Now that Uzuki got herself out of her depression, with the help of Rin and Mio, it’s time for the Producer to lend his support too.
From the looks of it, Mishiro is dead set on having the Producer fire Uzuki. Of course he won’t allow that. Now that Uzuki back, she deals with the final hurdles in resolving her difficulties, which looks easier than it seems. Aside from participating in lessons with the girls, they also shared their initial expectations and experiences after they became idols.
While it’s clear that it will take more than just Rin, Mio and the rest of Cinderella Project to bring Uzuki back to her senses, the Producer also needs to gives her support and advice that she needs and he does. Aside from saying the usual reason he picked her is, which is her smile, he points her in the right direction by giving her a choice of leaving things as they are or try to move forward. In order for her to move forward, she needs a vision, which she is missing. It’s quite obvious that she lacked one, which kept her moving on after New Generations got split apart.
At first, she thought that her dream would stay a reality since her smile is what made New Generations possible. When that got ripped away from her as Rin and Mio started doing their own things, her dream was broken and she had nothing else to motivate herself to aim higher and reach her dream.
Let’s take this scene and compare it to her problems in regards to the actual game and its fandom (believe it or not, this is a true story). No matter how much you look at Uzuki, she is just an ordinary girl, which is why most players largely forgot about her. In the actual game, her card is in a group with other girls that have a cost of two. As the girls in her group became popular and receive super-rare cards, a voice and an Image CD, poor Uzuki gets left behind with each election. It was not until the fans noticed that she got neglected that things got better for her. After the fans realized how much suffering Uzuki got and felt bad about it, this is when she became popular. After that, she eventually won the 3rd Anniversary election with the help of the fandom. Since then, she got a voice, an image CD, super rare cards, a guest appearance in Idolmaster One for All and so on.
You might be wondering, what does this heartwarming fandom-related story has to do with this episode? Everything for the fact that Uzuki feared that she will get left behind now that her dream is taken away from her with no way to move forward. Now that her friends, the Producer and the other girls are supporting her, the only thing she needs to do is take the risk to climb the stairs without fear and create a vision that involves smiling. Given the context of her image song, “S(mile)ing” that she solos, she confronts her fears, shred her hesitation and aim for her dream that she longs for.
With her performance, Uzuki’s smile is what saved “New Generations” in the end. From Mishiro’s reaction, she is clearly pissed. No, it’s not because she can’t sack Uzuki anymore. She just can’t admit that she was wrong the whole time. Now that Rin and Mio now have a desire to make New Generations their priority, there is a good possibility that Rin might leave her other unit or convince Nao and Karen to join the ball and perform with New Generations.
Whatever happens, this is the beginning of the end for Project Krone now that Rin and perhaps Anastasia might convince the other members to see the light and go to the other side, thus leaving Mishiro behind. That or Mishiro will do something stupid that cause the Project Krone girls to go to the other side. Either way, I wouldn’t mind if either possibility happens since she brought it upon herself for doing things “my way or the highway” instead of thinking about the girls’ feelings and giving the support they need. Moreover, she downright refuses to acknowledge that the Producer’s vision was right the whole time. Whatever happens, the ball is going to be epic and magical.
Well, Uzuki’s drama was resolved in a manner that I partly expected, but I guess it being somewhat rushed was unavoidable, given that 5 episodes (19-23) were used to build it up, and the writers have to fix it in this episode. Otherwise, Uzuki wouldn’t be in the right frame of mind to perform at the Winter Ball. Uzuki really doesn’t seem like the sort of person who is capable of solving her problems on her own, so the Producer had to give her that little push, though how quickly it was resolved did seem jarring to me. But I’ve already made my feelings on that issue clear enough.
It seems to me that Uzuki’s problems took traits from Haruka and Chihaya’s drama in the original Idolmaster anime and amalgamated them, but the writers really didn’t do a very smooth job at it. You can see some aspects in Uzuki’s S(mile)ing performance that were lifted from Chihaya’s Yakusoku performance, such as the initial stage fright/apprehension and everyone else gathering to encourage the idol. Unfortunately, it wasn’t done as well, in my opinion, and it seems like it misses the mark a bit. Perhaps Uzuki lacks the same sort of gravitas and seriousness that Chihaya had in order to make the scene memorable and emotional, but that’s my view. It seems to me that the recording of S(mile)ing in this episode was specifically made for the episode, since it sounds different in a way, to the CD recording. One thing that affected my enjoyment of the song was the way it was spliced (as obviously they can’t show the whole song), since Uzuki went from singing “Mirai ni yubikiri shite” to “Rise! mou akiramenai”. The transition between those lines wasn’t smooth at all to me. Maybe I’m nitpicking, but there you go.
I think part of the problem with why things aren’t so convincing and it seems more contrived is with the way the setting is, well set-up. 346 Production is a much larger company than 765, and dividing the Cinderella Project girls into units seems to have hampered the overall aspect of unity in the group, since you tend to see the girls interact more within their own units rather than outside them. As a result, the Cinderella Project idols seem considerably less close-knit than 765’s idols. 765 is also a small company where everyone knows everyone, so the dynamics are different, and trying to “pull a Mishiro” there would be felt a lot more readily and the 765 idols would certainly be in a better position to oppose such a figure. I’ve noticed Mishiro puts out instructions and then hides behind the command chain, which insulates her from anyone who tries to complain about her, since the lower Producers are left with following the instructions because “Mishiro says so”. The individual Cinderella Project idols bringing up their experiences of how and why they became idols is nice, but I feel those bits would have been better in their actual focus episodes, with some flashbacks as well. Otherwise, it seems like it’s coming out of nowhere. The impact of those bits is also affected by separating all the girls into defined units, since it then seems less like advice from friends (to someone like Uzuki trying to find her purpose) and more like colleagues recounting what happened to them in the past. There’s less kinship, it feels, compared to 765.
It also seems like the writers are trying to use 346 being a bigger company to create “greater picture” drama, as opposed to individual character drama. What I mean by this is that as 346 is so big, the writers can use instructions from the upper management as a means to create drama, since it trickles all the way down to the idols and is comparatively far reaching, as opposed to instructions form President Takagi. “Greater picture” drama in this sense, is stuff like Mishiro trying to extinguish Nana’s bunny ear gimmick, creating Project Krone and Triad Primus, and trying to fire Uzuki. I think the writers were too ambitious in initiating all this “greater picture” drama and probably don’t know how to or cannot resolve it cleanly, since they spent too much time creating it and not enough time solving it. That said, it seems like the writers are now trying to run out the clock on the series and focus on comparatively “smaller things” like Uzuki’s drama to eat up the rest of the anime’s time, so they can avoid addressing the “greater picture” drama at all. I half expect that the anime will end without properly resolving Triad Primus and Rin’s divided position on the two units, as well as Love Laika coming back together (or not). I assume that the anime will end just after the Winter Ball (and not address these other big issues) and we as viewers will have to just assume things will somehow work out post-series (but we won’t get to see it). If the anime continued past the Winter Ball, the writers will doubtless have to address these things, and the way things are, I think they are just dodging the issues now. It sounds pessimistic, but that’s the general impression I’m getting. Maybe after the last episode airs, we will get an announcement for a movie or third season or something, or maybe that sort of thing will be announced at one of the future live concerts, but I think this anime probably needs it, else it likely can’t conclude cleanly.
As for Mishiro, I think this episode is where she shows her true colors. If really, all she cared about is profit (and nothing more, as she claimed in making that agreement with the Producer), then someone in her position would have been RELIEVED that Uzuki returned to sing well. Why? It means the concert is a success and the company profits. Mission accomplished (if profit was all that mattered). But the fact that Mishiro is upset that Uzuki has returned shows that this whole thing has gone beyond profit for her and she is taking things against the Producer very personally. Unfortunately, it’s subtle and likely nothing will come of it, since one episode is too little to (maybe) have her plans catastrophically fail or something. The thing is, this leads to questions of “what happens next?” Even if the Producer wins, you would be justified in worrying about this. There is zero indication that if, after the Winter Ball, Mishiro was allowed to keep her position as director, she won’t continue to mess with other departments. She tried to have Nana drop her bunny ears gimmick and Nana only managed to keep it by joining the Cinderella Project, so she gained some form of “asylum” from the Producer due to Mishiro’s (not well kept) agreement that she wouldn’t interfere with his activities. Who is to say that Mishiro won’t try to pull a stunt like that again even after the Winter Ball? I think, for the viewers’ continued peace of mind regarding the idols’ well-being, Mishiro really needs to be knocked down, but as I said, that’s unlikely to happen. Kuroi in contrast, is an outside entity that cannot directly hit the 765 idols and they have shown that they can withstand his “onslaughts”, so they are obviously fine. The well-being of 346’s idols on the other hand, is less certain with Mishiro in charge.
It would be nice if what you predicted actually happens and Rin and Anastasia go back to the Cinderella Project, but the problem is that neither of them has shown that they are dissatisfied with how they are being managed by Mishiro, so there’s no foreshadowing whatsoever of any defections from Project Krone on their part. They are also unaware that Mishiro tried to fire Uzuki, so the “easy way” to initiate a defection isn’t there either. If it happens, it’ll seem somewhat like it came out of nowhere and be rushed, given there’s less than one episode to make something like that happen, but as I said, we have no choice but to accept that as a flaw in how the anime was planned and scripted.
Anyway, good review, and I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the next episode to see how things will be resolved. Too bad there’s a 2 week wait for that last episode. Here’s a fun fact, though. This episode aired on October 2, 2015, and that day is World Smile Day for 2015. This coincidence is probably unintentional, but given the focus on Uzuki’s smile and her singing S(mile)ing, it’s still a remarkable coincidence nonetheless. Also, if you go on the anime’s official website, you’ll notice that the key art for the anime’s 2nd season http://columbia.jp/idolmaster/img/COCC-17061.jpg has been changed. Uzuki’s facial expression has changed from being uncertain and (somewhat) pensive, to smiling. It’s something to note, definitely.
It’s quite understandable that the drama would not have the same impact considering that 346 Productions is a lot bigger than 765 Productions, meaning that there is a slightly less close knitness given the amount of time they have to cover every aspect. Still, I feel that Uzuki’s development left a better impression for the fact it’s more believable and emotional than Haruka’s situation, which only took little version of her self to realize her dream.
I kind of afraid that Mishiro won’t get a punishment such as a demotion like the wicked godmother in the original story (yes, she got away scot free). Still, there is a possibility that the Producer might tell the truth, which will of course cause Rin and Anastasia and others to quit… or Mishiro doing something stupid as planning an event to prevent Rin and Anastasia from performing at the ball, thus causing them to quit as well. Knowing Mishiro, I won’t be surprised if she does something stupid, which causes her plan to flop. Even after that, she still keeps her job, which is unfortunate, but predictable.
Yes, the character dynamics in this anime are different than in the original Idolmaster anime, partly due to the setting and the different manner in which 346 is structured compared to 765. As rushed as it may be, yes, I guess you can say that the resolution to Uzuki’s problems was somewhat more believable, since all it took was the producer giving her some sort of “reality check”, so to speak.
Well, business-wise, Mishiro isn’t the sharpest pencil in the box, given all her wonky business ideas and lack of care for the idols in the company. Rather, she only cares about them as tool to earn her more money, and not as people. The Producer speaking out about what Mishiro tried to do would be nice, but it’s a pity he’s quite the “doormat”, so to speak. One episode left to fix everything, and while probably rushed, hopefully it’ll be fine. As far as we know, the official website still lists Anastasia as a member of the Cinderella Project and she is still shown in the group messages on the page with the trailer for the last episode, so she’ll likely be brought back into the fold somehow. I doubt the fans will be pleased if she isn’t. If there is a movie for this anime, I doubt it’ll have much for a plot anyway. The original Idolmaster anime movie was essentially a long filler episode with no real antagonist or deep plotline. Then again, the idea of the 765 idols becoming seniors for the next generation of idols could be foreshadowing/set-up for a Million Live anime, if we get one (given that Million Live features an expanded 765 with the original idols as senpais). If we get a Cinderella Girls movie, I expect it’ll have the same general flavor and plot as the original Idolmaster movie, so most likely, the writers have to fix things completely next episode.
Having had a chance to rewatch this episode, I don’t know if you can definitively say Mishiro is upset from her facial expression http://i.imgur.com/0zzCSK3.png She is definitely surprised at Uzuki’s comeback, but whether she is angry about it or it caused her to have some sort of epiphany is somewhat up for debate. Because of the (partial) ambiguity in her facial expression, some fans speculate that Mishiro may have been just like Uzuki in the past, but became jaded and cynical because of some factor/event during her life, and so became what she is today. These fans think that if this is the case, maybe Uzuki’s performance and the epiphany Mishiro got from it might cause her to loosen up and give everyone more leeway to doing what they want. It seems overly optimistic, but I can see where they are coming from. Mishiro isn’t straight up “evil” like Kuroi, but more “pragmatic” and “mercenary”, so I suppose some people want to see her get somehow redeemed, however minor.
As it is, while the episode did not end on an outright cliffhanger, we still have some traits of it. How did Mishiro really feel about Uzuki’s performance? Will it convince her to loosen up and give her employees more freedom? How will the Winter Ball go? What will ultimately become of Mishiro and what will the status of the units in the Cinderella Project be in the end? All these little questions, and the only way to answer them is to watch the next episode when it comes out.
Either way you look at it, while Mishiro isn’t that evil compared to Kuroi, but I highly doubt she will completely redeem herself. I still dislike her for what she tried to do and of course despite the poor business decisions she made, sadly she won’t get demoted unfortunately. Either way, we’ll see how she ultimately feels in the finale.
As for what they will focus on if they make a movie, it will most likely be a filler since there is no successor or anything, like Million Live and 765 Pro (btw, Serika is cute).
All I can say is that this episode is just BEAUTIFUL! I love it! This is why Uzuki is one of the top girls in CG. Despite the things I want not happening, like Rin splitting up with the Triad Primus and all, I think they did well to avoid that part. As long as it’s a happy ending for everyone, it’s all good for me.
We’ll see the fate of Krone next time, but Uzuki’s smile is truly beautiful. With that, I can’t wait for the ending.