While training, Liella! receive an email invitation to perform as the headliner for the year’s Yoyogi School Idol Festival, which was previously seen in Season 1 Episode 3. If you recall, Kanon and Keke didn’t win the competition last time so this next one is a do-over for the the club. Sunny Passion is opting out of the festival to focus on their last school festival so Liella! is pretty much projected to win. It should be smooth sailing…right?
This episode marks the formal introduction of mystery girl Wien Margarete (Yuina). As I said in the last post, I got spoiled and knew about this character ahead of time so her appearing this early in Season 2 took me by surprise. Wien is apparently a third year middle school student and a solo school idol. She competes against Liella! at the Yoyogi festival and to the surprise of everyone, she is crowned the victor.
Unlike Sunny Passion, who is seemingly never allowed to perform on screen, Wien gets to prove her victory with an insert song and MV. Wien’s introduction was already a surprise for me so imagine how shocked I was when she starts performing. Hell, she’s performing before any of new main characters, including Kinako, get to do so in-universe. That alone makes this scene stand out but not only that, the song itself is really darn good. Unique among Love Live! songs, Wien’s number is accompanied by an orchestra, giving the song a grand and foreboding tone. Yuina compliments the song with some booming vocals. Already, she’s looking to be a great find for the franchise. Simply put, this song makes Wien’s victory entirely plausible and it perfectly establishes the girl’s role in the story: she’s Liella’s new rival and she means business.
There are a couple of times where Kanon personally encounters Wien. Wien is seemingly aware that Kanon has stage fright and she taunts her by saying Love Live! will be easy if her only real competition is Liella!. Putting aside these tidbits, these scenes are frankly pretty weird. It generally goes like this: Wien seemingly creeps up on Kanon, calls out to her, says a few things, and then leaves without elaborating further. I suppose this works in making Wien intimidating but these scenes do make Wien come across as Kanon’s creepy stalker and I can’t help but find that a little funny.
Having Wien win produces an interesting effect on some of the main characters. Kinako blames herself for causing Liella! to lose. It’s a groundless thought but given that the festival is Kinako’s first performance and it’s an important opportunity for her upperclassmen, you get why Kinako accuses herself. Like with what I said with the last episode, I really like that Kinako joining after the original five is a legitimate plot point. Kanon is also affected. With both Wien and Sunny Passion posing a threat to Liella’s chances at winning Love Live! and the fact that the group hasn’t won anything, Kanon starts to lose her ambition for her group. I like that Kanon’s classmates help her regain her resolve. It’s a bit self-deprecating for them to mention their own lack of success but it does put Liella’s efforts into perspective. Yuigaoka doesn’t have a lot of accomplishments and accolades to brag about and most of what they do have is thanks to Liella!. The idol club is, as the extras put it, the school’s pride and joy and the students will celebrate whatever progress they make. It’s a great wake up for Kanon, reminding her that she wants Liella! to win because they have so much support and she wants to give something back in return.
The episode skips over Liella’s performance at the Yoyogi festival but it does show them performing at a school concert at the end of the episode. I’m not amazed with the song but to fair, it’s overshadowed by Wien asserting her dominance earlier. It nevertheless serves its purpose as an upbeat song the main cast performs to affirm their recent character development and end the episode on a more positive note. A really neat detail I want to point is the lack of a center. Admittedly, Liella! has an even number of members so utilizing Kanon’s main protagonist status would be a bit tricky. In all seriousness, this makes for a good contrast to Wien’s solo act. This is best visualized by having the girls perform around a circular platform (which I’m sure makes Chisato very happy), thus decentralizing the group and putting more emphasis on them as a whole.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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