Wow, another obligatory swimsuit episode? Color me surprised. I don’t recall the later series doing more than one so I honestly figured School Idol Project already fulfilled its quota back in Season 1.
Anyway, the second years are off on a field trip to Okinawa. Since they’re out of town, Eli and Nozomi are back to working in the student council, which I find to be hilarious. I mean, they are the most qualified for the job but I’m still not used to having Honoka as the student council president so being back to how things were in Season 1 isn’t helping. On the flipside, I don’t have to worry about the school catching fire for one episode.
With Honoka out of time, μ’s decides to assign a temporary leader so that they can better prepare for a concert at an upcoming fashion event. I find this a little confusing because in Season 1 Episode 6, the girls all agree not to have an official leader. Then again, they follow Honoka’s lead all the time so I don’t blame them if they forgot. What is more peculiar is that out of everyone in the club, Rin is elected as the temporary leader. I suppose by process of elimination, Rin would get the job. Eli and Nozomi are too busy with the student council. Hanayo is too shy to be a leader. Maki wouldn’t want to be the leader and Nico would want to be one far too much (and after last episode, I don’t think anyone wants to give Nico any sense of superiority). By default, Rin has to be the leader. That said, Rin has never led anyone on anything so this is still an odd choice to me.
You see Rin struggle a bit with steering the ship but frankly, the question of whether or not Rin could effectively lead the club fades away as the episode progresses. The episode instead explores Rin’s potential as a center. Due to bad weather, the second years’ flight gets displayed so the rest of μ’s will have to perform at the fashion event on their own. Honoka’s absence also means the club has to decide on a new center for the concert and seeing as they already made her their leader for now, they all decide Rin should be it. Rin refuses however and passes the role over to Hanayo, feeling that she’s isn’t cute and feminine enough to wear the special dress that’ll be worn by the center.
Out of anyone in μ’s, I think Rin desperately need the spotlight the most. Her cheeriness is entertaining but compared to everyone else in the cast, she’s been given little to do in the plot. I find that to be an issue with all the first years but at least with Hanayo and Maki, they each had at least one major moment to shine during Season 1. Rin’s biggest contribution up until this point was convincing Hanayo to join the club, that’s it. I suppose Sunshine!! did spoil that this would happen but for a while, I was afraid that School Idol Project might go its entire two season run without highlighting Rin. Thank goodness, that is not the case. Props to this show as well for bringing up Rin’s insecurity over her cuteness and femininity. It was so weird for Season 1 to establish that and then leave it unexplored. Frankly, it’s easy to forget Rin’s insecurity because she only wears tomboyish clothes during practice and this aspect of her isn’t reflect in her idol attire.
Despite passing the role over to Hanayo, it quickly becomes apparent that Rin is having second thoughts about it and everyone else notices this. Eli and Hanayo contact Honoka about the situation on separate occasions and I really like that Honoka refrains from giving a lot of input on the matter. You can tell from Honoka’s dialogue that she thinks Rin should be the center but she doesn’t advocate for it because she feels that the decision is ultimately up to Rin and everyone else who’ll perform at the fashion event. It’s funny; by not exerting her authority, Honoka proves once again why everyone trusts her leadership. Sure enough, the others trust their gut and convince Rin to be their center. Having Maki and Hanayo give Rin a little push is a nice touch; Rin and Maki did the same thing to Hanayo when they convinced her to join μ’s.
I love that as soon as Rin steps on stage, she’s immediately showered with compliments. Just a few kind words and that’s all Rin needs to feel more comfortable about herself. I can see why Sunshine!! would refer to this scene again because it’s definitely one of the most satisfying moments in School Idol Project so far. I am however a bit disappointed at the rest of the ending. We get a couple of snippets of the concert but this isn’t really a MV. It’s actually montage akin to the Kotori led number in Season 1 Episode 9. It’s not a bad montage by any means, but going this route does undermine Rin’s big moment since we barely get to see her as the center. Is it stipulated in someone’s contract that the show can’t do a MV unless Honoka is the center? I can’t help but find it funny that she wants Rin to be the center this time around and yet the show keeps reserving its screentime for her.
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