Could this possibly be my favorite third episode “big moment” performance in Love Live so far? It might just be. Is it my favorite song? Maybe not, but it’s riiiiiight behind Start Dash as a very close second because I loved this song. But whenever I hear Start Dash it still gets an emotional reaction out of me, but Kanon and Keke did so well. Aesthetically? This is absolutely my favorite performance by a longshot. White sparkly dresses with pink and blue, and bows, with a beautiful pink stage with more bows and ribbons? All pink? This is my jam.
Now I know what I said last time, that it would be a little disappointing if Kanon just got over her stage fright like that. And for her to sing so flawlessly like this is unrealistic, I really just appreciate what it took to get here.
I have to say, with each passing episode I just love Keke more and more. Chisato is wonderful as well, trying to put Kanon in situations where she has to “perform” in front of others in other ways, like making takoyaki. It may not seem related but it makes sense. And while they all tried their best to help Kanon, there was still this lingering fear and doubt in her. Even worse when they find out that Sunny Passion (Sunny Pas) decided to join the competition at the last second. Which completely took what I predicted last time and squashed it. I didn’t think they would join in the competition because they would be too good for it, and in the end they took first place easily. I thought they would be just judges, so Sunny Pas’ inclusion just makes their situation even more dire. It’s obvious that Sunny Pas would just take first place, so the pressure weighed on Kanon even more. And on top of that, Kanon knew that if the club was forbidden because of their loss it would be all her fault since she would hold Keke back because of her stage fright.
And again, I love Keke. Instead of pushing her or giving her more false hope (“Don’t worry, you can do it!”), Keke saw Kanon’s struggle and volunteered to sing the whole song by herself. She took Kanon’s mental health and fear seriously and offered her to take it easy and just be on stage with her while she sang, not because she didn’t believe in her but because she cares about her. The reason why Keke loves school idols so much is because they represent what she could never really do, which was dream and simply have fun, an escape from her academics. And Kanon reminded her of that, and that her dream really is possible. Even if they can’t be school idols, just performing and being on stage with Kanon is enough for her. And my god that is just the sweetest thing. And poor Kanon, her breakdown hurt my heart. T_T Keke can be silly at times, but she does have a mature side to her when the situation needs it. Again when she reaches out to Chisato and asks about whether she wants to join them or not. She didn’t push the subject any further but I thought it was sweet that Keke thought Kanon would be happier if Chisato were in the group with them. Again, she keeps looking out for others. But of course, Keke is just hilarious and her silly “Kuukaa” name and the float she made were hilarious. She has such a good heart.
While Kanon and Keke didn’t take first place, they still won the Newcomer’s Award, which is still quite the achievement that brings some recognition to their school. Ren is going to have to cave, but of course the headmaster has to make that decision. With this performance out of the way and from the preview, it looks like we’ll properly meet Sumire next time. Very galaxy, whatever that means. I’m not sure I care for Sumire being the comedic relief character, because Keke also sorta takes that role too? I’m afraid it might be a little much, but I hope there will be more to Sumire’s character other than meme girl. At least with Keke she already has more depth to her.
Sumire is going to take the spot next week, but I’m also looking forward to Chisato’s episode. Obviously she’s interested in school idols and she was very honest in telling Keke that she is. But you could see the hesitation and reluctance when she had to turn her down. She’s probably really gotten into this whole school idol thing as she helped them with their dancing and exercises, but she has her own dancing that she has to focus on as that’s part of her dream. What kind of dancing, and her skill level is all I want to see. I wonder if she’ll try to balance both things somehow or give up one (dancing). This is something that I think would be really great to explore. One thing that always kinda bothered me about Love Live were knowing that the girls were great in other activities/sports and they were in the clubs, but we never saw them struggle with having to juggle everything at the same time. This could be their chance to do that with Chisato, especially with this school being more serious about their activities. I just want Love Live to push their formula just a bit more, same with the characters as well. I’m enjoying Superstar so much so I want this to be the best Love Live it can be.
And I have to give a huge shoutout to the voice actresses. I’ve already heard their voices in the OP, but both Kanon and Keke have amazing voices. While I like Start Dash more, this song was also so lovely because of Kanon and Keke’s voices. There’s always usually one character whose voice I don’t like, but so far from what little I’ve heard I’m loving everyone’s. I’m so excited to hear more songs from this group! <3
