Kirarin Revolution, episode 16

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).

Kirari's single is doing well, and SOLAY brought in a record-breaking 35% viewership. But this still isn't enough - if she doesn't do as well as SHIPS, they can't call her their top new idol. And NOBODY came to her fan club meeting! Not even one person! It's all because of a certain person - or group, rather. Momosu (Morning Musume) is putting on a performance at the same time, so naturally everyone is there (even the store clerk where Kirari's special stage is set up leaves once he hears about it). Because Kirari had never cared about idols before becoming one, and thus doesn't know who they are, Miss Kumoi has to explain it to her. They take regular girls from auditions and transform them into super idols - this impresses Kirari greatly and she has to check things out. One particular brown-haired beauty catches her eye (or rather, the camera chooses to focus solely on her :P) before she's dragged back to her mediocre-in-comparison stage. She daydreams of dancing with the group.



One the way to school, a strange man is handing out flyers for an "exciting chance," which turns out to be an ad for Momosu auditions. The whole school is abuzz about it, and of course it doesn't miss Erina's eyes. She talks her friends into auditioning with her after claiming that her company treats her poorly and makes her clean (which we all know isn't true). Kirari goes along with Naa-san out of curiousity, finding a packed area full of starry-eyed, hopeful girls. When she finally moves past the line outside and gets into the main room, she meets up with a glasses doned Erina, who meanly whispers that if Kirari doesn't clear the audition, she'll never be top idol. Shortly after, a silent but noticable young woman enters the room, seemingly surveying the situation. Who could she be? She looks familiar to Kirari.

The first test is to pick straws. Because the guy in charge (who looks like a cow!) wasn't expecting such a turnout, he hadn't planned anything. Kirari and Erina both pass (Erina only because she faked crying, Kirari because the director knew who she was), so does Naa-san and the mystery girl. The second test is free style. Each person is to state their name and perform their specialty. Again, everyone we care anything about passes. Before the third test, SHIPS receives a phonecall from Miss Kumoi, claiming that Kirari never showed up for lessons. Seiji wonders if she went to the Momosu audition. They decide to check with the agency.



Finally, the third test is dancing in groups to a song. Kirari teams up with the brown-haired unknown, who we have now been told is named Hitomi. Though poor Kirari can't keep up with Hitomi's superior dance skills, once she starts to relax things get much better - everyone is impressed with their energetic performance. However, before the cow-faced director can announce the winners, SHIPS interrupts. The whole thing is a scam! Scared, the fakers try to run away, but Hitomi stops them, revealing her identity as the leader of Morning Musume, Hitomi Yoshizawa. It turns out to be a misunderstanding - this was for MooMoo Musume, a proposed idol group meant to drive up sales for a suffering store. Because of the circumstances, all is forgiven. Hitomi tells Kirari dancing with her was fun, and Kirari thanks her for teaching her important cooperation.

This definitely feels like a filler episode. Special guest is Hitomi Yoshizawa of Morning Musume, who I feel should've played a bigger part/spoken more (because I'm crazy like that) and I was a little disappointed that she wasn't as utilized as she could've been. It was OK, but it doesn't really contribute anything to the series or Kirari's progress. Obviously, there was a big plug for Morning Musume here, but it can't really be helped, seeing as Kirari's voice actress is a member :)

Oh, and by the way, Kirari. Is it OK to just jump agencies like that? I think it if was real, you would've been in BIG trouble for trying to break contract, or disqualified immediately because you were already "taken."