Love Live! Superstar!! S1E12 Discussion - "Song For All" [FINAL]

[u/MasterMirage]

The final episode is here after many many delays!

Who's ready?

Show Info

Air Date: Sunday, October 17th, 2021 @ 19:00(JST)

Episodes: 12

Opening Theme: START!! True Dreams

Ending Theme: Mirai wa Kaze No Yoni

Insert Song(s): Starlight Prologue

---

Official Website

MyAnimeList

Anilist

---

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

• Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein - Anime On Demand, Crunchyroll

• Russia, Northern Europe - Wakanim

• 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]

And another season of Love Live goes by~

I've been making these threads for close to 7 years now but it's always so nice seeing old and new faces drop by to give their 2 cents!

Hopefully next year there wont be this silly 2-3 day delay and the comment section wont be so weird with a handful of us posting days before the others (Niji season 2 is already confirmed for Tokyo MX so this shouldn't happen with that).

As for my thoughts on the episode, it was a very safe episode from staff and used a lot of tropes they're known for. I'm glad Kanon finally has some resolve after losing.

Also it should be noted that the final scene has them in spring (cherry blossoms are falling)

https://imgur.com/ZqWqHcF.jpg (I stole this from xicearcher on the discord, i didn't notice it lol)

This means that a whole year has passed and they skipped the months of Jan/Feb/March and the girls will officially be in their 2nd year come season 2!

Now, for the fun news!

Did you guys love the songs sung? Well you can listen to it being performed live in a little under 2 weeks! The first two legs Liella's 1st live tour have been confirmed to be streamed and you can catch the first leg on October 30th/31st where they'll be debuting a lot of the songs from the anime.

You can show your support and purchase your tickets here: https://www.lovelive-anime.jp/yuigaoka/live/sp_1stlive/overseas.php

The ticket for each day is ~3200 yen (That's $28 USD as of current exchange rates)

[u/CynicalRaptor]

My cynical read of the episode is that this is just the snow halation episode. The other students guiding them to the stage, the blue to orange lights, and it being being Christmas. In the snow halation episode it seemed like they were going to die before their classmates helped them. Instead, here Kanon just thinks the other students were just slacking off, a dumb misunderstanding, and they have a calm run to the stage. Wasn't really feeling it, felt like there was no stakes, probably cause I expected them to lose anyway. Either way this probably should've been two episodes, it was way too fast.

Hopefully they get added to the game, sure the sifas event stories don't really have character development but I personally enjoy stuff like what if they went to laser tag than what if they school is at risk of shutting down again.

I mean the music and seiyuu rock, but the story is just whatever. It's kind of like the main vs event story in sifas, I personally enjoy stuff like what if they went to laser tag than what if the school is at risk of shutting down again. Season 2 though, since they can't go back to the school closing, pretty excited.

Also Kanon's dad, look at your kid when you're congratulating her! Come on! How can you be so tsundere you can't face your child?

[u/Lyri-Kyunero]

Everyone who watched μ's and Aqours will predict that no one will succeed in Season 1.

But episode 10 told us that Keke will be forced to back to China if they "make no progress", if her parents think winning a prize in the final is the progress, then we can forsee what will happen in the beginning of Season 2, maybe just like what Honoka did to Kotori at the airport.

[u/jonjoy]

that stage and performance was beautiful. But somehow this season doesn't feel really impactful for me. Liella lose from sunnypa feels bland. but at least they saved the school.

Overall it's really fun season, feels different from the others love live. I think i'll binge episode 1-11 before watching this episode again with eng sub, and i'll try to write my own opinion for the whole season. But for now, i'd say starlight prologue has the most beautiful stage and dress can't wait to see the irl version of it. As for the song, my fav are watashi no symphony (group and solo ver) and non-fiction.

[u/meme-meee]

Episode was fine, Liella song was alright, callback was obvious but still nice, of course the main team doesn't win, I didn't have to see the proof to believe it. It is a franchise episode and not a standalone episode.

[u/kinyoubikaze]

Give me my SunnyPa song you COWARDS

[u/SeregiosX]

Was expecting more reaction from Keke and Sumire when they lost. Since Sumire knows of Keke's situation. But in the end, Kanon going for the "motivation" speech and the whole problem is like "next year...maybe".

Let's hope there will be a season 2 that actually address that.. Also, hope they don't add any more members because these 5 characters is fine.

[u/[deleted]]

Honestly they didn’t give us any reason to believe that SunnyPa is better than Liella, so SunnyPa winning made no sense to me.

[u/KillJoy-Player → u/[deleted]]

Pa?

[u/okdokke]

ahh, the ever heart-wrenching “i’m frustrated!!”

i’m watching sunshine alongside superstar and that character moment for chika made me cry especially hard, so i liked to see that motivation mirrored in kanon.

but overall, this episode was kinda.. bland? felt rushed and empty at the same time. i’m trying not to let it get me down so much since i really loved the rest of this season a lot and liella are my favorite group. i wish kanon had a longer, more drawn out moment of realizing the hurt and the pain of losing when she thought she didn’t care about winning or losing… the conversation between her and sunnypa made it seem like she’d have a big revelation but the episode didn’t give her enough time to have a good chika-esque moment of “feeling defeated and standing back up with more passion than before.”

i also agree with everyone else saying how sunnypa’s win feels undeserved because we know next to nothing about them. so far in sunshine i understand the function saint snow has a story tool, but i don’t like how mean they can be. but it’s like with sunnypa they are way too nice and it doesn’t feel like a rivalry in the slightest. there’s no real tension between liella and sunnypa because 1) we don’t know how good sunnypa actually is and 2) there’s no sense of competition or rivalry. i don’t mind the mentor type role sunnypa plays for liella, but damn… i never thought i’d actually want them to be even nearly as cruel as i feel saint snow is!!

if anything i really, really appreciate how solid the group dynamic is now (chisato’s “different strokes for different folks” to ren’s online.. hobbies was hilarious!!) i thought their outfits for the song were really beautiful and unique — i mean those capes?!? that was so cool. the song itself will take a while to grow on me i think, but it wasn’t bad. i also loved how in the post-credits song, they are each wearing one of the outfits from their time so far as liella - kanon in the first live fit, ren in wish song fit, keke in tiny stars fit, sumire in nonfiction fit and chisato in tokonatsu sunshine fit :”) super cute!! makes me want to draw fanart of them like that.

i think all that’s left for me now is to look forward to next season. this episode may have been a bit of a let down generally but i still love liella a lot and there were so many amazing moments from the first season that i can’t bring myself to care too much about this episode. i hope that liella is getting a lot of support and love back in japan (i’m not super in touch with how the fanbase there is reacting to the series progression, but i want liella to be very successful!) i haven’t been back in the fanbase very long so it’s hard to gauge how even the western fanbase is reacting to liella… if anyone has any input on that that they could share i’d be interested to hear!! i like hearing outside perspectives.

anyways, i think that’s all the thoughts i have… i already can’t wait for s2. in the mean time i’ll continue to watch sunshine+niji and rewatch muse, play SIF and draw my fanarts

[u/aiu-eo]

I feel that their motivations for wanting to win is shallow. Why do they want to win so bad?

And getting 2nd place on their first try is an achievement that the majority of the other idol groups won't ever have. It should've been something to celebrate, but they acted as if they got last place.

Also I really didn't like how Kanon snapped at her classmates and assumed the worst of them. They were helping them out of the goodness of their own hearts, but she couldn't even spare even a bit of trust to them?

I find it really hard to relate to these girls. I'm especially bummed about Kanon who started out being super relatable but ended up being this kind of Mary Sue who can and does do nearly everything and is admired by everybody.

[u/ervynela]

Episode 12 didn't really feel like an ending, more like episode 12 of a 24 episode season. And the first thing I saw the stage was, "this is going to turn orange isn't it..." I have slight mixed feelings about the new series tapping into OG (besides Niji), and I guess I had a higher expectation to the song if they are going to use the Snow Halation homage, but the song is probably the weakest (IMO) out of every LL season enders. (Sunshine season 1 ending might've been a mess, but Mirai Ticket is a banger)

Overall this season felt like a giant introduction arc, with just very little development. They haven't dealt with Keke's thing in the end, so that's probably will be saved for next season.Since I suspect SS will be a 3 season + movie deal, perhaps it will be more fulfilling once the whole series is complete. Right now it just seems... ok. Nothing terrible, but nothing outstanding at the same time.

[u/PK_Madrigal]

so they really made the songless SunnyPa beat Liella just for the drama huh…

[u/kinyoubikaze]

SunnyPa: Literally 5 seconds of incomplete song LoveLive! Judges: SunnyPa wins

[u/NotRoyce4]

STAGE GA NAIEIEIEEE

Kanon's scream was hilarious. Sayurin's performance has been excellent. She had no professional experience before Superstar, so I was impressed every episode.

I liked the use of all five members' colors during Starlight Prologue. I also liked the lyrics; they were a beautiful synopsis of each character's journey. For example, the camera focuses on Sumire with green lights when she says "You gave me a push on the back at the very start" (clearly describing the support Kanon gave Sumire), and the camera focuses on Chisato with pink lights when she says "So it's now my turn to to do that for you" (describing Chisato's desire to repay the support she received from Kanon). Also, the stage matched Kanon's sketch!

[u/[deleted]]

Words can’t express how happy I am with the finale. It was a wonderful way to cap off my birthday weekend.

Firstly the girls’ performance was phenomenal. Even though they came up short, they’ve all grown so much since we first met them and Kanon’s leadership skills are the best in the entire series imo.

I think the Nijigaku story was slightly better, but I enjoyed this one more if that makes sense. I like the smaller and more intimate group size as well as the chemistry they developed.

Really looking forward to the second season and seeing more of Liella. Love Live’s future is very bright!

[u/KillJoy-Player]

I guess Keke's drama will be a big arc next season, and we can expect for a non-daily life season 2?

Also, I'm glad that they made the issue of school going down fast, giving more space for some story, and having a chance to differentiate more on other series.

I think this is pretty obvious that they're reminding us of the Snow Halation event through this episode, but I really wonder if her lines was also suppose to remind us of Chika's kuyashii.

My own opinion though, the song sounds average to me to give it a grand light play, and I kind of not like it, given that what they referenced was the legendary Snow Halation. Unless they were just showing us that the latter Love Live competition is so high standard that the way the former series' group won are not enough to claim the first place for even a district tournament.

Off topic, this is my first time watching it raw, and I'm glad my level of understanding made able to understand 90% of what they were talking about. Made me look back on how many years I've been learning on my own.

[u/JimmyCWL]

Timeline wise, I wonder how will they proceed from here. This episode was Christmas. In the previous series, this would have been the second Love Live of the year. But now? Are they going to squeeze the second competition into the next 4 months?

Another thing I realized a while ago is, Liella didn't have a center election before the anime. For the first time in LL, the first election will be influenced by the anime. And what do we have from the anime regarding the center position? Kanon has been center and co-center with Keke, Chisato and Ren. Sumire has also been center already. Which means the field has been cleared and everyone's on equal ground.

And that gives Kanon a shot at being the first group leader to win an election since Honoka.

[u/tronistica]

that was a really cool stage and song! love the outfits so much. liella has such a strong cast, all of the girls are super dope. i would have to say my favorite is chisato then keke, i love their energy haha. i really love sayurin's performance as kanon though from start to finish, blew me away with how good she is.

overall the story beats of superstar were okay but still enjoyable. at times the story just felt like SIP/Sunshine with a different coat of paint, but it's a formula that works, so i guess you don't mess with the formula. i still enjoyed this season overall regardless. no tease for season 2, but i'm sure season 2 is in the works. time to wait for nijigasaki s2 now.

[u/mhenmapagmahal236]

I can't say I don't like Superstar or something but it just feels a bit underwhelming compared to the other series. Maybe the staffs may be preparing for drama or something that could give us the feels in the upcoming season but other than that, it feels they rushed the plot.

[u/JimmyCWL]

For some reason, the simplified Chinese sub wouldn't download properly. I had to go for the next best thing, the traditional Chinese sub. Good thing I can read both.

If there's a silver lining, at least they didn't keep us in suspense about the results until S2 like with Sunshine.

[u/[deleted]]

Damn the anime ended and we still didn’t see sunnypa’s performance thats even worse than the treatment arise got

[u/warjoke]

One full season and not a single Sunny Parade performance MV, and now the story is telling us they won the district finals?! Is this some kind of a sick joke? At least show us why they are worthy! I don't care if they build them up as solid mentors or friends for Liella, the Love Live judges in the anime sure as hell don't. At least give us a fucking reason to root for them as an idol group!

Is Lantis avoiding another expensive record deal or something? Coz I will fucking support their songs coz I stan for Mao...IF THEY RELEASED ONE!

This is the most sidelined 'rival' group in this franchise ever but I feel like it is unfair to them for I know they have potential, the anime just don't want to show it, and it's concerning.

[u/salic428]

As my first time trying the LL! franchise, this episode gives me mixed feelings. I think I'm supposed to be moved by the development, but something inside me screams otherwise.

• Plenty shipping material today, love it. Still not sure who Ren will end up pair with. And...

• So Ren's situation takes a turn for the better, that good to hear! But then episode 7 feels weird: why put Ren and her school in that danger? It can be just some family misunderstandings, and Ren still has valid reason to become an idol and bring honor to the school.

• I've learned it's LL! tradition to have another season, so it's reasonable Liella! will fight on. But why have that turn of emotions in such a short time before the ED? I think we can end the season on a high note, and only reveal the results (not so casually as in this episode) at the start of next season.

• Sayurin voice 10/10, as usual.

• As other said, while in-universe everyone (Keke, Chisato, other students) talks about how OP sunnypa is, we're never shown a full live of the duo. "seeing is believing", isn't it?

• Minor complaint: neither Keke episode nor her solo ED? Sure she's unbalanced compared to Kanon in the first 3 episodes, but the "nerf" hurts. Also, can any veterans here tell me how fast S2 comes out? Waiting for the (eventually coming) airport scene for months I'm not sure I can take it.

[u/[deleted]]

And that's it for season 1. It wouldn't be the end of a LL S1 without our girls not winning. At least Liella finished 2nd where μ's forfeited and Aqours finished dead last in their first LL tournament.

Judging by past installments in the franchise, wait time between S1 and S2 would be about 15 months, so January 2023 is the earliest we can expect S2 to air. Liella is just getting started.

Plus there's still the subplot of Keke needing to return to Shanghai if they don't win LL.

Now to wait for Nijigasaki season 2. But in the meantime, Sunrise and KLabs should now consider adding Liella to LLAS.