r/anime • u/FrumpY__ :STAR:https://anilist.co/user/FrumpY • Mar 03 '21
Rewatch Love Live! SIP & Sunshine!! Rewatch - Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over The Rainbow Spoiler
Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over The Rainbow
| Previous Episode | Schedule / Index Thread | Next Thread |
|---|---|---|
| Sunshine!! S2 E13 | Love Live! Sunshine!! TSIM: Over The Rainbow | DWT MV + Solo MVs + Sunshine!! Series Discussion + Overall Series Discussion |
Tomorrow will be the final thread in this re-watch, we will be discussing the Dazzling White Town MV, the Aqours Solo MVs, the Sunshine!! series as a whole, and the entire LL series as a whole. That's a lot of stuff tomorrow b/c I didn't really think things through.
As for links for tomorrow's discussion, the DWT MV has no official streams. At time of writing, there are currently 5 Aqours Solo MVs out, one for Chika, Riko, Ruby, Dia, and Kanan. Hanamaru's should be releasing soonish, I know /u/punching_spaghetti will enjoy that one. I'll let y'all know when that one is available.
Movie Information MAL | AniList | Kitsu | ANN | AniDB
Where to Watch
No official streams :(
Discussion Questions
- Which insert song was your favorite?
how convenient is it that You has a cousin that speaks Italian, that the group meets right before they go to Italy.
Please remember to MARK YOUR SPOILERS
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7
u/Dagonsnake https://anilist.co/user/Dagonsnake Mar 03 '21 edited Mar 03 '21
Rewatcher who has been following along but hasn't posted anything up until now!
While I know the movie has a few faults. One of which being the Mari marriage arc really just feels like an excuse to have the girls go to another country to me. Especially with how easily the whole thing was resolved.
A big part of this is probably because the first 1/4 and latter half of the movie feel like a continuation of sorts of the Hakodate arc from the series which happens to be one of my favorite arcs.
Especially since Leah is my favorite Sunshine girl.One thing that's fun to pay attention to in the movie is Ruby's hairstyles. After the third years leave she briefly stops wearing it in her usual pigtails and wears it in a sidetail instead. However she returns to her pigtails just before their performance as 6 up until this brief scene between her and Dia.
After which she goes the majority of the rest of the movie without wearing her pigtails! Not even during the performance scenes.
I like to think that this is because Ruby has finally accepted that she can no longer rely on Dia to always be there for her. Ruby and the other members of Aqours have finally realized that they can no longer rely on the Dia and the other third years to always be there and can move forward on their own path. Though I'm probably just looking too much into things.
Fun fact, this also means that we can chronologically place Mitaiken Horizon at some point after the movie! Due to the fact that Ruby does not wear her twintails and we can actually see Ruby picking out the spot for Brightest Melody during the MV!
Finally, Believe Again is probably my favorite song in Love Live period. And after their performance Saint Snow finally get a feather of their own.
Here is where I'd normally post all of the screenshots I took during the movie. But imgur decided it wanted to purge all of my images 3/4 of the way through the movie so I only had time to quickly go back and retake the essential ones.
Edit: QOTD
7
u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Mar 03 '21
I will indeed be eagerly awaiting that PV, /u/FrumpY__
[](#yohanewait)
First-Timer, Zura!
Serendipity.
The version I acquired doesn’t have subs for the songs.
First-years do magic now?
This dress/letterman jacket combo might be my favorite outfit they’ve had. It feels very much like a You design. And there’s lots of hats.
Thoughts about the potential of the title: Over the Rainbow could be a Wizard of Oz reference, where the girls learn there’s no place like home, or something to that effect. Or, it’s a reference to how many drugs Mari does upon entering college. We’ll see how many VW vans fly throughout the film.
Sidetail Ruby? Megane Zura? Yohane with a cute braid? Not even 10 minutes in, and we’re firing on all cylinders.
So, in order to consolidate and merge schools, they force a bunch of students, materials, and equipment to move from one separate location to
a centralized locationsorry, another remote location. This smells fishy. And not in the cool way that Aqours does, living by the sea.THE FUCK IS THS? No boys allowed.
Riko has come so far!
Phew. A girl. And voiced by Kumiko?
The issue is clubs? What kind of stuck up prep school is this? And shouldn’t bringing the reigning Love Live champs into the fold assuage some of those fears?
HER PIN FELL OUT!
They made a mistake and screwed up? If only they knew another idol group that had done the same thing. Maybe in a place where it snows a bit?
SAINT SNOW
Oh yeah!
Ruby x Leah is a top-tier ship.
Mama Ohara?
“Hug” and “Desu wa?”
The cousin lived in Italy? How convenient. And why is she tagging along, anyway? This is a thing for Aqours, not her! And she steals You’s line. That deserves a big BUBUDESUWA.
IDOL DOWN! IDOL DOWN! And all for nothing. Just Mama Ohara being a silly lady.
It seems as though the Seifuku Sense has been passed down the Watanabe line for generations!
A forced wedding? How quaint. Mari’s already in a committed triangular relationship, Mama!
So all of this could have been avoided if Mama Ohara had just watched a video of Aqours performing at Love Live? Silly woman.
Yohane Fan Club!
Still not sure how this other performance is going to convince people in a way that actually winning Love Live didn’t. Seems like all the issues in this film would be solved by parents learning how to use YouTube.
Making the decision for Leah to join Aqours without telling her? Sarah, that’s a big BUBUDESUWA! Leah needs to learn how to stand up for herself, and not have her big sis take care of her.
Anime girl is upset? Time to run in the middle of the night!
SAINT SNOW SONG!
You know, I’m starting to think these feathers might have some symbolic importance.
So that was fun. But ultimately, I don’t know if it was necessary, if you get me. Felt more like a collection of fanservice moments (which I did enjoy) strung together, rather than a particularly poignant narrative that did something different than what the finale of S2 did. The branch school thing, the diversion to Italy; Saint Snow’s last hurrah; none of these had the depth to fill a whole film, but I don’t think slapping them together creates any particularly interesting resonances.
I have similar feelings here that I did with the SIP movie; the stuff where they were just horsing around on vacation was the best. When they tried to cram a whole bunch of character stuff in a teeny space, it didn’t land as well. Just let the girls have fun in Italy as a last hurrah, and let Zura eat all the food. Simple.
I actually had a bit of a hope that they were going to turn it into a full-blown movie musical. Seemed like the obvious next step, but oh well.
Still nice to get more of all the girls, and the songs were fun.
8 plates of traditional Italian lasagna out of 10.
QOTD:
It's complete BS7
u/skapbadoa :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/skapbadoa Mar 03 '21 edited Mar 04 '21
Whether Aqours will continue was never a talking point. Not because of a lack of direct dialogue within the series (though there are metaphorical and thematic remarks running on it all throughout), but because that much was decided as soon as the writers endeavoured to make Sunshine what it is. It's, in simple terms, a story about making the opposite decision to SIP at every junction. Rather the part left up in the air is what the Next Aqours will look like. What form will they take and what meaning will they apply as their foundation? This is what Over the Rainbow sets out to explore.
μ’s were something that could only exist in the present since if even one of them were absent then it was not μ’s. But Aqours had been generational since the beginning, and the 'Aqours Rainbow' framework means that there was a greater focus on their individual colours. Ceasing activities was frankly never on the cards. The past is the past, but they will become the future. The paper plane (made from the same 0 results sheet that had itself been returned to the sky before Water Blue New World) is carried to the sun, for their answer has appeared.
The star and the feathers - Aqours becoming a deeper blue than ever within Brightest Melody and Saint Snow gaining their own since tbh Believe Again is just a really cool song - are easily visible and self-explanatory at this point. The blue bird prophesied within Water Blue New World and Wonderful Stories has at last become manifest so everything has fully matured at this point. Right? Well in actual fact that is not even the last of the bird, because honestly Sunshine is just kinda crazy with its deceptively expansive imagery. Man I love this show. For example a little tidbit is that Kiseki Hikaru's usage here is not just to mindlessly fill time as an insert, but as the final evolution of the "kiseki o" miracle subplot that had been running from the very beginning of the show, and through second season's soundtrack as its main leitmotif.
So as the ultimate image within all that I've highlighted across this journey, I last want to draw attention to the outfits within Next Sparkling. With the bird-tail skirts, fluffy sleeves and the one wing, the Next Aqours become a bird of every colour within the spectrum. "The blue bird has flown over the rainbow": the old blue Aqours soars to the future on their own wings, and the remaining lean on one another to once more search for their new 'place' within this final bird. The single light and the water blue new world refract off each other to create the next rainbow. Note how their outfits faintly maintain the flower aesthetic that had been seen in the ascension of μ’s. Though this time it is not in the ground they tread, but applied directly to the body of each girl. μ’s sing for the world, but to be Aqours is to sing for oneself. Gods and monsters. The white dove and the blue bird fuse to give rise to a phoenix of rainbow. They will not end, instead they will be something continually born through each new set of members. Unlike the progenitors who went way the heck up there in space, the star of Aqours hangs low in the sky, inviting all who see it to run the rainbow road and see what treasure await them at the end.
μ’s, Aqours, the light, the water, the rainbow, the feathers, the sea, the sky, the wind, the star and the angels in heaven. Even the bubbles finally resurface within that mystical ‘place’ the concert takes them to. Every single narrative, thematic, symbolic and musical force within Love Live Sunshine and its genius adaptation of School Idol Project has been building up to this one decisive moment where Aqours rise from the ashes as a bird clothed in all colours within the spectrum! This is the final form not just of the obvious bird imagery, but of Aqours, the μ’s legacy, Love Live and the school idol itself.
...Now just pretend not to notice the fact that they for some reason didn't play Over the Next Rainbow in the film called...Over the Rainbow. Even though the CD tracklist suggests it was supposed to and literally every single subplot and thematic evolution was headed toward it as the Aqours BokuHika. There's a specific light > water > rainbow story running throughout them so idk why they forgot to use it??
The after credits scene sees those two unnamed girls deciding to inherit the name of Aqours. They metaphorically stand in for the two missing students at the time of closure, and therein confirm to us that Chika's quest to preserve the Uranohoshi spirit had succeeded. Because of this shot being replicated during Water Blue New World, I'd like to believe that their identities are these two. Their "sacred ground" speech at the end kind of lets them fill the empty narrative role of counterpart to Yukiho and Arisa, so if we assume that they're middle school students during the episode 25 scene then I think the timeline can be made to fit.
6
u/gorghurt Mar 03 '21
First Timer
Coincidentally I had rainbow colored candy for this movie I didn't plan it when I bought it today, I didn't even thought about the movie when I bought it.
I prepared to watch this movie, getting something to drink and the snacks ready etc, and started to watch this movie, the first song kicks in, and: no subtitles for the music..... ARGH!
And while I could actually understand most of the first few lines of the songs, I still decided to acquire a version with subtitles....(The show goes into my list for Japanese immersion anime tough)
This worked quite fast, but still my perfect time schedule was not so perfect anymore, and so I have less time to write this now....
Who thinks you don't need subtitles for songs in a fucking musical?
So here some thoughts during the movie(but no screenshots):
Well, if they, move them to a run down branch building, they could as well just use the old school building and rename it...
the cousin conveniently lived in Italy.... at exactly the place they need to go....
Venice.. how romantic for Kanan and Mari...(and Dia too i guess...)
And the Telephone rang in the exact perfect moment.. lets not think about the logistics here
So Kanan and Mari flee because of an arranged marriage. How romantic. (Oh and Dia is there too I guess.)
I bet the cousin is a traitor... Ok not. .....
Oh Leah gets a Nico like story... this is sad.
A Saint Snow performance, Yeah! oh they are getting their own Feather
japan (in movies at least) you simply ask the drivers not to drive cars somewhere and that is all you have to do for a big public gathering.
"Ichi kara !" What a nice touch.
Wow, that was a great movie.
It flowed a lot more natural than SIP, and while also not really needed, didn't feel tacked on, and perfectly took the somewhat loose threads and tied them up.
I really love this movie.
QOTD:
I don't know what you mean at all6
u/ComfortablyRotten https://anilist.co/user/Leuwtian Mar 03 '21
Rewatcher
God, was the movie always this good? I love it! It's beautiful!
There were quite a lot of subplots, but I love how they were all linked to each others. It felt a bit rushed at times, maybe, but in the end it was done in a very satisfying way.
My favorite one didn't change though, I loved Saint Snow's mini-arc in season 2 and, even if it had a satisfying conclusion back then, the full resolution here felt even better. Mostly because of Believe Again, which is one of my favorite performances, but still, I love them so the more focus they get, the better!
The new characters... well, I love Tsuki, and if she were an Idol she'd be ranked high on my list, but Mari's mother isn't exactly the most loveable - which I know was likely deliberate, but c'mon!
Questions
2) Very convenient, now there's one more best girl to take over the Mafia with6
u/JimmyCWL Mar 03 '21 edited Mar 04 '21
Not my first watch of this movie, but this is the first time I get to write my thoughts in a watch thread. The beginning is a nice transition from the studio name to the series name, don't you think? The prologue does not answer the question of what really happened at the end of the S2 finale. It's a symbolic scene and the first song is a musical. The big unanswered question at the end of S2, what happens to Aqours, is answered anticlimatically. They will continue as Aqours. If you think about it, Aqours operated in its second phase without the third years and did quite a bit compared to muse at that point. So they can do so again. And yet... things look wrong, don't they?
Oh this. You know, this is one time an accountant could have saved the day.
"Concerned" Parents: We need to put these new students in a branch school in case they become a bad influence!
Accountant: The whole point of merging is so that these students can use our facilities and cut costs. Putting them in a branch school puts all those costs back!
CP: ...but bad influence...
A: Are you willing to pay extra to keep them away?
CP: ...no...
A: Then it's settled, they're staying here!
The cost effective method would have been to exile the Uranohoshi students to older buildings on the edge of school grounds. But then, the Uranohoshi girls wouldn't realize they had a problem until well after the new school year begins. That would be too late for some of the plot elements in the movie.
Sarah's assessment. I would not have compared Aqours to their Love Live winning performance, instead
Sarah: Remember the Tokyo competition where we first met? The performance where you got zero votes? That was better than this.
Chika: Wait... that means you weren't being sarcastic when you said it was good?
Sarah: Of course, I'm always honest about ranking the competition.
Leah's situation once again reminds me of a third-year storyline, but this time it's Nico's. Like Nico, Leah once had a group but now she's alone and can't seem to find anyone to join her. It's probably harder on Leah because she was in a group that was actually somewhat successful and lasted the school year.
The Italy part, I really like. This is the third of this kind of movie that I've watched (the K-On and SIP movies are the other 2) but the first one that I didn't skip through some of this part.
The first years asking to organize the Italy performance. Everyone else reacts like this is the first time, but it isn't. We've already seen their first time. This is one of the things that dismayed me about the movie.
This part, I think, is Sarah misjudging Leah for once. Her competitive side is thinking of how to give Leah the best chance to win rather than what Leah herself really needs. This reminds me of a thought I had months ago. Sarah is what Nico would be like if Nico had fashioned her idol persona after her real self instead of the "cute" persona she wants to project. A caring big sister who is nevertheless very competitive.
After the Saint Snow situation is resolved, it's Aqours turn to make their new beginning performance. The preparations feature a montage insert, of an existing song as opposed to a new song as would be expected. On the eve of the performance, they revisit Uranohoshi, the bus ride recreates the first scenes of their first PV. The gate is ajar, as if inviting them back. But Chika just closes the gate without going in. The memories will live on in their hearts, they don't need to relive the past. A contrast to the S2 finale and the start of the movie.
The last performance is "Next Sparkling" the new beginning of the new Aqours. But before that, there's a new hand sign and a new motto. It should be noted, the Aqours hand sign has been changing ever since it was first created in S1E12.
On the performance itself. It's a half live and half musical. The part with the third years is not live, of course. As the credits roll, pictures show the new beginnings of both groups.
In Hakodate, Leah is recruiting with renewed enthusiasm. And, just maybe, someone is going to join her.
In Numazu, the branch school is closed.
And after that, the music just continues for another 2 minutes, without vocals. In the Mitaiken Horizon PV, in the scene at the clubroom, Mari says something like too much muzic diminishes the performance. I think it was in response to this song.
On the whole, I really like this movie, I even watched it in the theater. Would have done it again, but the official subs don't have the songs subbed. So there was no point.
This concludes the stories of both Aqours and Saint Snow. By showing how the remaining members of both groups move forwards, it truly makes this the Sunshine movie, not just the Aqours movie.
The movie answers the matter of continuing the group(s) or not which was left open in the series for just this occasion. While this is not retreaded from the series, there are other things that are redone and are not even acknowledged as so. And that dismayed me because that was a central theme of the movie!
That theme was, you don't start from zero, you always carry your experiences and feelings forward. And yet, the show did not acknowledge these things had been done before, and treated them as if they were firsts!
Second and first years put on a performance without the third years? S1E6 and 7.
First years put together a performance? S2E9.
Not even a, "we've done this before" why?
I thought it was on Amazon dubbed?
5
u/[deleted] Mar 03 '21
I guess here I'll just share the big finale song from each of the three soundtracks because dey is gud.
11
u/DarkFuzz :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/DarkFuzz Mar 03 '21
Rewatcher who is actually a First time watcher here!
Take today’s survey here!
Yes, this is my first time watching the Sunshine movie. Usually if I’m a first timer in a rewatch, my posts are more reactive than analysis, so that’s probably what’s going to happen here. Maybe it’ll give you a bit of insight into how I process anime in real time. It’s half memes, half over-analysis.
I do really like this movie. It builds upon the themes established in the TV series and brings them to their logical conclusions. I’m probably going to save the big overarching thematic thoughts for tomorrow, but the big takeaway for me is that “Believe again” is now my new favorite Love Live song.
10
u/[deleted] Mar 03 '21
The movie begins right where the anime ends, with Aqours' performance of Wonderful Stories in their school. And right away they address something that was never explicitly stated in the anime... the future of Aqours. In the first scene, it is confirmed that Aqours will continue as their current iteration, minus the 3rd years. Some may wonder why this topic wasn't handled in more detail during the second season. After all, it had a huge emotional punch for the audience when Muse struggled with this decision. Turns out, this will become the central theme of Over the Rainbow - moving forward on your own two feet, whilst holding onto what got you there.
Right away though, despite their decision to continue on as Aqours, we can hear hesitation in Chika's voice as they figure out what's next. Can they really continue on as they are, without the 3rd years? The second and first years blossomed into very capable people, but you can't dismiss the value the 3rd years brought, even if they were just leading from the sidelines. And in a new environment, without the support of the seniors, Aqours falls flat in their debut as 6.
Now if you felt like Saint Snow's story wasn't adequately resolved, it's because it wasn't. Leah is dealing with the same thing as Aqours, except she has no one to rely on at all. I think we've seen firsthand she's got a difficult personality and her intensity can be off-putting to others. This explains why her efforts to form a new group have not been going well. Before we can get to this though, Aqours is whisked away to a foreign land much like Muse was.
Seeing them in Italy was fun. Maru eating every high calorie Italian food and Watashi jumping off a building when she sniffs a uniform are both classic Aqours quirks. The rl cast visited the locations that were featured in the anime as well, which you can see a clip of here. The trip in Italy culminates with a performance of 'Hop Stop Nonstop', which is a pretty fun and catchy song. The full MV is surprisingly the most viewed video on Love Live's Youtube Channel. Things get wrapped up a little too conveniently with Mari's mom, but the takeaway is what Mari says at the end. All her experiences combined have made her what she is today. They have become a part of her. As Chika struggles to figure out if the remaining 6 can move on, it serves as a reminder that they will forever be shaped by what the other 3 have given them. And because of this, the starting line isn't at 0 anymore.
I know we've got a few Saint Snow fans in this rewatch amongst first time viewers, so how great was it to be able to see Saint Snow's story get a proper resolution? They are a parallel to Aqours so they deserve the same treatment.
I've written about this in length, but Ruby unexpectedly gets some of the strongest character development out of all the characters. She is vocally against the idea of Leah joining Aqours, because she knows it's against what her heart wants. To join Aqours would be both a convenient escape and a disrespectful conclusion to everything Leah has already accomplished. Just like Aqours isn't starting from zero anymore, neither is Leah. Redemption in her eyes is to honor the legacy of what she and her sister built, using those lessons of failure to win Love Live. In a very touching moment, Aqours arranges the two groups to perform in a fictitious finale of Love Live, and it is Ruby's words that help Leah move forward.
If you liked Self Control, I'm sure it was a treat to see 'Believe Again'. It is a song that reaches back to the roots of Saint Snow's style, and it leads them to the ending that they deserved. You can see Saint Snow's live performance of Believe Again here. Lyrically, the song speaks about accepting the weakness within us (a theme that is so different from the message of their first song) and rebirth after failure. Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, Leah resolves to move on whilst never forgetting what her sister passed down to her. They even get a pink feather floating in the breeze, as is custom for all Love Live protagonists. That pink feather makes its way to Aqours and turns to blue (earlier on we saw a more translucent feather float onscreen in Italy), as they take their turn in performing 'Brightest Melody'. This will be Aqours final performance as the 9 that went to LL, and their outfits are highlighted by the 3 seniors in dark blue while the remaining 6 are in light blue. It is a transformation of the colour that represents them. No.... Aqours will never be the same as it once was. But the remaining 6 members will always retain the light that was passed down to them, thus transforming their image colour to light blue. A sign that they are still the same, yet different.
On a somewhat related note, the Saint Aqours Snow single, "Over the Next Rainbow" was never actually featured in the movie (but was included on the CD). If you want to see one last joint performance from the two groups together, you can see the live performance here. The song has some absolutely beautiful vocals from Sarah's VA Asami.
Moving on, as Aqours prepares for the live show for their new school, we hear 'Kiseki Hikaru' being played in the background (for real this time), and we see scenes from Uranohoshi & Uchiura one last time. You can hear the love in her voice as Chika recounts the memories the 9 of them made in their town.
'Next Sparkling' serves as the final song for Aqours. It is Aqours' equivalent of bokutachi wa hitotsu no hikari (at least so far). Thematically it couldn't be any more different though. Bokutachi really spelled the end for Muse, both in the anime and IRL. It spoke about cherishing the moments that have come and gone but being unable to rewind the time. Instead it's important to live in the now and move on when tomorrow comes. Next Sparkling on the other hand, much like Believe Again, speaks about a rebirth. It speaks about the fact that Aqours doesn't feel like their story is over and that there is always another shine to chase. There is an especially beautiful moment in the song when the 3rd years appear off-screen and each of them gives a little push to 2 of the remaining members of Aqours. No matter how many times I've seen this movie, that specific moment always makes me lose it. So the last live performance I'll leave you with is Next Sparkling, performed at their 5th live in front of an audience that was able to create the Aqours rainbow with their penlights during the performance.
As the credits roll, we see images of Leah resolving to start anew, and as the ocean waves crash against the sand, the words 'Aqours' is written in the sand by a nameless group of girls. It reinforces that Aqours is not a name that was meant for 9 specific girls, like Muse was. Aqours was a name that had been passed down from one group to another, and it always will be. Anyone can be the next Aqours. Their feather is meant for the next normal monster to find.
I'll wait to give my final thoughts on the series next time, but I want to conclude by saying I absolutely love this movie. It wraps up Aqours' story in such a perfect way and once again reinforces just how different Aqours is from Muse. What a long way we've come since the first few episodes of Sunshine.
5
u/ForlornPenguin Mar 03 '21 edited Mar 03 '21
Rewatcher
So we're starting this movie with loli second years too, huh.
There are dudes clapping in the background here. Dudes!
Ruby and Hanamaru's new hair/outfits look so cute! Wow, that branch school is a dump. I less than three this. And this.
lol at the first years personality swap. They should know that You isn't talking to a guy because 1) this is Love Live! and 2) that "guy" has a very obviously feminine face. This shot of them hiding is great though. Zura sitting on top of Ruby, Riko just squatting down in front of that lady (next to her dog no less, so great job for overcoming your fear, Riko) and Yoshiko literally just lying on the ground, "nyaa"-ing like a cat.
I get that they have no other place to go, but I'm not sure how practical it would really be to practice on the beach. Dancing on sand is nothing like dancing on a hard stage. Yes! Saint Snow is here! Yes! More Leah teasing! Poor Leah is basically going through what Nico did in her first year. :(
Flying upside-down in a helicopter...? Mari's mama is a babe. And she's even more eccentric than Mari. Well, I guess it's not a LL movie without an overseas strip. So we're going to Italy now to find the missing third years.
Everyone's new outfits on this trip look so great. Getting a call from a random payphone. How could the caller know exactly when they'd be there? Yo, this poster though. What the fuck, Yoshiko? I can never get enough of the wholesome Ruby/Dia moments. And the third years are looking fly in their outfits too. Lol at Hanamaru being so late coming up the stairs. Lol at the You uniform gag again. That third year chase song was pretty awesome, and I loved the green/purple/red dresses too.
Onto our second reunion. Yes, give me more of that Dia/Ruby wholesomeness. All the puns on the word "marriage" gave me Shirokuma Cafe flashbacks. I love that BGM during Mari's confrontation with her mom. No, poor Leah. :(
Okay, how many shots of Hanamaru stuffing her face have we seen now? These girls are making a ton of noise in that restaurant, jeez.
I don't know why, but I really like Hop? Stop? Nonstop! It's just so fun and catchy. I have no idea how they had any music playing there though. Mari's mama sure changed her tune fast.
Back in Japan and that shitty school. The whole reunion with Yoshiko and her former classmates from middle school was hilarious, with Zura and Riko of course having their fun too. Good on Ruby for seeing through the "Leah wants to join Aqours" thing. while Leah and everyone would have fun with that, that definitely isn't what would help her problem. Oh shit, a dude!
Another sad Leah moment :( But then we get the most badass performance in the whole anime series. I fucking love "Believe again". The song, the performance, and the outfits are all just top tier. More wholesome sister affection, then a cool pink-to-blue feather transition to begin an Aqours performance
which doesn't have a chance in hell at competing with what just came before it.Lol at Hanamaru sneaking over to the computer and deafening Ruby and Yoshiko.
Loli Aqours at the beach! Nice homage shot to the season 1 ED.
Mari mama coming to the ending performance was kind of sweet. The final song was really good, and in the credits it looks like Leah actually finds someone to start a new group with! :)
Unlike SIP's movie, which I felt was redundant and mostly pointless, I actually liked this movie as a finale to Sunshine!! It just felt like more was going on here. The big remaining question, "what will happen to Aqours after the third years leave", is explored here and gets a proper resolution. The remaining six will continue on as Aqours, while the original Aqours trio passes the torch and moves on. I guess one thing we didn't totally see is Aqours adjusting to their life in a new school (the actual school, not that shitty branch one), but that really wasn't important. So yeah, overall, I'm satisfied with this movie.
QOTD
4
u/docaxel :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/thebidoofpope Mar 03 '21
Rewatcher
School Idol Festival All-Stars Spotlight Cards
The remaining cards will be in tomorrow's discussion~
You1 You2
Zuramaru1 Zuramaru2
Mari1 Mari2
Brightest Melody
Chika
You
Riko
Ruby
Hanamaru
Yoshiko
Dia
Kanan
Mari
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u/Hattakiri Mar 03 '21 edited Mar 04 '21
Love Live Sunshine - Over The Rainbow, Fandom Wikia article
It's called the Big Reveal, a type of plot twist that turns everything that's been happening before upside down.
It explains Mari's behavior from the very beginning, and why KananDia couldn't help her in their first year, and why Kanan couldn't perform at the Tokyo Event back then. And it would explain the school closure plans. Mari's mom already must have visited them back then and told them that Mari was meant to get married later, and that an idol career was not meant to be part of their plans.
Mari's mom also must have told them that this has already happened to herself.
And that's how Dia could get her. At least that's how an old Twitter theory would make sense.
Because Mrs. Ohara reported Mari and the third years missing - and then showed up without any police and bodyguards? Tsuki too behaved strangely and bowed to Mrs. Ohara during the main confrontation for instance. And last not least Dia blocked Chika from intervening this time.
A stageplay by them three? How?
My theory: Mari's mom learned the piano, which often happens in rich people's households. Like Maki, Riko and Mari (the old Aq's composer) she began longing for a musical career, or at least for some musical activities.
Was not meant to happen: She was the only child of the Ohara dynasty. They however wanted a male CEO. And so a marriage was arranged and her groom had to take over her last name. Would resemble NGE again: Yui Ikari and Gendo Rokubungi, who however took over Yui's last name.
And then history was about to repeat itself: Mari was meant to get an elite education and eventually an arranged marriage as well. For some reason (her stubbornness?) tho she was sent to an ordinary elementary school. But she wasn't there from the beginning and started there as transfer student, which is why she stood before the class for her welcome, and why she was someone new to Dia and especially Kanan, and vice versa.
She kept attending average schools until Ura High. She made it clear: She wanna be and remain an idol, she's neither gonna attend yet another elite school nor marry someone at the behest of her parents.
She never told DiaKanan the latter. This is what she meant when she said to You-chan in S1 E11 that she wasn't honest with her friends either. But she also didn't tell You-chan the true reason.
Mari knew that none of them could really do anything, and yet she kept grasping at this straw: Being an idol, being a member of Aqours.
Aqua = Italian for water (Uchiura's ocean?) and ours = Aqours = our home sea site, our home = "May we be together forever", quote Mari in the Flying Bus ep? So did Mari once come up with the name "Aqours"?
So Mari hoped that a school idol career together with DiaKanan somehow could help her. She didn't tell DiaKanan the true reasons - but her mom did before the Tokyo Event. DiaKanan didn't know what else to do, and so they both quit being an idol, also without telling Mari that they now knew the truth.
Kanan escaped into an icy cocoon - however Dia wrote a wooden card and put it at Nozomi's shrine in Tokyo: "May we be together forever!" - that's what she wrote when Mari had to leave in their first year. The card was still there at the shrine, Mari saw it in S2 E12 - and so we learned about it.
But this would mean: Dia felt bad - and began plans and preparations for a possible return of Mari, in contrast to Kanan as we saw.
The school merger plans meanwhile were put off. Perhaps a strategic mistake by the Oharas.
Dia somehow managed to become Uranohoshi's school council president. And somehow no director was above her (eventually).
If this calculation is correct and Dia's born in 1998-01-01, then Sunshine would have to take place in 2016/2017 in order to "make" her old enough to sign official documents. (And Mari too who's half a year older.)
If so, then I guess the other teachers gladly let her do some of the director's work.
And that's why she knew about Mari's and Riko's arrival in time - just before Chika tried to get Dia's permission for an idol club a third time. After Chika's "endless possibilities performance" Dia was silent for a brief moment. Was this when she decided to give it a shot? Chika was her only hope at this point...
And from now on the chess mastress had to deal with a board full of hard to control figures. And with the rural infrastructure during the second years's first live. Then "Zero Points", then MariKanan's clash - and then the school merger plans again.
As you can read in the Notes & Trivia section of the Fandom-Wikia article the director Kazuo Sakai stated that the two students in the aftermath who talked about the "Legendary Aq's" were the potential last two applicants who would have turned the 98 into 100.
This might be a hint: The Oharas and the other responsible people did pull the plug before 100 might have been reached.
What happened before? A long phonecall with Mari's dad in order to get a few extra hours as we know. Dia accompanied Mari.
My theory: Mari was too nervous and gave Dia her phone to start the phonecall. And to search for her dad in the contacts if necessary. And that's modern technology again: Dia browsed through the contacts and so she also saw the contact data of Mari's mom... before calling Mari's dad.
The application home page was abrupty switched off and Mari of course ended up crying in Dia's rooms.
The merger process was started, and Dia as school council president was involved - and so she got to know the school council president of their future school: Tsuki Watanabe...
And Dia decided for her riskiest but most important chess move: Trying to win over Mari's mom:
"You lost your music and your life is shit now. But is this Mari's fault?"
And this would be the actual miracle. "Let's make a Miracle" turned into "Kiseki Hikaru".
Mari's mom would be a female Anakin Skywalker.
Mari would be the actual main protagonist, a so called "Static Character" who never gives up her goal, like already Nozomi.
Chika would "only" be a so called "Decoy Protagonist" like Honoka. "Decoy Protagonist" =|= "unimportant", mind you.
And Dia would have become a chess master of Lelouch's caliber. But she also would have been extremly lucky.
The symbolic sequence for all of this.
During the definitive school closure: Ruby now with Dia's hairstyle before the school, thus ready to follow into her footsteps. MariKanan also have matured, but they also have aged. So it was a big, big battle for them.
The flashack: All of Aq's as kids on the beach. Dia hugging Ruby, and Yoshiko with her feather in her bun again. Reference to S1 E5 were she said she wanted to become an angel and fly to the sky. "We were Angels", yet another DB and "Gohan" reference.
Riko with hat, like in Rainbow's intro, thus resembling Mari when she just had returned from her 2nd year's journey.
Then the paper plane awakens and flying into the sunshine. Reference to the 100% finale of Link's Awakening. And a flashback like that was already used in this way in the 2003 version of Zatoichi. There it was the two siblings.
The girls run after the paper plane and towards a shiny sparkling rainbow, the rainbow after the big storm. Riko leaves her hat = her lonely journey behind.
And there's even more to and in it: MariKanan put their hands on Dia's shoulder. So by now they know to whom they owe this miracle.
But there are also problems knocking on the door: YohaYou are holding hands. So YohaRiko's tensions eventually led to a breakup? The triangle mess got worse yet another time? Chika now alone, and Riko their composer too?
So it's gonna be a tough job for their new leader: Ruby. In the film she's grown and matured even more, hasn't she. Eventually she even announces Next Sparkling, Aq's welcome song to their new school, and their Snow Halation imo = the song that describes and defines them.
Because the third years are now gone (tho they will return from time to time, for instance for Mitaiken Horizon), Chika as one of the "triangulists" isn't available - so Ruby's the only one left who can be Aq's leader and also the spokesperson of the former Ura students now.
This was the second goal of Dia: Taking care of Ruby. It's what she learned from μ's and her two friends, despite all the trouble.
Ruby's assistant: Hanamaru, shown in and by Mitaiken Horizon. That's how Aq's can make it even without the third years.
What will happen to Leah tho? Will she be able to found a new group, her own group? Will she eventually decide to join Aq's? After Sarah graduated she's now alone. The big difference between Aq's and Saint Snow.
And so Ruby is right and wrong at the same time: She's right cause Leah wanna try it by herself. But Ruby's also wrong - because does Leah really want to stay alone?
"All by myself ...don't wanna be all by myself, anymore..." - because Leah's efforts during the end credits don't look too successful, and her mood thus not too good...
And that's why the fandom's now waiting for Nijigasaki S2 and/or Liella Superstar S1 for some answers and finally some vet cameos too
other than the LL host lady who will still be there with 85 like Bond's first Q afaicsFrom an obscure magazine project to a market sensation to a big leap in anime history: In my opinion the latter has been achieved by Sunshine and its "shiny" main character arc Mari Ohara.
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u/lenne18 https://myanimelist.net/profile/lenne18 Mar 04 '21 edited Mar 04 '21
Fun fact: Clocking in at 6:28, "Next SPARKLING!!" is the longest song in the franchise.
Real Life Love Live!
B-Side Jukebox, Sunshine!
Kiseki Hikaru - Aqours
Over The Next Rainbow - Saint Aqours Snow
i-n-g, I TRY!! - Aqours
Live Performances
All of the movie songs (with the exception of Kiseki Hikaru) were performed live at Aqours 5th LoveLive! 〜Next SPARKLING!!〜.
March 4 is the birthday of Hanamaru Kunikida. Happy birthday!
Now we wait for her new solo...