Season 1 Act 8

## Synopsis

As summer vacation ends and the second semester begins, the Musical Department candidates move closer and closer to the Ayanagi Festival. In the practice room, Otori explains the event's schedule and how their next performance will be very different from the debut performance. Not only do the boys have to decide on what to perform, but their abilities as a producer will be judged. Unlike before, they will have an actual audience. Even so, Hoshitani is excited to be able to perform at the same place as the high schooler he admires.
Once again, the Kao Council holds another information session. Sazanami and Yuzuriha explain the differences between the performance locations - Star Teams perform at either the Ayanagi Grand Performance Hall or the Ayanagi Small Hall; regular teams perform at the special outdoor stage; and each stage has different equipment, acoustics, and seating capacity. They also state that teams should report to the Kao Council once they have made their decision for their desired location.

Back in the practice room, Team Otori aims for the grand performance hall and its afternoon time slot, causing Nayuki to panic over the fact that there will be a large audience watching them. To deal with this, Tengenji calls Yuki and asks to borrow her body. Nayuki misunderstands it as flirting and tries to fight him. However, Tengenji easily stops him and clarifies that he only had Yuki promise to bring the family secret recipe tea to the festival. Hoshitani then goes to hand in the application form to Sazanami. To his surprise, Tatsumi hands in Team Hiragi's at the same time, leading to a clash in time slot and location. The two teams gather for a round of rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets the afternoon slot. Using a psychological tactic, Inumine wins the match, revealing that he has never lost in the game before.

After seeing the increasing positive responses towards Team Otori, Akatsuki goes to Hiragi to warn him that the academy's traditions might be shaken and to ask him if he is fine with it. Hiragi tells him that he has no objections as the five have fulfilled the minimum requirements. Realizing that Hiragi is restricted by his respect for the rules and supports Otori too much, Akatsuki decides to make his own move against Team Otori instead.

Although they've lost the afternoon time slot, the boys still manage to get permission to perform at the grand performance hall due to the other Star Teams wanting the small hall. They begin to think about their song and Otori reminds them to apply for funding by next week. He then leaves the practice room, but is stopped by Akatsuki who walks up to him and tells him to stop tormenting Hiragi, claiming that Hiragi is different from Otori. Otori responds by questioning Akatsuki's importance towards Hiragi.

The boys continue to discuss what piece they will choose. Kuga mentions that they won't be able to do anything without attracting an audience and Nayuki remembers that a play he previously saw had a really cool poster. Hoshitani and Nayuki then go off topic, resulting in Tsukigami and Tengenji scolding the two of them for losing focus. Kuga eventually leaves early for his part-time job and the rest of the team walks back together. No one notices that Akatsuki is eavesdropping on their conversation. Later, they visit their performance venue and Hoshitani sings a scale while on the stage.

In the Kao Council's room, Hiragi asks Otori why his team chose the grand hall, considering how they stand out too much as it is. Otori counters by saying that if he has any objections, he should have told the other council members. Hiragi then asks why did things between the two of them turn out like they did. Even though they both know the answer, Otori replies that he wonders why as well.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki meets with Yuzuriha and Sazanami to convince them to make a decision regarding Team Otori. He reasons that as Kao Council members, they should take responsibility to not let the name of the school be tainted. The two agree with him and they go to Hiragi. Akatsuki proposes that Otori be removed from the Kao Council. By doing so, Team Otori would fall apart, fail the festival's test stage, and lose the other students' support. Conflicted, Hiragi tells them he needs some time to think about it.

Although the boys continue to think about their performance piece both together during practice and individually at night, they can't reach a decision. The next day, they sit at the outdoor stage, frustrated with themselves. Otori tells them that they aren't acting like Team Otori and Hoshitani realizes that they forgot to have fun in the process. The five then sing a song about how if they do things their own way, they'll shine brightly and everything will turn out all right. They decide that their main concept will be a revue that focuses on dancing and that it'll be called "Stardust Musical". Gathering their hands to make a star, they shout out that they are "Stardust" and Otori is glad that they will be having fun. As the news about their piece being decided spreads over the social networks, everyone at school begins to get curious and excited.

In the classroom, Hoshitani tells the others that Kuga wanted to be in charge of making a poster for their performance. He creates a 'masterpiece', but neither Hoshitani, Nayuki, nor Tengenji are able to see what part of it is stardust or how it is even related to their team.

Walking past the Kao Council room, Tsukigami happens to overhear a conversation between Hiragi and Akatsuki. In order to protect Ayanagi's traditions, Akatsuki once again pushes Hiragi to make a decision regarding Team Otori. In the end, Hiragi responds by saying that he understands what needs to be done, causing Tsukigami to think deeply about their words.

## Characters in order of Appearance

* Otori Itsuki
* Hoshitani Yuta
* Nayuki Toru
* Tsukigami Kaito
* Tengenji Kakeru
* Kuga Shu
* Sazanami Sakuya
* Yuzuriha Christian Lion
* Tatsumi Rui
* Sawatari Eigo
* Ugawa Akira
* Toraishi Izumi
* Inumine Seishiro
* Akatsuki Kyoji
* Hiragi Tsubasa
* Tavian (Brief Appearance)

## Insert Songs

* **Ready→Steady→Dream** *by Team Otori*
* **Seishun COUNTDOWN** (Piano arrangement)

## Trivia

* The school and training uniforms are switched out for their summer versions.
* Tsukigami can be seen watching 'The Sound of Music' (changed to 'Sound of Story') with a pile of discs next to him; one of them having the cover for 'Chicago'.
* During the first television broadcast:
	+ Sazanami and Yuzuriha host the preview of the next episode (Act 9).
* During the second television broadcast:
	+ Tsukigami and Sawatari host the cowcatcher before this episode starts.