A Deep Dive of the Junna-Nana Revue in the Movie, or why you really ought to believe in others more
The Revues in Revue Starlight can be difficult to understand.
Usually thatâs because of all the imagery and music and symbolism coming at you simultaneously, but this one in particular is confusing because Nana is just so hard to understand. She is absolutely terrifying in the movie, and last time it was because she had to protect her reruns, but we donât know why sheâs doing it this time. And donât get me wrong, we just had a whole thing where Mahiru chased Hikari with murderous intent, but that was acting! So we keep waiting for Nana to drop the act, but she never does! Even when Junna is crying and has lost the will to fight, Nana just leaves her behind like she doesnât even care!? Whatâs going on? Nana is Junnaâs biggest fan! What happened to Nana? Whatâs going on?
So this is my attempt to lay out everything going on and try to get a better understanding of what was going on with Junna and Nana throughout the movie. Itâs also part of my series of deep dives into each of the movieâs Revues, and while it should be able to be read as a standalone thing, I will be analyzing the Revue of Annihilation in this one, so I may touch on the issues everyone else is dealing with as well.Â
So to start it off, letâs take a look at what Junnaâs dealing with at the start of the movie.
And I gotta say, girlie is going through it.
Admittedly she seems fine at a glance, but literally her first scene has her own acting being overshadowed by Karenâs brilliant performance of someone who feels lost after their friend leaves them behind. And if weâre being real, that really says more about what Karenâs going through than anything about Junnaâs actual ability, but can you blame her for being discouraged by this brilliant display of method acting?
And it getâs even worse when you realize what they were performing. This is the play that they were going to see at New National. And from the poster and the fact that Mahiru and Futaba were practicing these lines, you can figure out that Junna was playing the lead role in this rehearsal.Â
So literally everything in the script is working to make her stand out, but she got upstaged by the supporting cast! Not only that, but sheâs also gonna see this her own role played by a professional soon enough, so sheâll have to compete with that too soon enough.
If you take a look at her future plans, you can see that Junna plans on continuing to University, which is a big departure from literally everyone else who is planning on auditioning for Acting Troupes so they can become professional actors straight out of high school. But unlike them, Junna wants to study more about the stage right now to understand it deeper.
And this is a sign of the growth for Junna compared to the start of the series, since she used to be extremely impatient. She was obsessed with becoming the top star and pushed herself with extra practice to the point of passing out to try and make up for her lack of experience compared to Maya or Claudine, so the fact that sheâs willing to take it slow and learn properly is much healthier for her in the long run. If you think about it, pre-character development Junna probably would have applied for a troupe immediately after graduating because thatâs what everyone else was doing and she doesnât want to fall behind, even if it wasnât the best move for herself.
But if she wants to understand the stage, itâs a little odd that sheâs applying to a literature department as her first choice. Keep in mind that Seisho is a music academy and her second and third choices are explicitly drama focused, so itâs a little strange that her first choice isnât explicitly stage related.Â
But then again, Junna has always loved using quotes from literature, and she says sheâs going to use what she learns to act in college, so itâs not like sheâs completely given up! She says as much, in that all of this is so that she can become the star she aspires to be! Also she quotes William Shakespeare because of course she fucking does.
But I think itâs a little sad that the quote she and her teacher recite is about how some are born great, while others achieve greatness, and itâs pretty clear that Junna doesnât think sheâs the first one or that sheâs the second one yet.
We see this lack of confidence surface again when Kaoruko accuses them all of having given up their desire to become a top star.
Obviously in the scene we know that Kaoruko is wrong here. Kaoruko even admits as much to Claudine after storming off from the room. Sheâs clinging to an idealized version of the past, so obviously the rest of them arenât interested in becoming the top star of a stage that never existed. They are looking to the future instead.
But I wanna take a look at Junnaâs reaction in this scene.
When Junna looked at her phone, she didnât recognize the date, because she had moved on from the auditions, which is a little surprising when you remember how much weight she put into that initial loss to Karen. She was ready to complain to the manager about it too! But then again, Junna had matured since that first revue, and by the 10th episode when she got knocked out of the auditions, she wasnât bitter. She instead chose to watch and learn from everyone else.
So she and everyone else is shocked to realize that Kaoruko actually still wants to participate in the auditions.
Although unlike everyone else who remains shocked, Junna is the only one who looks away while Kaoruko talks about waiting for another shot at the auditions. Because although this is coming from a place of hurt, Kaoruko accidently hit the nail on the head for Junna. She hasnât been waiting for the next audition, since she doesnât think she can compete with top stars as she is now. And from an outside perspective, this scene almost makes it seem like Junna canât bring herself to look at the brilliance of someone who strives to be the top star of the audition.
But all of that was just my wild speculation about this scene. For all I know I could be reading way too into it, but Junna explicitly says as much to Claudine later in the train ride, so Iâm probably not too far off.
On the train to New National, Claudine decides to reenact her conversation with Mahiru in the laundry room, but this time with Junna.
Just like with Mahiru, Claudine takes a look at her questions for New National. And Junnaâs questions are⊠rough to say the least. Theyâre all about how to handle pushback from those around her or how to overcome hesitation about her career path. And like wow, this is heavy stuff. Can we go back to the power of love overcoming hardships? This got way too real for me way too fast.Â
Honestly that thing in her questions about her family makes me think her first choice college being a literature department instead of a drama department might have been a compromise with her parents so they would let her act in college. As I said earlier, girlie is going through it.
But Junna defends herself for having such a long list of questions, just like Mahiru did with Claudine earlier. And just like with Mahiru, Claudine remarks to Junna on how excited everyone is, because thinking of new conversation topics for every single person is hard.
But eventually Junna asks Claudine if sheâs the one who recommended Futata to aim for New National. And while Claudine says she simply encouraged Futaba, she does ask if Junna is okay with not applying to New National.
Junna doesnât directly answer that question, saying sheâs no match for Claudine or Maya right now, but sheâs going to improve to be their equal one day because sheâll keep learning and trying. Anyways that whole monologue is a nice call back to what she had been saying since the first episode, that she would work hard to catch up to the rest of them and reach her own star!
But donât let her eloquence deceive you, she absolutely dodged the question on whether or not she was okay with not applying to New National.
Anyways, earlier I mentioned that the conversation was practically ripped from the laundry room scene before, but there was a notable difference. When Mahiru expressed doubts that she would be good enough to get into New National, Claudine didnât try to comfort her, but Claudine tried to cheer on Junna when she expressed her doubts.Â
This is because despite their similar lack of self-esteem, at least Mahiru is at the start line and is willing to at least audition for the best troupe in the world. Mahiru doesnât need Claudine to encourage or comfort her.Â
But Junna gave up before she even started, already deciding that she needs to learn more, that sheâs not ready yet. Which is why Claudine tries to give Junna a push, just like she did with Futaba. But even when Claudine encourages Junna literally word for word the same way she encouraged Futaba, Junna is still hesitant to try to audition for New National, too scared to aim for the top star at the top troupe.Â
But thatâs all in her head. Junna is underestimating herself. Sure Claudine was making a jab at Maya when she said Junna was just as good, but she really does think that Junna has what it takes. And much later during the Revue of Resentment with Kaoruko, Futaba explicitly mentions Junna as a stage girl who has something she lacks.
Junna covers up this insecurity of hers by claiming sheâs only not a match now, and in the future she will be, so itâs not that like sheâs completely given up. But even so, right now Junna has lost the recklessness she had at the start of the series, that courage to try and become the top star, no matter how slim the chance. The Junna we see on the train is not the same Junna who got mad at her classmates for giving up on becoming Flora or Claire even before the auditions because they were sure Maya and Claudine were going to win.Â
That Junna would have snapped at this Junna.
Anyways, thereâs a reason that is the last meaningful conversation anyone has until the Revue of Annihilation.
But before that, letâs take a look at Nana.
In Nanaâs career counseling, she says her current plans for after graduation are to either apply to New Nationalâs acting troupe, or apply to be part of their production troupe, but sheâs not completely sure which one to choose in the end. This is a nice reminder that although Nanaâs pretty knowledgeable about the auditions and revues and everything, sheâs also trying to figure out her own future, just like everyone else.
It feels important though, that Nana mentions that she knows she will have to choose, and that eventually it will end.
But unlike everyone else who is guiding the new students in their opening scenes, Nana is instead helping out Class B, essentially guiding the existing students instead of new ones.
Although, I gotta be real with you guys, I kinda forgot that Nanaâs initial goal was New National.
When I rewatched the movie, I actually did a double take at this scene since I completely forgot that she applied there, and not the Royal Academy for Theatrical Actors where she ends up in the epilogue. And while this may be attributed to the fact that I am illiterate, I think part of it is because we donât really see Nana get excited about New National with Maya, Mahiru, and Futaba.Â
The entire time before their field trip to visit New National, the three of them are talking about it non-stop since itâs their dream troupe, but not Nana. Sheâs thinking about something else the whole time.
As for what sheâs thinking about, we can take a guess.
If we go back to the scene where Karen and Junna are acting in front of potential students, Nana is in the background watching, and itâs pretty clear that Nana definitely relates to Karen. In Karenâs performance of someone who is lost because their friend has to leave them, Nana is the one who finishes Karenâs line, âWhy are you leaving?â by adding âmy friend.â
Nanaâs whole subplot in the show was about how she didnât want her friends to change and leave her behind, making her alone again like her time in Middle School. And while she made peace with the idea that they would all eventually grow and evolve as stage girls at the end of the show, the threat of them growing apart is still very real, especially as they all graduate and go their own, separate paths.
And unlike every other girl in their class, Nana and Karen are the only two without a clear plan for the future. But while Nana is at least attempting to narrow down her options and aware that she has to make a decision soon, Karen left her future plans sheet blank.
This separation of Nana and Karen from their classmates continues even into their next scene at Seisho. While Karen is who-knows-where, Nana had left to do laundry before she can hear Kaorukoâs rant about how pathetic they all are for not being interested in the audition this time. However despite being physically separated from the group and not participating in the conversation, Nana is somewhat aware of whatâs going on with everyone.
Nana doesnât come in and take part in the conversation though. She chooses to wait outside, despite not being busy with the chores.
This is a switch between Maya and Nanaâs usual roles in the show, since usually Maya would be the one to be separated from the group in the show, and Nana would be the one infodumping about whatâs going on. My working theory is that Nana feels guilty about what she will have to do later, so sheâs trying to isolate herself from her friends before the Revue of Annihilation.
Even on the train ride, Nana only talks to Karen, the sole person in their train car who wonât take part in the upcoming Revue. And it isnât like the two of them are having some important conversation either, since Nana is paying attention to Junna and Claudineâs talk.
When Junna talks about how she doesnât plan on aiming for New National right now, Nana stares, although I gotta wonder if she is staring in disapproval or concern?