At the start of the episode, Yoru discovers that JELEE’s first MV has reached 10,000 views. That’s a good number for an up-and-coming content creator though Kano doesn’t seem too impressed other than admitting that it’s way higher than her solo videos. This sort of hints at something about Kano’s character later in the episode.
While working on the next project, Mei struggles with some music software and she needs Kiui to teach her how to use them. The gang decides to meet up at Kano’s apartment to work on the project, making it the first time where all four girls are meeting in-person. Kiui is anxious to meet Kano and Mei, more so when she needs to come clean about her personal life, but the two welcome her in open arms. Kano reveals that she seldom attends school as well so she’s not one to judge Kiui in that regard.
At Kano’s apartment, Yoru hosts an icebreaker, providing her friends with pizza and chocolate eggs with sea creature themed prizes. Unsurprisingly, this includes a jellyfish. It’s pretty funny how Yoru thinks all the other prizes suck except for that one. There doesn’t seem to be any real reason other than her own bias. I like the symbolism behind Yoru getting a jellyfish toy and gifting it to Kano. Kano is the creator and leader of JELEE so it’s only fitting that she should get it. Yoru is more or less the backbone of the project so it feels right for her to give the jellyfish away.
Some drama arises when Kano announces a schedule for JELEE to follow. Kano tried pitching one to Yoru in Episode 2 and Yoru shot that down because it was unrealistic. You’d think Kano would’ve learned her lesson from that but nope! With this new schedule, Kano proposes getting JELEE’s second MV done within a couple of days and requesting everyone to collab every day until then. Naturally, the others take issue with this as they have lives outside of JELEE. Kiui’s attitude here is pretty interesting. Once she gets over the initial shyness, she’s actually not that afraid to speak her piece. If anything, she opposes the schedule the most bluntly, compared to Yoru and Mei.
Kano ends up leaving out of frustration. In her absence, the others figure out that Kano wants a new song out around the same time as The Sunflower Dolls’ next single releases, suggesting that Kano sees her former group as rivals of some sort. The girls also meet Kano’s older sister, Mion (Chika Anzai). Mion’s introduction is pretty humorous; she walks in sobbing over some boyfriend troubles, has Kiui comfort her even though the girl is a complete stranger to her, and grabs a beer to presumably wash her worries away. Already, I like this woman.
Mion reveals a couple of things about her family. Her and Kano’s parents are apparently divorced. There’s no mention of their father, who knows if he’s actually a character in this story, but their mother, Yukine Hayakawa (Yūko Kaida), is a music producer and among her clients are The Sunflower Dolls. Unlike Mion apparently, Kano was very close with their mother and she became an idol to please her. Given the scandal and the fact that Kano lives with Mion, it’s safe to say that she and Yukine are not on the best terms right now.
These tidbits puts Kano’s character in an interesting light. For starters, you have to wonder if the girl has a more interpersonal stake in JELEE. Kano called JELEE her way of making a comeback but it could also be her way of proving her worth again to her mother. That makes me a little concerned. I mean, if Yukine was willing to throw Kano away after The Sunflower Dolls’ scandal, I doubt she’d still acknowledge her daughter even if JELEE makes it big. The backstory also explains Kano’s current mindset. Kano likely worked tirelessly because her mother demands the best. Her schedules for JELEE are unrealistic because she’s used to hyper productivity and not having any commitment other than her career. She doesn’t seem impressed with JELEE’s views because she grew up with high expectations.
I wonder if Kano sees herself as empty. Like, all she feels she has is just her career and her talent. Mion certainly implies that much by saying that her sister was holed up in her room and eating nothing but junk food after the scandal. Once she got kicked out of The Sunflower Dolls, she must’ve felt dead inside. Mion also says that Kano seemed much happier once the others joined JELEE. I imagine feeling less alone and simply having friends helps fill in whatever void Kano might be feeling. It also makes me look at her frustration over the schedule in a different way. Like, it’s less the pushback from her friends and more that her demands might push her friends away and leave her alone again.
Parallel to all of this, Episode 4 presents a couple of scenes from the perspective of The Sunflower Dolls – Mero Setō (Miho Okasaki), Momoko Yanagi (Yukina Shutō), and Akari Suzumura (Sally Amaki). In general, the group is returning to their roots by touring CD shops to promote their newest single. The idols don’t directly refer to Kano in any of their dialogue but we can tell from their expressions that the scandal is still fresh in their minds. Momoko and Akari are still sad about it and Mero seems convinced that the fallout isn’t over, presumably because she knows Kano is anything but a quitter.
It’s heavily implied that Mero is the one Kano punched. Mero not necessarily sharing the same sentiment as Momoko and Akari is a giveaway and Kano flat out admitted in Episode 2 that the two of them don’t get along. As for why Kano punched Mero, that may actually have to do with Yukine. Mero acts a bit informally towards the producer, referring to her as “Yukine-pi”. She also seems loyal to Yukine, going along with whatever strategy the producer has in mind for the Dolls without question. My guess is that Yukine favored Mero over Kano and that created a big rift between the two idols, resulting in the scandal. I definitely want to learn more about this.
The episode ends with JELEE reuniting to collab. I like that Kiui and Mei divulge their pasts to make up for prying into Kano’s and break some ice within the group. How odd that Yoru is tight-lipped about herself. I thought for sure she’d reveal why she gave up drawing for a couple of years. Instead of revealing that, Yoru just says there’s someone she’s interested in and she doesn’t elaborate any further on that. My CGDCT riddled brain thinks Yoru is referring to one of her co-stars but knowing this genre, I’d be surprised if a ship actually sails in this show.
What boggles my mind is that JELEE manages to finish a new MV in all nighter. I get that the girls wants to get the most out of their hangouts and they’re high on the power of friendship. It is also cute when they all pass out and wake up to see the video becoming viral. That said, this stunt is at odds to the complaints toward Kano’s schedule earlier. Can anyone call the schedule unreasonable if it turns out that the team can actually finish a whole project in just one night?
Once again, the MV serves as the ED. Like with the first one, this nails the look and feel of a MV made by an independent content creator. I kind of prefer this one, if only because I find the backgrounds to be nicer and JELEE’s avatar has more than one key frame this time around. As for the song itself, this might be my favorite one so far. The music in this show is slowly growing on me. Both the instrumental and Rie Takahashi’s vocals give the song a calming and hopeful tone. Based on the subtitles, the lyrics seem to reflect how lonely Kano feels and how she longs for friends. The most curious line is at the end, where the speaker says she’s “home”. I don’t know if that’s meant to be taken literally. It sounds more like “home” is referring to a group in which the speaker feels she belongs there. In Kano’s case, that would likely be with her friends. I also couldn’t help but notice the song’s title, “The Moon’s Warmth”. At one point, the speaker says they’ll go home with the moon after wandering the city at night. I’m guessing the moon refers to Kano’s friends helping her from feeling aimless. It feels a bit akin to the jellyfish metaphor in the show’s title.
ED: “Tsuki no Ondo” by JELEE
Watch Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night on HIDIVE
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