#necle’s ramblings

[necle]

Maybe its partially a coincidence, or not that big of a deal. But as I watch this series, Momo’s choice of words and decisions kind of worries me a bit.

(yes I know Momo mentioned he only dogeza one other time and that was with Yuki. But doesnt change he suggested him doing that just last episode, albeit with more powerful people. Even Ryo said “This doesn’t feel rare coming from you”).

The way he willingly offers to puts himself in harms ways and tries to sacrifice himself to protect those around him is a surprisingly amount of times (its not something I noticed immediately, or had written off for reasons related to situation’s circumstances. But seeing this keep happening over time, at least compared to other characters…). And while nothing luckily has come of it yet, its been a pattern since Second Beat. Who knows how long has he has been doing this before he’s been introduced.

Even when he made the deal with Ryo, he doesn’t even bring up protecting himself. Just Yuki, and only him.

In general, Momo is really kind and generous person that goes above and beyond to help those around him (offered his MC spots to Mitsuki to promote i7′s show; helped his NEXT Re:vale guests / costars when they were nervous; gave Yamato advice and a safe space to talk; the times Re:vale has helped TRG and IDOLiSH7 including recommending IDOLiSH7 to the Zero Arena Inauguration manager, covering for i7′s show when Riku wasn’t feeling well, the gifts they given to i7 despite them dealing with their own problems, offered Iori & Mitsuki and Yamato a place to stay until they can sort out their group problems without question, some undisclosed stuff Anasagei mentioned that they helped with TRG, etc). But when this is coupled with the more extreme cases referenced at the beginning, he is very selfless to a concerning extent. Not saying he does it on purpose like a death wish or martyr complex. But it certainly feels there is not much trace of concern for his own well being.

Momo had say Ryo was the “master of psychological attacks” and we know exactly what Ryo aimed for with Yuki (which is a lot more concrete and explicit). But I wonder if Ryo is also aware about that side of Momo, and had tried to play into that when he offered that deal with him.

And if it is (because it feels really subtle), is Momo aware of it? Or is that something Momo does know about himself but still does so regardless?

Luckily, nothing serious has resulted from it yet and probably wont for a while since their subplot got resolved last cour and this cour at least seems more focused on TRIGGER and ZOOL. But I don’t know if this is meant signify a certain personality trait within Momo or allude to something that happened in the past.

It might mostly stem from him not making his dream of going to the soccer nationals and viewing old Re:vale as his saviors, so he genuinely feels like he has to devote his life to Yuki and others. But the fact we haven’t seen how Momo and Ryo exactly met, or what happened for them to be such ‘close friends’ makes it difficult to rule out some things. Especially since Re:vale’s rep is being known to be from the small agency that rose out of poverty.

To summarize my thoughts and questions (with the most hella ambiguous response from Momo):

[necle]

It’s interesting how when Tenn got upset at Riku for his stunt, he specifically referred to their parents as the reason.

During this scene, I had expected Tenn to say something more general or generic like “You could have gotten hurt” or “That was so dangerous. Why did you take such a risk?”. Or at most on a personal level (because how serious the situation looked), “Don’t know you know how worried you made me?”

But here, he specifically mentions the concerns from the perspective of their parents.

One reason may be because of what happened at the end of Second Beat (when IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER try to confront imposter Zero)

(funny enough, this was also on episode 15. Well played, Troyca)

If Tenn feels like his scoldings don’t have the same effect on Riku because they’re “no longer family”, then it makes sense why he’d tried to appeal to Riku’s concern for their parents instead of something more general or personal coming from Tenn (which if that is really the case, then wow. Props to Tenn for thinking about that on the spot, despite the situation he was in).

Another reason (and far more heavily into speculation territory. Please take it with a grain of salt):

I don’t think Tenn mentioned only their parents as a way to deliberately mask his own concern for Riku like he normally does in past seasons. He, the professional among professionals, damaged an idol’s face. He’s definitely not thinking straight and probably acting on the spur of the moment, unless he really collected himself half a second later.

Compared to how Tenn normally is, there is something almost raw and unrestrained with the way he said that line to Riku. It was kind of like he was drawing from a distant memory or imagining something worse was about to play out during the earlier confrontation.

I don’t think has to be from a single specific incident from the past per say (though it could be). It could be several situations growing up where there were close calls with Riku’s health, and then he overheard their parents’ conversations afterwards. If those sorts of memories had been accumulating for Tenn for many years (especially at his age), it may be possible it became a deep-seeded fear for him that he hasn’t gotten completely over. So when he saw Riku having an attack (which is the first time he’s seen in person in a long time since childhood) in what looked to be dire, helpless circumstances, those old memories and fears may have been brought up.

Ultimately, I don’t really know what was the exact conditions regarding Tenn’s deal with Kujo, if providing relief to his parents was part of it, or how Tenn really felt about his situation (other than that one vague comment in Second Beat). But to see all what you build up and sacrificed for to protect only for it to come crashing down in this one life-or-death situation, for something Tenn may view himself responsible for (getting kidnapped and not being able to escape), its not unlikely that those old memories about Riku and his parents were on his mind, even subconsciously. Him thinking of those memories and fears being about to play out maybe be why Tenn says that more oddly situation-specific line to Riku.

But this is mostly speculation with not much concrete evidence to actually support it. It is probably will be leaning much more to the first reason rather than the second reason since there is something in the story to tie it back to, but I still want to explore reason 2 nonetheless. Regardless, I found this scene peculiar, if not interesting. Hopefully Tenn’s past will be explored more in detail at some point.

[necle]

This is a week long overdo and I know the next episode is going to air tomorrow, but I need to go off just how in awe I am with Momo last episode.

Not only did he meet with an 'enemy' group member that could have been a trap, he went out of his way to protect him. He played the bad guy when Ryo found them out from Touma's mistake, despite it jeopardizing Re:vale's plan and his own safety.

Like even if the "mad dog" couldn't physically take on those bodyguards, I still think Momo could have maybe escaped if he squeezed through and ran away. He could even fairly argue he was not involved and leave it to Touma to deal with (not that Ryo would have accepted that anyways). But he didn't. He went along Ryo quietly and without a fight, because if he didn't, it would have left Touma to face Ryo's wrath and consequences. He even tried to 'dismiss' Touma from this so he wouldn't have to deal with the brunt of it. And this was for a group that was antagonizing RTI for most of this cour and last cour.

(Yes Re:vale did offer their phone number to him and they did know Touma from before. But to jump in and deflect the blame too?)

Not to mention this scene:

I think Momo brought up the potential of Yuki noticing and arriving on purpose. Sure, maybe there was a low off chance Ryo would back down if he knew he would get caught. But if Momo hadn't given Ryo the heads up and Yuki did come to check in on Momo in his apartment, Ryo might have panicked and do something more drastic towards Yuki and drag him into it as pointy knife scene round 2 . Momo bringing it up now where Ryo calm and under control not only leads Ryo to calmly use a less drastic means to handle that situation if it were to occur (even if its not ideal either), it also redirects Ryo's focus to go after Momo instead of Yuki. (Yes, Momo and Ryo use the word "police" here. But Ryo may not know yet that Yuki had stormed in with a bat to save Momo before. So I think Momo was trying to be mindful not give hints of the possibility that Yuki may be the one confronting him. He used 'police' instead so he wouldn't think of any special means to deal with Yuki.)

To add on: Others have pointed out that Momo's usual earrings represents how he feels himself in regards to Re:vale (Banri and Yuki on top, himself on the bottom). But in this current set of earrings, his red earring is completely on a separate ear, away from the "Yuki" (and "Banri") earring. He's only worn these earrings a handful times. The key times being: 1)

The day he thought he and Yuki would be officially splitting for good (Day 3 of the Zero Arena Inauguration concert)

2) this episode... where he is actually physically separated from Yuki now that he is trapped in his place alone because of Ryo. (He also wore it when he first gives his contact info to Touma. Which also connects nicely to this episode when Touma does use it the meet up with)

(funny enough they are both wearing the same outfits too)

obviously for both instances in 2., Momo was not wearing those earrings intentionally in that I don't think he expected to get captured like this. Just that it was an unfortunate coincidence (well played i7)

[necle]

Kujo really seems to really take the “star” metaphor to a pretty… extreme extent.

Yes, a “star” is more commonly used term to describe a celebrity or an idol, and we do see other characters used it more colloquially (e.g. Iori’s infamous “superstar” line to Riku).

But almost every time Kujo uses it, he uses it in a very grandiose way.

Even since he was introduced, the way he describes a “star” feels analogous to its astronomical counterpart stars. Which, while a little strange, is not particularly out of place. For most of these instances, I kind of just brushed them off since on its own it felt coincidental or just an ambiguous word choice.

However, how he often incorporates other celestial objects and weather phenomenon as part of his analogy is what makes this interesting.

“Going beyond the rainbow” is one reoccurring saying that comes from him. Tsumugi, and now more recently Gaku, have also quoted a similar line, though hearing it from Kujo feels a slight jab towards IDOLiSH7, even if unintentional. In this analogy, he describes how his star “rises” above a rainbow, above the earth into space. This feels like he views his stars, particularly Zero, as someone who was “above” what’s earthly; someone who does not exist in the same attainable realm as other people or beings.

This would explain the following lines:

Not only the sun, moon, and stars, are all objects that live for an incredibly long time (billions of years, pretty much “eternal” as far as a human lifetime is concerned), they are all objects that are born of and exist only in outer space. But an aurora is something that is expelled by the sun (solar wind) and enters the earth’s atmosphere. Given what an idol is suppose to represent (the dream, the ideal, what is “above” a normal human, etc), Kujo probably finds Zero’s desire to chase auroras disappointing. At least a rainbow is something that is from earth, and stays in its place on earth. But an aurora leaves its high and grandstanding place from the sun, and brings itself down and onto the "lowly earth".

Some other misc and stuff I haven’t figured out yet (feel free to stop reading because this mostly rambling and speculation):

Iori here is describing the effects Riku (currently?) has on his fans. And while he does not go as nearly as detailed as Kujo does, he does describe Riku to be a black hole.

Coincidentally, as you may probably already know, a black hole is one of the final ending stages of a star, for stars that are beyond a certain size and solar size.

(fun fact: this star will also continue to grow incredibly large, called a red supergiant. ISo Iori, you might want to leave off making Riku a superstar for a bit)

Kujo however, had used a different analogy to describe how IDOLiSH7 (and possibly Riku) may reach their end:

(Yes, I know a “shooting star”/meteor is not the same thing as a star though but if we are talking about analogies, it may not matter to Kujo)

(With the last two images, I am interpreting that it can alternatively be read as a “rain of stars” or a meteor shower. Please correct me though if it can only be specifically read as only water/snow/ice rain.)

Granted, Iori is describing present day Riku and not an almost dying one, and Kujo’s lines may be completely unrelated or just a separate analogy altogether. But I wonder if this may be alluding to a slightly different in fate Kujo thinks IDOLiSH7 Riku would have compared to Zero? Personally, I do think Zero does feel like a “black hole” (at least with Kujo). But I don’t know if I feel Riku to be the same yet, other than beyond what Iori mentioned with his fans. It could be that both Iori and Kujo could be right, and that they think Riku still “bursts” in a way, like a supernova. And the debris from that burst might be what Kujo is describing to be “drowns the earth” in a rainfall.

[necle]

Yuki promised last season to prank Yamato 30 times while filming the movie.

We havent gotten to one yet before Yamato already decided to choke Yuki out.

[necle]

Oh man, I know nothing too bad happened but Im still thinking of last episode.

Banri risked his life and sacrificed his career protecting Yuki from Kujo, just so Yuki wouldn’t have to comprise his music or feel pressured to accept for Banri’s treatment

Now Momo is going through the mud protecting Yuki from Ryo-san so Yuki can still remain uneffected even if Tskumo Productions’ ends up acquiring Re:Vale

It feels like Yuki is just reliving his past at this point…

[necle]

If I had a nickel every time Kujo aquired a child by paying off their family’s debts, I would have 2 nickels - which isnt much but its kinda weird it happened twice.

[necle]

what just happened...

[necle]

you cant blame me for the actions from my past routes

[necle]

obvious thing is obvious but there is so much art on twitter??