When in doubt…reuse the same plot points again and again and again.
What They Say:
Episode 6 – Let’s Make a PV
After finding out their school is at risk of closing due to low enrollment, the girls of Aqours decide to take action and find a way to promote the town and the school they love.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So…the school is threatened with closure and being merged with another school nearby.
*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*
*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*
*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*
Okay, I feel better now.
At least they don’t repeat Honoka’s emotional swan dive after she learned about the closing of her school. In fact, Chika is entirely too pleased at the prospect…if only because it means she gets to copy follow in the footsteps of µ’s and Otonokizaka High School yet again, which is what she desires to do most in this world. But this is both a good choice to put some distance between the two while at the same time exemplifying how much this successor series has made itself so utterly dependent upon the original Love Live! It’s mind-bogglingly bad in terms of trying to be the least bit “original” (yes, a very difficult task, but photocopying is most certainly not how you do it), though it does inject at least a facsimile of genuine threat to heighten the emotional draw.
So, how will Chika save the school? She decides to follow the µ’s playbook, naturally, and thinks Aqours should make a promotional video for the school and the town. In this plan even Dia is not opposed to the idea, wishing them luck (as she does care about her school and it overcomes her severe dislike for school idols). The final product is reviewed by Mari (of course, as she is the effective head of the school) and she’s not buying any of it. Chika has not captured anything about the town’s true essence.
So, Chika must try again, though here we have an interlude where Dia does some stage performing which prompts Chika to ask her to join the group, though the timing is not yet right as Ruby intervenes. It must be time to revisit Dia’s inner story of idol anti-worship. Apparently there’s a backstory (in a flashback it would appear that Mari, Kanan, and Dia did have a group).
The path forward, of course, presents itself as the town engages in one of those communal activities beloved of Japanese culture. In the case of this town, it’s an annual beach cleanup that they hold at the beginning of the beach season. Must be time for a song (and another CD single to sell to the group who buy such things in Japan). A little help from the community, some fancy outfits, a new Aqours song and there you go, PV completed. School saved? Not sure yet.
Is the show saved yet? By the halfway point in the season, all I can say is that there is this very weird split going on. The writing is completely uninspired. The creative team copies plot points and story progressions without any shame from the original Love Live! They don’t even make any attempt to hide it, as Chika announces to the world “Hey, we get to be just like µ’s!” It’s enough to make one’s eyes roll. But on the other hand, I’ve come to appreciate that the execution is quite competent overall. The plot and story might suck, but they have done a professional job of following through on the personalities and the characters’ interactions. While there are some inconsistencies (Dia’s seemingly deep-seated hatred of school idols in the beginning has now softened into a firm dislike combined with a desire to be one herself, but this change in attitude doesn’t really have a good explanation provided for it other than that the strong animus towards idols at the beginning was more a pose than anything else, an act meant to convince herself as much as others), the current roster of girls and the dynamic among them works in its own way, not a straight copy of the originals, the one respect in which this sequel does seem to have been thought through.
But it remains that the story is just an imitation, a copy. Maybe not a copy so much as a digested version of the original. In some sense, Love Live! Sunshine!! is a book report on the “novel,” the Love Live! School idol project of 2013. They are executing relatively well, but the material itself is not fresh or inspiring.
In Summary:
Doom hangs over Uranohoshi High School as falling enrollment (a common problem in the real Japan, where the school age population continues to shrink, the long effect of the Lost Decades which led to declining birthrates for a couple decades now) threatens the school with closure and merging with the high school in the nearest large city. Everyone is against it, of course, and Chika springs into action, thinking that a promotional video from Aqours could help increase interest in enrollment. First, however, she needs to discover what the true essence of the town and the school’s appeal is.
Grade: C
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan.