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, 2^nd 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!