The Normal Monster | Who is Takami Chika?

Normal.

A word that means standard. Usual. Typical. To be expected. It’s a word that describes something that’s not exactly bad or all that good either. It’s right in the middle. It doesn’t challenge expectations, it doesn’t stand out, it’s just normal. There’s nothing special about one who is normal and this world is filled with those who fit that descriptor. Millions upon billions of people live everyday with this word to describe them, nothing in their lives that pushes them beyond or makes them more than what they seem. There’s nothing to drive them, nothing to push them forward.

One such person was Takami Chika.

Like you or I or anyone on this planet, Chika was normal. She had nothing that made her great or even just better than your average person. She doesn’t have any aspirations, nothing like those who would be described as exceptional. She’s just Takami Chika of Uchiura, a boring, normal town by the sea. How could someone like her ever know what it’s like to shine?

“That’s when I met them”

The light of nine shone down upon her, overwhelmed her beyond belief. Those girls on that stage looked just like her. They were just normal highschool girls, but unlike her, there was this light that emanated from them that forced her to keep watching them. She was in awe of this miracle that stood before her, the miracle of Muse, the light that changed the world of school idols–the light that awoke something in this girl that could only ever call herself normal.

This is the Normal Monster. This is Takami Chika.

I feel that it’s important to point something out before I go forward. A large part of the narrative of Love Live! Sunshine!! draws back to School Idol Project for the sake of showing the perspective of someone who only ever saw the ideal that Muse was. Chika, in essence, is just a fangirl who only ever saw the legend that they became. They were normal girls who were able to do the impossible and become something brighter than anything Chika had seen, and for her, who didn’t like anything about herself, she deified Muse. They became her Bible. That’s why every decision she makes is based on that phrase “what would Muse do?” She copied their poses, listened to their songs, collected their merch. Her first song she wrote was a song that was meant to be like Snow Halation, and as if to nail the fact home that Chika only ever knew the legend, she assumes that Snow Halation was a song written because someone in Muse had romantic experience, not knowing that Snow Halation was not a song that was inspired by romantic love, but rather a love of passion, a love of friendship and a love for School Idols. In fact, even more evident is her reaction to the announcement that the school was closing down. She wasn’t worried, but rather exhilarated. This was her chance to be like them! Muse saved their school, that’s why they became school idols, so that must be what she had to do. She needed to be more like them, anything to become like the nine that changed the world.

To be anything other than Takami Chika.

It’s made very apparent that Chika does not like herself. She constantly talks about the merits of everyone around her. When she saw Riko, this beautiful girl from the city, she was in awe of how beautiful she was. When Riko told her that she played the piano, Chika remarked that it was wonderful that she had something to be passionate about. “Unlike me.” When she saw Hanamaru and Ruby, she told them they were cute and beautiful and that they needed to become school idols, proclaiming in excitement that Aqours would win the moment that they even expressed the idea of joining. She saw Yohane and her weird behavior, but also the fame that she got from her streams and was in awe at how bright she was. That light was blinding, and it filled every single person that she came across…but for some reason she never had it. What’s special about her? Average physique, average talents, average, average, average. Takami Chika is just Takami Chika. Constantly looking around at what others do because anything that they do is better than her. It’s so obvious that she doesn’t like herself, that she despises who she is because I know how that feels. To not know what you want to do because you’ve never truly excelled in anything. To constantly compare yourself to others because they all seem better than you. To want desperately for one thing that you want to do with all of your heart, to put all of your passion and all of your love into…that’s something I’ve always wanted. But I know I’m not the only person who feels this way because all of us who live with the label of “normal” understand what it’s like to be Takami Chika.

That’s why I think Chika is not only the perfect role for this series, not only the glue that holds Sunshine together, not only the perfect representation of what this series stands for; I think she’s the greatest protagonist that I’ve ever seen in anime. On the outset, she seems like the typical genki girl with a lack of self confidence, but it’s not that simple. There’s a very clear lack of self-worth that she has, a self-worth that you realize is what prevented her from wanting to reach forward in the first place. Her family constantly remarks that it’s so weird that Chika was invested in being a school idol because every other thing she’s tried, she gave up on. And it’s not as if it’s a lack of motivation, because as You says, it’s not that she has no motivation, but rather that she wants to be able to put her all in something, or else why even try? Her mom points out that she pretended to just lose motivation because in actuality, she was just frustrated that she failed, that she didn’t accomplish anything. She failed to be more than what she was.

But she somehow managed to collect a wide amount of personalities around her. Riko, the talented pianist, You, the athletic swimmer with a talent for costume-making, Hanamaru, who had an immense love for literature, Ruby, who was so adorable and loved school idols, Yohane, who hated who she was yet held so much pride in her make-believe, Dia, who was so mature and was an amazing leader, Kanan, who was unbelievably athletic and was able to take care of her father’s business by herself, and Mari, who was this eccentric and passionate rich girl who was also the school’s director. They were all special in their own rights, moreso than she could ever hope to be yet they still followed her. She extended her hands out to them and asked them if they wanted to be school idols, and they took her hand. And that, while being her first step towards being a school idol, was just more proof to her that she wasn’t capable of anything on her own.

Chika’s constant admiration for the exceptional doesn’t just reflect on how much she admires amazing things. Her love for Muse was built entirely off of an understanding that did not hold any context, but why would it? Muse, in the five years that took place between School Idol Project and Sunshine, was deified by everyone. They changed the world of school idols forever, and no one understood how or why. Especially in this world where school idols are more popular than ever before, everyone can dance as good or better than them. They can sing just as well. So how come none of them are capable of shining just like they did? So, on top of that, take Chika’s lack of confidence in who she is into consideration as well. Nothing she does is worth anything. She isn’t capable of anything on her own, so she has to be someone else, anyone else other than her and if Muse was capable of shining despite their normalcy, maybe the best thing is to just be like them.

But even that resulted in failure; in a zero that would define who she was.

One of the most impactful moments in the series, if not all of anime was when Chika is in the water after they performed in Tokyo. She sits there in the water that surrounds the town she loves, the water where Riko was able to regain her light, and says to Riko that if she was able to hear the sound of the waves, maybe she would see something too. But she didn’t. She couldn’t see anything, she never has. She doesn’t see anything in her future because it all just looks bleak and dark. But she had something finally, she had school idols. She found the thing that she wanted to do, yet she failed again. She tried so hard, yet she failed. She and those girls who believed in her and her words thought they found their own radiance, but as if to remind her that she’s worthless, all they received was a zero. Nothing. You’re normal. This zero is all that you are. And, she just starts to hit herself.

“Why is it a zero?

It’s so frustrating!

I don’t care if it’s harder now or that it’s not the same as like Muse was, because that’s not an excuse!

I failed! I couldn’t do anything!

Why can’t I be better than this? Why can’t I do anything? Why can’t I be more than what I am?

Why do I fail at everything that I do? Why can’t I just be someone else?

I just want to shine! I just want to be more than what I am! I’m tired of being normal, of having nothing, of being a zero!

Why do I have to be like this? Why do I have to be me?”

I think it’s so perfect that the songs that Aqours performs are written by Chika, because the words that she says are filled with her feelings that she can’t help but pour out, and that spreads into her speeches. Unlike Honoka, who’s awkward and can’t speak her mind, it’s obvious that Chika spends a lot of time contemplating to herself about what she really feels, and in every speech that she gives in the show, it reflects that. Always thinking about these feelings that fill her and charge her perception, always in awe of the things that she sees, wishing and hoping that she could be like that. The deifying that she does to Muse is something she does to everyone. If it weren’t for You, there wouldn’t be any costumes. If it weren’t for Riko, there wouldn’t be any music. Ruby and Hanamaru are far cuter than her, so she needs them to be with her. This group of school idols is filled with these people who are so exceptional, and she owes every single success she has to them. She’s not capable of doing anything by herself because she’s always getting help. Dia tells her that the success of Aqours’ first live was entirely due to goodwill, but Chika already knew that. Of course that was the case, how could it be anything else? It wasn’t because of her, because Chika’s not capable of something like that. It’s always others who are better than her. What she doesn’t realize is that they didn’t see it that way. 

You always wanted to see what Chika saw. She wanted to be with her best friend that she loved and helped her create Aqours because in Chika’s eyes, there was this passion, this determination that You had never seen before. Chika saw everything in this light that made it all look so exceptional, but that was because Chika saw the shine in everything except herself. Riko was a talented pianist, sure, but she’s a failure. A coward. She ran away from the piano that gave her love, yet here was this girl who kept trying to get her to join her at all costs, who saw the light that was trapped within the failure that ran from Otonokizaka. Hanamaru and Ruby were cowards who couldn’t escape from their shyness, yet Chika pulled them out and told them they were so exceptionally radiant. Yohane hated herself yet loved the things that made her embarrassing, but Chika told her that she was so unbelievably bright, that she should love who she is because what you love makes you shine. Dia, Kanan and Mari’s dreams were crushed and their friendship torn apart. Their hope that they had as school idols ripped to shreds, yet Chika took those hopes and put them back together again. She told Dia that she loved her the way she was. She granted Kanan’s wish of taking back the pride that she lost. She gave hope in Mari’s heart that they could do what she was failing to do. As much as Chika believed they were special, as much as Chika told them they were better than she was, they were just as ashamed, broken and afraid of failure as her. The only one who didn’t believe in Chika was Chika.

It was thanks to Chika that You was able to not just do something with her friend, but find new ones. It was thanks to Chika that Riko gained her wings back and opened up the door to her heart. It was thanks to Chika that Hanamaru found a story worth living. It was thanks to Chika that Ruby got a chance to be what she always wanted to be. It was thanks to Chika that the Fallen Angel Yohane came to love everything about her shameful self. It was thanks to Chika that Dia was able to sing and love again not just with her best friends, but with her little sister. It was thanks to Chika that Kanan was able to repair the friendship that she destroyed. It was thanks to Chika that Mari was able to come back to the place she loved. It was thanks to Chika that Uranohoshi found hope, because in the light of Aqours was the tenth idol able to grab hold of the hope that it lost when they were scheduled to close. Every word that Chika told to them was something she believed they were capable of, because of course they would be. They were exceptional. They were special, unlike her, and yet they all chose to follow her. They were depending on her, but she wasn’t capable of doing anything.

That was something that only she believed.

To be normal is to be unexceptional. To be normal is to never stand out from the crowd. To be normal is to never excel no matter how hard you try. To be normal is to know that anything you do will never make a difference. To be normal is to know that you are surrounded by lights as you wait for your own to shine yet every second you wait, that shine never comes. To be normal is to be stuck on the ground as you look up to the sky wondering what it’s like to fly, and Takami Chika was normal. Unremarkable, average and unimportant–that’s who she was. And that’s why they followed her. They all had their individual talents, they all were exceptional in some way or another but every single one of them failed. Every single one of them held a regret, but the one who told them that they could do anything was the one who insisted that she had done nothing. This normal girl stuck on the ground looking for her wings picked them up and gave them their own. They were exceptional, but Chika was the one they followed because while none of them had the power to keep going forward, this girl who knew she was normal, who despised how average she was kept jumping and leaping into the air despite how fated she was to stay trapped on the ground. This girl who had nothing to lose because she felt that she had nothing gave them the courage they needed. 

And in that, the normal monster was more exceptional than any of them.

I relate to Takami Chika more than I relate to any other character that I’ve seen. I know what it’s like to want to be more than who you are because I can’t stand who I am. I’ll be honest. I’ve had opportunities to become more than I am, but I didn’t pursue them. I blamed life, I blamed circumstances, a lack of time, a lack of ability and so on. While outwardly, I said I was fine knowing that I tried my best, I know that’s not true. I could have tried harder, but more importantly, I just didn’t have any passion behind it, no drive to push past the barrier. I was too afraid of failing because doing so would only prove how worthless I am. Every failure that I’ve ever experienced in life just drove that point further that I was nothing; that I was a zero. But I see this girl who feels the same way I do, who has the same fears and insecurities that I do. I see this girl who, like me, is surrounded by people better than she is and wants nothing but to be like them and tells them that they’re better than her. Yet she still keeps fighting. Despite the failure that she is, she loves being a school idol more than anything because it was a light that shook her to her core and made her move. She had nothing but thanks and admiration for everyone around her, yet none of that for herself. She didn’t realize that being able to pursue your dreams with all of your heart, fighting onward despite failure, challenging your normal self and being able to see the world around you for how special it is is far from normal.

That title that she gave herself is, in and of itself a contradiction. A monster is anything but normal. It’s a word that describes something larger than life, a presence that grabs the attention of everything around it and has the power to smash through any obstacle that gets in its way. If Kousaka Honoka was someone who led by running blindly into an open field, pulling along everyone with her, Chika was someone who pushed from behind. She pulled these girls whose hearts were sunk in darkness out into the light and pushed them into the realm of possibility because she believed in them. She just needed to believe in herself. Because, ultimately, that girl who saw her future as nothing but darkness did something that few were capable of, and it was that light that pushed everyone to be who Chika believed they could be. Chika defined herself by that zero because it symbolized her failure, it symbolized that she, despite all of her efforts, was capable of nothing if she did it on her own, but a school idol isn’t ever alone. She was no longer by herself, admiring others from afar and she didn’t have to solely rely on them. She wasn’t a zero.

Chika is the normal monster. A girl capable of things that she never thought she could do. A leader that shone brighter than any other, all because she thought she was normal and fought to challenge herself. Falling and falling yet getting back up, pursuing a radiance that seemed beyond her grasp. And that, I think, is a light that is brighter than any other.

That’s the leader of Aqours, the one who brought about a wave of miracles.