The penultimate episode of Season 3, and Superstar!! as a whole involves the final round of Love Live. I kind of figured this would be case after the episode preview and the fact that this episode is literally called “Superstar!!” (that just screams finality to me). There is of course one more episode after this but more on that later.
We begin with Kanon finally getting an update on her admission to the Vienna National Academy of Music. Honestly, I didn’t think this would happen until Liella! inevitably wins Love Live. I wouldn’t put it past the Wien family, given what we know of them. I suppose however that the Wien family is confident that Liella! will win or getting this far into Love Live two years in a row is good enough as Kanon is invited to Vienna to finish the paperwork needed for her admission.
Kanon promptly flies over to Vienna, where she briefly meets Margarette’s sister and tours around the academy’s campus before heading back to Tokyo. There’s a brief but somewhat interesting development where Kanon is overwhelmed by the change in scenery and culture and she starts to miss her friends. It gets to a point where Kanon desperately wants to go back home. Kanon doesn’t go as far as consider against studying abroad (it wouldn’t make sense since she’s graduating and parting ways with her friends anyway) but it does appear that she’s anxious of this next chapter in her life.
A couple times after her trip, Kanon has a vision where she’s standing alone in a rainy field, face to face with her younger self, who is shielded from the rain by a ray of sunshine. It’s kind of like when Honoka talked to a possible future version of herself in the School Idol Project movie. The vision of Kanon’s younger self reminds her of how much she enjoys music and that should dictate how she feels about the future as opposed to her fear. Interesting that Kanon comes this conclusion almost entirely on her own. The only involvement any of her friends have is their presence simply triggering the vision for the second time. I had expected Kanon’s friends to alleviate her fear but given the agency everyone has given lately, it’s more appropriate for Kanon to figure this out by herself.
Elsewhere, we see what the others are up to. The other third years are preparing for their post-graduation phase. Honestly, I’m a bit amazed to even learn what any of these girls will be up to. That often felt like an afterthought with the third year members in the other Love Live series. Chisato passes a dance audition; nice to know that switching to Yuigaoka’s general curriculum never impeded that path for her. Sumire gets a couple of offers from talent agents and you know she’s come a long way when she isn’t freaking out over getting scouted. Keke is a bit vague, only telling Sumire that she still plans on performing onstage while not disclosing if she’s returning to Shanghai or not. I’d love it if Keke actually did tell everyone else what her exact plans are and Sumire is the only one she’s keeping in the dark. I suppose we don’t really know what Ren’s plan is. We can only assume that she’s just going to a university. To be fair, the thing that most concerned Ren’s future was her leaving Yuigaoka and that was already resolved last episode.
The second years volunteer to create the next song for Love Live and they briefly struggle to come up with something. The biggest issue is figuring out how to organize the song across all eleven members of Liella!, which frankly is hilarious to me. I mean at this point, the girls have already performed together four times. Was this seriously not an issue until now? Still, I like how the second years find inspiration upon hearing a choir, reminding them that Liella’s biggest strength is its unison.
Perhaps the biggest development after Kanon’s admission to the Vienna National Academy of Music is Tomari convincing Margarette to stay in Yuigaoka for at least one more year. After last episode brought it up, I was honestly hoping that Margarette would decide against returning to Vienna. Getting accepted at the academy was Margarette’s original goal but given her newfound love for school idols and the comradery she found with Liella!, having her stay in Tokyo is a much better direction to take with her character. Having Tomari convince Margarette is just perfect. When you think about it, these two were more or less on the same path, going from indifferent about school idols to finally understanding them and wanting to be one themselves. It’s understandable then that Tomari figured that Margarette would also stay with Liella!. Also, I really feel for Tomari when she tells Margarette that she’d miss her. It feels so genuine when you consider how close these two have gotten and how lonely Tomari would be as the only first year member of Liella!, should Margarette leave the group.
Right before the big concert, we get cameo appearances from the entire supporting cast. Aside from the main characters’ relatives, we get a surprise appearance by Sunny Passion. I make it no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of Yuna (Chihaya Yoshitake) and Mao (Yuna Yūki). Compared to other rivals such as Sarah and Leah and especially Margarette, these two feel underdeveloped. Even so, I still appreciate that the Superstar!! hasn’t completely forgotten them. Having those two support Liella! in winning Love Live a second time, after they couldn’t do so the previous year, is much better than having them vanish from the narrative.
I was expecting a big emotional musical number for the last round of Love Live, akin to the last one for Season 2. There certainly is a sentimental or bittersweet tone to the insert song but it otherwise sounds a lot happier than I anticipated. I dig it though; it feels less like a sendoff to Liella! and more like a celebration of the good times the group has had over the course of three seasons. Plus, I imagine there might be one more insert song after this so if the show does want to get emotional, it’s more likely to happen there.
Definitely the cheekiest element of the song is the title drop. Not only is this song literally titled “Superstar!!”, the girls frequently say the word, singing how they’re all superstars. I believe this is the first time any of the Love Live series has ever done a title drop. A big reason why this works for me is the fact it’s only at the end of the show that it happens. Had the girls went ahead and called themselves “superstars” at the beginning, it’d feel very conceited. Having it happen at the end feels like a culmination to Liella’s growth, either as individuals or as a group. They’ve gotten further in Love Live than anyone else in the entire franchise’s canon and they’ve also been through a lot in their three season journey. They honestly do deserve to call themselves “superstars”. Title drops should only be done when a story has earned the right do it and in this case, I think Love Live!! has earned it.
Surprise: Liella wins Love Live for the second time in a row, something which neither μ’s nor Aqours have under their belt (though to be fair, those groups had only aimed to win once). I’ve said it before: the result is very predictable but I can give that pass because the journey more than makes up for it. And not going to lie, it is very satisfying seeing two first place trophies next to each other in Liella’s club room. Somewhat puzzling that they’re not flags (you know, the usual prize that you get when you win Love Live) but whatever.
While Love Live has been taken care of, there is still one more episode left. As seen at the very last shot, it appears that the finale will be dedicated towards the third years’ graduation ceremony. I’m happy that this will get its own episode. After spending three entire seasons with the original five, they really deserve a proper sendoff.
Watch Love Live! Superstar!! on Crunchyroll.
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