Sometimes, you can’t do everything yourself
What They Say:
“No Matter The Reason, No Matter The Dream…”
Kaoru Sakuraba feels betrayed by the producer for not letting him work to the fullest on both a drama and his idol work, so he decides to accept the part in the drama without the agency. Will he go over his limit and overwork? Will he still be able to practice effectively for the concert?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This episode was not what I expected, I thought there would be more drama and conflict after the ending of last week’s episode. Kaoru walks out and declares he doesn’t need the producer anymore, but he’s still in Dramatic Stars and shows up for his idol work along with the dance classes. This surprised me, though he had left high and dry, but his drive to be an idol and make a lot of money is stronger. He has decided to act in the medical drama that the producer lined up for him, while still doing all the preparations that must be done for the upcoming concert. Eventually, this does take its toll on the poor guy since he is human after all and one does need rest after any work.
In this episode, we also find out some of his past in a short chronological flashback. He had a sister who was ill and bedridden in the hospital whom he loved to sing to. One day she passes away, then when he gets older he becomes a doctor/ surgeon in part to find a cure for the illness that she had (at least that’s what I gathered). His main inspiration to become an idol is to make enough money to be able to do the necessary research. This sister wore the dolphin necklace that Kaoru wears around all the time so finally, we have some more information about that. It’s very vague, but they only had so much time I suppose so they did well with what time they had for this scene.
Tsubasa and Tendou go to visit him and confront him. They help him realize that he’s not alone in reaching for his goal to become a top idol and that all the other groups have the same goal. They are all in this together, as a unit and as 315 productions. Kaoru apologizes for how he’s acted towards the producer and the group as a whole then everything goes back to normal.
I like how this episode tried to make things interesting by having Kaoru go off on his own and continue to be his standoffish self, but ultimately convince him that he should be a little more open to the unit he’s in as well as the agency he’s a part of. However, maybe this was just me, but everything Kaoru did in this episode around being disrespectful to those around him and going off on his own felt a little childish. As if Kaoru was doing all this because he wasn’t getting his way so he went and did what he wanted without even thinking about the consequences. I’m sure this is a very adult thing some people might do, but it felt a little like a tantrum at some points. He’s so convinced that he doesn’t need anyone’s help that he’s willing to work himself half to death to get what he wants out of an idol career. I’m glad he got some character development out of all this, learning more about his role in 315 and in his own unit.
In Summary:
Good character development, though I wish they had the time to do this with more of the characters. Kaoru felt a bit childish but that’s just a small nitpick. This episode had a strong story, and still felt a little cookie cutter, but it ended on a good note. This show should be ending soon, but there’s not a clear time for when that will be. This still doesn’t feel like the end is nigh. This show doesn’t have too much of a preview for next week at the end of the episode but we’ll see how this goes. I’m going to be sad to see it go.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
