「ひとりぼっちの気持ち」 (Hitoribocchi no Kimochi)
“The Feeling of Being Alone”

Well it sure didn’t take long for Kuroi and Jupiter to start sabotaging 765 Pro’s rising success again. I guess I should be grateful that there was even an episode in between where I didn’t have to see their cocky mugs. Interestingly enough, the series looks poised to make Kuroi the only truly bad apple and Jupiter as unsuspecting victims of his underhanded tactics. This is most apparent in Touma, who’s been led to believe that 765 Pro started messing with them first. I can’t say that I really care to see the Touma and co. getting along with the IM@S girls at some point, but I’m all for it if it means putting a stop to all this high school-like hazing. The last thing I’d want to see is for it to drag on indefinitely.

What was also interesting was how this episode opened with a flashback to when Chihaya’s parents got divorced, laying the foundation for what I’d like to believe is a future episode centered around her past. I gather it was no coincidence that the kanji for “bonds” in 765 Pro’s office was as prominent as it was when she walked in, especially considering that was the last we saw of Chihaya this episode. I’d be all for another Chihaya-centric episode of course, since the Gero Gero Kitchen one only gave a glimpse of her loneliness in the ending sequence. In a happy-go-lucky series about aspiring idols, Chihaya seems to be the only one that goes against the norm with her troubled past.

As for Hibiki, whose episode this truly was, her fight with Inumi came off fairly trivial at first, yet had a nice sentimental touch to it when I least expected. This should probably be considered Hamzou’s episode too, given his slap to Hibiki and his hamster heroics that got him all the way back to 765 Pro’s office. While I did find the rescue rather predictable and Hibiki’s self-realization somewhat convenient, I’d hardly knock the series in either case given its nature. For me, the highlight was the Producer suspecting that 961 Pro would be up to something and giving both Touma and Kuroi a piece of his mind. It wasn’t enough to shut them up, but at least he made his intentions clear that 765 Pro wasn’t just going to quietly endure all their crap. It looks like I’ll see what form of retaliation that translates to next time, as the focus shifts to Makoto.

 

ED16 Sequence

ED16: 「Brand New Day!」 by 我那覇響 (沼倉愛美) (Ganaha Hibiki (Numakura Manami))
Watch the 16th ED!: Streaming ▼

Preview

30 Comments

    1. Hate to break it to you, but since it follows the games most of Miki’s story is already done. Unless the writers want to change it I don’t expect much more from her other than her constant flirting with Producer.

      Now if you’ll excuse me I will now run away from Divine’s rage.

      fragb85
    2. Even if her stories done, hopefully the director of the series is smart enough to realize that Miki makes the show 20 times better. Matter of opinion but I’m sure many agree w/ that opinion 🙂

      Pride
  1. “check the Community section on the sidebar for useful links.”

    Sorry to mention it here, but kawaii radio is dead for a long time. 🙁

    The idol version of Ace Ventura. 😛 I love her the most. Animal lover, very long black hair and always full of energy. Hamuzou or whatever (the hamster of course), remind me to that “Chikubi” from the Mitsudomoe and i always laugh when i see this mini iron man. What the hack did it! Somebody mentioned the coloring of the dog was weaker, because they want to save money on it. Is it possible or it was just negligence? Don’t have A-1 pictures enough money for their production? Strange. I learned haisai from her anyway and i will annoy my friends with. ^^

    FFF
  2. Not one of the better episodes in my opinion. The good thing about it is that it didn’t get me to rage too much, despite the story. This episode is more surreal than all the previous ones, mainly due to the animals and whatnots. A few moments of it felt like I was watching “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” and I was half expecting the animals to start getting voices of their own. XD

    Next episode seems more interesting. Can’t wait to see a real Makoto episode 🙂

    x
  3. Even though there aren’t any bad episodes of Idolm@ster, there are… lesser efforts. Even though Hibiki is one of my favorite idols, all the events except for Chihaya’s excerpt in the beginning lacked any real sense of urgency or pressure. This episode just felt average.

    Click
  4. now what’s left is takane, chihaya, makoto, ritsuko & maybe kotori. they will probably save chihaya’s one for the last.

    wonder if they will show the battle between jupiter & ryuguu komachi, and if they’ll use ryuggu komachi’s new song (7-colored buttons) in the ps3 game. sounds better than smoky thrill.

    sakamoto
  5. 961 Pro’s Kuroi is pretty damned despicable.

    Having a 16 year old girl dragged out all the way to the middle of bumfuck nowhere and leaving her there?

    Even if it is just an anime series, that far surpasses underhanded and delves into the territory of horrid.

    She could have very easily have fallen to her death when she tumbled down that cliff, were it not for the very convenient ledge- and if she stayed on the road, she could have either been picked up by an upstanding good Samaritan- or some rapist.

    And Kuroi must be some kind of delusional twat- because this made no fucking sense whatsoever.
    https://randomc.net/image/THE%20IDOLM@STER/THE%20IDOLM@STER%20-%2016%20-%20Large%2007.jpg

    The show is kinda cheesy, and I get that- but this kinda felt especially so somehow.

    Hope we get that Chihaya episode soon. Throwing that small intro bit this time around, it’d be a bit of a pain to hold off the rest for too long.

    Stranger
  6. The whole flashback with Chihaya felt really out of place. Its obviously to build up her story, but there were better ways to do it. As for Hibiki I find it funny that she goes Tsundere over her dog. Or being getting some sense slapped into her by the hamster. And its nice to see Producer stepping up, especially since Kuroi has all the subtlety of a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain.

    There is some irony on how Jupiter is being fooled by Kuroi in a Hibiki episode though. In iM@S SP where Hibki was part of 961 she was almost exactly like Touma. It got so bad that it even made Haruka of all people angry.

    Also **** yeah we’re finally getting a Makoto episode. I’ve got something to look forward to now.

    fragb85
  7. I wonder how everybody would have reacted to Hibiki’s alligator…Yukiho’s probably passed out from shock and fear.

    Anyway, I think this was an okay episode. It wasn’t a gripping story, and Chihaya’s flashback did seem out of place. I liked Hamuzou, though.

    satkaz
  8. Having read all the comments in past episodes, I’m sure the preview has gotten lots of people excited. Only a matter of time till one of them comments.. Surprised they haven’t yet.

    Anyways, it’s nice to see Producer step up. It’d be even more frustrating if the Producer let 961 get away with what they’re doing w/o saying a word.

    Pride
  9. Yay, finally an episode for Hibiki and a good one to boot!

    As for Jupiters, I find that Touma’s constant hate toward 765 Pro’s idols get old real fast. Maybe it’s because I don’t like them to begin with…

    Serapita
  10. To be honest, I kind of think Hibiki got screwed with this episode. The AD of this episode is someone who usually works on series like vanguard and stuff, while next week will have Sushio and Shibata working on the episode.

    That said, Makoto is my favourite idol so I don’t really mind that much lol. Can’t wait for next week!

    Moka
  11. Wow what’s with RC lately? You wait and wait and wait, and all of a sudden you get like 6-7 new articles in the space of hours. (But still no Shana III)

    Anyway, I think the real reason for the pets’ mutiny was because they sensed the food Hibiki’s been buying for them lately was not going to be sufficient to please the alligator (no matter how nutritious it was, it had no meat, which meant everything to a carnivore). They were subtly telling Hibiki not to abandon them alone as future alligator food. lol

    Though A-1 Pictures left a huge carrot stick dangling with Chihaya’s backstory, I’ll still be looking forward to next week, as Makoto is my second favourite iM@S girl after Chihaya.

    Kinny Riddle
  12. Never saw the English subs so after the raw so I had to wait for the Spanish fansub.

    That director looked like a gay drug-dealer. He liked Hibiki more than Jupiter, though.

    Doctor Strange posted some good points, that dirty play was dangerous, hope they fired that spineless guy and now he is eating from trash bags (posted something bigger and rougher at Mr. Charlie Shin´s place).

    Lectro Volpi

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