Cinderella Girls S1 E3

## Plot

Rin, Uzuki, and Mio are ready to train for the concert, but they're intercepted by a *very* angry Miku. She won't allow newcomers on stage before her. She challenges them to see who's better suited for it. Mio wins... except the challenge was a Jenga tower battle. Miku is *so* overly dramatic. One of the reasons why I didn't like her in the beginning. Mika will be practicing with them. Also Mio has a habit of nicknaming people. When Rin says she doesn't get a certain part, she sings it out loud. The others are amazed that she can sing as well as dance. Miku interrupts practice with another challenge... a Rubik cube. The trainer stops her. The next time we see the cube, it's completed. At his office, Chihiro asks the producer if anything is wrong. He thinks it's too soon. Chihiro assures him that whatever happens, it'll be a good experience for them. The girls run into their trainer's little sister. She's also a trainer, but a rookie. They try their costumes on. Miku challenges Mio *again*, this time to cards. It's not even the halfway point of the episode. However, Mio somehow changes it to a rock-paper-scissors game. Mio has a special skill... luck. Well, if you say so! Minami offers Anastasia some water after her practice. "Anya" says spasiba. It means thank you in Russian. Then she thanks her in Japanese. All the girls practice hard, even on their own time! Anastasia offers them some water, saying, "Pozhalujsta." In Russian it means please. Then she says pozdravlyayu. That means congratulations. What is this, anime or a lesson in Russian? I suppose it could be both. Apparently Anastasia is still learning Japanese. Thank you in Japanese is arigato with a line over the o. The other girls from the project will be watching the concert. They introduce themselves to the performers. Everything is so different from practice, and the girls are nervous. The music is great here, very scary and ominous. During their first time riding the lift, Uzuki falls down, Mio starts to lose her balance and Rin stuck the landing but didn't start dancing. Uzuki asks to do it one more time, but the staffer tells her that they don't have the time. Rin advises them to try practicing along with the music/dancing. They're all too nervous to eat. The other girls find their seats for the concert. Anastasia says in Russian, "Vse v poryadke." It roughly means "Is everything all right?" The tension keeps building, and building, and building, until... the show finally starts. The girls are all still nervous, but Rin snaps them out of it. One of the other girls asks them if they have a chant yet, like their favorite food. Rin's is chocolate, Uzuki's is prosciutto e melone, and Mio's is fried chicken. They play rock paper scissors to decide which chant to use. Mio obviously wins. The girls chant, "Fri! Ed! Chicken!" as the lift takes them up. They all stick the landing this time and start dancing along with Mika, who starts singing TOKIMEKI ESCALATE. "*Tokimeki keeps on escalating, I'm in a love mode that pops like cider, I share my heart with you without decorating it, so look at the real me! Sometimes I want to forget about wanting to show off or pretend to be an adult, I want to do all kinds of new things with you, like letting you spoil me. When I'm doing my best alone under a dark sky, You are the first star of the night, shining in my heart. Dokidoki escalating forever, The road to love feels like a maze, I share my heart with you without decorating it, so look at the real me! Keep looking at me! T! O! K! TOKIMEKI! M! E! K! TOKIMEKI!"* Mika thanks the audience, but she also tells them about her backup dancers. She asks them what they thought. After some hesitation, they all say in unison that it was wonderful! Okay, so other than the skimpy outfits, Mika's actually a really good person. The concert was a total success!

## Review

I loved this episode! The song, Tokimeki Escalate, was really good. On an unrelated note, I speak English and Spanish. I wanted to learn French as my third language, but thanks to Anastasia, I'm learning Russian instead! And just from watching anime! (I'm also watching Code Lyoko: Evolution in French to see if I can learn through exposure as well). As Anastasia would say, "Spasibo za prochteniye!" Thanks for reading!