And here's where the movie came into play: it served as a really nice conclusion to some of those characters' arcs. Moreover, I'd say it's the natural next stage for them. In the past few years I've been constantly switching between stages: hs to uni, uni to work, gaming to theatre and back to gaming, drawing to watching movies, series and the like to reading and so on and so forth. At times, I'm rather nostalgic about some of these moments, but looking back on it, I'd say it's a natural transition. It's sometimes tough to accept the fact that you have to move on, but by the time you do, you realize that you're already there and this procedure was, in fact, not that hard. Treasuring those memories is a fundamental aspect of moving on. Actually, not of moving on, but of finding meaning in your life. I could call it, pretentiously, the existentialism of Revue Starlight, pat myself on the shoulder and call it a day.
The movie looked really good, some minor nitpicks here and there, but nonetheless a solid production. I absolutely loved the flashy nature of the series and the movie only adds up on that. Pair that with the fabulous OST and the almost memely-called 'Ikuharaesque' at times direction and I'm sold. As I've previously mentioned, the character arcs featured in those acts were great - a really nice combination of drama: on stage - interpersonal drama, conflicts we have at times with one another and drama as in theatre; backstage - intrapersonal drama, or this thing I like to call what-the-f*ck-am-I-doing-with-my-life-what-is-life drama. Ideologically speaking, this last type of drama is my personal favourite meaning of the word. It's probably because I can relate to some extent to this existential dread switching stages causes. Most of us should as it's the thing modern society agreed upon. Moreover, the postmodern society brought something new: the fact that we are connected which undeniably agravates this dread. We see people transitioning between stages faster or better. We see ourselves in an almost-deprecating light: we might think of ourselves as failures because we are not lawyers or doctors or engineers and so on. Our world is spanning for more than those 50 kilometres it used to. We can see those shameless influencers trying to make a living by making you feel shitty about yourself. We can see those flexers whose sole merit of being where they are is being born under better circumstances. We can see people living much better than ourselves, but we have no idea about the context those images were taken in, about how much work they've put into it, whether their image is just an image or not. Despite that, these last aspects are not something you think about first and foremost. This can lead to dread. This leads to dread. This is one of the reasons people claim that unhappiness has been on the rise for the past few decades among others. Truth is, it's difficult to be happy at all times. Heck, it's not even necessary. But being constantly under the weather would make my life, at least, more miserable. I hate motivational speeches. I absolutely detest reading those inspirational books like 'The Alchemist'. Yet here I am... preaching... in the same manner. (or rather calling something that might look similar at first glance a masterpiece)
Insert the movie in our context. It's not about 'Do more of what makes you happy', 'when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it' and all that bullshit. It's a simple, yet effective: find your own meaning and raison d'etre. I believe that most people are not 100% certain about the choices they make at various crossroads. Back in high school, someone might have thought that a certain profession was his calling, however, after ditching a few years in training that certain someone realizes how much he truly despises said profession. Don't hesitate.
We have acknowledged that life is kinda... dumb and meaningless at times, harsh even. For example, I find living to acquire some wealth I can for my descendants to inherit not that rewarding. I'll die, how will that help me? However, some people might set that as their goal and that's perfectly fine. It's a very noble one in fact. I'm not sure if that's exactly the way the parting sequences, trains and so on and so forth, which where predominant themes and motifs all throughout the movie are to be interpreted and that's great, works of fiction that are open to various interpretations are a blessing for some of us. To each, their own. You do you.
Revue Starlight's movie might not be for everyone, but as a sequel I absolutely loved it. It started as both critique and love letter to the meritocratic and the rather homophobic at times thing that Takarazuka is and it turned out as a really nice take on existentialism and living up to those expectations that we believe the society has from us. For me, it was a really nice belated Christmas gift. If you wonder what drugs I'm on, I'd like to know too.
