With the fate of the group at stake, Haruka starts to crumble under the pressure.
What They Say:
The six members of ST☆RISH, who have made their shocking idol debut, and Nanami Haruka, who has just begun her career as a composer, have advanced to Saotome Academy’s master course. As they continue their lessons in earnest to learn how to be top idols and composers, they join Shining Agency and begin to work as entertainers. But before that, some senpai idols and strange foreign idols with a few odd habits stand before them, and they end up getting dragged into the race for a mysterious “Newcomer Award.”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The expanded use of HEAVENS’ in the previous episode certainly ratcheted up the drama in the show, as one might expect when competitive young men are going for a prize, and it works well enough within the context of how this series operates. It also deals with the kind of stakes that are at hand with the dissolution of one group when the other one wins, though obviously there’s easy gimmicks to get out of that which could be marketed quite well. But the here and now is focused on the way the group has to get their stuff together and really understand what they need to do in order to reach for that next level. Of course, it doesn’t help that several of them are feeling pretty down and confused in some ways, especially when it comes to Haruka and her need to write a killer song.
Haruka’s being off from everything is something that everyone else has noticed as well, and it’s something that Ichinose steps in to try and deal with himself in some small ways, making a push with her to get her to realize that they have faith in her, believe in her and know that she can help propel them to the stardom they’ve worked towards. It’s interesting to see how he goes about it, quietly at first, and then in a very, very big way in public afterwards. It’s a great sequence that gets all theatrical in some ways, with a lot of gorgeous colors, a fun song in general and a great blending of how the two interact from such a distance yet it all makes an impact with how they know each other. Ichinose hasn’t been my favorite, but he does something pretty magical for her here that was very needed.
While it has this big and over the top moment, that works in context, we also get some very good time between the two of them afterwards in a much more personal way. The two have long had a connection to each other and Ichinose, for all of his own particular quirks, is the type that really isn’t over the top and is the most normal and adult of them all. His methods of getting through to her plays to his strengths and he makes it a very personal approach, which she needs in order to focus and work through her own issues. When everyone else gets involved, the show basically does for Haruka what it’s done for everyone else in giving her a chance to shine as the primary character before things come to a close with the big, dramatic and sweeping moments that are yet to come for the big prize.
In Summary:
Uta no Prince Sama does what it needs to do in order to prepare for the final two episodes by making it all about Haruka. She’s been instrumental in most episodes of this season so far, but it’s been to varying degrees. Here, she takes the focus and it comes with Ichinose stepping up in order to help her out .He does it in some creatively fun ways at first, since he’s the one that really notices how differently she’s acting, but he also makes it a hugely personal appeal when it comes to her, something that strikes deep within her and gives her what she needs in order to move forward and support the group with her writing. It is admittedly predictable, but it’s done with style and polish here that definitely works well.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.