Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku 04-05
Someone’s had enough
Hellooooooooo! Something about Mikagura makes me want to talk like Foshizzel. Maybe it’s the overwhelming attitude of the show or the unflinching pressure to go go go! We’ve had two more episodes, so how’s the show doing?
Houkago Six!
Action Time!
It was discussed in the comments last time that even though the show is very high energy and Eruna is exceedingly positive the rest of the source material, from the song messages to the other characters, are somewhat down and depressing. Episode 4 gets us exploring that a bit as it’s almost time for the Rookie Battle to begin. But Eruna has lost what it takes to fire her Toy Gun (although I personally think that it’s mostly that she’s not listening to her own words when she tries to actualize it). After getting beaten by Himi in a return practice match, Eruna’s invited to join the Drama Club for a pre-Rookie Battle “How to fight club battles” crash course. This brings Eruna closer to Yuto Akama, the club president who gets the majority of the focus for the episode.
Irrepressible Wins Again!
And that’s because he’s living what he thinks is a lie. He’s put on a happy friendly face, he thinks to fool the people around him, to try to avoid having what happened before – his mother and brother leaving in divorce – happening again. But he feels that he can’t let anyone close, can’t let anyone see his real self. The show does a good job getting Akama’s internal conflict across, both that he’s afraid of his past resurfacing (reminded by Asuhi, aka Telescope Boy), and that everyone will figure out that his facade is a fake. But both worries are rather blown away when he realizes that Eruna’s figured him out, and she points out that she thinks everyone’s pretty much figured it out. I think this is a great representation of teenage feelings, that feeling that you are the only one who knows the real you, that noone can understand, and that you need to project that likeable facade. But I think everyone’s got their depth of personality, and that other people are generally more perceptive than you think. In Yuto’s case, even though people know that he’s trying to be positive so that they don’t leave like his brother, they understand that he’s not always like that, and that’s ok. They still like him.
I don’t even…
I liked the way the show handled the run up to and the actual battle in the first round. We didn’t need to see a lot of practicing. That’s not what this show is about. Instead, we see the “Houkago Six” clowning around and having fun, while being told that they’re training. And that’s fine. Training is boring. That’s why they use montages in other shows. In this one, we get the downtime, the part where people’s bonds are strengthened. The animal affectations of the drama club, the nearly incoherent rankings they had (Using 6 different tables of order, even – Red, Subsection Chief, Peace Officer, Private, 2nd division sumo wrestler, and Konjac Noodles), and the general air of camaraderie that they had. And then for Eruna to fight Katai, her former sleeping bag buddy, in her first round match made for a nice fight, with Katai trying to avenge Himi. Eruna finally seems to learn how to activate her power – that it requires some actual tension. But even in defeat, Katai is happy with the outcome and everyone likes the battle… except for Seisa, it seems.
Battle time!
Festival da yo!
Heeeeey, it’s some takoyaki
The rookie battle is apparently time for a festival-like atmosphere, and everyone’s getting in on the fun, even Minatogawa of the flower arranging club. Well, at least trying to. But he’s not particularly outgoing, and has a hard time approaching others, which carries over into his demeanor at his shooting gallery booth. But that’s ok because he really doesn’t want to give any of the prizes away, since they happen to be his personal possessions. Eruna’s still going to help him out, tho, and manages to attract a big crowd, with happenings with Yuto and Seisa. And even though it looks like Seisa’s going to have a big fight with Minatogawa, she avoids it (which is apparently a little out of character for her) and instead wins another of his toys, rather than the rigged Super Miracle Man.
Someone’s an asshole
But where the episode really pushed the series up a notch was in the continuation of the Rookie Battle. No, we don’t see Eruna’s battle, but she and Asuhi and Ton-kyun all win and are having fun, but Usamaru has run into a problem. His opponent, the band member he thought was cute, is taking her battle too far: instead of just winning against an overmatched opponent, she toys with him, trying to humiliate him, taunting and insulting him. And even though Eruna tries to rally Usamaru, it’s not enough, as Sagara finishes him off while mocking him for even trying.
To this point, we’ve only seen the one view of the battles: Eruna and the others’ positive view about it being a fun activity. But this is a darker side, one that sucks the fun right out of it. And it’s not something new, as Seisa has actually come to the battle, something rare for her, and we seem meant to understand that this kind of humiliation is standard practice for some clubs, and what drove her out of the battles even if she was very strong. I’m interested to see how Eruna reacts to this side of the club battles, or even Usamaru, who didn’t seem nearly as down about it while losing as those watching were. So on one side we’ve got the friendly, happy, youth power fights, but it seems like they can quickly turn into bullying and humiliation. And with noone to try to enforce any sportsmanship rules, it’s easy to see how that gets out of hand. Maybe that’s another reason this school needs Eruna.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I wish KUMa LOLi more stronk…
I agree that it’s best to mix up the battles with the characterization as they can both underscore each other. But that isn’t to say that practice should be left out of the narrative; far from it, as it can be comedy gold as well.
Seisa has been burned by battle already, as her flashbacks inform us. But I hope there is another layer to that, it would need one to be a touch more compelling.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
It’s flying!
It’s a cat!
It’s a flying neko!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You don’t say…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
I see that Black Hair Lady (Seisa Mikagura?) is kinda upset about that rookie battle thing or whatsoever, as what we see in the 1st episode!
I Can tell ya that, Mikagura’s Relatives or Perhaps the People who run the School is EVIL!
And…Yes, Ms Orange Prick (Eruna Ichinomiya) Let’s see how long will be energetic if they unveil about the secrets of that school, HAH…I’am Waiting! >:)
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t think there’s quite as much evilness and secrets as you might think. So I doubt there will be some big reveal of all the nefarious plans.
Plus, I don’t even think that would bring Eruna down. She’s going to stay nice and positive.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that nothing’s going to keep Eruna down.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Okay, I guess they needed to have a villain, aka the Band Club asshole rookie, for Eruna to fight during the Rookie Battles. But it is good for other reasons to introduce such a character. We’re looking at teenagers here and a school authorized system of fighting. That’s a recipe for some students to use the system in order to bully others, especially since it seems there’s no punishment for doing so during the battles. It would be unrealistic for some students NOT to take advantage of it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I dunno if it’s someone that Eruna will fight or not (I can’t remember offhand if she and Usamaru were looking toward fighting each other). I think the point is a lot more of the two-faced-ness of both the club battles and the people in them. After Sagara made that cute video about herself, and then she’s a giant jerk in the battle, there’s probably a lot of message about ‘stab you in the back’ high schoolers. And I’m sure that Seisa had to deal with quite a lot of that, being the school idol, granddaughter of the head of the school, and a strong fighter. It probably turned more than one person into a “Smile to your face, stab you in the back” kind of person when dealing with her.
I definitely expect Eruna to lose a few matches, more than just against Seisa. But that’s part of the charm of Eruna. She doesn’t need to win to have fun, and even in defeat I’m sure that she’ll end up teaching a lesson to those whose view of sportsmanship is “something for suckers.”
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
That is something I appreciate about Eruna’s character, “she doesn’t need to win to have fun”. That’s a rare attribute, playing for the sake of playing, and it’s something I enjoy when playing board-games with friends or family. Well, except for Munchkin, I have to win at that game. Or Arkham Horror, where everyone loses if everyone doesn’t win.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Episode 5 was the best with everyone going through the festival and Seisa cooling down around her peers, acting a normal instead of cold and distant. Whatever happened in the Rookie battle of her flashback must have been really bad to make her the sour girl she was a while back.
I should’ve known that band girl would have layers to her beyond that cute smile on the video. Her way of battling is harsh and unforgiving.