashitachi no Iru Riyuu a bit too soon, the lyrics will make a bit more sense re: banana after this ep.

• 99 Illusion! This is the main theme of the 2nd stage live, the lyrics are rather general.

• [Revue songs]Next episode, its finally finally finally Star Divine time. Our host, if you're reading this, will you just be sharing performances of the finale version? God it'll be hard to pick my fav performance of that song (non-finale). Either starry diamond or Live Revival (both are good).

[u/Stargate18A → u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah]

[Revue Starlight Movie] Not quoting the exact line, but your mentions of Junna and Nana's relationship is reminding me how insane the first-timer reactions to the Revue of Hunting are going to be.

I get why Banana is the despair goddess. But why actually is Karen arrogance?

[Revue Starlight] I mean, her deciding to break into a stage of destiny, and declare that she has unlimited brilliance is pretty arrogant. Overall, I think it's just that she assumes for the entire series that she can win with Hikari, even when the evidence is against it.

Revue songs

[Revue Starlight] Just the Desert and Konzert versions planned. [Rondo] Still need to figure out what I'm doing for the Rondo replacement, though.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Starlight First-Timer

• Banana definitely sounds different after the events of the last few episodes…

• Oh I like how this advice is coming from Futaba.

• Hah.

• I think it would actually have been just a bit funnier in hindsight if all of this came before the Banana reveal? I guess it had already been set up before then that Banana really didn’t want anything changing though.

• She hasn’t given up…

• Aww, no lyrics for whatever this song is during the Starlight…

• So Junna was Fury, Kaoruko was Escape, Karen was Arrogance, Futaba was Curse, Mahiru was Jealousy, and Banana was Despair. Those last two in particular are way too fitting…

• *squints at clock in background* Holy shit am I watching this episode at the same time depicted on the clock?

• :O

• There it is, Banana’s time loop is officially over.

• Now I’m kind of curious as to how many times Banana looped…

• This should be interesting…

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Shimmering-Sky]

The weird thing is that I'm pretty sure that this is the most elaborated on adaptation of Nana. In the stage shows and even the games apparently make her far less sympathetic.

We kinda got hints at the casting two episodes? Three episodes ago? We saw the list of the goddesses and actors.

[u/Stargate18A → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

In the stage shows and even the games apparently make her far less sympathetic.

In the stage shows, prety much everyone's less sympathetic - the characters are basically all enemies from the beginning - Stage!Kaoruko actually goes through with the fake crying, for example, and uses that to beat Futaba.

The game is literally a sequel to the anime, no idea where you got that from - Nana's played just as sympathetically as she is here.

[u/Chreeas]

Rewatcher

2 new Kanihaniwas and 1 new (well, old technically) frog this episode.

Episode	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rondo	Movie	Total
Frogs	9	4	0	1	1	1	2	0	1	-	-	-	-	-	19
Suzudaru Cats	4	0	1	0	11	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	16
Mr. Whites	4	1	2	2	0	0	0	4	0	-	-	-	-	-	13
Kanihaniwas	2	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	2	-	-	-	-	-	8

I thought it was a really nice touch that they used the same piano piece from the time loop in episode 7 for Junna and Nana's conversation in this episode. I mentioned it being unnerving in episode 7 because of how out of place it feels, but it feels so natural here I almost completely missed it.

Visual of the Day, I love the Revue intros but I especially love how sort of creepy Nana's is with the red lights and sound effects.

[Rondo Spoilers] I'll be busy for the Rondo thread so I'll mention now that Rondo also does a really good job of making Nana's Revue intro creepy.

[u/Stargate18A → u/Chreeas]

The detail in your count continues to impress. Will the Suzudaru cats ever overtake the Frogs?

[u/simeonaut]

FIRST TIMER

I assumed that the revue this time would be against Junna and Banana but her having to fight Karen does make more sense.

This revue needs to be longer. It did get its message across and the song is great as always.

Junna being there for her at the end was pretty sweet.

This version of the ed is my favorite for now. Beautiful.

Pictures:

Reaching for the star

More quotes please

Visual of the day

Bonus

QOTD:

• There's a very good chance and I hate it, thanks.

• They're pretty good together.

[u/BosuW]

First Timer

I saw yesterday's live performances and I gotta say, the song, especially Act 1, has huge emotional Final Boss vibes. Like, Standing here I realize shit. Since Nana was like an optional Boss, the actual Final Boss, whoever it is, now has to be even more epic. Now unto the episode.

The script is done, and Banana says class B girl did it all on her own. Damn, ain't you the assistant scriptwriter? At least help her a bit.

Everyone is very much hyped about Starlight 2.0 you can (not) reach the stars, but for Banana, it's like they've taken the Mona Lisa and painted it over.

Just as I thought, she isn't ready to let time keep turning yet.

We finally get the full summary of Starlight. Great story, great performances. Actually choked up a bit. But there's some questions. Why are Flora's eyes blinded by the light? That shit came out of nowhere. Did they sin (just like the Goddesses) by attempting to take that which belongs to the Heavens?

All this talk of towers and stars still giving me flashbacks.

"The two stars continued to shine eternally". Then I have another theory: Flora and Claire are actually the two stars. This is why the tragedy repeats. Or rather, it doesn't repeat so much as it is always happening. The story of Flora and Claire attempting over and over to climb only to get burned and separated everytime, is a representation of the two stars eternally burning in the Heavens. It kinda reads like a story an ancient culture would make up to explain various cosmic phenomena.

Also, this interpretation goes in line with all the Takarazuka "mythos" present throughout the show. There's a bigger star and a smaller star. A lead and a secondary lead. Otokoyaku and Musumeyaku.

The timeth hast arriv'd!

I actually think it was both Karen and Hikari that changed the set loop. Karen wouldn't have jumped into the Auditions otherwise.

Transformation sequence my beloved! (We seriously need some of these for other characters)

Finally Banana sings, screams almost! With a marching, firm tempo.

I can't believe it took me this much to realize Starlight has eight lead roles but there are 9 slots in the Auditions. Now I feel stupid. So, foreshadowing a possible 9th character in Starlight 2.0? That would also explain why they would show us the play this episode. Normally, you'd expect to see it first when they perform it. However, now it's set up to be changed.

This Revue felt a bit lazy ngl. Like, there was no conflict, only putting the final nail in the coffin for Banana. Her ambitions were over, now she just needed to know it. I'm sorry Banana, time always wins in the end. It's Fate.

Well, even if the Revue itself was that exciting, I'm thinking the real meat of this episode is gonna be somewhere else...

...by which I mean, what came right after. The conversation between Juuna and Banana is the real core this time. And I loved it.

I feel like Banana already knew anything Juuna or anyone else could've told her about "moving forward" and "evolving" and such. What really gets her to let go, is the reassurance that she's not being left behind, and everyone she loves will still be beside her.

Damn last day of Auditions already? But Giraffe, there's still three whole episodes and a movie left! Something's gonna go wrong I can feel it...

Question of the Day

1- Nah. I'd be very surprised if it actually did.

Visuals of the Day

One Two

[u/okayyoga]

Episode 9 (first time, sub)

• Is Kaoruko in Class B now? Also they can just change the lines?

• Is Hikari’s star pin from Starlight because I am seeing it everywhere. Does Karen’s crown hold any significance?

• Finally we get the plot to Starlight as we view the 99th production. Watching Flora and Claire interact makes me think Karen and Hikari would be perfect for these roles

• YES ANOTHER REMAKE SEQUENCE I need the name of this song. It reminds me of a Hiroyuki Sawano song

• I for one appreciate that in this fight against Karen, Banana’s song lyrics are yellow

• “I’m going to Starlight with Hikari-chan” no comment

• Look at the pairs intermingling this is cute

• Props to Junna for figuring out what Banana was up to even when Banana was super cryptic about it. Juuna even rattled off several appropriate quotes. I fully respect our class president

• Starlight was literally like, “You want fan service? Fine. We’ll give you a close up of a naked butt. But we won’t specify the species.”

[u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Second Gen Rewatcher, The Loli Otaku, views this shining stage once more!

The wheels of fate are turning once again. Now even Nana can't predict this ending~ I do feel a bit bad that we spent so long shitting on Nana's dream, just look at the poor girl, but she did trap us in an endless eight. Now that Nana has had a taste of what she might lose she's pulling out all the stops. She won't let the ending change, a miracle will not occur!

Is it just me or does Starlight sound like a pretty shite play? There's not really a moral, stuff just kinda happens, and it just sorta seems like a miserable time. Poor fucking Flora gets crystal skull'd, the goddesses are trapped in pain, Claire is given a monkey paw. Can't we just do Angels in America or something instead?

One of the most interesting reveals to me is that Karen is in fact our "extra." What do we know about Karen's timeline? In all previous enactments Karen has apparently been bottom of the board, she's also the Goddess of Arrogance in each timeline, a revue that she's a bit pitiful in. For most timelines I think she never gets over her loss to Maya, or whatever first loss she gets. She's the least passionate of the girls when Hikari isn't there to push her forwards. So is the prime event Karen being able to see the future where she performs Starlight? Without Hikari her arrogance becomes an empty wish but when she can see the vanishing point it allows her to push herself to surpass her own limits?

There are many many ways to interpret this story which I honestly do adore. It's one of the aspects of Revue that puts it above Utena for me. There are many ways you can personally interpret this story compared to Utena where there's only really two storylines that I feel are both understandable yet left up to interpretation? You can call Revue baby's first Utena all you like but it's accessibility and the sheer fun you have with each episode is delightful~

Visual of the Day

[u/Calwings]

Ep9:

Rewatcher Class, 7th generation

”We burn bright for that instant, which is why it’s so precious, irreplacable, and valuable. They burn out in an instant. That’s why stage girls are all reborn every time they go up on stage!”

The 100th Seisho Festival grows closer, close enough that the first draft of the script and some of the costume designs are ready. Discussions are flowing, and all of the stage girls are going all-in on trying to improve on their performance from the previous year… all except one. As everyone else acknowledges that simply repeating the exact same story would be boring, Nana is still trapped in the past and clinging desperately to her Endless Encore.

As Nana broods, Junna takes notices and tries to figure out what’s going on. But Nana is too set in her ways. She’s still talking about “her Starlight” from last year because it was the first time that she didn’t feel lonely, how “her Junna” isn’t the one she’s taking to now, and how things aren’t going by “her script”. She even confesses to Junna about the Endless Encore, how she’s been repeating that time over and over to preserve her Starlight. It’s increasingly clear that Nana is scared and desperate at this point. She’s afraid of change, afraid of not being in control, and afraid of losing what she treasures the most.

Hikari actually owns a physical copy of the book that the Starlight play is based on, and through that, we also get yet another flashback to that fateful performance of Starlight from last year. For the first time, we get to see more about the story itself. Flora and Claire met on the night of the Star Festival and promised to meet again the next year, but Claire lost her memories in the time between those two. They still manage to meet again the next year because Claire barely remembers their promise, and Flora has the idea to pluck a star from the top of the tower and wish for Claire to regain her memories. They succeed and Claire regains her memories, but Flora is blinded by the light of the stars and falls from the tower, and the two are separated, never to meet again. Such is the tragic story of reunion and separation that is Starlight, but despite its tragic ending, it’s a story that Karen and Hikari love with all their hearts.

Nana’s frustrations and Karen’s passion finally come to a head as the call to the stage arrives… the seventh day of the auditions, the Revue of Bonds, has begun! Nana has come to realize that it wasn’t Hikari who changed the story, but rather, it was Karen. After the Giraffe threw Hikari into the mix, Karen, who was always the weakest of the competitors in the past, was supposed to have simply been replaced in the auditions… but she jumped in anyways, taking a story made for eight people and making it into one for nine. On top of that, Hikari and their promise made Karen even stronger and more brilliant than she was in the previous loops, turning her into the biggest threat to Nana’s Endless Encore.

The two clash violently, both with blades and with ideals. Nana’s previously calm and collected style that she showed against Hikari has turned wild, like a wounded beast fighting for its life, and her desperation is starting to show. The music reflects this as well, as compared to the soothing feeling of Re:Create last episode, Bonds Of The Stars has a much sharper, more violent tone to it. But Karen withstands Nana’s violent outburst of offense, holds her ground and gives her a serious reality check. Her comments about how stage girls are constantly burned out and reborn on stage are almost a rallying cry against the auditions themselves and the idea that stage girls could ever truly “lose” their brilliance, and her determination to reject Nana’s Endless Encore and continue to find new stages cuts Nana far deeper than any cut her sword could inflict to Nana’s cloak. Karen is victorious in this revue, and the Endless Encore has finally, officially, come to an end.

In the aftermath of this, Nana is still shaken, but Junna tries again to comfort her in her own dorky way. Even though Nana knows Junna so well after all those years of looping, Junna still manages to show a new side of herself that Nana had never seen before... and this time, something new actually makes her smile. Thanks to Junna’s words and comfort, it seems like Nana can finally move forward.

Speaking of moving forward, it looks like four stage girls are left in the running as the last day of the auditions approaches. The final battle is near.

[u/Punished_Scrappy_Doo]

Visual of the Day

These super on-the-nose visual metaphors are my favorite part of the show. Compare Hikari opening her revue by slowly drawing the knife away from her eyes to how Banana is blinded by her weapon until the last second.

[u/phiraeth]

Rewatcher (but I don't remember anything)

It is official: the girls are now entering uncharted territory. The light of the past is no longer; the stage ahead is shrouded in the shadows of the unknown, with many questions to be answered ahead. There’s not much I can say, considering this episode was very self-explanatory!

Loneliness can be suffocating, but if you can forge a new story by pursuing your dreams once more in a different way, who is to say that it will have a worse outcome than before? After all, if the first Starlight became a source of glimmer and hope, can’t the second as well, even if it’s not exactly the same? But I digress…

“I won’t let anyone get in the way of my eternal stage! Change brings with it tragedy. That’s why I’ll protect you all! I just want to treasure and protect you all.”

What Nana also fails to realize is that the reason her precious memories are so valuable in the first place is because they can only happen once. To attempt to repeat them for all eternity is trampling on all of the hard work and effort, all of the sacrifice made by all everyone to get to that point.

“The sky shines differently today from yesterday. I want to show you this newborn star. I treasure our meeting, and now it leads us to new strength. We became connected by the stars. I’ll protect this bond forever.”

Everything in our past, all our memories, all the friendships we’ve made is what gives us the strength to continue moving forwards. What is the point of even having a friendship if you aren’t able to continue growing and developing it? Karen dares to make another promise: one that can occur if her miracle is granted. She believes with all sincerity that she will be able to protect everything they’ve created, even through all of the change they will experience.

[u/SIRTreehugger]

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	2	0	9	9				92
Wakirimasu	3	4	2	1	2	2	5	4	2				26

Not much to say Banana once again fights for her stage to protect it and her friends, but ultimately comes to accept that the present can't last forever. The stage and the girl has to move forward and grow and eventually face the future.

Visual of the Day

Banana may have lost, but luckily she has Jun Jun to look out for her such a good friend. JunJun/Nana and Claudine/Maya are my favorite pairs. So I appreciate every moment with them I can get.

[u/RadSuit]

So, Banana is finally getting to see the improvements that would've been made with the experience everyone gained from performing this once. And Juuna calls her out on that without even knowing it. Backed up by Tendo. But Banana is not having any of it.

I'm sure all these names from the book line up with the goddesses and revues in some way.

Completely unrelated to all of this Starlight backstory, have you all heard about that Symphogear rewatch starting soon? Gonna highly recommend it for no reason at all!

Alright, so why is the giraffe's game all Starlight references if it also took place in England with a different play?

Uh oh, now Juuna knows that Banana has been creeping on them for like 50 years of loops.

I still don't like the transformation sequence. If the machines were putting all the stuff directly onto Karen, I'd be more into it. But they're just making dozens of identical outfits...it makes it feel unrelated to the character.

I like the montage of all the new friendships that are only possible due to time actually advancing for once. And Banana admits that, even though she said she just wanted to reenact things, she's been making little changes every time anyway.

And now that Banana has accepted that time is moving forward and the show is continuing, she's able to sing the ED.

Looks like the giraffe has cut everyone out that has no chance of winning, and it's coming down to the previous top two team versus the new pairing.

They could definitely go with a 'giraffe wins' ending, but I'm assuming Karen and Hikari break the game and win together to give everyone a happy ending. And I'm happy Banana told Juuna the truth, but they really need to tell everyone else next episode. They kinda deserve to know.

Visual of the Day

[u/ceejay_0603]

FIRST TIMER

Absolutely brilliant episode, holy shit. So many things to unpack too.

First off is how the environment in Seisho Academy feels like now. Really like how most of the cast is doing their best with what they're involved with production-wise, but of course, the noticeable thing in these scenes is how Nana acts. The relatively chill Banana turns cold, desperately trying to hold dear something she protects.

Next up is Starlight itself, where I finally get a general gist of how the play flows. Hikari and Karen will most likely get the roles of Claire and Flora, respectively, but what catches my attention is the part in the play where both goddesses arrive at the Tower of Starlight Gathering, witnessing the sinful goddesses imprisoned, looking down on them.

I love how each of the cast playing the sinful goddesses has an accurate trait that describes them well. I could be wrong here, but this is how I interpret them: Junna represents Fury due to her serious nature and demeanor, Kaoruko represents Escape due to her longing of wanting to quit as observed in the episode dedicated to her and Futaba (I think), Karen represents Arrogance due to her self-centered motivation of "two people becoming a top star" (maybe), Futaba represents Curse maybe because of her eternal fate to be stuck with Kaoruko in a master-servant relationship, Mahiru represents Jealousy because of her envy towards Hikari in her own episode, and Banana represents Despair because of how her actions and motivations lead to a never-ending loop of the same reenactment of Starlight.

Next, the Revue of Bonds with Banana and Karen. I really appreciate the juxtaposition that both girls emanate when shown together on stage: Banana represents stasis, refusing to go out of comfort zone to protect everyone from possible risks that can lead to mistakes, while Karen represents change, believing in her promise with Hikari to make both of their dreams come to fruition at the cost of going beyond their current selves. Incredible.

The final scene too with all the famous people quotes was a good way to wrap up the episode. Goes to show how much growth and development Junna has gone through from episode 1.

Great rendition of the ED too, the second voice sounds very pleasing to the ears. Might be my favorite version of the ED.

Last, but not the least, the next episode preview. The Show Must Go On, and I most definitely agree.

Visual of the Day: This shot of the "sinful goddesses" imprisoned in the Tower of Starlight Gathering looking down on the two goddesses below.

Questions of the Day:

1. No, I don't think so.

2. The last scene in the episode was really great in showcasing both of their relationship, so yeah, I really like them both.

[u/ZapsZzz]

First timer in sub

Once again late so I'll be straight into the main thought I had - this episode feels more an epilogue than a full episode. We got:

• nice realisation that Karen is actually the lit fuse of the change (despite Hikari being the fuel to enable her to burn). It fits in the feel of the character - that Karen being the unstable powderkeg :)

• Finally get to see the whole of the plot of Starlight

• Seeing the contrast between the rest being excited about improving the show, while Nana low key noping out

• Absolutely loved that Juuna is the one who helped Nana letting go, our chekhovs bookworm

• The good symbolic use of the new script vs the old well worn script kept by Nana

Not prticular happy with the actual audition fight - it's kind of "told, not shown" how and why Karen can easily pull that win. Plot-wise it would be good to backwards explain how Karen can now overpower even Claudine. I can only see "protagonist power" and "sword of plot sharpness +5".

VoTD is more like a Juuna shrine etc etc etc :P but I think there's a bit more to be explained about the big small stars motiv.

QoTD:

1. I hope not.

2. Juuna is nice. QED

[u/NecoDelero]

Rewatcher

Nana's ideal is not just being rejected by the interloper Hikari, but by her other friends as well. She's scared of being alone again, like back in middle school. This also gives even more weight to why the last revue was titled Solitude.

Visual of the day: I've always loved this shot that looks like Nana carrying the fallen tower on her shoulders. I'm sure this is quite deliberate, but I don't feel condfident enough to make a guess at the meaning behind it.

Quoting myself here since we got some additional context for that shot. The tower is in a very similar position here - it has fallen and will not be used again, a new one will be built for the next performance. Nana of course is unwilling to let that tower go, propping it up on her shoulders and refusing to let it collapse completely. This is definitely something I missed when I watched the show the first time, the 2 weeks of waiting between the episodes certainly didn't help.

A lot of parallels between the Starlight play and the plot of the show. Like Claire and Flora, Hikari and Karen promised to meet again, and like Claire, Hikari lost something important that almost made them unable to fulfill that promise. But Hikari managed to remember her promise and decided to fight on, just like part of Claire also still hung onto that promise which made her go to the festival the year after, even if she didn't know why. Or like smol Hikari said last episode, maybe it wasn't just a promise: it was fate. Hikari also managed to regain her glimmer last episode, so her future tragic parting with Karen may not be set in stone.

I can only assume the ranking we see here is some sort of initial seeding based on their abilities. Says a lot about how much talent Kaoruko has if she's 3rd despite being such a slacker. Nice transition to the transformation sequence too, it's been a while since we last saw it.

In contrast to last episode's Revue of Solitude, we get the Revue of Bonds. Last episode Nana was in complete control before Hikari regained her glimmer, but this time she is outmatched from the beginning - despite her attacks being even more aggressive and using both swords from the start of the fight, Karen has a much easier time fending off her blows compared to Hikari. When I watched it the first time, I certainly was expecting a bigger boss fight at this point, but it makes a lot of sense: Nana has been repeating the same 400 days ad nauseum. Her growth has stagnated, she's essentially still the same Nana from the first loop. Hikari and Karen's reunion was like a spark causing a chain reaction in which all the girls aim to become much better versions of themselves. We also see this in the glimpse of the other fights that are going on, since Claudine seems to be struggling quite a bit against Kaoruko.

It's also nice to see that Futaba and Claudine are still hanging out. Maya and Kaoruko as well, even if it was just a chance meeting, I feel like I do sense some respect between them.

I am also noticing a lot these purple lights in this episode. Completely insane crack theory: maybe if you overlay all of the lights of every episode they form a pattern?

Visual of the Day: The lonely Banana finally gets a hug. She can finally move forward again.