Grow Up Show: Himawari no Circus Ep.09 - Betrayal! I knew we couldn't trust Rin!

Episode 9 of Grow Up Show: Himawari no Circus delivers one twist after another in a crescendo that is going to set up the finale of this original series. The first twist revolved around Rin: she was actually a double agent working for Nanami to make sure the circus would close down. Absolute betrayal!

She has been feeding information to Nanami for a long time as a way to make sure the circus was always under pressure. She did it because of Maria's deteriorating condition, but that doesn't change the reality that she betrayed everyone's trust, didn't deem them worth talking things over with, and just did her own thing. Kind of conceited, isn't it?

Apparently Maria and Ouka had the same thoughts when watching Rin do something in secret. Must be a lover! Turns out it wasn't.

Making the sad face won't restore trust in you, keep lying for years and then somehow we need to believe you won't do it again? Sorry Rin, you need something more than that.

Then we have Maria, who is actually an old "member" of Mizuka's father's circus troupe. She was a child who lost her memories due to an accident, and the circus troupe took care of her for years before she recovered and went back home. Apparently, this disease is the reason she looks extremely young, despite being older than Nanami.

Sure, being stuck as a child isn't great, but I'm not so sure about the realism of it. I'm certain people would sell everything to obtain something that keeps them young forever. Her exact age isn't revealed, but you can easily infer she's around 20 to 25 right now, which is surprising.

Now the stage moves toward the world circus competition. Mizuka says that they're going to win it, but is it really that easy for them to actually overcome the competition from more experienced teams? Sure, they'll ride the popularity of her being the daughter of Black Lotus, but is that enough?

Of course, that's not the only path forward; losing while still gathering Nanami's support for her older sister's troupe would also be positive. She is rough, but that's just her role as a minor antagonist for our heroines; I'm sure she'll mellow out under the right conditions.

Maria was obviously adorable back then and turns out she didn't change much from when she was nine. Not that I mind, she's very adorable!

Would you believe that Nanami is actually the little sister of Maria? The magic that can only happen in anime! I wonder how did she end up with that personality though...

Remember how I was talking about the "endgame" in the previous episode and wondering what was left for Mizuka as the protagonist? It turns out the end goal is becoming the new captain of the troupe, much like her father Black Lotus was in the original one. 

Training everyone else performance and being the leader that pulls everyone forward seems to be perfectly up to her alley, but is she going to accept becoming basically the successor of Black Lotus? She still has resentment against her father and for good reasons really.