The one where Kotaro settles down the argument between Ai and Junko's ideologies, as well as having him run over Junko shortly after. Also the one where we're introduced to a new iteration of Iron Frill, who is everything but faithful to the first generation of Ai's old idol group.
When we last saw our zombie heroines, it appears that Ai and Junko managed to throw each other some shade in regards to how they view the idol industry. Now, with Junko ditching Franchouchou and Ai increasingly being ridden with anxiety in relation to the outdoor event that the group will partake in very soon (i.e. the Saga Rock Festival), things have never gotten any more dire from there.
With Junko now going into depressive hiding within the mansion (to the point where she's growing mushrooms, given that idle corpses can produce them), everyone in Franchouchou (except Ai) are trying to find a way to get Junko back into the group, or at the very least, get them both apologizing to each other. Unfortunately, Saki doesn't know what to do, despite being the team leader. Sakura has no other choice but to get Kotaro's help, but Saki warns her that asking for his help is quite literally asking for him to scream at you. Sakura ignores Saki's warning, and...well, you get the picture.
While Kotaro is far too busy doing...whatever he's doing, the girls have no choice but to press on with their rehearsal, with one less member. To make matters worse, Ai has to fill in for Junko's parts in the new song they'll be introducing at Saga Rock. As they practice and rehearse, the days leading to the festival are ever so decreasing. Regardless, Ai manages to work even harder than she's ever had before, even with the medicinal strips applied onto her- but its still not enough to stop Ai from overworking herself to the point where she falls apart, literally.
With only a day before the festival starts, it seems like Junko isn't going to be coming out of her room anytime now. And this is when Kotaro decides to do something about it. He charges through, smashing through the barricade that Junko built herself so no one can bother her. That being said, Kotaro smashes through the barricade a little too hard- and Junko has been temporarily knocked out from the force. Whoops.
Some time passes, and Junko wakes back up, and sees that Kotaro is right in front of her. The idol producer, for the very first time, simmers down his usual loud attitude in order to give Junko some actual proper idol advice.
Kotaro explains to Junko that, yes, idol society is not only more closer to the fans themselves as of nowadays, but its also a lot more dangerous because of that. With the rise of the internet and the ease of communicating to people, idols have managed to keep in touch with fans, but more scandals and gossip in relations to the idol business have risen as a result. And while Junko doesn't want that type of idol interaction to be enforced on her, Kotaro tells her something she'd never expect him to say: She doesn't have to.
While the idol business has changed, the ideals of making fans happy has never changed in the slightest- and Junko is given the opportunity to stick to her old-fashioned ways, even if people like Ai doesn't care about those old ways. At the end of the day, they're zombies, not robots. Kotaro doesn't want to let down anyone in Franchouchou when it comes to being part of a big industry- and he needs Junko to understand that she will forever be known as The Legendary Showa-Period Idol.
Before he leaves Junko to fix up the door he broke, Kotaro gives Junko a big tip for tomorrow (in case she participates): the event will be happening during a huge thunderstorm, and since Ai was killed by one, she will need Junko's help in case the Heisei veteran idol begins to freak out from PTSD. With that out of the way, Kotaro goes back to doing his usual rounds of being a whacky idol producer, and Junko thinks to herself overnight.
It's the day of the festival, and it seems like the girls are saddened by the fact that they will be performing at Saga Rock without Junko...that is, until a very last-second decision from Junko manages to come through, as she jumps over the mansion gates immediately, and jumps in front of Kotaro's van. She yells out to be a part of the festival...and is then accidentally run over by the idiot idol producer himself. Sakura manages to catch some deja vu from seeing Junko being smashed by a truck-like vehicle, and the Showa zombie herself falls down onto the ground.
Everyone exits the van, while Kotaro beckons Junko to get up (which Saki think is a very dickish thing to say after running over her). Junko then gets back up on her feet, and she screams out her identity as the one and only Showa-period idol legend. With that weight lifted, everyone except Ai and Kotaro huddle up with the 80s zombie gal, as she's now ready to be part of Franchouchou again.
We arrive at the Saga Rock festival, and it's packed with people. Heck, the Sagazine duo and the metalheads show up to boot! And with Franchouchou ready to roll, they'll be partaking on their first major stage performance ever. Unfortunately, their make-up will pretty much be useless under the rainy weather, but that's where our resident idol producer pitches in to help. As he looks at Sakura with pride, she looks back at him with happiness...before she is sprayed in the face. In fact, Kotaro sprays everyone with "extra-strength waterproof spray for zombies" (read: for shoes), which will help them perform under harsh weather conditions.
The girls watch as the festival commences, with Iron Frill performing first. As in, the new Iron Frill. Ai looks at the new iteration with disgust, as her entire group has been replaced by a rebooted group of young girls who only serve to take the mantle of Iron Frill's past. To think that Ai's old friends couldn't cope with her death was bad enough, the fact that Iron Frill now exists as a corporate brand with a new generation of replacements, hurts Ai's feelings even more.
Iron Frill 2.0 then performs one of the original iteration's hit songs, "Jellyfish", and as they sing and dance in front of many cheering fans, we see Sakura getting that same memory glimpse of Iron Frill back in her past life. It seems like Sakura is deeply connected to Ai and her old group, but she won't know that until much later.
As the weather begins to get gloomier, Franchouchou are waiting backstage, just mere moments before they're called up to perform. Saki is all fired up and begins yelling out in excitement, and Tae repeats her! Aw. Too bad they're backstage, as they're told to quiet down. Saki apologizes, and so does Tae. Awww!
The penultimate act for the festival ends, and our zombie idols prepare themselves to give it their best shot. With Sakura giving some rousing words, the girls all start entering the stage, despite the fact that the torrential rainfall has begun. Saki asks if Ai is alright despite the stormy weather brewing, and Ai attempts to hide her fear by stating that it's not as bad as she thinks...which makes Saki a little concerned.
As the downpour continues, people start leaving the festival prematurely, given that some folks don't care about newcomer idols. Despite the circumstance, Franchouchou are up on the stage. Ai seems to tremble in fear, while Saki introduces herself and the rest of the gang (and almost accidentally reveals that she died in Saga, oops!) to the remaining audience members who bothered to watch Franchouchou's performance.
As the lights come on, the group's new song known as "Atsuku Nare" starts to play. Ai, knowing that she has to perform Junko's lines, begins singing the entire first verse on her own. But as the thunder continues to roar, Ai immediately stutters and stumbles every line she can possibly do...and when the first verse is nearing it's ugly end, that is when Junko decides that it's her time to shine for Ai's sake. So, with Junko proudly singing her line in the end of said verse, she lends Ai a hand in performing their song. Together.
As "Atsuku Nare" continues, we see our girls doing their bits, with Junko and Ai leading the chorus to boot. As Ai finishes up the song, the worst possible scenario for any human being happens: lightning strikes down on the entire idol group.
But, this is the worst possible scenario for any human being, not for zombies. So because of that, it actually powers up Franchouchou. With Ai realizing that lightning does absolutely nothing bad to the undead, she overcomes her fear of thunder. And as an added bonus, Franchoucou gain the power of auto-tune from being electrified!
For now, the stage is in utter pieces as the backstage staff try to fix the issue, but Kotaro intervenes and tells the people to play the music once more. With the girls now powered up with auto-tune, they belt out "Mezame RETURNER" in its brand-new electric remix. With the entire crowd cheering them on, the performances that the girls provided today at the festival was a complete success.
With Kotaro proudly saying that Franchouchou is now ready to be the Saga based idol group, our girls give one last bow to the crowd, as they applaud with outmost joy. As Okoba is stunned from the idols surviving the eye of the storm, his assistant manages to scoop up the perfect article for Sagazine. And thus, this brings us to the end of Franchouchou's first chapter in their journey, as they move on from being obscure newcomer idols...and start becoming one of, if not- the best idol group within Saga Prefecture itself.
Tropes
- Achilles in His Tent: After quitting Franchouchou in Episode 6, Junko has cooped herself up in the attic for two weeks straight, sitting in a corner while mushrooms literally sprout from her head. She spends a good portion of the episode still depressed until Kotaro gives her a pep talk.
- Be Yourself: Kotaro tells Junko that she can still represent her time-period and not force herself into conforming with the hyper-social lifestyle of modern idols.
- Corner of Woe: After being shocked at the drastic changes in the idol industry while she was dead, Junko barricades herself in the attic (complete with warning signs and "do not cross" tape), and sulks in place for weeks, even growing mushrooms on her head.
- The trope is parodied slightly because the mushrooms are actually real and growing out of her flesh. This is actually Truth in Television as her undead body is producing mycelium.
- Déjà Vu: Sakura experiences this when Junko is hit by Kotaro's van by accident. Played for Laughs.
- Dynamic Entry: Kotaro blasts away Junko's barricade (and her) with a single kick after he gets fed up with her sulking.
- Internal Reveal: Kotaro clues Junko in to Ai's death and the fear of lightning she's developed since then. This helps during their performance when Junko lends support to Ai amidst a thunderstorm.
- Look Both Ways: A non-lethal Played for Laughs version. As everyone prepares to leave, Junko leaves the mansion to rejoin everyone, only to get rammed by Kotaro's van purely by accident as she stands in front to try to stop him. Being a zombie, she's fine.
- Meaningful Echo: Junko to Ai."Don't worry, I'll back you up!"
- No-One Could Have Survived That: Franchouchou is struck by a massive bolt of lightning while performing, which completely destroys the stage. The girls are completely fine however. They then go on to perform an incredible final act that enraptures their audience.
- Oh, Crap!:
- In an attempt to rally a depressed Junko out of the mansion attic, Kotaro kicks the door down... only to catch an unfortunate Junko in the crossfire.Kotaro: !
- Later as Franchouchou is about to leave for Saga Rock, Junko jumps in front of the van to stop them, wanting to come too. Kotaro runs her over as a result, and his reaction says it all - he tries to smooth it over with a Rousing Speech, but Saki point-blank says that he just hit her with a freaking van.
- In an attempt to rally a depressed Junko out of the mansion attic, Kotaro kicks the door down... only to catch an unfortunate Junko in the crossfire.
- "Open!" Says Me: Kotaro kicks down the door to the attic to get to Junko. Unfortunately he kicks her down by accident too.
- Pet the Dog: Kotaro has an open and heartfelt conversation with Junko about continuing to pursue her identity as an 80's idol, saying she should be free to pursue and present herself as the kind of idol she believes in.
- She's Back: Junko recovers from her Heroic BSoD and helps deliver an incredible performance with the other girls.
- Slow-Motion Fall: Junko is hit by Kotaro's van in an almost mirror fashion to Sakura, who can't help but feel Déjà Vu. Played for Laughs.
- Tears of Joy: Sakura weeps after Franchouchou delivers a successful performance at Saga Rock, with Ai and Junko there to comfort her.
