Karen's Anime Blog

This is the conclusion of Uzuki’s arc. We start at a Sweet Bullet concert, pre-show: the girls get some snacks to eat. I’d make a bad joke about idols not eating real food, but I don’t think Japanese celebrities have the same problems with starving themselves to death that we have in the US– I mean, I certainly hope they don’t. Uzuki asks if Sweet Bullet will make it to Budokan, and the rest of the group gives her shocked expressions. I don’t think the question itself was weird, just out of character for Uzuki. Credits! Boy, Sakuta sure can run when he’s motivated.

“Did Uzuki just ask a question that like, a real person with a functioning brain would ask? Terrifying.”

Benny’s. Apparently Sakuta is still working at the family restaurant while also putting in hours at the cram school; he’s a busy bee indeed. He goes outside only to be met with a surprise: Mai can drive, and has a car! Boy, a lot happened during that year gap between Sakuta finishing high school and going to college.

Mai was already the best anime girlfriend, and now she’s the best anime girlfriend that can drive you around. There’s no upper limit for Mai.

Mai asks him about his date with Uzuki from last episode, which Sakuta at first tries to deny was a date, but the facts of the matter are clear. Sakuta admits it was a date, and then Mai apparently…lets it go? If she gave him a stern talking to, we don’t get to see it. It would be funny if the next scene was Mai tossing him out of her car, but this isn’t that kind of anime. I kind of want to see it anyway though.

The duo get to the concert hall just in time for Sweet Bullet to start their set. All is going well until it’s time for Uzuki’s solo, but no sound comes out of Uzuki’s mouth: she’s lost her voice. Sakuta and Mai catch up with Sweet Bullet at the hospital– Uzuki’s mom takes her home, but the rest of the band is arguing with their manager. Apparently there’s been quite a lot of interest in Uzuki as a solo gig ever since the earphones commercial became a viral hit, and it’s not clear if Sweet Bullet will continue as a group of five. If Uzuki is considering becoming a solo performer, that’s all the more stress that contributed to her losing her voice at a gig.

In Mai’s car, Nodoka talks about how Uzuki asked them about Budokan before the gig, and while they always used to say “Let’s get to Budokan together!”, none of them could say it today. Everyone’s used to Uzuki being the one lending her support, so for her to ask for support took everyone by surprise. I like how this show gets into the nitty-gritty of human relations.

Sakuta + Aquarium, two things I appreciate.

The next day, Mai has work so Sakuta heads to the next Sweet Bullet gig by himself. It seems like the event is being held at an aquarium, and I’m so glad Clover Works has gotten the memo that I love aquariums. Sweet Bullet begins singing, minus Uzuki. The group does a little sketch about Uzuki not being there, and it’s impressive they can pull that off so smoothly when they didn’t have much time to practice it. Two guys immediately leave when they hear Uzuki’s not going to be there, which just goes to show that some of the group’s fans are really just Uzuki’s fans at this point.

They may be a member short and facing bad weather, but that’s not enough to keep Sweet Bullet down.

Unfortunately, the power cuts out, and the concert is stalled. Sakuta looks around and notices a sweats-clad Uzuki standing in the crowd and watching. One weakness of this show is that a lot of the female characters look alike, so I didn’t even realize it was supposed to be Uzuki until Sakuta and Uzuki started talking. I guess the purple eyes really should have been a giveaway.

Uzuki and Sakuta talk a bit about the history of Sweet Bullet. As they chat, people in the crowd are peeling off; I guess it’s a lot to ask for people to stay to watch a show while it’s raining and they’re waiting on a power outage. Uzuki confides in Sakuta that there’s a part of her that laughs at Nodoka and the others’ ambitions, and she’s ashamed of herself for that; that’s why she doesn’t feel like she can go onstage with them again, even though her voice has returned. I guess now that Uzuki has broken through to the next level of popularity, she can’t help but see herself as superior, even though she knows that “superiority” is based on something fickle. Sakuta lets her know that Nodoka and the others realize that they aren’t going to get mega popular at this rate; they know that, but they work hard anyway.

Sweet Bullet resumes singing without mics or speakers, and Uzuki wonders why Sweet Bullet is trying so hard when it’s probably futile for them. Sakuta says “This is when you need to read the room, Zukki,” and we finally get confirmation about why that’s so important. Uzuki starts singing in the crowd and runs up to the stage, and wow, the people who left the show early are going to be so pissed when they find out they missed this. Now complete, Sweet Bullet continues their show as the sun comes out.

This is why you should never leave a concert, even if it’s raining. You might miss the lead singer’s surprise comeback.

The next day, Kaede is watching a replay of the concert on her laptop. Kaede’s mom walks by in the background, and does this mean that she’s out of the hospital for good? I think it was implied that Kaede was staying with their mom and not living with Sakuta– good for them. Uzuki says she’s going to accept the solo offer and still stay with Sweet Bullet, so she’s going to have a lot on her plate. She drops by Yokohama City University to submit her resignation, and that’s kind of a shame– college is such a unique experience, I hate to think of anyone that age missing out on it, but her career has to take priority. Idols have a limited shelf life, and she can’t assume that her popularity will wait for her while she finishes school.

Sakuta and Uzuki have a brief conversation about leaving college, and Uzuki reveals that she chose to study statistical science– the same major as Sakuta– because she wanted to understand people better. Well, I hope the two months she spent studying it were illuminating. Uzuki runs off, but the drama doesn’t end there! Oh no, a woman in a Santa suit laments that she spent all that effort making Uzuki able to read the room; she’s Touko Kirishima, the mysterious singer. Does this mean that Touko is actually the one causing puberty syndrome, since she seemed to have caused Uzuki’s case? And why is Sakuta the only one who seems to be able to see her? Does Sakuta have some kind of special ability to see people who puberty syndrome, since he was the only one who could see Mai at one point? I’m so confused.

Tell us your secrets, confounding invisible Santa woman!

And so ends the Uzuki arc of Rascal. Honestly, this hasn’t been my favorite, although there was some nice banter between Sakuta and Mai and Sakuta and Uzuki. I’m curious to see what Touko has in store for us in the next arc.