Episode 10
Sports Festival! Sports Festival! It’s time for the sports festival!! All around it was pretty fun. I loved that we got to have some more interactions with the second years this time around even if Hijiri is here to create drama. It was also really interesting to see Sarasa in a state of panic about her performance at the sports festival. But really, this episode still felt fairly lighthearted even with all the little pieces!
I’m really not a fan of characters starting drama for the sake of drama, which is how I view Hijiri but I think it worked out in the end for this episode. I know she said that she’s not trying to be a bitch,,,, but dang I would be scared to cross paths with her if given the chance. Still, without her I don’t think we would be able to pull out the insecurities as well with other characters. She’s not afraid to go straight for the throat and say the words that will hurt the most. She’s manipulative and cunning and she just fits the role so well. And if we’re honest, there are probably plenty of individuals like her in real life – this industry is cut throat. So, keep stirring the pot Hijiri, just make sure it doesn’t burn. But even with all that she did in this episode, she opened the door up for Risa to jump in as a mentor which was really nice. So, hooray for backfiring! Seeing Sarasa be much more timid was also pretty interesting. I really do prefer her loud and boisterous personality, but it’s nice to know that she has her own fears too. She’s okay being looked at as Lady Oscar, but just as Sarasa Watanabe she’s not sure what she should be. It led to a really great conversation though – They are all acting based on what others want to see. They take up the role of the top star and as such she takes up the role of Sarasa Watanabe.
And you know what? If the role of Sarasa Watanabe wants to have E-cups and make references to other anime, I’m all here for that. It was fun! It really helped to balance out this episode of all the stressors that were weighing down on her. And I really loved how the festival came to an end! Sarasa didn’t end up victorious or having to go all out. Instead, she was actually able to provide an opportunity for both the troupe she was representing and the winter troupe to have a heartwarming ending. All around, no hard feelings (hopefully! I’m sure the other students are probably still upset). But if I’m being honest, it totally looked like Sarasa was successfully able to dodge Sei when she fell… but I suppose that’s beside the point. The two of them were able to give the audience a great show. Even if they lost, it was a great time!
Episode 11
Oh ho ho, now it’s time for the cliff hangers and even more drama! I genuinely can’t wait to see the other performances, but I don’t think I’d be able to choose who I’d want for what role. But I will admit, it was kind of a surprise to see that it would be Sarasa and Sawa going up for Tybalt instead of having Sarasa go for the Romeo role against Kaoru. That being said, I don’t think Sarasa’s realization in this episode would have hit as hard if she went for Romeo.
Gah, there were just so many little things in this episode that really made it stand out. We’ve been a little more on the lighthearted side compared to where the series started out, but it’s nice to see that the girls are going to be competing against each other. Even as just a viewer I can’t decide who I’d like to see play each role! I’m a little worried that they’re going to pull a fast one and give the Romeo role to Sarasa despite her not auditioning for that role. I’m hoping I’m going to be wrong, but the stars really are aligning that her an Ai would play the titular characters. But at the same time, we’ve only seen Ai’s performance and it was the most expressive we’ve seen her at the school!
Speaking of her performance, I’m really glad that she was able to tap into those feelings for the scene. She could have easily just decided “oh, Sarasa isn’t auditioning for Romeo so I’ll just say the words and move forward.” But she went for it, she really dug in and embraced Juliet. Granted, she did find out the feeling just moments before her response was supposed to come. Still! It’s nice to see her embrace and recognize the feelings she has towards Sarasa, whether romantic or platonic, there’s a pretty significant connection between the two! Ai, at the beginning of the episode you weren’t my first choice to play Juliet, but that was such a great performance that the Sawada twins and Ayako have a lot to compete against.
What I appreciated most in this episode was how Sarasa and Ai came to understand the emotions of the characters they were looking to play. Ai of course is finding someone she cares about after being so closed off after a long time. She’s also able to understand what she’s “looking for” thanks to the comments her mom made over time, but without those words, she would have never even have the chance to give her nuggets of wisdom. But like Ai, Sarasa also needed to get into the head of Tybalt – a much more emotionally complicated character compared to Romeo. It would have made sense for her to play Romeo, diving headfirst and chasing after his emotions, but I love that she wanted to try to find her own Tybalt. The convenience of Akiya on TV was nice as she remembers back to her own jealousy with Kabuki. (And I have to admit, the animation for her crying after being scolded by her grandfather and rolling on the floor was just so accurate it was great). Gah!! I just want to see how that translates into her own performance!
I can’t wait to see the other auditions. It’s going to be a tough choice between all of them. Without auditions if you asked me to give my top choice it probably would have been – Romeo: Kaoru, Juliet: Aya, Tybalt: Sawa (and Juliet’s Nurse would be up in the air) go roommates go! I feel that Ai’s performance as Juliet would need to be driven by Sarasa and it might be hard for her to express that emotion towards someone else. However, Kaoru and Aya there’s a heck of a lot of tension there. Aya’s super timid and Kaoru’s very firm and doesn’t hold back. At the end of the day, I think the two of them are friends, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s definitely a lot of tension between those two…. Man, I really can’t believe there are only two episodes left. There’s still so much potential and so many more stories to tell, I wonder what these next two weeks will have in store for us.
