Glass Mask / Glass no Kamen

AN Shows
43

I wasn’t sure about it at first, but the more I watch this show, the more I like it. I’m up to episode 12.

spoiler

I agree that Onodera is an underhanded jerk, but acting is a pretty cutthroat industry. Maya and the others will have to learn how to navigate the shark pool if they want to succeed. (Besides it just makes me root for them even more.) I know they haven’t told much about it, but it seems to me that Tsukikage’s “accident” that damaged her face and ended her acting career was probably not an accident.

Maya won the hearts of the audience and that was the most important victory. Even Ayumi acknowledged defeat. She knew that Maya’s performance was the one people would remember in years to come. To me, it just highlighted that the competition was more about politics and less about acting.

It’s becoming one of my favorites, too.

44

Maybe there should be a Glass Mask-Golgo 13 crossover? I could see Tsukikage’s butler hiring Golgo for a certain “job”…

45

I have to admit I had to watch and see how the acting competition came out, first, the last update, I’m pretty well hooked on this show too.

46

I would buy that DVD in a heart beat! :slight_smile:

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Episode 14 -

spoiler

As expected, Maya stole the movie scene and impressed the directors. She even got a close-up!

Ayumi still wants to play the “Scarlet Angel” and will take on any role for experience. I think the mother/daughter rivalry must be hard on both Ayumi and her mother – not to mention her father.

The girls in the acting club are pretty mean to Maya, giving her all the menial tasks, but even they can see her talent. And when the lead ends up in the hospital, Maya steps in and really shines once again. I think she mirrored Ms. Tsukikage for the part of the Queen. It seemed very much like her. She also earns a little respect from the club president after her performance too.

Masumi is still trying to get the rights to the “Scarlet Angel” making Ms. Tsukikage angry and she becomes ill again. Masumi still tries to get Maya to join Ondine as well. He makes her feel guilty and has her believing that she is a burden to Ms. Tsukikage.

Ayumi is keeping the promise she made to herself and is taking any role she can. She even cuts her hair to play the part of a boy when she could have just worn a wig. I agree with her fellow actors that she might be taking things a bit too far though.

I was happy to find out that the guys that ruined the competition got screwed by Onodera and never did get into the Ondine Troupe. Good!

Maya might have gone too far when she attacked Masumi, both verbally and physically, but he just stood there and took it. And when he finds out how sick Ms. Tsukikage really is, he pays for her medical expenses. But he does this as Maya’s “fan”. Maya breaks down when she reads the letter that came with her purple roses and vows to become a world-class actress. She’s also decided that she like to be the “Scarlet Angel” as well. I’m happy to see her so determined and perhaps she will also stop doubting herself.

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Episode 15 -

spoiler

Poor Maya has been pounding the pavement, trying to get a role in a play. I can see how difficult this is since all the acting troupes refuse outsiders. Just when she’s about to give up, she catches the eye of one of Ms. Tsukikage’s old rivals and is given a small part. However, the part was taken away from an established member of the acting troupe, much to everyone’s surprise. Miss Harada did it for a reason though – to teach Asae a lesson.

Maya’s friends are really proud of her, but I don’t think Asae is going to give up her part so easily, especially to an outsider. At a cocktail party, Ayumi finds out that Maya is being considered for the Scarlet Angel role and the look on her face was priceless! Masumi overhears the conversation, but has no comment. That was wise of him!

Ayumi herself is either going too far or getting some really good life experience. Maya comes across Ayumi begging on the street and later finds out that she wants the Scarlet Angel role too. Ayumi’s research benefits her part of the pauper in The Prince and the Pauper. But Maya also shines in her role of Tazu, the nursemaid. Both girls captivate their audiences, even if Maya did have to smooth over the little surprise from Asae during her play. Of course Maya also catches the eye of someone in the audience that seems very interested in her. We shall see!

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Episode 16 -

spoiler

I see that Sakurakouji is still trying to entice Maya into joining Ondine, although he did help her to get another part time job. And it looks like Maya’s mother has TB. I wonder if mother and daughter will reconcile. I also wonder if her mother will live long enough now to see Maya on stage in a fabulous leading role, so she can realize that she was wrong about her daughter and her talent.

The man in the audience that saw Maya in the last play sees her as Catherine in a new production of Wuthering Heights. A wonderful story! And Ondine will be putting on The Miracle Worker – another great story. Ayumi is perfect for Helen Keller – or is she? Does Masumi see Maya in the role? I think this is why he wasn’t too enthusiastic about the casting.

When the actors get stuck in traffic and can’t make it to the kindergarten in time, Maya entertains the restless children with a story of Snow White. They are so enthralled by her story that when the performers finally do show up, the children would rather Maya continue her story. The actors look annoyed at this and I figured that Maya would lose her job again.

Miss Harada visits Ms. Tsukikage in the hospital and tells her that she knows that Maya is destined for great things, but also finds her talent frightening - so much so that the Eishinza Troupe will never hire her ever again.

When Maya comes home after losing her job, a man is waiting for her with the offer of an audition for the part of young Cathy in Wuthering Heights. Maya is excited, but unprepared and isn’t even familiar with the story. I think she should have done a little research for the part. She is up against two other girls and their auditions were so much better, but even though Maya messed up, she puts a different twist on the part. However, the production team votes her out until the mysterious man speaks up on Maya’s behalf.

I guess it really is all about who you know! This man wants a new type of Catherine and suddenly Maya is awarded the role. But Maya just can’t get a feel for the free spirited Cathy, until she meets a little boy named Kazu who opens her eyes and Cathy’s mask is found. I think she surprises her fellow actors at the rehearsals and earns a bit of respect. I can’t wait to see her play this role on stage! I love Wuthering Heights and I want to see what Maya might bring to the part of one of my favorite characters.

50

I just finished up episode 17, saw the preview for episode 18, and I already wish it was August 19th! I know the animation is so old school and the characters are not drawn to be as beautiful as they could, but this series has just got me so hooked on it! Oh, and did you notice that

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Maya’s mom appears to be on her way to see her finally-just as Maya is playing the part of a doll that does and says nothing! What will happen now?

51

This show is definitely addictive. Too bad that hasn’t translated into DVD sales. I really hope the TAN airings are making more people consider the DVD set.

52

I hope so too. This story isn’t quite what I expected. It is so much better! I agree that it’s very addictive.

Episode 17 –

spoiler

It’s time for the premier of Wuthering Heights! Maya’s friends are in the audience, as well as Sakurakouji and even Masumi shows up. Some lines are flubbed and Maya covers it with some great ad-libbing. She has really become Cathy and even Ryou is drawn into her character portrayal. They are very passionate and so intense that the real stars of the show are not happy and feel upstaged. The acting is so real that Sakurakouji gets jealous and walks out.

At the after party, Maya is Maya again and back to feeling awkward and out of place. She feels better when her friends show up, but then finds out that Sakurakouji left during her performance and runs out. She can’t find him and ends up in the empty theater where Masumi finds her. He compliments her performance in a teasing way and likens her to a child, telling her to “grow up soon” which infuriates her.

It was funny the way Maya rushed through her school cleaning duties and just made more of a mess for her classmates to clean up, so she can get to the theater on time. By day five of the play, Cathy and Heathcliffe are so in tune with one another that the audience breaks into applause. Again, the stars are not happy with this. The young couple’s relationship far outshines the two older stars and the older couple lacks the same passion onstage. Ryou’s girlfriend attends every show like she’s keeping an eye on them and Sakurakouji shows up for the final performance too. He can see that Ryou is really falling in love with Maya and thinks that Maya is in love with him as well. This pains him deeply and leaves him feeling dejected. Just another example of how good the acting really is.

At the closing party, Ryou and Maya are hounded for their autographs while the stars are ignored and Maya’s purple roses arrive. Sakurakouji tries to get into see her, but can’t, so he leaves her his umbrella which was really sweet. When Maya finds out he was there, she rushes out into the snow to try to catch him, but he’s gone and Maya is upset that he didn’t wait for her. She just doesn’t realize how convincing her acting is.

The man that wanted Maya in the play is very angry. The show was a flop. Maya was just too good and left too much of an impression on the audience, so that the rest of the acting seemed weak and lackluster. I guess this is another person that Maya will never work for again, unless it’s something where she is the sole star.

Maya later gets some good news. She’s very happy to find out that her own troupe will be putting on a play. And even better is the fact that their friends, the Ikkakujuu Troupe, will be joining them. Ms. Tsukikage assigns the roles and Maya is happy at the parts her friends get. Although she does not get the starring role, she is the kind of person that that is happy to just be part of the play. However, Ms. Tsukikage tells Maya that she will be playing the part of a motionless, speechless doll. I think this will be her most challenging role yet!

53

Ep. 17 was awesome!

And the drama thickens…

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Maya proves yet again with her role as Catherine in Wuthering Heights, that she is an extrememly talented actress (though a bit naïve).

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Episode 18 –

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I knew that playing a doll would be Maya’s most difficult role yet and as always Ms. Tsukikage pushes her beyond her limits to improve her abilities. Masumi is still trying to get Maya to join his troupe but at least his reasons are more noble this time when Maya tells him that she won’t be able to go to high school, although she wants to. He is really showing concern for her and thinks Ms. Tsukikage is treating her badly, but Maya refuses his offer yet again. However, once again, her “fan” steps in to pay Maya’s way to high school. The Hitotsuboshi Academy is a dramatics arts high school and Maya accepts her fan’s gift with gratitude. I wonder how Maya still isn’t putting two and two together though. It seems that every time she has a run in with Masumi, her “fan” does something to help her.

Maya goes to return Sakurakouji’s umbrella and it was sweet of him to get off the bus for her. She feels awkward around him and doesn’t know how to tell him the things she wants to say. He see her to the train and tells her that he enjoyed Wuthering Heights and then whispers that he was jealous of Heathcliffe just as the train doors close.

The combined troupes have rented an old café for their play, but it’s right across the street from the Orion Stage. The members there make fun of the group, until Ayumi shows up and tells them who the group is and that Maya is one of them. Still they feel that this is no competition and call them “amateurs”.

Maya’s mother’s illness causes her to lose her job and get sent to a clinic. It’s been two years since Maya left her and she misses her. her mother happens to see her picture in a magazine and finally starts to feel some pride in her daughter. I wonder if she will ever actually see her daughter on stage before she becomes too ill to do so.

Ms. Tsukikage sends Maya to a Zen temple to learn how to achieve a state of nonexistence and forget her humanity, thus Maya learns to have a heart of stone. On opening night, it’s funny that Ayumi buys the first ticket. There aren’t even any seats and the small audience has to sit on benches or mats on the floor, but Maya soon captivates her audience again, even without a speaking part. Ayumi was right in that a soulless doll was the soul of the play. The audience enjoyed the play very much and Maya finally realizes why she was made to play a doll.

Word about the play spreads and by the tenth performance, they are sold out and the crowd outside is clamoring for tickets. That should show those overconfident actors across the street!

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Episode 17 -

spoiler

Of course Maya was going to blow everyone away. Though I don’t think she meant to upstage everyone, nor make her costar fall in love with her. It was another great episode.

Though the whole time I kept watching this episode, every time she said the guys name all I could think of was

[video no longer exists]

56

Finished up ep. 19

spoiler

With the stress of finding out about her mother, Maya loses it doing the final performance and her mask fades as tears stream. On probation for losing her ‘mask’, Maya serves as a replacement for an actor in another troupe, though with her reputation, other actors conspire against her to make her fail on stage.

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Episode 19 –

spoiler

It seems that the theater across the street has lost their audience to Maya and company. Ryou comes to every performance, but Sakurakouji is nowhere to be seen. Ms. Tsukikage confirms that Maya is the play and if she falls apart, so will the play.

Meanwhile, Masumi is searching for the perfect Helen Keller. One of his agents proposes Maya and her picture is placed next to that of Ayumi and the other candidates.

Ryou takes Maya out and confesses that he’s been coming to see her everyday. He wants to go out with her and Maya isn’t sure how to take it. However, I don’t think he can distinguish between Maya and Maya’s portrayal of Cathy and I think he’s in love with her Cathy. A nervous Maya tells him that she’s nothing like Cathy and he seems to come to the conclusion pretty quickly himself that he desires “the illusion of Cathy” but at least he tells her they will remain good friends. She admits that she does like someone else and she’s also very hurt that Sakurakouji hasn’t come to see her.

Sugiko has finally found her and has to tell Maya about her mother. She also tells her that her mother is missing from the clinic and is currently missing. Just before the final performance, Maya thinks she sees her mother on the crowded street but is unable to go after her. It weighs on her mind and she thinks of her childhood during the play which breaks her concentration and the “doll” begins to shed tears. Rei covers this up by ad-libbing and spilling water on “Elizabeth” but once backstage, Ms. Tsukikage slaps Maya. She bans Maya from the next play and says that she’s on probation. May finally learns the meaning of wearing a “glass mask” and the skill it takes to keep it on.

Maya searches the city for her mother and ends up sheltering from the rain at a theater. Masumi sees her there and recruits her to fill in for an actress that had an accident. Maya doesn’t want to, but Masumi convinces her by telling her to do it for her fan. Thus, Maya ends up on the same stage as Ayumi, playing her cousin, but she only has forty five minutes to completely learn her part. Some of the others can already see how she got her nickname – “The Stage Storm”. Maya slips easily into the role although her enemies would like to see her fail and even give her the wrong script. However, the show must go on and Maya takes the stage without knowing the correct lines, but I’m sure her instincts will take over and she’ll be fine.

58

Talk about a cliffhanger! I can’t wait until episode 20! Though sadly, were are only a few episodes away from #26, which is the last one that Sentai released on DVD. We really have no idea if they have the rest, or if TAN will be airing it. Probably won’t know until the October schedule is up.

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This is such a good anime. I have my fingers crossed that we will be getting more!

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Episode 20 –

spoiler

No, Maya doesn’t know the lines, but took the stage anyway. She saved herself somewhat by biting on the flower, but Ayumi comes onstage to help, since they need Maya to do a certain thing so the play can moved forward. I like how the two culprits thought Ayumi was saving them when she ordered them off the stage, but now she and Maya are alone and must somehow play off each other and they pull it off perfectly. Of course, Ayumi gets all the credit and takes it too, but when the two that gave Maya the wrong script thank Ayumi for saving them, she reprimands them for switching the scripts and endangering the play. Only when Ayumi is in her dressing room and alone, does she acknowledge Maya’s skill to herself.

Later, Maya thinks of Ayumi’s guidance in leading her through the scene and calls her a genius. She is sure that she will never be as good as Ayumi and tries to leave the theater. However, Masumi stops her and offers to give her a lift since it’s raining, but she gets angry at him again. She accuses him of doing anything to get what he wants and he agrees with her, asking her if that’s what she wants to hear. Maya runs crying from the theater into the rainy night, calling him a horrible man.

But the next day, she receives gifts from her fan – everything she needs for her new school. On her first day of school, I can already see who her next rival will be, Emi Kanaya. Maya also finds evidence that her fan is at the school and looks for the person, but can only find Masumi. She almost finds out it’s him, but he comes up with a quick cover story and Maya buys it. Silly girl!

Daito’s agent meets with Maya to tell her about the Helen Keller role. They’ve cut the candidates down to five girls and Maya is one of them. She is asked to audition and her friends encourage her to try out. Sure enough, she’s going to be up against Emi as well as Ayumi. Maya then finds out that Ayumi’s mother is playing Annie Sullivan and is also going to be one of the judges along with Onodera. Upon hearing this, Maya refuses the offer of the audition because she’s positive she won’t have a chance against Ayumi, although the agent assures her that the judges will be objective.

Ms. Tsukikage later gives Maya grief for appearing on the stage while on probation and also scolds her for not knowing her lines. This was pretty harsh of her considering it wasn’t Maya’s fault on either count. Worse yet, Ms. Tsukikage expels her from the troupe! She tells Maya that she’ll give her one more chance. She can come back if she successfully auditions for the role of Helen Keller. If she doesn’t get the part, Ms. Tsukikage will never take her back.

Meanwhile, Ayumi leaves home so she can win the role fairly and her mother promises to judge objectively. Ayumi is determined to get the part on her own merit and also refuses to lose to Maya. Maya, having no other choice, decides to try for the role and will put everything into trying to win it. This is going to be a tough choice. Would a tie between Ayumi and Maya be possible? That’s what I’d like to see, but it’s highly unlikely. Or will both girls lose the part to Emi?

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Episode 21 –

spoiler

Once the official announcement is made for the candidates for the part of Helen Keller in the Miracle Worker, Maya begins getting a feel for the character and Ms. Tsukikage helps her in her own harsh way, but Maya is still relying too heavily on her senses – ones that Helen Keller didn’t have. Interesting that Masumi is listening from outside. Ms. Tsukikage is too intense in her passion to make Maya become Helen and she isn’t well enough for this. Masumi interrupts them to tell them their rehearsal place is being demolished and Maya tells him that he always brings them bad luck. However, once again, Maya’s fan saves the day by offering her the use of a summerhouse to rehearse in. Meanwhile, the rest of the contenders are also researching the role. Ayumi is volunteering to help with deafblind children and Emi reads Helen’s biography.

Maya arrives at the beautiful summerhouse alone and receives a note from her fan asking her not to try to find out who he is. Maya begins her transformation in the woods the next day and learns how scary it is not being able to see. At dinner she also tries to imagine how Helen would eat. The house’s caretakers think Maya is very strange. Once they leave for the night, Maya realizes that she’s still relying to much on her own senses and wonders how she will ever become Helen.

Sadly, the press has discovered where Ayumi is and descends on the place. But when they see her, she’s in character and ignores them. One reporter cruelly trips her on the stairs and she falls. The caretaker tells them that Ayumi is actually living there as a deafblind person in order to learn what it’s like and chases the reporters out. Once again, Ayumi is called a genius.

Maya is still having problems and wonders how to capture Helen’s heart. She comes to the conclusion that she must also live the same way Helen lived. Mr. and Mrs. Tsuda find her wearing a blindfold and earplugs. She doesn’t speak, but instead uses her finger to write on Mrs. Tsuda’s palm and explain what she’s doing, but the real Helen didn’t learn how to do this until she worked with Annie Sullivan. Maya begins to live as Helen did, allowing her other senses to dominate her lost ones and once again, must deal with fear and frustration.

When Masumi receives a phone call from Tsuda, he rushes to the summerhouse. Maya had just fallen down the stairs and has hurt her ankle when he arrives. She discovers his presence when she stumbles and he steadies her. She immediately knows that it’s not Mr. Tsuda, but smells a familiar scent and touches the purple rose on Masumi’s lapel. He takes her hand and she writes in his palm, asking if he’s “Mr. Purple Roses”. Masumi confirms it and Maya gets very excited and hugs him, silently thanking him. It must have been really hard for her not to tear off her blindfold and see who her fan is. Masumi hugs her back and carries her to the sofa, but as he turns to leave, not only does Maya break character, but her promise as well, when she asks him who he is. However, Masumi says nothing and writes on her palm that he wants to see her Helen. Maya’s resolve is renewed and she promises not to quit.

Masumi is starting to have more than friendly feelings towards Maya and berates himself over this, noting the over ten year difference in their ages. Emi is working hard, but is not satisfied with her portrayal of Helen. Ayumi looks like she broke character to chase a bee she should not have known was on her sweater. Maya tries to experience a thunder storm and falls from the balcony outside her room, but when Mr. and Mrs. Tsuda run out to her, she’s still in character and it was quite chilling to see. The actual auditions are about to take place and I’m really anxious to see how they will go. All of these girls are so dedicated to their craft and have worked so hard.

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That would be a shame if the follow-up could not get a proper release.

This show really has surprised me. Technically, I shouldn’t be a fan of this kind of series (OMG theater and girly drama~!) but the show has been really solid so far. The drama parts can sometimes get too goofy but that’s part of the charm of the series.

Anyway, let’s hope for a season two announcement !