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「夜明けのギルド」 (Yoake no Girudo)
“The Dawn Guild”
After all this time, we’ve learned about the backstories and motivations of the women at Chupakabura…except Yoshino!!! It was an easy thing to overlook because the first couple episodes delve lightly into Yoshino’s situation and her resolve to stay. What the hook of this latest arc does is reintroduce her earlier struggles now that she’s gotten more used to her position at the agency by using the reality show format as a vessel for her development.
It was an interesting idea for Chupakabura’s 20th anniversary celebration to fall within the same time frame that Northern Living decided to hop on over to film a special on the girls of Chupakabura. There were many funny moments with the villagers reacting to the camera’s presence such as Erika acting even more uncharacteristic during the filming, Sandal evoking the spirit of Kevin Costner from Field of Dreams to lend positive energy to the upcoming celebration, and Kadota’s impulse to jump into any scene that’s going on around him.
Knowing how reality shows tend to be portrayed in TV dramas, I expect that there is an ulterior motive in their interest in Manoyama and the decision to hire Ptolemaios, a high-profile rock band that was featured in a soda commercial, to their festival. The band did show up during the next episode’s preview, but Amamiya seemed determined to get material on any conflict that would arise on Yoshino’s end, so I could see the network trying to create a situation that she would have a hard time solving.
Speaking of which, his main concern was the normalcy of Yoshino’s struggles. Even though Yoshino acts as the glue that helps keep all the girls focused and together, it does discredit her to say that after all this time, she’s still called normal. She comes from the same background as Maki and Sanae, except from a younger point-of-view as someone who struggled to find employment in the city. Her change from being rigid about being stuck in the countryside to openly embracing Manoyama was a development that occurred early on.
The next episode could try to resolve her insecurities about being labeled as normal, but for someone who became the Queen of Chupakabura, can cheer up or negotiate with very upset people, can come up with goofy plans like presenting a somen delivery machine made from an arcade game, and would eat an ume and mayo sandwich, it feels odd that Yoshino is considered to be the most normal person in the room. I guess it would stem from sharing her friends’ troubles of being camera-shy, especially since she’s comfortable with people not knowing she was the 100,000th guest at Chupakabura as a kid. The stakes are mounting with guests arriving a night early to the celebration. The stage is set for what should be a great way for Yoshino to realize how she stands out.
Preview
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Oh my god is anyone OVERJOYED at the end?? They’re really gaining interest in the town! Overcrowding is a good problem to have! That’s like a Black Friday camp-out! I hope their reserve funds pay off, and it looks like it will! I just worry that a big problem will come up next week, since everything seems to be going swimmingly.
I love how everyone was playing for the camera. Erika’s moment was especially funny, as always. Though he had those two episodes where they filmed that zombie thriller, so I was confused as to why they’re still self-conscious in front of a camera.
And Yoshino got honest praise from Kadota! At first I thought he was just a crazy coot, but I see he’s serious about what he wants to do and thinks critically about how to do it. It’s true, so far every one of the girls got time to develop, but Yoshino’s back story doesn’t seem as deep. We barely know anything about her past experiences before graduating.
I’m sure that most, if not all the people that have already shown up, and those that will show up, are ONLY doing so in anticipation of that band and NOT out of any interest in the town itself, and that is what the issue will end up becoming next episode.
Everyone has become so focused on just getting as many people to come to Manoyama as possible that they seem to be forgetting WHY they really want people to come and to keep coming back. Sure, this event may bring in a large crowd, but it will only be short-term, for the time the band is there. After the event is over, how many visitors will actually stick around, much less spread any interest in Manoyama itself?
Wow, that’s a lot of progress in one episode! Can’t wait to see the result of their work next week.
https://randomc.net/image/Sakura%20Quest/Sakura%20Quest%20-%2012%20-%2008.jpg
Dreams come true.
Someone working at Crunchyroll is a huge Costner fan!
Cruncyroll nothing, that was the actual dialogue.
I almost felt like they broke the 4th wall with that normal comment. It’s like the show was critiquing itself.