Tamon's B-Side

Episode 8

It took eight episodes, but we've arrived at the quintessential anime classic: the beach episode. Although, Tamon has a different take on it, to say the least. Not so much our protagonists going to the beach for funsies, they're there to film something for F/ACE about the boys strengthening their bonds. And, ostensibly, the idea is for them to be doing exactly that—but the reality is that they're not particularly close.

Functionally, the F/ACE boys' relationships begin and end with being co-workers, and as far as we've seen, that's about it. Keito does seem to harbor some level of concern for his squad, though it doesn't always necessarily come from a place of selflessness—asterisk. We learned this week that the reason he wants money so badly is to support his family, so it no longer feels entirely fair to call his motivations self-serving. If anything, he came out of this episode pretty good all things considered. Sure, he's still really suspicious of Utage in a way that makes things really hard for her, but given what we know about the Japanese idol industry and how unforgiving it can be (cue Utage's friends saying they'd murder Tamon's girlfriend), and what we've heard about his fan base, it's hard to blame him.

That said, the main Thing of the episode is Tamon and Utage getting stuck in the supply closet together—another anime classic, but also with the twist that it sounds like this was sabotaged by a producer who just wants to synthesize some drama. This guy, I sense, is going to be a problem if he sticks around, for obvious reasons. He feels like he could be a slightly toned down Oshi no Ko character dropped right into this show. He wants to create drama because he wants to make good TV, and he probably doesn't get a sense that he's going to get any otherwise. What he probably doesn't realize is how behind the curtain, this group is full of drama—but he could, very feasibly, find out if something like this were to happen again (and he obviously wants something like this to happen again).

Still, my favorite part of the episode was pretty much any time Utage's PLEASE SMILE TAMON fan was on-screen. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: Utage has a very crafty streak, which just makes her all the more lovable. What really gets me is that she made fans for every foreseeable scenario, and they're not just visual gags—Ouri returns one to her. Those must've taken so much time and effort to make; her dedication to Tamon really is in a league of its own. These are items she painstakingly made and (delicately) packed with her. If housekeeping doesn't work out for her, she's got quite a future in printing, graphic design, merchandising, or something adjacent to those industries ahead of her. She's such a crafty, DIY queen, I love her so much.

On a closing note, I was hoping that given how this is Utage's first time being around the other two F/ACE boys—in my mind I've been referring to them as “Honey” and “Mori” since they somewhat remind me of those characters from Ouran High School Host Club, but their names are Natsuki and Rintarou—we'd finally get our first proper introduction to them. But alas, another week gone by, and Utage didn't have any interactions with them at all, really. I'm starting to worry the series might end before we get to meet them at all, let alone an introduction to their true selves. Given that we're waiting longer to meet them, and that their F/ACE-sonas seem the most archetypal (“the cutesy one,” “the strong, silent one”), I'd be willing to bet at least one of them (my arbitrary, vibes-based reading tells me Natsuki) will have the strongest contrast between their true self, and onstage self. And I say “at least one” because the thought has occurred to me that it's possible at least one of them is being genuine. Still, it'd obviously be funnier if they were both at least as different as the others. At this point, I guess all we can do is wait and see.

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Tamon’s B-Side is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.