On Pripara
Originally published - 11/5/24 (I stopped doing this after the first arc LMAO but the concept is funny so I'll share it anyways. reached a decent stopping point in the show as well so... good enough? I also never in the past nor am I now making revisions to this. I don't know how it reads because I'm not rereading it.)
My 160,000 word monograph tracking my progression through the PriPara series, episode by episode.
Episode 1 - I Became an Idol!
In PriPara, when the time comes, every girl receives a ticket to prism paradise, where they can chase their dreams and express themselves fully and openly. Inversely, the school is the opposite kind of place, a place with literally thousands of rules and a wicked overseer that confiscates PriTickets from all the primary school students that receive them.
Not only that, but there are rumors that perpetuate amongst these primary school students that those caught doing PriPara face terrible punishments. This discourages children from a young age to engage in this activity of self-expression and chasing dreams and even instills a fear and/or aversion to doing it.
This can be seen in Laalaâs characterization in this first episode, she is a loud girl with a lot of love for singing and dancing, she greatly admires idols, but she says things like âI could never be like themâ or that she âprefers to watch.â Her environment led her to believe that she could never pursue this path and that it is perhaps a bad thing to do so. This is evident in the fact that whenever she is asked to sing, she sings quietly, as she believes that her and her expression should be suppressed.
Though the better fit for her is clear, she just received her 96th infraction in school as of episode 1, Laala cannot completely conform to this place and all its rules and restraints. Meanwhile, in PriPara, she has the âprism voice,â she has a lot to express and convey and she desires an outlet to do that. She logically had an aversion to performing with Mirei due to fear of punishment, but her body involuntarily agreed to perform in PriPara, itâs what she truly wanted to do. Similarly, her PriTicket didnât manifest until she was at the place itself, she always told herself that she âcouldnâtâ even though she wanted to, but the urge to pursue her dream finally came when she directly faced the possibility of entering Prism Paradise.
Episode 2 - You Canât Break a Promise, Pri
At this point, Laala is still grappling with the beliefs instilled in her, she still fears the punishment that comes with participating in PriPara. But at the same time, she wants to participate in PriPara.
She wakes up happy, saying her dream is no longer a dream, but remembers how the headmistress said that PriPara is prohibited. She worries about this and even wonders if sheâs a bad girl for breaking this rule, which leads to her saying she wonât perform with Mirei.
This worry and doubt also manifests in her continuing to sing quietly and her anxiety when Kuma calls her. But at the same time, she is afraid not only of punishment, but also of losing her PriTickets, her dream.
When thinking about how hard Mirei worked for this audition and how much she herself wants to sing with Mirei again, she decides to go back to Prism Paradise. Here she accepts her ideology and sensibilities, instead of resigning to these instilled beliefs, rules, and fear of punishment. The promise that she is following through on is not just the one to perform with Mirei, but also a promise to live earnestly.
Through the audition itself, Laala says: âI can sing from the bottom of my heart with Mirei again,â she found that she could connect more with Mirei and that she can express herself fully in front of all these people. It resounded with the audience and made the other girls happy, even gaining Laala a fan. These people she made happy are notably other idols, other people sharing her dream and expressing themselves inspired by her doing the same. Because she realizes she can connect with people this way, the fully formed desire of wanting to become an idol took shape.
Episode 3 - Team Break-up? No way, Kuma!
The twist of the head disciplinarian being Mirei adds a lot, her characterâs dual nature reveals she is also suppressing herself in some way, by splicing her traits into two distinct personalities that she puts on independent of the other, Mirei the idol and Mirei the head disciplinarian. Traits of the other sometimes come out when she is in either mode but for the most part theyâre separate, I imagine they achieve a fusion one day. Mirei said she wanted someone to notice that these two personalities were the same person, she wants to be fully recognized and understood.
The serious and rule abiding Mirei also reveals that going to PriPara isnât actually a direct violation of school rules, but rather one implemented by the current headmistress. What this means is that it is merely a conflicting belief that Laala has been combatting, and not a metaphysical truth. Pursuing these dreams and expressing herself to the utmost is not something inherently wrong, just something that not everyone agrees with.
After learning that, Laala is pretty committed to her idol activities, and not apprehensive about engaging with them anymore. Though, as expected, she isnât naturally gifted at the exercises that Mirei has her go through. Itâs clear that a lot of practice and dedication is necessary to achieve that ideal, and that Mirei has put in a lot of effort herself, showing how important her dream is to her.
When delivering a pizza, Laala (unknowingly) meets the top idol, Sophie, who is completely wiped out and canât even lift her head off the ground. This is (presumably) the result of her extensive training but whether it is or isnât her demeanor privately is vastly different from how it is publicly; unkempt, donning a track suit, informal diction, slack manners. My conjecture is that she is repressed in some way, similar to Laala and Mirei as her appearances have all contradicted the others.
Earlier in this episode, Laala is inspired by Sophieâs performance on tv, which is a continuation of the theme presented in the last episode, of how being an idol, a product of all this hard work and self-expression inspires others to do the same, creating an effect that lifts everyone up, making them all want to try harder and do their best.
Laala spends a lot of time this episode practicing her signature, doing what she can to become a better idol even at school, Mirei picks up her journal and appreciates the hard work her friend is putting in. She wants to help Laala be able to apply herself better, so she speaks to the headmistress to get the ban lifted on PriPara, positing that PriPara goers are more productive, perform better, and make more friends. The Headmistress rejected this on currently unknown grounds. She does not like friendship, though. That much is obvious.
Mirei entrusted the next auditionâs Making Drama to Laala, who was struggling to come up with it throughout the episode. This Making Drama is the expression of what the idol thinks and feels, something meaningful that they want to convey to others (similar to how singing, dancing, and coords. These things are all avenues for creative expression and conveying emotions).
Both Laala and Mirei feel that they are more intimately connected during this audition after witnessing the hard work of the other and seeing the steps theyâre taking for each other. The Making Drama Laala comes up expresses her appreciation for Mirei, a literal present for her (as well as their present to the audience). The pizza that appeared in the Making Drama was the same pizza Laala delivered to Sophie, a gift that she saw made someone happy, which was what she wanted to do for Mirei and the crowd.
Episode 4 - Kashikoma! Cheer For You!
This episode delved deeper into the direct impact idols have on their fans by exploring how Laalaâs performance affected Eikoâs attitude and performance. An even further continuation on the pre-established themes, this time extrapolated to inspiring others outside of what you are specifically doing. In episode two and three, aikatsu begot more aikatsu, here aikatsu motivated tenniskatsu.
PriPara phone serves as a medium to literally connect those that are pursuing their dreams, these people are connected through this space and shared passion. Platy said itâs kind of like the internet, he is lowkey right. PriPara is a place where people can be more authentically themselves and express themselves to the utmost without consequence (well. If youâre weird there is consequence, but we move).
The headmistressâs disdain for PriPara needs to be studied. Her hatred is obsessive, we still donât really know why, but she is literally not capable of going within 100 meters of a PriPara entrance LOL. Pre-firing her dream got crushed when she was young and is continuing the cycle. Redemption arc soon?
Non is a chiller, very supportive of Laalaâs dreams, hid the PriTickets from the headmistress and substituted for her at work to fool her so Laala could go perform. Just like Mirei in episode 3, Non is working hard to support her sister and it shows how important these supportive people in your life are. It shows what good relationships look like. I find it interesting how Laalaâs parents donât know about her idol activities yet, that might tie into the repression of her character (as singing quietly was) but maybe the chance just hasnât presented itself. Sheâs busy after all.
Episode 5 - I Wanna Sing With Sophie!
Sophieâs performances reached Laala and made her really want to sign with her, to connect with her; she valiantly fights to overcome the barrier between them and wants to reach Sophie with her own performance. The barrier in question being the fan club blockade, which I think is both metaphorical for the natural divide between people but in Sophieâs case, also the literal barrier that is a result of their different status
Sophie does not seem to be particularly close with her gaggle of goons, as they idolize her instead of meeting her where sheâs at like Laala is trying to do. Instead, they further alienate her from other people that want to connect with her.
Laala insisted on performing with Sophie and refused to give up, in her persistence she was able to see the Sophie that is not commonly seen by the world, and even helped her. Returning to Laala trying to reach Sophie with her own performance, she did her best to try and accomplish that, giving her best performance in this audition, and she also motivated Mirei to try and get to Sophieâs level to ask her. Theyâre trying to earnestly reach her through this instead of just dickriding. Admirable. Be like Laala and Mirei, not Sophieâs thugs. They arenât shining.
Episode 6 - Objection? Laalaâs Coming Over To My Place-Pri!
Brief continuance of what we saw of Sophie and her thugs last episode, they know about her condition(?) but they remedy it immediately with another red flash immediately. Doesnât seem like they care about all of her, just the her that is an idol. I wouldnât say theyâre taking care of her cause this just seems like a stop-gap measure instead of helping her to genuinely improve. Maybe Iâm overthinking it. Hard to view them in a good light though. Not the focus of the episode anyways, the focus is my illustrious goat Mirei.
Mireiâs home situation is explored here and we gain insight into why she is the way she is, with her very different personalities between PriPara and the real world. Due to her parents being argumentative and pragmatic, Mirei has for a long time been exposed to the idea that different opinions will be criticized, and this has forced her to be mature despite her age and approach these differences in the same mature way her parents do.
Her parents also have distinctly different modes between work and life (though in their case, the work personality integrates well into their normally cordial and homely demeanor). The arguments between her parents (like the cookies vs pudding case or whether Mirei will be a prosecutor or attorney) exemplify the two different directions that Mirei is constantly being pulled in in multiple respects. The pull between acting her age and maturity and between her academics and dream of being an idol.
Her duality is subtly conveyed perfectly through many facets of her, her room for example has a sweeping book case with difficult novels but at the same time it has a very âpopâ painting (Laalaâs words not mine) and a cute stuffed animal. Obviously, this is further seen in the drastic difference between her appearance in PriPara and in real life, its much more profound than the difference between Laala and Sophie for example.
These things have served to distance Mirei from others, as before this episode sheâs never had a friend over at her house. Sheâs lonely and not understood by others, which is why she expressed that she wished that others noticed that she and her identity and PriPara were the same in an earlier episode.
Laala doesnât know what a lawyer is.
Episode 7 - Search for the Red FlashâŚ
My idols are slowly accumulating fans and ranking up tears in my eyes its peakâŚ
Sophieâs thugs and manager continue to act like her fancy mode is problematic, think its something to be embarrassed of, and that it needs to be hidden from others. This culminates in Sophie thinking that others would hate her if they saw her face when she is like that.
Laala still likes Sophie and goes to great lengths to help her (without any bias from knowing that she is the same idol she loves) when she is in her fancy mode, accepting Sophie for who she is unconditionally. Laalaâs performance and feelings manage to reach Sophie, and she exchanges friend tickets with her. Kino.
More overarching thematic kino but I think itâs a waste of time if I bring up the messaging of âdo your best,â âbe yourself,â and âfollow your dreams,â etc. every episode so I just wonât. itâs assumed. It is embedded in the show. Waiter! More Mirei please!
Episode 8 â Excitement! Summer! Swimsuits! Capische at the Pool!
Laala is conflicted between her commitments to the real world and her activities in PriPara, she doesnât want to hide her true self from Nao or compromise on her identity and relationships in either space. She wants her friend that has helped motivate her and put her on the path to know the truth about what sheâs doing.
Laala was finally able to tell someone about her participation in PriPara and it was met with scorn. Nao, whose tickets were taken by the headmistress was jealous that she couldnât pursue PriPara like Laala, she got mad at her because she wasnât staying in the same place as her, watching others pursue their dreams from the sidelines.
Mirei saves millions. Tells Laala that as an idol she shouldnât be crying about it (not in an insensitive way mind you, Mirei would never do that), but rather that what she should be doing most is performing in PriPara, being her authentic self regardless and convey her feelings to her friend.
Her feelings got through to Nao through her apology and performance, Nao accepts Laalaâs feelings and reflects, realizes she was just jealous of her friend and that it isnât her fault, that she tried to communicate to her multiple times. Nao forgives her, realizes why she loves Laala as both a friend and as an idol, and conveys that to her. Friendship deepened. Laala says she will become an idol so goated that the headmistress canât stop her and promises Nao that they will PriPara together.
(Half Joking) Laala is the Ubermensch that through her transcendence, will overthrow the current system of values and like Gol D. Roger, usher in a new great era, the great idol era. She will bring many that couldnât before on the road to idolhood. Laala will spearhead a moral revolution against the system, HUMANITY WILL EVOLVE IN HER WAKE!! This is my official prediction.
Episode 9 â Exciting Idol Meeting!
Sophie has a naturally weak constitution which caused her to be pampered and taken care of by her sister, who even dresses her and does all her make up for her, but sheâs also a genius who has ânever needed to try her best.â This has led to a Sophie that doesnât feel the need to put forth the effort to change or improve, even if she is dissatisfied with herself. She also doesn't feel like she'd doing anything herself, be it the plum buff or her sister/fan club/Usagi doing everything for her.
And she isnât satisfied with all of that, because her ontologically evil Usagi manager and âfan clubâ are dedicated to keeping her personality hidden from everyone, saying it would disappoint the fans and them if it became public, and that in her fancy mode she is useless. She felt like a caged bird and said she wasnât doing too good herself, something she expressed before her performances, but itâs something people blew off as her being cool. When she tried telling Usagi that somebody liked the real her, he just ignored her and kept talking. Nobody seriously listened to her problems or recognized the totality of who she is until Laala came in (her sister probably does too but I havenât seen that).
Last episode we see Laala appreciate both sides of Sophie as their own people, but here she acknowledges that they are both Sophie and she accepts that, accepts the totality of who Sophie is and continues to like all of her. Laala says she doesnât need to be ashamed of her fancy mode and that others will continue to like her. Sophie doesnât think so though, not yet, she still believes that everybody besides Laala only likes her stage personality.
During the audition she was still in fancy mode but managed to accomplish something on her own, of her own will and in defiance of her weakness because she was inspired by Laala but also wanted to help her. Laala obviously was also going at the whack a frog game so hard because she wanted to carry her own weight in the same team as Sophie, exerting all her physical effort and continuing to go through the pain (she hit her hand with the hammer. Very painful. I wept). They push each other forward, like Mirei and Laalaâs dynamic. This is how good friends should be.
Sophie joins the team. I cannot wait to see all three perform my kneel is already on the floor at the thought. Sidenote: it was really moe how Mirei couldnât say pri outside of PriPara. Exemplifies her entire thing. More of that. You know. Mirei daisuki. Usagi daikirai.
Episode 10 â Autumn-colored Lovely Live
I am devastated. Usagi is worse than Hitler. The morally righteous Mirei accepts Sophieâs fancy mode when Laala fills her in on it. Kuma calls her useless and is put in his place RIGHTFULLY. Nao is now helping Laala hide her PriTickets from the headmistress. Wholesome. W development.
Love is insecure about her masculine features, her broad shoulders and height. She wants to change; she wants to feel cute too! She has multiple sides that she wants to express and is afraid of others not accepting that. Laala and company encourage her, they drag her ass to PriPara, they put her ass in a dress, and everyone adores her. Every girl can be cute! Everyone can change.
Sophie takes that last sentiment to heart, because she wants to change too, and Laala helped her realize that she can do things on her own. Sophie resolves to go to PriPara by herself without assistance, no plums, no entourage, and no older sister. She moves at her own pace on her way there, she helps an old lady cross the street, plays with cats, and has fun trying to balance on the road lines. She enjoys her own pace, but sheâs still lost. She faced a setback in escaping the area surrounding her apartment, she couldnât fully escape what she knew and go her own way.
When she finally ran out of energy and collapsed, her âfansâ just questioned why she would go out by herself, Usagi outright tells her that everything goes right when she just listens to him, kicking her while sheâs down. She fails once and Usagi uses that to further ingrain the idea that Sophie is useless into her, that she canât do anything on her own. He decides her future by telling her he has other teammates for her, even though there are other people she would rather perform with.
As a result of this, she declines to join Laala and Mireiâs team when asked, because she canât get the idea out of her head that she canât do anything right, that things go wrong when she tries to act on her own, that her decisions are wrong, that what she wants is wrong, that she canât change.
Thatâs the difference between the respective successful and unsuccessful changes that occur for Love and Sophie in this episode, the people around them. Love was backed by people that accepted her and encouraged her, Sophie is surrounded by people that donât truly care for her, only have things to gain from her. They donât love her for who she is, only for what she can do for them.
Similar to how Laalaâs mother finds her loud voice annoying, or Gloria confiscates PriTickets, Usagi is another kind of factor that discourages one from honest expression and pursuit of what they want. These kinds of toxic factors pervade the human condition, some like the foremost I mentioned seem inconsequential, but these kinds of obstacles exist for everyone, and the magnitude of their effect canât be truly calculated (Mirei reference). People need positive reinforcement and deserve others that will provide that for them and accept them.
Usoygi. Hate this creature so much.
Episode 11 â What To Do? How To Deal? Whoâs Going To Be Our Third Member?!
This episode of PriPara confirmed my genius by explicitly stating everything I have been getting from it. Iâm so smart. And humble. âSophie does what I say,â âsheâs out of your reach,â Usagi says. Get rid of him. Laala tells us what I been saying, that Usagi doesnât actually care about her. Mirei helps Sophieâs thugs begin to realize what Sophie actually wants, her true personality to be accepted.
Cosmo confirms more of what I said (heh), that Sophie being pampered as she was in and out of PriPara may not have been a good thing for her. Sophie wants to fly on her own but doesnât know how and feels trapped. Especially with her confidence broken after her setback last episode. Sophie Making Drama caged bird metaphor I BEEN PICKING UP ON IT ALL THE WHOLE TIME I AM THE PRIFESSOR!!! Anyways, the meaning of Sophieâs Making Drama only reached Laala, Mirei, and her sister. The audience didnât parse her feelings, they just thought it was âcool.â
Sophie tells her fan club that that Making Drama was incomplete when they say how cool it is, this with what Mirei told them earlier makes them realize that what they were doing was wrong. This leads to them genuinely helping Sophie later in the episode. Redeemed.
Laala starts farming PriPara to get her idol rank up so she can become a worthy teammate for Sophie, she does a lot of solo shows like Sophie has been doing the entire time. After having done all of those, she realizes that performing with Mirei is so much more fun than singing and dancing all alone. This is what Sophie is missing out on.
She will continue to miss out on that feeling if she gets with Usagiâs proposed teammates New and Mew. Theyâre hardly worth talking about, theyâre supposed to be back-up dancers for Sophie. They hardly have their own individuality, just a high rank. Literally the same mfs. With them, Sophie would still be âaloneâ on stage on a team with them. Laala⌠Laala please save meâŚ
Episode 12 â Fly, Sophie!
Sophie wants to be accepted but her manager doesnât care about that, her goons finally realize this, they have doubts that the team with New and Mew is good for her, they acknowledge what Sophie wants and actually help her achieve that after having lost sight of what would truly make her happy. They were fixated on her position as an idol and not her as a person. But that is no longer the case, goons vindicated. Their development is now out of the way.
Laala refuses to give up on Sophie and Mirei also refuses to drop Laala for the twins, even if it means possibly not participating in the audition that she put months of effort into. Mirei doesnât want to give up on Sophie either, which we can see through the message she left for her. All of them want to perform with each other, yet Sophie didnât see the decision in front of her, she is resigned to being the way she is until Laala asks her again what she really wants.
Mireiâs message and Laalaâs question and trail of PriTickets provided Sophie with a direction to walk in, but she walked that path on her own, in contrast to the guided aimlessness she lived in prior. Laala and Mirei made sure that things wouldnât end up like the last time Sophie tried walking alone, circling around her apartment, she took the first step, and they provided the support they could to help her reach her goal of floor 11 by herself. Teared up when Sophie stepped out of the elevator.
The role they served is conveyed in Sophieâs completed Making Drama, where Laala and Mirei handed Sophie the key instead of unlocking the cage door for her. In this performance, they worked together perfectly, they had more fun than theyâve ever had before, and they put forth their best performance yet. This is the team that Kuma sees with the potential to surpass the Saints.
In contrast to that, the team Sophie was about to form with New and Mew would not have had that, that team was dysfunctional to begin with, there was conflict between members before it even started, even though on paper, the team was better as the rank is higher. But it should be obvious that such a team would never surpass the Saints. They donât have it.