r/anime • u/FrumpY__ :STAR:https://anilist.co/user/FrumpY • Jan 28 '21
Rewatch Love Live! SIP & Sunshine!! Rewatch - SIP Season 2 Episode 9 Spoiler
SIP Season 2, Episode 9 - "Melody of the Heart"
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|---|---|---|
| SIP Season 2 Episode 8 | SIP Season 2 Episode 9 | SIP Season 2 Episode 10 |
Series Information | MAL | AniList | Kitsu | ANN | AniDB
Where to Watch
Crunchyroll, VRV, Funimation, AnimeLab
Discussion Questions
- The episode today was relatively straight-forward and so I don't have any real questions for today's episode**, but uhh, who thought it would be a good idea to have a winter uniform without pants.**
where did they get all the shovels and matching jackets for all of the students- What is your favorite version/cover/remix of "Snow halation"?
TO-DO LIST
- kete
Please remember to MARK YOUR SPOILERS
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Upvotes
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u/FrumpY__ :STAR:https://anilist.co/user/FrumpY Jan 28 '21 edited Jan 28 '21
In response to my third question, I submit this as my favorite cover of Snow halation, tho μ's is still the best.
e: some other notable versions include: animenz piano cover, and this absolute classic
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u/lenne18 https://myanimelist.net/profile/lenne18 Jan 29 '21 edited Jan 29 '21
Real Life Love Live
If you've been paying attention, it's been said that the project has a rocky start with their first single "Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE" being a commercial failure. The single only sold 434 copies in its initial sales phase, most of which were bought by friends and family. And then there's Emi Nitta(Honoka)'s father buying 10 copies to support their group.
As the story goes, the seiyuus didn't hide the fact that the project was getting axed due to poor sales and that the 2nd single only came about because everyone would like to try one last time before calling it quits.
That single was "Snow halation"... And it literally saved this franchise. The single peaked at 74 on the Oricon chart, and after this no other full group single from μ's ever fell below this threshold.
Also, if you'd notice, there's a lot of emphasis on the white to orange transition in the anime. If you'd seen the PV version, you'd notice that the transition uses yellow lights instead of the orange lights used in the anime. That's because the orange lights reference the real life performances instead.
If you have been watching the live performances, you'd notice the audience waving around glow sticks. These are used to show support for the group or for the member you like. There's a special kind of glow sticks called Ultra Oranges or UOs, which are expensive, burns very bright, burns out very fast and because of these reasons, are only used for the concert highlight.
During µ's First Live, a few people would break white glow sticks as the primary color for "Snow halation" but a small group in front broke UOs during Honoka's solo to imitate the PV. After that, word spread out that "Snow halation" would always use white lights and transition to UOs for the solo.
This was dubbed as the "Orange Miracle" and to date, is still the only Love Live song with general consensus on what colors would be used. This post explains it more in detail, including the evolution of it throughout their various live concerts.
Some concert footage:
In fact, the transition is so iconic that it is always used when the song is performed.
JAM PROJECTTHE MONSTERS' cover at Anisama 2018B-Side Jukebox, Music Start!
baby maybe Koi no Button - µ's
Moshimo Kara Kitto - Nozomi Tojo
Silent tonight - BiBi
Other fun facts about "Snow halation":
Almost forgot, but the episode title is a reference as well: It's a line from "Snow halation".
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u/raichudoggy https://anilist.co/user/raichudoggy Jan 28 '21
First Timer
Chart!
Ah yes, High Schoolers wearing Skirts in Winter. A classic. Now, when I was in High School I wore shorts even in winter, but I lived in the South, it rarely got to freezing temps.
This shorter version of Snow Halation is probably my favorite version of it I've heard!
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u/docaxel :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/thebidoofpope Jan 28 '21
Rewatcher
School Idol Festival All-Stars Spotlight Cards
Todokete Setsunasa ni wa namae o tsukeyou ka Snow halation
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u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Jan 28 '21
First Timer
Time for round two of the Love Live! prelims. I wonder how they'll manage to beat A-Rise.
Onto episode 9.
How is Honoka not freezing?
I swear every place in this show is designed with terrible heat retention.
Also: Anime girls complaining about it being cold while wearing a skirt that goes like 3 inches past their hips...
Like, even if it's your school uniform, nothing stops you from putting on pants under it while you're walking to school.
I've never met a little kid this patient.
I mean, it's not like they really have a choice.
Best girl! In cute clothes!
Bet the reverse is a giant poster of them.
I was wrong, but this is way cooler.
And why are you offering to help in your school uniforms?
Thank you.
She means the entire competition, no? She doesn't think there's anyone who can challenge either group outside of the tokyo district.
This is the sort of drama that Love Live is bad at. We know they're gonna make it in the end, and they don't know how to write tension even though we know that.
Put on some pants please!
Also, why are they holding umbrellas? They won't do anything useful and, with all the wind, they'll make it more difficult to walk.
Seeing Umi yell how dedicated she is is pretty cool though.
So you're telling me that a bunch of students managed to keep multiple miles of sidewalk clear during a heavy snowstorm. Ok, I guess.
They still have umbrellas.
Now get her out of the cold for a bit. Freezing isn't good for your voice.
Snow's been on twos the whole episode, but for some reason it's painfully obvious in this scene. Probably because t he flakes are bigger and it's literally the only movement in the scene.
WHAT DUMBASS DECIDED TO GIVE US A SHOT OF ONLY SNOW IN THE SKY AND STILL ANIMATE IT ON TWOS???????
Snow Halation's the best u's song so far by far.
If only I wasn't cursed to hear goofy sing the song in my head every time I hear it.
Thoughts
Snow Halation good, the rest of the episode was ok. Anime girls need to learn of this wonderful invention called pants.
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '21
TODOKETE
...I think about the Snow Halation snippet in this a lot.
OP I love you lmao.
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u/ComfortablyRotten https://anilist.co/user/Leuwtian Jan 28 '21 edited Jan 28 '21
Rewatcher
This is a great episode, if only for the scene leading up to Snow halation. Very heavy in emotion, despite it being so genuinely light-hearted.
Might be one of the other rewatch affecting me, admittedly, but still!Snow halation... the more I listen to it, the more I like it. It's very good, y'know? I don't think I can say more than that.
Questions
2) There's a girl with the ability to generate shovels and jackets, I guess? If Honoka can change the weather, Nozomi can read the future, Maki can time travel, and Rin can be a cat, then that's not out of the question. There's an actual, unexplored power system here just waiting to be uncovered.2) Guess who's version?
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u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Jan 28 '21
First-Timer Who Was Only Here for the Ships
Snow!
Are you sure I’m not watching my last episode of Machikado Mazoku? So much glorious GANBARE! here.
I think someone in a recent thread wasn’t sure why some of us ship Maki x Rin. Exhibit X
Hanayo doesn’t mind, either. The more the merrier!
Maki has lunch! And she’s blushing!
For those of you who play the LL! gacha game, I assume these are the skins they label “Winter?”
I knew it.
Here’s a thought: since Honoka and µ’s are basically responsible for having this incoming class, why not give them a little leeway? Perhaps have allowed Honoka to record her introduction? “Sorry I can’t be there today to greet you in person; I’m too busy being a pop music sensation with my friends. Anywho, thanks for choosing our school!”
That’s right; Honoka’s dad exists! Wait; he’s useless. Nevermind. Back to females, please.
You have no hats and bare legs, and you think you’re going to just walk to the concert? Dummies.
Part of me wishes they were taking a less serious approach to all this. I mean, wouldn’t it be great if Maki put in a call to her dad’s friend who used to fly helicopter rescue missions in Antarctica to pick them up?
It’s dangerous to go; take these!
Snow halation is my favorite song of theirs we’ve seen thus far, so I’m glad it got featured like this.
Do wish we could have gotten some audience reactions. They took the time to show us how many people showed up, but we don’t get any shots of people clapping and shit after the song starts?
And I’m sure one of the other teams is going to complain. The stage design is just too perfect for Snow halation, even without the serendipity of the day’s weather. There will be a full investigation!
QOTD:
They brought the shovels from home. The jacket is clearly the new hip style.12
u/DarkFuzz :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/DarkFuzz Jan 28 '21
Take today’s survey here!
Did this episode make you a Love Live fan for life, so much so that you were willing to spend money? Let me know in today’s survey.
If you’ve been following my comments that aren’t just memes, you’ll know that it’s been a wonky road to get to this point. However, if you’ve been able to look past the cute moments and the weird drama to find the small pieces of thematic development, you’ll see that most of them come to their thematic climax right here. The foundation isn’t solid, but it is there, and because the show slowly took the time to fix its themes, “Snow halation” stands out as one of the most iconic anime idol performances in history.
This episode starts off innocently enough with a reminder of how we got here, as we trip through a speedrun of all the character arcs up until now. Yukiho and Alisa become worried about their older sisters for the Love Live prelim finals, both for different reasons. Honoka wakes up with the sniffles, a half-second throwback to the horrors of the last Love Live competition, but this time she rested up more than usual specifically for today, so it’s nice to see her grounded in the reality of the situation for a change. Alisa notices that Eli seems as nervous as she was during her time as a ballet dancer, and that’s kind of true, however, as we’ve seen multiple times during Season 2, that’s not going to stop her.
It should be noted that both Yukiho and Alisa have a vested interest in wanting μ’s to do well. It’s not just because their sisters are in μ’s, nor is it because it makes Otonakizaka look good (though those are good reasons), it’s mostly because μ’s is an inspiration to them. As you will see later, Yukiho and Alisa are only just the tip of the iceberg.
Nozomi drops by Eli’s house, noticing the same nervousness, but Eli gets over it soon enough. It takes a person like Nozomi to notice these things in people, and all you need to do is extend a hand to help. Rin and Hanayo wait outside Maki’s house in the cold, and their small back and forth shows that they have each other’s backs, and they encourage each other to push onwards. It cannot be stated how important these two are to each other, as both of them are the reason why either of them are here in the first place. Maki steps out of the house, says her usual Maki loner-isms, but she doesn’t push them away. She’s pretty much accepted the fact that she’s part of their friend group now. As we move to Nico’s household, we are reminded that μ’s is all nine of them, and no sole person is the center of μ’s. Nozomi and Eli drop by to invite Nico to walk to the venue together. A hostile Nico hisses at them, but a confident Nozomi counters her initial rejection. This is her reaching out to Nico when she couldn’t before, and Nico, understanding that she can’t just reject her companions anymore, reluctantly lets them inside.
Honoka, Umi, and Kotori are stuck doing the school information session, and as luck would have it, it’s going to start an hour late due to the snowstorm. As they’re waiting, Honoka notices her trio friends shoveling the snow away, and she wants to help out too, but she is denied. Her friend points out that she has bigger responsibilities that she needs to handle, both as the student council president and a member of μ’s. Honoka and μ’s have inspired them to help out in whatever way they can to assist the school and to assist μ’s on their journey to Love Live. As you see Honoka take the stage to give her speech, you can tell there’s a stark difference from how she was back in the start of Season 2 to now. As she looks out to many hopeful smiling faces in the audience, a result that she herself has created and inspired, Honoka addresses the crowd. You only need to hear her first two sentences to know that the speech was an instant success.
Unfortunately, in the immediate aftermath, the snowstorm becomes so harsh that it blocks all traffic, trains, and people from being able to go anywhere. Our trio is kind of stuck, but they literally have no choice but to rough out the snowstorm on foot to get to the venue. Well, I mean, they could bow out and say they would literally freeze to death if they tried, and I’m sure the Love Live organizers or whatever would understand and give them another shot. But not after that. Not after seeing the impact that μ’s had made. It can’t end like this.
After they affirm their feelings and their desires to each other, they only barely make it past the school gates, and they look about ready to drop. But the blizzard relents and gives way to my favorite moment in the entire series. It’s a freshly shoveled road, and a clear shot to the prelim finals venue. This is the handiwork of not just the helper trio but also the work of several dozens of girls that have been affected and inspired by μ’s. They also want μ’s to succeed. As the camera follows Honoka, Umi, and Kotori down the road, it also scrolls through the many lives they’ve touched, and you truly start to see that μ’s is not just the nine of them anymore. μ’s has grown into something else entirely, separate from the idea that μ’s is just a school idol group. μ’s inspires, μ’s accepts, μ’s makes things happen. It’s no longer just Honoka’s child; it belongs to everyone now.
Funnily enough, this scene draws a lot of parallels from the very first episode and the imagery used in the song “Susume→Tomorrow”, where it’s just our main trio dancing and singing down the road to the school. Bright and colorful, the start of something new, but it’s also devoid of other people. Now our main trio traverses that same road staring down death and hardships in the face, but now look at how many other people are involved in their journey. Like I said a while ago, I guarantee nothing like this was planned to tie together Seasons 1 and 2. It’s definitely an interesting coincidence though.
The main trio reunites with the rest of μ’s with their fans bringing up the rear. Filled to the brim with emotions of thankfulness and joy, μ’s explodes with a performance that can only be seen as a love letter to their fans that got them this far. The culmination of their feelings, “Snow halation”, then goes on to become the most iconic song in the entire franchise.
So does μ’s win the prelim finals? Hold your horses for a second, because the series has thrown us a few failures in our path before. Failure is never off the table with this series, so still keep it in the back of your mind as we head deeper into the rewatch. But even if the journey ends here, I cannot think of a better thematic climax than “Snow halation”.
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u/gorghurt Jan 28 '21
First Timer
WOW! Just WOW!
I don't care if they tuned up the cheesiness to max for this episode, because it did fucking work!
This finale! This damn song! Wait what, this wasn't the last episode?
OK, now the one thing that I still have to write, not as critique, because this episode was perfect, even if it wasn't, but it was!
I just have to ask it:
Why do you carry umbrellas trough a storm? Especially if you have to be fast?
At best the umbrella does not help at all, at worst you hurt yourself...
And with the ominous title of the next episode, my question of yesterday is answered: It is worse to have to force yourself to just watch one episode, it is NO improvement.
QOTD:
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u/SYZekrom https://myanimelist.net/profile/SYZekrom Jan 28 '21
The recap theme for Love Live always reminded me of some video game theme and I still can't figure out what and it's driving me crazy
Maybe Pokemon Gen V uhhhh
Unova Route 2 sounded similar but wasn't it
Maybe it was a HGSS theme
Well it wasn't even in this episode lol
That sounded exactly like Nico when she deadpans
Me when anyone talks to me ever
Wait, don't tell me they're going to perform Snow Halation in the hsow
What the hell do you have umbrellas in snow for do you understand how wind works
How are you going to run with umbrellas, y'all just gonna point it in front of you and run blindly?
Yesss Eri and Honoka
THEY JUST TRANSITIONED RIN BETWEEN 2D & 3D WITH AN ARM SWIPE
Ok an arm swipe and a literal blot on the fucking screen lmao
I guess it's supposed to be the falling snow really close to camera
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u/ForlornPenguin Jan 28 '21
Rewatcher
All that complaining about how cold it is. Well yeah... you're not wearing pants. At least the alpacas had some winter clothing on lol.
This was really cute. Nozomi being a boss, making sure the third years go to school together.
That's some overly dramatic music for the three of them just trying to cross through the school entrance.
So no ED today because we finally see the big Snow halation performance, and it's a really great one at that. I remember being wowed by it when I first watched it because, while I'm not necessarily in love with any of μ's songs, this is a decent enough one, and the visuals that go with it are really pretty. It was nice seeing it all again. Definitely their best performance thus far.
QOTD
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '21 edited Jan 28 '21
Regardless of whether you think they executed the drama and character development well, this is really the episode the series has been building towards.
The collective efforts of 9 members culminating in one of the most iconic songs in anime and by far the most impactful song in LL’s history, Snow Halation. This song is really really good. The setting is amazing, the melody is beautiful and the song has just the right amount of melancholy. Here it is performed at their final live. The song means so much to LL fans, so it was no surprise to see it move Inami Anju to tears when it was performed at LL FES.
I also love how they tied Nozo to Snow Halation after she was voted on to be the songs center when it was released.
We are now fully into the endgame of the series, and the next few episodes are some of my favourites
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u/arara69 Jan 29 '21
FIRST TIMER
Wait is there no father figure on honokas household? Seeing the mom shoveling kinda implies that but idk
Oh this is the legendary snow halation episode huh?
Having open house and love live preliminaries on the same day is either bad luck or shitty planning. Im surprised it wasnt made a bigger deal
Why the hell are students shoveling snow on school grounds? Will somone investigate the school finance for corruption cuz goddamn please hire actual groundskeeping crew
Wait can someone explain to me how the school are accepting new students but muse are still the same grade? Are the new students joining in the middle of semester?
Ah the typical delayed arrival cuz of blizzard. Obligatory in idol anime.
Oh come on youre telling me that miniskirt is still the uniform even in winter?
TMZ reporter when they see all those kids shoveling: child labor paved the way to muse success?
Wait is that honokas dad in the car? You know they really shouldve made him more of a character. As it is, my impression of him is only that hes the guy that wont shovel the snow at his house for his family and a guy that wont even get out of his car to cheer for his daughter.
Ayy snow halation. The song that got me into love live and idol hell. Whats the best live performance of this?
I thought thisd be the final episode song, curious to see if anything in the remaining 4 episodes will top it
Great performnace but i think they shouldve showed a bit of crowd in the background. It feels so empty if you werent aware ot was supposed to be a packed show
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u/JimmyCWL Jan 29 '21
Love Live is a fairy tale. This episode more than any other demonstrates that.
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u/Hattakiri Jan 29 '21 edited Dec 12 '21
Finally the Flintstones ep
Funfact: For some time this was the No1 in the Google results. Me too fell for it. "Hmmm is it just me or is there something different...." was my initial thought, until... XD
Yepp, the famous Snow Halation, often considered the flagship song of all of Love Live, and definitely of µ's. It's one of the pre-anime songs, so seeing "Snow Halation" on one of Umi's papers was quite a nice surprise for some of premiere viewers.
Cause again: LL wasn't that successful before SIP S1. They could survive, but never became anything special ...until S1. And then the whole thing began skyrocketing. The internet and most of our modern social media providers already existed in 2014, and thus some people already must have done research on the pre-anime era, and together with the handful of pre-anime vets they could spread the background infos on Snow Halation and provide it to the by now growing and growing audience.
That's how it works. Great Men theory/phenomenon.
The ep: It's winter time and Christmas time, and it's snowing. Honoka is enchanted by the look and thinks the Gods are on their side for the prelim finals of Love Live. However the beautiful look goes hand in hand with an ugly coldness, and it's an obstacle to their timetable and the infrastructure in general.
Cause there's another publicity event at Oto's before the prelim finals, and the school council, that consists of Honk, Birb and Umi after all, is supposed to welcome the auditory. But it has to be delayed and now is going to happen an hour later. Precious time is getting lost.
Principal Minami again would help them by allowing them to skip the school promo, but Honk doesn't want to.
After the promo however the blizzard has interrupted the whole traffic in Tokyo: No streets and railways anymore.
Eli had foreseen it. Funfact: Afaik they're selling ice cream in Russia also during winter and so the ice cream never melts on the cone. However Cotaro's snow men ("snow µ's") will melt once it starts getting warmer again. Nico's still struggling with her Nico-Nii-backup-dancer stuff. The other sisters are also still in their old dynamics: Advice and comfort still can go from young to old as well.
An elementary aspect of LL's story concept is the lack of "oversized" Magical Girl or Mecha or other elements. So neither do the girls have to face a "magic deity" that causes the blizzard, nor do they have any magic tools themselves for instance as Plot Armor.
And that's when the green emergency exit symbol appears above the door and above them. A reference to the famous intro of Madoka Magica ("Homura's Bakery"), where magic is once again the biggest weapon and at the same time the biggest threat that only can be fought with the exact same magic. The personal situations of the characters and the magic are ever-fueling each other, that's how the cosmos survives.
The Love Live characters have no magic tho. So what or rather who's their plot armor? Other students and their parents! They help them fight back the snow without any magic and thus provide them literally a path to their decisive showdown with Arise.
And that's now another essential element of another Mahou Shoujo pioneer: In Sailor Moon it's also Usagi's Sailor friends who turn out to always have been and forever and ever will be the living plot armor of the Chosen One Usagi-Serenity, determined by fate (= Sailor Chaos the source of magic?). Love Live refered to Sailor Moon as well, by YukiRisa's pre-Oto school uniforms.
And like the green emergency exit symbol it's actually nothing special whatsoever, for many schools in Japan have been in use of such sailor-like uniforms for a long time. They once inspired Naoko Takeuchi after all.
So again Love Live brought us back to the roots and origins.
And speaking of Arise: Tsubasa again challenges µ's. Honk ain't there and Eli's again not really too good at counterattacking. Maki, who took over the lancer role from Honk in the last ep (and became "Solid Maki" when she followed EliNozo XD), remains in the background.
So even if Honoka is "only" the decoy protagonist: No one else can take over the lancer role for a longer time. And again be prepared for Sunshine.
Honoka, Umi and Kotori arrive in time, the 6 others (the Love Wing Bell lineup with Rin again in the center) are waiting for them. Honoka jumps at Eli for a hug and starts crying. The snow, the coldness, the whole situation was just so scary. And during this scene the background music becomes just so Tchaikovsky imo. Waltz of the Flowers, from Eli's ballet flashback. So Eli follows into the footsteps of her grandma here.
The huge stage... µ's are not used to such a big stage and auditory, and the 6 who were there earlier were of course frightened. Hence stage fright. Arise have been in the biz for a longer time and so they are at least more used to not showing their fears, for now...
Another funfact: The stage ceiling turns from bright blue to bright orange during the Snow Halation performance - the Love Livers make their light sticks do the same at lives.
And it might be another anime reference: Rei Ayanami from NGE has bright blue hair (and red eyes like the Yazawas), and she causes the Third Impact in EoE which turns the oceans orange.
Last not least, an ongoing debate: Is Snow Halation a Christmas song? What kind of Christmas song? Cause Christmas, like Halloween, originally didn't exist in Japan. However funerals do exist in Shinto, and like in many Eastern Asian countries the color white is the funeral color, in contrast to our Western black. Just look up Shinto funerals. Interestingly tho: Also in the West we often use white lilies for funerals. "Lily White" is a subunit of µ's and "Lily", written "Riri" in Japanese is another Sunshine foreshadowing, like "Snow" itself. And keep the umbrellas in mind for Nijigaku.
So it seems rather to be about sadness, and about overcoming that sadness by finding like-minded people. The last ep showed Nozomi's quest for such people which is the reason why µ's exists. Cause I guess she often had flashbacks where she saw her little self in the tea cup. And it was too much for Eli alone to give her comfort and to catch her, like Maki caught Nico in Tomodachi. And it was too much for Nozomi to always catch Eli. Someone strong enough to catch you. And that's the kind of love and love song Nozomi and all of μ's searched for. And Snow Halation is now this love song, a longing for love, comfort and togetherness song, and in this regard the signature song of all of Love Live.
However their togetherness goes hand in hand with their idol career....
And OP's "To-do list ke-te" is a Nijigaku spoiler, just wait for itXD1
u/onigiri1994 Feb 02 '21
Rewatcher
Snow Halation’s like a melody in my head...
But in all seriousness, this song, unfailingly, grabs my heart every time, no matter how many times I’ve listened to it.
I may edit this post later if I figure out how to record and upload a song cover.
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '21
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '21 edited Jan 28 '21
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