Carole & Tuesday “A Natural Woman” Review

Carole & Tuesday “God Only Knows” was enough to melt my heart. So much of the emotion poured into that episode was more than I was prepared for. Especially when discovering the power of music when you have someone you’re singing to, or for. I found myself very much looking forward to the new Carole & Tuesday this week because I couldn’t help but want more of that. Slice of Life anime doesn’t always get me, but this one does!

After last week’s episode, I was very interested to see who Carole and Tuesday would end up running into next. So far it has been quite the experience for them and us to run into all of these older artists who share in the same kind of music as them. Our initial introduction to Flora was a bit sad for seeing how far Flora had fallen from her heyday. Though at the same time I couldn’t argue with seeing someone represent this side to music where you can be on top and lose it all. Her story through the perspective of Gus was also sad, because we were also able to see that side to the industry where everything can be going right with the person who you represent, and then find yourself tossed aside for someone else who can take you further. Just knowing that Gus used to manage her told you enough that something must have gone wrong. Clearly it wasn’t because he was a bad manager, so there had to be some deeper meaning. They did not disappoint there one bit. Not always will an episode focus on Gus in particular, though this did not waste the opportunity to give him a little more to do on his own.

With that said, I enjoyed to exploration of Flora when she was in her prime. Her voice was magical. I mean, you could definitely see the similarities created between herself and American R&B singer Aretha Franklin. Same power in her voice, and you could definitely feel the gospel in her music which gives it that extra oomph.

Where this episode really got me was finally seeing Carole and Tuesday take on their first gig since the contest. Gus lands the girls a gig performing at South by Southwest was the next best step to take for the girls. After all the training and mentoring that these two received since then, this was the time to finally see what kind of music they could now produce. Honestly? I loved it. Their music has a lot more energy put into it, their vocals are stronger, and it made a world of a difference to have additional instruments on hand to give their songs a bit more flair. They can only get better from here, and that gives you more than enough reason to see what they can produce next.

Aside from this, it was also great to see how things begin to change for the duo once their debut song finally goes on sale. Everything was leading to that moment, and what could follow after. They might not be up their with Angela, but that single I believe still represented them before their skills became more refined.

Things got interesting for Angela this week. This is a character who they continue to surprise me with. You would assume that she would be easily written off as the girl who has it all and has a stuck-up attitude. Fortunately for us that has not been the case. She is a character with depth, and this week represented another theme when rising as a star. That being security. The idea that fans can go a bit too far is always a troubling thought. You wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and they set quite the scene for one Angela who is not normally thrown outside of her comfort zone unless she allows it.Now they didn’t exactly push far with this development in her story, though hopefully the next episode or so puts a bit more time into figuring out how Angela handles this.

It only made sense that eventually we could run into the very singer who inspired Carole to get into music. Carole & Tuesday “A Natural Woman” was just as endearing as the last one. The world of music isn’t perfect, but this is a series that at the very least tries to captivate you with the moments where the beauty can be all that matters. Sometimes it can be that beauty which saves a life. I believe Flora was the perfect representation of how a passion for things like music can make you, or break you if you lose it.

Jideobi Odunze Author

