Season 2 has accomplished all of its overarching objectives so I don’t have much of a clue on what the final stretch will entail. Maybe the new girls will form a subunit? They’re the only ones who haven’t, what with them not being part of the club for nine episodes, and they are actually part of a subunit outside of the anime. Maybe the girls finally go to Love Live? I haven’t minded it but it is funny how these girls have not participated in the namesake of the franchise for 22 episodes (and counting). Then again, their school will never close down so I suppose there’s no rush. This episode hints at something but only at the post-credit scene. The vast majority of the episode is instead spent on CGDCT shenanigans with the characters, which is fine. It actually has been a while since Nijigasaki has had something like this and it’s kind of needed with how large the cast is now.
This episode happens to be a Kasumi-centric one, which I find a little surprising. I figured Kasumi has been relegated to comic relief and to be fair, her cutesy and vain gremlin bit is so funny that I actually would be okay if she never got more character development. That said, I’m not opposed to Kasumi getting the spotlight for once. The poor girl could always use some attention. In this episode, Kasumi worries that no one in the club, both old and new, takes her seriously as the club president so she concocts a trip around Shizuku’s neighborhood where she’ll come across as this awesome, capable, and totally not pitiful leader. Honestly, I actually forgot that Kasumi is the club president. The show barely has her doing any of her presidential duties. Given this episode, I wonder if that might have been intentional.
Needless to say, Kasumi’s crazy schemes don’t go as planned. She produces a detailed schedule and she tries to lead the trip but everyone else ends up doing their own thing. The gang also plays some games together and Kasumi either gets injured or she fails miserably as a result. It sucks for Kasumi but it’s very entertaining to me. By the end of the episode, the club does acknowledge Kasumi as a competent president. It’s not with as much as zealousness as Kasumi pictured in her head but given her character, she takes the win anyway.
There’s a secondary plot featuring Lanzhu. Seeing as the trip is the first time she’s hanging out with any of her co-stars, Lanzhu really wants to take a group photo with everyone. Lanzhu is very shy to ask the club which is a little surprising given her character before but then again, she is a fan of the club and she only joined them recently. I approve of Shioriko being the one to help Lanzhu overcome her shyness. That makes up for her minimal involvement last episode.
I’ve said it before but how is Rina still in high school? This girl is way too good with technology. I thought the episode fulfilled its quota by having Rina make a tracking device for Karin and Emma but then, she goes ahead and creates a cat-themed Pokémon GO clone from scratch. Rina could say she did it overnight and I’d believe it because it’s already insane that she can pull this off. Seriously, how has this girl not been hired already? I feel like I’m going insane over this.
The gang makes a competition out of the Pokémon GO clone; whoever gets the most number of cats wins and they can then make a request to anyone else in the club. I chuckled when Emma said she’d request Yu to write a new song for her if she wins. I’m surprised that isn’t everyone’s intention. Speaking of Yu, I’m not surprised that she wins the competition. Yu is Nijigasaki‘s main protagonist so I figured she’d get some plot armor for this segment. Yu’s request is to have everyone write the lyrics for her song. An insert song plays in the background so it’s presumably the one Yu and the others are working on. Other than the OP and ED, this is the first time all twelve idols perform together. I’m sure they’ll perform again for the season finale but given the occasion, it feels weird for their first group song to be playing in the background and not in a MV.
Watch Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club on Crunchyroll and Funimation
Xenodude Scribbles 