Love Live! Sunshine - Episode 2 Discussion / Poll

[Kairin]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Love Live! Sunshine, Episode 2.

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[Nork22]

Thoughts before I go to bed.

- Dia is a closet muse fan. Problem with her is that she has to uphold her strict family tradition.
- They are pushing the Riko x Chika ship hard.
- How to bait a loli character, use a lolipop.
- Riko singing that muse song...
- What do you know, Chika and Riko are neighbours
- That one line from Yohane was hyped
- ED song was nice. Also tradition is followed in the ED as well.
- No Mari this episode, which is sad

[Kitsu Breaker]

Riko x Chika going strong
she even slip her skirt

[Benigmatica]

Never knew that Dia Kurosawa knows more about µ's than Chika Takami!

Also, nice to see Riko Sakurauchi singing "Yume no Tobira" which Chika-chan noticed it right away. Then again, she reminds me of Kousei Arima with regards to her stage fright.

Anyways, glad that Riko joined Chika's school idol club and that "touching hands" part was the best one I've ever seen!

[blakstealth]

Whoa whoa whoa. Dia comes out of nowhere and drops some hard and aggressive u's trivia on poor Chika. The theory I have with her, Kanan, and Mari is looking more realistic. That ED says it all as well. They look so close. The ending scene with Chika and Riko is what love live is all about: good and positive vibes, real and pure relationships, sincere motivations, and cheese. I fuckin love it.

Speaking on the animation and production, I love how the characters are animated so well and look real similar to their respective key designs right out of the bat. All these characters look so hhnnngggg.

I didn't expect her and the other characters to reference the actual members and their songs, let alone Riko covering Yume no Tobira. If this is gonna be the trend for the show, then maybe watching the original series might not be a bad idea to the new viewers.

edit: Also forgot to mention You's cute drawings and how did Yoshik- I mean Yohane run out of the class and get away with it?! Incredible.

[Raviel]

I don't think I've seen subtext pushed this far except for the light novels and LL manga

I mean wow, ChikaxRiko is sailing hard and fast.

Still, Dia stole the show for me this episode, I love how hardcore of a fan she is and yet tries so hard to maintain a serious demeanor (of course she fails at it though)
Her shell slowly but surely breaks down at Chika's onslaught of casualness.

Her inner fangirl simply can't take how WRONG Chika could be about her idol-waifus, her smug tone as she says all that trivia sealed the deal for me

[Tempester]

Yep, I'm absolutely sold on Sunshine with this episode. It focused on a relatively small part of the cast compared to the previous episode, but what it did focus on was executed excellently.

Riko is a very compelling character, and I absolutely sympathize with her perfectionist issues; for people like her, it can be really tough to stand up again and continue with a passion or hobby after messing up or faltering once. The way she fears losing integrity by pursing a new hobby (school idol) and possibly losing track of her old passion (piano) hits home hard and I applaud the staff for pulling off this melodrama so well.

And Dia really sets herself apart from Eli this episode. Her passionate lecture on u's was really fun and I'm looking forward to see more of her now.

Also Chika's voice is awesome! She's like a cute chipmunk.

[R.LocK]

Originally Posted by Benigmatica

Never knew that Dia Kurosawa knows more about µ's than Chika Takami!

Forget it, she knows more than I do, probably.

Then again, she reminds me of Kousei Arima with regards to her stage fright.

Agreed, but for different reasons. It's the image of drowning in the sea with no sound and light that reminded me of Shigatsu.



Okay, about the episode proper.

I do not particularly like the directing technique where you jump from present to past and back to back up a few lines of dialogue making flashbacks longer than the original scene itself. I did, however, like Dia's quiz since it made me rack my brains for a few seconds (jeez, I didn't know who didn't sing in the beginning of the song either, Dia!). And well, Dia is just entertaining to watch. Now I know why they never said Muse's name proper before Dia's outburst.

That aside, cute throwbacks to the original series. Didn't Nico want to make pom poms in the anime? Or is it from SIF? I don't remember And I want the full piano cover of Yume no Tobira from Riko.


Back to Aqours.

I know that this is a Riko-centric episode, but there's quite a big focus on Chika as well. I'm not good at writing character analysis, though, so I'll just say that I like the direction Sunrise and Lantis are going with Chika. And the balance between her clueless naivete and deep introspection is still pretty surprising. By the way, that "Dummy Chika" on her forehead in the preview is adorable.

Now then, Riko. She showed quite a big spectre of emotions, and it's nice because she didn't do much in the first episode, to be honest. Cute sneezes aside, that is. Her backstory is not deep or anything, but it's something that I can personally relate to, so bonus points from me. And, don't flip Riko's "No fun allowed" switch, everyone. She's scaaaaary.

You, Hanamaru, and Ruby desperately need their own episodes as well. Compared to Dia, Yohane and Kanan, they don't stand out, to be honest. And well, Mari... She should appear in the next episode, at least. The trio above aside, the anime does a pretty good job at fleshing out girls. At this point, well, if someone still calls Chika and Dia clones of Honoka and Eli, I can't find any other words for them other than "lazy".


Aaaaand, to wrap up, shippers will probably start feeling funny tingles after this episode. And, oh my goodness, ED. OT3rd years, anyone?

[Stark700]

I just love this pose

[Requiem-x]

DIA-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! This is so much better than I thought! How's that for a different kind of kaichou? I thought the idol fan role would go to Ruby, but I'm so glad to be wrong, and on that note, I was surprised to see they didn't mention names for anything Muse in episode 1, but now it's obvious that wasn't Chika's job (By the way, what the hell, Chika? Even I knew the answer to one of those questions ) Dia is well on the way of becoming my favorite.

Man, Ooshima Tomo must've had a stroke after seeing that

Besides that, the whole episode was just great, showing more of sunshine's "flowery" sense of humour, as well as more of its characters, and more of those nice quiet moments Chika and Riko are monopolizing so far. I do like how we're getting bits of each character inmediately instead of waiting a handful of episodes before their proper introduction.

Ruby-chan really is a small animal Well, at least all the girls seem to be capable of doing their own thing. Except for that part where Umi telephatically took over Riko's mind for a moment. That was weird

I think this episode definetly confirms sunshine is its own thing and its not out to carbon copy everything Muse did, after all, even if they do make their first live next episode I doubt it will be like the original LL, which sounds horrible at first (it was one of my favorite parts of the series), but it's obvious the reason is simply a different kind of pace. I'm definetly looking forward to more Aqours!

P.S: I want that version of Yume no Tobira.

[Raviel]

^Chika confirmed to be a filthy casual, I now question her ability to succeed as a school idol

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by Raviel

^Chika confirmed to be a filthy casual, I now question her ability to succeed as a school idol

Which is Dia-sama needs to join ASAP. And well, Chika's passion shows more in her actions. Even skirt peeking

By the way, I forgot to mention, but find quite interesting Ruby seems to be into Yohane. At least one person is buying into that smugness.

Also, You seems to be taking some cues from Rize. I certainly did not expect that.

[ninjastarforcex]

Riko & Yohane still best girl
is that dog even a dog, he is so fabulous and have donald trump hair

[Ernietheracefan]

Dia is Muse diehard fan..(cue the ojou laughs)

[Triple_R]

There's some nice moments in this episode, but I have two major complaints:

1. This show is actually too respectful towards μ's. Even I was starting to get tired of the μ's references. They even felt it necessary to bring up A-RISE and UTX! It also had another effect for me that I'll get to in a minute.

2. This felt way too fast-paced to me. There was a couple moments where I actually found it slightly hard to keep up with what was happening. Certain scenes I wish could have been drawn out a bit more, allowed to create a deeper and stronger atmospheric feeling. One such scene was when Chika and You and Rico went scuba-diving together. I think more could have been made out of that.

In addition to this, I have a minor complaint - I was honestly a bit disappointed that Chika stumbled so badly over Dia's μ's questions. I know this was done to strikingly distinguish Dia from Eli, and it certainly succeeded when it came to that, but it also caused me some doubt over the seriousness of Chika's school idol fandom. A serious μ's fan probably should know the answer to more of those questions than Chika appeared to. Some parts of the 2nd half of the episode thankfully showcased Chika having some decent knowledge about μ's, turning what would have been a major complaint into a minor one.

Anyway, to go back to my first major complaint - Do you know what this made me think of? It made me think of a Supergirl comic where a solid half of the comic is people (including Supergirl herself) talking about how great Superman is, up to and including watching him do heroic acts on TV screens.

Supergirl showing some respect for Superman is great. Aquors showing some respect for μ's is great. The occasional name-drop or poster appearance is really nice. But this level of Aquors fangasming over μ's has much the same effect as that hypothetical Supergirl comic I mentioned - A Supergirl comic like this would just leave me wanting to read a Superman comic, and likewise Aquors bringing up μ's this much just leaves me thinking "Man, I really wish I could watch more μ's!"

I guess one silver lining here is that Dia and Chika's fangasming over μ's was so heavy duty that it actually caused me to have highly erotic mental images of them serving Honoka, if you catch my drift...


Nice episode, it had its good moments like I said, but man, I honestly hope "μ's" isn't mentioned at all in Episode 3.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

1. This show is actually too respectful towards μ's. Even I was starting to get tired of the μ's references. They even felt it necessary to bring up A-RISE and UTX!

Good point. I also hope this episode's referential nature isn't indicative of the rest of the show; I really want Sunshine to stand out as a great standalone anime that I could even introduce to people unfamiliar with LL.

I was personally fine with the references because at least for this episode I can easily write it off as an easy way to show just how fascinated Dia is with school idols. And I think that moment where Riko sung Yume no Tobira while playing the piano was wonderful.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

2. This felt way too fast-paced to me. There was a couple moments where I actually found it slightly hard to keep up with what was happening. Certain scenes I wish could have been drawn out a bit more, allowed to create a deeper and stronger atmospheric feeling. One such scene was when Chika and You and Rico went scuba-diving together. I think more could have been made out of that.

Yeah, the diving could have gone on longer for a more strong atmosphere.

Unfortunately this is a common side-effect of limiting anime to a single TV cour: when you have a relatively large cast to develop, you can be stuck with the choice between skimping out on development for some of the cast in order to build up a deeper atmosphere, or speeding up the pace to give justice to all the characters while sacrificing the strengths of lingering feelings and moods. I think 12-13 episodes is a great length for many types of stories, but too often do they lose out on the great effect of atmosphere that longer anime can offer.

I'm 99% sure that a second season for Sunshine is planned, but if the direction of the original series is any indication, the staff intends to give the first season/cour a sufficient feel of closure for all 9 of Aqours which results in a relatively fast pace.

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

In addition to this, I have a minor complaint - I was honestly a bit disappointed that Chika stumbled so badly over Dia's μ's questions. I know this was done to strikingly distinguish Dia from Eli,

Ehhhh, I think it's a stretch to say that Dia dropping the u's knowledge was purposely done to make the audience distinguish that there's a difference between her and Eli. I think we're getting too caught up with our personal comparisons. I think it would be more accurate to say that Dia schooling Chika was done to make us be surprised by the fact that she knows a lot about them and even admittedly proclaims that she's a fan even though she actively rejects Chika's proposal to create a club. And now the questions should start to pop up and we're supposed to be wondering why Dia is doing this.

Anyway, to go back to my first major complaint - Do you know what this made me think of? It made me think of a Supergirl comic where a solid half of the comic is people (including Supergirl herself) talking about how great Superman is, up to and including watching him do heroic acts on TV screens.

Supergirl showing some respect for Superman is great. Aquors showing some respect for μ's is great. The occasional name-drop or poster appearance is really nice. But this level of Aquors fangasming over μ's has much the same effect as that hypothetical Supergirl comic I mentioned - A Supergirl comic like this would just leave me wanting to read a Superman comic, and likewise Aquors bringing up μ's this much just leaves me thinking "Man, I really wish I could watch more μ's!"

I think you feel this way because we know u's so much. But what if we take your statement and apply it to u's and the original Love Live. They did the same thing with A-RISE and held them on such a high pedestal. We know that Nico loves the hell out of them, and Honoka was inspired by the whole school idol gig by seeing A-RISE for the first time. The OG group overall always compared themselves to A-RISE, but no one seemed to complain too much. We barely knew them to make any comparisons.

But now with Sunshine!! and Aqours being the byproduct of u's, we see the chance to make all of our comparisons as much as we want. I don't think it's fair that you see the references and callbacks as a negative thing.

[R.LocK]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

They even felt it necessary to bring up A-RISE and UTX! It also had another effect for me that I'll get to in a minute.

I'd normally agree, but can you find an in-universe reason to avoid bringing up UTX and A-RISE when Ume no Tobira is used so heavily in the episode?

[zeross87]

chika has no shame peeking under riko's skirt like that

i loved the ruby bait =)

not enough yohane

damn dia i'm an hardcore fan and coul'nt answer this last question

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by blakstealth

Ehhhh, I think it's a stretch to say that Dia dropping the u's knowledge was purposely done to make the audience distinguish that there's a difference between her and Eli. I think we're getting too caught up with our personal comparisons. I think it would be more accurate to say that Dia schooling Chika was done to make us be surprised by the fact that she knows a lot about them and even admittedly proclaims that she's a fan even though she actively rejects Chika's proposal to create a club. And now the questions should start to pop up and we're supposed to be wondering why Dia is doing this.

I think you feel this way because we know u's so much. But what if we take your statement and apply it to u's and the original Love Live. They did the same thing with A-RISE and held them on such a high pedestal. We know that Nico loves the hell out of them, and Honoka was inspired by the whole school idol gig by seeing A-RISE for the first time. The OG group overall always compared themselves to A-RISE, but no one seemed to complain too much. We barely knew them to make any comparisons.

But now with Sunshine!! and Aqours being the byproduct of u's, we see the chance to make all of our comparisons as much as we want. I don't think it's fair that you see the references and callbacks as a negative thing.

I don't really agree here.

I think they went way too far. Frankly if they wanted to make clear that she's a secret fan and a pretty serious one, that was extremely clear last week. This week it was beating the audience with a mallet that has the Muse logo burned into it . The writers don't have to presume people are that stupid. Honestly all these questions were there last week. This was just repetitive and unnecessary. We already knew she actually does like School Idols, we know she knows quite a bit about them and we were put into a position to question why she's taking a hard line stance against something she actually likes.

I honestly can't agree with the comparison of the original with A-RISE and this season with Muse. A-RISE was definitely looked up to, they were a trigger as much as anything for Honoka and was a prime example true. But they were also a rival and not brought up to the level of deities that the show is encroaching on. Frankly it made sense for A-RISE to be a comparison (though frankly they weren't that consistent a presence) because they were barrier. Muse isn't. Muse is done.

I think this episode was a lot better than the last, though I do wish they'd tone it down with Muse. Either make a season for them or don't. Stop reminding people they could be watching something else instead . It was nice to get more into the heads of the characters a bit and let them get established.

And it did seem pretty silly how utterly casual Chika is when she's the one who is going to bring this thing together. Just feels like a person who is excited about the idea of something, but it's all pretty superficial.

It's a good step forward. Look forward to seeing how the group comes together. But geeze if they literally build a shrine somewhere to Muse I'm just going to facepalm and right now I'm not sure they won't actually do that.