This Week in Anime

The Sparkling Stage of Kageki Shoujo!!

Nicky
Hoo boy, it is! This week, we're looking at some dazzling stars with Kageki Shoujo!! Try not to go blind.

Kageki Shoujo!! is seemingly an anime about girls having fun times at the prestigious all-girls musical theater school based on the real legacy of the famous Takarazuka Revue theater troupe. But in actuality, it's a complex drama spotlighting the harsh and competitive environment that only those willing to reach the top may endure.

But also, it's about a friendship between a cold dumbass girl and a tall dumbass girl.

But both of them being dumbasses is what makes them cute. Sarasa is just a particularly a much more noticeable dumbass. She's loud and towers over the other girls. It's hard not to notice how much she sticks out. It's also what makes her a great posterchild.

Her height is a fun gimmick, but it's clear it's not her only advantage. The other girls immediately dislike her for her overall lack of tact but everyone can't help but notice her sheer ambition and her hidden talents that could make her a diamond in the rough.

As fun as Sarasa is, it's hard to know what goes on within that floof-for-brains head of hers. Most of our actual PoV is from her reluctant roommate and soon-to-be best friend, Ai. Even before coming to Kouka, a school with a lower-acceptance rate than Tokyo U, Ai comes from a world with a lot of baggage. Her mom's a famous actress and she has no privacy as everyone recognizes her as a "graduated" idol. Her only ally is her uncle, a ballet teacher at the school. She dreams to live in a world without men.

While some might think Ai's behavior is an extreme overreaction to some sort of deep trauma, her situation frankly seems pretty exhausting. Even once she's inside the school she can't really go anywhere without anyone commenting about her time in JPX, an obvious AKB48 name-replace. It seems like it might be hard for her to start over. But one of the things about Sarasa is how far removed she is from any of that. Ai's newfound annoyance of her is somehow a way of distancing from her other issues.

Out of thousands of applicants, the 100th class only has 40 students and among them, only four can ever hope to gain a leading role. So it goes without saying that many of them would do whatever it takes even if it means putting down others or going to extremes. Even the teachers emphasize that real social pressure actors face in light of the audience. This isn't exaggeration on the story's part either, it takes real guts to be part of the real Takazuka Revue.

Personally, I wouldn't survive if my teacher yelled at me for being a little too fat to fit in a sequined costume.

While that particular teacher was in the wrong, it's clear that the show doesn't condone her behavior. I don't think any of the issues encountered are supposed to be "good," it's just that these are issues that come with the territory. It also doesn't lessen the show's love for its subject matter. Just like how we can still love a piece of art when we acknowledge its flaws. That passion is always the force that triumphs over all that negativity.

That's also true, even though many other authority figures support Ayako in what would be a very special episode in any other series, the teacher that acted poorly doesn't really face any repercussions other than a bit of reprimanding. Even when the other students do things like post incriminating pictures on Social Media, they don't really get much backlash. And some of the other issues, the solutions are much less-neat than portrayed in the story. But I still appreciate it for dealing with them at all.

So while we're on the topic of messy and neat, let's talk about Ai and the NEET.

M The eating disorder plot actually comes up later than the order of discussion but that's because the third episode of KS is just such a doozy. It didn't feel right to talk about it first. I mentioned that Ai's got baggage but like, I'm not talking about a backpack or something you can shove in the overhang. This girl needs her own wagon to carry all the heavy shit following her around.

Even before the incident with JPX, Ai never seemed like she had a very fulfilled life. She never knew her dad and even the kids at school tease her about her mom's promiscuous behavior on film (and sometimes real life). Her mom is too busy working all the time to pay attention to her real feelings so she feels the need to bottle them up. Even after her mom's boyfriend assaults her by tongue-kissing her on the mouth (that isn't shown in any gratuitous detail), her mom never listens.


The good thing about how this is executed is that it's totally centered on Ai's feelings and nothing more that could be considered exploitative.

Ai is only a child and even though that creep didn't do anything worse than kissing her, thank goodness, her trauma still speaks to the feelings and fears of a more widespread phenomena of those victimized by sexual assault. This includes how incredibly isolating it is and how hard it is to move on even years later. She joins JPX as a means of escape of a culture that feels inescapable.

It's also a lot more humorous even though it's a bit uncomfortable to see Sarasa and Ai's uncle hanging out with Ai's stalker, dancing and doing Matrix poses. Sarasa almost always alleviates the situation with her big goodhearted goofball energy.

The reason Ai graduated from her idol group early was because of this man. Guy spent a little too long at a handshake event and ended up unintentionally setting her off, and she called him a creep. This is considered pretty out of line for an idol personality and caused a big stir among fans on 2ch. We have every reason to believe that this guy is a vengeful weirdo stalking pervert, but it's pretty delightful that he isn't. What's more delightful is that he actually feels remorse for all the trouble he caused for his favorite idol.

It's also good that Sarasa was there if things did go wrong. But Ai ends up being upset to find everything alright after she worked up the courage to come back to check, despite having fled earlier. She skips school the next day and everyone has to go look for her. Despite feeling alone, Ai really is starting to build her own trust and support network. Also creeps don't fuck with Sarasa.

Opening up can be its own journey. While initially closed off and constantly given the cold shoulder, Sarasa never gives up or takes offense to Ai's words or actions. She continues to be charitable to her until these events solidify into a real friendship where Ai can feel safe.

Honestly, that would be a good enough arc for most shows to stop, but Kageki continues to widen its focus and cast of girls. We also get to learn a bit more about Sarasa herself once Ai has taken a few steps forward and strengthened her resolve in a way she hadn't before.

And that's before she started trying! But enough about Ai, I mentioned before that Sarasa has a particular set of skills that make her stand out besides her height, and as a result of that, she's like, kind of a freak?! She's not graceful but she has great core strength, insane memorization skills, and the ability to mimic mannerisms perfectly.

It's implied early that Sarasa has some of weird theater background, despite having basically no idea about anything that goes on at Kouka other than she wants to play Oscar from Rose of Versailles. She was raised by her grandfather who runs a tatami shop so it's hard to imagine she could afford to have some of the training the other girls had to have in order to even get in. So it's even more interesting to see how a different traditional art, kabuki, can inform musical theater.

It doesn't always help either, as Sarasa can only mimic. She can't stand out on her own as much as she's just really good at impressions, and she's correctly told that won't help her reach the top as dedicated fans will want to see what she can offer as an individual compared to what they've already seen before.

Oh yeah, she has a boyfriend! Though it's a long-distance relationship. He's also a kabuki actor.

I'm really glad that the Koyasu character turned out to be her dad btw. He's trying so hard to wingman her bf in romancing his daughter while also using him as an excuse to keep contact with her.

It really seems like Sarasa's soul focus has always been wanting to be recognized for her own talent and achievements though. From her backstory we learn that she was told that she wasn't able to be a star in the kabuki world because of her gender, and now having switched to an all-girl artform, she's still being told how limited she is.


That kind of adversity is just the thing to make you want to see her prove everyone wrong. She may be foolish, but Sarasa is just as serious about her goals as every other girl at Kouka.

Maybe I'm just desensitized after watching several seasons of Fruits Basket that I don't even shirk at bad anime parents anymore, especially when dealing with the political environment of a traditional arts world. (I miss Those Snow White Notes, already) That's also why I was shocked one of my favorite episodes ended up being a nice break with one of the girl's classmates, Kaoru.

It's still quite dramatic, but it's overall very breezy. I really didn't expect that from a character who is always touted as a third-generation alumni. Appearances are important in theater, but what lays beneath them even more so. So while I expected Kaoru to be rather stuck-up due to her heritage, her aspirations to move away from the legacy of her mom and her grandma into forging her own name as an otoko-yaku (male role) actor feels very grounded. She forms a bond with a boy whose older brother is a popular baseball player.

Yeah, it's a genuinely heartbreaking little story. It feels like one of the best directed episodes, imo. Kageki's production isn't as dazzling all the time, but I really felt like I was watching a different anime with this one.

Points for him not being a coward and still thinking she'd be hot with a fake mustache. That's dedication.

I keep mentioning that this hasn't been a fruitful season for anime compared to the rest of this year, but I think even in a more competitive one, Kageki Shoujo!! still shines. It's clearly not afraid to challenge itself and it does so quite gracefully despite some of its more modest aspects.

Overall, despite the heavy drama Kageki overflows with as much optimism and good humor as its protagonist, and it makes me look forward for each new performance.