Okay, no, this episode wasn’t bad, but I didn’t like how it all played out. When Mari says to be honest with your friends, she knows what the hell she’s talking about! She’s been through that dumb stuff before, and even when You took Mari’s advice, she didn’t really follow up on it. But I suppose that didn’t matter because the whole situation was solved without talking about it, which is what I had a problem with.
First off, let’s appreciate Mari for being the awesome crazy aunt of the group giving great advice to You and being there for her.
So Riko leaves for Tokyo to her piano competition. The girls see her off at the train station. Once they leave, You notices Chika still standing behind and noticing how worried she looked for Riko. Back at school, because Dia is a little absent-minded, she forgot that she needed to do something about cleaning the school’s pool, so she uses that as an excuse to make it part of Aquors’ “training”. After they clean it spotless, they use it to start practicing their routine for the qualifiers. They’re about to start, but Chika stops, and notices that something is off about their routine. That Riko isn’t there, so their formation is off. With Riko gone, they realize they need someone else to take her spot, and they all choose You.
Unfortunately, You and Chika have trouble with the dance. Chika was used to how Riko moved, but because You moves differently than her, they would collide. So You decided that she would adjust to how Chika moved when she danced with Riko. But the dance isn’t really on her mind, but a bigger problem. Mari said You was feeling jealous that Riko took Chika away from her, but really it was just loneliness and feeling left out than jealous. But You did act weird whenever Riko was mentioned, like the polka dot scrunchies, and when Riko called. You feeling this way was very justified as I’ve mentioned that Chika and Riko have a lot of interactions. Really, I feel like Riko interacts with only Chika, and since Riko is always taking Chika’s time, You doesn’t have the time to be with her, or at least be part of their interactions because their time together is very personal, and they only talk about certain things with each other.
I knew that You was feeling left out, so I knew that they would have an episode for her, but I really wish she was honest with Chika. I said before that Chika was better than Honoka in the respect that she can tell when her friends are down, and in this case, she still kinda is. Chika noticed that You was looking a little concerned, but she only thought that because she was concerned about the dance, and not anything else.
Though I was happy when Chika said that You didn’t need to adjust. Because You is You, not Riko. She moves a certain way, and instead of You adjusting, the group changed their choreography for their temporary 8-girl group. In that respect, Chika is great, but Chika wasn’t able to tell that You was upset for something else. And I really wish You had been upfront with Chika because this really was something she needed to tell her. I felt like it would have been more powerful for You to hear it from Chika, but then again, Riko’s phone call to You was good too, because we haven’t seen them talk to each other much. Still, I would have liked it a little different.
Maybe that’s just me. Either way, I loved their song. It was so sweet and pretty, and I loved how the show switched from Aquors’ performance and Riko’s recital. Also, I’m glad everything went so well for Riko. But pertaining to Aquors, isn’t there a rule saying that if you only have 8 members in the qualifiers, you can only perform with those same 8 if you actually get qualified into Love Live? So what about Riko? Can she just join in for the Love Live or will she just have to sit it out? I don’t think they made this clear, or maybe they did and I just forgot. Idk.
Also, did this episode really do anything for You’s character? Well, we can see that she does have a little vulnerable side, but I feel like this episode didn’t bring anything new to the table, for the show or You’s character. So, this didn’t help me with my opinion of You. Sorry. I think she’s going to be another Kotori for me.
Let’s hope Aquors did their Rubesty and qualified!
