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「Awaken the power」 (Awaken the power)
“Awaken the Power”
God, this episode had me tearing up more than I thought it would.
General Impressions
God, I hate it how stories relating to family always get me all worked up. Be it between father and son, mother and daughter, or sister and sister, there’s something special when you think about the special bonds that only appear through the unique relationship those combinations of people have with one another. And it’s that something special that makes any story that uses these types of connections feel so good even if the overall point is lighthearted or terribly sad.
In this week’s episode case, I love how it focused on the lighter side of things while never losing that sense of just how important things were for Ruby and Ria. With our first years taking care of things this time around, it was super fun watching them separate from the main group in order to tackle the challenge of creating a brand new song with dance steps all by themselves. From Yoshiko revealing her ability to speak like a normal person to Hanamaru dropping some harsh criticism about both Yoshiko and herself, it was quite the chance of pace to see our first years behaving so differently. That said, it would feel wrong if I didn’t compliment Ruby (and Ria) for going so far out of her comfort zone this week. Seeing how all of this comes back to the fact that they were trying to demonstrate to their sisters that they’re capable of moving forward even after they’re gone, I think they were both successful in what they set out to do this week.
Moving on to the performance itself, I felt a little conflicted as I started tapping my foot to the awfully catchy beat. As a full Saint Snow x Aqours performance, it was awesome to see our two rivals come together for a magnificent performance. However, seeing how this was supposed to be Ruby and Ria’s moment, I felt a little disappointed that everyone else ended up participating midway. Disappointed in the sense that thematically this could have been such a strong moment for Ruby and Ria had they done the whole thing by themselves. Don’t get me wrong though — I loved the performance as a whole and after writing this post, I realized that if you look at this as something that Ruby and Ria made on their own, what does it matter who ends up performing so long as they’re the ones who made it happen?
Anyways, let’s close things out before this post gets even longer. With the Love Live Finals approaching and various storylines getting closed out, I can’t wait to see what happens from here on out. Our girls seem to be in tip top shape and have somehow gained the support of more people than we could have even imagined. Hopefully they’ll be able to kick ass at the finals and bring back the prestige and glory to their small seaside town. Based off of next week’s preview though, it looks like there might be some struggles as they make their way there.
Catch you guys next week!
P.S. I forgot to touch on it in the post, but I loved how nervous Dia was this week. As the “serious” member of the group, it’s always a treat to see her freak out in the most illogical ways especially when it involves Ruby.
Preview
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https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2009%20-%2040.jpg
Man, they stepped up the CG dance. The song is awesome too.
Well, Yoshiko did show she could talk normally during the first season after she FINALLY is convinced to come back to school after fleeing on the first day due to doing a chunibyou introduction in front of her class, lol. In fact, she became pretty popular among the class, but still showed she had a hard time holding back her Yohane persona.
“P.S. I forgot to touch on it in the post, but I loved how nervous Dia was this week. As the ‘serious’ member of the group, it’s always a treat to see her freak out in the most illogical ways especially when it involves Ruby.”
As expected of Dia’s big sister instinct. I loved Dia’s little breakdown on the plane after imagining that Ruby, Yoshiko and Hanamaru were breaking off from Aqours and forming their own school idol group with Leah. (“BUU-BUU!!!” XD) Anyway…
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
Aloof and stand-offish? Yep, Leah’s reminding me of Maki right now.
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2041.jpg
Is it safe to say “Awaken The Power” is Aqours’ spiritual successor to μ’s “Snow Halation”? (Also, I can’t help but feel a bit happy for
YoshikoYohane for finally creating that “magic circle” she wanted with her friends.)Well, all I can say is that the payoff for Ruby’s long-awaited character development went a bit better than expected (with the Aqours x Saint Snow Christmas concert being an added bonus). I do have my fears that the performance in this episode might be a tough act to follow, so the next performances should definitely surpass today’s episode and ultimately, what μ’s did in the original series.
Don’t feel too conflicted about the performance, because in the end the fans will enjoy this performance live next year at Hakodate.
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2040.jpg
THIS is how you close the chapter for the rivals. I still feel angsty tha A-Rise was just dropped just like that
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
I’m now thoroughly convinced that there are no men in the Love Live Universe and the only man is Kami-Hohoka’s father.
Jokes aside, yes this episode did leave me in tears for a bit as you see the 1st year’s really maturing just like Team Rabbit.
One more thing… Loli Umi, Loli Sarah and Loli Kanan… they all look the same. Is Umi Sonoda time space and world like traveller like Kami-Honoka?
Or is it that the entirety of Muse is made of time travellers, espers and aliens?
El Psy Congroo
And anyone read the episode’s title in Nozomi’s voice?
Hanamaru calling Yoshiko “The poster child of solitude” was gold. I couldn’t help laughing every time I watch that scene.
After that dog episode, I guess Yohanne and Riri did have a mental connection after all. I find the connection between these two pretty funny.
And yes, Yoshiko’s unlucky curse continues, and I thought Hanamaru would be the first one to get fat. lol
I’m not sure on what I should write first, there’s a lot of things I like about this episode. These two episodes is about Ruby’s character development and for me, it was way beyond what I expected. That Yoshiko and Hanamaru’s tearing up when those twintails present themselves for the concert pretty much sums up how I feel as well (and I was tearing up like them too.)
Second thing that I never expected… was how we actually get to see Saint Snow and their personalities and feelings. I remembered wanting more interactions between µ’s and A-Rise. I admitted that I didn’t expect much from Saint Snow at first (except that they will have awesome songs to rival Aqours), but to see them have their own storylines and interact with Aqours directly surprised me. My opinion on Ria changes after the last episode, and in this one she was on chemistry with the first members (acting like the Maki one for the group) that I find it a little sad that I won’t see her in the next episode. i want to see them again. >_<
As for the performance, it was great. Ruby finally gets to show her strong Ruby voice, while Ria's voice is amazing. I was a little disappointed that they couldn't do a whole song, but Saint Aqours Snow was awesome as well and I'm too happy to mind anything haha. In their defense, I would say this is the surprise for these two by the rest of the members like Chika says. Yoshiko and Hanamaru probably leaked the song and choreography to them and the rest was able to do adjustments so that they could take part in the song as well. And it was perfect. 🙂
We'll also have a live Saint Snow performance with Aqours at Hakodate next year too. Not to mention the possible return of µ's for the new Love Live School Idol All stars game. I can't wait for next year. Hahaha