Chiyoko - Princess Iron Fan, An Angel's true face.

#actage thread

Well in Chiyoko's story in Princess Iron fan, you have to start from the beginning of it. So let's look at how this arc begins and how it plays into Chiyoko's arc.

We start off with a confrontation with Kuroyama, one where Kuro claims that Yonagi's gone ahead and improved, with Chiyoko questioning this. Her belief that she's garnered something better than Yonagi, that there is an unbalance between the two of them and that she may be on top.

Yonagi on the other hand, isn't so sure what to say about either of their levels. And in this case Yonagi is very much in the right. Yonagi perceives the two of them as equals in this sense. That the decision of who is better is entirely up to interpretation.

What follows is something anybody reading this would be familiar, Yonagi's break out hit Shinjuku Girl. Something that attracts tourists and agencies alike. The story even points it out as the true start of her career and a defining moment. This is where Chiyoko's flaws are shown

This inspires Chiyoko to ask questions she's never had to ask before questions about her mortality in the acting world, so she asks the one who created the angel for just how long she has. Chiyoko believes Yonagi is proof that her death is inevitable.

Arisa just gives her all the answers. All stuff Chiyoko makes clear she's aware of, she's asking to make sure, not to realize. She knows her life span as an Angel is limited, this is just the damning evidence. Chiyoko knows she will die in this industry.

So to tell Arisa why this has happened. And we get the first of Chiyoko's motivator. Her jealousy of Yonagi. This is the first step in Chiyoko's perfection of the Iron Fan role. Her sadness, her rage are going to become one that starts with this first jealous step.

Overcome with spite, the want to sign up with Amachi, abandon Arisa. She's willing to sell herself like this for the sake of not only increasing her life span. But to prove her superiority to everyone, including her creator. A deal with the devil is little price to pay.

Chiyoko continues this intoxicating path of denying her jealousy by Declaring that she stands above all. She is a Star and she's not willing to hand that over to anyone.

This is Chiyoko desperately trying to run from the truth.

As she meets with Araya and Amachi, and she talks with them. She pays little attention to Araya, entirely driven with nothing else but "winning" to beat Yonagi and prove that she will survive, that she really is a star. Grasping for something she doesn't have a plan to reach.

That's the thread of Chiyoko's jealousy and supposed Superiority, where her jealousy evolves into an Ego, one of a goddess looking down on peasants.

That is before we're introduced to Riku Ogami and the reveal and realization of who he is to Chiyoko.

At First Chiyoko responds to him by saying that he and her are not alike. Her self imposed superiority still showing through. Chiyoko still in denial of the facts she so obviously knows.

Though once Araya interrogates her it becomes all too clear. Who Riku Ogami is to Chiyoko.

She explains that her creation by Arisa was to emulate Ogami, his presence, his ability to only play "his" roles, all of it. Chiyoko's admittance that she's a half baked replica is where her second motivator comes into play. The want to create herself.

So Chiyoko attempts it. To abandon the Ogami impersonation in place of her own experiences to create a persona. She will abandon being an Angel to become something viceral and all too uncomfortably real.

A Method Actor.

This restores some of that confidence. As Ogami makes the attempt to leave Chiyoko encounters him. Challenging him directly. Stating that Yonagi is not his challenger but her. Chiyoko takes this moment to directly challenge her Imposter syndrome by believing in superiority again.

Chiyoko even makes it clear her mission is that she'll force Ogami to acknowledge her same as he did with Yonagi. Or to give her even higher respects as even Yonagi hadn't earned the right of being called by name. Chiyoko tries to advance her superiority by overthrowing ogami.

Though as Yonagi comes to stop Ogami instead of her. Chiyoko's superiority complex quickly turns into that of an inferiority. Yonagi has matched that aura that took her 10 years to master if not surpassed it. And Chiyoko can't help but feel like merely ordinary here...

Araya really works wonders as Chiyoko's foil. Here he realizes that Yonagi and Ogami scare her because of their genius talent. She denies his question and then he immediately presses that they can't do what they do, despite how much Chiyoko chases. Remember this.

Araya again hints at the path Chiyoko should actually follow, one where she believes in what she alone should be doing, and the fact they have a director who will assist in that goal. Chiyoko's quest to find her own skill starts with Kuroyama.

And here begins rehearsals. All the motivators are in place and Chiyoko's pursuit is as well. She aims to abandon everything she has to prove she can stand among the geniuses around her. To prove Arisa wrong and quell her own hate of herself for being outdone so easily.

And yet there's no escaping her feelings, the ones that can't escape her that seeing Yonagi completely entrap her in pure presence knocks her out of her already emotionally intense performance. Chiyoko continues to indulge in rage by remembering the one she chases.

Chiyoko engages directly with self destruction, she throws away her loving fans in place of a cold demeanor. Her belief is that if she is to gain all that she wants she must pay with everything she's earned. Another mistake.

And she then meets with Kuroyama where she makes her inferiority clear. Chiyoko has realized she's no genius, maybe a bit clever but little more. She's surrounded by bigger fish and trying to take them on because someone built her up. She realizes her own inadequacy

Yet in this, she revives her spirits. She hates this feeling of inferiority, of losing like this. She's embodied Princess Iron Fan's flames long before Kei. To be absorbed in Self loathing, jealousy, and most of all denial. Chiyoko through her journey is perfecting the role.

That brings us to this encounter that we all know. The Stare that's not from a friend.

I've seen some point out that this is Chiyoko being antagonistic but it's quite the opposite. Chiyoko gives her all because Yonagi in this case is not her friend. Yonagi is everything that proves Chiyoko is worthless. A statement that 10 years of effort can be outdone in 6 months

A statement that her ability to see from so many perspectives of the camera can be learned passively without constant review, a girl who's beauty cannot be understated despite their efforts being massively divided, A genius that came out of nowhere.

How could Chiyoko see Yonagi as a friend when entrapped in her feelings of inferiority when everything about Yonagi proves Chiyoko is lesser. That Yonagi is so beautiful when she's been settling for something so much lesser all this time. It's about time she acted on this Ire.

She later speaks with Araya as they act even outside of rehearsal hours. She explains to him that she's still figuring out her place. She doesn't know who she wants to be, Araya responds that she's already got one, Though Chiyoko is unable to realize what he means just yet.

And so the play starts and the final test begins. Her orders are to watch and learn from Yonagi. This is the first part of her final test.

A main thing that can be drawn from this is the various times we see Team B realize things about this performance from Team A, but this one goes underlooked. These two sides of the play are later fully replicated by Chiyoko herself. She's payed attention and later combines the-

Monkey king and Iron Fan dynamic that catches the audience with merely one performance. Though I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.

As the shows goes on and more of Ogami's seemingly flawless performance is picked away revealing every single crack it has. These are all known to Chiyoko, fears she has had from the start. That these weaknesses were her fate. To have an audience love you only to become bored.

Araya, ever the astute, practically points out this realized fear. Chiyoko knows Riku better than most anybody, being a copy of him. She knew this was a risk, and seeing it happen to Riku only further proves she has something to worry about.

This is more of an interpretive bit but on the focus of Shiraishi we see a panel focused on chiyoko as Kuroyama analyzes him. I believe this to be a critique on Chiyoko as well. As she believed the Angel persona was right, now she believes it is wrong. Her opinions on the matter-

Have made it so she's blockaded herself. She's continuously fighting with the viceral method acting as right vs the preconception of the Mask being right. She must take what Kuroyama says to heart and prove to herself that they're interchangeable.

The play continues but it seems Yonagi's abandoned her performance. Putting on an empty mask to let the fan drop lifelessly. Yonagi has become as Empty as Chiyoko was and this disturbs her. To see a genius drop down to her ordinary level.

It sends her into a rage. To see the person who signifies everything that makes her lesser, everything that denies her aspirations just give it up for emptiness is something she can't stand. All those years working and nights screaming her lungs out would be for less than nothing

Chiyoko, in horror at what she might see Yonagi give it all up. Just as Yonagi ponders why he did it. Chiyoko at the edge of her seat, hoping that this wouldn't come to a fruition, that Yonagi hadn't thrown this competition that she staked so much on to the dirt...

Then Yonagi comes back, fully embodying the role as she takes forgiveness into her own hands Chiyoko is shocked. Yonagi practically taunting her with that emptiness. As if she weren't even a second thought. Chiyoko becomes furious as the play comes to an end. Her Jealousy peaked.

As Team B celebrates the fact they've practically won. Chiyoko angered by her inferiority, that Yonagi's far better than her. She's fighting a battle she'll never hope to win against Yonagi. She's completely in love with Yonagi's performance and she can't forgive that.

At this point Chiyoko's in such a rut that she announces her death has come early, her loss in the double cast signified nothing less than the end of her career. She had everything to lose, everything to give up and now in her eyes it's all gone.

Thankfully she has Kuroyama.

Just to prove Chiyoko's jealousy, she shows herself to believe that she's a fake flower, one that could never compete with one like Yonagi, that embodied beautiful chilling performance is not something that can be matched by a paper thin mask like hers.

Chiyoko then watches Death island, commenting on the Ugliness of her artificiality, on her eyes are constantly drawn to that Genius Yonagi. Chiyoko's cemented in her mind that the Angel is a failure and that Yonagi destroys her without even trying.

She believes that even if she were to method act, it just wouldn't ever compare. But Araya tells her, she's the one who pushed the mask to the extreme she did, to indulge in so so much praise. She hates that she loved wearing the mask, Araya again points that out to her.

And Araya even points out that the true beauty is the clash of this beautiful artificiality, with her genuine emotion. They're most amazing when they clash their hardest and create an even better performance.

This is where Chiyoko learns to finally accept herself. To accept everything she formally disgraced herself. Embrace every tool, stop seeing it all as lucky accidents and take that beautiful moment and create it again, and again. Show that this ordinary girl has always been able.

Chiyoko now filled with her newfound confidence in her abilities smiles genuinely as she's prepared to win against Yonagi, as she's completely perfected the role, her emotions, her jealousy, her beauty, her forgiveness. It's all been achieved. This is a victory lap for her.

I didn't quite cover it but Kuroyama's change of unease around Chiyoko's method acting to now complimenting her is a great touch. Though now it's time for her to take Akira's advice, and serve the audience with every facet of her talents.

Chiyoko, with her jealousy completely in check explains what angered her most, the fact that she completely had given up to a genius like Yonagi without even having the grace of being Yonagi's focus. They're equals now after all. This was always a competition.

Kuroyama makes this clearer. An angel and a Demon are completely defined by how they're shown, and Chiyoko's worked tirelessly to become an Angel, a Demon shouldn't be a small task for her. Kuroyama understands this and respects her work. Now Chiyoko can respect that too.

And so she puts all that hard work to the test. Refusing to give up anything and only gain, she uses her adoring audience's love for the angel and contrasts it with the fiery rage of a Demon, to terrify them with her angelic presence but bring it back when they need it most.

After all just like Akira said, A Star's job is to serve the audience, especially when they need her most.

Just to prove she doesn't give up a thing, she uses her mastery of the camera, to see through it all.

The ability to Method act to bring the audience to incredible realizations of her emotions while using her angel acting to seem ever so distant like a goddess.

Now she's put Yonagi in her place, the two of them now believing they're equals, that either could win against he other any time. Yonagi refuses to admit defeat against the performance of Chiyoko that is able to utilize everything.

This excerpt from Kuro about how this fully realizes what this play is truly about and how Chiyoko embodies it all, being jealous of those that you love, looking at a friend with rejection because of the jealousy you felt against them, about how their actions some how undid yours

Chiyoko's accepted this, That is why she's the perfect Iron Fan, she's foregiven herself for loving what she hates, for embracing those that hated her, for being able to admit her wrong doings and her own feelings to herself. Just like Chiyoko had.

And so Chiyoko completes her arc. The story of Iron Fan's redemption is that of Chiyoko's. About how the monkey king pushed her into realizing the source of her anguish and being able to quell those fires deep inside.

To take a victory lap of our own, we'll examine how Chiyoko's improved since her arc, starting here where she admits having Yonagi learn from her is scary. Though they're equals now, it'd benefit Yonagi just as much as she'd benefit. Perfect Rivalry.

And these pages...I'll need a few posts to break them down and the beauty of that last panel.

Chiyoko admits that this entire conflict was do or die, and she thought it was her earnings to act forever...Though hat doesn't address it all. She even states so.

The competition is never over, they're rivals to the end, competing forever to hone their craft to the sharpest-

Shine, Chiyoko has realized what Yonagi had at the start, there's no definitive equal between them. It's not for either of them to decide it's for those onlooking, at their competition. A beautiful circle.

Though that line, that encompasses everything about Chiyoko moving forward. Her denial of who she was at the start of this and the inspirational message within it. Chiyoko not only embraces her rivalry with Yonagi She does so much more.

She completely believes that she will never die in the acting world, she completely has refused her life span, she'll act for the rest of her life.

She denies the claims of Arisa that she'll be down and out from age. She'll keep acting until she's far older than Arisa.

And most of it all it accepts completely and fully that her and Yonagi are rivals to the purist extent, that they will compete for the rest of their days.

That is Chiyoko's declaration of everything she's come to learn. Honestly beautiful.

Last but not least is a bit of a shorter note but it's more foreshadowing than something that can be explained in full is Chiyoko believing her equality to Yonagi comes to mean that she deserves the care and respect from Kuroyama he gives Yonagi. She wants to be directed by him-

She wants that experience of being able to given the most care by a director. Not to completely take the task off their hands like she has with Tezuka. She wants to be fully respected as more than just as Yonagi's rival but as her own being by Kuroyama. I feel she will.

Annnnnd that's about it! That's what I wanted to cover in this thread! So thank you for reading this far I know it was pretty long! I hope y'all have a good day, feel free to start discussion with me in the replies or elsewhere! Stan Chiyoko!