As speculated, the idol club gets approved thanks to the Best Newcomer Award. Ren hands Kanon and Keke the key to their new room and the director gives the club permission to practice on Yuigaoka’s rooftop (as per tradition). I kind of love that Ren is still a jerk to the gang. She does acknowledge Kanon and Keke’s abilities and she admits that she’d like to support them but she wants them to be anything but school idols. Affecting Yuigaoka’s reputation is still a valid concern but at this point, it’s increasingly apparent that Ren has a personal issue with school idols.
At the club room, the girls encounter Sumire, who asks to join the club. Sumire has an ulterior motive here. She’s been in show business since she was a little girl but she’s only gotten minor roles (some of which are very embarrassing). Having noticed the idol club’s success at the festival, Sumire thinks she’ll have her breakthrough by becoming the group’s center. It’s a slimy plan but it’s also a sympathetic one. Poor girl wastes her time roaming the streets in the hopes of getting scouted. Plus, it’s telling that she ended up in the general curriculum and not the music program. She’s exhausted her options so it can be forgiven that she wants to to take advantage of the idol club (which the gang does when the cat’s out of the bag).
While discussing with the others on who should be the center, Sumire argues that it should fall on the most experienced member. In other words, her. To be fair, Sumire does make a strong case for herself. Thanks to her years in showbiz, she’s a very skilled performer. In particular, she’s able to flawlessly replicate Chisato’s dance moves after seeing it once. Her being the center of the group wouldn’t actually be a bad idea. To Sumire’s shock however, both Keke and Chisato think Kanon should be the center. She convinces the club to involve their whole class in voting for a center and even then, Kanon wins by majority.
I have a couple of nitpicks with this development. Like, it’s argued that Kanon is the most leaderlike and the most charismatic out of the three idols but let’s face it, she’s the main protagonist and she has orange hair. Of course she’d be the center. Holding an election is really funny but I don’t know why Sumire thinks it’d be a good idea. Kanon’s singing is well known by some of the students, even before high school started and she’s performed in public twice since the school year started. Sumire never landed a big role in her career and she just joined the club so barely anyone would feel inclined to vote for her as the center. No matter what, Kanon was most likely going to win.
That said, the show makes good use of the result. Rather than hand the role over to Sumire, Kanon invites her to compete against her for it. That way, you avoid giving Sumire an easy out to her arc and provide her with an incentive to stay in the idol club. It also ties nicely with Kanon and Keke needing to prove themselves as school idols the past two episodes.
Kanon being the one to help Sumire makes sense. She is the main protagonist and she is at the center of this episode’s plot so it naturally falls on her to resolve it. It’s a good opportunity for the show to establish her as the club’s leader. Also, considering her own failure to secure a big opportunity, I can see Kanon subconsciously relating with Sumire’s struggle.
One relationship that I hope to see more of is the one between Sumire and Keke. Keke gets very mad when she learns about Sumire’s motive, to the point that she makes the latter meet her at the rooftop for the sole purpose of reprimanding her. To be fair, Keke is passionate about school idols and she started her career out of nothing. I can see why she’d get mad at someone who has been in showbiz for years, treating the hobby as an easy and quick way to gain fame. Keke’s reaction is also really funny. She’s usually very kind and cheerful and yet, Sumire awakens this rare, agitated side to her character; I love it. The rift does fizzle out by the end of the episode though I hope this is not the last time where Keke and Sumire bicker at each other. It has potential to be a solid running gag in the show.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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