English Dub Review: Tamon’s B-Side “Fans Are Terrifying Creatures”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
Utage runs into Tamon out in public and the two end up spending a nice day together, and later FACE’s manager invites her to join the group on a Training Camp.
OUR TAKE
We’re past the halfway point of this first season (possibly only season at that) and it’s a good time to highlight how the bond and dynamic between our two leads has continued to make this show fun and engaging. As we’ve seen Utage break down Tamon’s emotional walls and support him even in his dumpiest and most neurotic episodes, he’s slowly started to rely on her as a friend, and possibly more. However, because of a combination of Utage’s fan view of Tamon as her fave idol, her fear of being burned at the stake by his other fans, and probably because of a lesser self-perception on her part, she can’t see him as anything more than famous person she adores that she has the sacred privilege of helping house keep for. It’s unclear whether Tamon is just so used to being isolated because of his fame that he doesn’t know how to act around the closest thing he’s had to a friend, or if he’s gaining genuine feelings for her, but it does seem like the story is at least leaning towards eventually reaching the latter. Still, part of what makes the back and forth between them work is that Utage is actually practicing healthy boundaries, both because this is someone she met as a famous celebrity, and there being an inherent power imbalance as her client as a housekeeper. What helps avoid this from feeling accidently problematic as some of these shows sometimes end up doing is that we are seeing that they are connecting as people with the fan-celebrity relationship thing as a starting point but not a foundation.
We also continue to see how Utage’s good, for lack of a better term, friendship with Tamon is not just helping him but the Idol group overall. She’s already kind of helped Ouri, a fellow member, mellow out a bit, but the group’s manager Fujita also notices how much less emotionally fragile Tamon is, leading to him inviting her on the group’s training camp to help with Tamon’s morale. Not everyone is thrilled about this though, as another member, Keito, shows his true personality of being obsessed with money and avoiding scandals, and as much as he comes off as a jerk like Ouri, he is not wrong about the growing closeness between Utage and Tamon being a powderkeg for gossip and scandal if it becomes public. Still, the manager thinks it’s a safe bet, so we’ll see next time how Utage manages to avoid scandal and dying of joy!
