After Shiho confronts Aki and shits all over the SSGirls, it’s Yori who ends up getting Aki to consider whether Shiho is actually being honest with her when she says she never liked playing in their band and was only presenting to enjoy herself. If anything, Aki should trust her own instincts at the time that were telling her Shiho was having a blast with them, and with her.
Since Aki took it as a given that Shiho quit because she was genuinely sick of SSGirls and not some other concealed reason, she’d never given the possibility Yori brings up any thought. Now Aki is pretty confident Shiho hasn’t been totally honest with her. If it takes getting more votes at the festival (both bands got a slot), proving SSGirls is the better band, for Shiho to finally be honest with Aki about why she quit, then so be it!
I like how Yori is the one who spurs Aki to stop taking Shiho’s airs at face value; it speaks to what a supportive and caring soul she is. The only one who can surpass her in this department is Himari, who congratulates her GF by getting on her tiptoes to pat her head for once.
When Yori tells Himari about the showdown they’re in with Loreley, she learns that Himari already knows Shiho (through Momoka), and while she’s obviously rooting for Yori in the showdown, she’s also going to be rooting for Loreley. But far from jealous, this is what Yori loves about Himari.
In this second part of Whisper where she and Yori are a couple, Himari isn’t content to tolerate unnecessary drama from her friends, and takes the initiative in paving a path forward for peace between all parties. After all, she loves Yori, Aki, and Shiho, wants them to get along, and more importantly believes they can.
After a shopping trip with Miki, Himari waits for her at a café where Shiho happens to work part-time, against school rules. Shiho takes her break with Himari, and Himari realizes that Shiho isn’t someone who talks about herself a lot. Shiho thinks nobody cares so why should she, but Himari does care. And she becomes the first to really get Shiho to open up about herself; no showdown necessary.
If my theory holds, Shiho left SSGirls not because they sucked, but because she couldn’t bear to be in a band with Aki, with whom she harbored unrequited feelings. But this wasn’t the first time she lost a bestie. That came when she was younger and a violin prodigy aiming for the pros.
Shiho has long believed if she wasn’t the absolute best at what she did, then there was no point in doing it. She became best friends with Kyou, only to dump her when Kyou beat her at violin. This despite it being clear Kyou had no desire to end their friendship.
Watching Shiho befriend and then walk away from Kyou is some truly heartbreaking stuff, as is the montage of Shiho practicing so hard she breaks her violin. While we don’t see her play till hands bleed, it’s clear that the obsessive practice takes a toll on her health, both physical and mental.
Worse still, no matter how hard she practiced, Shiho couldn’t catch up with Kyou’s talent, so one day she set the violin down and never picked it back up. Instead, she remembered Kyou saying she’d always wanted to play the electric guitar, but due in part to parental pressure she couldn’t. When the guitars at the music store catch Shiho’s tearful gaze, she suddenly decides she’ll become the best guitarist, fulfilling a dream Kyou couldn’t.
Whisper doesn’t have two-dimensional baddies. Everyone has a story and everyone is redeemable. This only marks the midpoint of Shiho’s tale to Himari, but I’m already invested in her despite hating her guts just last week. Newbie seiyuu Nemoto Yuuna delivers an excellent performance, and we get the full Loreley song (featuring Shiho’s singing voice, Mizukami Sui) during the credits.
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