Posted by OP Sequence
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
OP: 「未来の僕らは知ってるよ」 (Mirai no Bokura wa Shitteruyo) by AQOURS
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「ネクストステップ」 (Nekusuto Steppu)
“Next Step”
If there’s one thing that Sunshine knows how to do, it’s how to create conflict and how to make our girls go from 100 to 0 in an instant.
General Impressions
After a brief hiatus, I’m glad to see that Love Live! Sunshine!! has finally come back to our desktop screens. Seeing how it left us with an unfinished story that left the fate of both AQOURS and their school up to our imaginations, it was fantastic to see this first episode dive straight back into the thick of things. I say that because if there was one thing that I would have hated to see, it would have been watching our girls and their struggle get completely negated in favor of giving them a quick and successful ride to the next Love Live.
Luckily Sunshine isn’t that kind of show and the speeding up of our girls’ original problem felt like a pretty natural way to escalate things. Thinking about it from an outsiders perspective, high schools in Japan feel like private entities that need to make money in order to survive. Toss in how high school isn’t required in Japan and that vocational schools probably garner more interest in smaller rural towns and sounds like you have the perfect scenario where closing or combining schools makes the most sense. Which honestly kind of sucks for us (the viewers) since we want to empathize with our girls and their goal to save their school — except it doesn’t make that much logical sense.
However, Sunshine isn’t an analysis of the Japanese school system, but an anime about school idols who manage to create miracles (and smiles) by trying to do their best and hoping that they can express that to their audience. In AQOURS case they also have to struggle and fight against the crappy situation they’ve been put in, but that’s exactly why it’s fun to watch them try and do whatever they can. — they’re the underdogs and they embrace it.
Overall, not too bad of an episode to kick off a second season. While it remains to be seen whether or not the story will be able to keep things up, I want to believe that this second season will be a lot more conducive since we don’t have to worry about spending time on our girls and their specific interpersonal problems. In any case, I hope you guys enjoyed this first episode as much as I did and I’ll catch you guys around to see just what Chika has planned. See you then!
ED Sequence
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
ED: 「勇気はどこに？君の胸に！」 (Yuuki wa Dokoni? Kimi no Mune ni!) by AQOURS
Preview
 |
 |
 |
I approve of the contrast between this and the OG second season. Muse achieved their goal at the end of the first season and was followed up by them trying to see how high they can climb. Aquors thought they hit their goal (Or at least got a start) and now they must see how high they can get.
Fun times await. New Love Live is the one thing that can get me out of bed early on a Saturday
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
Hanamaru still knows when someone is about to scream. And she managed to do one push-up. Way to go. So happy Aqours is back. Been waiting for this since the announcement during their first live.
I loved that scene where Chika did the flip on the bars and both Riko and You, while castigating Chika, just couldn’t help themselves and had to peek!! Let the shipping wars commence!!
Personally I wouldn’t mind if they made an actually canon couple in the show. Could create great drama. The Riko/Chika confession in season one and Chikas’ dreamy response plus You’s jealously in the following episode came close!
Just give up. There’s only 73 students in the entire school!?!? They should close. Unless each student is paying huge tuition, I don’t see how they can financially survive.
Most publicly funded school systems don’t work like that. Operational grants by the government pay for almost everything. Of course there is little point maintaining a huge school if future growth doesn’t demand it. Also gives a nice boost to the coffers if the real estate is valuable as well!!
Well, it may be absurd but it’s there to drive the message home I guess.
Finally! My Saturday Love Live nights are back ! XD
I admit that I went through nearly 30-40 loops of watching Dia trying to fix Mari’s speech (which failed horribly) while Kanan was like “I knew this would happen..” It was a happy scene, which contrasts to the formal sad speech when Mari had to announce that the school won’t be taking new students later in the episode.
This episode went from the happy, funny side to hitting us with reality checks real quick. I didn’t expect that they would fail to make it into the Nationals, and also didn’t expect that they would tackle the school closing problem right away. Now that I think about it, the thing that Muse did was really a miracle by saving Otonokizaka in one term. Can Aqours really pull off some kind of miracle like that as well? I’m not really sure how the storyline will go to his season.
That side, I like everyone’s interactions with each other, especially the third years.
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
Mari’s engrish is always fun to hear.
“I’m sorry. I don’t speak Japanese.”
Wonder what the dub will say. XD
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
…as well as more “BUU BUU! DESU WA!”
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
It’s like looking through a portal into the future, lol.
Side m fired the opening shots to senidoru jidai, TWICE. Now Aqours fired back. Next it’ll be WUG. I’m so hyped for autumn!
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
I know it’s absurd to have that few students in the school but it kinda drives home the point that the school is closing. Though Oorai does it better. Can’t help but thinking of it since the school I’m teaching at will be closed at the end of 2018.
THEY’RE BACK!
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
Mari: “Hello, everybody! The second season starts today!”
Leaning a bit on the fourth wall there, aren’t ya, Mari? Also, Dia’s probably facepalming internally at Mari’s impromptu, malaproper-laden speech. That said, good to see you again, you Shining Diamond.
And to answer that question from the previous season (Did they win that regional qualifier?). Short answer is “No”. Long answer:
YoshikoYohane: “In any case, it was close.”Ruby: “Yeah. I heard we almost made it to the nationals.”
Hanamaru: “There’s no point in dwelling in the past, zura.”
(*Arrow shot*) Giku… Point taken, Hanamaru. (*removes arrow*) That lingering question was just bugging me, that’s all. Glad I can finally put that to rest.
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2014.jpg
Chika: “What’s her [Yoshiko’s] mom like?
Riko: “I heard that she’s a school teacher. Since Yoshiko-chan didn’t let her nursing bottle go until kindergarten, her mom had to…”
Yoshiko: “Ahhh!!”
Riko spilling Yoshiko’s embarrassing secrets… XD Also, while it’s normally embarrassing for Yoshiko, it’s strangely kind of cute of her to have that side…
And did anyone manage to find out who voices Yoshiko’s mother?
Well, pretty decent start… Can’t wait to see where Aqours will be going from here.
Yoshiko mom is voiced by Shiina Hekiru.
Apparently…
https://www.facebook.com/Yohane.DemonicLegion/photos/a.1564811187148904.1073741828.1564801577149865/1744325135864174/?type=3
Thanks, guys! Well, I guess that’s where majority of the microtransaction money earned from the Love Live! School Festival game went… And I must say, it’s money well-spent. XD
Also, funny that the article about Hekiru Shiina mentioned Magic Knight Rayearth… Instantly remembered this:
http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1692175
Show Spoiler ▼
And a complimentary Love Live! Sunshine!! JoJoke:
http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/2645867
Show Spoiler ▼
Theres this one thing that i love so much about the LL series. I mean, sure my friends would say wth with this bunch school girls idol-wannabe?, and i of course, cannot really explain things properly about our lord-and-savior-Yohane. Its not about cute girls doing idol shits, its about how LL manage to pull everything in one episode: the comedy, the drama, the silly attic, Sunrise’s gorgeous visual, great music, suspense, crazy action, feminine shonen, falling out, the resolution and conclusion. It has everything in one anime and i surely feel satisfied with what they serve (except that it doesnt have romance and boys lol).
Thats what i enjoyed so much about LL. SO GLAD THAT LL IS BACK. <3
https://randomc.net/image/Love%20Live/Love%20Live%20Sunshine%20S2%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
After knowing about Mari and her daddy shutting down the school, now i hope we'll get an episode about Dia and her family circumstances.
Why did Shitske get his face combed by Chika’s elder sister? I want to say animal hygiene but that looks painful for Shitake.
To answer that question:
Dogs with long, thick coats are generally prone to getting tangled fur. (That’s what taking care of a pet Shih Tzu/Lhasa Apso hybrid taught me.) And Chika’s older sister did mention that Shiitake’s winter coat was about to grow, hence the need to remove the summer coat that’s being shed (which causes some patches of tangled fur) so that the winter coat can grow properly.
While it looks painful for Shiitake now, I’m assuming it’ll be more of a nightmare if it’s done later on and Shiitake has multiple patches of tangled fur.