yāknow how iori is supposed to be like a narrative foil of shiho? knowing that, i always assumed mio was supposed to represent the rest of l/n, and she probably does, but as of saki4 she reminds me especially of saki, and i wanna talk about it.
first off, her reason for leaving standout is so similar to sakiās uncertainty about her place in l/n as of late. both of them started to worry about how their relationship with the rest of their band would change once they got a contract. with saki itās easy to connect this to her years of loneliness in the hospital and abandonment issues that (somewhat) resulted from it, but as far as i remember not much is known about mioās past or about her outside of her relationship with iori/standout. but that brings me to iori, while this post isnāt really supposed to be about her i do want it to be about is parallels between iomio/shihosaki, how rwy era iomio are the same as present day shihosaki, and how rwy and saki6 both kinda spoil the ending of the current saki situation. which is pretty dependent on shiho in the first place because basically since the first l/n event ever shiho has been the one (unintentionally) making saki paranoid that sheāll leave again and that if saki underperforms or their goals donāt align perfectly their friendship will change and everything they built will be gone or too different to be comfortable. back to iori though, sheās always been framed as being more dedicated to her music career than anything, from her first appearance to even her last event appearance she has very clear and defined goals, for her music to resonate with many peopleās hearts, which she takes any chance to achieve, whether thatās by quickly trying to replace mio or by declining producersā offers to make trendy but indistinct music for them she knows exactly what she wants. the fact that this drive to achieve her goals no matter the cost exists is probably what made mio think their friendship would be her second priority at best, and thatās probably what saki sees in shiho too.
iām due for a rwy reread by the way, but the way iāve always interpreted it, iori being as pushy and invasive as she was in rwy isnāt typical of her. shiho is a good musician but if iori needed a new bassist that much iām surprised her plan a was just to beg the same girl over and over. first off she lives in tokyo, shiho is absolutely not the only bassist within 15 miles of her. second standout are by no means an undesirable investment for other bassists, they just got that contract, iori could have easily used that as a big selling point for anyone else like she did with shiho. but she got attached to shiho as more than just a musician, i donāt know if anyone else realizes but iori projects on shiho a lot. i was confused initially how iori knows that l/n are only in it for fun and donāt take shihoās dreams seriously, because sheās never seen l/n perform nor does she even know any of them, before realizing oh she just sees herself in shiho. she was trying to get someone who understood her struggle and her drive, someone who wasnāt like mio. shiho wasnāt just supposed to be her replacement bassist, she was first and foremost a replacement for her best friend. all this to say the reason iori was so adamant to replace mioās presence in her life (unrelated to getting a stand in for her cause obviously she needed a new girl before they debuted lol), as well as being soā¦ weird about it was because she was so hung up on her. why do i even bother to bring this up? cause this is also what saki doesnāt understand about shiho. if shiho had left l/n at this point, or if saki somehow left now, shiho wouldnāt be unaffected. the way saki6/shiho5 end, with shiho confidently saying sheāll leave saki behind are a perfect way to frame how saki sees shiho right now. itās a completely irrational way of seeing things, but itās exactly like saki to do something like that (see: my other post about sakiās paranoia). saki sees shihoās commitment to their music and their fanbase, and based on the stories sheās heard from more experienced people like iori, saku, and shindou, as well as all the recent conversation about sticking to your faith from those same people and also her bandmates, sheās spun it into a narrative where shiho could and would discard her easily if she ever became an obstacle to her goals. which is obviously not true. it should go without saying that shiho needs l/n, iām not really here to talk about that because i feel like i do that so often and also thereās so much to cover in this vein, but also her whole wl1 chapter kinda says it outright: the doors opened only for her, just like how iori scouted her alone, just like how saku said she had the potential to make it without them. she literally could just go on by herself, but she never will. because itās only success on a surface level if itās without them. thats why i went on a whole tangent about iori, because if weāre going to compare iomioās end of rwy to present day shihosaki, in any situation where shiho abandons saki or even if saki leaves l/n herself, shiho would fail to move on. for the record obviously shiho is more than her relationship with iori and the fact that she would blame herself if saki got away is kind of a given knowing her, but i made this post to point out similarities between them, so itās worth knowing that if this one strict, goal-oriented person who, for better or worse, takes any risk if it means achieving what she wants, held so much regret when it led her to leave her dear friend, this is probably meant as a parallel for whatās to come with shiho and saki.
i took a break from writing this and forgot if there was anything i wanted to say in between but what i did really want to mention is iomioās cafe, and how it (kinda) spoils whatās in store for l/n. the more i think about it that place is kinda like their equivalent to a sekai. its been their special place since the beginning, the one that they always return to, and at present they still come back there. after huge shows like jam fest, the type that saki is scared of because she feels like sheās unfit for them, they go back to the cafe. after their big falling out, they still never forgot that place that was so dear to them, no matter how much they progress or how much they change as people, this place that they keep coming back to is proof that while change is inevitable and necessary, it doesnāt mean forgetting the past or cherishing it any less, contrary to sakiās fears. those two things can coexist and now that i actually write about it this is literally why the hinamatsuri event is so important, it literally foreshadowed this arc like 4 years ago even if it was about tsukasa and not l/n that time. she didnāt let tsukasa throw away the old ones nor did she ignore the trouble he went through to get her new ones, they decided to display both of them. which marks two situations in which saki herself has celebrated her past while also happily looking forward to the future, or has seen people close to her do the same.
i donāt know what else to say but tldr iomioās rwy arc, whether intentionally done or not can absolutely be read as a āwhat if l/n cut off sakiā scenario, and the way it affected iori goes to show how much it would set off shiho if she ever lost saki. and saki6 is not a āwhat ifā but the realization that l/n will eventually come to, that they can continue to pursue stardom and still play in places like that cafe, that their fame was never meant as an obstacle to their friendship.
