Oh thank god we got a bonding episode. E-Except the second years weren’t a part of it when I thought they should have. When they were talking about Ruby and Dia making costumes and Kanan’s past experience in writing lyrics, I thought the girl were going to split up in groups and work on each thing together (like Dia, You, and Ruby make costumes for instance) but instead they made the decision of Mari coming up with a little competition where the second years will make their own song, and the first and third years will become a group of their own and make their own song to see which is better. They have to compose two songs, one for the Love Live qualifiers coming up for them really soon, and the other for the Open House. Mari’s father agreed to listen to them, and his one condition of keeping the school open is if they get 100 students to enroll for next year. So far they have ten, now they need ninety more.
While I would have loved the second years to take part, I loved the episode anyway. I love the fact that they addressed how the third and first years are kind of their own cliques. They each tend to keep to themselves and not talk to the others as much. And they also pointed out how different they all really are. But in those two groups, two “subgroups” are seen as Kanan/Mari who are shy and like outdoor activities, and Hanamaru/Yoshiko that keep to themselves and like indoor activities. But the way I see it, another group is Dia/Ruby where they’re kind of dependant on each other? But they didn’t mention that. Either way, Dia was absolutely correct in her observations. They don’t feel like close friends! I never felt that way about them and I’m incredibly happy that the anime addressed that as well because that was bothering me since last season. I didn’t feel the close bond of a group of friends or a mini family among them. Of course that also includes the second years, since the second years tend to stay in their own little group as well and I think they should have also joined in on the bonding. They don’t feel like a group to me and thankfully the second season of the anime picked up on it very soon. That makes me so happy!
This episode was very silly and hilarious. The group of six first start off deciding on the place where they’ll come up with lyrics, and Dia mentions Mari’s house because it has large rooms for them all. The first years huddle together, remembering how rich Mari is and immediately get excited to go. Unfortunately the only thing they did there was laze about, enjoy the rich life, and eat a lot of food and watch TV. And I don’t blame them.
They then head to Dia’s house where they all come up with their own ideas for the songs. Hanamaru comes up with something difficult that Yoshiko and Ruby are up for, but the third years are not. And then Mari recommends a song she came up with, which turns out to be metal that she and Kanan and Dia like, thinking it’s a good idea to challenge themselves with a different genre, but the first years don’t like. Which I found odd that Yoshiko didn’t like it because have you heard Guilty Kiss’ songs? I thought metal rock would be up Yoshiko’s alley? 😐
Calling the second years over for help, Dia just realizes that they all don’t know each other well and that they just need to bond with each other. They realize how different they are but they want to remedy it. So we get different scenes of dodgeball, reading, and going to the public baths but none of their activities seem to do anything. Going to a local temple affiliated with Hanamaru’s family, the girls take shelter there from the rain. Again, they try to compose lyrics but nothing is working for them, the candle goes out and they all scream and it’s kind of a (funny) disaster. It’s not until the roof leaks that they all work together to get cups and bowls to catch the water that they pay attention to the sounds of the raindrops in the containers. Each of the sounds are different but soon they all join in together, pretty much like them. Inspiration! Then we have a happy ending and they made a song together, hurray!
This episode was much better than last week’s. One of the issues I had with Sunshine was touched upon today, not as much as I wanted but mostly what I wanted and I’m mostly satisfied. The girls are all just so cute and silly that they had me laughing a lot this episode. Watching the six of them hang out together just made me so happy, and I feel like I appreciate them a lot more. I never really cared much for Dia and Hanamaru, but I like how silly and teasing Hanamaru can be and I like the leadership and caring nature of Dia I saw here. I wanted more screentime for Kanan, and I love to see that she can be pretty stubborn and childish, while also being a bit of a scaredy-cat. I also love that Ruby got more screentime and I always love it when she’s around Dia, but she can also have a silly and careless side like being lazy at Mari’s house and watching TV, or at the bath. I never was crazy about Yoshiko’s chunni nature, but she’s actually growing on me. And Mari…well, I always loved Mari.
I’m really appreciating all of the girls so much more than I did before and that makes me so happy! Now the ones that need to convince me are Chika and You because I never really cared for them. I really hope that changes by the end of this season.
