Kasumi returns home, devastated over failing the audition again. When it becomes apparent that her voice isn’t getting any better, she decides to pay the hospital a visit. The doctor concludes that there isn’t anything wrong with her physically so in theory, her voice should be back to normal after some rest. Since Space has one last audition scheduled before it closes, Kasumi wants to resume practice but her friends wisely convince her to take a break and let them practice without her. Kasumi gives her friends her blessing to audition without her in the event that her voice doesn’t recover in time, but everyone is adamant that the whole band pass together.
Before heading back home to rest, Kasumi decides to watch Asuka practice for the school’s swimming team. There, Kasumi admits to Yuri that she has been stressing over passing the audition before Space closes and improving on her lackluster abilities. That exciting feeling she normally experiences when she performs is gone and she instead feels anxious, resulting in her losing her voice. I didn’t think much of it before rewatching this arc, I find it rather interesting to see Kasumi struggle this much this late into the season. For the longest time, she’s radiated confidence but it does appear that when the stakes are actually raised or there’s enough going on, Kasumi can feel the most insecure and have the lowest self-esteem out of the five main characters.
Kasumi later discusses the matter with Asuka and her sister suggests that this slump of hers may sort itself out in due time. This seemingly rings true when Kasumi hits the hay and regains her voice the following morning. As plausible as it is for Kasumi to simply need a break, this is actually a false alarm. As soon as Kasumi rejoins Poppin’Party for practice, everyone discovers that she’s still unable to sing. Kasumi runs away ashamed but when the others catch up up with her, she finally confides to them about everything that’s been bothering her. Now that they know what exactly is going on with her, everyone reminds Kasumi that she’s the one who got the band together and they want to pass the audition with her. I kind of love Arisa’s comment the most, even if it’s rather blunt. As she points out, everyone knows that Kasumi is the least experienced member of the band but that didn’t change the fact that they want to be in a band with her. And while Arisa could have chosen her words better, it’s nice to see her be so upfront for a change.
In order to get Kasumi to sing again, the band agree to split the lyrics amongst each other. Kasumi will still sing the hook and the chorus but the other verses will be handled by each of her friends. As an armchair businessman, I think there’s maybe an ulterior motive to this development behind the scenes. The thing about band anime is that it’s usually just the main vocalist who sings. So if you have cast members who can all sing, you’re kind of just sitting on unused talent. Having everyone in Poppin’Party each take a verse almost feels like an excuse to have a single where all five IRL members sing to a prominent degree. That all said, I still appreciate the symbolism of dividing up the lyrics. Everyone decides to share the burden with Kasumi so that it’s easier for her to handle and in doing so, Kasumi is able to sing once again. Since testing this new arrangement has gone without a hitch, all that’s left for the girls to do is pass the audition. Unfortunately, the ED rolls right after this scene so you’ll have to watch the next episode to find out if they succeed or not.
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