Utage’s new teacher Asuka is also a F/ACE superfan. In fact, she likes the yellow one. I didn’t think this would be something to shake on, but… here we are. I guess this is what it’s like when superfans meet in the wild. So to pile coincidences on top of coincidences, Utage immediately bumps into Natsuki at a store. Small world, blah blah blah. Anyway, on camera, Natsuki is… very over-the-top cheerful, so knowing how they tend to write characters on this show, he’s probably the opposite of that in reality.
Natsuki’s primary responsibility is to write F/ACE’s songs, but he’s been shirking his duties. As a result, Keito sends Tamon and Utage back into the wilds to drag Natsuki’s ass back home. Weird. Very weird. First, they usually have professional songwriters to do this kinda thing. Sure, some pop stars do write their own music, buuuuuuut I doubt that’s what your average boy band would do. Just dance and look pretty. You’re not here to think. Second, hire some damn managers to do a manager’s job. They portray F/ACE as this amazing pop sensation sweeping the country by storm, but there are all sorts of penny-pinching going on behind the scenes. Why the hell is the housekeeper going to look for one of your members? It’s ridiculous.
Remember how these boys’ B-sides are just the opposite of what they portray on camera? Sure enough, we cut to Natsuki in his element: a dude who just wants to play pachinko while vaping and picking out his earwax. In public? Gross. Then when Utage and company do finally find and drag him home, he endangers their lives with secondhand smoke. Doubly gross. Who the hell wants to be a superfan of that? On the other hand, he has a reasonable take on his songwriting responsibilities. Dude, that’s what I’m saying! Why is the agency behind F/ACE so goddamn cheap? You gotta invest in your product to make money. There’s no way some young guy who doesn’t even want to do the job can write better songs than an actual industry professional who’s been in the game for decades.
So how are we going to solve this problem? Drag the Natsuki superfan into this mess? Y’see, Asuka mentions something rather curious at one point in the episode. Fictional characters don’t just say things like this out of the blue. She has to be referring to a certain someone. Lemme guess, this broke friend of hers is actually Natsuki. After all, he likes to gamble and he owes money to Keito.
We eventually see Natsuki get scolded by the producer lady, because she doesn’t like his latest attempt. To clarify, he has to write a theme song for their upcoming flagship show (whatever that means). Again, sounds like something a veteran should be doing. Nevertheless, the producer suggests that he would have nothing without his songwriting talent. Afterwards, Tamon worries that Natsuki might lose his spot in F/ACE if this continues. Look, if Natsuki could write his own songs and also sing and dance on top of it, he should be going solo. I find the whole situation logistically absurd, but I won’t beat a dead horse. After a quick conversation with Tamon, however, Natsuki says that he’s now somewhat motivated. The next time we see him, he’s being slammed to the ground by Asuka, because she mistakes him for a creeper. When she discovers his true identity, she pretends not to know him despite already telling Utage that she’s one of his superfans. Natsuki then reveals that they were more than just childhood friends; she’s actually his ex. Welp, I guess she’ll have to be his muse after all. But in my head, I’m just thinking, Oh good, at least he won’t be in Utage’s harem.
Stray thoughts & observations:
— After how last week’s episode ended, the reasonable thing for Ori to do is to just give up. No matter what he does, he’s not going to get a Tamon superfan to not be a superfan. The whole point of having an oshi is that you don’t switch your oshi! And it’s not like Ori has this rich, detailed history with Utage. He barely even knows her! He’s barely spent any time with her that didn’t involve some combination of him screaming and (figuratively) shitting himself in anger over something Tamon has done. Basically, everything is stacked against Ori. He can’t win. Just move on with your life! Find your own superfan. I’m sure he has one. But no, here we are again with Ori sitting in on some advice-giving segment run by Natsuki. Someone sends in a question, asking what they should do about their crush who likes someone else. Ori sits there and hears the Natsuki say things like “Go for broke!” or “Make the other person notice you!” First, weird advice. Respect other people’s wishes. Stop meddling with their lives. Second, come on, how much longer are we going to keep beating this dead horse? MOVE. ON.
— Meanwhile, Tamon is… being Tamon. What’s making him act all extra this time? ‘Cause Utage put on lip balm. That’s it. Apparently, this makes Utage look like a “mature woman.” Fuckin’ hell. You hear that, kids? Protecting your lips is for mature women only.
— Asuka’s family runs a takoyaki place, and one of their top items is a cheese yaki. Oi, oi… there’s a takoyaki food truck near me, and they also have a cheese yaki. I shouldn’t splurge, but it sounds mighty tempting. Y’know what? I just had to watch an episode of this show. I deserve a reward for that.
— Y’know, Natsuki is being relatively nice to Tamon. Sure, he might have a lot of vices (smoking being the biggest one), but at least he isn’t a massive dick like Ori and Keito.
— This episode has been so focused on Natsuki, so we end the episode with a few Utage x Tamon crumbs. Basically, he wants to know what she meant when she said she didn’t want him to dislike her. I mean, just take it at face value. What superfan wants their oshi to dislike them? But sure, let’s suddenly pretend to be a romance series all of a sudden. As a result, Tamon corners Utage in the bathroom and even does the classic kabedon. Bro, she’s only sixteen.
— I don’t like Utage very much, but I do enjoy Saori Hayami’s performance. It’s also funny in a way, because her character in Metaphor: ReFantazio is also a big idol fan.
