Liella! seemed like the obvious winner for the Tokyo Tournament but I wasn’t 100% confident on that, given how much trouble Wien has given them and the fact that Superstar!! is getting a third season. There was a small chance they’d lose here and to be fair, the show could take that in an interesting direction. But there you go: Liella! wins the round and they get to advance to the nationals. Everyone rejoices the news. Well, everyone except for Wien, who immediately shatters her reputation by openly objecting the results. I wasn’t expecting Kanon to reprimand Wien so sternly, especially when she’s obviously going to learn more about her, but that can be chalked up to the heat of the moment and Kanon finally getting fed up with Wien’s nonsense.
Through Wien’s social media account (which I’m shocked no one thought to look up), Kanon learns that Wien failed to enter a prestigious music school her sister attended in her home country of Austria. Later, Wien herself explains to Kanon that the only reason she competed in Love Live is because the school agreed to accept her if she can win the tournament. Naturally, Kanon is immediately sympathetic to Wien’s situation as it’s pretty similar to her failure to get into Yuigaoka’s music program. Some other characters that came to mind for comparison are Keke and Sumire. These are more of stretch but like Keke, Wien has to produce results and like Sumire, Wien has the idea of using Love Live to further her own agenda.
I was ready for Kanon to give Wien the good old pep talk but Superstar!! throws me on a loop by having that prestigious music school, the Vienna National Academy of Music, invite Kanon to study abroad at their campus with free tuition and boarding. It’s revealed shortly after that Wien’s family has something to do this. They want Wien to learn singing from Kanon so they’re pulling strings to get Kanon to transfer to the Vienna National Academy of Music and if that works, then Wien will be allowed to attend as well. Kanon would be a great find for the school so I can see the board agreeing to this arrangement. I love how this plan greatly benefits Wien but Wien herself is one of the last people on board with it. She gets to go to the school of her dreams but she also has to swallow her pride and study with the girl who beat her in one of Japan’s most famous competitions. The only way this could get more insulting is if Kanon lives with her as her roommate. I don’t blame her for getting pissed.
Honestly, I kind of want Kanon to transfer. Her studying abroad and dealing with Wien’s ego is a good enough premise to be its own show. Of course, going to Vienna is entirely up to Kanon and right now, she’s deciding against it. Timing isn’t an issue as Kanon would transfer around the time she begins her third year at Yuigaoka and that’s after the final round of the current Love Live. It’s just that Kanon would simply like to spend all three years of high school as a school idol with all of her friends. Frankly, I think it’s crazy for Kanon to deny herself such a big opportunity but she’s allowed to go with what’s more likely to make her happy. Plus, her decision kind of checks out considering that she never bothered to transfer to Yuigaoka’s music program, even when she’s proven her talent and skill with her school idol work.
Almost everyone else in Liella! is relieved that Kanon is staying in Yuigaoka. That kind of irks me, to be honest. I get that they want to continue being school idols with Kanon but you’d think they’d first be a little weirded out that Kanon is passing on attending what is supposedly the most prestigious music school in the world. The only exception here is Chisato. Considering that Chisato went fully into her dancing career before putting that on hold to be a part of Liella!, it’s natural for her to think that Kanon should go to Vienna. The one hole in Chisato’s stance here is the fact that she put dancing on hold so I wonder if she’ll switch to Yuigaoka’s music program to better convince Kanon and avoid being called a hypocrite by her or anyone else. A even more effective move would be to transfer to dancing school as prestigious as the Vienna National Academy of Music but I don’t know if Chisato can reasonably pull that off. Honestly, I’m more invested in this thread than the Love Live nationals. I doubt Kanon will go abroad but it would be a huge shakeup to the plot if she does.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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