After explaining her situation to the idol club, Ren asks them to keep it a secret, not wanting Yuigaoka’s student body to concern themselves over the school’s future. The school is nevertheless in disarray however, due to Ren’s decision to favor the music program students for the upcoming school festival. Kanon talks to students from both sides of the school and struggles to find a middle ground. The music program students don’t want to lose the spotlight Ren has handed over to them and the general program is unwilling to play second fiddle to the former. Funnily enough, some of the main characters takes sides. Chisato admits that it’s a good idea to focus on music for the festival while Keke is more than willing to rebel with the general program students. It doesn’t go anywhere, the idol club largely stays neutral throughout the conflict, but Kanon’s friends not being particularly helpful to the discourse is pretty amusing.
I expected Ren to commit to her decision regarding the school festival until Kanon and the others change her mind but to Ren’s credit, she comes to regret her decision on her own. She sees the divide between Yuigaoka’s two curriculums and she realizes that it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Ren also faces pressure from the school director, who orders her to speak at a school assembly and threatens to cancel the school festival if she fails to resolve the situation. Curiously, Ren turns to the idol club for help. That really shows what little friends Ren has. She isn’t on the best terms with the club but they’re her only option and they’re the only ones trying to resolve the situation besides her.
Once more, Ren pleads with Kanon and the others to do anything but perform as school idols. It’s here that we finally learn what Ren’s deal is towards the hobby. Apparently, her mother attended Yuigaoka’s predecessor, Jingu Music School, and worked as a school idol in an effort to save it. The plan was ultimately unsuccessful. Ren actually considered following in her mother’s footsteps to save Yuigaoka but after failing to find any records of her mother’s time as a school idol, Ren concluded that her mother ultimately regretted being one. While Ren is technically going off of what she thinks happened in the past, this is nevertheless a good explanation for why she feels uneasy towards the general concept of school idols.
The next day, right before the assembly, the idol club gets permission from the director to look through Jingu’s archives for records of Ren’s mother’s time as a school idol. The gang finds nothing but then, Kanon notices that she has a second key for the idol club. Kanon returns to the club room and discovers a locked chest containing photos and records of Jingu’s idol club. In particular, there’s a diary written by Ren’s mother, revealing that she dreamed of creating a school that’ll unite students through music and that she actually cherished her school idol career. It’s really silly how hard it is for the characters to find this vital piece of information but I wouldn’t call it contrived after thinking it over. I can buy Ren’s mother loving her time as a school idol so much that she hoarded any traces for herself and locked it away in the chest as a sort of time capsule for herself, the school, and/or the next generation of school idols.
I can’t help but imagine the assembly being a little awkward or confusing for the extras when Kanon intervenes and presents her findings. They technically don’t know the full context of what’s going on with Ren. Regardless, the day has been saved. Tensions within the student body eases and both sides agree to work together for the school festival.
During preparations, Kanon invites Ren to join the school idol club. Ren is hesitant to accept it as she has been a jerk to the club the past seven episodes but after some convincing from the others, she agrees to join. Thanks to a background in figure skating, Ren adapts pretty well to the dance routines Chisato sets up for the club. I’m glad that this episode squeezes in a couple minutes showing Ren being part of the club before the inevitable MV. With how separated she’s been from the group and with only four episodes left in Season 1, it makes sense to make up for lost time.
So at long last, we finally get to see all five main characters perform together. Yes, this technically happened already in Episode 1’s MV but that was a really weird artistic liberty so it doesn’t count and it’s still been seven episodes since then. It’s a big moment seeing the full roster performing, and they certainly sound great together, but what also gets me emotional is the lyrics. I’m going off of the subtitles but it’s clear that this song is a reflection of Ren finding peace with her mother and her looking forward to the future with her new friends. Some of the choreography matches the lyrics. Kanon pretends to wipe tears off of Ren’s face during the lyric “tears just don’t suit you anymore”. Everyone turns to Ren right when they sing “a smile always looks best on you”. It’s all very cute and it adds to the meaning of the song. Another nice touch is the gang wearing outfits identical to the Jingu Idol Club’s, with Ren presumably wearing her mother’s, symbolizing the gang carrying on the old generation’s legacy. The heavy emphasis on the color white seems intentional to me; I can see that representing a fresh start now that the gang is all here.
There’s a couple of things I’m curious about. One is if the gang is finally going to create their idol group name in-universe, now that the original five has assembled. I’m kind of amazed that Superstar!! has gone eight episodes without dropping the name once. The ending of this episode would’ve been a good time to do it but the gang instead refers themselves as Yuigaoka’s school idol club. It’s Nijigasaki all over again! Admittedly, I probably don’t have to wait for long. Judging by the next episode’s title, it sounds like the show is finally going to “reveal” the girls’ official group name.
Another thing: is this group going to save their school by performing in Love Live? Love Live hasn’t really been mentioned so far but that’s what µ’s and Aqours did for their goals and while the success rate is currently 50/50, you might as well have the Yuigaoka girls follow the same path. To be honest, I kind of want the school to be saved pre-Love Live. That would at least put a spin on what is now an old formula. I’m not holding my breath on that happening, however.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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