Episode 9 opens with a flashback that gives up a glimpse of Soyo’s past up until CRYCHIC’s breakup. One thing I’ve really like about MyGO so far is that even if a character isn’t particularly likable, I can at least understand them. I never bought Soyo’s kind and soft-spoken persona and some of her recent actions are pretty darn scummy. That said, this flashback does explain why she behaves the way she does. Knowing now that Soyo never really had friends and rarely made decisions of her own, it’s become easier to understand why Soyo got so attached to CRYCHIC and why she really wanted to revive it.
In the present, Taki still wants to ignore Soyo but she soon agrees to help contact her when she notices Tomori blaming herself for the growing rift in the band. Having never found out where Soyo lives, Taki asks Mutsumi for the address but Mutsumi refuses to give it up. Honestly, I’m happy for Mutsumi. After dealing with all the nonsense between Sakiko and especially Soyo, it’s so refreshing to see Mutsumi just say “no” for a change. The next day, Anon and Tomori spot Soyo with some of her classmates but when they call for her, Soyo ignores them. It appears that Soyo has decided to pull a Sakiko and cut ties with everyone now. I did say in the last episode review that Soyo needs to move on but I didn’t mean it like this. I kind of expected her to give Anon the cold shoulder but doing that to Tomori is a bit shocking. Sakiko was right. Soyo’s goal had more to do with CRYPHIC than the members themselves and it was more for her than the everyone in the band. It doesn’t matter if she still has Tomori and Taki; if she can’t have CRYPHIC then she doesn’t care.
When Anon tells Taki what happened, Taki decides enough is enough and she gets help from her older sister Maki with attending an event where Soyo is performing with the brass band in her school, Tsukinomori Girls’ Academy. I’m guessing Maki attended Tsukinomori and still has connections there. Taki seems pretty reluctant to get Maki’s help so I have to wonder if the two are a bit estranged from each other. Taki confronts Soyo after the event and Soyo finally admits her failed plan to reform CRYCHIC and eventually kick Anon and Rāna out. Perhaps the newest and most egregious bit of information is that she did in fact lie to Tomori about committing to the band. She only said it so that Tomori and Taki would stick around. As rude and hurtful as Soyo is here, I am a little entertained to see her be honest for a change. Like now that her plan failed, she really could care less how many bridges she has to burn now. Taki is rightfully angry here but although I’m on her side, I’m glad that Soyo points out that all Taki cares about is Tomori and that makes her a scummy person in her own right. What pisses Taki the most is Soyo lying to Tomori and she’s only mad about Soyo’s attempt to kick Anon and Rāna out because that’d upset Tomori by extension.
With Soyo refusing to return to the band and Taki hating her guts anyway, the latter decides to recruit her classmate, Umiri Yahata (Mei Okada), to take Soyo’s place as the band’s bassist. I immediately assumed that this plan would fail. Like, I get Taki wanting to move on ASAP and avoid telling the others what’s going on but all this would do is put a band aid on the situation. Adding a replacement without consulting anyone else would also fare poorly anyway. Sure enough, the plan catches the others off guard. Anon tries to go along with it but Tomori makes her discomfort clear to everyone, leading Umiri to drop out. I do love that Umiri takes zero offense and before leaving, she tells Tomori that she’s rooting for things to go well for her. In just one scene, this minor character now ranks as one of the least toxic characters in the entire show. She should honestly have more screentime.
Taki eventually comes clean about what’s going on with Soyo, shocking both Tomori and Anon. One bit of direction that I really like in this scene is the quick montage of all of Soyo’s lines that were suspicious in hindsight. Regardless of whether or not the viewer figured it out ahead of time, it’s great seeing Anon finally put the pieces together. Curiously, Taki tells Tomori that they can’t have Soyo in the band unless CRYPHIC is revived and Anon and Rāna are kicked out, effectively putting Tomori at a crossroad of sorts. You’d think since Taki cares about Tomori’s feelings that she’d still try to reach out to Soyo but this being the rare time where Taki disagrees with her friend does line up with her biggest flaw. She may be considerate towards Tomori but she’s rude to everyone else and she always fails to account for much they mean to Tomori. For her to ask Tomori to choose rather than help her shows that she doesn’t care about who else is in the band, it only matters to her if Tomori is still there.
As Tomori and Taki argue, Anon decides to quit the band, leaving Tomori distraught. In hindsight, this was honestly a long time coming. Rāna isn’t around for Anon to build a connection with. Taki keeps treating her like crap. Finding out that Soyo was using her the whole time and was going to kick her out of the band was just the nail in the coffin. It is a little surprising for Anon to leave Tomori behind and tell her to reform CRYCHIC. She must know that doing so would be devastating for Tomori. Then again, Tomori is about the only one she can consider as a friend. The band is otherwise a circle where Anon feels unwelcomed and I can understand that being enough for her to leave.
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