Episode 6 ended with the gang have only one day before the live show so naturally, Episode 7 moves forward to the main event. And yeah, it has been a long time coming for the main characters to perform. It’s definitely a risk but I vaguely recall the original Bandori being guilty of something similar and the writing of MyGO has been good enough to carry the story so I can give the show a pass.
Considering that the live show is headlined by Poppin’Party and Afterglow, you of course get cameos by members of both bands. I didn’t get far enough in the original series to see Afterglow but it is nice seeing all of Poppin’Party again. There’s issues with their first season but the girls themselves were a charming bunch. Surprisingly, you don’t see the main cast of MyGO interact with the returnees all that much. Anon gets to talk with Afterglow but that happens offscreen. Taki is acquainted with some members of Poppin’Party but all we get from the OGs is them congratulating MyGO‘s cast on their first gig. I would’ve liked to see more interaction but I at least appreciate that the episode doesn’t bank heavily on it bringing old characters back.
For once in a CGDCT music anime, I’m actually very nervous about how the first concert will go for the main characters. In something such as Love Live! or BOCCHI, there are hiccups but you still know that things will go well in the end. But here in MyGO, the group has been so dysfunctional that it’s actually more plausible for things to go awry. This episode certainly leans into that by having the girls completely drop the ball on the sound check and then spend almost a third of the episode in the waiting room. The latter scene is pretty well directed, utilizing the large space of the room, some overhead angles, and the ticking of a clock to convey how nerve-wracking it is for everyone to wait for the big moment.
I kind of figured that Anon would screw up at the start of the band’s timeslot. She’s the least experienced of the five, after all. Taki wastes no time in telling Anon to get things right, though this is probably the least mad she’s ever acted towards her. I’ll give Taki that much, she at least knows that yelling at Anon would be a bad look for her and the band. Tomori is unsurprisingly the next roadblock for the group, her lack of confidence kicking in as soon as she sees the crowd. Fortunately, she steps up when she sees Sakiko and Mutsumi join the audience. I really like how the first insert song, “Hekitenbansou”, is about picking yourself up and trying your best and you quite literally see that happen with Tomori during the concert. She sings poorly at first and then gradually gets better as the song progresses. It’s also interesting how the song has the speaker talking to a friend and resolving to run forward with them. While the inspiration for the song is technically Anon, it feels more like Tomori is reaching out to Sakiko, asking her to run with her, like they used to when CRYCHIC started out.
In between songs, Tomori takes the time to reaffirm her fear of being part of a band again and her desire to overcome that. Rāna for whatever reason vibes with it and she proceeds segue over into “Haruhikage”, which doesn’t appear to have been part of the plan. Taki and Anon roll with it though Soyo seems a bit taken aback (more on that in a bit). The most important reaction however is Sakiko’s. She gets so emotional over the performance that she ends up running out of the building.
I have two interpretations as to why Sakiko reacts this way; for all I know, both may very well be valid. “Haruhikage” is essentially about a lonely person finally finding “salvation” through the company of a friend. It is very much applicable to Tomori’s character and how she feels happier thanks to CRYCHIC and now, the band she’s currently in. For Sakiko however, the song takes a different meaning. She realizes now that she’s the one Tomori is referring to, the friend Tomori needed to save her, and she effectively threw that all away when she quit CRYCHIC. Alternatively, I can see Sakiko feeling betrayed. Like, she thinks Tomori is referring to her new band this time around and that she’s been replaced or that Tomori has moved on. Even if you don’t pay attention to the lyrics, that much feels apparent just on the basis that Tomori is singing “Haruhikage”, a song she and Sakiko created together, with the new band. It’s also worth noting that this performance uses the full version of “Haruhikage” as opposed to the shorter one used in Episode 3. I think if you were to play the two side by side, CRYCHIC’s rendition ends right as Sakiko runs away in the second performance. If so, that really sinks in how short lived CRYCHIC was and the idea that Tomori has moved on from it.
Soyo notices Sakiko running off and you can tell that she’s upset that her band decided to perform “Haruhikage”. She manages to power through the rest of the song but once everyone is backstage, she snaps. Part of me thinks Soyo is way too attached to CRYCHIC but I do understand why she’s so mad. The last thing she wants is to hurt Sakiko and in her eyes, the song is CRYCHIC’s and it’s almost sacrilege for a different to play it. I can see Taki getting defensive towards Soyo. Taki sees “Haruhikage” as Tomori’s song and given the bad blood between her and Sakiko, she’ll probably think Sakiko is getting what she deserved for ditching Tomori.
After the ED, we see Sakiko call Uika, asking her to help her “‘forget everything'”. It has admittedly been almost a month since I covered Episode 4 but I honestly have forgotten about Uika. Is she finally going to be relevant now? I am curious as to what Sakiko means by her request. I suppose Sakiko might ask Uika to let her join sumimi or start a new band together. In that sense, she could forget about Tomori, CRYCHIC, and what happened in the past. It’d be a bit spiteful for her to do that but this is MyGO I’m talking about here. Toxicity is kind of just par for the course with this show’s characters.
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