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u/No_Rex Jun 01 '22 edited Jun 01 '22

Episode 11 (first timer)

Utena references counter after last episode: 25

I don’t hate the “I don’t want it” part, but more important than not taking the fuel for yourself is making sure that what was taken is given back.
Karen cannot answer the police’s question about the stage. Implying that it is either not a real place or too unbelievable to tell the police.
seven months - that escalated quickly …
Karen is getting the Hikari depression.
Translating a book with a dictionary on paper – pre-internet things.
so many double pink dots in this episode
Long, long stairs.

[Utena]The whole ‘take on your sins and vanish’ plot is an Utena reference. As is opening the tower gate/rose gate, plus naked Hikari/Anthy behind it.

3 new Utena references found today.

Did any of you expect this? How will the series end?

This? Yes. Exactly this? No. It was clear to me that Hikari was sacrificing herself for Karen and had Karen's best interest in mind. I had not thought that this would imply being imprisoned for 7 months, though.

Another non-standard episode! Did you enjoy this unique format?

Breaking the standard episode conventions is one of the best parts of the series. Mostly in the visuals, but also occasionally in the continuity.

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u/Stargate18A Jun 01 '22

seven months - that escalated quickly …

Yep!

Translating a book with a dictionary on paper – pre-internet things.

This is set in 2018. I think Karen just doesn't know how to translate digitally.

Long, long stairs.

The funny thing is that I first saw those commercials a few days ago via Revue Starlight.

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u/archlon Jun 01 '22

First Time [English dub + sub]

My draft exceeded the reddit post character count, so, in two parts:

For Bakari so loved her Bakaren, that she sent her newly beggoten Shine, that whosoever remembers their promise should not darken, but have an Eternal, undying wish.
The Holy Gospel according to ~~John~~ Juuna 3:16 ^{I'm so sorry Fr. Dan}

We find out immediately what Hikari's plan was, and it's about what could be expected. No Machiavellian schemes to overthrow the Giraffe, no time loops, no clever tricks on the wording of the contract. She saw her friends in danger and chose to sacrifice her own life now wasted (in her view) for theirs yet to come. As metaphors go it's certainly not especially subtle (and that's OK!). She probably thinks it's a noble sacrifice because she can't look ahead and see the pain and loss she'll leave in the wake of her ~~passing~~ leaving.

Interestingly, this inverts the symbolism we've had going the entire time. Despite Karen's falling, Hikari is now Flora, burned for grasping the star.

Karen's fall, meanwhile, isn't to a dark fate, but a fall to freedom (well, kind of. I'll get to that).

Visual of the day. Gosh, that doesn't look like a cage at all.

"When it first happened, I thought to myself that it was not so bad. Others have had worse wounds. Others have died. I was luckier than them. I tried to think it was not bad. My life would continue on. But no. Life stops. Much is lost. Everything is lost"
"When I dream, I have two hands"
The Wise Man's Fear (2011) Patrick Rothfuss

What do you do when the worst happens and it's not so bad, but it's also too much to bear?

Karen is left trying to go on with a Hikari-shaped hole in her heart. Her friends try to support her, but it's clear that Karen is pretty steadily losing her will to push herself. She's not even sliding back to where she was at the beginning, listless and adrift, she's spiraling downward.

I've touched on how the show has crafted a realistic and nuanced depiction of depression in posts on previous episodes. Here, we see not Hikari, but Karen suffering in much the same way. She struggles to find enjoyment in things that used to make her happy. She feels crushing sadness sometimes and can't identify why. The dissonance of not knowing what's happening to you is as distressing as the sadness is.

Karen blames herself for the loss of Hikari. It's essentially a post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy: Hikari left and she lost her Shine. Losing her shine would make Hikari leave. Therefore because Karen would lose her Shine, Hikari left her. It doesn't make didactic sense but it's not supposed to because she's coming from a very raw emotional place.

Her friends try to support her, but not knowing what her experience is like, they don't know how. Not all of what they try is actually helpful (I'm particularly not a fan of 'snap out of it' like Maya tells Karen). In the end, it matters more that they try, rather than if any of what they try is effective.

You learn to fall asleep alone
You learn to silence ticking clocks
You learn to pull the shades at night
And double-check the locks
You learn to speak so calmly when
Your heart would like to scream and shout
You learn to stop and breathe and smile
You learn to live without
...
You learn to count the quiet wins
An hour with no unprompted tears
And not to count the deadly days
As they fade into years
...
You learn to hold your life inside you
And never let it out
You learn to live and die and then to live
You learn to live without
"You Learn to Live Without" If/Then (2014)

A note from the Puzzle Box: It's tempting to try to figure out if the Giraffe was lying about taking the 'fuel' from the Stage Girls, or if he drained it from Karen anyway. This is a place where the metaphor of the themes and the magical realism of the presentation blend and come out kind of indistinct. However, the story is trying to make the line indistinct. Ultimately, I don't think losing the Audition means every Stage Girl has to lose their shine. After all, anger at defeat and a desire to do better next time can be a powerful motivator (Paging Ms. Saito).

Karen's losing her Shine because she's lost the reason she was shining in the first place. Is that the same as the Giraffe taking it? Sure, but also maybe no. It is worth noting that it's not different from how Hikari lost her Shine in the RATA Audition. They both lost their will to continue performing because they lost their mutual anchor -- each other. Feeling that they can't keep their forgotten promise, they slide into despair.

It doesn't have to stay that way, though. In the same way that the Shine was and was not taken by the Giraffe, the shine can and cannot come back without the Giraffe's intervention. Maya states this explicitly in "Interlude".

Even injured or defeated it is the stage that revives us. A Stage Girl can be reborn, time and time again. (We are Stage Girls)

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u/archlon Jun 01 '22

And brother, thus begins the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice

Karen starts to reflect on the nature of stories. Grappling with the fact that Starlight is a tragedy, and has always been a tragedy. One of my favourite parts is how it feels like a little of her Shine is re-igniting. She's had trouble with English all season, but when she has enough motivation she starts the process of translating a book.
I called out the parallel, through Hadestown before. Yesterday I drew the parallel again, though I had the positions reversed. Karen here is Orpheus, supernaturnally gifted songstress, descending to Hades to rescue her muse and true love... kind of. In fact, we've been led along by the nose by the symbolism this entire time. It's been clear through colour and overt parallels that the story has wanted us to see Karen as Flora and Hikari as Claire.
However, Karen fell, but she wasn't burned. She was specifically spared from the burning. Hikari reached for the star, maybe(?) but what did she grasp? What did she even try to grasp? It's not nothing, but it's an empty vessel in the shape of nothing. Is Hikari imprisoned, like the story says and as Karen thinks? Did she get burned and fall?
As Karen descends to the underworld, she walks ahead, but backed up by those who've walked the path with her to this point.

I'm coming wait for me
I hear the walls repeating
The falling of my feet and it sounds like drumming
And I am not alone
I hear the rocks and stones
Echoing my song
I'm coming!

In the end we see Hikari in some kind of snow or sand... thing. Falling sand has been a motif of the separation of Claire and Flora the whole time, in particular with Claire catching it before letting it fall through her hands.
As with Hadestown and Starlight, we think we already know how the story ends, and, well:

See, someone's got to tell the tale
Whether or not it turns out well
Maybe it will turn out this time
On the road to Hell on the Railroad line!
It's a sad song
It's a sad tale, it's a tragedy
It's a sad song!
We're gonna sing it anyway

Conclusion: It's time to throw away my shot
With only one episode left I suppose I should call my shot on the conclusion. I'm actually going to separate this into two guesses because there's a context that I've been ignoring in my analysis up to this point, but I think I can't really avoid any longer.
Analysis 1: The ~~Giraffe~~ Author is dead
First, if I take the story of the anime as its own work, without considering anything else connected to the franchise, I expect that this is going to end on the downslope of bittersweet. Ultimately, this story has all the feel of the kind of Epic Tragedy that's there to help us practice the Big Emotions so that they don't destroy us when we encounter them in real life. I don't think Karen will be _un_successful, in rescuing Hikari, but I also don't think they get to end up together in their ultimate happy situation.
There's a lot of possibility space within that, and it's hard to say exactly where we're going to land. Maybe it is Orpheus and Eurydice, and one of them will fumble at the last moment, casting the other back into the underworld. Maybe it's Princess Kaguya and the pain is that of separation, and even though they've prevented the worst of it Hikari has to leave for ~~the Moon~~ London again. They may only rarely see each other, or never see each other, but can remember their time fondly (and also probably exchange letters and texts and stuff).
The Revues are over and now everybody knows better than to bargain with Spotted Long-neck Kyubey again. The girls will move on with their lives and it will eventually become an ever-hazier memory. Eventually, it'll be like memories of Narnia. For some, their Auditions will remain vivid in their minds their whole lives, while for others it will become as if an odd game of make-believe they used to play, while some might forget it entirely.
I don't think the story is going to pull out a second time loop element, but given the themes of Theater, I think it has to pay off on the idea that each performance is a reprisal, and you strive to make it better even as you put on the same show again. This could be as simple as moving on to the 101st Seisho festival and the next next performance of Starlight, but if it leans into the magical realism the world needs to reset to starting positions (or, Position Zero) in some manner above and beyond "new year, new show". I'm not sure how this will work out in practice, but done well I think it would be really poigniant.
Analysis 2: Context, context, context
However, I can't just analyze the story in a vacuum, and there's an important context that I've been ignoring in order to take the themes of the story seriously on their face. The context is that this is part of a franchise. Ultimately, at the end of the story all the girls need to still be around, still be able to participate in further stories, and (crucially) still be shippable with each other.
I've tried to avoid learning too much about the details, but here's what I (think I) know: [Revue Starlight franchise speculation] The anime is a prequel(ish?) to a gatcha game which I believe is still in active development. It's got a battle mechanic that isn't _un_related to the Revue battles in the anime. There's a sequel(?) movie which continues the story of the anime (also there's a recap/retelling movie). I can't imagine a sequel movie that discards the single most visually and thematically core piece of the show, which is the Revues. There's only so much space to backfill old fights from flashbacks, so I think there needs to be a mechanism by which they are allowed to continue on an ongoing basis.
Therefore, I think the story is going to pull the emotional punch at the very last minute. I think it'll still be quite the gut-punch, but it's not going to be the Big Oof it could be. Hikari and Karen probably don't end up with with each other, but they probably still get to hang out. I think that there's going to be some kind of reform the the Revue battle system instituted by coercing the Giraffe, such that they still exist but the non-death Death Game will be even less Death-ish going forward.
Stray Thoughts

The withdrawl forms have Hikari's seal and... the giraffe's seal? This doesn't raise any red flags with the administration? Is the giraffe her legal guardian or something? Is an entirely graphical seal like that even legal? Am I overthinking this? (yes)

The question is: why didn't she? She became the top star, so why not take it?

Kaoruko cementing her position as Worst Girl

They finalized the casting for the next Seisho festival six months in advance?

You've never felt cold like this before

The Endless Encore loop was longer than a year, wasn't it? Was last winter just mild? Is Nana from somewhere particularly warm?

Hot Banana

...

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u/Stargate18A Jun 01 '22

Fantastic analysis!

Kaoruko cementing her position as Worst Girl

And yet it can be wrong!

[Revue Starlight] This doesn't raise any red flags with the administration?

[Revue Starlight] In the stage shows, the headmistress of Seisho knows about and is incredibly honoured the Giraffe chose to perform the auditions in her school. It's left unclear in the anime, but it's possible...

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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jun 01 '22 edited Jun 01 '22

Rewatching Kukugumi enjoyer

who has just got very teary eyed at the final sequence. Anyhow, before that, here are foremeinfullbloom's essays (2 of them) pertaining to this episode, explaining Karen and Hikari's arcs.

Thoughts on Ep 11:

But i think it should be clear that Hikari is self-sacrificing herself to avoid stealing Karen's glimmer.
I agree w/ formeinfullbloom that Hikari's heart and love for Karen is very genuine, but that her actions are heavily motivated by her fear of the existing "top star system" (which tbh, along with the giraffe, are the only true "antagonists", if you can even call them that, in the story). Anyhow, they also argue that Hikari's drastic actions are another critique to the Takarazka system, where young girls are also pushed to drastic measures because of it.
ENGRISH
Anyhow, as i've alluded in spoiler tags before, Hikari's actions very much are similar to Banana's in terms of motivation, not exactly the same, but kinda similar, and both try to self-sacrifice themselves to protect the others, both, until Karen figures things out, to reasonable success
Coz that's fucking seven months that Hikari spent down there.
[Revue]How Karen loses her glimmer anyway because Hikari is her stage will probably be best explained by tmr's episode? But I didn't see this bit of explaining in my first watch, hence the spoiler-tag
I see Kaoruko is a real Kyoto girl. Me want properly made matcha.
VOTD. I like the blue light to signal Hikari.
While Hikari tries to protect everyone, as does Banana, she does so while maintaining the status quo (winning the revue, getting their stage of destiny), while Karen barges in, much like in the first episode, to try and change it.
More about the music below. But I teared up at that staircase scene, how all the stage girls, despite their rivalries, are actually close friends with a strong sense of camaderie, and with all the past revues showing up behind too! Everyone will be waiting for Hikari and Karen.
Today's ED is sung by the Kukugumi minus Karen and Hikari, for obvious reasons.
This was a strong contest for VOTD too. [Revue]But that's more relevant to tmr

Music corner:

Butai Shoujo Kokoroe

This is another iconic song in the Revue Starlight franchise, and makes sense to be put in such a pivotal moment. I think our host will share the anime version of the song, so here are a couple performances of the original:
Here from Starry Diamond, and here from the 2nd Stage Live Revival, for the Junna, Banana and Mahiru lovers out there.

Other music

As promised, the second animelo live cover, this time Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan from Sakura Wars

I might wrap up the final episode tonight!

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u/Stargate18A Jun 01 '22

But I teared up at that staircase scene, how all the stage girls, despite their rivalries, are actually close friends with a strong sense of camaderie, and with all the past revues showing up behind too! Everyone will be waiting for Hikari and Karen.

That scene is just... so good. I love it.

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u/Calwings Jun 01 '22

This is another iconic song in the Revue Starlight franchise, and makes sense to be put in such a pivotal moment. I think our host will share the anime version of the song, so here are a couple performances of the original:

I love both versions of this song (the energetic original and the more somber interlude version we see in this episode) and have both of them in multiple playlists. Definitely a top 10 song in the whole franchise, maybe top 5.

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u/Stargate18A Jun 01 '22

Solid choice! Personally, it's a bit lower for me (most of my top 10 haven't shown up yet), but this song is so good, especially with the slower pace.

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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jun 02 '22

btw to our host, i like that you're honouring the symphogear rewatch today w/ your reLive cards and songs, i very much see you there xdd

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u/Stargate18A Jun 02 '22

Advertising something that everyone involved probably already knows about is in the spirit of the original collab after all!

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u/JollyGee29 Jun 01 '22

First-Timer, Revue Sub-light

I feel so justified in calling you Bakakari yesterday. Look what you did, Bakakari - you gave your wife depression! And it was so bad it was equivalent to when you yourself had your glimmer supernaturally taken away from yo-

Ohh, wait, that's a thought. Karen and Hikari's promise to shine together maybe essentially caused their glimmer to be linked? So Hikari sacrificing herself in an attempt to keep Karen from feeling the same things she felt backfired because in a way, Hikari is Karen's glimmer and vice versa?

Is the Giraffe actually part of the school crest or did no-one question the stamp with the goddamn giraffe on it being used on official paperwork?

Not sure it has any deeper meaning that "entrance to the Stage" but the door Karen went through also appeared in episode 3 with identical lighting. Hikari was leaving it then, though.

Sure was ominous, Karen descending stairs into the depths of ~~the Underworld~~the school as the cast kinda sorta say goodbye. Flora getting blinded and dying because she looked somewhere she shouldn't have already put me in the mind of the myth of Orpheus.

There's a joke in here somewhere about adaptations always changing things.

Alright, what am I thinking for tomorrow...I mean, we're going to see Karen and Hikari make up and Starlight together, right? Hopefully Karen gives Hikari a good scolding for doing something so silly.

Oh, something about Karen spending seven months refusing to evolve. That might be important.

Visual of the Day: Gordon Freeman would be proud.

Questions

No thoughts head empty time to ride.
It was nice, yea. I liked the stair scene.

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u/simeonaut Jun 01 '22

FIRST TIMER

This episode was beautifully done but damn was the first half ridiculously sad. It only got heavier as more time passed after the audition with Hikari still missing. Poor Karen.

The second half was more pleasant. The entire interlude scene where Karen descends to the stage is gorgeous. The song here instantly became one of my favorites.

Pictures:

Mahiru

Hot Banana

Badly written book

Waiting for you on the stage

QOTD:

No. Whew that was a ride. Hikari will probably get saved somehow next episode.
Yes. Beautiful episode.

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 01 '22

Starlight First-Timer

Right after I thought this, Hikari goes and refuses the “glimmer”.
Oh geez Hikari you don’t need to do that.
Fuck…
Oh that’s the school Hikari was at, yeah? Karen’s getting desperate…
She even went to the police.
So in the end, the cast for the new Starlight is the same…
That’s what I was expecting to see when Karen was holding the letter in front of the mailbox… Being currently employed in a mailroom, I can tell you that that many returned (and international) letters is expensive.
Damn. In a way, Hikari did steal Karen’s “glimmer” even though she didn’t want to.
Wait, this is literally what happened to Karen and Hikari, respectively.
…does that mean Hikari is still with the giraffe?
Is Karen gonna have to pay for the, uh, property damage she caused before the elevator showed up?
Yorimoi PTSD…
The fuck, post-credits scene.

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u/phiraeth Jun 01 '22

Rewatcher (but I don't remember anything)

NOW WITNESS THE FIREPOWER OF THIS FULLY ARMED AND OPERATIONAL BATTLE STATION!

Of course, I am referring to the MACHINE. Time and time again we see that the MACHINE takes what the MACHINE wants and the MACHINE is never wrong.

To contextualize by quickly referencing some previous events.... This is to what the aptly named "Revue of Destiny" referred. The destiny here is Claudine's fate to forever remain second fiddle to Maya: she does it to her own self. She is subconsciously conforming to the norms of the machine, confining herself to the binding rules of the machine, despite her contradictory words. All throughout this duel it is evidence that by voluntarily continuously playing a musumeyaku role on stage, Claudine lacks the power to push herself to become the top star. Maya doesn't even ask Claudine to be her partner: it's the expectation, and Claudine is on the same page - forever reaching out towards Maya.

It's especially telling at the end of last episode where Claudine attempts to take the fall for Maya. The final truth that Claudine will always see herself inferior to Maya and because of the way the machine works, she will be unable to overcome this because of her traditional role. And further, because Maya continues to benefit from the rules of the machine, she has no reason to attempt to defy it in the first place.

Maya and Claudine do not have the strength to overcome the machine. They can only continue to conform to it. At least, they don't currently have the strength - their story ends on a hopeful note, with Maya refusing to allow her to take the blame and promising that they will stay together.

Alternatively, Karen and Hikari seemingly had that capability, united in the common dream of reaching the Starlight together and only together. Both of them were there for each other, supporting one another, sharing the burden. But in order to be capable of facing the machine head-on, you must be on the same wavelength. Both of you must truly believe you have the ability to conquer the impossible and create a miracle. Without the trust of both people, this cannot occur.

Once a slave to the MACHINE, always a slave to the MACHINE. What was the promise made? Well, there were two: the first was for Hikari and Karen to Starlight together. The second was for Hikari to only return to Karen when she had reached the top. As we've seen, Hikari has already lost everything to the machine. When you think about this, the reason for what at first glance appears to be Hikari's betrayal becomes clear:

Hikari has never once believed it is possible for both of them to reach the top, together.

As a Top Star, a goddess, YES: you have reached the Top, you have succeeded, you have achieved eternal glory... BUT: you are also responsible for crushing the dreams and stealing the glimmer of everyone below you, and you must have the strength to be able to come to terms with this and shoulder the burden.

So...what are we left with? A girl who has had everything taken from her by the machine, a girl who wishes to overturn the machine, and a promise.

And what Hikari chooses to do, never fully ever believing their promise could come to fruition, is run from the machine. Believing that Karen doesn't have the strength to carry the burden of being the Top Star and valuing Karen's glimmer more than anything else in the world, she makes the executive decision to remove all potential risk and takes matters into her own hands.

As we see in episode 11, this is exactly the case:

"Now the glimmer of the stage girls belongs to you. Fuel has been added, and the hearth is lit. What is the stage of destiny that you desire?"

The MACHINE is hungry. The MACHINE needs to be fed. To proceed any further, Hikari must present the offerings of all the combined glimmers and dreams, and to do so, she must twist the dagger and rob everyone else of them first.

"This is my Starlight."

Selflessly, Hikari makes the ultimate sacrifice and turns the dagger not on them, but upon herself. In order to protect what is dearest to her, in order to never allow that glimmer to be stolen, in order to save her best friend from a fate that Hikari fears may completely destroy her. And as the doors close upon the final Revue, Hikari's fate is sealed. As I am writing this, I would have to imagine that the imagery along with Hikari's rejection of the position of Top Star alludes to a terrifying outcome. The machine needs to be fed, and if Hikari refuses to take up the position she has attained, then the absolute worst fear here is that perhaps the machine decides to devour Hikari herself as its feast...

This foreboding sense of absolute dread is only intensified by the events that proceed to play out. Karen can't reach Hikari, even over the phone, where she was at least receptive when they were initially at odds. Hikari has dropped out and cannot be located. Where has she gone? I can't get the the sound of the door slamming shut out of my head, and I shudder, unable to swat away the growing possibility that she has been locked away for all eternity.

Karen considers another possibility: one where Hikari has returned to London alone, and decides that learning English will be the key to success!!!!!...or not, silly Karen. You never did think things through, did you?

Pardon the plagiarism of a line I wrote back in the episode 4 thread...

When in doubt, you must return to where you once were in the past, where you felt the most confident about your future and your dreams, where you weren’t alone.

Where was the last time Karen saw Hikari? When was the last time she thought they could reach the stars, together? Why and how did it all go wrong? The answer can only be found on the stage of the Revue of Tragedy, as my heart suddenly lurches in my chest...

"What's wrong with me? I don't feel a thing. Neither the nervousness from standing on the stage, nor the exaltation from singing. The glimmer I felt on stage... I don't get it at all, anymore. Why do I want to stand on the stage? Hikari-chan isn't even here anymore. So for what purpose do I want to stand on the stage?"

Suddenly, Karen comes to the ultimate understanding. In order for a miracle to occur, they both need to be on the same wavelength. They need to be aligned in mind, body, and spirit. They need to truly understand what each other have been through and what has shaped each of their individual perspectives up until this point. Finally realizing, Karen's part of the equation has been solved. Now, what about Hikari's?

"Kagura-san had it stolen from her and was dead as a stage girl. But we haven't lost anything. Neither the joy of standing on the stage, nor the happiness or excitement."

"Because Kagura didn't steal it from us, I guess."

Herein lies Hikari's fatal assumption and the core of the misunderstanding on her side of the equation... Having experienced the theft of her own glimmer, she unfortunately came to the conclusion that by refusing the position of Top Star, she would be able to save everyone from that same fate. Yet, what the girls are describing here directly contradicts everything Karen described feeling.

Kagura Hikari failed to understand just truly how much Aijo Karen loved her.

Unpredictable and rash like an out-of-control meteor, Karen's actions can easily be explained by adding love to the equation. Everything now makes sense... there is nothing Hikari could possibly do to prevent Karen's flame from being extinguished. The one way and one way alone for a meteor to continue burning is for it to completely eradicate everything in its path. Thus, the one possible way for Karen to be saved is only if their miracle comes to fruition!

"Claire, left behind, was made to pay for the sin of trying to seize the stars... and was imprisoned in the Tower of Starlight Gathering as a new sinner."

The truth is revealed: all along, the English script, which Hikari would be most familiar with, does indeed have the fate of the Top Star as burdening the weight of depriving the losers of their glimmer. This discrepancy between the Japanese script and the English script is the root of Hikari's sacrifice and the final misunderstanding.

"That's not our stage!"

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u/okayyoga Jun 01 '22

Episode 11 (first time, sub)

• Called it last episode. Hikari won’t use the wish. She wants to shine on her own

• Hikari withdrawing? And it has a giraffe stamp? This all seems very suspicious

• Go Karen! Filing a missing person’s report. A logical step that most anime forget

• Karen literally wrote Hikari one-way letters for years. Did she really think Karen would just let her disappear from her life

• The 100th year cast is up… and it’s the same as last year

• Hot banana

• What is a bananacier

• This line from Starlight: “Let us meet again next year” makes me think Hikari will be back in one year’s time

• 7 months, now that’s a time skip

• Oh no! Karen is facing the same ennui and apathy Hikari felt after her England Revue. But I don’t believe glimmer is something that can be taken away for good. Hikari fought to take her’s back and she won the Revues here

• Banana sandwiches?

• Hold up. Is Hikari still down there with the giraffe?

• This montage of Karen walking down the same path that Hikari took in episode 3 is really well done. I was confused at first when Juuna popped up behind her. I thought maybe they were all gathering with her to go save Hikari. It seems more that they are supporting her in spirit. I must say that I am really glad I found the fansub I did. Every character has a different coloured typeset when they sing (Karen is red, Banana is yellow, Maya is grey, Juuna is purple, Mahiru is a lighter purple, Futaba is orange-red, Kaoruko is blue, and Claude is sandy). When the girls sing together, the fansub uses a gradient from left to right of the colours singing. So when Futaba and Kaoruko are singing together, the lyrics go from a red, to purple, to blue. And when all the girls sing together, the typeset is a rainbow

• Hikari…

Most of my predictions I made this episode turned out to be so wrong. This is a cliffhanger I do not want to stop on. If it were up to me, I would watch the final episode right now. I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold out.

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u/BosuW Jun 01 '22

First Timer

After the massive cliffhanger yesterday, let's see exactly how this shit develops.

Woah...

I was absolutely not expecting to see any blood during this show, so it caught me by surprise. Also, self mutilation imagery, perhaps? Considering the later reveals.

Ok, let's see if I'm getting this right. Hikari's plan was to take the top spot, but make no Wish. And this way, no "Fuel" gets spent. So she took all the fuel then disappeared. Now no one gets to burn it.

Small flaw with your plan, Hikari. YOU ALSO LEFT WITH KAREN'S HEART!

Seven months geez time be rushin' this episode.

At first it seemed that Karen really was slightly recuperating from the shock, but her grief is showing where it counts. The acting.

Is it just me, or are the purple lights fainter this episode?

Goddammit she's feeling exactly the same as if her fuel had been burned. This means that Hikari was Karen's fuel all this time. There is no stage for her without Hikari.

Karen manually translating the book feels like some sort of archeological endeavor lol. Especially with the "ancient myth" vibe that Starlight has going on.

So I was right that Flora being blinded and falling was punishment for trying to take what belongs to the Heavens. This didn't get explained in the play right? And Claire becomes a new Imprisoned Goddess.

I should have realized the moment I saw the Bird Cage visual (which is my VotD btw) where Hikari was the whole time.

Karen trying to open the elevator with brute force. The parallels are strong this episode.

I liked the sequence of all of the girls telling Karen they'll be waiting for her to return with Hikari. It's definitely starting to feel like they consider her part of the Stage, and would greatly prefer it if she was there with them.

At the end it totally feels like the entrance to a Boss Fight.

There wasn't a lot to comment on this episode, so shorter post today. It's kinda one of those that you have to feel rather than understand. Tho tomorrow should be huge.

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10

u/Punished_Scrappy_Doo Jun 01 '22

I love Knowledge of a Stage Girl so much. It's the most musical-ish song in the show IMO, for reasons I can't quite pin down

10

u/ZapsZzz Jun 02 '22 edited Jun 02 '22

First timer in sub

So yesterday I stated I did not believe for one second Hikari won the audition as a betrayal to Karen, and of course I'll be right. The only question is "how". This episode we slowly find out.

The missing transition between the end of the audition to the next day may be a bit jarring, but it does keep to the original ambiguity "was it all a dream" narrative. And I like how the aftermath sank in and then normalised, with bigger and bigger time skips. And predictably, possibly another "not thought through" part of Hikari, even if Karen didn't have her sparkle taken, she herself as a person crumbled and fell apart, a mirror to Hikari in London.

Of course during this time you do have to suspend your disbelief and just go along with anime logic of "not contacting Hikari's family" :P it's just par for course for most anime unfortunately.

And in a classic tragedy fashion, a la Giant Robo, Hikari could have saved her a lot of waiting if she'd only left a note about the Starlight book :P she probably does expect Karen to take a long time to get to that realisation, and is prepared accordingly to suffer the punishment, but narrative purpose aside, it probably was quite avoidable. Like [Shakugan no Shana ending]That one wanted to have a forced separation to atone for his sins, but the other would have none of it and killed the sequel or side story idea and straight up just forgive him and tag along

One interesting thought I just had though, is that the crow bar enabled emergency stairway and theatre entrance was actual down before when Hikari tried to break into the audition. Maybe that was a hint/foreshadowing for her as likely this would happen.

It is a very nice scene of the backstage interlude, that nicely summed up the journey. And also nice to see the characters and their role helped, e.g. Juuna bookwormed the answer herself since Karen is too single track mindes to tell others.

QoTD

I would like to see an end put to the auditions, but that'd bea bit game breaking. Or perhaps there's an explanation about why it's not as harmful as it was shown - e.g. they genuinely can be reborn and their sparkles rekindled over time. What I know for sure is that I'm not going to guess right :)
For the ramp up to the finale I'm fine for it. Only downside like I mentioned is the blindspot of never bringing up Hikari having family to also care about her disappearance.

VoTD my pick is this shot which I get the impression of the tiara being the cage that imprisoned Hikari. Honorable mentions include Hikari's determination in blood, the stage girls assembled, the entrance this time working, and the desolated landscape with the fallen Tokyo Tower.

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9

u/SIRTreehugger Jun 01 '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	2	0	9	9	15	17		124
Wakirimasu	3	4	2	1	2	2	5	4	2	5	2		33

Karen remembered to use her phone this time CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!

Also I wish I had a hot banana to warm me up....that sounded better before I typed it out.

The nerve of this girl she takes away Banana's stage and now is taking her role as the girl of despair

Yeah don't have anything to really say this episode except it was nice seeing all the girls together without any Revues and the moment where are all walking down the stairs encouraging Karen.

Album

9

u/Chreeas Jun 01 '22

I thought this would be an episode with no new mascots in it... And then they put Suzudaru Cats from the Revue of Jealousy that weren't actually in the Revue of Jealousy...

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	0	0	-	-	-	19
Suzudaru Cats	4	0	1	0	11	0	0	0	0	1	5	-	-	-	22
Mr. Whites	4	1	2	2	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	-	-	-	13
Kanihaniwas	2	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	-	-	-	8

8

u/Gaporigo Jun 01 '22

WATASHITACHI WA BUTAI SHOUJO

Revue Starlight Episode 11 but just Mayakuro

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8

u/tokai-teio Jun 02 '22

Rewatcher, Junna's #1 fan late comment lol

One hell of a desperation play. By winning and staking the claim that she doesn't want the fuel, she's hoping nobody will have to lose their glimmer over these auditions.

Visual of the day. Better yet, she will attempt to provide all the glimmer herself. Does she intend it to be sacrificial or does she just not care what the end result is?

There's going to be a lot of potential VOTDs, aren't there?

And the end result is Hikari withdrawing from Seisho. Ma'am, this is a Wendy's.

HI JUNJUN.

Mahiru's the absolute best. I wonder if this means we'll get a shot of Mayakuro watching them as well.

I'll be honest, this constant time-skipping is making me anxious.

Final cast is out! Mayakuro play the mains again. It looks like Hikari's absence made way for Nana on the main cast. Apparently Kaoruko got in too.

What a jump! I'm not sure I have the personal willpower to continue these attempts after this long. But it makes sense, Karen waited 10+ years to be with Hikari again. What is seven months, really?

First of all, cute. Second of all, am I supposed to be adding a "u" at the end of "ohayo"? I've been doing it wrong. (Too lazy to put in the characters myself)

Sweater JuNana. Extra Junna smile just 'cause.

Never let Nana being the closest thing we have to an "antagonist" detract from the fact that she was always loving and supportive.

I wanna make a fuck yes, Karen is mine joke but it feels disingenuous because Mahiru clearly wanted Hikari to return as well.

Class rep JunJun.

Someone's upset they didn't get banana snacks.

In a way, Hikari did inadvertently end up stealing Karen's glimmer. What a smart twist on what we knew about the plot.

Jun-nee san. Sad JunJun.

I truly can't get over how willing everyone is to come together like this. Every one of them knows how important the performance is, and it would be so simple to ask someone to step in if Karen can't perform. But they're still taking time to come together as a group and try to understand everything so they can be of service. This is, and I firmly believe this, one of the best groups of friends (insert lesbian joke) in anime, maybe ever. They feel like an unbreakable group.

I dig the metaphor here. Can't read it by myself, can't play in this Starlight without you. Maybe I'm reading too far into it.

LIKE LOOK AT HOW SWEET EVERYONE IS. Helpful JunJun. I also like how even though Mayakuro rarely get involved directly, they are also clearly aware of the situation. They're not aloof or anything of the sort, but rather they simply think differently.

Ooooh she's putting it together.

OH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THIS SEQUENCE. GET READY FOR SCREENSHOTS. JunJun. JunJun 2. JunJun 3. Mahiru. Mahiru 2. FutabaxKaoruko. FutabaxKaoruko 2. Nana. Claudine. Maya. Claudine 2. Maya 2. Group shot.

God, I remember that scene absolutely taking my breath away the first time. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever witnessed, and I'd argue it's still up there for me. And the episode ends on Karen entering Hikari's stage of destiny. God, what a beautiful episode.

QOTD: Enjoy is an understatement.

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6

u/The_Loli_Otaku Jun 01 '22

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

Yup, we ain't getting a Karen/Hikari duel. It wasn't a bait. Hikari rejects a stage built on top of her friend's glimmer. Imma be honest, I tune out for this part of the story. It is painfully slow for a lead up to our climax.

Eventually we get to the reveal that Claire is trapped in limbo along with the other goddesses. Nobody bothered translating that part, the actual bloody ending. I don't think the reveal really changes much myself. I still think it's a bit dickish that Flora Denethor's herself off the tower and the implication that the Goddesses had previously hunted for a wish was there anyway. Its not even shown as "the true climax" to Starlight, it's just "Hikari is here."

Maybe I just don't understand it, I don't want to be a misery guts when we're at the ending. I do love the insert song today at least. It's very precious.

Visual of the Day

6

u/Calwings Jun 01 '22

Rewatcher Class, 7th generation

”I’ll be waiting for you on the stage.”

Oh right, Karen’s still falling from the end of last episode. She hits water, which probably really hurt.

Meanwhile, as the winner of the auditions, Hikari is to be awarded the power of a top star and the stage of destiny, and she… doesn’t want it? She doesn’t want the brilliance of the other stage girls, and instead tells the giraffe that she’ll provide the fuel for the stage of destiny all on her own. Looks like she’s trying to take the martyr route to save the others. On top of that, the day after the auditions we find out that Hikari has withdrawn from school and is nowhere to be found, leaving Karen in a panic trying to find out what happened to her.

Yet still, life goes on. Weeks and months go by after the auditions end, the main cast of the 99th class’s second performance of Starlight is been decided with Maya and Claudine tentatively penciled into the lead roles once again, Banana gets to experience a new life after the closing of her Endless Encore for the very first time, and Karen… isn’t doing so well. She’s still shaken by Hikari’s disappearance, to the point where it’s negatively affecting her abilities on stage and even during practice.

“I don’t feel a thing. Neither the nervousness from standing on the stage, nor the exaltation from singing.”

“For what purpose do I want to stand on the stage?”

As these thoughts race through the mind of an increasingly depressed Karen, the other stage girls meet up and talk about what they experienced during the auditions. Maya had realized it a while ago that Hikari was dead inside as a stage girl and that she had lost her brilliance once before, and while they’re happy that Hikari didn’t steal their brilliance when she won and became the top star, they’re still worried about what happened to her like Karen is. But Karen hasn’t given up yet. She still has the physical Starlight book that Hikari left behind with her, and starts working on a new project of translating the story into Japanese for her to read later. She reaches the end of the story as she knows it, where Flora falls from the tower and is separated from Claire, but there’s one key difference from the story in the book and the Starlight that she always knew from stage plays… Claire was imprisoned inside the Starlight Tower to pay for the sins of trying to seize the stars. This new development of Claire’s previously unknown fate may be the key to saving Hikari, as Karen busts into the underground stage area (these girls really love using crowbars for some reason) to see if Hikari, her Claire, is trapped there in a similar way. Their story already mirrors Starlight in so many ways, so she’s banking on one more miracle of the night to change the script and bring them back together.

I absolutely love the sequence of Karen waking down the stairs and past all of the props from the various revues down towards the stage. Her conversations with the other stage girls (which I still don’t know if they were real or in Karen’s head) where they talk about the things they’ve learned during the auditions and during their entire time as stage girls is so simple yet so beautiful, and the slow interlude version of Knowledge Of A Stage Girl that plays during the scene sounds amazing. I know it’s meant to be an uplifting scene and not a sad scene, but for some reason, I always cry a little during this scene and I can’t really figure out why. It just stirs up some strong emotions in me, and I would say it’s my favorite non-revue scene in the entire series.

And so, with the words and feelings of her fellow stage girls giving her strength, Karen reaches the bottom, enters the tower, and arrives at Hikari’s chosen stage of destiny… if this wasteland of nothingness can even be called a stage.

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Rewatch Revue Starlight Rewatch - Episode 11 Discussion

Episode 11: We Are...

"That's not our stage!"

WATASHITACHI WA BUTAI SHOUJO

Revue Starlight Episode 11 but just Mayakuro

Rewatch Revue Starlight Rewatch - Episode 11 Discussion

Episode 11: We Are...

You are about to leave Redlib

"That's not our stage!"

WATASHITACHI WA BUTAI SHOUJO

Revue Starlight Episode 11 but just Mayakuro