Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am impatient to return to the thunderous drama of MyGO, in the wake of the casual all-timer that was the band’s first live performance. Like MyGO’s third episode, the seventh was a masterclass in focus and perspective, drawing the audience into the band’s precise headspace through its patient evocation of the tension in the green room. And then that performance! Their two songs proved a staggering celebration of how far our heroes have come, with Anon’s diligent practice and Tomori’s courage leading them through a genuinely impressive concert set. And unlike many musical dramas, it never felt like we were switching a flip into confident “performance mode” – these were the characters we’ve come to know on-stage, insecurities and limitations and regrets included.
Of course, some of our bandmates were carrying more regrets than others. This performance was a great victory for most of our group: Anon proved to herself and the others that she can actually keep up with them as a musician, Taki’s anxieties about leadership were put to rest by the success of the final result, and Tomori was able to affirm the validity of this new sunny spot, this Haru Hikage that sounds different, but still feels like home. But for Soyo, this band has never been its own reward. It has been a means to reunite with the members of CRYCHIC, a placeholder bearing stand-ins soon to be replaced by Sakiko and Mutsumi. With the new group’s rendition of Haru Hikage essentially confirming Tomori has replaced Sakiko, and Sakiko acknowledging this statement with a tearful exit, Soyo’s cheerful façade has shattered. Soyo’s out for blood, and I can’t wait to see the fallout; after all, one of my favorite character arcs is “guarded cynic learns their friends still appreciate their true self,” plus Anon’s sure to be delightfully unbearable about Soyo finally showing some earnest feelings. Let’s get to it!
Episode 8
Despair filters directly to rage as our episode begins, Soyo no longer bothering to conceal or misdirect. With her dreams destroyed, what’s the point anymore?
She recovers quickly though, and falls back into the convenient tactic of using another as an emotional stand-in, saying that “Saki was crying”
“So what if she’s crying? It’s got nothing to do with us, right?” The blunt Taki unsurprisingly cuts right to the core of the issue. Taki possesses nothing but disdain for the girl who previously separated her from Tomori – why does it matter what Sakiko thinks?
And Soyo’s response to this is “you’re awful,” a line only Soyo could pull off without shame. She’s been plotting to punt half of this group while smiling to their faces, but Taki’s indifference to Sakiko’s feelings is what’s awful? Oh Soyo
New detail I’m appreciating in the OP: Anon closing her eyes to concentrate as she does a little lead run into the chorus, then cheering to herself when she nails it. Through Anon, MyGO is offering a charming and fairly realistic articulation of a novice artist who’s pushing themselves into moderate facility through sheer determination, with every fresh riff a new mountain to struggle over
Tonally the OP seems all about the breathless rush of charging forward beside people you believe in. As Taki described their second song, there’s sense of headlong momentum in the music, born of both Taki’s relentless alternating snare-and-bass drum chorus beat and Tomori’s continuous flow of run-on lyrics
The next day at school, their classmates are all abuzz regarding their awesome performance. We can see a clear change in Anon here – this was originally all she wanted, but now her joy at being the center of attention is immediately accented by concern for Tomori, who seems troubled about Soyo’s explosion. Anon no longer wants simply to claim happiness, she wants to share it
“Soyo-san is kind. She’ll forgive us.” My god Anon. I had never considered the possibilities of a friend group having two schemers, with one of them being good at it and the other utterly terrible, until I encountered the hilarious disconnect that is Soyo versus Anon
“Do you want to go see her?” Anon isn’t the best at this, but she’s trying. Her straightforward approach is effectively hacking through this Gordian knot of grudges and regrets
They ask Sakiko’s classmates about her. Her classmates claim not to know her, thus revealing that Sakiko has remained so distant from her new classmates that they don’t even know her first name
Meanwhile, Ricky’s off sullenly lounging on her desk again
Anon attempts to get in contact with Soyo while Tomori pets her favorite comfort rocks
“Don’t worry about it.” “What’ll we do about our next performance and stuff?” “We’ll play again.” Taki remains as straightforward as ever, bottling up frustrations while only letting pragmatic, actionable words through
“She’s the one who’s angry!” Unsurprisingly, Taki doesn’t see any useful way forward in dealing with Soyo’s emotions. The feelings of others have always been foreign to her – she thinks practically (or so she believes she does), and sees others as driven by emotions that wander from irrational to inscrutable. That’s why Haru Hikage meant so much to her, and it’s also why she gets upset simply being asked to consider another’s perspective; she prefers to think of her nature as “honest,” rather than lacking in emotional intelligence
“I want to apologize to Soyo. I don’t know if apologizing is the right thing to do, but it’s true that we hurt her.” Tomori! She also has trouble connecting with the feelings of others, but she hasn’t given up on doing so – to her, Haru Hikage is a prayer for mutual understanding
Tomori gathers her courage to confront Soyo, only to find that Soyo has been “home sick with a cold” for days now
Tomori’s home is precisely what you’d expect: lots of neatly sorted collections of cute tiny objects, including a rigorously geometrical board of pins
Anon immediately begins snooping around for lyrics, but instead stumbles across Tomori’s bug books. A reminder of the bond Tomori first established with Sakiko, and something she considers a reflection of her own nature, given she’s previously described herself as a “pillbug seeking the sun”
Tomori grappling with the fact that “Haru Hikage,” a song essentially dedicated to Sakiko and the warmth she created, could become a source of pain to her. It seems clear that Sakiko didn’t want to end CRYCHIC either, though that doesn’t really excuse her actions
Oh my god, Soyo’s been sending so many texts to Sakiko. Just hiding in her apartment attempting to post through it, hoping for any sort of response. She was always on the verge of cracking, and it seems that perfomance managed it
Meanwhile, Sakiko continues to recruit her Revenge Group, now meeting Uika at the planetarium
Uika apparently reads Sakiko’s messages of encouragement all the time. What is it about Sakiko that makes her so irresistible? At least Taki and Anon don’t seem to give a shit
“Please stop talking about that.” Sakiko can’t continue to feign cheer when CRYCHIC is brought up
“We always looked up at the sky together in the summer, didn’t we?” “That was so much fun.” So that’s what these private school ladies do for fun, apparently
Young summer vacation Saki really hammering on those ojou points, complete with an ornate doll and wide-brimmed summer hat
Another friendship forged through mutual love of bugs
An interesting contrast as we get a fresh look at Soyo’s room. While Tomori and Sakiko love witnessing bugs in their natural habitats, Soyo’s room is decorated with a quartet of butterflies trapped under glass. An easy metaphor for their respective relationships with their bandmates; Tomori and Sakiko wish to see their bandmates soar on their own terms, whereas Soyo is desperate to pin the people she loves down so they remain in a familiar stasis, never growing beyond or leaving her
And now she googles “how to tell if you’ve been blocked on social media.” SOYO
Her eyes seem dead as she accepts the truth of Sakiko’s block
Back at school, she’s returned to her cheerful façade, and doesn’t even acknowledge Mutsumi
Knowing Soyo, Mutsumi ignores her dishonest face, with the camera also prioritizing Soyo’s nervous finger movements
“Mutsumi-chan, you really just say whatever it is you’re thinking, don’t you? It’s all things you don’t want me to do, even though you won’t do anything I ask you to.” The façade barely lasts three sentences into this conversation. Soyo can no longer contain her anger and disdain
“It’s your fault, Mutsumi-chan. Both what happened then and what’s happening now.” She’ll now throw every weapon she can get her hands on into play, all in the hope of once more getting a chance to confront Sakiko
Raana doesn’t even click through to her messages, she just scans them as they arrive and never opens them. Truly the most honest interpretation of a cat person
She just texts the others at a random point in the afternoon, asking “do you want to do the band” and assuming they’ll show up at RiNG. Does she have a home and family, or does she just nest on a park bench somewhere between musical outings
The difference in Anon and Taki’s perspective is illustrated clearly as they arrive at RiNG. Anon wants to wait for Soyo so they don’t upset her further, while Taki states bluntly that “if she wants to play, she’ll show up.” Anon always does her best to mediate, while Taki would really like to be able to jettison people who disappoint her from her life entirely
Tomori’s inability to decide prompts Raana to declare them “boring girls.” If the tension at the heart of the band is gone, so is Raana
Mutsumi at last brings Soyo to Sakiko’s house, though she sends Sakiko a warning text first. And so Soyo makes her apology to Sakiko’s back
“You act as if you’re helping me, but this is really all for you. Clinging so tightly to this is really unseemly.” Sakiko cuts through Soyo’s apology without mercy. Soyo is only saying any of this to get Sakiko to do what she wants, just as she admitted to doing with Mutsumi. It’s all transactional, none of this is an earnest apology
Body language echoes their positions: Soyo with legs bent, as if she’s crumbling under the weight of this revelation, while Sakiko’s form is straight and unyielding
With no other weapons left, Soyo at last tries honesty, revealing her plan to revive CRYCHIC
“Saki-chan, without you and the others, I…” Soyo really does care about the group, but she can only express her love through this toxic, possessive need for their presence. No wonder she’s used to lying about her feelings – she’s internalized the fact that her natural instincts scan as “ugly” and “desperate” to others, so she’s developed a filter of polite nonchalance through which she quietly navigates others to her desired ends
“You’re just a student. You can’t take responsibility for someone else’s life.” Soyo’s willingness to say anything means her words have no effect on Sakiko; through her persistent manipulations, she has lost any standing she once held in Sakiko’s estimations
And Done
Jeez, the hits just keep coming for Soyo, huh? Though she planned this new band’s performance to be no more than an advertisement intended to lure Sakiko back, it turned out to have the precise opposite effect, instead solidifying Sakiko’s determination to no longer live in the past. And frankly, good for Sakiko; Soyo was attempting to construct a band based on lies purely for her own sake, and any CRYCHIC 2.0 would surely have collapsed into such a weak foundation. Tomori’s trust in Anon, Taki’s feelings for Tomori, even Sakiko’s sadness at seeing their performance – these emotions are real, the kind of profound hopes and regrets that might turn a collection of musicians into a true band, a group Raana would be proud to call “interesting women.” Too late has Soyo realized she can’t construct an honest home out of false pretenses; now we can only hope that her long-suffering new bandmates will show her that your past isn’t your destiny, and that new homes can be found in the most unlikely of places.
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