I really liked how tense were on Yuki's portion with how ruthless he was being towards Touma and Tora, understandably so since Momo's safety was unknown. However, seeing the way Yuki was bluffing to Ryou's underlings was so funny, I couldn't take the situation seriously. Thank goodness Ryuunosuke was also dealing with Ryou or we could have lost both Re:Vale members.

Special mentions to the Re:Vale slaps lol. Momo slapping Yuki was so unexpected, that was funny.

I like how we got to see this side of Ryuunosuke too and the fact that Ryou hasn't been able to get what he wanted out of him made it even better. It's like he lost twice in that interaction lol.

I'm most concerned of Nagi though, it seems like succession war back in his country has gone too far and it seems Sakura Haruki has been paying the price unbeknownst to Nagi. I don't think he'll graduate from Idolish7 but I could see him going back to his country and Idolish7 might have to work as 6.

At the same time though, I don't think he'd shirk his responsibilities like that because of how he was raised. When Mitsuki walked into his room, I was expecting it to be empty but since he was still in the room, I believe he might just be closing off his way of escaping as a way of punishing himself for not realizing what he's put Sakura Haruki into.

Momo slapping Yuki made me feel better about their relationship, tbh.
I love reading your comments, great analysis. This one in particular is so sad, but solid and believable:

I believe he might just be closing off his way of escaping as a way of punishing himself for not realizing what he's put Sakura Haruki into.

Nagi's "Extraterritoriality applies any place I stand" line was impressively threatening, and I loved Ryuu's "are you so small that all you could see was my tail?" comeback.

Some real impressive VA work all around. Such an amazing episode.

Ryuu vs. Ryou 2:0 :)

I loved that play on words with Ryuu´s name and the dragon.

HELL YEAH! I've been waiting so long to see how angry Yuki would get once he found out what Ryo's goons were doing to Momo and he did NOT disappoint! Only wish that he brought the bat and got a few swings in :/

Ryuunosuke's "oh, we're just filming" was such a power move!! Just goes to show how Ryo is all bark and no bite, crumbling the second someone flips the script on him!

Also, Nagi T-T I'm happy he's getting more development and screen time, but it pains me to see the sunshine boy so sad!

Right? I was waiting for the bat, too! Maybe he's saving it for the future meeting with Ryou when he finally decides to gain some strength and joins Momo's sports club.

Despite the moments of comic relief with Yuki, which was brilliant writing, it made things confusing for me internally; I was not smiling at all. The intensity that those scenes held overpowered me. Only now that I'm re-watching can I smile. Momo is amazing, but also insane. He must have been deeply scarred by his past situations to be this obsessed with protecting others. Glad Yuki slapped him, Momo needs to come to his senses. And Yuki being introspective about his god complex was an important moment to share with the audience. I love the current Yuki, the fallible and caring guy. I could go on and on with Re:Vale, they were fantastic.
My eyes were glued to Nagi during the OP, and seeing his tear stained face at the end was heartbreaking. I'm glad he told Banri about the situation at a high level, but how much will that help?
Ryuu vs Ryou that I never expected but needed to see. Our dragon showing his fire.
I'm curious what Gaku is up to with Kujo...

i love how fking unpredictable this show is

yuki and momo best comedy duo

OMG OMG OMGGG THEY ARE SO HOT I CANT
YUKI AND MOMO ARE SO CUTE 😭😭 OMG RYO DADDY

Hired goons: dump entire BOTTLES of alcohol down Momo's throat.

Momo: Not even a little tipsy. XD

there's so much going on here everything hurts

The entire episode playing with my emotions 😭

Aaaa Nagi's identity reveal part 1😭😭😭

can anyone argue at this point Yuki and Momo arent actually married?

also great episode, I loved the tension, Yuki and Ryu being all threatning when it comes to the people they care about's safety (momo), the comidic part with Yuki was gold it was able to break the tension and made the scean so much better. Re:Vale slapping eachother in the end, although i hope Yuki can get into Momo's thick head so stop self secrifing all the time. like fr i think he needs threapy this is not a healthy mindset. oh and their faces when they realize their safe when it was Ryu knocking, I love that. and on top off all that we have some depression with Nagi. truely an episode of all time.

"he acts like an indoorsy and sensetive jerk, but for five years he never once forgot about is former partner. he's actually a caring and dependable guy who looks after his juniors!" i love how momo always manage to compliment Yuki no metter the situation

Again, Tales of Zesty and Idolish7 parallels:

1. That slap fest between Momo and Yuki is an allusion to the slapfest between two female characters in a DLC related to Zesty. Fans would know what I mean.

2. The thing about Tsukumo being a rival group idol manager trying to bring down Trigger. We can liken Tsukumo's Zool to a game with badass "rebels" for MCs/ protags. This reminds me of two Tales games that seem very predominantly badass- and those two games have rabid fans hating on Zesty. Again, fans would know what I mean.

3. The speech about being laughed at by people despite winning that Tsukumo launched against Ryuu. He said people might still love you, but the people who hate you hadn't stopped hating either. Again, Zesty is going through the same after the producer left the company. Until now, the haters are hating... but fans who love it are still struggling to express their love for Zesty while trying to dodge haters who openly criticize and ridicule them in social media platforms and yt.

4. The conspiracy between and among managers and the use of social media platfoms for smear campaigns, including using someone else's password. Zesty haters say that Zesty's producer is guilty of controversy because his social media account shows conversations that betray the truth. REALLY? That sounds like Tsukumo using a strategy used often in the industry to bring down certain people who get a little too much attention and success.

5. The fickle attitude of the fans. They have a tendency to believe everything they hear, forgetting that social media is just another story-builder, a master craftsman producing "narratives" and controversies for entertainment. These narratives do nothing but hide the power struggles in the shadows that fans are not supposed to see or realize.

NOTE: Idolish7 and Zesty were games launched in the same year by the same company. Both have a repertoire of songs that seem to be one of the best-selling features of both games. And the focus on building optimistic characters who bring hope and speak of positivity is very much alike. Both games also speak of the "darkness" swallowing people's hearts and souls as a metaphor for the insidious negativity and power struggles that consume history, politics, and the people behind them.

oh this episode already broke me. I didnt expect them to show the drinking part... and that scene was definitely a lot more intense than the game, direction wise. It actually made me a bit nauseous.

yuki: rev:ale's history is steeped in blood
me: "you-sa thinking peepol gonna die?!"

So much has happened I can't believe we only have one more episode :0

damn, they really slapped each other, eh?