So did Natsumi’s little concert have an effect an Tomari? Kind of. Superstar!! is bit vague on this as it doesn’t show the immediate aftermath and this episode very quickly shifts the spotlight over to Keke. While it’s hard to say if Tomari approves of Natsumi’s school idol career, it does appear that she wants to understand a little bit more as she is attending TomaKanoTe’s practice sessions more often. She does give her usual logic, arguing that she’s got nothing better to do during summer vacation, but Kanon is convinced there’s more to that. I guess Superstar!! will revisit Tomari’s arc in some other episode. I’m looking forward to it as Tomari is proving to be a solid addition to the cast.
Being that they’re all third years, the founding members of Liella! have to fill out the usual career path survey, which then has them thinking about their future after high school and Liella!. The question of what happens when the third year members graduate is pretty traditional for Love Live!; both School Idol Project and Sunshine!! explored this to some degrees. It does feel like a bigger deal here in Superstar!!, though. With μ’s and Aqours, it was immediately a given that the third year characters were going to have to leave. But with Liella!, we’ve been following the original five since their first year. It’s crazier then to think that their time as school idols is coming to an end.
Keke is particularly anxious about her post-graduation plans. Thing is, she’s only dreamt of being a school idol and right now, she’s living that dream. She has been diligent with her studies but she’d rather live in the present than think about the future. Complicating the matter is Keke’s family. While her older sister has been supportive of her school idol career, her parents would not approve of Keke dedicating herself to it and they’d rather have her study back home in Shanghai. Now that she’s a third-year, time is running out for her to decide on a career path.
I really like that Keke confides all of this to Kanon. They started Liella! together; it just feels right for the two of them to discuss what to do after Liella!. Plus, it’s been a long while since these two shared a scene together. I suppose Sumire would’ve worked as well. Prominent toxic ship aside, Sumire is more aware of Keke’s family troubles than anyone else in the show. I would however argue that it takes certain circumstances for Sumrie and Keke to be transparent with each other so it’s more fitting then that Sumire listens in on Keke and Kanon’s conversation.
At the beginning of summer vacation, Keke flies back to Shanghai. Everyone figures that they wouldn’t see Keke until school resumes though to their surprise, Keke seemingly mails them all plane tickets to head over to Shanghai as well. It’s pretty much tradition in Love Live! that at some point, the characters travel abroad for whatever reason. Usually, that’s reserved for the movie but I guess since Superstar!! isn’t getting one, this plot is happening here in Season 3. There’s a funny bit of dialogue here in which Wien argues that she has no reason to go and she only changes her mind when Kanon insists that helping Keke would allow TomaKanoTe to compete against Liella! more fairly. I can’t wait to see Wien fully integrated into Liella! but it has been funny seeing the show come up with excuses for her involved in everyone else’s arcs.
When Liella! and TomaKanoTe arrive in Shanghai, Keke seemingly messages with pictures of locations where they might find her. In actuality, this is just the show’s excuse for the girls to tour around Shanghai. That tends to be the case with the overseas plot. Even with some actual character development going on, Love Live! just can’t help but overindulge in the CGDCT potential of anime girls dealing with foreign places. For what it’s worth, these antics are pretty entertaining. I particularly chuckled when TomaKanoTe run into a creepy fortune teller and for once, all of three are in agreement over something (which in this case is getting the hell out of there). A bit of shame though that the fortune teller isn’t an older Yoshiko. I’m used to the franchise denying itself potential cameos like that but it would’ve been great.
Eventually, the girls are directed towards one last location and it’s there that they meet the real mastermind of this trip, Keke’s older sister Mengmeng (Ran). I was wheezing over how long it takes for everyone to figure out Mengmeng’s identity. It is suspicious that someone else contacted them as Keke and they somehow know all of their names but come on. Grey hair? A ridiculous and elaborate plan? Those just seems like Tang family trademarks. Even wilder is everyone jumping to the conclusion that Mengmeng kidnapped Keke. Imagine something that dark in Love Live!. Joking aside, I dig Mengmeng’s playfulness and her commitment to her bit. For a side character, this is a really fun introduction.
Before the girls start to throw hands, Keke appears and performs a surprise concert for them. Rather than sing the usual school idol pop, Keke performs a more bittersweet ballad which fits well with her meeting her friends again and the possibility that she might have to part ways with them after this adventure. I especially adore that Liyuu actually gets to sing as her character in Chinese for once. Admittedly, there wasn’t a good opportunity beforehand but I’ve always thought it’d be neat to hear Keke perform in her first language. Like, if Mia can perform an insert song in English during Nijigasaki, why not have Keke sing entirely in Chinese? Also great is the aesthetic. Keke’s red and white outfit is really cute and the makeshift stage on the boat combined with the cityscape of Shangai makes for a really pretty concert.
After Keke’s concert, Mengmeng finally reveals why she’s gathered everyone together. Apparently, there’ll be a school idol festival in Shanghai and Mengmeng wants everyone from Yuigaoka to perform there in order to save Keke. I’m guessing that Keke and Mengmeng’s parents are starting to crack down on Keke’s school idol aspirations and Mengmeng is hoping that having Keke and her friends put on a killer show will get them to back off. Assuming that’s the case, I like how we have antagonists again and it’s just Asian parents. At least for me, that’s pretty darn relatable. I’m curious what the plan will be for the festival. The more straightforward route would be having Liella! and TomaKanoTe perform separately but I don’t know what good it’d do for Keke for TomaKanoTe to perform. Not having Kanon perform with Keke in what is looking to be a very important concert for Keke would also be a shame. This could very well be where the show starts to unite the two groups but I don’t know if Wien and Tomari are willing to indulge in the idea just yet.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll.
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