In this episode, Kinako trains alongside the original five members of Liella!. Immediately, the girls run into an issue: Kinako has zero stamina and can barely keep up with her upperclassmen’s intense training regimen. It’s early Season 1 Keke all over again! Speaking of Keke, she writes down the regimen she used in Season 1 for Kinako to follow. You know someone needs to hit the gym if Keke of all people is giving them pointers.
Kinako’s lack of stamina creates another problem for the club. Out of context, it looks like Liella! is running her ragged and that creates rumors that further dissuade the other first years from joining the idol club. The second years aren’t sure what to do in response. On one hand, they need Kinako up to speed for Love Live. At the same time however, they’re worried Kinako will feel pressured and lonely as the only first year member of Liella!.
I find this plot refreshing. In past Love Live! series, the first years joined their respective idol club pretty seamlessly. The club is fairly new when they join. School Idol Project had all the first years join at the same time and Sunshine!! had Ruby and Hanamru join together with Yoshiko shortly following suit. It’s all perfectly fine but you almost forget that these characters are a year or two younger than rest of their respective cast. Superstar!! has Kinako be the rookie and the only first year member of Liella! for the time being. In doing so, her integration into the club is rougher compared to previous first year characters’. Not only is that atypical for Love Live! and interesting in its own right, it for once makes the characters’ difference in grade level relevant to the story beyond a simple factoid.
At first, the second years make the training regimen less intensive to lower the barrier of entry and attract new members. The drawbacks to this is it makes them less ready for Love Live and it also completely throws off their daily routines in general. By the end of the episode, Kinako convinces them to reverse their decision. She doesn’t want to hold her upperclassmen back and and she wants to be on par with them as soon as possible so that she can prove to her grade how much fun and worthwhile being a school idol is. It’s very important that Kinako is the one who sets the pace for the club. The whole matter centers around her and knowing the second years, I don’t think they’d impose the original regimen without Kinako’s consent.
Something that I find really funny is how Keke and Sumire are almost able to set aside their toxic relationship to cheer Kinako up. Sumire brings up Keke’s poor stamina in Season 1 and Keke lets it slide so that Kinako feels better about herself. Keke blames Sumire (again) that they can’t get new recruits and Sumire briefly allows it when Kinako blames herself for the issue. I once said Keke and Sumire act like a couple who’s only staying together for the kids and well, now I’m starting to think that comparison is more apt now.
I get why Shiki and Natsumi won’t join Liella! for the time being. They’re just not interested in school idols. What I don’t get is why Mei won’t join. There’s a scene where Shiki makes Kinako invite Mei into the club and for a second, I thought Mei would accept it. For whatever reason however, Mei declines and she seems to keep her adoration for school idols or at least Liella! a secret from her class. I’m sure the show will explain what Mei’s deal is but right now, it’s very odd. At the very least, I’m liking her weird little friendship with Kinako. Kinako finds Mei scary but Mei is surprisingly supportive of her school idol endeavor, encouraging her to ignore the gossip and be the best school idol in town.
The very last scene teases a mysterious girl who appears to be interested in Kanon (not like that…I think). This took me by surprise as I’ve seen this character in promotional art for Superstar!! Season 3 (I try to avoid it but I still see some of it on Twitter/X). I kind of figured I wouldn’t see her until then. Turns out, she’s in the show a lot sooner than expected. I’m curious as to what she’ll be doing this season.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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