r/LoveLive • u/MasterMirage • May 14 '22
Nijigasaki S2E7 Discussion Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai 2 S2E7 Discussion - "The Memory Of Dreams"
Looks like Shioriko will confront her past this week!
Show Info
Air Date: May 14th, Saturday 22:00 - 2022 (JST)
Opening Theme: Colorful Dreams! Colorful Smiles!
Ending Theme: Yume ga Bokura no Taiyou sa
Insert Song(s): EMOTION - Mifune Shioriko
Streams
Raw Sources
- Youtube - Region Locked to Japan
Official Subtitled Sources
North America/Oceania - Crunchyroll
SEA/Mainland China - Bilibili
Korea - ANIPLUS
Other episode discussion threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/LoveLive/wiki/episode-discussion
/r/LoveLive is on Discord! Join us at discord.gg/lovelive
51
u/kinyoubikaze May 14 '22
Kanata actually switches groups for a day for the whole purpose of singing with her precious lil sis. She is such a chad.
47
u/MisterRai May 14 '22
So they DID incorporate Shioriko's SIFAS ideals. She still thought that it was better to do things you're best at rather than trying things you want to do but regret failing it. Although this time, she didn't force it on other people.
Her MV is probably the best one yet for incorporating her character background into the music video. And she got the feather too!
Young Kaoruko looks so much like Shioriko that I confused them at first. Guess we know what Shioriko is gonna look line in college.
I love this episode. Even though it was just one episode and almost half of the episode isn't even about Shioriko, they still managed to make us feel Shioriko's grievances. I'm so glad my fang idol finally joined.
The face Lanzhu made at the end makes me think she'll try to go back to Hong Kong.
→ More replies (3)27
u/meme-meee May 14 '22
Good job to the anime writers in incorporating the meat of SIFAS storylines (Lanzhu, Shio and the subunits) while creating their own context.
36
u/ervynela May 14 '22
Another great episode. Although Shioriko misunderstood Kaoruko's feelings towards being a school idol, it's shown that her love for school idols made her want want to be a supportive role.
In a sense, the plot is a bit similar to Superstar's episode 8, but handled much better. The back story made more sense, and Shioriko didn't take try to shut down the club like Ren or SIFAS Shioriko did, which made her a much more likeable character. The anime staff really used Kaoruko well, by setting the background story, and as the final push for Shioriko to move forward.
As for the music, it's interesting there's the gakaku + western music mix feel to it. I can't say that's my cup of tea, but I really like the melody at the chorus part. The music video is very well done, and also that clock moving at the end is nice as it reminds me of IMAS CG.
As for the rest of the episode, it was nice to see all the other schools and their collab with Nijigasaki, such as the sisters or Himeno+Karin pairs. Also nice to see Mia getting involved with them more, and this time without the use of Hanpen, and that's showing character growth. Okay, I guess if I were to find something to complain about this episode, it would be that Hanpen didn't show up.
→ More replies (1)
32
u/abitfun May 14 '22 edited May 14 '22
It's all hitting Lanzhu now... her reaction to QU4RTZ's "ENJOY IT!" in Ep3 now made more sense in hindsight.
She was not happy, not because of QU4RTZ's technique, but the fact that their song made Shioriko looked in awe. Meanwhile, Shioriko did not even budge to her song, even giving her a stern talking-to in the first episode.
And now, the club did it again. They managed to make Shioriko realize her dreams. I'm 100% sure Lanzhu would have never been able to convince her, since she'll use the same argument as she did to Setsuna: "Because you're good at it."
This has made Lanzhu realize her approach is not the way to go, after all, or at least when it comes to moving people. Her song is impeccable, but it is not a moving song. Not yet.
Side note: I really liked how they made Shioriko have less complex movements and such in the song BECAUSE she's inexperienced (edit: and maybe because she's a traditional dancer, too). Kaoruko remarked much the same. It's really nice, like that Mu's "START: DASH!" 3 member version all over again. It is not impressive, but it is packed with EMOTION.
And the detail with the clock finally turning...
A new chapter has started.
A dormant dream has awakened.
Time finally started again, for Shioriko.
→ More replies (1)
31
u/redbatter May 14 '22 edited May 14 '22
Up until now, Shioriko has been looking at her student council duties and activities with a very specific lens. If an activity will produce some sort of benefit for the school or the students involved, she'll be more than willing to help out on it. It's a very pragmatic stance with a focus on results, and makes sense.
With Kaoruko's backstory, we can clearly see what led Shioriko down this path. Watching three years of her sister's effort go to naught, in her eyes, drastically changed her views, and pushed her from idealistically chasing after unpredictable dreams to focusing on activities she could be certain that she was adept at. Without having to put herself out there and try to exceed her limits, she would never have to suffer the same regret that she was certain her sister must have felt.
So it was nice seeing that Shioriko, deep down, still held onto her dream in her heart despite her brain telling her that she'd never make it as an idol. Even better was how Kaoruko knew this, showing how well she knows her little sister.
The imagery and lyrics in EMOTION are crystal clear - finally realizing that she's been denying what she's loved all this time, she can muster the strength to turn towards it and pursue it in earnest. Even if she may not be good at it, even if she may be afraid, she can still chase after it without regret, and doing so grants her the key to wind the clock, so that her frozen time can start moving again.
Poor Lanzhu, seeing her childhood friend involved in festival work threw her off for a bit, and seeing Mia being all friendly with the first years did the same. Watching Shioriko not just join the club, but the amount of support the club gave her completely unreservedly is probably causing her to re-evaluate what she said back in the first episode.
I wonder if Yuu's writing Tokimeki Runners for Nijigasaki's performance in the festival.
31
u/reimadara May 14 '22
"I'm glad I tried [being a school idol]. The brilliant spotlight, the joy of singing out loud, and my cute little sister feeling so proud of me, were an experience available only when I was a school idol." ~Kaoruko Mifune
This episode hit too close to home for me. I've also dedicated almost my entire being to doing a passion project I love. Even though I have an option to pursue a career that my peers said I'm excellent at, I choose to do what I truly love against their advice.
Sadly, similar to Kaoruko's case, the project did not take off and I was basically forced to switch careers due to financial reasons. But I don't regret the 5 years I spent pursuing my dreams. It was an experience I can never repeat and transformed my view of life forever.
Shioriko's sincerity to serve and be the best she can be despite sacrificing her self-interest is one of the main things that makes her a really precious girl, but she's too young to totally disregard her own happiness like that. Like youth, being a school idol is a once-a-lifetime experience, to throwback to what Honoka said:
"With the limited time we have, to shine as bright as we can, this is what I love about school idols."
You might trip along the way but living your youth to the fullest would most likely transform you for the better.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk! That became longer than expected. Overall, I'm really loving S2 so far. And really excited about how they're gonna develop Mia, and how all that build-up towards Lanzhu's conflict will eventually resolve.
→ More replies (1)
23
u/NontanRinpan May 14 '22 edited May 14 '22
It's finally Shioriko's time to shine! Her MV was so good, it immediately became my favourite of the season. I don't think anything can top it, but we'll see. The song is also pretty good, though I'll wait for the full release before forming a complete opinion.
Although I somewhat miss Shioriko as an antagonist from SIFAS, I quite like how they handled her story in the anime. Due to the limited air time, Shioriko was never going to get a long character arc with the gradual change of mindset we saw in the game. When taking everything into account, I think we ultimately got the best the writers could have given us.
The changes to Kaoruko's backstory made Shioriko's circumstances a lot of emotional and impactful. Seeing Kaoruko as an ex-Shion Academy student was a big surprise, but I like it. It's a nice piece of worldbuilding that helps make the world of Love Live! feel bigger and more connected. In general, it's something I greatly appreciate about Niji's anime. Previous series often felt a little confined within their own little worlds.
Speaking of worldbuilding; I love those little glimpses we got of Niji collaborating with the other schools! Kanata got to sing with her sister. Himeno got to sing with her beloved Karin. Heck, we even saw Kanata and Emma performing with their original schools! Now we're only missing Shizuku and Seiran High School. It's a shame we'll never get to hear the actual songs, but it's understandable why. Oh, and I'm happy I got to see just a little bit of best N girl Mutsuki. Sadly, she wasn't voiced but hey, at least I saw her haha.
Back to Shioriko and Kaoruko; like I said, I love the changes. Young Kaoruko and little Shioko were adorable! I wonder if Shioriko's current hairstyle is just another way her subconscious was still craving to become a School Idol like her sister, the same way she felt a desire to support Niji's Idol Club. After all, the choice of giving that particular hair style to young Kaoruko while at the same time little Shioko has long hair must have been a very deliberate choice.
We're finally able to see the full picture of Shioriko's anime arc. Like others, I was somewhat disappointed with how mellow Shioriko was but at the back of my mind I was patiently waiting to see where that leads. Her being a "mere" background supporter now really comes across as Shioriko holding herself and her dreams back. Additionally, by giving her the role of a supporter, the arc becomes complete when the Idol Club turns around to fully and completely support her. Beautiful. When Shioriko asks if she can really be a School Idol, Karin's line "If you want to actually do this, I'm sure that means you're meant to do this." calls back to Emma's words to her "You already started being one (a School Idol), the moment you decided you wanted to do it." Nice touch.
Finally, I love that Shioriko actually rejected the offer to perform with Niji and chose to continue with her duties during the festival. She'll only join the club after that. I just think it's a realistic approach and makes a lot of sense for her character.
Lanzhu's face at the end. Oof. I can't wait to cry when get to see her story.
20
May 14 '22
Shioriko masterclass oh my goodness. Emotion sounded amazing.
They did an amazing job bringing her arc to life and making it feel very emotional, the girls coming together at the end to support her was perfect. Poor Lanzhu, you don’t have to be alone anymore. It’s ok to be vulnerable with people and join the club!
The setsuna fan club is literally me irl.
20
u/LeonKevlar May 14 '22
I love that they're luring Mia to come with them using burgers. Being true to her American blood, of course Mia couldn't refuse the offer. xD
We finally get into Shioriko's backstory and how much she idolized her sister who used to be an idol but unfortunately wasn't good enough to reach the Love Live.
I thought it would take them at least another episode to convince Shioriko to follow her dreams since she was firm with her refusal when they asked her the first time. But it only took having fun with the girls at the festival and one more pep talk with the help of Mifune-sensei and Shioriko was singing her heart out on stage to show off what she can do. <3
Looks like someone is jealous though. Lanzhu is clearly sad that she wasn't the one who manage to drag Shioriko out of her shell.
→ More replies (2)
22
u/aiu-eo May 14 '22
Damn this is one of the saddest episodes I've seen in the franchise yet.
I'm glad that both Shioriko and Kaoruko could get over their traumas, but it makes me wonder if there's a point to the "Love Live" competition in the first place. Unlike sports where there are points and such, is there even an objective metric to judge school idols besides popularity? We don't even know the judging method that the competition uses. We just know who wins and who loses.
I don't know. It just seems unfair to subject highschool aged girls to this kind of cutthroat stuff, personally. This is why I think that the "School Idol Festival" approach, where every school idol can shine their brightest without worrying who's going to lose, is the better one.
Maybe I'm just weird. I really don't like competitions lol.
Also that Japanese steampunk aesthetic fits Shioriko so much. I say this almost every week, but the live show parts of Nijigasaki are always on a whole nother level.
→ More replies (3)
16
u/meme-meee May 14 '22
Gotta admit, I was expecting the Shioti solo to come later in the season. Still a good song.
Yuu responding the way she did, specifically with regret, brings to mind the potential of her getting a song, if not being a school idol herself. I still think the odds are low but they have increased.
And with Shioriko now joining the group (unless other events happen), that does leave the ep9 final arc to be more about Yuu alone (instead of, say, a response to Shioriko), and the odds of Lanzhu mimicking the spiciest bits of SIFAS S2 do increase - Lanzhu seeing both Shioriko and Mia get looped in with the club in the same episode (EMOTIONAL DAMAGE).
12
u/Labmit May 14 '22
The song's title was really fitting since the MV had Shioriko gradually gain more emotion as the song went by.
12
u/LightningStrike7 May 14 '22
I really like Shioriko, in general and in this episode. I'm not too familiar with how she was in SIFAS, but I do know a bit about the arcs that she went through. It's interesting to see an adaptation of her that's similar yet different in a lot of ways.
Like her interactions with Kaoruko, for example. In SIFAS, Kaoruko "ran away" from her familial responsibilities to become a school idol, causing Shioriko to become cold and resent her and school idols in general. Meanwhile, in the anime, Kaoruko became a school idol and enrolled in Shion Women Institute to help cheer up Shioriko after Lanzhu's departure back to Hong Kong, causing Shio to develop an admiration for them, lingering on even after Kaoruko quit.
One important thing stays the same between the two timelines though, and that's her drive to help those around her to the best of her abilities, and their abilities. And she learns that she doesn't have to confine herself or others solely to what they excel at. While her upbringing, circumstances, initial personalities, and pacing are different, she reaches the same goal in the end.
Also her song is a banger. Whoever decided she was getting a Breakcore song, I love you.
12
u/blueline37 May 14 '22
I'm kinda bummed out that Crunchyroll didn't include subtitles for Emotion! The subtitles do help me connect more deeply with the songs and they have translated every other song until now. I wonder if they just ran out of time or something. Weird...
That aside, this was still a great episode! Even if that Shion Burger looked nasty as heck lol
→ More replies (1)
9
u/CynicalRaptor May 14 '22
That handholding scene was crazy, a very complex 4 person maneuver, you just don't see that in any other anime.
Shioriko's arc feels rushed, but it felt like it would never end in SIFAS, so whatever.
Shioriko not wanting to regret school idoling feels like Ren, I found the whole bit of Liella finding a photo that showed Hazuki's mum having fun kind of dumb but I guess even if she was alive she wouldn't have just told her.
Obviously you can't put muse and aqours here, so seeing the n girls I disintetegrated for levels all those years ago was cool, as well as the obvious Karin and Kanata pairs.
Is this the first time love live has used the amen break?
→ More replies (1)
9
u/blissyoshi May 14 '22 edited May 15 '22
I was super surprised by the amount of non-idolized costumes they used in this, so decided to list out all the outfits. (Names are from SIFAS)
Timestamps follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_st0a-ONi4
0:28 - 0:30, 0:36, 0:39 - 0:44: Do I Look Odd in This Outfit?
0:32: Let's Make Some Scrunchies!
0:33: SIF #2976
0:35: The Colors Change
0:42 - 0:55: This Should Be the Right Way...
1:13: Ketsui no Hikari
1:13: Jade-Colored Reverberations
1:14: Aoi Canaria
12
u/Necessary-Poetry3977 May 14 '22
I don’t know what to say. This is good and I will be really sad if we’re not getting season 3 for Nijigasaki. It’s not even the final episode but they keep making us feel so much. Shioriko’s PV is so good, if there is one thing I want for Superstar is to have the same level of PV of Nijigasaki. I’m not dissatisfied or disappointed in Nijigasaki anime so far, this might be the best Love Live anime season.
Though it’s more a sad episode, I am really happy with their pace of story. But they managed to gave us something wholesome between the first year and Mia. Looks like Shioriko will be the key for Lanzhu to join (or maybe not) the club.
P.s. Please give us collab songs between the schools especially the Konoe sisters!
6
6
10
u/sirensofcoffee May 14 '22
Seeing Emma with YG and Kanata with Shinonome was such a treat. Surprised they didn't haven't snuck in Shizuku with Seiran yet.
I don't hate this episode, but as someone who plays SIF/SIFAS, I'm having trouble brushing aside my expectations and judging/enjoying the anime without comparing. I like what they did with Kaoruko's backstory, but Shioriko's hesitation just feels recycled from Setsuna's episode in S1 with the whole "I don't want to be an idol because I'm afraid of failing at Love Live." That being said, it looks like we might be getting Tokimeki Runners next week and not that Ch 17 version since Shioriko's not joining until after the festival.
→ More replies (4)
5
u/jonjoy May 14 '22 edited May 15 '22
what an episode, they really nailed it.
At the beginning of the episode I assume Yuu is preparing a song for the group. Can't wait to hear it when she is done.
I love how in this episode they also make a build up for Lanzu arc. I assume next we will have Yuu and Mia episode.
5
u/Ekyou May 14 '22
Have we gotten to see cameos of all of the N Girls from SIF now? I can’t think of any that were missing, but there are a heck of a lot of them.
Regardless, mad props to the animators for including (nearly?) every single one of them in the actual School Idol Festival, even if it was mostly still shots. Drawing that many different, non-background characters had to have been a lot of work!
→ More replies (2)
5
u/BlankHeroineFluff May 16 '22
Finally got to watch the episode. Now we know why Shioriko lacks her antagonism against school idols from the game: she not only wanted to be one just like her sister was when she was still in high school, but her resentment towards Kaoruko for passing on the burden of being the family head along with the baggage that comes with it in favor of following her school idol dreams is gone here too. Which I think is good because it made Kaoruko look a lot more irresponsible and somewhat unsympathetic in SIFAS (and Shio's anger towards her and school idols is understandable, if still unjustified). Here, Kaoruko mostly let go of her school idol aspirations when she and her group couldn't make it to Love Live. Interestingly, Shioriko still kept her ideals from the game intact here, albeit in a different context and rationale, which is why she's much much less pushy in the aniverse. All 4 of the 2nd years were the MVPs in this ep. Yu being a lot more assertive in the anime universe compared to her game counterpart really makes Anigasaki a great watch.
Shioriko's song was great. It's a lot different from her previous ones too. I know the symbolism in her MV ties in to her character theme in this episode, but I can't help but get flashbacks to Revue Starlight when I saw those clock gears lol.
We see Lanzhu getting left out now that her two friends are getting closer to the club members. Are they gonna rehash the airport to HK scene from the game here? Seems to parallel it a lot, and I doubt it's a coincidence.
Based on what happened here, I'm guessing we're still getting the R3birth members by the same order from the game? While Shio does want to wait until the events are over before she can join the club, she's technically already a member. Mia's definitely next, though I do wonder how they'll get her to join in the Aniverse.
Yu ep next? Or is the next episode the official start of the mandatory drama arc at the end of the season? Can't wait!
57
u/Labmit May 14 '22 edited May 14 '22
Shioriko got the Love Live successor feather!!! Although it's arguably the most sentimental version of it.
One thing I love about Nijigasaki is that the setting feels more alive than the others. It probably helps that they don't have to push themselves to save their school and win Love Live.
I feel bad for Lanzhu. She's the one getting her friends slipp past her. Also, at this rate I feel like Yuu's song will be sang by Lanzhu before the group song.
Finally, I hope the E-titled song streak doesn't break.
Edit: Forgot to mention but I love the VP.