At long last, I surpass where I originally left off with School Idol Project nearly a decade ago. I technically know how this show ends since Sunshine!! spoils it but other than that, it’s uncharted territory for me going forward.
So apparently, μ’s manages to reach 19th place on the school idol website, making them eligible to compete in Love Live. I can’t help but view this as plot convenience as two episodes ago, they were in 50th place. This show does skip through time but even taking that into consideration, having the group advance by 31 places in just two episodes feels cheap. That said, the club’s eligibility isn’t set in stone. They can become ineligible again if another school idol group surpasses them and they slip past 20th place before Love Live begins. Now, the club has to maintain their position so they’re still fighting an uphill battle.
To maintain their momentum, μ’s decides to hold a concert in the upcoming school festival. In a very hilarious scene, Nico fails to win a raffle and secure a reservation for the auditorium so that location is unfortunately no-go. The gymnasium and field doesn’t work either as those are already reserved for the sports clubs. Per Honoka’s suggestion, the club settles on performing at the roof, an impractical choice but also a cheeky one given the club’s affinity towards it. I chuckled when Honoka suggests that μ’s should just sing very loud to get better attendance. That’s the idol anime equivalent of someone in an action anime resorting to hitting their opponent very hard.
Honoka seems to be giving the concert her all and at first, that just seems typical for her. As the episode progresses however, it’s clear that Honoka is actually going off the rocker. She sneaks out at night to get some extra training done and she makes some last minute proposals in regards to the concert, both of which could easily backfire on her and the rest of μ’s. There’s a noticeable lack of resistance in regards to the latter. Like, the others get shocked and baffled when Honoka suggests something but they ultimately go along with it. About the only one who really objects is Umi. It’s an interesting twist on Honoka’s role in the club and her relationship with her friends. Everyone sees Honoka as the de facto leader and they trust her judgment on a lot of things. But because of their trust in Honoka, they more or less act as her yes men and that becomes a big issue in this scenario.
Considering that last episode had Kotori preoccupied with enjoying her trip to the beach with everyone, I figured this episode would address the letter she got in the mail. And sure enough, it does get brought up here. The show is bizarrely vague on the details but as far as I can tell, Kotori has been given a big opportunity of some kind. Kotori eventually confides in Umi about the letter but she’s reluctant to bring it up to everyone else, including Honoka. She’s afraid that doing so will only sour the mood and affect everyone’s ability to perform during the concert. It’s kind of odd how this is the secondary plot but I do like how it factors into the main plot with Honoka. Because of her hesitation, Kotori ends up agreeing with everyone else to Honoka’s requests. That ends up being a big mistake as Umi needs a second person to back her up. Umi may be Honoka’s voice of reason but Honoka is very used to Umi disagreeing with her. If Kotori also disagreed, Honoka would be more likely to listen and things would play out differently in this episode.
Not only has Kotori refrained from telling everyone besides Umi about the letter, she also hasn’t reached a decision on what to do with her opportunity. To make matters worse, the deadline is on the same day as the concert. I get Kotori wants to decide after she and her friends give a good show but she is banking on the fact that they will give a good show and that becomes questionable as Honoka tries too hard. I’m surprised to see Kotori act so indecisive. After watching Episode 9, I would hope that the confidence boost she’s gained from the maid cafe would carry on over to here.
I knew, once Honoka starts training in the rain, the concert wouldn’t go very well. I watch anime and by anime logic, that’s a surefire way to get the most dangerous disease in the medium, the common cold. Sure enough, Honoka shows some symptoms on the morning of the festival and they get to a point where she barely makes it to school. Funnily enough, μ’s actually manages to get through one full insert song before Honoka succumbs to her cold. It’s as if the staff liked the song so much that they couldn’t bring themselves to interrupt it with Honoka dropping dead (and to be fair, the song is pretty catchy). Joking aside letting the girls perform the entire TV edit does work to the ending’s benefit. As the song keeps going, you get lulled into a false sense of security. You start to think that Honoka might actually be able to pull the concert off while dealing with a cold. So even when you know that Honoka will collapse, the moment still hits you when it finally happens.
Watch Love Live! School Idol Project on Crunchyroll
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