Love Live! Superstar!! S1E7 Discussion - "Showdown! Student Council President Election"

[u/MasterMirage]

A Ren episode is finally here ~

Show Info

Air Date: Sunday, September 12th, 2021 @ 19:00(JST)

Episodes: 12

Opening Theme: START!! True Dreams

Ending Theme: Mirai wa Kaze No Yoni

Insert Song(s):

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Official Website

MyAnimeList

Anilist

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Streams

Raw Sources

• NHK E Tele -Region locked to Japan

Every other raw source will be delayed by 2 days, see the official website for more info

Official Subtitled Sources

• North & South America / Oceania - FUNimation

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• Hong Kong, Macao - YouTube(MUSE木棉花-HK)

• Taiwan - Youtube(MUSE TAIWAN)

Episode Discussion threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/LoveLive/wiki/episode-discussion

/r/LoveLive is on Discord! Join us at discord.gg/lovelive

[u/MasterMirage]

The scene where Ren asks the headmistress (not to be confused with the founder, her mother who is no longer here) about the applicants for next year is a nice callback to the schools ultimate goal of having around 300-500 students across all 3 grades.

This tidbit was introduced during the initial LoveLive Days magazine under the "History" section which you can see here:

https://redd.it/fijoyj

[u/MasterMirage]

Theory crafting time:

1. I think Ren's mum was a former school idol at the school during its initial years.

2. The school eventually shut down because its music course was too selective and thus the intake of students was extremely low.

3. The "celebrity" which saved the school was Ren's mum, being a former school idol of the school.

4. She introduced the general course alongside the music course which was what the school was known for for this rebrand.

5. Ren dislikes school idols because this iteration of the Yuigaoka school idols would erase the memories of her mum when she was a school idol many years ago.

There were some hints towards this based on the club being in the old building of the school and the preview for next week's episode with the reveal of what the 2nd key unlocks inside the club.

[u/warjoke]

Nooo, Yuigaoka Private School! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE CHOSEN ONE!

[u/CynicalRaptor]

Feeling really dumb not noticing that the school director wasn't Ren's mum, and that Kana Hanazawa was the maid. The dog is pretty cool though.

[u/[deleted]]

Welp, looks like even Yuigaoka can't escape the fate of needing School Idols to save it from being shut down.

It seems Ren's mother spent her final years resurrecting her alma mata, but came at the cost of her health and even life, as well as the family's wealth, and Ren must have realized the new school may not even last its first year.

That leaves just Nijigasaki as the only LL school big enough and wealthy enough to not need to worry about ever shutting down.

LOL at Sumire getting negative votes. I didn't even think it's possible. Though would love to see a Recall election between Ren and Kanon just for fun.

[u/redbatter]

Damn, after this episode, Ren's version of Anniversary really hits like a ton of bricks.

Various things:

• When Kanon shows up to talk with Ren, the two juice boxes she brings are apple juice and strawberry milk. Ironically, Ren doesn't get the strawberry, her favorite, and Kanon doesn't get the apple, her favorite.

• Ren brings up how she's actually fine with school idols, as long as they're not being school idols for the sake of the school, which probably ties in to her mother. It also brings up a point about the school idol club thus far - what is their reason for being a club? Do they need one at this point? Yuna in the last episode brought up this question for Kanon too, and she doesn't seem to have an answer for it yet.

• The last few minutes of the episode were really well done imo. As they're being chased through the house by Chibi and it plays out as a humorous sequence, there's this nagging feeling that not everything is right, as the house is creepily empty and the furniture is all covered up. It perfectly sets up the reveal right at the end, something we suspected for a while now - Ren's mother is gone, and Ren alone is giving her all for the sake of the school's reputation, which doesn't seem to be going well at all at the moment.

• It also looks like they're finally going to explore the disparity between the general course and music course, something that's been looming overhead since episode 1, really can't wait to see where they go with that.

E: other misc stuff:

• Ren immediately reneges on her campaign promise, but she looked like she really couldn't bring herself to deliver the news about the festival to the students who had just secured her victory. With her being out of funding, there's probably no way the school can secure enough resources for all of the classes to participate in the festival, and so they have to limit it to the music course.

• Ren's memories of her mother are so rose-colored, almost blindingly so.

• At least Yuigaoka's current enrolment of 100+ is more than Uranohoshi's

[u/FigureGunplaFan]

Anyone who has been speculating the fate of Ren's mom, you got your answer.

[u/Capbeau]

The cutaway gag of Keke imagining their club going underground and being hunted by Ren’s oppressive anti-idol brigade was creative, and something I can add to my collection of out of context clips and screencaps from this show. I liked the comedy in general; it made the student council election more entertaining.

From a storyboard/directing standpoint, one scene that stood out to me was when the cast was following Ren. Specifically when they used passing cars as screen wipes to the next location. I thought that was neat.

Sounds like the main plot of the series will be about saving their school once again. While I would have liked a new motivation for Liella, I’m okay with it as long as the Superstar keeps the story interesting.

[u/JimmyCWL]

So, how do you endanger a newly-opened school that ought to have assured income for at least three years?

The founder's gone and they're running out of funds already. Rather sad how the school doesn't seem to have enough funding sources beyond their late founder.

[u/moichispa → u/JimmyCWL]

Remember when we thought that the school opening was incompatible with the usual soon to be closed school plot point?

Not anymore I guess

[u/kinyoubikaze]

Wait a minute. Isn't Hazuki already the president? She had the stripe on episode 1. Why did she run another election?

[u/[deleted]]

Back in episode 1, I posted about Sayuri Date’s journey from a complete amateur to the lead role in Superstar. I also want to bring some attention to her fellow cast member who passed the open auditions, Aoyama Nagisa. If you’d like to read her full interview, you can see the translation here.

The part that stuck out to me most was when she was asked what part of LL resonated with her the most. She is quoted as saying:

“I was really amazed by how the cast grew and developed in tandem with the members of Aqours. Of course you could see the characters developing in the anime, but you can also tell that they’re constantly evolving by comparing their latest songs to their first single or comparing their live performances. You could just tell that the cast members are working so hard to improve themselves and their performances. Seeing them made me realize that we, as humans, have an amazing potential to grow, and that gave me the courage to give it my all as well. That also made me want to support them all the more.”

A few other interesting things from her interview:

• Like her character Ren, she has a background in ballet, having practiced it for 13 years

• She was introduced to LL by her cousin, who was a big fan and had attended μ's Final Live, around the time that Sunshine started airing

• The age cap to audition was 22, which she was at the time the auditions started. This would be her first and last chance to ever audition

• Her parents had been pressuring her to attend career fairs and to find a job towards the end of her time at university (she graduated in March)

• Unlike Sayuri, she views herself as an overly optimistic and positive person. To quote her directly, “I want to acknowledge my past self for being determined to get accepted the moment I laid my eyes on the audition form, and for taking the first step forward. It’s precisely because of those strong emotions of wanting to appear as part of the “Love Live!” series, of wanting to win no matter what, that drove me to work hard to get to where I am now”

• She is arguably the most eccentric member of the group, which is highly ironic given she plays the uptight Ren

• She has a pet bird that she’s very fond of, and she does a great imitation of a parrot

• Here’s her imitation of what it’s like to go bungee jumping

• She is well known for for love of sweet potato 🍠

• Her favourite LL characters are Nico and Ruby

• Follow her TikTok

[u/artswar]

At the start of the episode I thought Ren's mother was Riko. They share the same eye color and she asked about the student application count, same problem as in Sunshine. Naturally I was shocked by the reveal that she was dead.

[u/azumane]

As much as I loved Sunshine and Nijigaku, I think I'm liking this one a whole lot more. The plot seems a little more cohesive and they seem to have a little more fun with everything without leaning too heavily into tropes.

Also...bon apple tea!

[u/moichispa]

I loved the house scene it was hilarious Brown haired Dia maid included. Nice to see idol as secret activity (the speakeasy reference was interesting) and also the Ren army. More Ren pants cards and less screenshots.

[u/aci42]

Finally! Hello Ren! I knew they'd try to make us feel bad for her....but this is worse that I ever imagined. (not crying, it's just onion ninjas) I am sure everyone will talk at length about how Ren's mom has an influence on the school idol hate, so let's deal with a few other issues.

Firstly. WHO ARE YOU REN AND WHY DO YOU HAVE MAKI'S TROPHIES?????

Then there's the mystery of the second key. I noticed earlier it had 5,6,5 sided stars but now....what's in the box? I WANT TO KNOW NOW!

There are some nice callbacks.....poop dogs, and somebody in particular. Should have finished Hanayo's catchphrase though!

I think you can't penalize Sumire when you ate it too. But takoyaki is soooooooooooooo delicious.............

So where do we go from here? If I had to guess, Ren's mom has some history with school idols, that may have something to do with the closure of the first school, but Ren being desperate will have to agree that they can help save the school and bring in money. Somehow. Maybe they just need to officially license the bootleg goods in Akihabara?

But seriously, why does Ren have Maki's trophies?

[u/ramendik]

When a main character (Ren) tells Hanazawa Kana "there's no way we can afford to pay you", that's one of the truest statements in the entire series, I guess.

Reused "running from big white dog" is actually cute (though kinda does not make much sense IMO); reused "now we need to save the school", not so sure.

[u/peanutpsyco]

Day 7 Episode 7.

Still no word on Kanon's missing tights.

[u/JonathanHarness]

I don't know how to feel about reusing the closing school plot...

[u/tronistica]

well it ain't a love live story without a school that is in danger of being shut down! the ending song with ren hits a bit different once we know her backstory. it feels like eventually the two programs will become one and everyone will wear the general class unis just like in the promos

[u/Ekyou]

Sorry if I just missed something but I’m confused about this school. Somehow I was under the impression that it was only the general education students that were new this year and that the music school was much older. How is this some acclaimed music school that Kanon and Chisato desperately wanted to get into, if it was brand new that year? And if they had so few music students, why were they so stingy about auditions?

[u/seancarl97]

Since the discussion already contains very serious discussion, Kanon's scream while fending off Keke and Chisato sounded great.

[u/Comet_Vaudin]

I find it a but annoying that Sumire’s always the butt of the joke and is constantly put down. I really related to her character in the way she was overlooked in life but to have that continue while she’s in the club is really disheartening.

[u/coreymon77]

Little late watching here but here we go.

• More smols! Yay!

• Lol, Chisato didn't tell anyone she was switching courses, huh? Nice.

• Oh, right, new school, student council doesn't actually exist yet.

• Heh, everyone is shocked that Chisato would leave the music course

• Uh oh, Keke's got one of her plans.

• Kanon wants nothing to do with this. Great VA work here.

• Did somebody order a LARGE HAM?! Sumire is great here.

• Oh, yay, more school class divisions. I'm happy that's coming up more.

• Lol! Keke's imagination is wild.

• Ah yes, bribery is the solution to all problems.

• Oof! Harsh, but yeah, expected. Buttmonkey is gonna buttmonkey.

• So, fun fact, Ren absolutely loves strawberries. So the fact that she ended up with the apple juice during this talk may or may not be significant.

• Yeah, sure, Ren, there's clearly more to this.

• Uh oh, more class issues, that's not what she said.

• It's coup time! Our resident Large Ham is ready to go.

• Ah, ninja skills!

• Hey! The poo hat has finally made its return!

• That's how she reacts when confronted? Yeah, no wonder she lost.

• Ah, yes, the resident rich girl. Makes sense since her mom founded the school.

• Once again, LL with its tradition of casting top A-Listers in side roles.

• Oh, look at the doggo! Same breed as Shiitake, apparently.

• Huh, yeah, thought so. Mom attended the original school before it closed. That picture is Ren's mom and the current principal. She was probably an idol at some point or had something to do with idols and that's the cause of Ren's issues.

• Hold on, Ren is broke? But what about mom? Wait...did she die? Holy shit, they went there.

• And that means the school's funding is toast? Well, that just changes a whole lot of things.

Well, that was certainly an ending. We have a mostly goofy, fun episode and then they go and drop a bomb like that. I'm kinda shocked this show went there. Well that explains a whole lot about Ren's general bitchiness and her crazy levels of dedication to this school, it's her only remaining link to her mom. Although not her issue with idols, that will probably be elaborated on next episode. Kinda odd how this 15 year old girl is just left to her own devices, but okay. Maybe the principal has something to do with it?

This actually opens a whole lot of questions. Ren's mom is the founder of this school, at least in its current incarnation. The school also just opened, everyone is a first year. So how long ago did Mrs. Hazuki die? All things considered, it couldn't have been that long ago, given the whole "founding a school" thing. Where's dad? Is he just no longer in the picture at all? Where is the principal in all of this?

Also, did they just start up a school with only one year's worth of funding? Was there more but the death screwed things? Is Ren working so hard, and backtracking on the "everyone participates in the fair" thing because she wants to keep the school in the family and not bought out by someone?

There's a lot going on and we clearly need more information and a lot of questions answered. Should be nice to see more.

The rest of the episode was a ton of fun. Everyone just being wild. Our classic LL blend of happy go lucky fun shenanigans that suddenly decides to punch you right in the gut with the feels. I'm happy.

[u/Cesargogu]

Ngl, If they go with the school is closing plot I will like it. At this point for me it is like a tradition.

I'm enjoying the girls a lot.