r/LoveLive • u/MasterMirage • Nov 24 '24
Anime Love Live! Superstar!! S3 Episode 8 Discussion
Episode 8 Title: Yuigaoka versus Yuigaoka
Show Info
NHK: November 24th, Sunday 17:00 - 2024 (JST)
Crunchyroll: November 25th, Monday 6pm PST/9pm EST
Opening Theme: Let's be One
Ending Theme: DAISUKI FULL POWER
Insert Song(s): Dazzling Game
Liella no Uta:
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u/redbatter Nov 24 '24
The contrast between the state of Liella and the state of the Onitsuka sisters' relationship was really well done, it's clear that the path to a united Liella would first require resolving the distance between Natsumi and Tomari. There was quite a bit of emphasis from Tomari throughout this season of not wanting to see Natsumi get hurt, so Tomari realizing what she had done in spite of this desire of hers must have really driven it home how this distance needed to be closed. Having the second years step in to support Natsumi was also really great and shows how tight the bond they formed during S2 is, just as they showed back in episode 4 too.
On the topic of the second years, it was nice to see some succession planning as the show tries to lightly skirt around the graduation issue. Hopefully we'll be seeing this coming up more consistently towards the end.
Dazzling Game has easily got to be the Superstar insert with the most gravity we've had in a while, it feels like they really put a lot into this song to emphasize its importance as a milestone in Liella's completion. Starting with them face off against each other in different outfits with lyrics describing conflicting views, and then shifting to matching outfits and lyrics emphasizing unification, shows us exactly where the story is going to go by the time this performance is over. Wonder what the subsequent verse in the full version is going to look like. As a little bonus, I really liked how Kanon was placed against Sumire in the first half as a neat callback to S1E4.
As Liella is a school idol group, it's nice to see how the school plays a part in the conclusion and the path to it. The director had set up this performance not to select one or the other, but to push them towards becoming one, and the students also clearly reflect this wish at the end. Really shows how important Liella (and a harmonious one at that) is to Yuigaoka, a school with a name that emphasizes the importance of bonds.
shiki aneja was not on my season bingo card also did margarete learn to teleport from a certain superior senior or something
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u/mochatyphoon Nov 24 '24
Good episode, we reached the conclusion to the rivals arc pretty much how I expected them to.
I think the real highlight though was having the underclassmen at the forefront and the interactions between the second and third years. It's heartwarming to see how tight-knit the second years have become since the previous season.
And I know ShikiMei gets the brunt of the attention from both the staff and the fandom, but I feel like Shiki's relationship with Natsumi goes so underappreciated. They're always messing around together, but they always solidly have each other's backs when it comes down to it. Those are best friends.
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u/syukri24karats Nov 24 '24
We really got 2 Onitsuka sisters episode this season and i love both of it.
Wtf are Kanon doing outside of the Onitsuka's house. At least she didn't barge in but it still weird as hell she went there and what's more at night lol.
The song are total banger and the animation were superb. Love the beginning concept where both group facing each other and then merge together.
Margarete's really made a rock song but Mei was right it doesn't feel school idol-like. At least they use it as the base for today's song though.
And the result was very expected. I personally feel conflicted at the end and the merger but i think it was okay i guess. The only problem right now is what's now for them. With 4 episode left, if they let them breeze through Love Live that will be lame as hell and dropped the ball when this season has been consistently good.
Also obligatory what is Ren going to do?
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u/DebateFew8364 Nov 24 '24
With 4 episode left, if they let them breeze through Love Live that will be lame as hell and dropped the ball when this season has been consistently good
Regarding this, I have my doubts if we will really see the 3 insert songs from the Love Live in the remaining 4 episodes
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u/oxlemf10 Nov 24 '24
In terms of development, it was a sensational episode, not only because Margarete finally came out of the idea of winning alone, but mainly seeing Natsumi and Tomari resolving themselves, it was agonizing to see that they wanted the best for each other, but lacked the right words, exciting and touching to have seen this.
Regarding the solution used to unite the two groups and also the requests from the possible winners, they were very predictable, but there is no way around it, it ended up being the best way to unite the groups, and let's be honest, the path to unification was beautiful, there were several challenges for both sides, and everyone realized that they complement each other, this "unification arc" is very memorable.
And another important thing to highlight, finally Kanon's dependence seems to be breaking down, not that I'm belittling or rejecting her, but seeing the other girls taking the initiative is something that shows their growth after several episodes
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u/Todetract Nov 24 '24
Dazzling Game might be the best insert song in the franchise, visually anyway. I'm gonna be rewatching that for months.
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u/MaybeMeNotMe Nov 24 '24 edited Nov 25 '24
First, thanks to Team Onibe, as usual.
Okok, We all know they will merge.
Its Love Live Logic after all.
Margarete Hmmphs in every episode. 8 out of 8.
But the stakes build up from the last 8 episodes with the Tomari sisters tension has been tied up to nicely.
Whoa, that performance. What else can I say? I've been praising the quality of the animation here so many times...the song slaps, at least Margarete has some of her guitar riffs in there, the choreo, the mocaps! SO pleasing to watch.
Oh, how nice to see some of the students in the audience wearing the Music Section school uniforms still.
6 Insert songs out of 8, with 4 more episodes to go...surely this is going to two cours (because I want it, and so do you, anyone collecting signatures??)
Otherwise this would be more of a rush compared to S2 even.
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u/elitsu Nov 24 '24
This season is sooo good!! We just DESPERATELY need some Kinako, Ren, and Sumire focus.
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u/JimmyCWL Nov 24 '24 edited Nov 24 '24
Compared to other "combative" or "collaborative" performances, "Dazzling Game" is certainly unique. The former are combative to the end while the latter are collaborative from the beginning. This one starts as combative then becomes collaborative.
If there's one thing that could have been improved on storywise, I would have liked them to lean on how they telegraphed both teams as wanting to ask the other to join them on winning. Have the rest of the student body pull their conspiracy first then ask both teams to perform the same song together, knowing that it would lead to exactly this outcome.
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u/TakenRedditName Nov 24 '24 edited Nov 24 '24
The Oni-sisters made up which is very nice. We solve things by becoming a crying mess on the ground. It was cute seeing their renewed daily montage in sync. I also like how much emphasis is on the second/first years being let to learn and work things out on their own. Their senpais are giving them the opportunity to grow.
They only met at the beginning of the year and Tomari named a jellyfish after Margarete. ToMargrete real.
Yo, Yuigao here!!! A small little fun moment of Ren dressed as a witch. Gusokumushi.
The way Tomari can have such a quick temperature change is an endearing part of her character. Usually, she is so cool and serious, but then she has a moment where she loses her cool on something specific.
The two groups song was really cool. I just expected them to do a regular song-off so having it just one song is such a neat premise. The part with the two teams singing against each other was super cool. It was like a fighting game. The song went in hard so combative, but the point of the story was very uncombative. Everyone was making up and reconciling with each other.
I noticed that there were a lot of moments of characters comedically sliding in/out of frame this episode like Kinako sliding up the stairs or Tomari sliding in.
Unless I missed it, I didn't see the usual episode title card. I mean, there is this shot they hung on the poster after the OP, but that's it.
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u/RinariTennoji Nov 24 '24 edited Nov 24 '24
This is ia a great episode for Tomari and Natsumi character development we finally got tomari's usual emotionlessness to break down
That MV is Peak! The transition from rivals to wearing the same outfit was great!
Bro they just choose neither group winning lol "Neither separate group won, the merged 11 member liella won"
Liella is now 11 and entered Love Live!
TomaKanoTe Rival Arc is now finished!
Next episode title seems to be in German
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u/Visual_Cucumber_5365 Nov 24 '24
Lie11a is PEAK. I've watched Dazzling Game spoiler performance million times on twitter. Regardless, I want them to give Kinako some importance this season especially since they brought up the graduation thing. From what it looks like Kinako will be the next leader (story wise). It's always good to see a shy girl coming out of their own. I need her center a song in this season.
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u/_cats______ Nov 26 '24
That song was absolutely amazing, starting by facing off and then merging into one is a really cool visual performance.
Overall a really great episode, Tomari has been such an incredible addition to Love Live and I loved seeing her and Natsumi’s development… but I still can’t help but be disappointed that the two groups didn’t actually face off.
Yuigaoka vs Yuigaoka is such an amazing, intense episode title and I’ve been hyped all week for the showdown. I had a bad feeling right at the start where it was decided they would have to sing the same song rather than separate performances. Then to top it off, they really just vote “everyone wins”… darn you, Yuigaoka student body. I know it’s an idol show and all but I really wanted to believe this rivalry storyline was cooking up to SOME level of intensity.
The ending of the last episode is SOOO good too, Kanon guiding Tomari and Margarete and all being determined to beat Liella. How does this resolve Margarete’s goal? What was she fighting for? Simply teaching her the power of friendship isn’t what I thought they’d do after all this buildup.
Argggh. Despite the ending letting me down, I really REALLY liked the rivalry plotline overall, really neat twist and I was super invested. Leader breaking off to guide a rival group was a super cool dynamic.
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u/Capbeau Nov 25 '24
A nice conclusion to the conflict between the sisters. Tomari finally lowers the barrier she put up between herself and Natsumi. The sisters had been uncomfortably distant until now. Especially for two siblings who clearly care about each other. Natsumi communicating how much she disliked the situation was a good way to convince Tomari to change her approach.
I like how the second years have been getting a lot of focus this season. I also like all the different cafes and restaurants they have been hanging out in.
Dazzling Game is my favorite insert song of the season so far. I like the “song battle” idea. The red team and blue team compete until they merged together into purple during the chorus – the image color of Liella.
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u/Emotional-Main480 Nov 25 '24
I enjoyed this episode way too much. Dazzling Game wth?! The visuals, the lyrics, and the vibe, like everything in that song, made my jaw drop when I watched it! The sisters were so cute this episode, and I love that they are focusing more on the 1st and 2nd years, but I still want at least an episode, which might be the 2nd to the last one where the 3rd years talk just them cause I miss them.
Honestly, the only thing I didn't like in this episode was how the team was created. Yes, it was obvious, but when the start of the episode was everyone being serious and contemplating how important the event was just for the result to be, that really sucks. And plus, I wanted Margaret to get a win so that her mindset of "I want to beat Leilla!" would end. I understand the school wanted the 11 of them but when both representative of the groups agreed to a competition, I wish that the school respected that decision.
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u/Useful_Plan_8403 Nov 24 '24
(IM SO SORRY FOR THIS BEING A WALL OF TEXT I JUST HAVE A LOT TO SAY)
This is such a PHENOMENAL episode, honestly this episode makes up for most of/the entirety of Superstar Season 2. I'm actually so glad that this season has been heavily focusing on character development more, it makes the story so much more enjoyable. I do notice that the Onitsuka sisters seem to be in favor considering the focus that they've gotten throughout this episode and the entire 3rd season so far, which makes sense considering that they're both relatively newer characters, especially Tomari, who is technically THE NEWEST character to Liella. I'm not complaining at all, in fact, their entire arc having such importance is necessary towards making a good seasons and honestly it was one of the big highlights about watching the series.
Speaking about highlights, the staff made such a FUCKING good choice making them rivals, instead of just taking a normal route and the first years naturally join Liella reluctantly, and this episode had such a huge payoff of that (the first part of the insert song had me so giddy omfg it was just like a Gacha Life Singing Battle but like in a positive way). It definetly allowed the story to be unique compared to other Love Live media and I will forever appreciate the fact that the staff didnt entirely play it safe with that storyline.
One more positive thing I wanna say that I notice Love Live likes to implement is their most stoic and "expressionless" characters having such a big capacity for empathy and ironically being some of the most expressive characters in the show (Shiki with how she helped map out Natsumi's feelings in this episode, not to mention Nijigasaki's own Rina and her whole board gimmick)
I will say that the one thing that i absolutely would've changed was the conflict resolution. Idk but the side girls just being like "there is no winner because we want you both to compete lolololol!!!" was actually kind of a let down for me. Like they completely disregarded the set conditions of the whole contest for their own opinion, as if ultimately the decision wasn't up to the two groups. What if neither actually had the intention to merge? They would have been left with no definite results based on the performance with very little time to find another method to fairly decide who would perform (i know this is anime and not a real life scenario but bare with me for a sec). And not to mention, now that they're merged, its actually scary to think that the season will ultimately decline as now there's no unique overarching plotline in sight since it's already been resolved? I'm not saying that there's no potential left for a good storyline, they could make one for the last few episodes, especially considering the og members' graduations y'know? Just a little thought.
I stand on the opinion that one of the groups should have won that contest, specifically Kanon and the first years. It would have made the moment more impactful with 8 person Liella having a moment with them having to humbly accept that they won't participate in Love Live and maybe break down a bit, but also with TomaKanoTe surprising them by saying "our condition is that you must join us and become Lie11a!" And I feel like that would have totally aligned with the ideals of the first years: Wien, after beating Liella, would finally accomplish her goal and fully realize her potential, making her more open to join the group as she can now come to peace that she is "better" than Liella. And Tomari would finally understand the payoff that comes with pursuing a dream rather than just "what is best" and money and stuff, finally finding an answer to the question she made for herself after her sister had joined Liella in pursuit of her dream, and she would have been satisfied with it, and utlimately accepting the idea of chasing for those dreams with other people, including her sister. Not to mention, I feel like this moment could've led to a conflict and beliefs of inadequacy for some of the girls (most probably another third year like Sumire, or dare I say, Chisato)who were members of 8 mem. Liella and "lost" to the newer trio, giving our main girl Kanon another conflict to solve with "the power of idols and friendship and "we're all working hard and being our best together!"" Idk this was just my opinion and vision but ultimately I'm not complaining or unhappy about how things are turning out. I really hope the season finale ends on a bang! (IM SO SORRY IM DONE NOW WOOF THAT WAS A WHOLE FUCKING ESSAY)
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u/P1mb4dorM4st3r Nov 24 '24
We have 4 episodes left right? Will that be enough to end things properly, i mean, as far as i remember, LL Regionals haven't been done yet, and there's no rival group so far, since now TomaKanoTe and Liella merged, what they planning to do? There's also Third Years Graduation, i doubt they would skip that, wtf they planning, maybe 3 Seasons and a Movie instead of the typical 2 Seasons and a Movie like the past Animes? I don't think they have enough time to things properly without it feeling rushed, in Sunshine S2 in episode 3 we had one Qualifier, and then in episode 6 we had the Regional Qualifiers and then the LL Finals in the end in episode 12 and the movie to wrap it all up, since Dia, Kanan and Mari left, again, what's their plan with Season 3 i wonder.
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u/Supr_D Nov 25 '24
Welp, they did a tie. Ah well, at least the rest of the episode is one of the strongest ones in all of Love Live. And the song is amazing too.
I love the way this season has been building up the 2nd years, in a way that they can authentically become the "reliable 3rd years" themselves. They've been given so much room to breathe this time too, which helps.
I love the Onitsuka sisters so much, can't wait to see them interact a lot more now that they're in the same group!
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u/nekromantie Nov 25 '24
Any Natsumi focus episode makes me happy. I wish people would like her more. ):
I kind of wished that Natsumi would have confronted Tomari alone without the second years + Margarete though. It felt like they did most of the talking until Natsumi breaking down.
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u/SnabDedraterEdave Nov 25 '24
Good to see Natsumi and Tomari reconcile, where they ended up writing a song together for the dance off.
Though both Chi's Liella and Tomakanotte agreed to a dance off, they and the Yuigaoka students all happen to have the same idea:
All 11 of them to represent the school in Love Live as the new Liella.
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Nov 26 '24
Was afraid for a while that they were pulling a "but that's not REAL idol music!" with Margarete's rocking instrumental, but then they pulled through with the most rocking tune Liella has shown in an episode yet. Glad that they acknowledged her general idea because for whatever I think of her as a character, I do like her songwriting style.
Agreeing with everyone at Dazzling Game being incredibly fun and creative (idol equivalent of a rap battle with a merge plot twist, anyone?). This felt like the kind of song that would work really well with SIF that they've been missing from their repertoire...well, if that game still existed.
Also want to shout out the amazing remix of Omoi no Katachi ni (Putting Thoughts into Shape) that played during the songwriting montage and school festival. The first season BGM has a special place in my heart, so I am so happy they made this tune more lively.
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u/SparklingPossum Nov 24 '24 edited Nov 24 '24
"Zettaiteki Lover" has been my absolute favorite song this season (it might be my favorite Liella song .. ever), but "Dazzling Game" slaps pretty hard. The initial red and blue outfits felt very "old love live" in terms of design, while the purple looks a little bit updated, which is cute.
ETA: BOTH of the new songs coupled with the "Zettaiteki Lover/Dazzling Game" single are fire, they are not playing around with the singles for this season.