Since Riko will be performing for a piano recital, Aqours has to pick someone to take her place as Chika’s dance partner during their performance for the Love Live preliminaries. The gang unanimously picks You for the job. In-universe, there isn’t any particular reason as to why You is Chika’s new partner. However, this does serve two purposes for the narrative.
The first is to simply give You some much needed screentime. I like You. She’s effective as one of the straight men in the main cast. I also like this apparent running gag that You’s seemingly good at stuff such as fashion, PR, and cooking. Seriously, is there something she can’t do? That said, You hasn’t really had a lot to do so it’s about time that she gets the spotlight. The second purpose is address the second years’ dynamic with one another. Despite the fact that You is Chika’s best friend, a lot of Chika’s big moments involve Riko instead and I’d argue Chika’s most important relationship in the story so far is with Riko. Sunshine!! appears to be aware of that as this episode has You feeling jealous over Chika and Riko’s bond.
Having You take Riko’s place in the dance routine is a clever way to address her dynamic with Chika and Riko. At first, You and Chika keep bumping into each other during a particular part of their routine. It’s only when You perfectly matches Riko’s movements and timings that she and Chika are able to fully execute the dance. Admittedly, that’s pretty impressive on You’s part but it is also a sort of admission from her that she’s stuck in Riko’s shadow.
I like that Mari notices You’s turmoil and encourages her to have an honest chat with Chika. Considering the two year rift she had with Kanan, Mari knows better than anyone about the importance of transparency. Oddly enough though, you don’t really have You and Chika talking things out. There’s a funny scene where You imagines different ways to initiate the conversation but that’s far as she goes with Mari’s advice. While I would call that a wasted opportunity, I do like the route the episode takes where You talks with Riko on the phone and Riko reveals to her how much Chika wanted to be school idols with You as it gave the two of them common ground. After presenting Riko as a rival, it’s nice that Riko is actually the one who helps mend things between You and Chika.
Another part of the resolution that I want to note is Chika proposing to You that they change their dance routine entirely. Considering that You managed to imitate Riko, the easy thing would be to stick with that. It’s not like Chika is aware of You’s envy towards Riko anyway. For Chika to scrap that speaks to her leadership and camaraderie. She’d rather have You do own thing. To her, that would make You shine the brightest onstage.
I enjoyed the insert song/performance used for the Love Live preliminaries. As always, the song is catchy. My favorite part is when everyone harmonizes right before chorus. I was expecting the singing to emphasize Chika and You the most since they’re are the forefront of this episode though you get plenty of that in the visuals. One problem that I do have with the scene is that it really doesn’t emphasize Riko’s piano recital. The scene cuts to it occasionally but that’s about it. The piano is used in the insert song but it is not the most pronounced instrument in its composition so I can’t really say that’s meant to represent Riko. Plus, I highly doubt Riko is playing a piano rendition of Aqours’ song (even though she technically composed it). It would’ve been nice if the scene got a bit more clever though perhaps my expectation got a bit too high.
Watch Love Live! Sunshine!! on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Tubi
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