[Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight] Episode 3 everyone's impressions

 
Episode 3
"Top Star"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hang in there, Mahiru-chan.

 

 

 

waiting for her to snap
 
Mahiru: Damn it Karen you hoe, is every yuri bait here gonna start calling you by your first name!?

 

 

 

I guess Nana was right to call Karen Miss Popular lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She's in the way Mahiru. You know what must be done

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mahiru-chan is the most pitiful one of them all. If there were a Revue of Jealousy/Envy, she's gonna put the fear in her foes.

Junna seems to be trying to figure out what the Hell is the giraffe.

With Karen realising her place, will Hikari avenge her?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was a beautiful episode. 24 minutes felt like two. I seriously need to know more on why Hikari is trying to stop Karen from joining the audition.

Can't wait to buckle up for the next 9 episodes or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh shit they are onto the giraffe.

 

 

 

 

Of course they would research a talking giraffe

 

 

 

 

 

That part was so realistic and I can't wait for when they finally discover something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ugh, the threads popping up on the first sub release is gonna be hella hard to track...

What an absolutely amazing episode, it feels like both Karen and especially Mahiru are being forced to confront some of their inner demons here. The bath scene and TENDOU MAYA interrupting the start of Karen's song with her own performance were especially interesting. Something to note is that her Rapier is named Odette the Maverick, if anyone was confused by the copious amounts of swan imagery.

And omg that ED hrrrggghhh. That art style! That Eva reference! It's so fucking good.

And this is without subs! I can't wait to go home and watch it with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if there are anymore meanings to the paper plane? The most direct interpretation is that it represents Claude and the statue it hits is Maya but there are probably more layers to it. Also, getting really worried about Karen's rebirth sequence. I've noticed that with each episode the machines seems to get slower and there are now noticeable slight imperfections and rust in some parts.

 

 

 

I took it to mean that challenging Maya (the Venus statue) for most people is as futile as throwing a paper airplane. The first plane is thrown by the girls on the lawn and lazily loops back to them with the statue in the distance. Maya is just that much further than her peers for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goddamn, this show is so fucking good, I need more people to pick this up. There's so much effort put into the characters, design and symoblism that I don't want this to fly under the radar.

As expected of TENDOU MAYA, her song was the best so far.

 

 

 

I don't even understand why this show isn't more popular. Idols are popular. This show has enough depth that it should attract that audience, but the discussion thread is less popular than, for instance, Concrete Revolutio was. And I feel like the show is wearing enough of its heart on its sleeve that it should be enjoyable on a surface level, too. And then it's so pretty, too. It's definitely a shame.

That frame you screencap'd was great, by the way.

 

 

 

I am still hoping that it will start attracting more attention now than it's obvious just how good it is. I was honestly i bit afraid after the first episode- It set the bar so high, i wasn't sure if it would keep being so perfect.

But at this point, it clearly can. It's glorious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is still easily my AotS but if they're going to start focusing on Revues that don't involve Karen then I hope they start soon. I'll be disappointed if most of the show is just going to be Karen against the other girls. I'm pretty sure we're bound to see Hikari vs Mahiru and I'd be sad if they just put it in the background of yet another Revue with Karen like they did with Futaba vs Claudie this week. There's also likely going to be an inevitable Claudie vs Maya rematch towards the end which should deserve a lot of screen time for how important it's going to be to the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the fights. Not only at they beautifully choreographed and excitedly animated, the marriage of the musical theatrics with dialogue and action is damn perfect. These really some of the most inspirational fight sequences I've yet seen. The song of this episode during the Pride and Arrogance sequence was damn amazing and I want it in my playlist.

This episode was the battle of the stars and the battle of the supports.

Claude versus Futaba was surprisingly heart-wrenching, as Claude learned to accept what she is even if she continued her strive for Top Star. Futaba herself learned that it's okay to be a support role if you're supporting somebody great.

Meanwhile, the fight of the leading roles. Karen got dominated by Tendou Maya (this is) because she won't give up her promise to Hikari - she isn't giving enough of her pride to the stage. That's a powerful metaphor, and really paints Tendou Maya as a very sympathetic character as you learn how she's given up everything, including her friendship with Claude, to get where she is.

Mahiru and Kaoroku... well, the yuri has at least been confirmed of a somewhat romantic side with regards to Mahiru's feelings for Karen. I mean, as if it wasn't obvious, but knowing the Takarakuza it was worth taking that with a pinch of salt. But that scene was surprisingly sensual despite how strong the censorship was, and simply because of Kaoroku's sultry line delivery and that damn rubber duck.

I'm absolutely in love with this show. I watched the episode about an hour but I watched it again because hot damn

 

 

 

≫Karen got dominated by Tendou Maya (this is) because she won't give up her promise to Hikari - she isn't giving enough of her pride to the stage.

Personally, I think she lost because she's fighting for a spot alongside Hikari without involving Hikari at all. She's just as alone as Maya, but without all the sacrifices Maya made to become better. And we shouldn't forget that Maya had a huge headstart when the show began. It'll take a tremendous amount of effort from Karen to catch up. I'm fairly happy Karen finally lost. I hope she'll finally talk to Hikari, now, since it seems like Hikari is adamantly against what Karen is pursuing.

 

 

 

Yeah, that seems a part of it too. She wants to become the Top Star without conversing with Hikari at all what her plan is, so Hikari's currently feeling hurt and unable to do the heroic antics that Karen did for her.

 

 

 

 

 

I know right? I loved the staging and constant positioning of Maya as at the top of the staircase during the fight (Hence the Top star). With Karen fumbling about always beneath her. This shows got great choreography for sure and I'd love for a full analysis to be done on it.

 

 

 

 

 

≫Mahiru and Kaoroku... well, the yuri has at least been confirmed of a somewhat romantic side with regards to Mahiru's feelings for Karen.

I'm not sure if you've read the prequel manga, but if you haven't yet, I encourage you to seek it out. It says a lot, both about Kaoruko/Futaba relationship and also why Mahiru has such strong feelings for Karen as well. Kaoruko knows what Mahiru is going through in a way, and also is somewhat aware of the good and bad of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS IS TENDOU MAYA!

Glad to see that this won't always end with Karen winning. This fight definitely showed us how much of a gap there is between Karen and Tendou as performers. Also I love the fact that Tendou can manipulate the stage. Again I may be overthinking this but is there a reason why she can manipulate the stage? Is it because she just has more experience than Karen?

I know we'll probably never get one and will just be forced to accept things but I'd really would love to get more explanation about these stage fights.

Poor Mahiru. Everyone is getting closer to Karen and for her it feels like she's slowly slipping away from her. Hang in there!

Also looking forward to more banana related food by best girl.

 

 

 

 

Well Tendou is the top star, basically the peak in the Takarazuka-esque hierarchy so everything in a stage play revolves around her as the center point of attention. So I'd interpret this as her using exactly this to her advantage.

I love it cause they are able to tons of great imagery with this most notably the staircase as a symbol for the steep and harsh path towards the top that actually exists in Takarazuka Theater.

 

 

 

 

 

≫THIS IS TENDOU MAYA!

I feel that this has the potential to become a bonafide meme at some point :P

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that the stage helps Maya makes me think that in reality, the whole ordeal is fixed to help Maya be Top Star, i.e. its NOT a fair audition which is exactly why Hikari wants to stop Karen, since she is trying to uncover the whole thing.

Or maybe not. Who knows.

 

 

Looking at the last shot of the OP, I doubt this is the case, but it would seriously be a plot twist if it came true :P

I doubt it too in universe though, since we actually see that she has the skills to back her up.

I take the moving scenario as Maya actually using everything in such ways that Karen can't even understand and connect. I think this reflects well on Karen, since she has saw now not only how good Maya actually is, but she also saw for the first time the road to the top of the tower, which is going through Maya herself. That is why everything that moved was a road, a staircase, with dead ends and parallel staircases were we see Karen jump to.

All the staircases represent all the ways to get to the top, and Maya is at the top of all of them, in the last one.

 

 

 

Well you have a good point, maybe Karen still doesn't understand that a good actress need to use the stage at her disposal too, not only great dancing and singing. On the other hand Maya as a top star uses every skill and opportunity at her disposal.

Well at least this aligns better with my original theory that Hikari is totally selfish and wants to be a Top Star alone, and will eventually get it but after seeing all the season Karen "fighting" to share the spotlight, Hikari will have a change of heart and give it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loving it so far and every scene has so much care and details put into them... but I do have to wonder why they didn't shorten the transformation scene, usually they'd do it after showing it 1 or 2 times.

 

 

 

Probably because it's going to become plot related. Through episodes 1 to 3 the sequence has subtly changed more and more. During ep 1 the machines in the sequence looked new and worked fast. However, through ep 2 and 3 I started noticing that the machines speed decreased and in ep 3 there were even slight imperfections in the creation and rust on some machines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Friday, another episode of this and I'm appreciating more and more the things which don't directly involve the revues. I hail Banana best girl already! :D
To the episode itself, while things started already, it feels like in this episode, A LOT of characters are moving.
* Maya vs. Karen in the revue
* Hikari trying to prevent Karen from entering the revue
* Banana deciding to step back (was surprised to see she's currently 3rd ranked, that's actually pretty great seeing how her personality greatly differs from those two ranked above her)
* Hoshimi researching something (related to these revues?) is maybe the least one of the cast is doing this episode
* Futaba and Claudine having a revue in the background and some pairing
* Mahiru and Kaoruko also have some pairing...kinda.
 
Talking about Kaoruko, at least with Futaba, it seems at least that she's earnestly competing with Claudine and the others (at least she seems amicable towards her) but with Kaoruko, I get the feeling she's more or less trying to manipulate Mahiru.
Interestingly, while the dialogue of both pairs makes it look like Futaba is the stronger one (as she's for instance the one with the bike carrying Kaoruko), Kaoruko is in fact ranked 4th, one above Futaba at 5th rank. It feels like Kaoruko is much less of a cute ditz as she makes it look like to the outside.
As I'm writing this, she reminds me A LOT of Ami Kawashima of Toradora and it doesn't help that she's also got that blue hair. For the upcoming episodes, I think I'll take a closer look on her since she looks more dangerous than she seems to let others on.
 
The revue fight itself was fantastic and I LOVE the way the movements are animated. While they aren't always massively wild and jumpy, it's really the understated movements of attacks, evasion and such which really make it look great.
Seeing as everyone of Karen's fights allowed the opponent to use props against her, I wonder when Karen will be able to use stage props to her advantage in the fights. I'm massively curious about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who sing the ED?

probably one of the better ED i seen in the while, i really like it

the melody reminds me of the old anime but i can't pinpoint which, the first second sound like something from Utena, fly me to the moon star~~

Love that scene after ED as well that slap hurt

 

 

 

That was Mimori Suzuko - one of my favourite voices in the industry. She is voicing Hikari-chan in this project.
 
She is best known for giving voice to Love Live Umi and some other anime roles like Tougou from YuYuYu.

 

 

 

 

 

The tune is definitely giving me some "Fly Me to the Moon" vibes, which of course was used in Evangelion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another great episode, definitely my favorite revue so far, both music and action-wise. Really showed the gap between Karen and Tendou Maya. I got chills when the stairs below Maya lit up and culminated in gouts of fire.

Also, kinda hoping the yuri goes past just bait... knowing that the director is Ikuhara's protégé, who knows?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Position Zero. "This is Tendou Maya".

I really can't get enough with that line. It shows that Maya, is technically the star that they want to all to be.

I'm glad that Karen is defeated, her defeat can make her realize that her vision of being a star together is idealistic and will not work in the real world.

Though, I want then in the end to share the stage and be a starlight of their own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok Bushiroad, you did it, I'm in-love with this show. I already cannot wait for the Weiss Schwarz set for this :3.

Also poor Mahiru~chan, I'm rooting for you girl!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source〈https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/92akpo/spoilers_shoujokageki_revue_starlight_episode_3/〉