Kageki Shojo‘s season finale concludes what has been an amazing debut season! The final round of auditions is on its way, with Sarasa having to show what she’s learned over the past year. The finale wraps things up in a neat little bow, setting the story up well for a potential second season, but ending things sufficiently enough on its own. Let’s discuss the finale’s key talking points. Spoilers ahead!
Sarasa on stage
Kageki Shojo’s season finale lets us see Sarasa’s version of Tybalt for the first time. Everything she’s learned and realized over the past year channels itself into her performance at this point. The pain of Andou-sensei’s words about her imitation of another Tybalt from before, the pain of her past from being rejected from kabuki; all of these led her towards being the actress that she is today.
And boy, is it brilliant.
Sarasa absolutely kills it. Even despite acting alongside the immense talent of Andou-sensei, she doesn’t let herself falter. She channels all the emotion of Tybalt’s tragic character in her performance. All the pain, bitterness, and longing that Tybalt feels, Sarasa exudes with perfection.
What a triumph for Sarasa! This was absolutely her moment, and the show has been building up to this for a while. It really feels so cathartic to see this character that we’ve been rooting for since the beginning succeed like this. Whether or not she got chosen for the role in the end, she put forward a performance to remember. Sarasa’s really come into her own as an actress over the past year, and it’s so wonderful to see!
The final cast list
When the final cast list comes out, it brings with it a mixed bag of emotions. All of the girls viewers have come to love over this 13 episode show get some moment to react to the cast. There were always going to be some unfortunate ones to miss out, but the final cast list does a good job of surprising viewers even despite that.
For starters, Kaoru doesn’t get the role of Romeo. This was a bit shocking, given that she was the only notable character in the show to have auditioned for the role. Another surprise was Ayako getting the role of Juliet. She does so over Chika, Chiaki, and Ai.
In the end, it’s revealed that Sarasa got the role! However, she doesn’t react in the way she normally would have. Even Ai, who expected her to jump in joy, is surprised to find her staring at the cast list in solemn silence.
It really is a shame that not all the main girls succeeded this time. But this speaks volumes about how far they still have to go in order to make it at Kouka. The road is long, and it’s only been one year. There will be many more opportunities for them all to shine moving forward!
Moving onto the second year
One character who hadn’t gotten a lot of characterization in the show was the first year representative, Sawa Sugimoto. It’s only in the finale, where she loses the role of Tybalt to Sarasa, that the spotlight lingers on her quite a bit. She’s typically been characterized as strong and stoic, even maintaining a mature demeanor when asking the teachers about what she lacked in her performance.
However, the finale dedicates some moments to fleshing her out a bit. It’s revealed that she sees Sarasa as a prodigy, and was always scared of competing with her. She’s insecure about her skill level, and is reassured by Andou-sensei that she only lost by fine margins. And when she speaks to her big sister in the second year about the struggles of being batch rep, this is when she breaks down and sheds a few tears.
In the end, it’s also nice to see Sawa give Sarasa the handshake that she rejected a few episodes ago. In a small way, it shows that these girls are ready to move forward to the next chapter of their stay at Kouka. And as they take a batch picture together, it’s hard not to feel a swell of emotions seeing them happy and excited.
Time really flies, and it certainly has been the case for “Kageki Shojo”. It has been an amazing ride, and it was lovely to get to know all the characters on the show. This has been a stellar season, and I wait in eager excitement for what may follow. Give this show a second season, cowards!
Kageki Shojo‘s season finale is available to watch on Funimation!
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