User blog:Staraptor Kwan/Aikatsu Stars! Episode 15 Review: Mother of all Sibling Rivalries



Time to head into the warzone.

Well, at least from Mahiru's perspective, anyway. After the events of the previous episode, there's no doubt that despite warming up just a little to Yume and co, Mahiru is still pretty much in a mental state of undeclared war against her big sis aka Kasumi Yozora. However, when said "war" is "officially declared" by the girl herself, as we will find out later on, the resulting chaos is sufficient enough to drive a wedge between both sisters and build the foundations for what is probably the most emotionally-driven, heart-wrenching and tear-jerking episode thus far.



The episode kicks off with the annoucement of a aptitude test, for which the top scorer from each class gets to perform alongside their S4 representative during the Summer Fest. Mahiru, upon hearing this, doesn't waste any time in cooking up a eloborate plan to triumph over her peers.

The tension starts to accumulate during the results announcement ceremony; Laura, Ako, a new character named Ruka and Mahiru are named as the top scorers by Hibiki, who in a out-of character moment that temporarily dispenses the tension, announces that the winner will receive a one-month free lunch coupon. All of the participants get to say some words that reflect upon their personalities and motivations. However, Mahiru then steals the show-by declaring war against her sister. Her statement is so fierce and passionate to the point you could slice the tension in the air with a penknife, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that sooner or later, someone is gonna get hurt in this war among siblings.



Afterwards, Yozora holds a strategy meeting with her little sis at the cafeteria while being fawned over by various other students ( I love how Mahiru doesn't give a truck) when her phone's alarm is activated, which reminds Yozora of a job appointment. However, before she can leave, Mahiru asks if she can tag along, much to Yozora's surprise. Turns out that Mahiru has ulterior motives for doing so, as she wanted to witness her sister's true power as a S4 idol. However, Mahiru gets a lot more than she bargained for when Yozora, decked out in the Asian Night Coord, practically dazzles the entire stage with her refined beauty. A bedazzled yet despondent Mahiru quickly leaves-but not before leaving a message for Yozora, who is slightly disappointed.

Koharu and co have also noticed Mahiru's current situation as well, as evidenced by her lack of appetite. When asked what's wrong, the latter explains to them about her desire to surpass Yozora at any cost, and when pressed further, Mahiru finally gives them-and the viewers a far more detailed expostion into her past.



Mahiru's present motives and cold character all stem from one huge misunderstanding with Yozora; way back then both sisters were very close to each other until the older sibling joined Yotsuboshi Gakuen, which led to Mahiru to believe that her sister had abandoned her in pursuit of stardom, hence her desire to show up her sister by any means possible. Mahiru's backstory is clearly heartwarming and tragic at the same time, as it shows her younger and cheerful self gradually being replaced by hatred and jealousy, as well explaining the one-side deterioration of the bonds that she and her sister once shared. Even more worrying, once Mahiru finishes speaking and leaves Koharu and co behind, the latter notes that Mahiru's smile is once again gone.

All of this expostion slowly but steadily builds up to an inevitable clash between the two siblings; Mahiru is seen training past her limits-until she blacks out and collapses, which then transitions perfectly to Yozora catching a falling student when Miwa appears and informs her of Mahiru's condition (I was impressed by how serious he sounded when he simply said "A moment."). Yozora rushes to the infirmary to find a already-recovered Mahiru; albeit still hostile torwards her big sis, to the point where she rejects her concern and yells at her to leave. At this point, all of the tension and pain that has been accumulated up to this point explodes until even the usually-composed Yozora can't stand it any longer and does the unthinkable.



And thus, the scene above is without doubt the series most emotionally compelling so far. As foretold, both Mahiru and Yozora have been wounded by this course of events; the former physically, the latter mentally. The author of this review was extremely shocked by the sudden action taken by Yozora due to it being so out-of character for her; however, given the circumstances of said "war", it was probably inevitable that sooner or later Mahiru's continued stubbornness would push Yozora past her limits.

The consequences of that slap are shown afterwards in Mahiru's decision to drop out of the Summer Fest, which is overheard by Koharu. The latter then has a conversation with Mahiru about it. Everything about their conversation is nothing short of tearjerking; from the OST to the dark atmosphere, Koharu's exposition about Mahiru's true motives, that of her wish to be truly loved by her sister again and the latter's stubborn yet painful denial, all of these factors, when combined together are able to produce yet another powerful and emotional scene that highlights the inner suffering within Mahiru's heart.

I really think that this scene also showed how strong the bond between those two is; after all, out of all her Moon Beauty classmates, only Koharu could have fully understood the true cause of her friend's suffering, and despite rejecting Koharu's statement, deep inside her heart Mahiru actually knows that Koharu, who was the first person in Yotsuboshi Gakuen to truly look out for her, would never lie to her.



Yozora isn't in good shape either at the moment; while reminiscing over the good times with young Mahiru, Hime shows up (dat untied hair is super cute and fluffy) and, fullfilling the same role that Koharu played earlier, comforts Yozora by telling her that, when it comes to love, there is no "wrong" way, especially between sisters, which also effortlessly highlights the trust and compatibility between those two. That said, after having seen Yozora display not more than two distinct emotions from the pilot episode till now, getting to witness a entirely different side of her character is quite an enlightening experience.

All of the fallout from the confrontation between the two siblings finally subsides and ebbs away when Yozora meets up with a despondent Mahiru, still conflicted over Koharu's words. Despite the latter's apparent hatred flaring up again, Yozora manages to pacify her sister at long last and clear up her misunderstanding by explaining to Mahiru that she did truly love her all along. Mahiru, upon hearing this, starts to tear up and attempts to tell her that she too, felt the same as well-only for Yozora to embrace her and she to return the favour while tearing up.

Once again, I will emphasize on how the scenario above was able to benefit from the perfect timing of certain factors, such as the choice of OST and environment as well as dialogue. By building upon the story as it slowly moved torwards and arrived at the climax, a heartwarming conclusion was thus able to be obtained, and it shows off the excellent storytelling elements of Aikatsu Stars! at their best; after all, being able to produce three simultaneous emotional scenarios, all with their own defining OST and atmosphere within one episode is testament of the ability of the series itself to create stories that resonate with emotional themes.



With the "mother of all sibling rivalries" war having been peacefully resolved at last, both sisters decide to show how awesome and talented the Kasumi family can be (I think Koharu's drooling somewhere) by staging their Summer Fest duo performance. That said, remember what I said about Mahiru's solo rendition of Summer Tears Diary in the previous review? Well, throw in her big sis and the result is a dang good duo performance with plenty of muffins to drool at and gems to stare at ( now that's a fascinating combination!).

Now, after the performance ends, it's time for the customary happy ending to commence and...wait, turns out the war ain't over yet! Only that this time, it's a far more peaceful and healthy senpai-kouhai rivalry that's being declared by a now smiling Mahiru, and her sister is more than happy enough to reciprocate. As if to mark their once-again warm relationship, the drawing of Yozora that was seen earlier has been fully coloured by Mahiru.

Ain't love between siblings sweet?

(Not so sweet for Yuzu and Ruka, both who were sidestepped in favour of their Moon Beauty counterparts in today's episode. But don't worry, co's Yuzu will be the focus of Episode 19, while Ruka...will become a main character in the 2nd half of the series, right? RIGHT?)

Conclusion

If you are a huge fan of tearjerking scenes that often have the power to make even the toughest macho man cry, then Episode 15: The Moon and the Sun (no relation to the upcoming Pokemon games) is just for you. With its powerful yet sentimental story of two sisters overcoming their differences and misunderstandings to rekindle their childhood friendship, this episode is without doubt the best episode Aikatsu Stars! has to offer thus far, one that you simply cannot miss.

Afterword

Like I said earlier in a caption above, you'd really had to have a heart made of stone if you didn't shed a tear during the time you were watching this episode. This episode really made for a fullfilling conclusion to the mini arc that started in the previous episode, and being able to witness both Mahiru and Yozora embracing each other after having gone through various hardships and relevations...like I said, even men do cry at moments like these.

This episode also acts as testament of the willingness of Aikatsu Stars! to actually tackle issues head-on that were virtually non-existent in the original series, that of being sibling conflict and physical violence (dat slap counts) while still retaining key themes such as friendship and loyalty. While that approach might not be accepted by some of the fans, it's still a pretty bold move, one that has to recommended for sure. Also, those who often have remarked that the Flower Song characters are hogging most of the screentime have, as of this episode, been proven mistaken, as the Moon Beauty Class is just as capable of producing characters and a pretty excellent story to boot.

That being said, the next episode actually continues from here and with-you guessed it, the main focus being on Yume and co again. It's a bit disheartening that the Bird Theater and Wind Dance Classes haven't gotten that much exposure yet, but I'm confident that in due time, they will come into focus sooner or later. Until the next episode then, and adieu!

Rating: 10/10