My bias (oshi is Japanese idol slang for bias) in the sense of having a favorite star or character (it can be used for fictional media or just someone you idolize in general)
My bias’s child (which is the premise of the story as Goro and Sarina died and reincarnated into Aqua and Ruby Hoshino, their idol bias Ai Hoshino’s child).
Kana is basically Akane’s “oshi no ko” in the sense that she was her idol (the first definition). She’s the source of Akane’s admiration and idolization. Because she wanted to be like her that she chose to become an actress. However, there is a saying that one should never meet their heroes because her actual encounter with Kana as a kid changed her. She learned about the harshness of the entertainment world with how auditions can be rigged. It was because of that one encounter with Kana that she chose to read about psychology obsessively (how is that librarian not questioning the types of books Akane was reading at the library?) and that’s how her acting improved and how she got to where she is now.
Akane and Kana’s rivalry is so interesting to watch because of their circumstances and how it leads to where they are now. Akane and Kana both got into acting, but the type of acting they were in are very different. Kana was the child star of the film industry while Akane was the child star of the theater industry. Akane has supportive parents while it doesn’t seem like Kana has her parents around as she did mention they live elsewhere in Season 1. Akane is the one dating Aqua while Kana is stuck in a one-sided love with him. They have such a complicated respect for one another and I like it a lot. This is how rivalries should be like—wanting the best for each other but also wanting to one-up the other. I think the best thing about their rivalry is that Akane hates the actress Kana has become in the present. She loved the Kana who was radiant when the focus was on her. She hates the Kana who has to step back to let others shine.
However, what Akane does not know was that her first meeting with Kana was after Kana met Aqua who had upstaged her in their first acting gig together. That encountered had caused Kana to be in an inner turmoil for the next twelve years. He had humbled her and then the rest of her child star years had been going through situations where she’d just get work because they need her. After her re-encounter with Aqua, Kana now knows how to give others spotlight when needed. However, she still holds back even when she wants to go all out. I hope that she’s able to revive that radiance next episode. I feel like it’s going to be like that.
The animation was really good. It wasn’t as great as the previous episode, but I loved how Princess Saya was shown. I also loved the part where Saya twirls around and then pans to Akane as a teen and a child reaching her hands out to Kana, signaling for her to dance at the same pace as her. However, my favorite part of the episode was Kana dashing towards her idol group members until Akane, as Princess Saya, stops her. That was like a jump scare in a way. I thought there was something wrong with the video at first.
The voice acting for Akane was really good. I always associated Manaka Iwami as a soft-toned actress, but this episode got me rethinking. She can pull off a deeper voice and she should use that in future works. It’s just too good. I can’t wait to hear Manaka Iwami voice cool older ladies or stoic girls because I know she can pull those off well.
I honestly can’t wait for next week’s episode. I feel like it’s going to shine on Kana and show off why she’s the genius child actress who can break into tears in ten seconds. However, I can’t deny that Akane was the star of this episode. What are your thoughts on this episode?
can someone please tell me why when Akane plays as Sayahime ,her eyes are a mix of pink-turquise when Sayahime actually is depicted as having purple eyes?
when Akane plays as Sayahime:
the actual design of Sayahime:
also in one of her scenes ,Akane/Sayahime's makeup is for some reason much more stronger than it is normally
last thing I want to say is how the manga design of Sayahime seems to have a darker hair. Idk if that just manga being manga or if Sayahime was suposed to have darker hair but it was changed or if it was based on Akane's hair color rather than it being a wig
