「そくばいかい」 (Sokubaikai)
“Exhibition Sale”

If you switched the word doujin with cosplay, this episode perfectly mirrored my own experience on my first day cosplaying.

First Convention Hype

Man, this week’s episode did a fantastic job at depicting what it’s like attending (or I guess in this case alley-ing) your very first convention. From the foldable chairs to the tables covered with a table cloth, the only thing missing would be the fancy stands made out of PVC! Random musing aside, I really enjoyed getting to see Tama’s reactions to everything. From the feeling of despair that her effort would be for naught to the complete 180 when a cute girl appeared and not only bought a game but asked for a sketch — it couldn’t have been done any better! Toss in her adorable embarrassed reactions because she wasn’t ready for that much positive energy and I almost starting tearing up because of just how close the whole thing hit home.

Post-Convention Depression

While it was more of an elation than depression, I appreciate Stella no Mahou for giving us a proper ending to the SNS-bu’s first exhibition. Wrapping things up with a lighthearted ouu-sama game that really highlighted just how close Tama has become with all of her senpai, I absolutely loved the short moment where Kayo took a moment to give some props to Tama for standing up for her during that dark moment in last week’s episode. While I would have loved to see a tiny bit of drama since I really want to know how Kayo found out, it was also nice to see everyone take the high road and be so accepting of what happened.

Looking Ahead

With things coming to a close rather quickly, this week’s episode felt kind of short didn’t it? Attending a convention, wrapping up, and looking toward the future? It feels like they almost leapt through time! And for those of you who were a little concerned like I was about where things were going to go from here, it looks like there’s about to be a new girl joining the scene! I can’t remember exactly where she’s from or when she appeared (was she the “I want to join!” girl?), but a new character sounds like just what we need to give the story a nice jump start.

Anyways, I’ll catch you guys next week. See you!

P.S. I know I used Convention and Exhibition variously thoughout, but for me they’re basically the same thing :^)

 

Preview

6 Comments

  1. The ED is really intriguing. Makes you wonder what in the actual hell is going with it each episode. Does it represent their game? Their club? Or is it just the CG dude trying out filter effects for shits and giggles?

    Last episode the ED was muted and nearly grey scale which is sort of a throw back to when Shiina explained that they were going for a flat design with their game to reach the deadline. This time it’s filled with analog TV static. Astoundingly amusing.

    Frosty
  2. Now this was a good return to form after last week’s episode of handling a few story matters in an awkward way. I enjoyed Tama being able to experience the excitement and anticipation of participating in an exhibition, and even learning that you may doubt your abilities as an artist, especially when you compare yourself to people who have big displays and are more well known, but you can still have your own audience in what you do. I thought it handled those topics nicely from the exhibition to the after party.

    Though I will say I think Yumine almost ventured into flanderization territory by being overly ambitious about who’d be dominant and awakening to feelings of moe. Not a bad idea, but it got a little out of control and felt a tad forced for my liking. Aside from that, pleasant episode all around. Also interested that they had a display in the background playing Kiniro Mosaic footage, not a tie-in I ever would have expected.

    Fuwa Fuwa
  3. This is one of the most moe things I have ever watched. It was fun and relatable to see how Tamaki dealt with being at the convention. It’s hard not to compare yourself to everyone else, especially when you’re new.

    Yumine was amusing before but now she’s getting kinda creepy. I can’t tell if she’s pure BL lover or Yuri for Tama. Already knew she had a few screws loose but she must have even more than that for her to see Tama as the “dominant one.”

    The ED continues to be interesting. Not only is it a style of music I had never encountered before (apparently it’s a genre called “future base”) but they actually change the visuals sometimes depending on the episode. That’s pretty interesting.

    I’m not surprised guys would be interested in Kayo, she is quite pretty, especially in her waitress uniform. Also not surprised that they get a little too anxious to ask her out when she gets deep into her composing. That’s artists for ya, heh heh.

    Roguespirit
  4. And for those of you who were a little concerned like I was about where things were going to go from here, it looks like there’s about to be a new girl joining the scene! I can’t remember exactly where she’s from or when she appeared (was she the “I want to join!” girl?), but a new character sounds like just what we need to give the story a nice jump start.

    Yep. She’s also appeared in the OP, and walked past the camera early in episode 2 right after Kayo said the club might get some new recruits later.

    Wanderer

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