So at long last, Sunshine addresses and resolves the tension between the third years, leading to all three of them joining Aqours. With that, the roster is officially complete. This show sure took its sweet time to get here. I remember School Idol Project taking around this much time to have everyone join μ’s but citing that in Sunshine‘s defense feels a bit moot. This show seems to have been following the original’s footsteps since episode 1. To be fair, nine main characters is a lot to juggle around. Spacing things out is practically required there.
It sure is nice to have Kanan are the forefront for once. Out of everyone in the main cast, Kanan has had the least to do. That is admittedly the point with her up until now. She’s deliberately distancing herself from the school idol business. Still, I can’t deny that all she’s done so far is occasionally chat with Aqours and tell Mari to piss off. She’s in dire need of the spotlight and hopefully, she’ll get to enjoy it from here on out.
I honestly forgot that Chika and Kanan are childhood friends. Can anyone really blame me? These two haven’t interacted a whole lot. To be fair, this friendship of theirs does come into play in this episode as Chika finds it hard to believe that Kanan quit being a school idol. The Kanan she remembers and knows doesn’t back out of any challenge very easily so Chika thinks there’s more to it. As such, she leads the charge in resolving whatever is going on between the three years. This manifests most prominently when Mari and Kanan clash over becoming school idols again and Chika confronts them and Dia, telling them enough is enough (and in front of a bunch of other students no less). These three have yet to join and it feels like Chika is already in charge of them.
As it turns out, there’s more to the third years’ backstory than Dia let on last episode. Mari was so hellbent on being a school idol and saving her school that she passed on different opportunities pertaining to her future. During the Tokyo event, Mari sprains her foot but decides to perform anyway. Concerned that Mari is squandering herself (and to be fair, school idols seem to last for three years without any pay), Kanan decides not to sing on purpose and she quits being a school idol to compel Mari into leaving Uchiura to study abroad. Dia is the only one aware of this secret, playing along with Kanan as she also wants a good future for Mari.
What I like about this drama is that it’s hard to pick a side here. Kanan certainly went a bit overkill with her lie, going as far to risk tarnishing her own friendship with Mari if it means the latter will have a better future. However, the same could be said about Mari, who literally became the school director and used the new idol group as some sort of proxy to convince her friends to come back, both of which aren’t what Kanan had in mind. Both girls went to extreme lengths but with good reason: they care that much for each other. I suppose all of this could’ve easily been avoided if both spoke to each other more honestly and more upfront though I get why they didn’t take that direction. They both probably thought that something radical would be the only way to get through to each other. How ironic then that talking to each other more properly is what enables Kanan and Mari to reconcile with each other.
As for Dia, she’s sort of the middle man in the drama. She does take Kanan’s side for the most part. Hell, she even quit being a school idol in support of Kanan’s ruse. That said, Dia doesn’t hesitate to spill the beans once Chika and the others pressure her enough. Her hands are perhaps tied here but I like to think that she’s okay with ending the ruse if it leads to a positive result.
Also: Dia, you beautiful bastard! It turns out that Dia is the one who pitched the name “Aqours” to Chika, You, and Riko back in Episode 3. In fact, “Aqours” is the name the third years originally used for their group. I find this reveal so amusing. Not only does this imply that Dia still love school idols and was supportive of her underclassmen this whole time, it also suggests that she had some degree of hope that Mari and Kanan will eventually join the club. Talk about bold.
With that, the gang is fully and officially assembled. To celebrate the occasion, the show has all nine of them perform a song at their town’s summer festival. I can’t help but think the stage is awfully fancy for what is supposed to be an event in a rural town but I’ll put that aside. The song is really catch and pleasant and its lyrics tie into the episode’s character development. I particularly like that each of the third years leads one of the song’s verses and how they each act as a center before handing the role over to Chika, the one who united everyone together. Performing during the summer festival gives the show the excuse to show off some fireworks, which makes for a nice visual to convey Aqours’ newfound unity and resolve. The performance scene is a solid conclusion, not just for the episode but for Sunshine‘s longest running plot thread.
Watch Love Live! Sunshine!! on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Tubi
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