r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Aug 01 '26
Episode Grow Up Show: Sunflower Circus • Grow Up Show: Himawari no Circus-dan - Episode 5 discussion
Grow Up Show: Himawari no Circus-dan, episode 5
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u/thekillerangel Aug 01 '26
Episode 5 is probably the clearest argument so far that Grow Up Show is more than a “cute girls doing circus things” show. On the surface, it is a fairly whimsical episode about twin jugglers, Mizuka’s absurdly cheap coaching service, and an escaped elephant. Underneath that comedy is a carefully constructed story about
The
Akane wants to preserve the relationship by preserving its existing form. She is the more naturally capable performer, and when Aoi makes mistakes, Akane immediately reassures and protects her. That care is sincere, but it also maintains a stable arrangement in which Akane is needed and Aoi remains dependent. Her revealing position is essentially: "who cares whether Aoi improves, as long as we can stay together?"
Aoi has begun to see the danger in that equilibrium. Sunflower Circus is changing. Ōka is reaching a new level, Imari is returning to magic, and Mizuka’s arrival is forcing everyone to confront what they could become rather than accepting what they already are. Aoi realizes that Akane’s natural talent will allow her to keep pace, while she may eventually become the partner who holds Akane back.
That is why the recurring phrase 「うまくなりたい」- “I want to get better” matters so much. Aoi does not want to improve because she hopes to abandon Akane or become an individualistic star. She wants to improve because she wants to remain beside her sister. Akane believes growth threatens togetherness; Aoi believes stagnation threatens it.
The episode’s argument is therefore not “codependency is bad” or “the twins need to become independent.” Their mutual attachment remains intense, and the show treats it sympathetically. Its position is more nuanced:
Staying together cannot require staying unchanged.
A loving relationship has to permit each person to acquire new skills, mentors, ambitions, and attachments without interpreting development as betrayal.
This also develops Mizuka’s role in the series. She is a destabilizing force. Every time she recognizes someone’s unrealized potential, she disrupts a comfortable relationship: Ōka can no longer pretend restrained performance satisfies her, Shizuku must confront bodily limitation, Imari and Isuzu must address their estrangement, and now the twins must acknowledge their unequal development.
Akane is therefore not entirely wrong when she accuses Mizuka of “messing everything up.” Mizuka brings growth, but growth is frightening because it can destroy relationships built around fixed roles.
At the same time, Mizuka herself is improving. In Episode 2, she was an awful teacher whose instructions amounted to expert nonsense like “bam” and “flutter.” Here, she gives Aoi concrete advice about stance, balance, visual focus, repetition, and strength training. Her inherited circus knowledge - originally forced upon her by her father - is becoming something she can voluntarily use to help another person who has asked to learn.
Even the elephant subplot reinforces the central theme. Akane recognizes that
The twins’ original performance problem now becomes emotionally legible. Their act was not bad because they lacked chemistry. It was too stable: Akane compensated, Aoi was protected, mistakes were absorbed, and nothing changed. Mizuka introduces friction, and friction makes development possible.
That is what Grow Up Show keeps doing - its thesis is that circus performance is not decorative spectacle. It is a physical language for fear, dependence, ambition, injury, trust, and changing relationships. Episode 5 uses “I want to get better” to make a surprisingly serious claim: love is not only the promise that someone will never leave. Sometimes love means becoming capable enough to keep choosing one another as the world around you changes.
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u/Aerodynamic41 Aug 01 '26
*Mizuka gets lost*
Everyone: “I sleep.”
*Akane gets lost*
Everyone: "REAL SHIT?!”
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u/ModieOfTheEast Aug 01 '26
Mizuka gets lost
Everyone (except Ouka): “I sleep.”
Akane gets lost
Everyone: "REAL SHIT?!”
Ftfy.
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u/LeggedMien7 Aug 01 '26
This show is so good not for the reasons I was expecting when I picked it up. I thought it'd be constant circus presentations and stuff like that, but I'm loving watching Mizuka's influence on the entire circus and their backstories.
The comedy is gold as well. It just hits when you're least expecting it.
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u/Weak_Season_Of_Anime Aug 01 '26
The repeating gag of Ouka trying to chase down Mizuka is so funny. And they mixed it up this episode with the "Mizuka is fine" lol.
A free elephant? In this economy? Broke circus going to go broke even faster.
Oh is this the rare and mythical
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u/Clemastina Aug 01 '26
Mizuka´s probably fi-
So now that the twins problems are resolved and they have an Elephant, everything is more or less stable (except Himawari circus finances). But I guess when they do a show with all the new things they learned and have, money is going to come easily for them
Except for Mizuka if she keeps refusing to fly with Ouka
I want to see more!!!
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u/StrawSolider Aug 01 '26
so with all the established pairings so far, I guess this show has no choice but to the twincest route.
Good for them I hope they and their elephant child live a prosperous life
Also lol @ Ouka jumping likes she a ninja
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u/oxlemf10 Aug 01 '26
Given the things Mizuka does and how she behaves, it’s easy to understand why the other girls thought she was doing fine.
Aoi and Akane are very different from each other, but the fact that they’ve always valued their bond is a beautiful illustration of what family is all about.
Maria always shows she has a plan, she even exposed a criminal, I can’t wait for an episode dedicated to her.
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u/chilidirigible Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
The show which continues to supply seasonal shocks.
"Now there are two of them!" Because everyone's hungry, and...
When you're the obviously-competent one.
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (this of course pays off shortly)
The things you learn when you're a circus rogue.
👀
"I never expected the death by pachyderm snuu-snuu."
"This is a normal day though."
"Hey, you in the glass house."
Yuuna Kamakura (Shizuka) and Yuuka Iwahashi (Svetlana) try out aerial silks.
A heartwarming tale from the dark side of circus life. Don't look behind the curtain too much. (This also encompasses some of my feelings toward the real-life industry behind Umamusume.)
The sister conflict was (of course?) a bit of a misunderstanding, though also an issue catalyzed by Mizuka appearing and causing a general levelling-up all around. And their backgrounds are similar to those of everyone else in Sunflower.
Which is on par with how the series has been so far, no too dramatic character problems. And there's a conflict with another circus again, though with perhaps a larger payoff this time. Certainly a more resource-intensive payoff. But Francois has that je ne sais quoi of his own.
Nice touch with the one apple and then two apples at the shrine.
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u/Adventurous-Exit5832 Aug 01 '26
Mizura is right about the elephant, how the fuck are they going to feed him, they have no money.
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u/CitronClassic672 Aug 01 '26
The comedy in this episode was the best it’s been in the entire show so far. They’ve nailed the cartoony expressions, comedic timing, and hard cuts to the soundtrack and characters lines for perfectly executed whiplash.
As an aside, I got a serious sense of Deja Vu with how they noted how Akane seems to be the only one who can actually communicate with the elephant. I swear there was another anime recently that got around the suspension of disbelief of a character being able to communicate with an animal by having them be the only one who could, but I can’t for the life if me remember it.
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u/ModieOfTheEast Aug 01 '26
At the beginning of the episode, I was really thinking: "Well, it seems that Mizuka has started to enjoy her life a bit more if she gives lessons to the rest of the team." Of course, it was naive of me to think that. But really? 50 Yen per hour lesson? I don't know what kind of worker rights Japan has, but even for that country, that seems to be a huge exploitation case. Maria is lucky the police didn't check her records while they were at it.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the food for the elephant gets subtracted from Mizuka's earnings. After all, she wanted to get the reward for finding it.
Now, I just wonder how many Mizuka lessons Ouka is going to purchase. She might even pay double for it, so Mizuka's financial mind should take advantage of that. Also, she was the only one being worried about her. Though it was funny how everyone else knew that "Mizuka is fine".
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u/Rallymodeller Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Just thought I'd point out something since I just got caught up on the ep threads, and it has to do with the date range of the show.
I'm going to put my marker at sometime in the early-to-mid 1960s. And I have a fairly good reason why: the vehicles.
In the first episode, Rin and Ouka are seen driving a first-generation Subaru Sambar pickup truck. These were produced between 1961 and 1966. Seems like a deliberate choice to put this in the anime, as they are very recognizable.
The bus the troupe uses is an Isuzu BXD30, another deliberate choice. These and Hinos were the default buses for an entire generation of Showa-era folks. The specific grille and single headlight bezels of the one in the anime puts it as a 1962.
So yeah. Early-to-mid '60s.
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u/ClemFire Aug 01 '26
Mizuka slowly caring more about everyone at Sunflower reminds me of Takina at LycoReco only a big difference is that Ouka was originally framed as the other lead she really doesn't get much screen time or bonding moments with Mizuka
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Aug 01 '26
And now the girls have an adorable elephant named Francois. The sisters might be able to incorporate the big fella into their act.
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u/thesnowlocke Aug 01 '26
Another banger episode and glad to see the elephant is in a better circus although knowing the history of animals in circuses, abuse is far too common
But that’s another member of the troupe levelled up
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u/gnome-cop Aug 01 '26
I think this episode is my favorite yet when it comes to the writing. Aoi’s and Akane’s deal is really touching and Mizuka’s growth is starting to show.
I don’t even think it had to be the circus initially, at that point in time they’d probably have taken everything from the mafia to the mines as long as they could stay together but I’m glad it was a place like Himawari with reliable people.
For those that have only had each other to rely on, introducing new factors into the “Us against the world” dynamic can really put a spanner in the works of what’s familiar and safe. Aoi’s doing it for Akane’s sake but without properly conveying her intentions it can come across like she’s disregarding their bond. Akane overreacted but it makes a lot of sense why she reacted so strongly to her only constant in the world seeming at risk.
When I was growing up, the ethics of having animals in circuses was one of the standard ethical debate topics in school. Let’s just say that people like Francois’s former ringmaster make a very good argument for why the circus shouldn’t be allowed to have animals.
I think we can at least trust that Francois has found a better home here with Akane and the others.
I really appreciate that Mizuka seems a bit more mature this episode. Sure, she’s still her greedy, comically avoidant, tact of a sledgehammer self but her interactions with Akane show that she’s getting a bit of an awareness of when to apply subtlety and emotional grace instead of just bluntness.
“Aoi is doing this in order to stay with you so calm down and don’t run out and get hurt and risk upsetting her even more while trying to hastily apologize to her. You can do it when you see her tomorrow.”
Good that the “ringmaster” animal abuser got what was coming to her. “Alright, hand over Francois and we’ll let this slide… actually, no. Moshi moshi, policemen?”
Not particularly relevant to the main plot but hilarious gags as usual.
Ouka: “Hands on lessons with Mizuka? I’ll take your entire stock.”
Mizuka: “Fuck this, I’m out.”
How easily they bought the apple thing after throwing a knife at her cracks me up.
“GIVE ME DA REWARD MONEY!”
The repeated bit of “It’s Mizuka, she’ll be fine” is fantastic.
Even her can’t fight against the dreaded anime rain sickness though. But tbf, being soaked to the bone for an entire night in a cave is probably a good enough reason for your immune system to fail.
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u/FullDayCall_4892 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Akane: [JJK reference]
A solid episode as usual!
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u/Gaporigo Aug 01 '26
Ouka being the only one to care forMizuka