Talk:Episode 86 - Nothing but the Number of Tears/@comment-26426093-20171216135622

As much as I feel sad about Laura's heartbreaking loss to Elza, not to mention how the latter rubbed salt in the former's wounds by obtaining the Sun Wings in the process, I genuinely think that this incident served as a huge wake-up call for Laura, even more then previous events.

Right now, Laura's way behind Yume, Mahiru and even the other Venus Ark students in terms of accomplishments and whatnot. The reason for this was due to her being short-sighted all the time, only thinking of 'All I need is to get my own brand and wings, then I will show that spoiled princess Elza Forte that she was wrong about me!'. Yeah, and that's the very same short-sightedness which caused her so many problems back in Season 1. Even as she got her own Star Wings, then what? Was she going to become the world's greatest idol? No, that's taking a step too far for sure, but knowing Laura, she really should had set her goals even more further than just a pair of Star Wings and a potential S4 spot. Instead, once again she stagnated, and didn't contribute that much until this episode, where her shortcomings were all but laid bare to be crushed and witnessed by everyone.

So long story short, what happens after this is make or break for Laura. I'm sure she will overcome this one way or other, but if she doesn't broaden her view after that...well, nothing can be done about it.

Also on a related note, Laura's breakdown at the episode is one of the many small but crucial details that make Stars tick compared to the original. A direct comparison can be observed in Sumire's big mistake which cost her the crown in Episode 176 of Season 4; both are remarkably similar in that they are cool typed idols and are also the main character's best friend/rival. However, whereas Sumire was like okay, I lost but whatever Akari won so it's not much of a big deal, here in Stars Laura actually goes bawling her eyes out; it's details like this that make this series so much more realistic and relatable in contrast to the original series.