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Originally Posted by Haesslich
There is one thing to note: hard-working by itself isn't enough, or at least doesn't appear to be enough, in show-business. Hard working and well connected, on the other hand, seems to work quite well - or well-connected and well-marketed. Sheryl, while she doesn't have to help Ranka's career along... can provide one thing that Ranka's current manager can't - connections and introductions. That by itself can give Ranka's career a boost... once she gets some self-confidence.
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I think that there's no shame in accepting the offer from Sheryl, from a practical standpoint. That being said, from a story standpoint, it would probably better to show Ranka as being self-made in much the same sense as Sheryl is, as proof that they are truly equals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by herbert
I have been thinking most people are too optimal on Ranka's career, believing in any bit hinting on Ranka's future success only for the fact that she is the heroine of the show. What the high opinion of the producer on Ranka should be taken with a grain of salt, as it sounds too much of comforting words of the weirdo manager to me. As for Leon's meddling, someone like Ranka who is just born yesterday and from a small company is supposed to get a lots troubles, which can be simply concluded as bad luck. And even if Ranka and her manager and her fanclub find out, what they can do again it? Come to Sheryl and beg for help? Then the whole 'I wanna achieve it all by myself' go down the drain.
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Setting aside the audience's tendancy to analyse the characters in terms of their archetypes, I think that Ranka's ability is at least partially confirmed by Sheryl's belief in her. Sheryl tends to be rather blunt at times, and I don't think that she would have ever talked to Ranka about "following in her footsteps" if there wasn't at least the possibility that Ranka could achieve that someday. Sheryl takes her vocation much too seriously to simply hand out empty words of praise.
As a newcomer, Ranka should go in expecting a lot of obstacles. But part of her ability to succeed depends on her ability to see the bright side of even her worst failures. It's going to be a very long and difficult road ahead if she lets herself get dragged down every time something doesn't work out. Even if her manager is being overly optimistic, this sort of belief will give Ranka the willpower to tough it out through even the hardest of times.
While Ranka and her fanclub may not be able to do anything or say anything on their own, there's always the chance that Sheryl or her manager will figure it out on their own (assuming that Grace is on the straight and narrow). While an intervention on Sheryl's part might be construed as "assistance", I'm confident that Sheryl is not the sort of person who is willing to let herself get used, nor is she willing to take any concessions from Ranka in order to remain at the top. Sheryl Nome is only willing to be the best because she earned it through hard work, not simply because some scheming villain happened to skew the odds in her favour.
Quote:
Originally Posted by herbert
Moreover, I never think Ranka can replace Sheryl. If at some time point Ranka surpasses Sheryl, that's because Sheryl goes down much more than Ranka goes up. There are just too many people fall in between the current distance of the two. This series is just too short for Miria promising an import of one million of copies of Ranka's CDs in her next City 7 Major election speech.
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Ranka doesn't need to try to become the next Sheryl Nome. She just needs to push the boundaries of Ranka Lee as far as they can go.
Nobody can replace Sheryl. But having lived most of her life alone in the spotlight, she's only now starting to discover what it's really like to love and be loved. That's a journey that only really be taken while off the stage, but it's every bit as challenging (if not more).
While a single season might be too short of a span for either girl to really complete their respective journeys, I hope that we'll at least get a chance to see each of them well down their respective roads.
