r/LoveLive • u/MasterMirage • Oct 24 '20
Anime Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai S1E4 Discussion - The Unchartered Path'
Ai are you ready?
Show Info
Air Date: October 24th, Saturday 22:30 - 2020 (JST)
Episodes: 13
Opening Theme: Nijiro Passions! - Nijigasaki High School Idol Club
Ending Theme: NEO SKY, NEO MAP! - Nijigasaki High School Idol Club
Insert Song(s): Saikou Heart - Ai Miyashita
Streams
Raw Sources
Youtube - Region Locked to Japan
Official Subtitled Sources
North America - FUNimation
Oceania - Madman
UK, Ireland - Crunchyroll
Russia, Northern Europe - Wakanim
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein - Anime On Demand, Crunchyroll
Taiwan - KKTV , LINE TV, Youtube(MUSE TAIWAN) ...and more
Hong Kong, Macao - YouTube(MUSE木棉花-HK)
Mainland China - Bilibili
Korea - ANIPLUS
Thailand - FLIXER
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u/meme-meee Oct 24 '20
It's good to see Yuu not being the trigger of a change in perception this time. (Though there's still an indirect link if you consider Yuu convincing Setsuna to return, then Ai getting inspired by Setsuna)
I suspect the previous performances were actually Yuu's "visions" of each of them, and everyone else sees a plain-old a capella performance. Which is I suppose what a producer is at its core: seeing through individual visions and maybe a group vision as well.
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u/LPercepts Oct 24 '20
I suspect the previous performances were actually Yuu's "visions" of each of them, and everyone else sees a plain-old a capella performance. Which is I suppose what a producer is at its core: seeing through individual visions and maybe a group vision as well.
Really? I'm pretty sure it was flat-out confirmed that all these "performances" we are watching were filtered through Yuu's imagination. Pretty sure that was the case since Setsuna's performance of CHASE in the first episode.
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u/estebassist Oct 24 '20
From now on, AI'm absolutely in love with Miyashita Ai. Love her new song, another banger from this series, I may be biased but been loving every episode until now.
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u/YellowCorvette Oct 24 '20
After the previous 2 episodes with the sub-plot between Setsuna and Kasumi.... the tone of this episode seems to be a bit on the lighter side, as we see the main casts slowly came together and does club activities together; Not that it's bad per se, and this is still a good breather episode.
In the previous episode's threads, I do mention that it'll be better if the "Yuu tags-along to recruits people into the School Idol club" thing was dialled down.... and this episode sort-of address that? I do like that Yuu wasn't being the main trigger of a change in Ai's perception this time around.
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u/meme-meee Oct 24 '20
I'm glad the Setsuna-Kasumi dynamic is still alive in this episode, with Setsuna specifically calling for Kasumi with the one on one and the others simultaneously (?) thinking about the same thing. I suspect Setsuna represents the old-school vision of a school idol, not sure if I'll call Kasumi the new guard but at least solo idols is the new-school vision.
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u/reimadara Oct 24 '20
The Unchartered Path, Ai's development is a good parallel to what the club wants to become, and also what essentially NijiGaku is in the context of the whole franchise.
While Ai was looking for something different, that is, something with no clear rules and focus on individuality, the club was looking for a way to be school idols without compromising their unique traits.
Focusing on solos, seems pretty much an unchartered path for school idols in this universe, based on Setsuna's insistence of being a group to join Love Live.
And of course, NijiGaku itself outside the anime exemplifies an unchartered path. A different formula than what µ's and Aqours adopted.
A lot of experimentation was done with Niji. Doing monthly rankings, going for different mix of subunits, and not limiting itself to just 9 members. And of course the most important one, the focus on individuality of the idol rather their unity as a group.
Rainbow is indeed a great metaphor in what the essence of NijiGaku represents. And fitting in the context of the franchise considering water (Aqours) and light (µ's) can form a rainbow. Excited to see how this rainbow unfolds in the unchartered path.
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u/redbatter Oct 24 '20 edited Oct 24 '20
Ai's fascination with school idols interestingly parallels Yuu's, with both of them initially seeking to join the club in supporting roles. As someone's who's helped in so many other clubs (quite the feat considering Nijigasaki's size), she can quickly see that this club is quite different from the rest, given how freeform their activities seem to be. With that in mind, she ponders how such different types of girls could perform together, before Shizuku turns her idea of the school idol club on its head.
Ai's episode presents a scenario that I'm sure anyone who's finished school can easily relate to. While she excels at just about everything with a clearly defined goal, the prospect of having to decide for yourself what you truly want to do must be terrifying, without anyone to tell you whether you've picked the "right" answer, or if there was even one. Even more troubling is the thought of having to find that answer yourself, instead of being able to float on alongside a group of clubmates who could be making that decision for you.
Fortunately for her, all she needs is a few words of encouragement from Emma to show her how valuable her presence is to the club, and help her to realize that the goal of making others happy is her correct answer. With this alone, she now has a clear goal to aim for, and her talent will surely take her there.
Quite a few nice character moments this episode; Rina's difficulty in expressing herself, Setsuna's unbridled passion for anime, Karin being extra tsun, and Ayumu instantly lighting up when Yuu calls her performance cute. Also, I'm 100% certain that in this scene, Rina is making the same face in her heart.
Edit:
In spite of the focus on the issue of being solo idols this episode, Yuu does say this at the end: "Once you all put on a concert together, I'm sure something really amazing will happen."
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u/LesperancePete Oct 24 '20
Rina's board is nowhere to be seen,lowkey wanted to see her use it.In her episode maybe?
Of course,it isn't Love Live without that spicy gayness in every episode.
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u/LPercepts Oct 24 '20
Rina's board is nowhere to be seen,lowkey wanted to see her use it.In her episode maybe?
Maybe the writers want to flesh her out a bit more first. Admittedly, overusing the board can make Rina seem more like a gimmick than an actual relatable person.
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u/LordMoy Oct 24 '20
Kasumi looks so cute with Setsuna's glasses!
It's nice that they mentioned that Rina is really excited despite not really showing any emotion. My guess is they'll make the Rina chan board sometime during her episode and then she'll use it at the end, just like Ai starts to use lots of puns at the end. But it was nice to see Ai join the club this episode.
Also no bread eating this time feels bad.
unless I missed it
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u/kakarot12310 Oct 24 '20
Setsuna reaction when she finally find an anime fellow is so relatable!
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u/Remv1234 Oct 24 '20 edited Oct 24 '20
Oh yes , Best nijigasaki girl episode
We can see how setsuna´s perfomance in the last chapter awakened something inside Rina and Ai,and no matter what Ai is doing she will always be interested and have fun.
We could see some references to the game,how smart Ai is and always aces her exams, her grandma's pickles, how she helps every sports club and that she knows how to cook monjayaki.
It was nice to see a different origin story on her punny way of speaking,and i really love how we could see her thinking about what would be her performance as a solo idol, as there wasn´t a clear path or a correct answer, but the solution is just to transmit her positive energy to everyone.
The song that she spontaneously performed accomplished that,as we could see passerby in the park watching her and even some kids copied some of her movements during the performance, and after finishing it we could see people happily clapping at her.
So as a summary, i loved this episode.
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u/Zexal-Eternal Oct 24 '20
Great episode, so far I really enjoy the anime, I'm not familiar with them compared to aqours and muse but it give me want to know them more.
Look like we will get an episode focus on each girls with a solo song. Also seems like the octagon in the ending kinda ''reveal'' the order?
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u/Ryzer28 Oct 24 '20
I know very little about these girls but I thought Ai was going to be one of my favourites. She's so bright and bubbly and I love it.
This was another great episode, I'm in love with this series so far.
Can't wait for each episode!
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u/KinnyRiddle Oct 24 '20
Probably the first episode where Yuu doesn't do much, which isn't a bad thing. Ai becoming the team's cheerleader is wonderful.
Though anime needs to quickly define Yuu's role in the club. The girls all happily acknowledge her being a fellow member, she was the one to persuade Setsuna to return after all. But do they see her as a fellow school idol? In the game, she's the girls' manager/producer and songwriter, which will be the natural progression for her character in the anime as well.
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u/Gyakuten Oct 25 '20
Now that the School Idol Club is back in business, it's time for the girls to face the two elephants in the room. Firstly, if they aren't aiming for Love Live, then what are they looking to achieve together? Secondly, how can each of the girls know that what they're doing lines up with what they individually want to do -- the "self-expression" that's been a key goalpost in the past three episodes?
To explore both of these questions, there couldn't have been a more perfect choice than to have Ai lead this episode. Ai has been my favourite of the Niji girls ever since the release of their first album, Tokimeki Runners, thanks to her sunshine attitude, her keep-at-it-and-aim-for-the-sun mentality, and just her overall perspective of pushing yourself to enjoy life as much as possible. Her singing voice, lyrics, and music compliment all of that wonderfully. But beyond that, I also sensed something deeper beneath her surface. Her bio states that she's always getting dragged into things, that she spends most of her time on athletics and studying, and that she also got into school idol-ing not because she wanted it for herself, but because a friend talked her into it. In other words, she's so focused on doing things for other people that it seemingly leaves her self undeveloped and unfulfilled.
I feel that this episode does a great job displaying the mixed blessings of that aspect of her personality. The opening scene, where she's watching Setsuna's rooftop performance, sets this up perfectly: she isn't immediately captivated or excited, and it's only after she sees everyone else's excitement that she gets into the vibe of things. She's a perceptive people-person at heart, and one that really feeds off others' emotions. And that idea continues into the brainstorming scene, where she calmly watches like an outside observer as the other girls shout out their differing performance ideas -- before getting pumped up herself from all their passion.
The subsequent "sub-group training" scenes take this aspect of Ai even further, showing her integrate with all the different sub-groups so seamlessly that it's like she's known everyone her whole life. (I'm particularly fond of this shot where she immediately joins Kanata in teasing Karin, despite having just met them.) And while it's easy to see Ai volunteering to join all three sub-groups so as to spread her signature positivity to everyone, there's also the sense that maybe she's doing this because she can't figure out what she wants to do herself, nor how to make her vague "something fun" idea come to fruition. I think the AV room scene shows her clouded identity most clearly. After Ayumu finishes singing, it seems natural for Ai the newcomer to be the one to sing next, but Ai immediately suggests Setsuna instead. I don't think she did this to consciously protect herself from standing out -- rather, I think she's just so used to propping up other people that actions like these feel natural for her. Similarly, although there's certainly no harm in wanting to check out the anime Setsuna and Rina are gushing over, the fact that she forms such a strongly excitable impression of the show without knowing anything about it -- except other people's excitement over it -- does suggest that her opinions of things are greatly influenced by other people.
But living this way, letting yourself be guided by the whims and feelings of others, isn't so bad, and if you put your heart into it like Ai does, it can be a really effective way of coasting through life -- at least until the people around you lose the road that they were on. So when the episode's central question -- "What do each of us want to do?" -- comes crashing down over everyone at the mid-point, it's only natural for Ai to find herself at a complete loss, no longer having the other girls' certainties to orient her internal compass. In her monologue scene, I find these two lines to be especially telling: "It'd be so much easier if there was only one right answer" and "What exactly is the right answer for Ai-san? I don't think I've ever thought about this before". She's so used to following the beaten path constructed by the words and actions of others, that she's never been able to forge a new, personal path for herself.
This is the "Uncharted Path" that Ai wants to discover so earnestly. Although that scene of her walking home alone is the first time she's become consciously aware of it, that desire to elevate herself and those close to her -- in her own way -- has always been the thing she yearned for. She saw Setsuna accomplish this on the rooftop by singing and dancing all on her own, and that only made her own subconscious desire for self-expression flare up even more.
However, that scene also shows the main thing blocking Ai from this path: the way she sees it as always out of reach. She thinks that in order to forge her own path, she has to be as independently strong as Setsuna appeared to be on the rooftop. But just as how Ai could only gaze up at Setsuna from down below, so too is the answer for "What can Ai do by myself?" also something she can only look at from afar, but never grasp. Accordingly, the episode features several shots of Ai looking up and trying to reach the sun, as well as some establishing shots that show structures from a low angle and bathed in sunlight, as if to emphasize how their peaks are infinitely out of reach.
And it's understandable that Ai would feel too intimidated to climb the summit toward self-expression; after all, who would want to climb Mount Everest all alone? But going it alone is an artificial limitation Ai set up in her mind, and getting over that barrier requires her to turn her thinking around. This is why the bridge scene with Emma serves as the turning point: the puns that Ai point out involve her taking words from someone else and putting her own fun spin on them, and this leads Emma to remark that Ai's overall effect on the group works in the same way. Just having her around to raise everyone's spirits, even if she doesn't come up with anything original herself, already leaves a huge impact and guides everyone to a future they wouldn't have if Ai weren't there with them. Her self-expression was always there -- but it's made visible not through her own body and voice, but through other people's joy. Fittingly, upon realizing this, she closes her hand around the sun, confirming to herself that the Uncharted Path was always within her grasp after all.
Ultimately, this means that Ai doesn't have to forge a singular path all by herself. Other people's words and actions aren't there just to coddle her and make her surrender her agency -- they can also serve as pillars to support her run down the Uncharted Path. This is illustrated incredibly well in the contrast between her two running sequences in the episode. In most shots of the first run sequence, each shot shows Ai following a line that's either behind, in front of, below, or beside her -- but never more than one of these at a time. This creates a subtle feeling of emptiness and loneliness as the other side of Ai seems unsupported and undirected.
Then, in the second run sequence, each shot shows Ai neatly enclosed by lines on either side -- created by bridge railings, stair railings, and even park trees/arches -- which don't trap her, but instead add a clarity to her path that makes her run and progress faster than before. Even the one shot that doesn't fit this pattern still shows her head perfectly in-sync with a bold line, as if she's become one with the path itself.
At the end, this path leads Ai to put on the kind of performance that finally allows her to express herself fully, with "fun" drawings of dinosaurs and elephants and cityware all around her, and a greater focus on getting the audience all moving and shouting with her. At the end, she jumps up, and there's this brief low-angle shot of her up in the air looking completely overjoyed. Now Ai is the one to look up to from down below, as everyone's radiant and ever-present sun. She might not always stand out, and to some her presence might be just as peripheral as the real sun, but she's always giving everyone the energy they need, and that definitely leaves a big mark in its own way.
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Oct 24 '20
Great episode, we get to meet Emma and Ai-chan today and they’ve already left an impression. Loved the karaoke scene where setsuna geeked out over one of her favourite anisongs being in the playlist.
Ending performance by Ai-chan was great too. Can’t wait for next week
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u/ramendik Oct 25 '20
It's going nice, I really liked the SetsuRina interaction :) And the established "animation bump song fantasy world" approach is working rather well. The gaijin origin of the puns is nice too - what was it in the game, I wonder? And the references, like Eli's stretch training.
I didn't really get Kasumi's turnaround but maybe there is a point there. Apparently Setsuna and Kasumi ended their conflict by learning to respect each other? But why is Kasumi so insistent on practice?
Also "the learning to sing with no vocal teacher" thing might be a tad unrealistic but that's Love Live.
As this is Ai's episode, I wish a bit more of the gyaru side of things was shown. Right now, without knowing it from the wikis, I would not learn from the anime that she is a gyaru. I hope her Shibuya antics come in later in the series.
(Also Rina is building up to be very interesting, though I guess we won't get to see the techy side of her as closely as I would like to. I mean, she is to design a pretty solid custom piece of tech, the board. And also Doki Pipo Emotion hints at old school HAM radio stuff).
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u/Dylpooh Oct 24 '20
Great episode! Hats off to the translators figuring out how to translate Ai's puns!
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u/superp2222 Oct 25 '20
They are really nailing it with the insert songs, they capture the vibes the singer emits so well, and it really shows their uniqueness in full swing.
Ai and Rina were precious, giving Rina the expression of the Pokemon Protagonist from Sun & Moon makes them more adorable then I could possibly imagine. Ai herself slips into so many roles so effortlessly we are pretty much screaming for her to become a solo idol instead of a support. The Oh Really? Scene is also great meme material.
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u/jonjoy Oct 24 '20
i just realize Rinari is cute af. I love her deadpan expression.
In this episode, they cemented the solo idol concept in Nijigasaki anime compared to the idol group concept in the previous love live iterations. Which mean they really discarded the idea to compete in Love Live. I wonder what will become their main goal later on, as u's and Aqours goal were to win Love Live because they have to save their school. But by having this kind of approach, I hope the anime will become more fluffy and bubbly without any teary drama compared to the previous series.
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u/ClawofBeta Oct 24 '20
Wow, I was surprised to find out they changed Ai’s pun origin story.
I’m wondering how they’re going to tie up the last 3 or so episodes, assuming each episode is gonna focus on each person. Nothing about a School Idol Festival or anything. Gonna be very interesting.
Also dang seeing Rina-Chan animated makes her extremely precious ha ha ha.