「パッションアイランド」 (Passhon Airando)
“Passion Island”

This week on Live Live! Superstar!! We get a summer episode of sorts. But have you ever wanted summer episodes to be more than just that? Well, Love Live! certainly is providing. By extending its summer episode into a whole arc. More than anything this was Chisato’s episode. Sumire, Kanon, and Keke all head towards performing on the island, all by a lucky encounter.

The episode starts pretty tamely, the girls get ready to practice, but a terrible heat stikes them on down, Keke tries going outside but is quickly beaten by it. This week Keke really shone, finally being able to stand up to Sumire and the whole trip she has going on. Thinking she’s above everyone because she played an Isotop in show business. Turns out that’s the reason Keke bullies her and pulls her down. Something that makes Sumire mad with rage. It was pretty funny seeing how these two interacted.

Fast forward, all of them are seeking refuge in Kanons coffee place,  where they have AC. Then of all the people that could have shown up, the duo Sunny Passions emerges.

Pa! 

A girl oozing elegance with purple hair and a bright genki-girl with shark tooth show up at their doorstep. An odd combo, but turns out there are the real-life school idols of the representative Tokyo group. Sunny Passion! The girls get instantly excited and can’t hold their glee. They are offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, come to have fun on their island! That’s right Sunny Passion has an island just to themselves, where they get to perform. They must be crazy rich or something. But before that, Sunny Passion holds a choreography practice and cardio workout with the other team. But Chisato gets to hold back thanks to Kanon’s generosity, something she sees as being excluded from the action, just because she is in a different program. This leads Chisato to talk with Sunny Passion and get their honest opinion. That’s enough for her to take action and apply herself towards a competition that will surely make her realize how much really she is needed with the other group. I’m guessing the girls who are in the other program are going to let go of their dreams to follow the school idol dream. But knowing this series and how it has gone so far, that’s sure to have some weight on the character’s shoulder.

Speaking of emotion, this episode was full of them, harden honesty with a soft sensitive touch. I loved it! But I won’t get all wishy-washy on you guys!

Then as they head their different ways with overlapped schedules, Kanon. Sumire and Keke end up on top of a cruiseliner, that’s transporting them to the island, along with fans who wish to visit of course. It’s not just for them. But the Sunny Pa girls show up to greet them. Keke show’s some formalities and brings a chocolate box or something. Sumire reproaches her. In a sense, Sumire and Keke are very much alike. But Keke hasn’t been hardened by the media, and she still holds that revel spirit. While Sumire seeks more professionalism and a hard regimen to follow, hoping one day to stand on her dreams. Keke wants the same but is only just starting to figure that out. She’s Sunny Pa #1 of course!

No singing this episode, which is kind of a bummer, but I didn’t mind so much because it was a really enjoyable episode that held my interest all the way to the end. Hopefully, it won’t take 3 episodes for the girls to sing again, but if it does, I’m loving the beach vibes and living vicariously through them.

Anyway, hope you’re doing well! And see you all next week for another episode of Love Live! Superstar!!   

Preview

10 Comments

  1. Wha-wha-Why are we getting a big ol thumbnail of Heanna Sumire with the phrase “Passion Airando – Passion Island”. What happened to the usual multi screen clips of scenes before entering the post? Am I missing something? Is this bait which I triggered a trap?

    I’m really, really scared…

    RenaSayers
  2. The animation in Love Live is always so round and consistent and exact…. I often wonder why they don’t just animate it in CGI entirely. I remember one season of another installment did just that. The dances sequences are already in CGI anyway.

    starss
    1. The dances are most likely motion captured, and later refined in post (something not a lot of anime studios do) so that it looks smooth and consistent. Animating the whole thing in CGi would most likely mean more work for Sunrise since it’s a totally different medium. Even though with Love Live they have more budget than most, it would most likely mean more work since they would need to figure out a pipeline to churn out the episodes in full CGi, while keeping it consistent with fans expectations. And right now CGi anime is not up to standard with anime itself, or western CGi for that matter. So it present’s a little bit of a problem. Normally it would seem like CGi is a lot easier, but it’s actually harder, takes more time to get right, and is more expensive. It would also mean re-training your animators to animate in 3D. Something that would take even more time and money that they probably don’t have, or want to spend. So yeah, that’s probably one reason they don’t do full CGi. Even though it seems like it would give the studio a break, it would actually place more pressure on them.
      -Source, me an animation student.

  3. I don’t think they went to a private island. Given the time required for travel and the mode of transport (public ferry), they probably went to Aogashima, which is about 225 miles (360 km) from Tokyo. This island is part of the Tokyo Prefecture; therefore, Sunny Passion is technically from Tokyo.

    Bakapooru

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