Encore! Encore!
What They Say:
Episode #12: “Good Morning Again SAGA”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The days are creeping ever closer to the big show. The girls of Franchouchou are hard at work practicing their routine, all except for Sakura. Nothing can shake her from her funk and the others beg and plead with her to at least try to perform. She remains determined not to, knowing nothing but failure in her life and knowing her luck is so terrible that she’ll drag them all down with her.
Yet their performance starts to jog her memory and she fights against the desire to dance and sing. At a signing, her fans express their admiration and she is stunned that she could have had that effect on someone. Yet she still refuses to perform.
This leads to a hilarious and touching moment when Tae, the befuddled mumbling zombie that she is, attempts to encourage Sakura. She becomes enraged and frustrated and tries to snap Sakura out of it in her own way. This includes breaking through a window to pin her down and growl at her. It seems it was Sakura who encouraged every member, even Tae, to be their very best. They all knew it, and in the end, Sakura relents because as Ai tells her, they don’t care if they fail as long as they do their best, together.
It’s sweet, it’s funny, and the girls march off to their concert in a blizzard. Yup, a blizzard. Yet the fans show, all of them, and we see all of the familiar faces in the crowd. The girls start to perform and tragedy strikes under the weight of a snowy roof. Yet the show must go on, and go on it does.
Unfortunately, that performance is CG, which is what I was afraid of. The animators try their best to blend it but it’s still noticeable. I still think it was all completely unnecessary and I’m really not sure how this is supposed to be easier or save money.
While most of this episode follows a formula I expected, I was not expecting the surprise hint of Kotaro’s past and why he was so determined to help Sakura, or even why he chose her for this idol group. Yet during a moment of reflection, we enter a flashback and glimpse him in school with her. The exact nature of their relationship at that time is completely nebulous, but now at least we know how he knows her.
So much is left open-ended at the end of this season it’s easy to assume that they are planning on a second, even if they don’t come outright and tell us to stay tuned.
Kate O'Neil
http://www.fandompost.com/author/sonicbug/
Kate has a long history of leaving pieces of herself all over the internet, alighting upon fandom after fandom to briefly taste of its nectar before flitting away. She has accrued a collection of manga so large she believes her home may now have structural integrity issues. She also watches anime, plays video games, and occasionally writes and draws. You can also listen to her on the Fandom Post Radio podcast, available wherever fine podcasts are streamed.