Forget television jobs, we're going straight to modeling!
Ren is the kind of bishounen character type that sets off my OCD because he never moves his hair out of his face. Seriously, this bugs me. I want to reach through the screen and brush it aside. Yes, I know it's a fashion choice/part of his character design. It still bothers me. Anyway, prior to Cecil officially joining the party, Ren was the most forward of the group, with the frequent innuendoes and the "Lady" nickname for Haruka. However, he's never taken seriously about this like the way Cecil is, with Haruka dealing with his advances with confusion and everyone else writing it off with an "oh, you." (It also might be because Ren and Masato are the Designated Yaoi Couple. Or maybe that's just me.)
This episode takes sort of the same approach as Otoya's episode last time by bringing up the past. Ren's relationship with his brother is still affecting him in the present however, and that's where we get most of the drama for this episode. Despite loving his job as an idol, Ren is still resentful towards his brother (or maybe distrustful is a better word?) for pushing him into the business just to serve as the pretty face for the family conglomerate. When he's offered the top spot at a modeling show run by his brother's company, Ren knows exactly what they expect out of him.
But the truth of the matter starts to come out when Ren is too sexy for the electricity to handle, so the entire stadium loses power. He has the great idea to sing to the audience while they wait for the power to come back on, and Haruka has the backup music to the song he's singing on a CD (via Cecil, who we'll get to later). This is where we get to something we haven't seen too much of in this season: treating minor inconveniences like they're life-threatening problems.
UtaPri's natural state is to be silly and over-the-top, but this is a slightly different brand of silly that, if I remember correctly, showed up at the end of the first season. The problems that the characters are facing aren't that bad; in fact, there's a readily available solution, yet they're played with all the drama and weight of a soap opera. Haruka gives the CD to Ren's brother, who has the clearance to take it to the backup A/V room. It's not explicitly stated, but I guess you can assume that the ticking clock here is the security announcement, which may or may not ruin Ren's performance. But is it really that important to have backup music? UtaPri certainly thinks so.
Normal show: "Oh, you have a CD for the music? Cool, I'll get it to the other guys so we can make a show out of it."
UtaPri: "HOLY CRAP, IS THAT THE BACKUP MUSIC? I MUST RUN IT UP THERE IMMEDIATELY, FALLING AND INJURING MYSELF ALONG THE WAY! HOLD ON, LITTLE BRO!
 |
| You think I'm kidding |
Only making this better is the part where he ninja teleports into the room and slam-dunks the CD into the tray (wouldn't that break it?) making the entire console explode with sparkles. And it's not UtaPri until a half-naked idol sings a song that makes an entire stadium hallucinate about candles. I guess my theory about everyone being on LSD still holds up.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: most of the fun of this show is how ridiculous the scenarios are, and I don't believe that a show could reach this level of hilarity unironically. I'm pretty sure that the staff are laughing too. It's just a feeling I have. Anyway, in the end Ren's older brother admits that he forced him to be an idol because he thought Ren's singing was awesome. Hugs for everybody!
Other notes (which is turning into Let's Talk About What Cecil Did This Week): As a lot of people have predicted, Cecil is slowly warming up to the idea of being an idol, although he's still insisting that it's not what he wants and he's only hanging around to be close to Haruka. When he shows up at the fashion show, he reveals that he carries around all the cheesy character songs just because Haruka wrote them. Ren does give him some good advice this week, since both of them were forced into the business (although under different circumstances):
"It doesn't matter how you start, as long as you're serious about it now."It's a pretty good line. We'll have to wait and see if Cecil learns anything from it.
 |
| Even as a shota, Ren had his hair in his face |
As a shota Ren looked like Syo somewhat ^_^"
ReplyDeleteAnyhow~ I completely agree with you the overreactions and dramatic scenes in this anime just make me think omg really you guys... But I can't help think it's hilarious how they act like the world depends on it XD I mean he just SHOVED A CD in and it starts shining like some holy object. Plus he tripped running like this is some crazy action scene where he is running away from Godzilla or something...
Haha, he does! I didn't notice that.
ReplyDeleteThe over-dramatic stuff is probably the main reason that I love this show. If they played it straight and didn't take it to a whole new level of ridiculousness, then it probably wouldn't be as enjoyable.