English Dub Review: Tune Into The Midnight Heart “While You Look Away; SECRET TRACK; celestial; In Rikka’s Front Row; Symbol of Defiance”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
After seeing her estranged musician friend performing one of the original songs they wrote together, Rikka takes a chance on performing out on the street to see if her music truly has what it takes. But a sudden appearance by a more accomplished band in the same spot puts her resolve to the test.
OUR TAKE
We’ve reached the end of this first and possibly only season of Tune Into The Midnight Heart, and instead of being something involving all of the girls equally, it’s more just a two parter focusing on Rikka, building on what her initial segment in the second episode and later ones in the seventh. This would feel rather odd for a season finale to only be about one of the four girls…UNLESS this is just more evidence of my theory that Rikka is the true identity of Apollo, the mysterious alias of the girl Yamabuki talked to over her radio show when they were both children. If indeed that is the case, focusing on her for the show’s first finale makes more than enough sense, especially once they eventually reveal that. And we get plenty of hints that Rikka, who we already know has clear feelings for Yamabuki (like the other three), is Apollo based on her hinting at her situation with someone who “ran away from” and “made things awkward with”. The first assumption would be that this was referring to her estranged friend, Aiko, who we see more of in this episode, but THEN Yamabuki is the first to assume this, which more often than not means that this is meant to be a red herring for the audience, as the story is deliberately bringing it to our attention instead of letting us come to it on our own. So yeah, I’m putting all my chips on Rikka being Apollo, which I guess is something we won’t know for some time since not even the manga has gotten to that point yet.
Then there’s how the episodes are as a continuation as Rikka’s story and as stories themselves. And in those regards, I would say they’re pretty good. We’re shedding more light on Rikka’s past trauma with failure in showbiz and how it impacted her relationships, as well as showing how Yamabuki’s help has gotten her to build up the courage to not just practice with covers of popular songs, but once again try for original work that she sell as completely hers (and Aiko’s but you know what I mean). Trying to put your creative work out there to the public, whether it’s through story writing or theater or yes, live music, can be a terrifying thing and there are so many understandable reasons that countless aspiring artists end up faltering and giving up, even after a lucky rise to fame. But it seems that, thanks to her friends, old and new, coming to support her even when the universe is out to tell her to give up, Rikka is holding onto her dreams of being a professional singer, and that’s honestly pretty endearing. As for where the series could go next, you’ll have to read the manga for now to find out, but I imagine the next potential season will give us the equivalent of this for Nene, Iko, and Shinobu. But for now, that’s a curtain call on this first season, and all that’s left is to look back on the whole thing overall. Though again, I am tripling down on my choice, and if Rikka does not turn out to at least be ONE of the Apollos, I will…I dunno, eat my shoe! I only need one anyway.
