Last time during the party, Yumiko asked for advice from Otome and Mekuru as she struggled with her role as Shirayuri. However, the only suggestion is for Yumiko to ask the person she works closely with for that show, which is Chika. However, with Yumiko facing the most challenging recording yet, is it time to seek help from Chika?
From last time, Yumiko asked for advice from Otome and Mekuru. It’s evident that Yumiko feels she has hit a wall, but she doesn’t want to ask for help from Chika as she sees her as a rival. Now, the pressure is on the most important episode, and Yumiko feels that her performance isn’t up to par yet.
Mori, one of the veteran seiyuus, talked with Yumiko. She asked if Yumiko had played a main character or if a character was a main focus. While Yumiko never played a main character role, she did for a main focus episode. Mori explains that Shirayuri is basically the main character for the next episode and basically the main character. Therefore, Yumiko’s performance will determine her future and the show’s future. Yes, it puts even more pressure on Yumiko to get the performance right, as this might be her only chance.
Of course, she practiced, but the thing that surprised me was that she didn’t do the thing that Mekuru and Otome suggested. To ask Chika for help. She doesn’t want to do anything but that since she views Chika as her rival. Still, it’s apparent that she is struggling as there are many retakes, and Chika’s coworkers stay as long as they can. Eventually, it’s just Yumiko and Chika before they run out of time.
Now, Yumiko has to do the retakes on another day, but obviously, she feels down. She believes it might end if she doesn’t make it here. After all, Kagasaki said that if Yumiko doesn’t establish herself after her third year, pickings will be slim. Yumiko really thought she was at her limit and maybe she should keep doing auditions and fail them until she faded away, as Yumiko really believed she did good for someone with no talent, as she thought.
Of course, we see a flashback of Yumiko wanting to become a Seiyuu during middle school. She convinced her mother to try to get into a junior seiyuu program that Choco Brownie was offering. After watching Pritia, she wanted to become a Seiyuu and get a role on that show someday. While her mother seems hesitant in doing so as she wanted her daughter to wait until she graduated high school, her grandmother seems supportive of her granddaughter’s dreams. She paid for the lessons, with Yumiko hoping her grandmother would see her play a role in Pritia.
In the beginning, Yumiko had a good start and even got a role in her first audition for a show called “Plastic Girls.” This audition is geared toward the new Seiyuus. She also got to know Otome and got some roles. Things were looking bright for her.
However, Yumiko’s confidence went down when she saw the mean comments on the dead bird site (I wish Twitter/X would collapse already). I suppose Yumiko shouldn’t listen to those haters, as there will always be people who hate you for no reason. Still, this took a toll on Yumiko’s self-confidence. Also, she lost her grandmother, thus losing the chance to see her achieve her dream for her. In other words, she started losing momentum and failing her auditions. That is until she meets Chika, who she sees as her rival, as she doesn’t get along with her, although that part is debatable. Yumiko wants to reach her, but she feels she is always the loser, hence her lack of self-confidence in her voice-acting skills. She can’t expect her to get better if she is not confident in them.
In the end, while Yumiko and Chika walk home, Yumiko finally asks what Otome and Mekuru suggested before. Yumiko put her pride aside. Sure, Chika acts cold at first, as even if the roles were reversed, she would never ask what Yumiko thought, even if her life depended on it. While Yumiko is about to give up, Chika seems jealous as she can’t be as earnest as Yumiko, so she never asks for help.
That said, Chika finally admits that since they started the radio show, she had Yasumi in her mind and wanted to beat her. Of course, Chika knows more about Yumiko as she is willing to help her. It makes me wonder if the power of yuri will save the day, as in Chika helping Yumiko with her tunnel vision and seeing what she needs to improve. After all, Yumiko saved Chika when her Seiyuu career was in jeopardy because her mother wanted her daughter to quit. Now, it’s for Chika to return the favor. We know that Yumiko and Chika are a lot closer than they seem. The question is, can Yumiko overcome this challenge with Chika’s help in the finale? We’ll see next time.
Not much to say about this episode. The answer Yumiko’s looking for was obvious.
Nice to see Chika too struggles to be honest with herself due to her ego. We already knew this but it was nice for her to kind of admit it.
Excited to see how the show wraps up this arc and show.
Yep, especially given that Yumiko already received the answer too. But yes, Chika has struggles of her own as mentioned, she has a hard time being honest with her feelings, but at least it’s nice of her to finally help Yumiko out.