Oh no, Sunny Passion lost to Wien and they didn’t pass the Love Live preliminaries. Allow me to play the world’s smallest violin. I do think this is an interesting turn of events but only because it’s a different outcome than Liella! expected and it says a good deal about how good Wien is as a school idol. Yuna and Mao are barely in the story so I can’t muster much sympathy for them here. The outcome is also predictable, considering that we never got to see Sunny Passion perform while Wien has one MV under their her belt. They never felt like Liella’s rivals in the same way Saint Snow were Aqours’ and with Wien added into the cast, it doesn’t make sense to keep treating them as such. I’m sure Yuna and Mao will reappear later down in the line but that’ll probably it for them.
Since Wien blew Sunny Passion out of the water, you’d think this episode would explore her character some more. You do get one scene where she stalks Kanon again and taunts her some more but that’s surprisingly all we get with Wien this episode. The show instead focuses on Liella’s other ongoing problems. After reviewing some footage, Chisato feels the first years are still not up to par with the second years and that doesn’t bode well for Liella’s chances at advancing through Love Live. This causes Sumire to worry again about Keke’s potential return to Shanghai though Keke continues to keep her situation a secret from everyone else, not wanting to ruin the mood. So Sumire decides to take the matter into her own hands…by ruining the mood herself.
I get what Sumire is trying to do here. It’s not necessarily her place to reveal Keke’s secret to whole club and it’s better that Keke tell the truth herself. Sumire therefore opts to help Keke indirectly. The next day, she proposes to everyone that only the first years should perform at the next round of Love Live and she insists that Liella! needs to do everything they can to win so that she can advance her career in show business. Obviously, Sumire doesn’t really want to throw the second years under the bus and she knows that the other second years would object to her pitch. She’s playing the bad guy to increase Liella’s chances at winning Love Live and make it more likely for Keke to stay in Tokyo. It’s a decent plan but it’s also an extremely daring one that results in a lot of blowback. If Sumire simply revealed Keke’s secret to everyone, she’d only risk hurting Keke’s feelings. With this plan however, Sumire ends up hurting everyone’s feelings. It’s also very taxing for Sumire herself. She doesn’t want to execute the plan and the more she has to double down on it, the worse she feels.
Kanon objects the most to Sumire’s idea. It’s fitting given that she’s the main protagonist and out of anyone in Liella!, Kanon believes in the group’s unity the most. Considering how long Kanon has known Sumire, I can also see her feeling betrayed that her friend has seemingly regressed to the arrogant and rude child actress she once was. I am however surprised at how angry Kanon gets. I don’t think she’s ever yelled at such a high volume before, at least not in a dramatic scene, and I’m convinced that she was going to slap Sumire in the face before Keke finally intervened. It’s all atypical for Kanon but that goes to show how offended she is in this moment.
Surprisingly, the first years ultimately accept Sumire’s proposal. It’s a great way to make Sumire feel even worse than she already does and it admittedly doesn’t matter in the end but man, the new girls have zero confidence in themselves. I understand that they respect the second years and they want them to succeed first and foremost but at this point, they’re just as part of Liella! as the original five are. Hopefully, they’ll value themselves more in the next three episodes (or the next entire season).
The resolution is very heartwarming. Keke asks Sumire why she cares so much about her staying in Tokyo and Sumire proceeds to pour her out to the former, all while everyone else is watching. I love that Sumire still has the tiara Keke made for her back in Season 1 Episode 10. It’s a great symbol for the support Keke has given to Sumire and Sumire’s gratitude towards her. Ironically, after trying to help her indirectly, Sumire ends up revealing Keke’s situation to everyone. Honestly though, I think Sumire has earned the right to do that. She wants to be with Keke for at least all three years of high school. The possibility of Keke returning to Shanghai matters to her just as much as it does to Keke. I really like the hug at the end but I was a bit thrown off by Keke telling Sumire that she loves her. She probably means that in a platonic sense but dang it, she and Sumire have acted like a bickering married couple for so long that I can’t help but interpret it as romantic. And if this really is a confession, what a missed opportunity to not have these two kiss.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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