Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Love Live! Superstar!! Season 2
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coreymon77
Posts: 21 |
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My favourite thing so far are the parallels being drawn between Kanon and Kinako. Kanon is finding herself on the opposite end of the dynamic she was in but one year ago. The doubting, unsure, insecure girl who doesn't think she could ever be an idol and needs encouragement. The one breaking down in tears over worries about being a burden to others. That was Kanon but one year prior. Yet now, here she is being in the supportive, comforting role to Kinako and excelling at it.
It's such a wonderful showcase for her growth so far. It's amazing how they are tying the growth of the 1st generation into the development of these new girls. That, and the visual storytelling of how they visually separated Kinako from the rest of the group to represent the emotional distance during most of this episode. Whether it being a large distance between them, Kinako being the only one sitting in a scene or the actual, physical line in the ground (it looks to be a storm drain) that separates Kinako from the other 5 during the big climactic scene, a line that she then physically crosses once she fully commits to idoling, there is a lot of it in this episode and it's great. |
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John the Dark Lord
Posts: 232 |
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The ultimate Sunrise villain?! But seriously, I'm really happy they managed to create a new kind of relationship between our idol girls. There may have been people worried that adding new girls would make Liella lose their uniqueness, but the way they are handling the recruitment of new members is something I haven't seen in this franchise before. |
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harminia
 Posts: 2000 Location: australia |
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Really enjoying the new girls (well with the exception of Oninatsu but only because she hasn't gotten to do much). The interaction between Kinako, Mei and Shiki this ep was really cute and fun.
I also like that it dealt with what the priority of the idol club is. Is it "just to have fun", or "to reach Love Live and win"? Well, we know the answer but it was interesting seeing how they got there, especially after watching Niji where it's completely "have fun". Can't say I'm super big on Kinako's singing voice, at least solo, but it might be nicer in a group (I'll have to watch the OP again now that I can isolate her voice more). Still, she's a fun character with lots of great expressions. Also interested in mysterious girl. |
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merr
Posts: 467 |
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This show is such a delight! The Kanon-senpai dynamic really is a breath of fresh air. Honoka and Chika grew into their roles as leaders, but it’s great to have a new take on that. It works especially well because Kanon struggles to see herself as a leader more than her predecessors did. The gag in season 1 was that people kept nominating her to be in charge against her will. Now she’s finally seeing in herself what the others saw.
Yeah, I hate to agree. Liella’s big thing was that all the actresses were strong singers. They’ve needed noticeably less post production on their live performances, for example. Kinako is fine, but not quite as strong, but maybe she just hasn’t had a song in her range. |
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harminia
Posts: 2000 Location: australia |
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Yeah, exactly! When I heard the OP for ep 1 I thought they all sounded great but hearing Kinako's solo ED made me uncertain... I really want Liella to remain a unit with no lousy singers LOL;;;;; (Kinako isn't lousy but she didn't sound as good as the others for sure) I suppose Kinako could improve over time too, so I guess we'll just have to see what happens... I hope the others are good though (slightly concerned). |
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rizuchan
 Posts: 975 Location: Kansas |
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Huh, I thought Kinako sounded fine. She definitely sounds like an anime girl, but her performance seemed... pleasant to me. She might not be a strong soloist, but I like what she's bringing to the group.
On a completely different note, I just gotta say... I'm not sure I'm digging Shiki's mad scientist gimmick. I know LL isn't exactly the pinnacle of realism and has plenty of eccentric characters, but something about it just seems a little out there and out of place for LL. |
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coreymon77
Posts: 21 |
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I feel the same way. Nonchan's singing is pleasant, comfy, it's fitting for Kinako. Sure, she doesn't have the immediate raw power and talent of someone like Sayurin (Kanon), but that's a pretty tall ask. There aren't very many Sayurins out there. I'm sure she will only get better in time, too. As for Shiki, I just see it as an extension of Rina, just moreso in the physical world than digital. So far, it's just been those "hoverboard" things, an ankle brace and some goofy glasses, nothing that weird. |
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Rogueywon
Posts: 251 |
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Or is it? We're three episodes into the second season, a new rival has been introduced and our three remaining idol-candidates seem in no hurry to join up. In addition to that, the oldest of our main cast are still only second years. I think we might be looking at our first 3-cour Love Live. |
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coreymon77
Posts: 21 |
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All of this talk about Wien being the new rival and the new obstacle for Liella to beat in their quest for Love Live victory, yet I'm not sure that's actually going to be the case, at least not this season, and that's for a couple reasons.
First off, I don't really think they're going to sideline Sunny Passion that quickly. That line they made about there never having been a back to back win in Love Live history was not made off-handedly. That is a plot flag right there and it will be relevant. Either Sunny Passion accomplishes that goal or they are setting up for Liella themselves to be the one who does it. Either way, they will be involved one way or another and having them tossed aside for some new character wouldn't be a particularly satisfying way to end it. Applying the Worf Effect to Sunny Passion would be a bit of a disservice to them. Secondly, and this is arguably speculation by me, although not entirely unfounded, but is Love Live not a high school competition? I don't think it has ever been explicitly stated, but it has certainly been implied over the course of franchise history. Any group that has been introduced, or even mentioned across the franchise's various mediums has always been in high school. Middle schoolers have spoken about school idols before, about them being excited to become one, but usually with the implied understanding that they need to wait until they reach high school to really get started. So, unless we're playing by Air Bud rules here, I'm not sure Wien can actually compete, at least not in Love Live. I think they're more setting her up as a rival for next year because, yes, I do think they are intending for a 3rd season with this group, and Sunny Passion will have graduated by that point, necessitating a new rival. |
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merr
Posts: 467 |
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I don’t think anyone knows how this season will play out, but the twists so far have been great.
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John the Dark Lord
Posts: 232 |
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Adding to the above, am I the only one that, when informed that the new rival is in the last year of Middle School now, thought "oh, so she is joining Liella in their third year"?
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coreymon77
Posts: 21 |
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You are certainly not, it's been all over conversations in various places. But I don't particularly see it happening, not in this case. That's not to say Liella won't have new additions, I just don't think it will be Wien. Frankly, her design and aesthetic is far too incongruent with the rest of Liella. It just doesn't fit. Yes, you could have possibly said that about Lanzhu, but A) I don't think her design is that different from the rest of the group and B) That's okay with something like NIji where individuality is their whole thing, but Liella is meant to be a cohesive unit, a group, and she doesn't fit. That's not to say her design is bad, per se, it just doesn't fit with Liella. That's fine when you are a rival, even beneficial, not so much if you're intended to be part of the group. I could most certainly be wrong, but my thought is that she moves in to the rival role once SunnyPa graduates. |
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harminia
Posts: 2000 Location: australia |
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Not sure what to make of Wien as a character but damn was her song good. Gave me a kinda Symphogear feel which fit perfectly.
After Sunny Passion being imo extremely disappointing music wise, it was good to hear someone who is the levels of A-Rise and Saint Snow level better than the main group. It sort of feels like where they changed Lanzu for the Niji anime to be nicer, they took that solo singer evil character traits and popped them into Wien instead. I wonder what will happen with all these plots. Would be wild to have them lose LL this time and have the obligatory movie actually be where they win LMAO. anyway gonna listen to Wien's song again |
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rizuchan
Posts: 975 Location: Kansas |
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I agree 100%. If anything, I'd see that as an argument for Sunny Passion not being a real player in this season. They had no performance in the first season, and the single they released was... I know there were people that liked it, but it certainly did not get the overwhelmingly positive response that Saint Snow had, to say the least. Love Live not only has great music overall, they know when to bring their A game. If they intended for Sunny Passion to be a threat, they would have had a performance like Wien's. |
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merr
Posts: 467 |
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Red and Blue Oni have finally joined! As usual, this episode was great. I agree that it’s nice to see the series explore a more complicated set of characters with history that isn’t directly tied to idol activities.
I’m also excited we’re finally getting to Natsumi next week. Mostly to see what her latest gig is. I half expect she’ll try to recruit Liella into an MLM. |
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