「TOKYO」 (TOKYO)
“TOKYO”

Oh boy, things got pretty serious this week with the introduction of Aqours’ new rivals — Saint Snow.

Onward to Tokyo!

Before diving into some of the heavier (at least for a Love Live) stuff, let’s talk a little about the fantastic first half of the episode. With good feelings flowing throughout and lots of corny moments for all of our favorite characters, this episode served as a perfect break from the constant growth Aqours has been experiencing. Seeing how it’d be a little ridiculous to constantly watch our girls find success in everything (at least I’d think it’d be a little ridiculous) and just as ridiculous if they ran into some giant insurmountable obstacle, a small break in the pace is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Seriously, when was the last time we got to see Riko break that strict personality of hers and get drawn into one of her secret passions? And while I never would have assumed she’d be a giant sucker for romance / otome things, we all have things we get a little weak in the knees for, am I right?

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed what we saw of Aqours in Tokyo. While it would have been nice to get a surprise µ’s appearance, I’ll patiently keep waiting for it since there’s no way the show runners could have a Love Live spinoff without throwing at least a tiny bone to the audience, right?

Saint Snow

You know, even though A-Rise was the “group-to-beat” throughout all of the original show’s run, there was never a moment where I felt negative feelings toward them. Confident but never full of themselves, they viewed their opponents with respect and never underestimated them. I wish the same could be said about Saint Snow. With one less member but ten times the ego, their introduction left me feeling less than positive. Toss is their less than friendly greeting before going on stage and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say I wanted one of our girls to smack them in the face.

Playing devil’s advocate though, I guess one could say Saint Snow is here to show us that School Idol life is more than just sunshine and smiles. But even if that were the case, I still can’t appreciate the way they behaved. Hopefully they get some kind of redemption moment or somehow manage to fall completely flat on their faces.

Looking Ahead

With a big performance scheduled for next week, it looks like there’s a possibility we might get two new insert songs! However, based on the episode’s title it sounds like things aren’t going to go over all that well. Hopefully I’m wrong though and we get to see a bunch of Aqours doing cool Aqours things!

See you next week!

  • Insert Song: No New Song This Week!
  • Current favorites no change! Still: Hanamaru, Ruby/You, Yoshiko, Chika, and Riko. The slashes just means I couldn’t pick between the two and they share the same spot. Let me know your favorites down in the comments! And it’s cool to change them later, I know mine might :’)
  • Hanamaru was so adorable again this week. God this show knows how to appeal to the Hanamaru fans.
  • KABEDON!

 

Preview

33 Comments

  1. Considering the talk between Dia and Mari and now the introduction of Saint Snow, I have a feeling that Aqours may have a less-than-stellar introduction for one reason or another and thus having the group experience something similar to what presumably Dia, Kanan, and Mari experienced before, only to not give up and keep on going despite the setback which will probably be what draws the seniors back in and join the group for the last third of the series.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. Finally, something interesting and original, plot-wise. I think the third years are the most yuri of the show and the entire LL. Though I feel bad for both Kanan and her seiyuu, seeing how this show are treating them. Riko seems to be a doujin fanatic. I wish she is more of a yuri fangirl and not just a “girl x brick wall” one. Got to say that I love the new rival group Saint Snow very much. They look like they came from Precure. I hope they have a third member.

      John Hayabusa
      1. You know, I’m not sure if I’m reading too much into it but St. Snow may represent the fandom that is bitchy towards Aqours and/or sees Aqours as unworthy. Of course this if based off first impressions

        c2710
  2. https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
    Mari: Let me tell you about Darth Joke. A long time ago, she yearned to be a school idol. She did become one only to be betrayed by her members. Now, Darth Joke has willed that a new school idol will be formed to bring peace to Uranohoshi

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
    Dia: You… You are the Sith Lord that we’ve been looking for!

    ——————

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
    “Nozoyou reporting for duty!”

    ——————

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2019.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
    Riko: “I need to expel these dirty feelings somehow!”
    http://imgur.com/mi9O2z1

    ——————

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
    You know… Throughout the whole episode, I was expecting Use to make a surprise cameo appearance

    Velvet Scarlantina
  3. I think Saint Snow is a nice surprise compared to A-Rise. In season one all we got out of A-Rise was a snip of Private Wars then a cameo in the last episode. Then personality-wise SS turned out to be what I remember people speculating A-Rise would be like before they appeared in season 2. I’m worried for next episode because I will want to injure someone if they end up causing Aquors to lose face, but I’m also excited to see what kind of song they’ll bring out

    Arche
  4. For a minute there I was hoping the inn Aqours was staying in what near Honoka’s shop. What I especially liked about this episode is how Dia show how great a big sister she is to Ruby. Less antagonistic and more supportive in a way. It was a little disappointing too Kanan wasn’t in today’s episode. It’s also great how Yoshiko accepts her chuuni side more. Was she really considering traveling to Tokyo with the make-up on though? And you can’t count out You’s interest in uniforms. Riko was also cute with her reactions, especially after seeing Ruby and Hanamaru’s outfits. That scene where Chika, Hanamaru, and Ruby were giggling at Yoshiko seriously needs a gif.

    Also, someone pointed out an animation error in the scene where they were in front of UTX Academy. In one scene, Hanamaru was beside Ruby and when the Love Live commercial started, Riko and Hanamaru somehow switched positions.

    Zhinvu
  5. Well, it was a nice and a little frustrating episode, since I was unconsciously hoping that anyone in μ’s would show up.lol
    I’m also expecting that they won’t have a good concert too. I hope I was wrong as well.

    Seorori
  6. Yoshiko’s totally in “fallen angel” goth-loli heaven right here. XD Also, I almost expected fellow chuunibyous Ranko Kanzaki, Rikka Takanashi, Ruri Gokou and Kobato Hasegawa to show up as regular customers of that shop, hehe.

    At least the stuff Riko is looking at is leagues better than Fifty Shades of Grey (both book and movie.)… Though I assume someone will photoshop Fifty Shades of Grey‘s book cover or film poster (or some other funny stuff) on that sign.

    And Saint Snow is smug as f***. (Well, that half of the duo.)

    Incognito
  7. Throw a tiny bone? This show is a massive pile of them. It’s getting stupid, like lantis are insecure the fans won’t like the show unless they constantly tie it back to the first group

    Bii
    1. I can understand why — I didn’t think I’d like this show at all since I was so butt hurt when I originally heard about Aqours.

      Except I still give things a chance and lo and behold it’s actually pretty darn good.
      I’m sure a lot of people won’t even give it the time of day though 🙁

  8. The A-RISE girls were friendly rivals. They even lent the school rooftop to Muse. But this new girls don’t seem that friendly. Remind me of Jupiter from the Idolmaster first anime. And I’m glad they are taking that route, since things were going a bit too smoothly for them. Chika REALLY needs a reality check and judging from the next episode title something bad could happen.

    haitechan

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *