Honoka is a certain type of person. She may not have been that person in Episode 1, but she's that type of person now.
She's the sort of person that takes the weight of the world on her shoulders, and takes full responsibility for everything she's involved in. Because of that, she's susceptible to massive emotional highs (last episode) and massive emotional lows (this episode). She's gone from feeling like a beloved hero to feeling like a complete failure.
The positive with a person like Honoka is that you can always count on her to do her best at anything she puts her mind to. And that makes her a good leader in many respects, as she
will inspire others just by how she carries herself.
But the negative with a person like Honoka is that she can get too carried away with her own goals and self-esteem, and lose sight of the emotional needs of those around her. She's too quick to entirely blame herself rather than to accept the reasonable sharing of blame.
There's an analogy I made after last episode that was largely in jest, but I'm using it again because I'm honestly amazed at how well it works. Honoka is to Muse what Superman is to the Justice League. Superman leads by inspirational example, and a few choice words. He doesn't have to be the official leader, everybody can tell by his sheer presence in the room that he
is the leader. When the Justice League fails, Superman will always blame himself first. Superman can get too down on himself at times, and fail to see how that's affecting the rest of the Justice League.
Honoka is likewise being too hard on herself, carrying too much of the burden. In doing so, she's become so focused on "self" that she's lost sight of what
the team needs. It reminds me of the Justice League episode where Superman was about to disband the Justice League. Thankfully Umi slapped some sense into Honoka here just like Green Arrow talked some sense into Superman there.
By the way, Eri is to Muse what Batman is to the Justice League. But I won't get into that since I don't want to completely bore non-comic book fans with my analogies here.
I have to say that I'm pretty amazed at where this anime has gone. I never expected to have an episode loaded with this many "negative" emotions. Love Live! has had dramatic undercurrents since the very first episode, but it was a mix of uplifting drama with lighthearted charm. So it's pretty surprising how this episode had intense, slightly dark, drama.
I have to really tip my hat to the writers. They have done more with the School Idol concept than I ever imagined possible. And they have crafted a very emotionally engaging and compelling narrative with loads of great twists and turns - And this latest one with Honoka's change in character is truly startling to me. I never thought that girl could get this serious in a
somber way.
My hope for the finale is that we get one last Muse concert to send off Kotori with a bang... but that Kotori actually does get sent off. I agree with
Kanon. It would be really cheap otherwise.
Please, Love Live!, after the impressive
boldness of this episode, don't turn back now!