Out of all the episodes in Revue Starlight, this one is easily the least relevant one. The reason quite simple: it stars Kaoruko and Futaba, both of whom are frankly the two least important characters in the main cast. Trust me, they don’t make a big splash in the narrative. I suppose you can compare their relationship to Karen and Hikari’s (as well as Maya and Claudine’s) but other than that, neither Kaoruko and Futaba really connect to the journey of our two main protagonists. With a little bit of tweaking, you could probably cut this episode out and not miss much.
I can’t entirely say that I dislike this episode, however. I admit that I have a huge soft spot for Kaoruko. She’s selfish, entitled, narcissistic, and she has a bad habit of treating Futaba more as a servant than a friend…and that is all precisely why I love her. Her ego is so inflated that she acts like she’s the main protagonist of the show and I can’t help but find that really entertaining. I’m not nearly as fond of Futaba but she is a pretty relatable and likable character and you absolutely need her in order for Kaoruko’s character to work.
Episode 6 opens up with a flashback set in Kyoto, where a younger Kaoruko has scurried out of her house, leading Futaba to help their families find her. This scene formally establishes that Kaoruko comes from a prestigious family who runs a traditional dance school, hence her insane ego. I find it adorable that Kaoruko more or less acts the say way here as she does in the present. She’s modeling for bystanders and she admits to Futaba that she’d rather be spoiled by her parents than perfect her craft. By that same token, Futaba also acts the same, being willing to put up with Kaoruko’s nonsense and helping her in whatever she can. Given that their personalities have hardly changed over the years, it’s no wonder why Futaba is starting to grow distant from Kaoruko the past couple of episodes. They’ve been doing this song and dance for about a decade. Something was bound to change.
You get a very brief follow-up to Mahiru’s episode after the OP. Having gotten over her Karen complex, Mahiru is now willing to grow closer to Hikari. In this scene, she makes Hikari organize her stuff to keep their dorm room clean, acting as if she’s an older sister to her friend (Mahiru actually has a bunch of younger siblings so this comes very naturally to her). It just warms my heart to see Mahiru make peace with Hikari. Also, I chuckled that the show actually acknowledges the messy state Hikari keeps leaving her room in. She’s been doing that since Episode 1.
At school, Group B begins the first round of auditions for the second performance of “Starlight”. The audition works like the ones seen in the underground theater, where people aren’t eliminated but are instead given multiple chances to prove themselves until a winner is decided. Naturally, Kaoruko wants one of the two lead roles so it should also come to no surprise that she completely bombs her audition while everyone, including Futaba, doesn’t. To her annoyance, the leaders of Group B bluntly tell her that she isn’t good enough for a major role.
Kind of like how Kaoruko tells Futaba to let her be the Top Star, she orders her friend to trade roles with her. To her surprise however, Futaba gives no response. Later that day, Kaoruko catches Futaba training with Claudine’s help and she realizes that Futaba is improving enough to steal her thunder. The two then get into an argument, with Futaba refusing to hand over her role and moving over to Claudine’s room. Can’t say I blame Futaba here. As she points out, she earned that potential spot in the play so she deserves to keep it. Rather than be happy for Futaba, Kaoruko throws a fit and that’s naturally going to rub someone the wrong way.
Since Futaba broke up with her, Kaoruko has to temporarily do everything on her own such as wake up on time and eat those pesky vegetables during lunch. After seeing Kaoruko depend on Futaba so much since the first episode, it’s incredibly satisfying to see karma back at her. It’s also funny how Kaoruko struggle so much. She really relied on Futaba way too much.
Rather than, you know, train and practice like any other person who lacks the help of a talking giraffe, Kaoruko resorts to fighting in the revues for those Top Star powers. She even goes as far as to fight dirty so that she can win. Of course, this backfires on her. It backfires so much that I don’t think Karen has to worry about being stuck in last ever again. I really like how even when Kaoruko making a couple of cheap shots, her friends still kick her butt. It perfectly matches what’s going on at Seisho. Be it the school auditions or the more fantastical ones, Kaoruko can’t cheat her way out and she has to get through to her thick skull that she actually has to put in the effort.
As a last resort, Kaoruko announces that she’ll be quitting Seisho and returning to Kyoto, hoping that doing so will make Futaba take pity on her. It really is awe inspiring how low this girl can stoop for something she wants. Futaba figures out pretty quickly that this plan is a bluff so she goes along with to tell Kaoruko that she’s fine with them parting ways. She only intervenes at the very end because she knows Kaoruko would have second thoughts. Really, the one Kaoruko’s plan affects the most ends up being Karen. Poor girl can’t bear to see her friend go. It goes to show how kind Karen is. Plus, it’s funny seeing her sobbingly cling onto Kaoruko as she leaves. What amazes me most about this whole bluff is that it really does not occur to Kaoruko to just talk to Futaba. You know, like friends ought to do most of the time. I know that’d usually be the boring route for the show to take but come on.
Claudine makes an interesting comment over the whole situation. She points out that any student at Seisho who is just there “for the ride” has no place in the school. This coincides with a flashback revealing that Futaba very much applied at Seisho because Kaoruko wanted her to. Later in the episode, Futaba says she had to work tirelessly to get admitted into the school and even then, she was among the lowest ranking students. Futaba knows exactly what Claudine is talking about. She was there for the ride and it was difficult for her. It’s no wonder that she wants to improve and hold onto the prospect of having a major role in Starlight. Meanwhile, Kaoruko seems to be the one who is currently there for the ride. However good she may be, she’s been resting on her laurels. And sure enough, that attitude of hers is met with enough disapproval that she considers quitting. I guess you could say that this remark applies to Claudine as well. She is in Maya’s shadow, after all. Then again, Claudine is hardly slacking off so she isn’t necessarily there for the ride.
Parallel to that, Maya has some parting words for Kaoruko. She relates with Kaoruko about leaving, articulating that it’s not worth sticking around if you can’t give the best version of yourself to those who follow and support you. That definitely fits Kaoruko to a T. We know for a fact that she isn’t giving the curriculum her all and that has indirectly led to the rift forming between her and Futaba. For Maya to also say this about herself is interesting. Maya thinks she’s at her best now and yet that version of her came at the cost of estranging her relationship with Claudine. Also, there’s something ironic about Maya and Claudine helping Kaoruko and Futaba amend their relationship when neither of them have really patched things up with each other.
I guess Maya and Kaoruko have a similar rapport to Claudine and Futaba though it does feel like Maya get the short end of the stick. Later at the end of the episode, Futaba leaves a bunch of candies for Claudine as thanks. Opposite to that, poor Maya just gets one piece of candy and a written taunt from Kaoruko. I’ve never felt so sorry for this girl until now.
Naturally, since Kaoruko and Futaba are the two featured characters this episode, they’re the ones duking it out in the revue of the week, “The Revue of Promise”. That’s a pretty broad title, not going to lie. I mean, plenty of these characters have made promises with one another, most notably Karen and Hikari. Still, it does pertain to Kaoruko and Futaba. The promise could be Futaba following Kaoruko wherever she does and/or Kaoruko living up to Futaba’s expectations.
I like how the girls do their roll calls back to back. Even though they’re about to beat each other up, they still acknowledge in some way that they’re joined at the hip. Having one of the girls stand tall while the other one kneels next to them in the group shots is also a neat touch. It makes sense for Futaba kneel first as she more or less pledged allegiance to Kaoruko when they were little. Having it then be the other way around reflects Futaba’s desire to stand more on her own.
The insert song for the revue is “Hanasaka Uta” or “A Song or the Blooming of Flowers?. The flower theme refers to a couple of lines where Futaba refers to Kaoruko as a flower that enchanted her and that she wants to see bloom. While not really my top favorite, it is one of the most unique vocal tracks in Revue Starlight‘s soundtrack. Broadly speaking, it’s a blend of traditional Japanese music mixed in with some synth and electric guitar. It’s a surprisingly harmonious mix that matches the chemistry of Kaoruko and Futaba, two girls with very different personalities that have nevertheless been best friends for much of their lives.
At first, Kaoruko and Futaba sing about their old promise to stay together. As the song continues however, they instead sing how they’re now going on separate paths from each other. Interestingly, the girls are way more cordial to each other in song than in real life. Interestingly, the two sound way more cordial here than they do in real life. Like, Futaba acted like she could care less if Kaoruko leaves Seisho but in the song, she encourages Kaoruko to go somewhere else if doing so will make her happy and allow her to fulfill her potential. Similarly, Kaoruko makes a big stink about quitting and leaving but in the song, she bows out more gracefully. Admittedly, she doesn’t really do that in the real fight but I suppose that’s the revue songs for you. They allow the characters to be more honest with themselves. I do find the last couple of lines a little overdramatic, especially Kaoruko’s. Like, they’re singing about going their separate ways, and they technically are as performers, but they’re obviously still hanging out after this episode.
Looking at the lyrics, the song is fairly balanced between the two singers. Kaoruko and Futaba each have one solo verse (the second and fourth ones respectively). The two sing the first and third verses back to back, giving the impression that they’re having a conversation with each other. The last first verse is sung together to reflect their reconciliation at the end of the fight.
The stage takes the form of a traditional Japanese residence. While it’s akin to the house Kaoruko grew up in, it can also refer to Futaba and she’s been living under the same roof as her best friend. For most of the fight, Futaba overwhelms Kaoruko with aggressive attacks from her halberd, resulting in the set getting trashed along the way. Given Kaoruko’s stagnation at school and her losing streak in the revues, it makes sense for Futaba to be poised to win. It also feels indicative of Futaba’s current feelings. She’s fighting aggressively to prove her worth to Kaoruko. Trashing the place refers to her desire to branch out of Kaoruko’s shadow.
Once Kaoruko gains an upper hand on Futaba, the stage transitions into a field full of blossom petals. As mentioned earlier, Futaba ascribes the image of a flower blooming to Kaoruko so all the petals in the area is likely referring to that. The graceful and serene aesthetic can also denote Kaoruko’s background in traditional dance. It’s a little funny to associate that to Kaoruko, what with her usual personality being a toxic gremlin. I suppose this is less what Kaoruko tends to be and more what she should strive to be.
Kaoruko winning the fight is a surprising choice. The win could arguably go to Futaba as she’s fighting to prove herself as a legitimate star. Beating Kaoruko would certainly prove that she’s serious. Then again, Kaoruko defeating Futaba shows that she is taking her friend seriously. She acknowledges that her friend is getting good and that likewise pushes her to stop slacking off and become the performer she strives to be and that Futaba expects her to be.
I love that even with this character development, Kaoruko is still a gremlin. Like, she finally comes to an understanding with Futaba but that doesn’t stop her from being up to no good. That much is demonstrated at the very end of the revue where she offers to eliminate herself, only to reveal that it’s a trick to get a cheap shot at Futaba’s jacket. It doesn’t work and Kaoruko finally does mean what she says by defeating Futaba in earnest but this darn girl still couldn’t resist pulling a fast one. Later in the ending, you see Kaoruko wake up on time and get ready for Futaba to give her a ride to school. You find out that she now envisions to be on the top with Futaba…but her entitled and haughty tendencies still surfaces. It’s surprising but it is also impressive of Revue Starlight to walk such a fine line with this character, giving her some much needed character development while not completely changing her attributes. This also means that means we get to see more of Kaoruko being Kaoruko, which I 100% approve on that notion alone.
After the ED, there’s a brief post-credit scene involving Nana. Nana has some interesting dialogue here, noting that a lot of what’s been going on is a first for her and things need to go “by the script” again. It’s not a spoiler to say that she’ll be the next featured character. Her name is literally the title of the next episode and the show confirms that much in the episode preview. At long last, the show is going to explain what the deal is with this girl.
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