Here we are: the final day of the revues. Yes, there are two more episodes after this one but just play along for now.
Naturally, this episode starts with the whole “calm before the storm” segment, with everyone being excited and/or anxious for the last round of auditions. This part of this episode can feel pretty darn awkward. I mean, we already know who is in the top three (four?). You can’t feel bad for Mahiru, Nana, Junna, Kaoruko, and Futaba as they talk about the revue and, unbeknownst to them, they’ve already been disqualified. At least Kaoruko’s ignorance is funny. Somehow, despite losing a ton, she still thinks she has a chance at becoming Top Star. This girl’s vanity never ceases to entertain.
As for the inevitable stars of the show, Claudine runs into Maya in one of the school’s studios and the two decide to practice together before the revue. Claudine reminiscences about the day she first met Maya, at Seisho’s entrance exam. The two of them have acting backgrounds so Claudine immediately saw Maya as her rival and she wanted to show off how awesome she is. To her shock however, Maya knocked her down a peg at every part of the audition process, resulting in the rivalry they have now. The scene ends with Claudine telling Maya that she will become the Top Star.
Elsewhere, Karen and Hikari decide to revisit the aquariums they checked out separately back in Episode 4 as well as the aquarium in Tokyo Tower (which was closed last time). While browsing Tokyo Tower’s gift shop, the two cite “Starlight” and renew their promise to be stars together. A fantastic bit of direction is having the girls’ younger selves make appearance. Present-day Karen gives young Hikari her hairclip and vice versa. The girls are watched by their younger selves as they quote “Starlight”. It’s not the least bit grounded but it’s a great stylistic choice that sells how important and everlasting their promise is and how influential “Starlight” is to them. The trick is later used again, albeit in a more ominous sense. At the old playground, Hikari tries to tell Karen something important but the two then get called for the audition. As this happens, you see Hikari’s younger self looking over, her obscured face and grim expression suggesting that she’s displeased with what her older self plans on doing. It’s an eerie image and a great bit of foreshadowing for what later happens in the episode.
When I first saw the leaderboard, I was really hoping that this episode’s revue would be a tag-team duel, with Hikari and Karen fighting Maya and Claudine. Imagine my glee then when the giraffe reveals that this is very much the plan. I guess dreams really do come true! Granted, the show had to go with this setup. The bestest friends versus the most heated rivalry? That’s too good of an opportunity to pass up on. Funny how the giraffe has Maya and Hikari pick who they want as their wingman when it’s obvious who’d they pick. Hikari choosing Karen is a no-brainer and it makes sense for Maya to choose Claudine given the latter’s strength and the fact that they do work well together.
Despite being disqualified, the others still gets summoned to the theatre so that they can watch the duel from the theater seats. Curious about the duel and in the hopes that it’ll be a learning experience for them, everyone decides to stay and watch. Well, everyone except Kaoruko. She of course wants to leave since she can’t be the Top Star; she only stays to avoid feeling left out. Never change, Kaoruko. How courteous of the giraffe to provide refreshments. I’m not sure who’s manning the cart though…or everything else in the theater for that matter…
Somewhat confusingly, this duel is called the “Revue of Fate”. Admittedly, that’s a very fitting title. This duel is supposedly the last one and it will therefore decide the fate of the Stage Girls, especially Karen and Hikari. I just think that this revue and the last one could easily trade names. Like, the “Revue of Bonds” more or less had Nana and Karen fight over whether or not they’ll repeat the past or move towards the future. Meanwhile, the “Revue of Fate” is very much a test of bonds as the contestants must rely on their teammate to beat the other team. Not a big deal; it’s just a little odd to me.
I don’t normally comment on the roll calls but the ones in this revue are a bit more notable than usual. You have Karen and Hikari standing back to back and doing their roll call together. Meanwhile, Maya and Claudine introduce themselves separately from each other. Karen and Hikari talk how they and everyone else will do “Starlight” together. Maya and Claudine individually make prideful statements about themselves. It all perfectly establishes where each team is at with Maya and Claudine being on the same wavelength but not as in sync with each other as Karen and Hikari are. I love that Karen and Hikari do their roll call at the bottom of the stage while Maya and Claudine do theirs high up on Tokyo Tower, reflecting that the former two are the underdogs while the latter two are the top dogs. Having Maya and Claudine at Tokyo Tower is a bit of a taunt since that’s usually associated with Karen and Hikari.
For the second time in a row, Revue Starlight treats us with a rather simplistic stage. Honestly, this stage is even simpler than the last one. For a while, it’s just an empty floor and when it finally does evolve, we just get a bunch of raised platforms. There really isn’t anything here that speaks to the characters. That said, I think it works alright. This revue is a test of skill and teamwork. All the girls don’t need to manipulate the stage; they just need to fight well and fight together. The stage simply needs to serve as a battlefield. Throwing in some bells and whistles would have been nice but it would be distracting. Not to mention, it’d also be too chaotic.
It helps that the girls pull off some cool stuff during the fight. At the start of the fight, Maya and Claudine perform a spin attack together to separate Karen and Hikari. Later in the fight, you see them try to gang up on Hikari before Karen can help. Claudine has this particularly awesome moment where she deliberately steps on Hikari’s rope dart so that she can’t call the blade back. The highlight however is towards the end, where Karen enacts a trust fall, avoiding Claudine’s attack and letting Hikari save her.
Much like in school, Maya and Claudine surprisingly work well together. There’s a lot of one-on-one fighting in the revue but that actually speaks to Maya and Claudine’s teamwork. The two are working together to keep Karen and Hikari separated and make them easier targets. And to their credit, they manage to pull this off without saying a word to each other. Oddly enough, it’s during this fight that Maya and Claudine finally recognize this synergy they have. Maya sees Claudine as the only girl who can keep up with her. Claudine realizes that it’s thanks to Maya that she can go beyond her limits. Kind of silly that they only see this connection while fighting like their lives depend on it but that’s Revue Starlight for you.
At the end of the fight, Claudine helps Maya jump up to attack Hikari and Karen. Hikari helps Karen confront Maya, resulting in Karen disarming Maya’s jacket. Karen and Hikari is a given but it does feel earned. They’ve been friends longer than Maya and Claudine so they ought to shine brighter as a team and therefore manage to win. It’s also fitting that the second they’re able to team up is when Karen and Hikari are able to win.
I find it interesting that Hikari has Karen land the finishing blow. Technically, she’s the main contestant while Karen is her wingman. It says a lot then that Hikari entrusts Karen to win the duel. The same could be said about Claudine helping Maya. Claudine constantly begrudges how she’s always in second place. And yet in this scene, she willingly act as Maya’s right hand. I’m glad that the final exchange is between Karen and Maya. After Episode 3, they needed a rematch of some kind. I think it also speaks to what Maya said to Karen back then. Maya argued you need to sacrifice something to be at the top, having done so herself with Claudine. In the end however, Karen never gave up on her friendship with Hikari and she proves Maya wrong by defeating her with Hikari’s help.
The insert song for the “Revue of Fate” is “-Star Divine- finale”. This is an alternate version of “Star Divine”, one of the very first songs that was created for Revue Starlight and one that actually predates the anime. Whereas the original version is sung by all nine main cast members, this one is only sung by our two tag teams. I don’t know how many fans Revue Starlight had before the anime aired but I imagine for them, the inclusion of this song would’ve made for some nice fanservice. Putting that context aside, this song works remarkably well here. Be it the instrumentals or the vocals, the song feels intense and dramatic; it’s the perfect tone for the “final” musical number.
Lyrically, the song is about the characters’ determination to fight and seize their destiny, which they allude to as a divine star. I admit that the lyrics are more on the broad side, presumably because “Star Divine” was originally a promotional single for the whole IP. That said, the lyrics do apply to all four singers and they’re very appropriate for the final battle, in which someone will finally be crowned the Top Star.
There are a couple of changes that make the song more tailored for the fight. The “finale” version has a different second verse than the original. In the original second verse, the characters sing about a myriad of things – the unknown future, the promises they’ve made, and their shine. The “finale” version replaces this with a solo verse by Claudine, where she more or less talks about her relationship with Maya. Claudine brings up the feelings they hide from each other and how, in spite of their differences and the fact that only one can take center stage, she trusts Maya and is willing to accompany her. In both versions, the last verse is sung by Karen and Hikari. However, the original has Karen sing the first line and Hikari sing the rest. In the finale version, they instead alternate before singing in unison. It’s a minor change but I think it does a better job portraying the unity between Karen and Hikari.
After the duel, Claudine objects to the results by taking the blame for her team’s loss. She insists that Maya should be allowed to keep on fighting and she even offers to be eliminated instead. It’s sad that Claudine sees herself as the weak link but it’s heartwarming that she likes Maya enough to advocate for her. Maya accepts defeat and she cheers Claudine up by finally acknowledging her as an equal and a friend. How cute that Maya can actually speak French. She totally learned the language for Claudine and you cannot convince me otherwise.
Now that Karen and Hikari have made it to the top, Revue Starlight finally addresses over whether or not they can both become the Top Star. As you may have figured, it turns out that this is not the case and the giraffe has them fight in one more duel, the “Revue of Tragedy”. On one hand, it was incredibly naive of Karen to think that there could be a tie for first place. It may not have been confirmed until now but it always did seem like a pipe dream, more so as time went on and the show gave us more signs. As the same time however, I do feel Karen’s pain. She really wanted to be the Top Star with Hikari and it all comes crushing down on her in just one scene.
There’s not much to say about the “Revue of Tragedy” as it ends in a matter of seconds. Having always figured there can only be one, Hikari elects to attack Karen and she claims victory for herself. On the surface, it appears to be an outright betrayal and Karen perhaps feels that way. The dialogue, however, suggests otherwise as Hikari explains she wants to keep Karen’s shine alive and tell her friend that this Revue is “goodbye”. I suppose that Hikari is viewing her actions as an act of mercy; sparing Karen the pain of fighting her and deciding the ideal fate for her. While understandable, it also feels misguided as this is hardly what Karen wants at all. If anything, the stage Karen dreamed of seems farther and farther away now. Something that I’m realizing on a rewatch is how well this duel mirrors the ending of “Starlight”. Just like Flora falling off the tower after she and Claire seize the stars and makes their wish, Karen falls off of the stage as Hikari claims the title of Top Star and prepares to make her wish. In the end, Nana was right. Just like “Starlight”, the revues end in parting.
Obviously, I now know what Hikari will do next but on my first viewing, I honestly had no clue. How could I when this show has been so fantastical and has included crazy stuff such as freaking time traveling. Just about anything could happen next. All I knew was that this was one hell of a note to end the episode on and the next episode couldn’t air soon enough.
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