Thoughts and Notes about ep1-5
This is a continuation of this post here, and some extras too. Itâs less casual and more organized this time.
I now have rewatched ep1-3, and then watched ep4-5 which I was strongly recommended to do because those will answer some of my questions.
Tl:dr version - ep4-5 did nothing to endear the MC duo (if anything, it did the opposite), but provided interesting insights on other characters and thus are worth the watch
The (once again very long) version:
As said above, I have now watched ep4-5 as per recommendation because Iâm told that I missed a lot from skipping ep4-5, that reading summaries wasnât enough because that messes up the narrative. Fair enough, I agree with that and therefore decided to watch for myself.
Before that though, I rewatched ep1-3 just to see what else I could have missed. I must say that it was very interesting in this rewatch now that we know more about Nana and Hikari. Many of Nanaâs lines in these earlier episodes are indeed foreshadowing. Her frigginâ first line is a foreshadowing.
One thing to add here that I missed mentioning in my previous post is that, yes itâs strongly implied that Karen have not participated in the loopsâ Revues/that ep1 is the first time she participated.
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Notes about Ep1:
The narration of the play Starlight, of little Karen and Hikari and when they made their promise; the playâs cast was the girls in their Revue outfits with Hikari on the very top
Maya pointing out that she couldnât see Hikariâs heart, which both Kuro and Nana expressed their surpriseâ; since the scene switched to the stairway, we donât know what Nanaâs expression is then - surprise about that insight on Hikari, the rogue factor, or surprise about Maya able to sense that? Ep7 did reveal a lot, but not all yet
I knew Kirinâs eyes were green but now that Iâm staring at them, I think theyâre the same/close to the shade of Nanaâs green
Hikari wouldâve lost to Junna if Karen hadnât intervened, and then Junna lost due to the element of surprise.
Revue of of Passion - with help of ep8, itâs obvious now why Hikari wouldâve lost, she no longer had her passion after all
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Notes about Ep2:
Just as Kirin warned, both Hikari and Junna reminded Karen not to speak of Revue in public (the first rule of Fight Club is, you do not⌠cough); Mahiruâs reaction was confusion, Nanaâs was surprise, implying this could be the first she finds out of Karen participating the Revue
Maya and Claudine, pls go a get a room XâDDDDD the chemistry between these two good lord
Hikari noting that Karen doesnât have enough shine, thatâs why she wasnât chosen in the first place; Karen countered that what Junna said made her heart doki/making her want to understand and try harder (on top of the fact Hikariâs back with her here)
Nowhere was it stated that ep1âs 3-way match didnât count or does count; however, the fact ep2 is âDay 2 Auditionâ implies there is some sort of impact
Junna said the moment she became Stage Girl was when she was 8; interesting note is that itâs implied she watched a play of Starlight or similar, but the cast was shown as mannequins in contrast to ep1
Revue of Desire- Junna wants to be a star; she wants to shine and step out from the shadows, to surpass Maya and Kuro and thus she tried and tried so hard just to keep up; in my rewatch here, I note that Karen didnât even talk-no-jutsu⌠she just said she wants to become stars with Hikari, and the next moment landed that decisive blow
After that, Kirin remarked he now knows why Karen wasnât originally chosen, implying Hikari and Karenâs fate are shared
Maya defeated Kuro but neitherâs stories are shown enough at this point to judge whose desire is stronger
Summary: still cannot accept Junnaâs loss. If Junna doesnât have as much talent as the top girls, she at least has passion and work ethics and desire to win which Karen lacks at this point; even if I take a step back and say Karenâs desire is stronger than Junnaâs⌠so, having a goal to due to a childhood promise is more favorable/stronger in the Revue than a desire to reach the star through hardwork? Hmm. Iâll just say Junna lost because she was overthinking and, quoting her, the simple-minded ones are stronger lol
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Notes about Ep3
Nana seems (pleasantly) surprised when Junna and Karen seem so close; could be due the fact this rerun truly is different
I really must mention I like the start of Claudine and Futabaâs growing bond/dynamic
Kaoruko talking to Mahiru about how Hikariâs presence brought all the changes; it couldâve been just an off-handed comment, or does Kaoruko know more than she seems? (even though ep5 appeared to be her first entrance to Revue and her centric ep6 didnât confirm that)
Still irked by what Karen told Hikari - âIâll be back after I win!â; Iâll just put it as her being idealistic and believes that her dream is enough fuel to lead her to victory, especially after the match against Junna
Seriously, Kuro and Maya, I have a room all prepared, go for it, let it all out gah pls just go at it
Revue of Pride - Maya expressing surprise that Karen is even in this Revue; meaning she has never considered Karen as a possible rival, or she thought Karen didnât have a goal/reason to be top star; she asked Karen just what had she offered in exchange, to reach for the star? Indeed, what had Karen offered?
Kuro vs Futaba, and flashes of the other girls in their Revue outfits (but only Nanaâs katanas were shown); was this implying that there have been other matches by this Day 3 of Audition already? If anyone has a chart of whoâs fought who already on which days, thatâd be great (Iâve seen some on twitter but canât find them anymore).
Allow me a moment to gush over Mayaâs part in the duet of ep3 again. Those lyrics are just so damn good lol. And also goddamit that beautiful animation
Instead of herself, Maya mostly talked about Kuro; Iâve already talked about this in my previous post but yeah, I love them. This is KuroMaya
Interestingly, after her victory, Maya said âthe passion with her (Kuro) isâŚâ, trailed off; well, I guess weâll wait for a Kuro-centric ep to find out more
Hikari trying to intervene but couldnât; implying Kirin really did sneakily allow Karen to crash the audition in ep1, or Karen has some sort of power that allowed her to sneak in without Kirinâs notice
Conclusion: while Maya is indeed more superior in skills than Karen, this being Revue of Pride implies that due to Mayaâs pride/confidence in her skills and acknowledging whatâs at stake, she defeated Karen
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Anyway, finally here we are, ep4-5. I took into consideration all the points that those arguments have made against my post and what I should look out for:
explanation/evidence in Karen being so powerful (ie. improving enough to defeat Claudine)
The impact of Karen losing to Maya has on the plot/character development
The resolution of the Mahiru-Karen relationship (as well as, the Mahiru-Karen-Hikari situation)
The Karen-Hikari bond being a strong enough fuel for the viewer to relate to and root for them
Summary/Notes about ep4
Once again weâre shown that little Karen and Hikariâs promise was made after theyâve seen the play Starlight; however this time, while played by the girls, theyâre in the actual playâs outfits and the two as the lead; for the first time, weâre shown exactly what happened after the two leads reached the top; Karen was⌠affected by the red light (interestingly, her own jewel color), and then the scene continued to the next line of how âtheir dreams could never beâ
Bana-nice; Nana seems happy at the new term, perhaps because thatâs never happened in any of the reruns before
Sigh, really, making a ruckus in the morning, disturbing most of your dorm matesâ rest, and ditching your hallway cleaning duties, thatâs just rude and disrespectful; Karen did apologize and promise to be back soon (which she didnât)
Kaoruko talks to Futaba about the Revue audition, foreshadowing ep6
Hikari reminding/making sure Karen remembers their promise, and the two chatting about various things, while walking around the city dragging her suitcase and making Karen chase after her for the whole day; Iâll⌠just leave it as because Hikari havenât been back to Japan for 12 yrs and thus want to do a bit of tour around; also, Karen mentioning she felt that she and Maya were on totally different stage
Important Note: weâre shown yet again that Kuro was practicing, as per all previous episodes; thatâs 4 eps in a row; why specifically keep showing her practicing, out of the other girls? Iâm really excited for her centric ep
Also seriously MayaKuro please, I beg of you, do something about your sexual tension *writhes* a claymore couldnât cut it in half XâDDDDDD
Ahem. Kuro asking Maya why sheâs in the Revue, and Maya replying sheâs jealous at the very thought of someone else being the Top Star; implying she wanted to win to keep their status quo of her being no.1 and therefore, her partner/no.2 will remain Kuro
Hikari trying to warn Karen of the stakes, of what it means to lose at Revue; Karen just assuring Hikari she wonât lose again because she wants to shine, that sheâll be so brilliant and intense that she wonât lose to everyone;
Hikari reminding Karen there could only be one winner; Karen refuted that Kirin never said that - rather, the winner could be whoever presents the most dazzling revue; Hikari is in disbelief since thereâs no way theyâd get special treatment like that; Karen assures Hikari itâll be okay (At this point, I think thatâs exactly what will happen lol)
Once again, Nana looks very happy about âbana-niceâ and that this is the first time they made up alibi to get past roll coll for the absent duo
It was never shown that Karen or Hikari contacted the girls that they wonât be back; sure they ran out of money but, surely their phone still have battery? If not, thatâs utterly irresponsible of them to just get out like that and expect things to work out
The rest of the girls are such amazing friends; Karen thanked Junna for doing her cleaning duties; in spite of the dorm head finding out and Junna freaking out about the hardcore training as punishment, the bottom line for Junna is that sheâs glad Karen and Hikari are safe; the rest of the girls welcome them back
Conclusion, if you really ship KarenxHikari, youâll probably enjoy it. If not, well, youâll enjoy all the other moments and appreciate the other girls.
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Summary/Notes about Ep5:
For Mahiru, Karen has always been a source of light, absolutely brilliant; however, so are the others in this prestigious Academy; Mahiru thought everyone but herself is radiant; itâs implied that sheâs been struggling with this inferiority complex for a long time
Once again, Nana seems pleased at Karenâs change; however, her gaze was cloudy and displeased when the GroupB girls suggested Hikaren as the leads, that she should move forward and strive for improvement; def foreshadowing of ep7
Mahiru had such trouble waking up Karen in the morning, shown in previous episodes; now, Karen woke up early to train with Hikari, now that sheâs made a promise to Hikari that she wonât lose again and will catch up to Maya. Good for her to finally be motivated, but coming from Mahiruâs POV, thatâs painful. The unspoken question of âIâm not good enough to motivate you?â lingers in the air
We learn about Mahiruâs background; that she came from a large family, who owns a farm, and it had a been a huge deal for her to get accepted into the Academy, enough to get interviewed
After a bit of⌠stalkerish behavior from Mahiru (which I suppose is meant to be presented as comical but I just cringe) in which Hikari is always present and thus stopped Mahiru from really doing anything, Mahiru finally snaps, telling Hikari not to steal her brilliance which is Karen; Hikari is irked by the casual use of the word âstealâ (which is explained later in ep8)
Mahiru receives the mail about the Revue, marking this as her first fight
Revue of Jealousy - in a way, this makes sense why itâs only now that Mahiru qualifies to participate in Revue; on a side note, I really, really dig the songâŚ
The whole thing is presented as comical in an almost psychotic, creepy way; of course, Mahiruâs completely snapped; sheâs scared of losing her place, of losing her shine; sheâs the one who had always been by Karenâs side but nowâŚ
Mahiruâs. Weapon. Is. Badass.
Also, a note, you -can- intervene in other Revues somehow; if Mahiru or Karen wanted, they could have started fighting Maya and Futaba; Kaoruko and Junna; Hikari and Kuro then and there
Anyway, itâs very painful to watch Mahiru chasing after Karen. âI just want to be useful again.â âDo you not need me anymore?â
After Mahiruâs self-deprecating rant, Karen counters that Mahiru has her own shine and lists all the qualities she likes about Mahiru, making her recall the joy of being accepted to this Academy and so on
And then, Karen won. If going by my above points, this is Revue of Jealousy so in that aspect, Mahiru definitely should have won. If not, still I donât see how Mahiru so easily lost. As mentioned in my previous post, where is the supposed damage from being repeatedly thwonked by that mace/scepter? Karen did a âhomerunâ to win but, urgh, she won because she made Mahiru recall her own shine??
Afterwards, weâre shown Mahiru acknowledging her own shine, which has always been there since middle school, and that she wonât rely on anyone anymore.
Conclusion: I tried to remain as neutral as I could but now Iâm sitting here, tasting bitterness and just overall horrible for Mahiru. Those summaries I read before were nice and sugarcoating in comparison now that Iâve watched the real thing. If the epâs intention is to make viewers feel horrible for Mahiru, then in that aspect itâs a successful delivery. If the epâs intention is for the viewer to accept Karen and root for her⌠My opinion of her went from neutral to youâre such a horrible friend who doesnât deserve Mahiru at all. I want to like you Karen, I really do because youâre the MC, but I really canât, not after ep5.
I feel like full extent of Mahiruâs despair was just dismissed. Her issues, not just the jealousy of Karen being âtaken awayâ from her side, felt really downplayed. Sure, Karen did give her hope and the other othersâ acknowledgement at the end, the warm and family-like atmosphere soothe her, but the scale is just too much to justify that change. You do not just overcome years of feeling inferior over one supposedly inspirational speech. Ep 5 isnât just horrible on the Karen-Mahiru relationship now, itâs a slap in the face to the character of Mahiru. Iâm⌠appalled. Really, put yourself in Mahiruâs shoes.
Now, going back to the four points I listed before writing about ep4-5, none of them are answered/resolved. Karen trains yes, but Kuro has been training for so much longer and she was better than Karen to start with. Karen losing to Maya made her want to start training harder and her plan to defeat Maya is to become more radiant. Um, ok. The other two points I already said above.
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And so, Iâve come to a final conclusion that:
You either adore Revue Starlight in spite of its faults (or for some people, blind to the faults), and/or ship Karen x Hikari and/or considers Karen a good MC;
or;
Youâre still watching Revue Starlight by ignoring its faults because you like the other characters/ships/elements too much, and/or really donât care for Karen x Hikari and/or find Karen lacking as MC.
If youâre watching the series and donât belong to the two groups I mentioned above, please, please comment on this and shed some light as the middle(?) ground since itâd be nice to see a completely different perspective.










