A Tale of Two Leaders

Kousaka Honoka is the sun. She may not be the most talented member of her group, but she has a charisma that makes her role as leader unquestioned. She’s an unstoppable force, and her radiance is an inspiration that encourages everyone to follow after her on the path of a school idol. But most of all, she’s Takami Chika’s hero.

	Chika is also the leader of her group, but she isn’t like Honoka. She can’t control the weather, and she isn’t always sure that what she’s doing the right thing. All she knows for certain is that she wants to chase after the radiance of her predecessor; she wants to shine.

	If Honoka is the type of leader that pulls from ahead, then Chika is a leader who pushes from behind. Honoka leads by example, her light illuminating the path for her friends to follow her. Chika’s approach is different, more personal. She notices when her friends are struggling, and is always the first to reach out a hand.

	Honoka made everything look easy. Otonokizaka was in the big city, and thus it was much easier to attract applicants to save the school, which they had done by the end of the first season. But for Uranohoshi in the middle of nowhere, getting more students is much more of a struggle. We’re already a third of the way through the second season, and Aquors still has yet to overcome that hurdle. But Chika isn’t one to give up. She’s being faced with challenges past what her idol had to overcome, and she’s taking them in stride.

	Of course, there are moments when Chika struggles. After the Tokyo performance in which Aquors got zero votes, Chika initially tries to put up a brave face to encourage the rest of the group. But when Riko confronts her on it, Chika exclaims that she is frustrated, of course she is. They tried so hard to get to that point, only for no one to acknowledge their efforts. They tried their best, and it still wasn’t enough. In the end, Chika does get over this failure, but it isn’t on her own. Instead, she does it with the support of all her friends, who she had supported up until that point. Honoka stood at the front of µ's as a guide, but Chika stood beside Aquors as a friend.

	Honoka may have been the person who inspired Chika, but Chika is the person who inspired me. She encourages me to actually try new things, because even if I fail, I can stand up and try again. She encourages me to reach out, because the people I touch may just one day return the favor. She has shown me that being normal isn’t an excuse, because Chika is normal, but that didn’t stop her from accomplishing so much. Honoka may be the sun, and Chika may be just a mikan, but the gap between them isn’t so large. Shine on, you crazy mikan.