#rosesessence

[cosmicrescendo]

so like. 12 episodes deep. so let's chat! specifically, what does "secret" means in the context of Himitsu no Aipri, actually?

So like, it's pretty evident that magical girl/magical idol series like AiPri are to some extent about the pursuit of the ideal self, right? And while there are many ways to go about doing that, there's pretty much Something you gotta do.

If you want to become better, you have to take a long hard look at the you of "now". What are you doing? Why are you doing it? How do you actually feel about it?

So, the "secret" refers to the Unknown Self, the things about you that you yourself are not unaware of, have forgotten, or something that you are purposefully hiding away from other people. While the "secrets" of the characters of the week can be relatively simple in nature (they cant find my aipri FA account theyll kill me), whenever we brush upon a Secret of the main cast, it's always very solid (hatred, love, jealousy, fear of abandonment, inadequacy, guilt are a few).

a real fun example is Sakura (and Tamaki). Sakura technically takes Himari in when her and the Student Council start producing Himari post-debut. We're intentionally supposed to see her as Reliable and Responsible especially as a senior to Himari, someone who's encouraging her growth! But then we get we get to her secret: Himari's presence as a newcomer with immense potential is actively flaring up a fear of weakness, stubborn pride, crushing competiveness into a really miserable cocktail that makes her abandon her most important tie (Tamaki) to solely devote herself to the pursuit of strength, to utterly crush Himari. All while masking it under a sense of responsibility to an alternate goal.

This naturally brings us to our second idea: what is "sharing a secret", then? In revealing a part of the Unknown Self to another, the intimacy between two people grows. Tamaki confronts Sakura backstage (i love the backstage in these shows, you know) about the matter. She doesn't condemn Sakura's feelings, that sense of pride and pursuit of dominance it something that she loves about Sakura, after all. Thus we get Tamaki's secret: she stands on stage not for herself, but the sake of propelling Sakura upwards, to become the only person Sakura can rely on, to gaze upon the face of the strongest closer than anyone. It's a really pellicular goal in midst of the spirit of competition and "I do this because its fun and I like it! :D" the other girls have about doing idol'ing. (Tamaki's coord/signature brand being named "Rosesession" is Really Good, by the way. Tamaki that's as subtle as a brick through a glass pane.). In confiding with each other, accepting all odd and messy feelings, our secrets become a tie between us, drawing us closer, a bond that no one in the world shares except us.....it's Good. I really like that kind of thing!

This might be seem like a odd detour, but I want to compare about the Nature of the metaphysical world that appears in AiPri (AiPriVerse) and Pripara (Pripara), a predecessor of the show.

Pripara is like, pretty much It's Own Entire World. Different nations whole cities, forests, deities, even! Despite the idoling focus, Pripara exists primarily as a social utopia where girls can be what they want, do what they want, and hang out with who they want that exists in parallel with the rather restrictive real world. You can hang there even if you're not really gung-ho about the idoling stuff I'd say counting the original 3 seasons, about 97% of it takes place within that world. There are many episodes iirc where we don't ever step foot in the real world*.

(I say "real world" as if Pripara is like. Not Real. But it very much is. Don't believe the digital metaverse-coat of paint they use to explain things occasionally, because more akin to like an alternate dimeson but that's a topic for another time.)

In contrast......AiPriverse seems to be pretty much the stage itself, and One Buliding? It's.......distractingly empty, and unlike Pripara it seems like the majority of girls *can't* go, and those who haven't gotten their hands on a bracelet can only interact with the space via the Internet, where they appear in the stage arena....as pretty much faceless figures. Isn't it so odd? There's a fashion store and even a cafe here, as if people should be here and mulling about! But there's nobody here........

The AiPriverse exists as a vehicle to express truth, to unveil and project a part of the Unknown Self. The AiPri girls also do livestream inside the very empty AiPriVerse cafe, which is often a more direct (but conflicted) expression of the same sentiment to those at home aside from singing. But the separation between idol and audience is interesting, isn't it? The PriFriends determine who's the best, they share their worries to the idols on their streams, put in requests for lives for idols to preform due to their own anxieties or desires.......but they're not here. They are those who are unable to confront and express the Unknown Self directly, but acknowledge its existence as a stressor and admire those who can. It's literally on-the-tin: the Door of Secrets that leads to AiPriVerse is a mirror, unlike the kiosk placed in a formal buliding like Pripara.

While the AiPriVerse exists as a tools its nature as a mostly empty space means that if we want to resolve our problems, we have to inevitably Come Back to the real world and get stuff done. Thus, unlike Pripara, most of the show actually takes place in the real world. Himari and Mitsuki's reconciliations mostly take place in the real world even after the AiPriVerse segment as if to hammer that idea home, despite them easily being able to do it in AiPriVerse post-lives since they both have access to the space.

......Which makes Tsumugi's existence, as a girl who seemingly lives exclusively in AiPriVerse, all that more bizzare. Never preformed, never streamed, seemingly never been come out of her room. When she preforms, she's not expressing something about herself-rather she copies Himari down to the letter. Tsumugi's entire identity is pretty much a secret, even to herself. I believe they've impiled that Tsumugi in some manner is able to go to the real world, long ago (which she encountered Himari at a beach, but it seems neither of them Remember That). I wonder there was something Tsumugi wanted to express, so she went to AiPriVerse...but at the end, she didn't have the will to go through it, deciding that forgetting everything and remaining there was the better option?

Anyway! This a good show, I like it. I'll be keeping this lense in mind because the only spoiler I know makes it Very Interesting, that'll be interesting to pick apart.......until next time!

[p-oppysmic-blog]

O tempo não sabe a sorte que tem de poder presenciar o nosso amor acontecer.

Jéssica Marins

[p-oppysmic-blog]

O que me dá raiva é ter dado segunda chance para quem não merecia nem a primeira.

[spaceofdreams]

Δ Se quisesse fugir de tudo e se isolar em um lugar que se sentisse segura, para que lugar você iria?

Para meu quarto, me deitaria na minha cama, me enrolaria na coerta, abraçaria o travesseiro e é isso. 10 jess

[spaceofdreams]

s2 Qual é o seu filme favorito?

Ja respondi essa Jess

9,8