Two subunits canonized, another one to go. I kind of wish this was spread out more but evidently, doing the same thing back to back is Nijigasaki‘s MO. At least this third one appears to be a two-parter. Consequently, I’m enjoying this more than DiverDiva’s one-off episode.
In this episode, Shioriko requests for the drama club to create a pre-show for the day before the cultural fair and the school idol festival (which Shioriko has merged into one big event). Shizuku decides to write a Beauty and the Beast-esque play for the pre-show and she envisions Ayumu and Setsuna as the lead roles and the three of them performing a song for the play as a subunit. That Shizuku considers teaming up with Ayumu and Setsuna is to be expected. By process of elimination, they’re the last three of Nijigasaki‘s original nine idols who have yet to form a subunit.
What does take me for a spin is the fact that Shizuku more or less writes a yuri fanfiction starring Ayumu and Setsuna. That’s freaking funny. I’m now picturing Shizuku scribbling away at 3 AM and contemplating if she should post her work online. Also, I know it has to be Ayumu and Setsuna because of the subunit but it’s honestly perfect that Shizuku ships the two of them. In Season 1, Setsuna got very close with Yu and Ayumu got very jealous. Now, we have someone else in the cast writing them as a couple. There have been a lot of yuri subtext that borders on being text throughout Love Live! but I’m hard pressed to think of something as amazing as this one.
Anyway, Shizuku invites Yu to hang out with her and ask for feedback on her play. How bold of Shizuku to ask Yu for permission to get her two most important girlfriends for a collaboration. By chance, Ayumu sees Yu hanging out with Shizuku and being the creep that she is, she decides to tail them. Setsuna sees what Ayumu is up to and decides to tag along, saving Ayumu the trouble of murdering her to cover up her tracks. Eventually, Yu and Shizuku notices the two and the four of them hang out together. I love how Shizuku is in awe at Ayumu and Setsuna, validating her vision of them in the lead roles of her play. The only thing that’s missing is her sitting down somewhere and furiously scribbling away at her notebook. Also funny is Setsuna blurting out that she assumed Yu and Shizuku were on a date, as if the show is acknowledging that fans will interpret the scene as such.
After a CGDCT montage, Shizuku pitches her play to Ayumu and Setsuna. You’d think the two would be a bit alarmed by the contents of the script but evidently, they don’t bat an eye. Maybe Shizuku leaves out some details. While Ayumu and Setsuna aren’t 100% confident about forming a unit, the prospect of a collab does interest them. With that taken care of, the girls check out an exhibit about school idols. This seems like the perfect excuse for a callback though Nijigasaki does no such thing. Maybe the victory flag on display is μ’s or Aqours’ but it could belong to anyone else. I’m surprised by the lack of a reference but I don’t mind it either.
At the exhibit, the girls run into Lanzhu, who once again tells Yu to leave the idol club and take her music studies more seriously. I don’t think anything Lanzhu says here is wrong. Yu admits that she’s barely passing the music program. Spending time with the idol club is proving to be a detriment to her studies. She wants to fulfill her dream with the club but Lanzhu thinks that all she’s doing is overlapping her dream with the others’, thereby holding herself back creatively. Lanzhu also accuses the club of spoiling Yu and that may be true. The club is certainly supportive of Yu but it’s hard to imagine anyone speaking out the same way Lanzhu is in this scene. I like that Yu manages to take a positive spin on Lanzhu’s criticism. It’s blunt but for Lanzhu to say all that, she must care about Yu to some degree and Yu recognizes and appreciates that.
Surprisingly, Shizuku is affected by Lanzhu’s nagging. She feels she’s gotten ahead of herself for wanting to perform with Ayumu and Setsuna, overlapping her dream with theirs. Although it’s true that Shizuku was banking on her friends’ cooperation, it’s a bit silly for her to feel bad about it. A plenty of creators write something with certain people in mind and overlapping one’s dream with someone else’s is bound to happen in a collaborative process, especially for the writer/director of a play. Fortunately, Setsuna and Ayumu cheer her up by testing her idea and ad-libbing the play at a nearby stage. The two start to get into it and eventually, Shizuku joins in and helps them to finish the play. I’m surprised that this doesn’t end with a MV, it seems like something Nijigasaki would do, but other than that, this is a good way for the girls to develop some chemistry and become interested in forming a subunit together.
There’s a very interesting post-credit scene where Setsuna returns to the school as the student council president but she neglects to take off the hair clip she wears when she’s Setsuna, allowing Shioriko to take note of it. I kind of figured the new characters would learn of Setsuna’s identity when they inevitably join the idol club so I’m curious about Shioriko possibly learning about it ahead of time. With how diligent she is, I can see Shioriko being a little perturbed about her superior goofing around as a school idol.
Watch Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club on Crunchyroll and Funimation
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