First Impressions / Love Live!

「未熟DREAMER 」 (Mikyuku DREAMER)
“Inexperienced Dreamer”

And with that, Team Aqours is fired up and ready to go!

Miscommunication and Headaches

While I’m typically one who doesn’t like plot problems that revolve around characters completely being oblivious of one another and not doing anything to work things out before the problem becomes a giant cluster of crap, I’ll give Mari and Kanan a soft pass because I thought it was done pretty well and I enjoyed watching the drama between the two finally come to an end.

But if we’re being honest, everything that the two were feuding about all stemmed from just how much they cared about one another. With Kanan trying to push Mari toward a more successful future and Mari totally stuck on trying to restore Kanan’s confidence (or maybe you could call it pride?), their wish to help the other ended up creating a rift that was nearly impossible to cross. Luckily, the two had common ground in the form of Dia and a new and improved Chika who has a ton of bigger things to worry about (Side note, I loved Chika’s ourburst during Kanan and Mari’s little fight. Did you see the look on all the third years’ faces after she told Kanan and Mari to cut it out? Priceless.)

And by the end of things, how could you not love the way all three of our third years joined without putting up a fight? Toss in a catchy surprise insert song with the whole group and I think it’s fair to say things turned out pretty well.

Now, for my few gripes. What blows me away about the whole situation is just how easily this could have all been avoided if Dia had stepped up to resolve the issue between the two. She knew what was going on and had both sides confiding in her. But instead of creating a forum and allowing the two to better understand each other, she just stood around and watched as things devolved into what we saw during the beginning of Sunshine. That said, I was recently in Dia’s position and I can see how rational thought can go out the window when dealing with close friends. Which is probably why the episode didn’t really rub me the wrong way (but I’m sure it could have for others).

Closing Up and Looking Ahead

Overall, I thought we were given a pretty damn good episode. Personal gripes aside, there was a nice mix of character development and “feels” that came together in a conclusion that felt satisfying enough to have me smiling as a few tears tried to escape. And seeing how Aqours is finally in its final form, hopefully we’ll get to dive back into the Love Live side of things as they start from zero and start over :’)

  • Insert Song: 未熟DREAMER by Aqours
  • After some deliberation, here are my current rankings: Hanamaru, Kanan/Dia/Mari, Ruby/You, Chika, Yoshiko, Riko. From first the last though, there isn’t much of a difference which really surprises me since I like all of them so much. Zura.
  • I want another Sunshine event on EN LL. ;_;

 

Preview

36 Comments

  1. I loved seeing how Ruby and Dia are more alike than they think. Also, when I saw Yoshiko do that wrestling hold on both Ruby and Dia…

    “How do I say this…? It’s a bit crude, but… *snickers* I got…a BONER.”

    Aqours Top 5: Dia (big boost to her this episode with the reveal at the end), Ruby, Yoshiko, and Hanamaru, with Mari and Kanan at joint fifth place (had Mari over Kanan at first, but after this episode, decided to give them a joint spot).

    It was beautiful to see Aqours finally perform as a whole nine-member group. The road to winning Love Live will be long (and if Sunrise is trying to replicate the success of the original series, I have a feeling Sunshine will have a season 2), but for now, I can’t wait to see what Aqours will do next.

    Incognito
    Reply

    1. @I have a feeling Sunshine will have a season 2

      The Love Live franchise is too popular for a second season to be in doubt. I’d be surprised if there’s anyone out there watching the show thinking this is all we’ll get.

      I personally think Season 2 will be announced after the final episode has aired.

      Lyfe
      Reply

    2. I am starting to think that this show is a yuri anime of the year candidate. Every episode, it intensifies the yuri, mostly between the third years. Kanan finally gets the love (and probably that slap too) that she deserves. Kanan and Mari are pretty much an item and I feel bad for Dia as she is their third wheel. Why is Dia such a tsundere? She is so tsun for Chika, she leaves out a name on the beach for her. Got to love Yoshiko owning both Kurosawa sisters. And thus, Aqours is complete. Next week, it is beach time!

      John Hayabusa
      Reply

  2. This episode was done pretty well. I ended up having a bit of tears when Mari broke down.
    Yeah, the issue came from all of them caring for each other too much to express their feelings directly. If I was Dia, I wouldn’t know what to do about these two either.

    Yoshiko… I don’t think a fallen angel needs to learn a headlock, but since it actually worked on the Kurosawa sisters. If anything gets out of hand we still Zura to control Yohanne, so it’s fine haha.

    Another note … our second years are a dangerous batch, aren’t they? Chika nearly died trying to touch Riko’s hand, Riko jumping out the window to escape a dog, and now You jumping out of a build to catch a uniform (she didn’t regret anything about it, either). Yep, we need those third years to save their lives, or else Aquors will not last long. -_-

    PS. I really hope Aquors join SSIF really soon. I wonder what event they’ll have for next month. 🙂

    Seorori
    Reply

  3. I loved the fact that it was Dia who provided the name for the 2nd (9 member) incarnation of Aquors. She had it planned all along. =) How she ran away to avoid detection by the 2nd years I’ll never know. Haha.

    Okabe_Rintarou
    Reply

  4. This episode had it all: feels, laughs, and awesome moments. In no particular order:

    – While I kind of agree with Kanan that it wasn’t Chika’s business to intervene, I’m glad she did because someone had to speak up to finally settle the 3rd Years’ issue. Chika impressed me again when she told them off.
    – First it’s Chika almost coming close to the edge of her balcony trying to reach Riko, then Riko making an risky jump to get away from Shiitake, now it’s You nearly falling off a ledge because of a uniform. There’s been a lot of risky situations in this show.
    – While Chika showed why she’s the leader of Aqours, I like how it feels like Yoshiko is the muscle/enforcer of the group the way Chika ordered her to go after Dia. Yoshiko knowing some wrestling moves really caught me by surprise and added to her appeal. That and the way she felt so comfy on that bench was pretty alluring. Not gonna lie the thigh shots made it look that way. But really the girl can grapple. Ruby looked really cute running away before getting caught too.
    – Related to the above it’s also fun how Maru is pretty much Yoshiko’s handler. Twice she had to put Yoshiko in her place in this episode. Don’t forget too Takaii, she was munching on snacks again.
    – The fans saw another error this week during the clubroom scene where at one point Mari was shown with wearing the 1st Year uniform before going back to her original vest wearing look. Gotta say too Mari looked so cute hiding behind Chika while talking to Kanan.
    – Lots already pointed it out but this has got to be the first episode with no reference to the first Love Live. When Dia was refusing to join on account of her duties as president, I was waiting to Chika to mention Eri but I’m still glad it didn’t happen.
    – Manly tears for the Kanan x Mari moment of the episode, a ship I like to call Kanari. I definitely loved how this episode showed a side of Mari that’s different from her usual bubbly oddball self. Animation during that run in the rain was top notch.
    – Dia has been shooting up my ranks since the anime aired, and now she’s also one of my top favorites for her caring and supportive side prior to joining, which might look like tough love to some. Though I do agree Takaii that maybe she didn’t have to wait 2 years before fixing things between Kanan and Mari.

    Zhinvu
    Reply

  5. You know, I’m really enjoying Aqours’ hijinks.

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
    We have Yohane doing a Kurosawa lock on both sisters

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2015.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
    Only to be trumped by Ninja Master MiraiZura-sama

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
    Never… Ever… Make a loli cry

    https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
    3 times the loli, 3 times the jail term

    khorosho bene
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Velvet_Scarlantina
    Reply

  6. Looks like a beach episode next week! :p
    And it looks like they are doing some part time work… Could this mean Michael, David and Steve are making their appearance?!

    Jokes aside, it was a nice episode to finally get all the pent up drama out of the way. I give props to Dia though having to keep that secret for 2 years being the neutral party between her beloved friends.

    Nork22
    Reply

  10. I hate to be that guy, especially since I consider Love Live to be my guilty pleasure, but this episode has left a bad taste on my mouth. The entire third-year plot has been built up to be something significant then when it finally comes out, its so lame and stupid and resolved quickly. This has been a constant issue with many shows, not just this one. It hypes up a plot that seems important and the payoff is so stupid you have to wonder what is the point of stringing the audience for so long (insert your own comment about Bleach here).

    I have the wonder if they should have kept the reason that they had performance anxiety because that actually made sense! What we got though? Bad enough that Kanan has been derailed into a mopey, angsty mess and had so little screen time, but these recent revelations make her look a moron. Apparently she wanted a better future for Mari, so the obvious choice is to sabotage her idol group (which also puts the school at risk of closing again), then cut off her friendship with her for TWO YEARS! The was clearly the easiest choice, as opposed to ACKNOWLEDGING MARI’S FEELINGS AND TALK TO HER ABOUT IT! Am I supposed to find this heartwarming? Furthermore, Mari came back so what as the point of keeping up the farce? The entire intention of letting her go overseas is completely null and void! She deserved to be slapped by Mari after that and Dia should also have been slapped too for perpetuating this!

    Really what stood out most to me was Chika who dialed up her awesome and chewed out the third years for this crap. Not to mention casually ordering Yoshiko to restrain Dia when she tried to run away. I have no idea what possessed her to butt in and boss around her elders, but that was just BAD-ASS! It spoke to me in a meta level, like she was as fed up of this third-year drama as I was and decided to resolve it.

    Anyway, enough of my ranting and time to think positive. The third-year subplot is over, the KananMari ship is strong, Aqours is fully formed, and they have four more episodes to fix Kanan. Here’s hoping the next episodes will be better.

    fragb85
    Reply

    1. IT’S OKAY. I FEEL YOU. I TOTALLY FEEL YOU.

      If I try to rationalize what actually happened between our third years, it feels like I’m walking into a brick wall. (I think I touched on it a little in the post).

      Maybe it’s because I’m a pretty simple anime viewer, but in the moment I can look past all that and just enjoy all that Kanan x Mari x Dia goodness. That and I’m currently in a position where I basically am giving the cold shoulder to a friend of mine who I’ve known for over 15 years. So, seeing how anime amplifies things ten-fold, I can sort of understand the idiotic reasoning that somehow perpetuated that stupid feud for over two years.

      And yes, Chika was fucking awesome this week. Fucking. Awesome.

      Takaii
      Reply

    2. Yeah, when I first saw how Kanan was towards Mari, I thought there might’ve been some sort of family antagonism going on or something, given Kanan seems to be from a “poor” fishing family while Mari is obviously from a rich family, so maybe Kanan’s family was where they are because of Mari’s family or something like that, you know?

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

  13. Well, this is a pleasant surprise.

    Took leave from RC for the past few years because fewer and fewer shows that I watched were getting coverage here- some cours none at all. Only came here to read up on season previews, certainly didn’t expect to see Love Live being blogged.

    Kinda weird; I would have thought that this would be along the bottom of the list- it’s so very easy to dismiss it upon initial impressions, whereas I would have expected Gate to be a huge hot topic.

    tl;dr- Just surprised to see LL get covered and Gate have nada (really- absolutely NOBODY here thought it was worth their time?). Anyways, glad to see it get picked up. Got a real kick of seeing how memelicious Riko became early on.

    Also- not to betray Muse- but I find Sunshine’s OP to be the best in the series thus far. There’s something about the tone- a little more subdued than the others? There’s the barest hint of melancholy which makes the optimism shine all the more.

    Stranger
    Reply

    1. I believe I might have been the only blogger who watched GATE through till the end. I didn’t blog it because there were better shows that I had more to say about. Simply put, none of us enjoyed it that much.

      Plus, I don’t think any of us were taken by its high level of nationalism and how right-wing it was. While I’m sure we could have blogged it despite those reasons, if what posts we did do on it are any indication then the comments would likely be a diabolical shitstorm every week and be filled with personal attacks against the blogger in question for not agreeing with the messages perpetuated in the show.

      Love Live, in comparison, is much easier to enjoy (though I’m not caught up).

      Samu
      Reply

      1. Ah, I figured as much. It is difficult to avoid vitriol when the show touches upon such sensitive subjects, but I for one enjoy seeing the shit fly. While the tone may be quite aggressive and juvenile, it makes for good practice to the observer for reading between the lines and weighing the points of multiple parties with multiple biases.

        That’s where I think the strength of such a show lies; the potential for thoughtful discussion, and taking into account opposing views whilst trying to avoid knee-jerk reactions.

        I’ve read your thoughts about the series when it started (last year, I think?) and I can see your point- due to the authors’ biases it can come off as almost outright propaganda. But if one can recognise that, one can also dismiss it and just enjoy the story and characters.

        It’s kinda like reading Captain America stuff- if you can ignore the “America is the ultimate good of all the everything of ultimate heroes” overblown patriotism of his very existence, you do have a decent superhero story.

        I still find it weird that nobody here likes it.

        Stranger
        Reply

Leave a Reply

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