I actually think you could figure out Sāya’s backstory during Episode 6 but if not, Episode 7 is here to finally shed some light on the matter. In the opening flashback, Sāya is about to make her live debut with her band, CHiSPA. When she notices her family absent in the crowd, Sāya makes a call and learns that her mom has fainted, forcing her to leave the venue and have CHiSPA perform without her. This incident explains why Sāya is now so concerned for her mother and why she’s so diligent at helping around the house. As we see in some more flashbacks, none of Sāya’s bandmates blame her for the botched performance and they’re more than willing to accommodate for Sāya in light of her mother’s condition. Sāya however feels that prioritizing her family would only make her a burden for CHiSPA so she decides to quit the band.
In the present, Kasumi and Sāya wrap up the prep work for the culture festival. While checking out the gymnasium, Poppin’Party notices a drum set being shared by some of the clubs in the school, prompting them to consider finding a drummer for the band. As funny as it is for Kasumi to consider playing the drums and the guitar simultaneously, that is obviously a no go. Something that I find odd is that even though Kasumi is already considering Saya as Poppin’Party’s fifth member, it doesn’t immediately occur to her to ask Saya about playing the drums and she kind of acts like she forgot to write Saya’s name down on the posters. I suppose adding Saya to the posters was a spur of the moment but I’m more inclined to think it’s an oversight on the writing’s part.
At some point, Poppin’Party decides to check out a nearby music store, Edogawa Music, and run into Natsuki as well as two members of Glitter☆Green, Rii Uzawa (Izumi Kitta) and Hinako Nijikki (Sora Tokui), both of whom happen to work at the store. Kasumi had assume that Hinako is the quiet type but as it turns out, the latter is actually a lot more hyperactive than she lets on. She’s only quiet during Glitter☆Green’s concerts because Rii thinks it’ll cause trouble for the band. It’s not a bad bit but it does fall a bit flat because, up until this point, you’ve barely gotten to know Glitter☆Green outside of Yuri. It never occurred to me that Hinkao has barely talked before because she doesn’t have a lot of screentime to begin with. Anyway, since Rii plays the drums, Kasumi asks her to play for them during the culture festival. While Rii isn’t at all opposed to the idea, she does infer that Sāya would be a much better choice, leading Natsuki to tell Poppin’Party about Sāya’s departure from CHiSPA.
While all this is going on, Sāya notices her mother’s condition worsening again. I like that as the episode progresses, you see Sāya leaving school early more often to take on more responsibilities at her home, to the point that she dips out in the middle of the planning committee’s after party for finishing all their prep work. It’s understandable and commendable of Sāya to look after her mother but I also can’t help but feel concerned that she feels compelled to take things this far. What’s really interesting then is that it’s implied that Sāya’s mother is aware of this, often encouraging her not to be a worrywart and make the most out of the upcoming festival.
After hearing what happened to CHiSPA from Natsuki, Kasumi pays Sāya a visit and formally invites her into Poppin’Party, resulting in the two getting into an argument. This is obviously the big moment of the episode. In fact, the episode’s title, “We Fought!” refers to this very scene. I must admit that nowadays, this scene unintentionally feels a bit quaint. I mean, if you really want dysfunctional, wait until you get to MyGO!!!!! and Ave Mujica. If this is some of the biggest drama in Poppin’Party, I don’t have much to worry about. Hindsight put aside, this scene is nevertheless one of the stronger ones in Season 1. Both girls have equally strong arguments here, with Sāya worrying over her mother and holding the band back while Kasumi comes up with a myriad of ways they can make things work. The fact that Sāya does open up to Kasumi about what happened to her mother, something that she didn’t even tell the others in CHiSPA, says a good deal about her relationship with Kasumi. It’s effective in conveying how much Sāya values Kasumi as a friend and it makes her refusal to join the band all the more disheartening.
Kasumi and Sāya aren’t able to come to an agreement and when they notice they’re making Sāya’s siblings upset, they both agree that to save the conversation for another time (good call, honestly). To their embarrassment, the others were downstairs, listening in on them. Before leaving, they briefly tell Sāya that they too want her in the band, with Tae sending her what they have for the new song. I kind of love Arisa’s comment for how tsundere it is, acting like she still doesn’t care about the band before speaking rather genuinely at the end. Even though it’s kind of obvious what Sāya will do in the end, very last scene where she contemplates deleting Tae’s message is still a solid ending. If she really is adamant about not joining the band, this is all she needs to do so the fact she sits on it instead means that there’s some hope left in this arc.
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