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Quick analysis of Kaoruko in the train scene in the Revue Starlight movie!

“It’s tasty.” | “We drink the poison our minds pour for us and wonder why we feel so sick.” — Atticus

Spoilers ahead! (This is my first actual non-academic analysis, so it may be a bit bumpy!)

Nana Daiba tells the Stage Girls that once the loop she has created concludes, they will die. We see the bodies of the Stage Girls lined up side by side, their cloaks drenched with blood and boots filled with it. Notably, all their shoes have been taken off and placed beside them. In Japan, shoes being set aside can indicate that a death was a suicide, a desire to not carry dirt into the next life. While this scene (and really, most of Revue Starlight) are up to interpretation, I always believed that this showed the Stage Girls a future where they weren’t able to handle being actors/stars once leaving Seisho (“Is it blinding?”) and chose to end the pressures and suffering. The Stage Girls believe there is a bright destiny awaiting them, but Nana shows them the harsh reality she thinks she is protecting them from.

Inevitably, all stars burn out.

The other Stage Girls look upon their own bodies standing up (Futaba lays against hers sitting up, but without looking at it, and Maya’s back faces hers, but that’s a whole separate train of thought), but Kaoruko lays beside herself, as if resigned to her fate. Now, we already know the blood is fake stage blood, but is nevertheless used as a metaphor for the suffering they might be forced to endure out in the real world. Kaoruko tastes this agony, contemplates how it feels on her tongue, and simply says, “It’s tasty.”

I always interpreted that Kaoruko performed less for the joy of being on stage and more to bask in attention and fame. If she had been in a similar prodigious position as Maya, she would absolutely rest on her own laurels instead of honing her abilities. When asked by the teacher what her future plans were, she fell back on the dance school she would inherit and expressed a desire to be the best in the world. The other Stage Girls accept their fates but seem surprised and almost horrified by it, while Kaoruko doesn’t seem worried that her art won’t be as pleasant as it seems. Probably because she cared a lot less about being on stage than she did what she got by being in the spotlight. The suffering is exquisite and delectable, she thinks, if it can fulfill what she craves. Maybe that’s what she’s been craving this whole time.

Moreover, the blood being fake made me think about how the joy Kaoruko might obtain from fame is a fleeting illusion, and knowing that it would only bring temporary happiness, she still accepts it. Claudine says it herself, while mocking Maya: “The love of the moon, the shine of the stars, are all pathetic, fleeting illusions through which no blood flows!” The blood isn’t real. To be a stageperson, you can’t be your real, authentic self. The shine of the top star they reach for is meaningless in the end. None of it is real.

Thanks for reading!! Kaoruko is a very interesting character and I really enjoyed sharing my thoughts ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ) Let me know if you want to further Kaoruko analysis or thoughts on another character, ship, or Revue!

EDIT: If you enjoyed this drabble, I’ve posted a full analysis of the FutaKao movie revue here!

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swan

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Fun Things Are Fun

I wouldn’t say I grew up watching anime. Most of my childhood was spent with shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Avatar: The Last Airbender. Sure, I had seen the occasional clip from shows like Dragon Ball or Pokemon or even more recent works like Attack on Titan, but the idea of ‘anime’ being different from cartoons never really entered my mind until I somehow sat down in 2016 to watch K-ON! Looking back, I have no idea why I decided to watch something so outside of my comfort zone, but I’m happy I did because K-ON! introduced me to anime, and it has made an indelible mark on my life because of it.

K-ON! Focuses on a high-school girl named Yui Hirasawa. She’s an airhead and clumsy and innocent. And at first glance, she and I could not be more different. But as the show moved past her introduction, and I got to see Yui struggling with picking out a club to join, I realized that there might be a little bit more to her than I had thought, and I empathized with her on something very unexpected: the feeling of being aimless and a little bit lost.

I had always struggled with not really knowing what exactly I wanted to do, and questions like ‘What do you want to do when you’re older?’ or ‘Where are you going to go to college?’ were ones I had to deal with on a weekly basis. And I was just smart enough — or maybe pessimistic enough — to realize that I couldn’t be a writer and an astronaut and a trauma surgeon and an aerospace engineer and a marine biologist and an archaeologist and a chef and a diplomat and a… you get the point. But I was also a kid who ‘had a gift’ and was ‘way smarter than the rest,’ so I couldn’t just give up. I ended up grinding away and eventually got burnt out working toward an uncertain future after realizing that not only was I not enjoying life in the present, but I didn’t even have a guarantee of enjoying it later. And I guess I saw a little bit of myself in Yui because a part of me wondered if I could learn anything from this strange and timid girl. So I kept watching.

Yui ends up joining the Light Music club with three other girls; Ritsu, the tomboy genki drummer, Mio, the shy but responsible bassist, and Mugi, the cheery and easily excitable keyboardist — Azusa joins the band a year later as well, but for now, it’s just these four and their club adviser. A common joke you might see regarding this series is that K-ON! is a music anime where they never play music, and there’s certainly a bit of truth to that. Most of the band’s days are spent doing nothing but talking, eating cake, and drinking tea — I mean, the band’s name is literally ‘Ho-kago Tea Time’ — which begs the question, what is this show actually about? And to answer that, I would like to use a quote — one that I really think captures the essence of K-ON!

“Fun things are fun.”

Yes, yes, truly the erudite our protagonist Yui is with such a compelling and insightful take on the nature of things, but it’s true. Fun things really are fun. And I think a lot about this quote even today. All too often, we go through the fun parts of life without really appreciating the simple joy that comes with them. Yui believed in having tea and eating cake and practicing songs with her friends because doing all those things was fun. Having fun was the point. And as I have continued living my own life, I have tried to keep that idea in mind. Obviously, my life did not magically become enjoyable and happy overnight, but I really have found myself appreciating the small things more. I’m still not quite sure what the future holds — and that can be a very scary thing indeed — but I do know that I can always enjoy the fun things now, regardless of what might happen later. So, thank you, K-ON! for reminding me about the love that comes with the small stuff — and for introducing me to an art form that would change my life in so many more ways. 

If you’re considering giving this anime a try, I highly recommend it. Because in a world where the good parts of life can pass us by in a blink, it can always be helpful to remind yourself that fun things are fun.