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peachlover94 · 9 months

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Scrap Anime Series Idea Stockpile (Collection 2)

Here are some more ideas for potential new anime series both in long/continuing and short/near-OVA/ONA (Original Video Animation/Original Net Animation) form!

My question to you, is, which of the following has the most potential that would be deserving to be seen on television or online?

Hash it out in the comments below which ideas jump out at you the most and seem like they'd be fun to see.

1) Aura of Infinity - In this dark, tragic yet heartwarming josei/seinen story, a young male-to-female trans lady named Aura Nagai lives with an abusive mother, father and sisters who descend from a group of followers of a paleoconservative extremist religious sect of Mahikari. Already shunned and looked at with suspicion by others in her family as well as her school peers, it is through Aura still demonstrating her kind heart that a Shinigami by the name of Izumi becomes Aura's Kami Godmother and grants her the powers and skills to become a Grim Reaper. Together, Aura and Izumi serve as partners in defending worthy humans from evil spirits and hunting down all the truly evil souls so they can be judged by kindly King Yama of the Afterlife. Even as the powers start destroying her sanity and body, Aura as a Reaper is determined to leave enough of a legacy freeing her from her family's tyranny for true friends.

2) Cross Coil Chisato - In this bishonen/bishojo magical girl series, a young girl from a rotten family named Chisato happens across a magical coil bracelet watch that lets her change form into anything she can think of and need by shouting "Cross Coil!". Sometimes her jaunts with transformation into other people/beings with their knowledge, powers and skills passed onto her are simply for fun and escape from her family to do something nice for her few friends in the know of her secret. At other times, innocent lives are on the line as she must remain one step ahead of the world authorities and the powers who seek the Cross Coil to either destroy or take control of the world. Only Chisato and her friends can learn to use the Cross Coil with wisdom and care to balance out the powerful energies it emits - but the need to protect it will soon force Chisato to go on the run and finally free herself from her past for all new chapters.

3) Electric Warriors Aesir - In this bishojo/josei fantasy isekai sentai series, the mysterious video game and consumer electronics developer Aesir sends out seven rainbow discs which are then picked up by seven girls curious about them and what they could do with running a disc on their own game systems or personal computers. Digitized into cyberspace Tron style, the girls find they have gained powers in both cyberspace and the real world to protect them both from the viruses of Ragnarok. Through their ups and downs of friendship and battling to make and protect new worlds for strangers online, these seven girls form an order of knight princesses who are look stylish and cute while tough under fire. They are the Electric Warriors of Aesir formed from one Opera Yellow (3DO coalition), Leona Red (Atari), Siri Pink (Apple), Cortana Green (Microsoft), Revol White (Nintendo), Dural Blue (Sega) and Neo Black (Sony).

4) Guen Takada, HSPI (High School Private Investigators) - The high school comedy hijinks of Azumanga Daioh and the increasingly incredulous detective mysteries of Detective Conan (Case Closed) crossed with the teen drama of Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why? What's not to like? In this eclectic shojo/shonen/seinen/josei series, Guen Takada is a jaded child prodigy in high school who decides to fill out her extracurricular activities by becoming a private eye to solve the high school mysteries that don't get solved. She forms the Roppongi High Private Eyes Agency with her group of friends who are a rotating set of partners who fill the regular high school social roles - academic athlete, a duo of preppy straight woman and slacker wise girl, innocent space case, intimidating shrinking violet, and a secret admirer of the shrinking violet. From drug busts, missing mascots and even a suicide; the RHPIs can cover it for you.

5) Inch-Son and the Magic Hammer - The bishonen/shonen epic inspired by the fairy tale of Issun-bōshi, the childless old governor of Kumamoto and his wife make a passing prayer for the Three Gods of the Sea for a child. The three sea gods in conference with their mentor the Empress Jingū decide to answer the couple's prayer and bless them with a child about an inch high whom they name Inch Son. One day, Inch Son decides to leave home and set out for the capital Tokyo to become a warrior defending the weak and advising both the Emperor and or Prime Minister so his family can avoid destitution. At the start of his journey, he uses objects his size to overcome different obstacles, including using his size to defeat a voracious psycho from the inside so he can save a girl. Using the magic hammer the psycho hoarded on himself to grow into an adult, Inch Son and Reika travel Japan with the hammer to protect innocents.

6) Killer Rage - In this dark josei/seinen drama inspired by various vigilante movies, Katsumi Poku is a former JSDF Special Ops officer who has retired to be a housewife and mother for her family in Sapporo. Her retirement is cut short when a turf war breaks out between major Yakuza syndicates trying to establish footholds on all the Japanese islands. With her children hospitalized and husband murdered, a burning rage simmers in Katsumi as she plans to enact her vigilante justice by causing the syndicates' war to boil over. With the help of a comrade of hers from the JASDF infiltrating the syndicates, Katsumi wages unconventional warfare upon the family bosses by planting evidence that their underlings are plotting to betray them. With her new "employers" wound up, she gets them vulnerable to offing each other while she also makes time to help innocents who have been done wrong by police on a syndicate's payrolls.

7) 108 Pearls Of Twelve Knights - In this shonen harem action isekai series, a young boy gets a shock when he discovers he is actually a young prince spirited away from the Genpei War of the Kamakura Period. This boy, Makito, is rescued from a posse of Yukaza by an onna-musha (female Samurai) named Zuina who takes him back through a portal in a sacred onsen for his own time to their ruined kingdom. The evil Daishogun Watarou has been seeking the powers of Shinigami and the storm god Susanoo to conquer the lands he has ravaged, and Watarou's rise can only be countered by the 108 pearls of Amaterasu herself. Makito is brought back to Zuina's Order of the Eleven, a motley group of female Samurai including herself who chose to join together to get Makito back and liberate their lands. Together, they shall overcome many obstacles to obtain the pearls to grant each possessor nine wishes and defeat evil Watarou.

8) Pathfinder Super Dimension Armada - In this josei/seinen mecha/military science fiction series being a spiritual continuation of Tatsunoko and Big West Advertising's joint venture in making the Super Dimension trilogy of programs some of which got adapted as Robotech by Harmony Gold, fleets of giant space arks set out from Earth and the Solar System to seek out and terraform new worlds for colonization. Captain Kiana (Quiana) Photon leads Pathfinder's Pioneer Ranger Corps in protecting planetary landing parties as well as leading defense of the mother ship and attacks on enemy forces in humanoid Star Fighter mechas. Kiana is to men and women of her 777th Legion/Squadron the "Spectrals" the big sister who flouts authority when orders cross ethical lines. But Kiana must pull everyone together to stand against forces of the Krona Patriarchy - an empire built on the suffering of all women and nonbinary slaves.

9) Rescue Me From My Family - In this dark josei/seinen story, a spotlight is shone on family abuse and the use of online technology to save lives whereby battered kids and sympathetic guardians can find an escape to better lives. Noriko Kawada, an ex-domestic abuse survivor in her own right, managed to serve in the JASDF and then become a relief pilot for the National Rescue Aid Society as we follow her on what appears to be yet another mission - sneak into a village near Rokkasho and smuggle a young femboy to freedom out from under the heels of his intolerant and psychotic parents. She takes off aboard her NRAS-operated Boeing 727 up to Aomori where her contact waits to help her spring the boy Mitsuru Kitano out. In doing so, they trigger a cult of angry extremist Mahikari determined to sacrifice him and other kids for their sins - and Noriko realizes she is going to make quite a mess if the kids are to be rescued.

10) Tactical Witches - In this new installment of Fumikane Shimada's military science fiction World Witches series, we follow the 555th Joint Fighter Wing stationed in Diamond Bay just in between Fuso and Liberion to protect the Aloha islands against Neuroi. Dispatched to help whip the 555th into shape, Akira Matsura of the Fuso Imperial Navy has to team with Jenny Doolittle of the Liberion Army Air Force in building up a fighter wing capable of protecting a series of fighter and bomber convoys to take out both Neuroi hives encroaching on Asia and the North and South American continents as well as radical fascistic terrorist movements all plotting to overthrow the League of Nations and all who champion democracy. What they do not expect, however, is a Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who after being shown up by many women being more capable fighters is about to go Section 8 and become worse than Neuroi.

11) Voyage of the Galactic Railroad - Inspired by the novel by Kenji Miyazawa, this combo of shojo/shonen follows the eleven Miyazawa siblings (six boys, five girls) who join up with the Allied Galactic Railways' crew of train number 8444 - the Starway Limited - en route across known galaxies to search for the meaning of life. This comes as the Miyazawas themselves in the course of their odyssey that they are some of the last remnants of humanity in space with the Earth being destroyed by the Earth's ruling corporate classes pulling a Samson gambit to wipe out their enemies in the working and middle classes trying to topple their tyranny via all the thermonuclear weapons being hijacked. As the Miyazawas search for their parents while trying to be representatives and protectors of humanity and other endangered species, tight bonds are formed with the crew of the Starway Limited and its own engine numbered 8444.

12) Xeno Precinct - Imagine the high school dramedy of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the speculative fiction (fantasy/horror/monster/mystery/science fiction) anthologies of say The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits along with cop shows like Starsky and Hutch. In a large metropolitan Japanese public high school, this josei/seinen drama follows a team of six boys and five girls who with the help of their teachers investigate the paranormal happenings and protect their city from horrors and invaders across spacetime. But whenever their club - the Xeno Precinct meets on Friday nights, they make sure to don black sunglasses and black pantsuits with white dress shirts before picking up the equipment to track down, scout out or eliminate any threats coming Earth's way. They do this as a way to keep the school funded for the next years or so by taking on service fees for keeping students safe from galactic psychos.

13) Zeo Amazon Electra - In this epic josei/seinen military science fiction mecha story, our Solar System is under the cruel grasp of the Solar Victors' Alliance with one planet and all its moons daring to fight back in pursuit of independence. A suicidal orphan girl named Naharu uncovers and bonds with a humanoid combat vehicle called a Zeo Amazon. This one, Electra, is one of the Pleiades - seven historic Zeo Amazons who once were the keepers of justice and peace in the Solar System's early days of colonization. Together with the Europa Vox forces, Naharu and Electra wage a campaign of terror on various colonies and outposts of the Victors in hopes of rescuing others who could bond with the six other sister Zeo Amazons to reform the Pleiades. Over the course of the war, however, Naharu finds she has a stalker in the Solar Victors' ace combat pilot Junpei Heracles who sees a dark future if the Pleiades ever return.

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ninoisntluka · 2 years

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A Deep Dive of the Hikari-Mahiru Revue in the Movie, or why maybe you should figure out your own stuff first before giving other people advice

Okay, so the Revues in Revue Starlight are super confusing.

There’s just so much going on at once, from the fights to the sets to the music in the background, it’s overwhelming! And the movie somehow makes the revues even more vague than what we got in the show, because along with the budget to pop off on the sets of the Revues, apparently there’s a costuming department now! Meaning that instead of laying themselves bare like they did in the auditions, now the stage girls are acting like half the time, so I don’t know if they really mean it or it’s just a performance!

That’s not to say the fights are hard to follow, since honestly it’s pretty clear what’s happening and what it means for the characters, but it’s still a lot at once. If you got time the to rewatch any of them, you will probably find something new that you missed the first time. So this is part of my ongoing project to write a deep dive into each of the movie’s revues so I can get a better understanding of everything going on in them.

This is the second one, about the Revue between Hikari and Mahiru, and it should be able to be read stand alone, but I may touch on some themes I mentioned in the previous deep dive on the Revue between Kaoruko and Futaba, since it’s hard to completely separate each Revue from the others.

In my last write up, I could very easily compare what was going on with Kaoruko and Futaba in the lead up to their Revue because they both were together the whole time and I could compare their reactions to whatever was going on in the plot simultaneously. But Mahiru and Hikari are in different places. Both physically, since Hikari went back to London, but also mentally, since by the start of the Revue, Mahiru is ready to move onto the next stage, but not Hikari.

So basically the Revue of Competition is to Hikari what the Revue of Annihilation is to everyone else.

A wake up call that they can’t get to their next stage as they are now.

So to see how we got there, let’s take a look at Mahiru!

After High School, she’s planning on applying to the New National First Theater Troupe, which is widely regarded as the best musical theater troupe! She wants to use what she learned at Seisho to make her ideal self come true on a bigger stage.

This may sound familiar, and that’s because it’s exactly what the Mahiru from 3 years ago, who was applying to Seisho wished for!

Her dream is still the one same one she had from Middle School, and she hasn’t lost sight of that! And we’re gonna see a lot of comparisons between the Mahiru who was applying to Seisho and the Mahiru who is applying to New National.

When she and Claudine are in the washing room, Claudine compares them all to freshmen being excited about the future, and specifically says that Mahiru would be one if she gets into New National. But Mahiru, much like in her interview as a Middle Schooler, isn’t too confident that she’ll be accepted.

And while I really do wish she’d build up some self confidence, I’m really happy that Mahiru resembles her younger self. Admittedly considering that a stage girl evolves everyday, and that stagnating could lead to death as a stage girl, this could be dangerous, but this is a series where literally everything comes back to a promise that two kindergarteners made, so it’s definitely not a bad thing to stick to your roots either.

But the reason it’s so important for Mahiru to stay consistent like that is because she thinks that her younger self was dazzling. Back during Episode 4, Mahiru thought that she had no talent as a stage girl, but Karen pointed out that actually she was overflowing with brilliance, Mahiru just wasn’t looking at herself properly. And while Mahiru wasn’t completely convinced in their revue, afterwards she saw proof of her own potential by looking at herself objectively through an old interview, and realizing that she had that glimmer all along.

Even though she had lost confidence in herself after seeing how amazing everyone around her was, Mahiru realized that as long as she stuck with her original dream from when she applied, she could shine. She didn’t need to rely on anyone else other than herself, despite thinking if Karen left her, she would be empty.

And she’s right! She is someone her classmates and underclassmen can always rely on, and she got to a place where she did everything she could to help Karen find Hikari. That’s not to say the Mahiru at the start of the show wouldn’t have done the same, since she’s a sweetheart and can’t refuse Karen, but she’d be way more reluctant and passive-aggressive.

(Although admittedly the glimmer on screen when Mahiru looked at her current self was a lot smaller than in the interview, but it’s a work in progress! She just regained her sense of self worth after all! Give her some time!)

Self love is hard. And Mahiru did lose herself to despair once, so it’s easy to slip into a downward spiral again. After all, she’s applying to New National alongside Tendou Maya and Daiba Nana, literally the best in her class. It could be easy to lose confidence in herself if she compares herself to them again, and it seems like she does come close at some points.

Because in this movie, Mahiru is constantly linked to Futaba.

Take how the two of them are applying to the same school, even though neither of them are quite sure if they’ll make it in. But despite that they both have a super long list of questions for the actors at New National and are both excitedly reciting the line of the New National’s lead on the train, so it’s clear they’ll do their best to achieve their dream, despite the odds.

Or take how during the Revue of Annihilation, they are both defeated by Nana in the same swing.

As I talked about in the last deep dive, Futaba doesn’t think she’s good enough as a stage girl. In her Revue with Kaoruko, Futaba mentions how she didn’t have the qualities the others had that made them shine as stage girls, and how she needed to go off on her own to become someone who could stand beside Kaoruko.

And all of this rings true for Mahiru as well. Neither her nor Futaba think it’s very likely they’ll make it into New National. And just like Futaba, Mahiru had lost confidence in herself after comparing herself to how amazing her classmates were back in their first year.

But it’s really just a matter of perspective if you consider how Futaba mentioned Mahiru alongside Claudine and Maya as stage girls she admires. Anyways, this will come up later, but just understand that Mahiru doesn't think very highly about her own acting skills, even though she’s actually great and doesn’t give herself enough credit. (Just like Futaba, may I add.)

So Mahiru, after her devastating loss, has a lot to think about before the 101th Starlight Kick Off Party. And like all her classmates, she’s in a dark place. Literally. (Except Maya because she’s simply built different, but we’ll get to that in her essay.)

Nana gave each of them a lot to think about, and Claudine took the practice room and Junna took the table they always ate snacks at, so Mahiru gets the leftovers and has to brood in some place that’s not very significant to the anime, since all the good spots were already taken, I guess.

I think it’s telling that despite all of them facing the same issue, that they aren’t ready for the next stage, they are all dealing with it alone. Each of them knows what the others are going through right now, after all Nana beat all of them at the same time, but none of them are willing to reach out to each other. They’re so caught up in their own problems and self pity, that they don’t realize this is an option.

But keep in mind, if you ignore the absurd and extravagant nature of the revues, they’re just high schoolers who are about to graduate. Literally everyone else around them is also worrying about their future. It’s not just the main characters who are dealing with this.

Just like the stage girls, the scriptwriter from Class B is also in the dark. This is in contrast with all their other classmates who are enjoying the festival and are illuminated by the lights of the party.

And just like how everyone else realized they weren’t ready for the next stage, neither is the scriptwriter.

Even though she promised to finish her script by the party, she couldn’t make it in time. She wanted to write the best final chapter, but she couldn’t achieve that. And now she doesn’t want to go outside and tell everyone that she couldn’t do it. She isn’t ready to go onto that podium.

But she won’t be the only one on that podium.

The director from class B is there too, and she says they have to go up. The scriptwriter promised and everyone is expecting them.

Plus, it’s not like the scriptwriter didn’t try. The script is incomplete, but it’s still halfway there. And it has some banger lines in it.

So when the director and scriptwriter go on stage, the director breaks the tension of everyone noticing the script is incomplete by screaming that she’s afraid. She doesn’t know if they can surpass the production of Starlight they put on last year, just like what the scriptwriter was worrying about.

And it’s not just those two who want to put on the best show they can. You can hear the lighting girls talking to Maya about how they also want the lighting to be the best since it’s gonna be their last year. And then we hear the acting class students talk about how they want to do the lines that the scriptwriter wrote.

They all want to do their best for their final show, and they’re all scared because of that. The director acknowledges that. And she guesses that every year’s graduating class has been scared about their final performance too.

But even though she’s scared, she wants to perform with everyone, since it will be their last chance to put on this show with everyone.

And because the director could admit her own weakness, the scriptwriter can too. (I mean she still needed to be dragged on stage, but still.) The scriptwriter acknowledges her failure and apologizes for being unable to finish, but everyone supports her despite her failure. They love the lines she wrote so far and there for her so she can write even more!

It’s this support that brings the scriptwriter out of the shadows and into the light with all her classmates.

And I’m happy for them! I’m glad they’ve got all these friends who support them, even when they mess up. Even though we don’t see this duo very often, I’ve always had a soft spot for these two. Mostly because I think it’s funny that despite working on the play for 7 months, they completely rewrote the script for Starlight to change the ending and recast the play to change the leads and add a 7th goddess for literally no reason. Actual Legends. And while I’m on the topic, how did Karen and the others even convince them? It’s not like they could explain the Revues…

But the reason I spent so much time on them, other than the fact I adore them, is because we’ll see this entire situation play out again with Hikari and Mahiru in their Revue.

And this scene is also the moment when the stage girls realize that they aren’t alone in trying to figure out their futures and what their future selves will be. They can rely on each other and talk about where they are going. Admittedly stage girls don’t so much as talk as they do swordfight, but you know what I mean.

But unfortunately Hikari isn’t here, so she get didn’t see this beautiful moment of solidarity. She’ll need someone to show her it’s okay to be scared since everyone is there for her.

Fortunately, the rest of the stage girls who are here have learned this lesson. So when they go back to the site of their failure, their death as stage girls, they go together.

The bodies laid out on the roof of the train are dead stage girls. None of them are wearing their cloaks as they have all fallen on the ground. This is their future if they stay complacent and don’t shape up.

But this isn’t the first time Mahiru has seen herself as a dead stage girl. Back during the auditions, Mahiru felt like she had no glimmer. And Hikari, who had actually lost her glimmer in the London Auditions, specifically calls herself a dead stage girl at the time.

So Mahiru knows that the path of a stage girl is going to hurt her. She doesn’t think she’s that good of a stage girl and this inferiority complex drains her. She almost lost hope in her second year because of that, before Karen helped her see herself properly. So she understands that she may get hurt, but she needs to push forward regardless.

But I think this line could potentially be referencing another thing too. In the upcoming Revue, Mahiru is going to have to scare Hikari. This is directly at odds with her motivation to become a star who brings smiles to those she cares about. Mahiru thinks that she can only shine if she makes people happy, and we know how lacking that shine can hurt Mahiru. So this next performance will be painful, but she has to do it. For Hikari, yes, but also because Mahiru is a stage girl who chose to perform.

Everyone from the Revue of Annihilation knows what to do next. They come to the same conclusion and take a bite of the tomato, symbolically the first step to going to the next stage.

But Karen and Hikari didn’t get to witness Nana’s epic solo win where she crushed literally everyone else simultaneously, and like a student who missed a day of class, now need to borrow their friend's notes.

So the Revue of Competition is meant to help Hikari take the first step in going to the next stage, which is to first recognizes her faults and what she needs to do to improve in the future.

Now for Hikari, there really isn’t much to say about her before the Revue. Aside from some adorable flashback scenes, we don’t really know much about what happened to her after the show’s finale. And just like the tomatoes, I’m saving the analysis of that means for the essay on the Karen-Hikari Revue. But as for the third year Hikari, we know that she’s back in London, but her reasons are a mystery.

Just like in the first episode, we know nothing about what’s going on with her. But if there is one thing we do know, it’s that Karen is important to her, even if she won’t say it out loud. I mean, the giraffe mentions Karen being in trouble and she has no hesitation in getting on the train so she can be there for Karen. And this is the same giraffe whose audition led to her losing her radiance and potentially Karen’s too, but none of that matters if Karen’s life (as a stage girl) is on the line.

But her impatience to get to Karen means she skips some important steps.

Unlike everyone else who had to take a break after the wi(l)d-screen baroque scene, Hikari simply runs past the sign, without the proper time for self reflection. This is because Hikari mistakenly thinks she already knows what it means to already be on stage.

For some reason, after sending the cutest picture of them as kids to Karen, Hikari says “We are already on stage,” the conclusion that everyone else comes to on the train, despite having not yet eaten the tomato.

Also, quick sidebar, but literally what the fuck is Hikari on about? What could possibly be the context for sending those two things one after the other? Why does Hikari say the things she does!? I just want to understand her but she always makes it so hard!

So, moving on now, it’s Revue Time.

Hikari, who had entered the revue following a red line that said it led to Karen, she is super lost when Mahiru is there instead, and keeps asking her where Karen is.

But Mahiru isn’t confused at all, she’s been expecting Hikari. But instead of answering any questions, she starts to perform on stage.

And it’s a grand stage, that once occurs every four years where participants compete in a variety of sports for a gold medal, all under the purview of a giant flame that was lit by a torch.

It’s basically the royalty free version of the Olympics.

And Mahiru is in complete control.

Sports have always been associated with Mahiru, recall how her last Revue with Karen had a baseball motif going on, and the Olympics is the biggest stage for sports in the world! Plus the stadium is full of cutouts of her favorite mascot, the Suzdal Cat, as opposed to the singular Mr. White cutout that greeted Hikari when she entered the stage. And that’s not even mention that Mahiru can somehow quiet down the entire stadium at will as well as bring out props from her old revues!

And while Hikari is super confused when she enters the set, Mahiru doesn’t miss a beat when she enters and immediately does her introduction, but in line with an Olympic oath, to show that she is already on this stage.

You can see this difference in preparedness in the entrances of their mascots too. While Hikari was surprised that Mr White was there, which she really shouldn’t since he will always be at her side, Mahiru was leading her Suzdal Cats like a country’s the entrance parade in the Olympics.

Anyways, Hikari is super worried about Karen since the giraffe gave her that cryptic warning, so she’s in a rush to get to her. But Mahiru insists that they perform together anyways.

Because Mahiru knows that Hikari can’t help Karen get to the next stage as she is now.

And Mahiru symbolically says that, by saying right now it's the two of them on stage, so she can’t focus on anyone else right now.

As is tradition for all of Mahiru’s revues, it starts with the opponent running for dear life while she chases them.

The two of them are not on the same page at all, with Mahiru insisting that Hikari compete with her, and Hikari asking Mahiru to stop. Possibly because Hikari wants to find Karen instead of performing with Mahiru, or possibly because Hikari genuinely needs a moment to process what’s going on since this was all sprung on her at the last minute.

But Hikari does perform with Mahiru. She and Mahiru put on outfits for the various sports they compete in. And when you listen to the song, you can hear both Mahiru and Hikari singing about competing in various sports. Hikari can do this much because Hikari has always been an amazing stage girl. The beginning of the show had her perform at a level that impressed everyone who saw her, even though she lost her motivation and her heart wasn’t in it.

But when you look at their dialogue, you can see that Mahiru is in character for all these, as she talks about how rivals competing can push each other to new heights. But the issue is that Hikari keeps breaking character, pleading with Mahiru to listen to her so that they can stop performing.

So basically this is all a long winded way to say that Hikari is not on stage. She’s refusing to act, which is why she loses her button, her pride as a stage girl. Since what’s the point of a stage girl who won’t act?

And just like the stage girls who lost their jackets when Nana beat them, Hikari stands there in utter confusion over what just happened.

The song stops, and since Hikari lost her button, the revue should be over, right? But this isn’t an audition, so the same rules don’t apply. This is between these two, so they’ll decide when it ends.

Mahiru confronts Hikari over the fact that she won’t act despite claiming to be on stage, and the stadium dims as it loses its shine, since it looks like the performance is over. But then Mahiru starts singing in the background again. Their Revue isn’t done yet. And since Mahiru has been in complete control of this set so far, it shows that the dimmed lights aren’t because the show’s over, but because Mahiru isn’t trying to make those she cares about smile anymore.

In Hikari’s revue with Nana, the background becoming blue was a triumphant moment for her. It was the moment her brilliance was reborn as she remembered her promise. But this time, the background becoming blue is ominous for her. But just like last time, this signifies that we are going to focus on Hikari and their promise for this next act.

And apparently this next act is a straight up horror movie.

Okay, before I get to the next part, I want to discuss a question: Is Mahiru acting here?

Like afterwards, she does say that all of this was an act to Hikari, but it’s left a little vague.

I mean she literally says that she always hated Hikari just after the song in the background has her singing about her how she wants Hikari to be honest. And as I mentioned earlier, when the two of them were performing, they changed into the outfit of whatever sport they were playing, but they are in their stage girl outfits here. Although that might just be because Hikari didn’t realize that Mahiru was acting at the time, so that’s why neither of them could change.

But from her perspective, I get why Mahiru could be pissed at Hikari here. After all, she just sang a song about wanting to compete with Hikari as rivals, but Hikari kept brushing her off. And this could just be frustration from all the way back in the second year where they were love rivals over Karen, but Mahiru was way more conscious of Hikari than she was of her.

And Karen is still super important to Mahiru. So when Hikari just straight up left after they performed Starlight, Karen was hurt, and no one knows why Hikari did that.

It’s easy to be frustrated with Hikari after all of that.

But I don’t think Mahiru would lie to Hikari about feeling scared over having to act scary, especially because Hikari just admitted that was scared of facing Karen. And although Mahiru says she’s not great at acting after Hikari leaves, which is what made me think there is a grain of truth to her performance in the second part of the revue the first time I watched the movie, remember that Mahiru has been constantly underselling her skills since the movie began. Despite what she thinks, she could totally pull off this performance because she definitely has the range! She just needs to recognize that in herself.

But the biggest reason I think this was all fake and Mahiru was just acting in this scene is because when Mahiru is actually angry, she doesn’t act like this. We’ve seen Mahiru angry a few times in the series so far. Like back when Kaoruko wanted to snitch on Hikari and Karen for sneaking out without a permission slip in episode 4, and Mahiru scared her off by reminding her that snitches get stitches and also Mahiru had a baton and she knew how to use it. Only at that time, Mahiru was way more expressive and theatrical when threatening her, imitating Kaoruko and monologuing about how she wished Karen paid attention to her like she did Hikari.

And this is a recurring thing for Mahiru. She cries tears of frustration when confronting Hikari in the locker room about stealing Karen from her. She loudly whines whenever Karen makes them late at the start of the series, and during their Revue, Mahiru acts overly cheery at first but nearly breaks into tears when she talks about how she missed their old relationship since she thought it was the only thing she had.

So the Mahiru in the Revue, who acts cold while forcing Hikari to face uncomfortable truths, doesn't feel like the same person to me. No, if anything, this anger feels more like Hikari’s.

In episode 3, after Karen’s revue with Maya, and in episode 5, when Mahiru accuses Hikari of stealing Karen’s glimmer from her, we see an angry Hikari. She’s cold and harsh and threatening, and completely ignores what the other person is saying.

So my theory is that Mahiru is trying to show that she means business by imitating Hikari. It’s a nice a little call back to when she imitated Kaoruko back in episode 4, but that time was to show that she knew what was going on, but this time it feels like an attempt to convey the intended emotions in a language that Hikari understands, but Mahiru doesn’t realize how scary she can be and went overboard.

But while I do think Mahiru is acting in this part of the Revue, she might still be mad at Hikari deep down. After all, no one frustrates us more than the people we love, since we expect so much more from them. But it’s left vague on purpose, because even if Mahiru hated Hikari at one point, now she chooses to ignore that to help her get to a point where she’s ready for the future, and honestly that feels a lot like love if you ask me.

That was a bit of a tangent, but I wanted to get my thoughts out on why Mahiru acts so scary before I actually looked at her actions in this scene, since hopefully it will help us understand her better. Also the fact that I changed my mind about what was going on after rewatching the movie and the show makes me want to see what others think, since other people may have their own interpretations that could make me see it in an even newer light.

So back to the Revue, Mahiru shows she means business by decapitating the Mr White cutout Hikari came in with. Now Mr White has always been by Hikari’s side, a bastion of support and comfort in her most trying times, but Mr White can’t help Hikari right now. Like Mahiru said at the start of the Revue, there’s no one on this stage but them. And right now, Hikari is alone.

So Hikari flees from the stage.

She runs away to the backstage, as you can tell by the background having spare props, dressing room lights, costumes hanging on a rack, etc.

But Mahiru calls her out for that. That she’s running away, just like she did from Karen and their promise. And she wants to know why Hikari is running.

And behind Mahiru, as well as all the places that Hikari had previously run, there are these Suzdal Cats cutouts with red heads.

So I’m not sure exactly what those things represent, but I have a couple theories. Firstly, I think that it's a constant reminder of what Mahiru did to Mr White. She decapitated him, and so their red heads remind Hikari of the danger that she’s in. Another explanation is that the circular red shape of the head could be a reference to the tomatoes, the symbolic first step to going to the next stage. Hikari still hasn’t accepted it, so they’re looming behind Mahiru, constantly reminding her. But my last theory, and what I think is most likely, is that they’re reminding Hikari of a certain other redhead she’s been running from.

And Mahiru is an extension of that. She’s chasing Hikari while repeating the promise Karen and Hikari made, and Hikari is running from her. She also asks Hikari why she really left for London, calling Hikari a liar for saying that she left in order to make sure Karen didn’t get too spoiled, since that’s also a way of running from the truth.

And in order to escape, Hikari runs to the elevator, heading up from the 99th floor to the 101th. This is a nod to how their class performed the 99th production of Starlight and the 101th production will be their last, showing the passage of time. I’m not entirely sure why these numbers were chosen considering Hikari was only in their class for one year, but I think the more interesting thing is that the elevator is going up. After all, the elevator to the auditions went down, so it shows how Hikari is still running from the stage.

But despite not being in the elevator, Mahiru still manages to confront Hikari. And Mahiru demands more from Hikari. To act more properly. To convey more emotions. To say more lines. To be more real.

Because Hikari has never given the audience much to go off of. She’s the cool and mysterious transfer student. We didn’t see her backstory until episode 8, over halfway through the series. We didn’t even know what she was up to in London before the Movie Revues!

And this approach carries over to Karen too. Hikari never sent letters and she’s a taciturn person in general, so it can be hard to tell what she thinks. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, after all I’m a private person myself too. But this is an issue when it comes to dealing with problems with Karen, since Hikari usually pushes Karen away instead of telling her more.

Hikari locked Karen in a shed without explanation to keep her from the Revues. Hikari beat Karen in the penultimate revue of the show since only she knew what winning the top star in the audition meant. Hikari solves problems on her own, without explaining her plans to Karen.

And while it was okay in the show, since Karen was the one reaching out to Hikari there, that won’t work this time, since Karen needs help. Karen needs help to know what to do in the future, and if Hikari can’t give her anything to work with, then the two of them meeting at this point is useless.

And as Hikari escapes from the elevator, where she still was still being pursued by Mahiru and the redheaded cutouts, she’s eventually comes to the elevated platform of the backstage, but it’s a dead end (It’s also shaped in a T like position zero). And now there’s nowhere left to run on this bridge, so Hikari is forced to stop running from the truth and confront the real reason she’s left Karen.

This is also the moment Mahiru corners Hikari, showing that Hikari running from Mahiru meaning Hikari can no longer run from either Mahiru or Karen anymore.

Also I want to take a second here to point out that in the song in the background, even though Mahiru is the only one singing, it isn’t a monologue. She’s directly asking Hikari questions, but Hikari isn’t answering them. And just like the song, when Mahiru confronts Hikari about how she intends to help Karen be reborn as a stage girl if Hikari isn’t even acting properly as a stage girl and can’t face Karen properly, and Hikari can’t say anything in response.

So the last thing she can see before she falls is a young Karen, holding a letter. (Also a neat thing I noticed is that Hikari’s eyes narrow in fear almost identically when she sees that Mahiru means business as well as when she sees young Karen.)

But this isn’t the Karen from when Hikari made a promise with her. She’s wearing the crown pin that Hikari gave her after they made the promise and the letter in her hands isn’t the invitation that Hikari gave to her all those years ago, since it doesn’t have the Mr. White sticker. Instead, it is one of Karen’s numerous letters that she sent to Hikari that she never responded to.

This is the Karen that Hikari ran from.

And since Hikari can’t answer Mahiru, she pushes Hikari off the stage (or drops, it’s vague like that.) And as I talked about in the deep dive essay on the Futaba-Kaoruko revue, falling in Revue Starlight signifies failure. But the thing about failure is that the most important thing is what you do next.

As Hikari falls, she has flashbacks of the first time she met Karen, the last time she saw Karen before moving, and the moment Karen gave her the star hair pin, the moment they solidified their promise. And all this is very similar to what happened to Karen in episode 1 when (dream) Hikari pushed her off Tokyo Tower, which symbolizes the stage, and it was this moment that made Karen realize that she wasn’t taking her promise with Hikari seriously enough.

So just like how Karen could be reborn after that moment, Hikari falling here is a chance for her to confront the fact that the real reason she had left was not to keep Karen from getting spoiled and stagnating as a stage girl, but because Hikari was worried that she would be the one to stagnate, because she would be too captivated by Karen to become a stage girl who could stand by her side.

And eventually, Hikari lands safely on a giant Mr. White, because Mahiru doesn’t actually want to hurt her. This is all an act, remember? And in lying down in the fetal position, Hikari is symbolically reborn as she admits that Mahiru was right and she had been running from Karen and their promise when she went back to London. She cries and admits that she was scared and she’s sorry that she avoided Karen after they fulfilled their promise by going back to London.

And this next part is kind of a stretch, but the shot of Hikari lying alone on a soft mattress-like object kind of reminds me of that scene in episode 1 where Hikari was lying in bed, clutching a picture, the same picture of them that Karen kept framed in her room. Up until then, Hikari had been rather cold to Karen, but this was the first glimpse we saw that Hikari cared about that promise just as much as Karen.

But unlike that scene from episode 1, Hikari isn’t alone anymore.

Mahiru is also there, and her voice is much kinder than before. She admits that she had been acting the whole time, and that she was and still is scared too. Specifically about whether or not she could be a good enough actor.

So Hikari asks Mahiru why she stands on stage when she’s scared, because Hikari was terrified and she ran but Mahiru could instead overcome her fear and embrace it.

And Mahiru’s answer is simple. Because she decided that she will live on stage. And this is a really big moment for Mahiru, because earlier in the series, she said she only applied to Seisho because her grandmother and the people around her thought she could become a star. And now Mahiru fully accepts that dream as her own, she’s not trying to meet anyone’s expectations other than her own now, and she’s choosing to be a stage girl.

And Hikari also decided. She made a promise to stand on stage with Karen and shine together all those years ago. And even though it’s scary, she still decided that she wanted to be a stage girl who could stand beside Karen all those years ago.

Just like that scene with the scriptwriter and director at the party, they’re both scared. They’re both facing the same challenges. But even though they feel alone, there are people around them who care for them and are willing to help them.

And Hikari and Mahiru have each other, so they can help each other overcome their fears.

So as the star in the background ascends like a sunrise, Mahiru returns the star clasp that she had knocked off of Hikari so long ago. And the whole thing resembles a medal ceremony because now that Hikari is honest with herself, she is actually on the stage now, so they can finish their performance.

Plus this also ties into the line from the pep rally that was spoken over Mahiru, since she literally helps breathe new life in Hikari by helping her be reborn as a stage girl.

Meanwhile, Mahiru sings to Hikari that she understands her fear of being left behind, because of how dazzling everyone else is, since that’s what caused Mahiru to lose heart in the beginning of the show, so she knows what Hikari’s going through. Hikari isn’t alone, and if she bears her heart more, she can perform more honestly, which is a much nicer way of conveying that message than chasing Hikari backstage with a mace that can crack concrete.

And since Hikari finally understands what Mahiru has been trying to say to her the entire time, the two of them can now sing together in harmony about how as rivals, they can share their burdens with each other.

And after restating what she said at the beginning, how she was happy that she could share the stage with Hikari, Mahiru urges Hikari to run, despite being on her case about how she ran away from Karen only minutes ago.

Mahiru knows that Hikari has another stage with Karen and encourages her to say the final lines to Karen that she couldn’t before, because she had been too scared to say them before this Revue.

But before Hikari can descend down the combination finish line/position zero, the two of them say their goodbyes, with Mahiru reaffirming that she was happy to stand on stage with Hikari. Mahiru had been saying that from the start of the revue, but it’s also a callback to when Karen had to descend into the basement to save Hikari with the help of her classmates. Each and everyone of them asked Karen to pass on the same message to Hikari, that they were waiting for her on stage. So it’s not just Mahiru who’s there for Hikari, but every one of the stage girls she fought with and grew together with during the auditions.

And Hikari, before she leaves, thanks Mahiru again. She also praises her acting skills, partially because Mahiru was super terrifying earlier, but also because Hikari has always thought highly of Mahiru. Hikari, who is notoriously stubborn, always listens to Mahiru when it comes to cleaning their room, despite being super reluctant about it. And in episode 5, Hikari herself says that Mahiru is shining, even when she had lost confidence in herself.

Hikari always saw Mahiru as a proper rival, even if Mahiru didn’t realize it.

We see this again, in Mahiru claiming she’s not that great of an actress after Hikari is gone. Mahiru still suffers from the self doubt problems she came into this revue with. Actually, Mahiru doesn’t change at all in this revue. She repeats the same thing at the beginning and end, that she’s happy to be on stage with Hikari. And her last line in the scene is the same as her introduction’s last line!

And that’s because Mahiru doesn’t need to change. She was already shining at the start of the Revue. Her arc in the show was that she lost track of what she originally came to Seisho to do. And in this movie, we see the continuation of that struggle. Times are going to continue to be rough for her, and she won’t always have the confidence to succeed, but as long as she keeps aiming for her original goal, she can be happy and brilliant as a stage girl.

And she keeps at it! Mahiru makes it into the New National Troupe despite her doubts! And she made it in with her fellow applicant Tendo Maya, literally the top star of her class!

As for Hikari, we’ll get to her ending when I cover her Revue with Karen, but just know that had she not had this Revue with Mahiru, she would not be ready to face Karen, and they wouldn’t get a happy ending.

Anyways, before I get to my final thoughts on the Revue, I wanna do my fun facts corner.

The Olympics has a passing of the torch from event to event, like how Mahiru is passing the torch onto Hikari to help Karen. She helps Hikari understand how to get to the next stage, and in turn Hikari will help Karen in her next revue!

The set of Mahiru’s previous Revue was full of cartoonish designs and had a childish air in general. But the Olympics is the greatest stage for sports in the world, and I’d like to think that this reflects not only the bigger budget of the movie, but also the bigger ambitions and maturity of Mahiru now that she doesn’t rely on others to feel dazzling.

But it’s still the same Mahiru, so she keeps the cutouts and Suzdal Cats, as well as the UFOs that are around when Mahiru drops Hikari from high up.

Also, whenever Mahiru and Hikari are performing and have a number on their uniform, it’s their student numbers, 17 and 29 respectively.

Mahiru can deadlift almost 200 kg. This is very important and I need everyone to know this fact.

Once Karen and Mahiru came to a proper understanding in the Revue of Jealousy, the two of them play baseball to decide the winner. So in a way, I think this shows Mahiru’s sincerity in attempting to perform with Hikari, since she and Karen managed to communicate like this, and Mahiru wants to use what Karen had taught her to communicate with Hikari.

Also, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate how far their relationship has come. After all, Hikari really didn’t care for Mahiru at first. She came to the Tokyo Auditions and was willing to steal the brilliance of all the other stage girls in order to keep her promise with Karen. And in episode 11, when Hikari doesn’t do that, her classmates all agree that it was probably to protect Karen, and the rest of them were saved as a byproduct of that. Another example is how despite knowing that moving in with Mahiru and Karen would be a bother to Mahiru in episode 1, she moved in anyways despite her objections in episode 2 anyways.

But Hikari does soften a lot over the series, and since they are roommates, she probably was the closest to Mahiru out of everyone other than Karen. So that’s why Hikari doesn’t just ignore Mahiru, and tries to reason with her at the start of the revue.

The redheaded Suzdal Cats might be rejected props since one of them has an upside down mouth. This is either to show that Hikari running away is a mistake or it’s to give a feeling of wrongness about what Mahiru is doing, since she’s actually acting here. I didn’t bring this up earlier though, since usually the redheaded Suzdal Cats are blank.

I always thought Hikari moved since her parents got transferred or something, but Hikari makes it sound like she’s the one who chose to London, so I’m imagining the conversation her parents had go like, “Hey, Honey? Our five year old is worried she’s gonna catch feelings for her best friend, so we’re gonna move halfway around the globe. How’s your English?”

The fact that Hikari and Karen need to find themselves and their own star apart from each other now that they completed their kind of brings to mind how Mahiru’s Revue in the show was about finding her own shine and not relying on others, which feels thematically similar, and is probably why she could help Hikari come to the same conclusion.

Mahiru says she wanted to be on the same stage as Hikari, but understands that Hikari has another revue with Karen, which is some good character development considering that she also wanted to stand on stage with Karen, and got upset when Karen wanted to stand on stage with someone else too.

Also it’s just so nice that Mahiru is just so gentle with Hikari at the end, showing just how much she cares about her and wants the best for her. And I know that Hikari and Karen have this bond of destiny and they mean so much to each other, but they both have two hands okay!?

Also they literally just taped the head of the Mr White cutout back on at the finish line. That’s just so funny.

Anyways, take a look at Hikari running to her Revue with Karen before and after this Revue. The first time, she’s in the dark, and she’s determined, but probably a little scared. But after Mahiru, Hikari is bathed in sunlight, and is smiling when she runs. She’s still determined, but she’s not nearly as impatient since she stops to say goodbye and compliment Mahiru. Anyways, this Hikari is way more ready to finally face Karen than before, and I think the difference between the two shots helps show that.

So overall, this Revue feels a little out of place. Unlike everyone else in the Movie, Mahiru doesn’t really change after this Revue, and Hikari still has another Revue with Karen, so this isn’t really a conclusion for her either. But it still makes sense in a way. After all, this the culmination of both of their times at Seisho.

Because for Mahiru, there is never going to be a proper end point for her goal, unlike Karen and Hikari’s Starlight or Claudine beating Maya. She’s going to have to always keep trying to become a warm star, even when times get tough. And so the fact that Mahiru can remain unchanged, even after a Revue, which is usually a volatile moment for a stage girl, says good things about her future.

And for Hikari, this Revue is the result of her time at Seisho. Even though before she had only come there to get her brilliance back to maintain her promise with Karen, she found friends who will support her. I said before that this was supposed to be like the Revue of Annihilation for Hikari, but in a way it’s also her Interlude of a Stage Girl. That’s the song where all the classmates helped Karen descend into the basement to find Hikari, and they told her that she wasn’t alone.

And this was important since Karen literally quotes Junna and Maya while fighting Hikari to show that Hikari doesn’t have to perform alone. And in a way, this revue tells Hikari the same thing, that she doesn’t have to perform alone. Only this time it isn’t Karen saying it, but Mahiru, because Karen isn’t the only bond Hikari had at Seisho.

It also opens up the idea of a stage without Karen for Hikari, which is essential for the two of them since their next stage won’t have each other on it.

Also I’m just really happy I finally got to see the Hikari-Mahiru revue after I got baited in the show. And yes, I’m still not over the fact that they had the ringtone chime right when Hikari and Mahiru were about to get into an argument in the locker room, only to never follow through on that until now.

But I guess it was worth it. This was everything I wanted and more from their Revue together!

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