The episode my darling sister and I were eagerly anticipating had come at last.
IT’S OUR TIME NEE-SAN!
Punctual beauty as always.
Like last episode instead of saving the character flashback for later we’re prioritizing it once more. So The Wall’s latest decree was another live. Same venue as their first big show but this time it’s a full house. At least I think the capacity is 3000. Nicole spotted Akane getting ready to leave and asked about her time card. Nicole and one of the staff ladies talked about Akane’s seriousness. The latter mentioned remembering something about a girl named Akane Maruyama.
Akane’s dream.
As expected her beauty is hereditary.
Right. Flashback time. Akane’s an aspiring artist relishing the freedom to express herself. Unfortunately for her mom was an uptight stick in the mud, annoying young Akane. Papa was more chill and free spirited.
One day the family went on a camping trip (I think). Papa was ready to be inspired by nature while mom was like “Stay home and wait for us Akane. Don’t go outside alone”.
No surprise here.
Akane wanted to explore nature too.
Akane lost.
Unfortunately she tripped on an unsafe mountain pathway and got lost. She found shelter in an abandoned cabin. THREE DAYS LATER mom found her. She’s strict but only because she loved her baby so very much.
Oh no.
Unfortunately their relief was short lived. Instead of leaving the family alone the media were obsessively hounding them wanting an interview with the miracle girl. The pressure was too much for the married couple to endure leading to a divorce. Akane left with mom, blaming herself for everything. I blame the media personally. The couple tried keeping it together after Akane came back but the hounding by the press made things worse, unleashing their worst feelings for each other. Something like that.
Akane 22.7
In any case Akane was like “Never again will someone I care about suffer because of my recklessness. It’s strictly business from now on”.
22/7 second big show.
I won’t go into much detail on the preparation and the show. Everyone, especially Nicole, was nervous but everything worked out in the end. There were two very important parts that need mentioning.
She’s back!
First was the old Akane reawakening. This show and especially the crowd’s thunderous ovation reminded her why she wanted to become an idol. Oh right. While expressing herself long ago the first big dream she had was “I wanna become an idol!”. It appeared Papa showed concern which is why she brushed it off with “I wanna become an astronaut!” This show brought out all those feelings she locked away many years ago. This also explains why we didn’t get a proper “Akane finds a black letter” scene.
Back to business.
This experience taught Akane something very important. She’s still the gorgeous businesswoman who stole my heart.
But when the cameras, microphones, interviewers and all that “business-y” stuff is nowhere in sight she’s free to let loose. Hopefully she’ll be more open with her friends too. She’s found a perfect balance between business and pleasure instead of the former dominating the latter.
Now for the other important thing. We were reminded more than before that despite Miu patiently waiting for the spotlight to shine on her again (while snuggling with Sakura) she’s still the heart of the group. Her courage and smile greatly motivate the others to give it their all too.
Almost there.
After yet another excellent ED we joined Miu moving out of the house. I’m sure many of us were hoping for “you know what” but actually she and the rest of 22/7 moved to a special apartment building for them.
To summarize, this was a much better “Robot beauty regaining her humanity” story than a certain half-robot wife I’m sure many here are acquainted with. Join me next time as we take a look at Ayaka’s story.
Of course Nicole would be last. She’s the grouch of the group after all.
The Yuri Empire 
As I started to expect last time, it looks like I will love every last one of these girls. Off-work Akane is stunning.
My perception of reality may have been skewed thanks to watching a certain other anime, but the moment the crowd started calling out the girls’ names, I was expecting someone in front row (for example the dark-haired fangirl) to shout “SAKURA AISHITERUUUUUU!!!!” ^^
Many yuri couples getting ready to move together this week. Lovely. And I like all the hugging, touching and cuddling that’s going on. They’re more cuddly with each other than ChamJam (except for Maki x Yume – let’s hope the rest become like them too).
Nicole though keeps stealing my heart every time she speaks in that breathtaking voice.
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That’s what happens when we watch two excellent gay idol anime in the same season. Not to mention there are two delightful band gays anime too.
Miu X Sakura are the closest to achieving YumeMaki power level gayness.
Two weeks away lass. Two weeks away.
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Miyako x Jun were lovey-dovey as always.
Interesting that the radio station sent flowers to BOTH.
As if they already knew about this relationship.
All together in one apartment is going to be great – including who shares a room with who and if they have a double or two single beds for that.
I think that two shared rooms are already clear: Miyako x Jun and – of course – Sakura x Miu.
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First I’d like to say yes, I’m soo excited about Akane’s episode. She’s so beautiful. Second, Nicole seems to warm up more. The fact that she’s way more nervous than others (especially Miu) surprised me.
Akane is another girl with a shocking past. How she survived 3 days without food is amazing. No wonder she becomes the media’s miracle girl. It was the media’s fault too but I personally think it was more of her parents. Her mom is too strict and her dad is too relax. They never support each other when it comes to how to raise kids. Dad lets Akane hate her mom and her mom keeps undermining dad. I can see divorce a mile away. Even before the incident happen. As always in the divorce, Akane blamed herself. I’m just glad she becomes more cautious about everything like her mom but still having fun by herself. That’s her now. That’s the interesting part about her. And her stunning looks that I adore. And yes, I think she can be more relaxed around the girls now. The missing “I got a black card” scene and how is she with her parents now, kind of disappointing. I hope she still on good terms with her parents. We know her mom and dad love her so much.
Now for the best couple. Miu is moving to her own room. They promised to have a sleepover. This is a big step. I thought the girls lived together like 2 or 3 people in one apartment room. But no, one room each. Nicole is moving in too. I’m guessing Akane is also moving in? Just two more girls and we better find out what is up with this Wall.
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As the #1 and #2 Akane stans it was worth the wait.
Nicole showed us a side we didn’t expect to see of her. Very interesting.
You made some very nice points there on what went wrong with her parents. Hopefully they’ll continue supporting her despite their divorce.
The excitement seeing Miu and Sakura’s ongoing development has me feeling all dem tingles!
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It’s really sad that the media pressure caused Akane’s family to split apart. While mom and dad may have differences it seemed to me that they got along very well.
Also goes to show that becoming famous for one thing or the other isn’t necessarily a good thing…
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we can never have enough ” “Robot girl regaining humanity” stories!
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Not sure why I never commented here, I was so sure I did.
Anyways, good backstory ep on Akane this week. Another emotional one too, lost child stories are always tough to watch.
The performance was great too, everything went well this time and Miu didn’t have to bail them out with her piano skills.
I did feel that the ep ended pretty suddenly, but I guess it fits Akane’s personality, all business all the time.
Also nice to see Miu moving out and living on her own now. She’s grown so much since ep 1 and it’s great to see. So happy for her.
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