Love Live! Sunshine!! – 05
There are some jokes that Chika just won’t let go
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It’s the episode that probably half of the viewers were waiting for, although I wasn’t anticipating it much either way. But let’s see what happens when… |
Yohane Descends
It’s like she’s addicted to it
Yes, this is the episode that gets Yoshiko into Aquors, but not without a significant bit of handwringing on the way. Like many people coming of age in that early teen way, Yoshiko has constructed herself a personality to try to make sense of her place in the world. Unlike most people, her personality is that of the fallen angel Yohane. And she’s apparently gotten quite the reputation as a bit out there. And much like Yuuta Togashi or Shinka Nibutani, having gotten to high school, Yoshiko is trying to get away from that personality. But that’s a lot harder to do than say, and having broken out as Yohane the first day of school, Yoshiko has been afraid to go back. She finally does, convinced by Zuramaru (which is so much a better name for Hanamaru) that nobody remembers that, and that she can get a fresh start, and that Hanamaru will try to help her curb her outlandish proclivities.
She wants to stop, but just can’t. Maybe she doesn’t really want to…
Unfortunately, that doesn’t last very long, and she goes full Yohane within 10 minutes of getting to school, only to regret it, for some reason in the School Idol Club room. And immediately upon seeing the fallen angel gig, Chika is smitten, thinking that it’s a great idea for Aquors to try to gain some notice. This is really playing right up to Yohane, who just can’t resist, and the others are 50/50 on the idea. Riko is against it (but then, Riko’s against anything. Why do you hate fun, Riko?) but Chika and Ruby are all-in. And it actually does get them a big gain in the rankings, from almost 5000 up to the top 1000 before they fall back a little. But of course, this incurs the wrath of the Angry Emoji, and Dia is even more cheesed off that Ruby seems to enjoy it so much.
Chika’s standard pose for talking to people, I think
Finding Yourself
Chika and Riko are having the right discussion
I think that Dia’s quite a bit off base here, saying that she won’t allow them to play up their personalities to gain rankings. This is presented after Chika and Riko have a nice conversation about how as she’s gotten to know everyone, she’s realized that even if they’re ‘plain and normal’ girls, they’re all individuals with their own personality, and it’s fun to get to know each of them. In fact, that’s the main thing they have going for them. And whether Dia likes it or not, it’s not like their ranking went right back to almost 5000. But they do agree not to do more costumey personalities, and Yoshiko thanks them for indulging Yohane a little bit.
Ruby let a little praise go to her head
But Dia’s not enjoying it the way Mari is
But it’s not over for Chika, who realizes that being true to herself is what Yoshiko wants to do, and giving her an outlet to be Yohane in the group is just fine. You’d think that they’d been training enough to be able to catch Yoshiko without being totally winded, but sometimes you have to write the scenario that way. And they convince her to join and are now up to 6 people. I think the last 3 are gonna be in the next episode or two, since Mari’s pulling strings and getting Dia upset.
Hanamaru definitely wins the yokel award. Zuraaaaaaaa!
I thought the message this week was a little incoherent, going back and forth between celebrating individuality and that being something that disrespects school idols. But I think they did settle on the idea that if it’s an individual personality, then it’s ok. They just shouldn’t all change their personalities for popularity. And that’s been a message in idol anime before, like Wake Up! Girls, where the I-1 Club treated all the performers as replaceable cogs.
This group of six will see you next week!
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
This was the Yohane story I didn’t even know I wanted. I had honestly conjured (heh) up a very large and complicated back story for her chuuni ways, ala the links you provided. But I find the fact that she’s stuck in the habit to be more plausible and much more fun.
I find that it also makes the rest of the girls’ willingness to accept her more honest and appreciable. I think she’s always going to be a bit of a goofy and an odd right angle to the rest of them (see how she falls off ‘Zura’s lap in the OP). But that doesn’t mean she can’t fit in…you can do quite a bit with a right angle.
…push any button to continue…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I like that they took Yoshiko’s story in a different direction from what we usually see with chuunibyou. While Shinka and Yuuta were both totally embarrassed by their past and trying to distance themselves from it as much as possible (in the case of Shinka making up OTHER, presumably more acceptable, fabricated self-images), Yoshiko isn’t really that ashamed of Yohane. She’s just more worried that it will make it difficult for other people to accept her. It’s not that she wants to stop being Yohane. It’s that she just doesn’t think that Yohane is going to be compatible with high school friends.
I think she actually likes doing it, and is comfortable as Yohane, even around other people. For instance, when they’re all standing around in the costumes in Chika’s house, there’s very little embarrassment on anyone’s part except Riko (who hates fun). And noone ever makes outright fun of her. It would be interesting to see how the rest of the class acts around her after her fortune-telling exploits, but I doubt the show will do that. I would love the message to be “Oh, that’s just how Yoshiko is, she’s fun and interesting.” And Chika came up with the perfect response to her: “If I don’t like it, I’ll tell you no.”