Episode 9 – Whisper Me a Love Song

Whisper Me a Love Song hasn’t shied away from “Himari as puppy” imagery, and while she may not have the ears and tail this time, her puppyish attitude is the center events revolve around this time. Her sweet nature makes Shiho feel safe confiding in her, and it makes Himari come up with her ill-conceived, incredibly naïve plan to make SSGirls and Laureley become friends. In Himari’s head, all it takes is one good heart-to-heart to make everything better, and if that conversation happens over food, there’s no way it could fail. But that’s assuming that she has all of the information about Shiho and Aki’s relationship and the history between the girls and their bands and even more telling, it relies on everyone having the same sweetness of character that Himari herself has. If she was one of the two “wronged” parties, yes, macarons and chit-chat would solve everything. Still, she fails to grasp that people are a lot more complicated than that, and her innocent relationships thus far haven’t prepared her for the depth of ire and potential malice that Shiho is carrying around with her.

That’s not to say that Shiho is a bad person. I may not care for her as a character, but she comes from a decently believable place, where a perfect storm of disappointments and expectations combined to make her who she is. Does she blame others for her failings and perceived imperfections? Yes, I’d say she does. But that’s not unusual and it allows her to find a way to cope, even if it isn’t very healthy. Still, her use of Himari this week is not a “good person” way to act. It’s a pretty classic Shiho: she’s been surprised, feels betrayed, and acts out in a way that she probably thinks will put her in a more powerful position. Her remark about getting things taken away from her when she discovers that Himari is dating Yori just before making her ludicrous demand that Himari factor into her feud with Aki shows why she feels justified: she confided in Himari, and even though she probably doesn’t have romantic feelings for her (or at least nothing more than a crush), finding out that she’s involved with “the enemy” makes her feel like she’s been betrayed. Never mind that Himari promised not to tell anyone about Shiho’s past or that she’s dating the girl Aki liked instead of Shiho; it’s too close to Shiho’s insecurities. And so, as she typically does, she lashes out.

Why does Himari accept Shiho’s condition? It goes back to her setting up the taste test to “help” Shiho and Aki reconcile. In her mind, she caused this situation, and now it’s up to her to resolve it. Does she think about what Yori’s reaction will be? Given her panic, she may not, and although we’re not seeing any major friction between them because of it yet, it still feels a bit like thin ice Himari’s standing on. In reality, there isn’t anything wrong with her becoming friends with Laureley, and Yori’s handling it pretty well, but it still feels like it could be a bone of contention – or maybe that’s just me not trusting Shiho to behave gracefully should push come to shove. Since the story is blithely striding ahead through the source material, we’ll likely find out sooner than later.

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