The girls prepare for a idol singing competition coinciding with the town’s Taikoboshi festival. Natsumi, who wants to win, is annoyed that Yuka is not taking it seriously; moreso when Yuka suggests they just wish for the win, which would be cheating. When a suden rainstorm threatens to cancel the competition, Rinko’s mom tells her and Yuka to make Teru Teru Bouzus, which end up working, precluding the need for Saki and an uncertain Natsumi to wish on the rock. They perform and win the competition, which Yuka vows is just the beginning of their rise to idoldom.
This was a very feel-good, moving episode that didn’t rely on the happenstances that result from rock wishes, but was fueled purely by the quartet of girls as they practice for what may be their last singing contest as a group, with Saki leaving. All summer we’ve known she’s been leaving, but there are episodes where it casts a pall on everybody else and episodes where it’s not a factor and everyone enjoys life in the moment. We got the latter here, and another instance of the group splitting into twosomes: Natsumi/Saki and Yuka/Rinko, then playing off one another.
Natsumi and Saki are the “grown-ups” of the group; even if they’ve had their immature days, they strike us as more mature than the wide-eyed Yuka and the bashful Rinko. But Yuka proves she’s the most childlike of them all, being the primary propeller of the idol dream she wants to come true for everyone. She goofs off for most of the episode, only watching the concert videos and refusing to practice, but when it’s showtime, she hunkers down and her performance is just as good as everyone else’s. Just as one shouldn’t underestimate Yuka’s ability to perform seriously on the fly, one can’t rule out the possibility of her idol dreams coming true someday.
Rating: 7 (Very Good)
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