As hinted at in the last episode, Chisato has transferred to Yuigaoka’s general curriculum. Conveniently, she’s joining Kanon, Keke, and Sumire’s class. I feel this should’ve been the ending of the last episode but it doesn’t bother me that it’s depicted in this episode instead.
Anyway, Yuigaoka is about to hold an election for student council president. Ren applies to run, which might be a little confusing considering that she’s been in charge of things since the show started. She certainly had enough power to deny the school idol club’s formation. I checked and apparently, that position was a temporary one so I guess this time, Ren is aiming to be the student council president in earnest.
I imagine the school idol club is mostly safe since the director had already stepped in but regardless, the prospect of Ren winning the election doesn’t bode well for the club. Keke wants Kanon to run as Ren’s opponent to secure the club’s future and Chisato notes that a lot of people in Yuigaoka feel the student council president should be someone from the general curriculum. Unfortunately, Kanon is too anxious to run so the gang settles on Sumire, who technically has a precedent for losing elections. I love that Keke has zero hope for Sumire winning the election; the toxic relationship between these two never ceases to amaze me. Also funny is Chisato forgetting Sumire’s name, despite the fact that she has worked with her the past three episodes. And I thought Kasumi had a bad case of irreverence.
Because Superstar!! hates Sumire, Ren wins the election. Ren’s presidency immediately begins on a bad note when she declares that the school festival’s main act will only feature students from the music program, thus breaking a promise she previously made to give both school programs equal opportunity. Spoken like a true politician! This causes a divide within the student body, with the general program students contemplating on a recall. I love that Keke takes the opportunity to publicly nominate Kanon, which immediately gains traction among their classmates. Now, Kanon can’t back out of the race, assuming it’ll happen again. I imagine that Ren will remain as the student council president but it would be amazing if Love Live! actually gives the job to Kanon. Main protagonist, de facto leader of the idol club, center of the idol group, and student council president would be an insane combination.
Before a recall possibly happens, the idol club decides to learn more about Ren. They eventually end up in Ren’s house and discover that she lives alone with her maid Saya (Kana Hanazawa) and her dog Chibi. Her mother passed away a few years ago and her father apparently left to go get milk. More importantly, Ren is running out of money, therefore putting Yuigaoka at risk for closure. This scene suffers from being a wonky info dump but it does shed light on Ren’s character. The school is one of the few ties she has left to her late mother so she wants to do everything she can to keep it afloat. Conversely, it makes her decision regarding the school festival even more questionable. The music program is Yuigaoka’s pride and joy and it’s presumably what Ren’s mother envisioned for the school so I get Ren hedging her bets on it. But does that outweigh risk of dividing the student body? That could very well become the school’s undoing. I also find it curious that Ren more or less lives alone. She acts like it doesn’t bother her but I can see her secretly longing for friends and that plays a part in her joining the idol club.
So yeah, the school is closing…again. I probably should’ve seen this coming. It’s only brought up now but then again, that was kind of the case with Sunshine!!. This plot making a return has always been a possibility. I’m kind of annoyed, to be honest. We’ve had a school closing down in School Idol Project and Sunshine!! and the franchise has presented both end results to that scenario. Let it rest already. My one hope is that this plot is resolved at the end of Season 1. Speeding it up is about the only variation I can think of for this plot. Plus, securing the school’s future and gaining an influx of students would be a good setup for introduction the new girls in Season 2.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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