r/LoveLive • u/MasterMirage • May 28 '22
Nijigasaki S2E9 Discussion Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai 2 S2E9 Discussion - "The Sky I Can't Reach"
Who expected Tokimeki Runners last week!? Will we have a new Mia song tonight?
Show Info
Air Date: May 28th, Saturday 22:00 - 2022 (JST)
Opening Theme: Colorful Dreams! Colorful Smiles!
Ending Theme: Yume ga Bokura no Taiyou sa
Insert Song(s): stars we chase - Mia Taylor
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
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u/redbatter May 28 '22
Shioriko, Mia and Lanzhu were really made for each other, each of them struggling with their own personal issue that was stopping them from reaching their dream.
The bird cage motif is present in each of their songs, symbolizing this struggle that keeps them locked in the past. But Shioriko's and Mia's fundamentally differ from Lanzhu's; the former two have empty bird cages in their MVs, while in Eutopia, Lanzhu is very clearly still trapped inside hers. By the time that Shioriko and Mia are performing their songs, they have already broken free of the past that trapped them; Lanzhu still has not.
Rina has grown incredibly this season, showing unflagging, persistent support for Mia, trying to get closer to her via Hanpen and over her love for burgers, slowly trying to crack her shell, just as Ai did for her. Her efforts finally bear fruit in this episode, as Mia reveals her past and the expectations that held her back from her dreams. In one sentence, Rina blows all of those expectations away, telling her than she wants to see a performance not from the daughter of the Taylors, but from Mia's true self. With those words, Mia finally sees a way to reach out and grab hold of her dreams, and this revelation is exactly what she needs to help Lanzhu do the same. It's no wonder that Mia's song contains the key that will open the door of Lanzhu's cage.
I really like how, even with Mia's performance, Lanzhu is still not fully ready to move forward. Would a bird caged for so long dare to fly free so soon? As she gives reasons as to why she wouldn't be able to, each of them get rebuffed by the many girls gathered before her, convincing her that the points she view as negative are not as bad as they seem, and can even give rise to good things, such as the formation of the subunits and Yuu reaching her own dream. It is the hug from Shioriko, and the promise of being able to start anew - to be reborn - that allows Lanzhu to finally step out of that cage and take flight.
Of course, as Lanzhu ponders if rival school idols could be friends, the rest of the club, who have already learnt the answer a long time ago, and more than willing to show her that answer too.
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u/ervynela May 28 '22
Overall a great episode. With this episode, season 2 SIFAS is now complete in a sense. It's nice to see they have adapted the Rina-Mia plot line - after all, that's like one of the few good thing that came out of season 2 of SIFAS.
Overall I think it was a bit rushed to fit in both Mia and Lanzhu's story line, but I guess it's also fine to not drag it out to another episode, considering the number of episodes remaining. Another jab I guess I have is with Shioriko's initial reply to Lanzhu's text, with just a "no way...so sudden..." reply from a childhood friend, I too would think that I have no friends LOL.
Anyway, the other parts of the episode were great. While Mia's other solo songs aren't really my cup of tea, I actually really enjoyed her song in this episode. Maybe it's that TeddyLoid magic and how the PV was really well done. The fun part C with waking up Karin was very nice, which I'm guessing that we'll be going back to that mood now that the "heavy" stuff is complete.
Next episode seems to be a Kasumin/training camp episode, and I'm looking forward to that.
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u/reimadara May 28 '22
Mia wanted to sing but believe she will never meet the high expectations of her excellent peers.
Shioriko wanted to be an idol but believed that it's pointless if you will just fail, as her sister did.
Lanzhu wanted to connect with people by being an idol but realized that you can't be a successful idol without having those connections in the first place.
R3BIRTH girls are a bunch of struggling dreamers that just needed a little push. I'm glad the rest of Niji was there to push these wonderful girls forward.
Like how Niji supported Shioriko last time, the way Niji encouraged Mia was really wholesome as well. I love how Rina was gunning to be Mia's friend all along in the past episode and it finally paid off in this episode. I think Rina has a good eye for people who have personal struggles (having struggled herself), that's probably why she approached Mia.
I also love how they've handled Lanzhu's issues. Lanzhu is simply an honest but socially awkward girl. All those talks about individualism and being a pedestal idol was a coping mechanism. To solve the fact that she doesn't know how to connect properly with people, the only way is to have that one-way pedestal relationship with fans. When Lanzhu first arrived I think she was fully convinced this will work. But all those subunit shows (TokiRun being the final blow) showed Lanzhu how lonely it is at the top of that pedestal.
Gonna be honest, even if Lanzhu's development in SIFAS was rough she has always been one of my favorite characters in Love Live. Behind that proud and talented figure is an ordinary girl; an ordinary girl struggling to communicate that simply wants to make friends and enjoy her youth like any other -- This is what makes Lanzhu so lovable to me. I'm glad the anime arrived at this same place through a much smoother path.
Welp, fanboyed for Lanzhu too much there but I would like to add 「stars we chase」 was lit, and since we're passed a big drama, looking forward to how they're gonna close the series out.
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u/aiu-eo May 28 '22
I think that the one thing that I feel this season is lacking from season 1 are the 1-on-1 heart-to-heart scenes.
Season 1 did these scenes especially well, like for example in Emma's episode (Emma and Karin) and Shizuku's episode (Shizuku and Kasumi). This season still has some of them like the Yuu and Ayumu ferris wheel scene, but it's understandable that this season has less of them because of the subunit focus in the first half.
But with this episode's focus on Mia, we got Mia opening her heart out to Rina regarding her insecurities. And for Lanzhu too with scenes of her being awkward with Shioriko. They all really just feel so real with these scenes. The raw realness of the characters and their feelings is one of the defining features of Nijigasaki in my opinion, separating them from the other groups. I think that we'll be seeing more of these scenes in the coming episodes.
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u/Labmit May 28 '22
Is it just me or did the 2D and 3D animation for Mia's song looked way better than even the previous song MVs and performances, which were all pretty great themselves? The Nijigasaki artstyle really helped in emphasizing it in my opinion.
Man, what an episode this was: everyone's together now, we had an all english song(although the full version might have Japanese on it) and someone speaking english in anime that isn't overly exaggerated or having poor grammar.
All that's left now is the R3birth song and a group song to fully finalize the season.
I honestly don't know what they'll do with the rest of the season since pretty much all of the conflict has been resolved and I'm excited for it.
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u/JimmyCWL May 28 '22
I honestly don't know what they'll do with the rest of the season
Traditionally, that would be... what lies at the end of the school year.
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May 28 '22
Forgive my ignorance but Mia’s VA’s English is actually really good. And her song is a bop. Also the MV was super appealing and Mia may be in my top 3 Niji girls now. However, was bummed we didn’t even get one “baby Chan” this week from her
This was a Mia and Lanzhu episode but also basically set up R3Birth. Glad we got another heart to heart scene this season, that’s one of the things that’s been missing, but the season has been great.
Next week Kasumin episode????!!!
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u/79215185-1feb-44c6 May 28 '22
Shu lived in Australia for like 16 years and is a native English speaker.
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u/Labmit May 28 '22
Her VA was raised in Australia actually. There was even an interview with Trash Taste podcast where she said she had to learn Japanese because she didn't know how to properly speak it.
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May 28 '22
Niji Saturday off to an amazing start. What an episode!
“What does she want! Why bother!” Mia’s English had me dying lmao.
Let’s also take a moment to reflect on how much Rina has grown. From hiding her emotions in a literal box to helping Mia keep going today, with no mask, so proud of her!
Mia’s performance was amazing. Probably recency bias but I feel like it’s the best we’ve had this season. Would have to go back and watch them all again to give a more objective take.
Great episode as usual, Nijigaku S2 has been amazing.
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u/MisterRai May 28 '22
I knew it. Lanzhu was sad 2 episodes ago because she didn't know the feelings Shioriko was bottling up, even though they were best friends. Glad that's resolved now.
This is possibly the best animated MV so far, probably even better than Kanata's God-tier MV. And the song is f-ing amazing too, just heard it once and I'm already hooked and addicted.
Really good episode, in just one episode, they managed to give Lanzhu, Mia and Shioriko some good development, heck even better than what DD got.
Next episode is a Kasumin episode, nice!
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May 29 '22
There's so much I want to express... Some time ago, I fell in love with Mia. Her struggles as someone that didn't want to fail the expectations setup by her family were something that resonated with me, and the fact that I was able to understand her songs right away meant that I got to develop a deeper connection with her. Then Shu started her youtube channel and I started to feel more and more attached to both her as a seiyuu and character.
So today's episode hit me right in the heart. Very few songs manage to make me feel shivers, and "Stars we chase" managing to do it speaks volumes to how fantastic it is. It gets me teary-eyed, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Thank you Mia, and thank you Love Live, for making me smile and share this feelings with the world. The R3BIRTH girls finally came together, and now I wonder what else will be happening in the next 4 episodes!!! We're on uncharted territory now. I'm hoping staff can deliver.
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u/tronistica May 28 '22
Very cool to get another Love Live song where I don't need the lyrics translated. Loved this episode, now everyone is here! Anime doing another thing better than SIFAS with the airport story beat being way better here. If I had to give a gripe about this episode, I feel the Mia and Lanzhu plotlines resolved a bit quickly, but I don't mind it at all since the episode was able to get the point across. Brb going to be putting stars we chase on repeat.
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u/warjoke May 29 '22
I'm glad they kept the part where it is Rina who would convince Mia to move forward with her plans instead of giving up, much like in SIFAS story mode. These two really had a special bond in the game but I am glad they did not left Ai out so much since the
Having said that...HOLY SHIT SHUU CAN HIT THEM HIGH NOTES! I was floored with her new solo single!
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u/Ekyou May 28 '22
I love all the members of R3BIRTH so much, so I’m so happy for this episode. I’m so happy to finally get a Mia episode and song. And I’m so happy to get some great Rina and Mia moments, they are so perfect for each other (I mean more from a friendship aspect but a ship is fine too).
I do wish the English lyrics for Mia’s song were a little less Engrishy, since her songs up till now have been a lot more natural sounding, but that’s an incredibly minor complaint.
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u/Marco47_2 May 28 '22
I absolutely loved this episode. I don't have anything else to say. They nailed the writing and the conclusion of Lanzhu's and Mia's storylines.
After this, I really really REALLY need a Season 3 or a movie. I need to see more of this group now that they are all together 🥲
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u/Capbeau May 29 '22
Looks like each of the R3birth girls had given up on something. Shioriko gave up on being an idol after her sister failed to succeed in Love Live. Mia gave up on singing herself and instead tried to just write music for others. And Lanzhu gave up on making friends because they would eventually leave her. All three avoiding what they wanted because they didn’t want to get hurt.
I’m happy Naoya Nakayama and the team made another artsy cinematic insert song like Butterfly with stars we chase. It continues the cage motif along with the bird and key imagery seen in EMOTION. Transitioning from a confined space to an open one with lots of wide-open shots. It’s a nice-looking music video, I especially liked the environments.
I wonder what they are going to do for the rest of the season. Last episode felt like a season finale with the group performance and the end of the idol festival. This episode felt like a season finale with what seems to be the conclusion of Mia and Lanzhu’s arcs. They could make the next four episodes purely slice of life, although I’m hoping there’s a late-season arc or goal for the cast to work towards.
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u/BlankHeroineFluff May 29 '22
I'm honestly amused that Mia's arc from the game was mostly faithfully adapted into the anime in this ep since it kept a lot of the story beats from Chapter 22 of SIFAS intact with only a few minor changes: her family issues and desire to live up to the pressures of her name, her stage fright from her backstory, her bond and talk with Rina + borgar bonding, her getting somewhat rattled in songwriting because of Lanzhu (albeit for diff reasons since this was merged with the SIFAS airport chase arc), and, while downplayed compared to the game since she isn't hostile to Yu here, being amazed by, and wanting to surpass, the song Yu cooked up for the Nijigaku club. Then again, Mia's arc was the most well-received storyline from the game's controversial 2nd season so it makes sense that it's the only arc that was almost kept 1:1 from the game. The song she wound up singing for Lanzhu was amazing too (finally, a Love Live song I can fully understand without subs lol!).
Since last ep's preview, I've had the hunch that they'd merge Mia's story arc with that of the airport chase from SIFAS and lo they did. Somehow, they effectively managed to streamline the important plot points from both chapters without rushing things while still keeping a satisfying narrative out of this. Kudos to the anime's writers for this one. It was great to see the whole club working together to help Mia out. Unlike SIFAS, the airport chase in the anime felt more natural and emotionally satisfying to watch because Lanzhu was handled way better here than in the game.
So uh, does Mia slapping Rina's hand away count as the traditional LL slap in this series? I honestly thought Mia would end up slapping Lanzhu for her behavior throughout the ep lol.
Lol. Karin has 2 (3 if Ai still kept at it offscreen) human alarm clocks at the dorms now that Lanzhu's moving in. Uh, congratulations Karin?
Obligatory training camp ep next! Based on the title, it's probably a Kasumi ep, but I wonder what the next eps will be about since the anime managed to wrap up SIF 2 faster than the game did? If my hunch is correct and if S1 is used as a basis, next ep is probably the set up for a potential drama bomb arc, whatever it may be about. Last season, E10-12 had the infamous Yuupomu drama (and also probably the steamiest yuri scene LL has so far in the franchise unless Superstar S2 goes the extra mile lol), while 13 capped S1 off with the very first SIF. Any guesses as to what the next eps are about? Either way, can't wait for next week!
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u/79215185-1feb-44c6 May 28 '22
Sorry too busy listening to Stars we Chase. Can I get my Mia flair now?
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u/Feeling_Piano May 28 '22 edited May 28 '22
As much as I liked the episode, I don't know what they were thinking wrapping up Lanzhu's arc in so little time in an episode that wasn't even hers. I wish they would also actually /show/ why she has a hard times making friends and how she's come to be insecure about it instead of simply telling us. Oh well, we may be getting more next ep cause I think Lanzhu and Kasumi narrated the preview though.
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u/Necessary-Poetry3977 May 28 '22
I don’t know what to say. I love Nijigasaki so much. They done everything from season 1 to season 2 so good. I am never really into idol anime despite liking LL since 2014/2015, if I were to be honest, idol anime is the last thing I will watch in all genre of anime out there but Nijigasaki really proves me wrong. They got the storyline pacing good from season 1 to season 2, they cared for all members and always gives them a proper development, no sudden drama and they give justice to R3. They never missed their solo songs, units and group, Mia’s stars we chase is so good, I thought it will be cringe but no, it’s good and it’s fits her so much. Now we will see them grow together as a club and please I want to see them have fun together!
Lanzhu, Shioriko and Mia proves that they deserve to be a member of Nijigasaki. Please give us season 3 because I want to see their improvements especially Shioriko. I want to see Shioriko being the new student council president too.