Love Live’s regional qualifiers are fast approaching so the pressure to do well in that round is mounting up for Aqours. To make matters worse, they still don’t have 100 prospective students and the deadline set by Mari’s father coincides with the regional qualifiers. If Aqours is to save their school, it’s now or nothing. That being said, it’s hard for myself to feel tense about the situation. By writing 101, it’s to be expected that Aqours would overcome the regional qualifiers this time around. Also, I’m surprised that Aqours is still struggling to get prospective students. Apparently, people see them as a dark horse with a genuine shot at winning Love Live. They’re gaining a lot of momentum and yet, people still don’t want to go their stinking school. I suppose it’s to fuel the tension and make it more satisfying when Aqours succeed but I do find it weird.
As Aqours figures out how to step up their game, Kanan revisits an old dance routine she jotted down in her notes when she, Mari, and Dia worked as the original Aqours. Kanan is confident it’ll add some pazazz to the upcoming performance but she’s hesitant to pitch it to everyone as the routine is difficult, so much so that it led to Mari’s leg injury two years ago. Mari and Dia think differently however, believing that the underclassmen can handle the routine and that they have nothing to lose in trying it. Kanan eventually relents though she still worries for Chika as the latter will be the center and will therefore have the most difficult move. If Chika can’t pull it off within two weeks of practice, then Kanan will pull the plug on the plan.
Apparently, Kanan served as the center in the dance routine. Considering her athleticism and the fact that she’s been a school idol again for some time, she’d probably be able to perform just fine so logically speaking, it’d make more sense if she returns to the role. That said, making Chika the center does allow the show to develop her character some more. It’s implied that Chika’s issue is her mentality and not her physicality. Even this far into the story, Chika still sees herself as a normal person and she still strives to accomplish or contribute something as a school idol. The dance move exemplifies this; Chika feels pressured to pull off so that the performance can succeed and that she’s contributed to the team.
But as her friends point out to her, Chika has done more than enough for Aqours. Hell, she’s the one who founded the group in the first place and got everyone to join. She doesn’t owe the team anything so rather than see the dance move as returning the favor, she should simply treat it as something she herself wants. I think Riko says it best when she calls Chika a “normal monster”. That’s a bit of an oxymoron but it’s also an apt description. Chika is normal at first glance but when you consider her determination and her accomplishments, she’s really anything but normal.
Revisiting Kanan’s early days as a school idol is an interesting move. Even though she has reconciled with Mari, it seems that she still has some baggage regarding that period of her life. Kanan not wanting to tell the underclassmen about the routine feels like a relapse, in that she decides for the group without checking with them, much like she did for Mari back in the day. I do get Kanan’s sternness towards Chika throughout the training. She has seen someone get hurt from performing the routine so she’s only tough on Chika to avoid a repeat of that. That said, it was a nice to see Kanan smile at Chika at the end of the training, showing that she was rooting for her friend to successfully perform the dance move. I wonder if Kanan sees a bit of herself in Chika. According to Chika, Kanan wasn’t much of a quitter growing up. Perhaps that rubbed off onto Chika over the years.
I enjoyed the performance for the regional qualifiers though to be frank, I wasn’t terribly amazed at what Chika’s dance move ultimately is. It’s really just a series of cartwheels and a front flip. Admittedly, those moves aren’t easy to do in real life and it is certainly more elaborate compared to past dance routines in the show. Still, I figured there’d be more to the routine than that, what with Kanan describing it as extremely difficult.
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