Yohane the Parhelion has just premiered. You can watch it right now on Crunchyroll. I’m still playing catch up with Sunshine!! so it might be a while before I watch the spin-off series. It would’ve been nice to be all caught up but that’s how the cookie has crumbled this time. I suppose I don’t exactly need to know the entire Sunshine!! story for Yohane, which appears to be in its own canon. However, it’d be a little weird alternating between the spin-off and its parent show so I want to finish the latter show first. Surely, I’ll be done soon…right?
Anyway, we begin Season 2 with Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy beginning their second term for the school year. As it turns out, Aqours did not pass Love Live’s regional qualifiers so they’ll be tackling it again in the spring. It’s implied that the gang simply didn’t get enough supports to make it to nationals. It would’ve been really funny if it’s because they violated a bunch of rules because it honestly looked like they were pushing it during the qualifiers.
With autumn approaching, the girls have to contend with a change in their commute and curfew, potentially limiting their ability to practice their songs and dance routines outside. Fortunately for them, You (Shuka Saito) gets permission from a family friend to use a nearby studio currently in their possession. With the studio, the girls can sufficiently practice again. Once again, I wonder if there is anything You can’t do. I don’t know if μ’s ever got a studio for themselves so if they didn’t, congrats to Aqours for getting a fancier place than them.
While looking for a new place, Mari (Aina Suzuki) is contacted by her father, informing her that Uranohoshi’s open house has been canceled and that the school will be closing down for good. I’m guessing Mari’s father didn’t google Otonokizaka. At first, Mari tries to keep this a secret from everyone. The news alone would is a bombshell but Mari’s action comes at me as a bit of a surprise when I consider her arc last season. Also interesting is how quickly Kanan (Nanaka Suwa) and Dia (Arisa Komiya) catch on. They are Mari’s closest friends and their bond is stronger than it ever has been before. Keeping secrets is also what caused a rift between the three of them so I imagine Kanan and Dia wouldn’t want anyone to make the same mistake, especially now there’s a lot more people in their inner circle.
Out of everyone in Aqours, the news especially hits Chika (Anju Inami), who considers going as far as fly to America to persuade Mari’s father. While that could be a really fun direction for the show to take, the plan is obviously impractical and everyone else talks Chika out of it. Chika becomes dejected for a good chunk of time though her and the others eventually decide to go for broke, continuing their school idol endeavor in the miraculous off chance that they can still save their school.
Thing is, I don’t really see the school closing down as a major shake up to the plot. That’s technically been in the cards since the halfway point of Season 1. The only difference is that there is now a concrete deadline for the girls to save the school. Otherwise, the show’s overarching conflict is fundamentally the same. If the show really wants to shake things up, it honestly should close down Uranohoshi. That at least be a very interesting contrast to School Idol Project. I don’t think Sunshine!! will go there however as it is a potential downer for the show to end on.
Regardless of how effective this raising of the stakes is, it seems that Aqours is adamant about giving their all in saving their school. I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
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