The group gets the nod to move forward in the competition, but Chika feels like something is missing. Would a pilgrimage to the holy land for school idols help?
What They Say:
Episode 12 – It’s Time to Fly
The results for the preliminary qualifiers are announced, and Aqours takes another trip to learn more about their own idols.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So, it’s old home week on Love Live! Sunshine!! where the staff recycles some old location shots and familiar clothing patterns…again.
GBS: The episode starts off…umm…I’m not going to say “well” but it starts off okay enough as we see Aqours (pronounced “re-u’s” according to one wag on a forum) make it past the preliminary rounds.
BM: No surprise there, of course, although a little fun was had with the way the results were released that made for a decent enough little gag. A fun way to start the episode, although in many ways also the highlight. Sadly.
GBS: Yeah, the reaction shot (see main picture at bottom) was a nice little joke, but we then unavoidably turn towards the recycling bin again. While I support recycling for the planet…some things don’t need to be recycled. Such as yet another 0.
BM: I wasn’t so annoyed by the zero in and of itself, as by what it kicks off – Chika’s determined effort to find out why Aqours’ trajectory wasn’t exactly following µ’s, and what they could do to be more like her idols. This has been my big bugbear with this season, and after a week or two where they seemed to have dialled back on the comparisons, this week they doubled down and really went overboard with it.
GBS: I blame that damn poster in her room. How many times have we had a close-up on it? At this point, you expect it behind bulletproof glass like the Mona Lisa.
BM: Or in true anime fan fashion, slavered over to a worrying extent.
GBS: That’s what lamination is for….
Returning to the show…you just knew the trouble point was coming when you could smell the whiff of “cameo” in the air.
BM: Given the way the episode played out, I was genuinely surprised that the cameo angle wasn’t played to its ultimate conclusion. The way it was left lacked a certain sense of conclusion.
GBS: I think it’s only because the seiyuu for the original group are no longer under contract to play the roles. What they did do was yank our collective chains a lot. You go to a particular shrine, you expect to see someone who works at that shrine. But I guess there is a limit to the number of breast-gropers allowed to appear in a season?
BM: And Mari wasn’t letting the chance for hand-on-breast action to pass her by this week, either.
GBS: Indeed, yet another thing that keeps this show where it is: firmly mired in mediocrity.
BM: The thing is, there was a valid point that this episode was trying to make: that Aqours should stop worrying about mimicking µ’s at every opportunity and try to be their own act and be true to who they are.
GBS: Which is a good point…that was horribly undercut when they revealed that Saint Snow was just, in effect, second-generation A-RISE and the current UTX school idol incarnation. Typical Japanese thinking, with an emphasis on “noble bloodlines” and such (as if the magic that made A-RISE special is something UTX is imbued with and can be passed on).
BM: One of those cultural aspects that doesn’t quite translate to the West, that, and another example of the show’s mixed messaging, with on the one hand Aqours should be themselves, but on the other the heritage and what went before is so important to the now.
GBS: If they wanted to push “Be yourselves,” it was funny that this happens after they get a talking to in the same room in UTX that µ’s once got a talking to in, from the current school idol group at UTX.
BM: And with the pilgrimage to Otonokizaka, and the girls giving thanks to.. Uh… the school building, because we couldn’t have the µ’s girls in this episode.
GBS: They might as well put in a giant old tree and put sacred ropes all over the building at this point, since they’ve basically consecrated it like a shrine.
BM: If they ever have to close the school, at least there’s a future business opportunity there. Either that or School Idol Museum.
GBS: True. Though we know what eventually happens to many sacred sites: they become devoid of life.
BM: Which is, sadly, a bit how Sunshine is making me feel. There were so many things this series could have done, directions it could have gone in, but the longer it goes on and the more obvious it becomes that it’s not going to do anything remarkable or different, the less I find myself caring about what happens next.
GBS: What it could really use is a complete revision. The basic concepts were…well…not great, but serviceable enough. In fact, this episode, where Chika breaks from her “I want to be Honoka!” fever, would have been perfect…as the second episode of the show, not the penultimate one of the season.
BM: We’ll just have to hope for season two, which I’m sure will happen before too long.
GBS: I am certain you’re right, but I’m not sure I want to review more of this, especially as we can already guess the ending. They’ll likely pull the same exact trick that they did with the original show. You know exactly what I mean.
BM: And I can’t argue against the possibility, either – you’re almost certainly right. So we’re left meandering towards an unsatisfactory ending to this season.
GBS: Speaking of endings, perhaps it’s time to wrap things up here. While there were feathers flying and smutty mags to hide, it was not really a remarkable episode.
BM: Fairly certain feathers only look like that in anime. And as you say, nothing particularly remarkable here – which has been standard fare for this season, sadly.
GBS: Yeah. So, we trudge to the conclusion next week. Until then…
In Summary:
Aqours have passed the regional preliminaries, but their growing popularity is not doing anything to save their school. Chika decides to visit Tokyo in order to learn µ’s secret to how they saved their school. With a little help, she comes to realize that it’s more important to be yourselves. Too bad the writers didn’t start like this.
Bryan’s Grade: C
Greg’s Grade: C
Streamed By: FUNimation (US), Crunchyroll (UK)
Review Equipment:
Greg: Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan.
Bryan: Apple MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan.
