After Aki’s band performed, Shiho finished her band’s performance. After Shiho asks Aki about her band’s performance, she brings Yori to the mix. You might wonder how Aki reacted.
From last time, Shiho seems angry at Aki and even points out Aki’s crush on Yori. We know that Aki has moved on as she lost against Himari but is still best friends with Yori. Of course, Shiho boasts that her singing skills are better than Yori’s. Aki, of course, doesn’t see this as she likes Yori’s singing. Of course, they argue over whose band is best before Shiho snaps over Aki, only caring about getting a lot in the concert. Shiho concludes that her ban is inferior as she grabs her collar before letting go of it and walking away.
Aki, of course, is startled by Shiho’s confrontation. She feels conflicted as she has to act normal around Yori as her friend. That reminds her of losing Shiho as a friend during that incident. She wonders what went wrong with her relationship.
Of course, Aki announced to Yori, Maa, and Kaori the next day that they had made the cut. However, Shiho’s band made the cut, too, obviously when Maa asked. Aki really wondered if she was holding her back. Yori wondered if Shiho actually enjoyed herself when she played for SSGIRLS or if she was just playing in protest.
It’s more of the former, as Aki went to talk to Shiho to ask why she quit. She admits that she always wanted to quit for a while. When Aki asks how she got to the point where Shiho is honest with her, Shiho acts arrogant, asking why she would talk to a two-bit hobby band she dropped as a bad habit. It eventually evolved into a contest, seeing who was the best band. Is it SSGIRLS or Laureley?
On the way home, Himari learns from Yori about the contest after congratulating her on making the cut with a nice head pat from Himari. Yori eventually mentions that Aki wants to talk things out with Shiho, only to get into a competition with her. Of course, Himari is conflicted as she is part of the cooking club, and Momoka is part of the rival band Laureley. Understandably, Himari wants to support them both, which gets Yori jealous. Eventually, Himari decides to help her girlfriend, of course.
Himari plans to spend time with Miki to pick out an outfit for her. Of course, Miki asks about Himari’s relationship with Yori, and eventually, she mentions the conflict between Aki and Shiho. Himari learns that it’s not always like this, and they used to be on good terms until that certain incident.
With that, while Himari spent time with Miki picking out a new outfit for her, Miki had to go to cram school for two hours. Himari decides to kill time at a café until she discovers that Shiho works there. Yep, musical equipment costs money, as Shiho is trying to earn money to buy them. This is when Himari wants to know more about Shiho, and she decides to do so.
We learn that Shiho used to be a very talented violin player. Violin used to mean everything to her. She eventually finds a purple-haired girl crying because she has lost her stuffed animal. Shiho managed to find it and became friends with a girl named Kyou, who had moved recently. She saw Shiho perform and liked her performance. She also revealed that she wanted to play the guitar but does violin because her parents want her to.
Sadly, when Shiho did a recital with Kyou and saw Kyou’s performance, she never thought she would get beaten. Shiho was unhappy as she worked to surpass Kyou but couldn’t beat her. Shiho got too overconfident, thinking nobody could be more talented than her, but eventually got proven wrong. As a result, she ultimately broke her friendship with her. She is frustrated over not reaching her goal, so she gives up and eventually takes up the guitar.
Shiho’s arrogance aside, it’s obvious why she has very high standards and quit various bands. She is afraid of being surpassed by someone else. This is why she quit various bands that she deems mediocre and won’t help her achieve her goal of being the best. After all, she wants to become a pro musician. Still, it’s evident that her past failures still haunt her. Even so, I’m surprised that she opens up to Himari. Is it because of her personality, akin to a cute pup?
With that, there comes the elephant in the room. The animation in this episode is a bit rough, although not too noticeable in the previous episodes. However, the transitions are a bit lazy. There are apparent allegations that the production of this anime is a big mess.
However, given that it’s from a random user and not people who actually work on the project who are on social media and that things can be lost in translation, I can’t fully trust the allegations. Hopefully, more will speak out, and we will see Sakugablog put an expose on the production breakdown of this show.
From my point of view, it’s probably worse than what Märchen Mädchen experienced, given the show has already been delayed. The 9th and 10th episodes are getting pushed back, with the uncertain future for the remaining two. It’s a shame since no show deserves a terrible production, and this show had a lot of potential. The story, music, and voice acting are good, but the animation is a different story. But it makes me curious about what happened with the production that caused it to become a disaster, as the fans and viewers deserve to know.
Reviews from Other Blogs
Whisper Me a Love Song Episode 8: Behind the Violet – The Yuri Empire
It’s Maerchen Maedchen all over again. Well I’ve come too far to give up now. Plus the show is still pretty good.
That being said I think I’ll have to wait a while before finding out if Shiho is as great as fans of the source say. So far I don’t see it. I know the truth will eventually be revealed but the road there is not enjoyable, as in Shiho is not leaving a good impression. Yes she’s a good kid under the rough exterior but I need more than that.
Aki doesn’t deserve to suffer before finding happiness.
At least HimaYori/YoriHima still heal my soul every time they’re together. Bless them forever.
It’s very unfortunate, but hopefully the full shory of what is actually happen will come out in the future.
The jury is out on Shiho, although there is probably more to why she acts cold. But yes, Aki needs some love and a break from the suffering, although it’s probably heading to Sayaka’s level (as in the one in the other yuri work(
Hima and Yori is always good.