(Before I get started, just know I'm only caught up on the event stories on EN; anything I know from JP event stories is only in passing. Also as a disclaimer, I'm writing my thoughts based on my memories of the VBS events, so I may get some information wrong.)

SPOILER WARNING for VIVID BAD SQUAD STORIES

So ... that event huh? Haha (wipes brow)

Kick It Up A Notch, chapter 7, felt like the natural peak of where Kohane as a character has been building up to this whole time. Even from the earliest VBS stories, we start to get the sense that Kohane is headed for greatness, practically at mach speed. So this isn't really surprising. What's more interesting is how this affects her partner, Shiraishi An.

In Project Sekai, the main characters of each band are called unit leaders. While they may not technically be the leader of their unit, they are the protagonist of their unit's story.

By all accounts, An should be the protag of Vivid Bad Squad.
But she's not.

The focal point of VBS' stories — the past that haunts them and the motive that drives them forward — is the legendary event RAD WEEKEND. It was put on by Taiga, and made legendary by his performance with his sister Nagi and his partner Ken. An not only witnessed RAD WEEKEND live via the front row when it happened several years ago, she's also the daughter of Ken. It's literally in her blood.

So it seems like this is how her story plays out; she practices, she performs, she improves, and she one day sings in an event that outshines RAD WEEKEND in the minds of everyone on Vivid Street. This is An's story. This sounds like the protagonist's story.

But it's not a straight road. From the first story, we see that An is struggling to even find a singing partner. She can sing and perform with great charisma, but it's just a given that no single person can best RAD WEEKEND. It has to be a group effort.

That's when she meets Kohane, and whisks her away almost immediately into the world of street performing.

An is the first person to see Kohane's innate talent. That's not to say Kohane's skills are purely coincidental — she sings whenever she's alone due to her social anxiety and so had likely built up her abilities to some degree before the story starts. But An is the one to discover Kohane. This is important to remember.

By the end of the main story, Kohane has made An's dream her dream. She wants to do whatever she can to help An reach her goal of outdoing RAD WEEKEND. Note that she didn't have a dream of her own before this. Sounds an awful lot like a supporting character, and yet she's the protag. But not too far into VBS' event stories, we start to see Kohane begin fulfilling her role as the star of the story.

At an alarmingly rapid pace, Kohane goes from a timid schoolgirl who can't even bring herself to ask strangers for directions, to performing on stage in front of an audience with An, Akito, and Toya — three people who have a history of musical experience that eclipses her own. She builds up confidence as her bandmates encourage her. And while we're focusing on Kohane, something bittersweet is happening to An.

Taiga offers to mentor Kohane personally. Taiga, someone who is like an uncle to An, wouldn't even mentor his honorary niece, and yet takes this amateur singer under his wing. Because something about her reminds him of his sister, Nagi.

I won't go deep into it, but Nagi was integral to RAD WEEKEND. While Taiga and Ken fought, she was the mediator that got them out on stage. And she was good. She was really good. She's someone that An looks up to. It's easy to imagine that in An's mind, she pictures herself becoming the Nagi of the hypothetical legendary event she's chasing after.

She doesn't quite realize it at the time, as she's more worried about Kohane improving so fast that she'll abandon her someday. But Kohane is taking An's place in the story of her own life. Kohane, who has only ever seen RAD WEEKEND via a recording on a DVD, is getting closer to it than An, who was there, who has felt it. Lived it. It's no longer a given that An is the fated one to lead her group to conquer her father's legacy. It's Kohane's destiny now.

Again, I'm not caught up with the JP stories, but I checked out chapter 7 of Kick It Up A Notch. I don't have the context for the scene, but Kohane is up on stage singing solo, while the rest of VBS watches from backstage, as well as some others from Vivid Street like Taiga, Ken, Arata, etc.

And she's electric.

Everyone there who was close to Nagi, who saw Nagi perform in RAD WEEKEND ... they're stunned. Because it's as An says,

「・・・うそ・・・・・・凪さんみたい・・・・・・」
"... No way ...... She looks like Nagi ......"

An, on the surface, is an energetic and positive character. Possibly the most energetic and positive, if not for the fact Emu exists. But after pushing aside subconscious uncertanties and insecurities over multiple stories, she's now having to look her fears in the face and see the reality.

Remember that An is the one who found Kohane and brought her into the street music scene. She's the reason Kohane is here. And Kohane is now overshadowing her, in skill, presence, and maybe even reputation. An loves Kohane, but how must this feel for her?

Everyone in the live house is looking at Kohane, and seeing the image of Nagi — of the performer An so desperately wants to be. Her chosen partner is beginning to live out An's own dream while she's stuck backstage watching it happen.

This mixture of jealousy and pride ... it has to be gut-wrenching. She now has to deal with exacerbated fears of abandonment, and an alienating sense of envy toward her beloved partner. It's easy to imagine, if we place ourself in An's shoes, that she may want to push Kohane away just as much as she wants to pull her closer.

I think the overarching story of VBS is like a roller coaster, and this particular event story is like the highest peak before the great fall. There's an opportunity to show some real tangible tension in An and Kohane's relationship, and explore An's character after this realization that she's not the star of this show.

She's only the deuteragonist after all.