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「カウントダウン」 (Kauntodaun)
“Countdown”
Just like in real life, you can’t expect things to always go according to plan. Luckily, it looks like the SNS-bu and its newest member have just what it takes to get things done.
A Little Disappointment (The Good Kind)
If I had to pick one single thing that bothers me about the slice-of-life/school-life genre, I’d most likely pick the over emphasis that a majority of shows place on keeping that “happy” tone alive and strong. Throwing disappointment and failure to the wind, it never really feels that satisfying until we see our beloved characters go through some hardship (however, forced plot points that try to oversell “hardship” aren’t what we need either). In Stella no Mahou’s case, it felt like we were a little overdue for some trouble (our girls are trying to make a game from scratch after all!) and I couldn’t have asked for more.
Before I praise the moment that really caught me off guard, I’ll be honest that I wasn’t all that happy to hear that the “trouble” was a failed lottery drawing that essentially dropkicked all hope out of the SNS-bu’s ability to showcase their game. Between that and the schedule going totally sideways, I felt a little let down that the story didn’t think of something a little more in-depth to really hit us in the feels. However, that all changed the moment Shii and Ayame lost 100% hope in Kayo and her ability to deliver the songs she promised. Throwing all of us for a loop, I was nearly in shock as I saw Shii and Ayame discuss their contingency plan with Tama struggling to accept that one of her beloved senpais would fail to deliver on their promise. And as if that wasn’t enough, for a split second after Tama tried defending Kayo, you could see that she started to fall into that train of thinking and it literally felt like the world was completely falling apart.
Luckily, there was a quick return to form with Kayo sending her work in just the nick of time to bring up the mood of everyone in the clubroom. Combined with Shii’s great sense in naming and really emphasizing just how important everyone was in the creation process, you were left with a somewhat bittersweet feeling as you tried to forget what Shii and Ayame said only moments beforehand. Now, before one of the five commenters (I’m watching!) misunderstand me, I get that this is a pretty cut throat environment that has a really high turnover rate. I’m not faulting Shii or Ayame, just pointing out just how quickly the assumptions turn to the negatives.
Looking Ahead
Anyways, even after stumbling over a few bumps, it looks like it’s finally time for the SNS-bu to debut their game! And while it remains to be seen whether or not the game itself is going to work, the only two things I’m really looking forward to is seeing how Tama handles the doujin game circle and for Kayo to praise Tama for sticking up for her. Anyways, I’ll catch you guys next week. See you!
P.S. Man, the day that this club manages to corrupt Tama is the day we know that world is about to end.
Preview
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Man that part with them waiting on Kayo hit surprisingly hard. You rarely see the girls in these types of shows lose faith and doubt each other, especially in a distinctively negative way.
The worst part is that happens in real life more often that one might think. Hits too close to home, man.
Right? I was blown away the moment they suggested using open source music :’)
I was actually more shocked at the idea that they clearly showed Kayo was communicating with everyone else via instant messaging, and she’s shown that she misses out on what around her when he wears her headphones, which she does while she works on music. So when they feel they feel worried Kayo might have too much to work with, they try to communicate with her….by calling her phone!
Did they forget about the thing they just established not long ago with the IM system? I’m all for them going through a moment of doubt and questioning trust, and they do that part well, but overlooking something like that rubs on me more as forced, especially when Kayo sends them the music through the IM system that they just showed.
This show has good and well-meaning intentions, and some of them are executed well, some a little flawed, but that was a reeeeeally severe stretch for them to go on the negative. The lottery drawing was a little skeptical, but the “call first” thing really could have been executed better. I still like it, and I’m hoping that’s the only real major bump this show runs into.
Mhm, bringing up the previous interactions that does make sense.
Maybe when it comes to deadlines though, they expect more immediate responses? :/
the slow build up of plot is really good on this anime… definitely a gem for this season…
One of the five commentators is here.
Actually I relate so much with the waiting for the musician part. Creating music from a scretch is one of the hardest part to get done on a tight deadline, unless it’s a pro maybe (which is really hard to find). Relying on the free source music is like something that most doujin programmer/game do when it’s near the deadline, and I’ve been guilty of it many times.
Pushing few months of a project to few weeks is kinda stretching it, though, those girls are incredibly amazing for a bunch of amateur high school girls.
Given that they already know that Kayo is aware of nothing when she’s working on music (just see Yumine’s first visit to the clubroom and how long it took Kayo to notice her, despite not wearing headphones), I was rather surprised that they immediately jumped to “she’s abandoned us” as their interpretation. Heck, they just did the same thing themselves: I’m willing to bet if you asked them how many people came to the clubroom while they were working, they would just look at you in confusion; the various interruptions not even having registered on their conscious minds.
I just want to point out that there are exactly five commenters for this post lol. When did you enroll in prophecy class, Takaii?
Hey I like the show too, but didn’t know yet what to contribute in the discussion.