Recap: The World Festival is shaken up by an old classic band with ties to Sakai’s past. Konatsu is a huge fan, but has to remember what she’s singing for.

Jel’s Thoughts: One thing I’m appreciating about Tari Tari is the pace. I could have easily seen other shows from this genre dragging out this plotline another episode, but instead we get a nice tidy wrap up of the World Festival. Our characters learn their lessons, relevant plot information is covered, time to move on. It still keeps a pretty relaxed vibe considering the setting and the plot, but I appreciate that it accomplishes that without wasting my time.

As expected, Sakai’s foreign stalker turned out to know her mother, as well as his bandmates who bailed out Konatsu last episode. That whole aspect of the plot was pretty predictable but still managed to do its job, giving us a little emotional gut check as they reminisced about Sakai’s mother. And once again Sawa is the best character, her fiery attitude continues to keep everybody focused on their goal.

Looking ahead to next week we’ll see what DRAMA gets stirred up after Sakai (or I guess I should start calling her Wakana?) is once again reminded of her musical heritage. I’m sure there will be plenty of more ups and downs before her inevitable return to singing, but we’ll see if they can surprise us in the meantime.