Love Live! Superstar!! Season 2

Episode 11

I've said a few times in these reviews that Love Live! has a spotty track record with dramatic storylines. The franchise is great at ensemble comedy, but when it tries for big stakes rather than personal character growth, more often than not it fumbles out of the gate. No place is that more apparent than the closing arc of the first season of School Idol Project, where Kotori gets an out-of-the-blue call to go to a school in Paris and has to choose between accepting it or staying with her fellow school idols. It was an awkward, inorganic third-act complication that only existed because they needed something to close out the season, and it remains one of the most universally maligned parts of the larger franchise. Which makes it really god damn surprising they brought it back here in Superstar, and positively shocking that they've managed to make it work this time.

The biggest reason for that is the character at the center: Kanon. Where Kotori had little personality or personal ambition outside of being Honkers' sidekick, Kanon's easily the most fleshed-out and emotionally complex member of the entire cast. What's more, her initiating story arc made it clear that music as a whole was her passion, not just being a school idol. So when she gets an invitation to a world-class music school all the way in Vienna, there's a genuine question as to whether or not she'll take it. Like yes, the laws of franchise marketability make that deeply unlikely, but in the context of the story and characters, this is compelling drama with an uncertain answer. More directly, it's engaging to see that conflict play out inside our heroine's head, turning over the chance to achieve her original dream as a singer vs leaving everything she's created with Liella! in the past two years. It's a credit to the writing that I can't immediately tell what choice she'll make, even after her initial refusal.

On the other hand, it was very easy to predict how Chisato would feel about all this. After all, she purposefully put off joining Liella! because she wanted to achieve success on her own terms first. All she's ever wanted was to see the person most important to her happy and chasing her dream again. Of course she was never going to be alright with what looks like Kanon turning away from that dream to stay with them. The only thing that would hurt Chisato more than saying goodbye to Kanon would be thinking she was inadvertently holding her back from doing what she loves, so urging her to leave is the only choice that makes sense.

And I can definitely see her point. Being a school idol is nice and all, but it's inherently temporary, and passing up a golden opportunity of becoming a musician on the world stage to have one more year as an amateur performer with your friends is something a lot of people would likely regret. At the same time, music is ultimately about personal meaning and expression, and if being with Liella! is what gives Kanon fulfillment now, then all the more power to her. Chasing bigger success because it's what you're “supposed” to do rather than because it's what you want is a great way to destroy your passion and leave you full of regrets. Like I said, this franchise's need to keep the band together kind of tips the scales on how this will turn out, but the writing here has done more than enough leg work to make either conclusion a satisfying choice that makes sense for these characters.

Then there's Wien, our angry little wild card in this whole thing. True to her princess of darkness persona, she's not about to go quietly into that good night after losing to our girls. No, if she's going out she's gonna go full 2009 Kanye before she leaves, telling both in- and out-of-universe viewers to stick their happy little songs where the Love Live! Sun don't Love Live! Shine. After watching so many other antagonists solemnly bow out with grace, it's incredibly refreshing to see one of them be a genuine sore loser. Plus that venom makes sense when we learn that this whole Austrian Idol Invasion was Wien's ploy to make it into her own dream school – the same one Kanon now has a chance to get into.

Outside of its involvement in this closing drama, that's just a really interesting angle the franchise has never really taken before: what happens to the countless other idol groups out there who aren't central characters, and never get to achieve their dreams? Sure, Aqours had to say goodbye to their school, but they at least had a trophy to honor the place's memory before becoming commuter kids. Wien doesn't have that, nor a community of friends to shoulder the sorrow – all she has is dashed musical dreams that now rely on the decision of somebody that seemingly the entire universe has declared her superior. Hell, even her own parents offer to get her into school so long as she brings Kanon with her. That's got to sting.

To her credit, Wien doesn't seem keen on trying to influence Kanon's decision, despite her insistence on “using” her rival, probably because her pride's taken more than enough hits already. Being the devil on her enemy's shoulder is probably a step too far for her own self-esteem at this point. I'm not sure where the story is going to go with her in the end (if this even is the end, considering how much it feels like this is building up for some kind of continuation), but I'm very thankful it thought to broach the topic of what it means to genuinely lose in this whole big idol competition. It's yet another break from established formula that makes this story richer, and I hope we really get something meaningful from this black swan.

So we're going into the season finale next week, and I'm as impressed with Superstar as I've ever been. It's especially wild considering this is helmed by the writer and director of the original series from all those years ago. They had the backbone to not just revisit a widely derided creative choice, but essentially craft a redemption tour for the whole idea, and in doing so have made an emotionally compelling final conflict that has nothing to do with winning or losing a competition. A story that was once Love Live!'s nadir as a dramatic narrative has emerged reforged, standing ready to reach a new peak for the whole franchise, and I can't wait to see Superstar take its next step.

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Love Live! Superstar!! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.