[Love Live Spoilers] Sound Direction in Love Live (Pt. 2)

So, I’ve talked at length about this topic and how much I appreciate it, and I had thought about turning it into a multi-part write-up. I’ve finally decided to do it, so I’ll re-iterate the way I started my last one:

I absolutely love the sound direction in Love Live

As I’ve continued along with my rewatch, I’ve continued to notice more and more tracks that I absolutely love from this show’s soundtrack, both from the quality of the individual tracks and then how those tracks are used within the show. Love Live has a way of precisely conveying the emotions it’s looking to capture in each of it’s pieces and this really shows in how these songs are used within the show. I’m going to go again with the same type of format I used before, linking individual tracks and talking about what it is I love in each of these tracks. (Once again, a big thanks to /u/Falthie for graciously hosting the links for these tracks)

Kanashimi no Yoru – Kanashimi is a track that I have grown to love a lot more since buying the first season’s OST and I’ve grown to realize what a subtle, spectacular piece it is on it’s own. The piano that overpowers the first part of the song carries such a somber tone, tinged with a feeling of regret and remorse. This makes the track itself absolutely beautiful. The low notes coming into provide a backing serve to push this somber feeling even more. Even sitting here listening to the track for this write-up cuts deep for me. The song itself pushes the feeling it wants to get across as well as possibly any piece I’ve listened to, from Love Live or otherwise, and it’s just a masterpiece of an OST track.

Kanashimi is one that many people likely recognize for a different scene (*cough cough train*) than the one I’m going to discuss here today, but I feel this is a scene where the song itself really powers the scene emotionally and lets this scene itself take on a new level of meaning. The scene I’m referring to comes to us from Season 2 Episode 5. The track begins when Eli calls Honoka telling her that Hanayo is to be the center for the group’s performance at the fashion show. Rin remarks on how cute the frilly dress looks on Hanayo and seems to take back her normal, cheery attitude. However, as Rin begins to leave the room, she looks back at Hanayo as the other girls begin to adjust the dress. With the scene zooming on Rin’s face, she carries in her expression a sense of regret, longing deep inside to be the one to wear it despite being too embarassed to let herself. With Rin thinking it doesn’t suit her, Hanayo is shown calling Honoka herself asking her about what to do and trying to decide what to do. Hanayo can see Rin’s inner struggle and wants to help her, but doesn’t really know how to herself. The somber tone of Kanashimi no Yoru carries through this scene very strongly, depicting Rin’s feelings of remorse and Hanayo’s unsureness on what to do about her closest friend feeling this way.

Hanayo no Ketsui – Another track likely better known for a different scene, namely the scene in Episode 4 where Hanayo and the other first-years initially join µ’s, there was a scene in Episode 5 of Season 2 where I thought this track was used spectacularly, despite the scene itself being focused more on Rin. Before we get into that, let’s look at the track itself. Ketsui starts off soft with the strings creating an intro into the piano itself. The piano, while being soft, serves to create a feeling to me of dreams becoming reality and the strings coming in serve to carry this further into a happy track with the feeling of victory and overcoming one’s greatest obstacle: themselves. Finally, with the woodwinds coming in, the track grows into a grand victorious melody with the sense of a new door being opened in front of you, with the strings and high woodwinds beckoning and calling to a new future lying just ahead.

As amazing as the song itself is, it becomes exponentially better when looked at in the context of the show. The example I’ve chosen to use today comes to us from the ending of Episode 5, with the fashion show arriving and Rin going to prepare for the concert. With Rin opening her curtain to reveal the dress, she turns to see the others dressed as grooms. With Rin questioning it, the others explain how they had practiced with the intention of Rin being the center. As the piano kicks in, Hanayo comes forward and talks to Rin personally. She tells how she thought about how Rin felt and accepted the position because of Rin’s distress. However, Hanayo calls back to when she joined µ’s and Rin gave her a push to join, and Hanayo wants to do the same for Rin. With Hanayo beginning to say how everyone thinks Rin is cute, the strings begin to pick in and Hanayo reinforces how cute she thinks Rin is and how the rest of the group thinks she’s the girliest as well. Maki then says that the outfit suits Rin the best and both first years give Rin the push. The strings themselves pick up when Rin finally looks at the dress and accepts wearing it, before stepping out on stage. The victorious sound of the track fits perfectly with Rin’s personal victory and conquering her own inner struggle to finally embrace her girly side.

Nozomi no Mune no Uchi – Another sad, somber piece comes to us when looking at Nozomi’s past. This piece is one that I really didn’t notice as much on my first watch, but it really is a beautiful track. So, let’s do as with the others and take a look at the track itself. The woodwinds and soft strings open up the song with a sad, melancholic feel, an atmosphere that rings to me with a feeling of loneliness and desire to connect with others while being unable to. The piano continues to push this feel and the flutes pick up, continuing to stress the somber tone that the song begins with. However, as the song begins to pick up, soft strings begin to pick up and the backing strings begin to change their melody. As the song picks into it’s conclusion, it takes on an entirely different feel with the scales of the flute and the strong strings giving it a whimsical feel and the sense of the fulfillment of the first part of the song, the loneliness of the early parts of the song is cast off and replaced with a fuller, more complete sound.

While the track itself is incredible and I could go on for a while about just the music, I really want to stress how well this song fits it’s scene within the show perfectly. This track comes to us in Episode 8 of Season 2 with the track’s title girl, Nozomi, and her backstory. With Maki in Nozomi’s apartment, Nozomi comments on how µ’s as a group itself is her miracle. The track picks up with Nozomi’s introduction as an elementary schooler, moving around constantly and never really making friends. The lonely feeling of the woodwinds and strings in the early part of the song resonate with Nozomi’s feeling of loneliness, never being able to make friends at school. Progressing through the scene, the piano itself begins with Nozomi seeing Eli for the first time and realizing there’s someone like her out there, finally deciding to try talking to Eli and make friends with her. Moving forward, the strings start to change tone as she notices the other girls who would eventually become members of µ’s around the school. The strings finally break into the final portion of the song with reminiscence of the performance of START:DASH!! and moving into the formation of µ’s. With this transformation of the track within the scene, Nozomi is finally able to cast off the life of loneliness she had always known before and embrace a new adventure with new friends, finally cutting back to the apartment with the reflection of young Nozomi in the tea showing a smile. Nozomi looks TO BE on the verge of tears as she realizes how it is that µ’s has changed her life and given her new friends that she never had before, achieving her one wish.

Seitokai no Oshigoto – Seitokai is a special piece for this write-up because I feel it was perfectly used in more than one scene and for completely different reasons. Starting with just the sound of the song, the woodwinds that carry over serving as the melody during the first part of the song work perfectly to create the feel that the song is going for. It’s a soft, humble feel that carries with it a feeling of softspoken pride and a sense of everything being left in the right hands. This feeling grows as the song progresses into bombastic, powerful strings that move the song into a full-on display of success and prideful passing, with soft piano carrying into a soft, melancholy, and yet, at the same time, satisfying mood. While I could go on about how good this song is from a musical standpoint, I want to talk about two moments this track was used during Love Live and how well the song works in these scenes.

For our first scene, we go to Episode 7 of Season 2 and Eli worrying about the second years handling the Student Council work on their own. The piece picks up slowly with the high woodwinds as Eli questions if the three girls will be alright handling the student council on their own, to which Nozomi dispels these doubts. Nozomi reminds Eli that the girls will have to fend for themselves after the third years have graduated. Where this song really picks up though and captures the scene is when the low woodwinds come into play as that is when the scene transitions to Honoka, Kotori, and Umi in the student council room. The track here captures the togetherness and bond shared by the second years, as pointed out in the Love Live rewatch by Falthie. The track and scene both depict the girls working hard together and the strings pick up when the girls enter into the last leg of their work and pick it up, with the closing piano coming before the start of the student council meeting. The song flows incredibly well with the transitions of the scene, flawlessly bouncing from one set of characters to the other, and the music makes this transition seamless. It seems to capture perfectly the worry felt by Eli, moving into the determined attitude and hardwork being put in by the second years, finally ending with the questioning by Hanayo and Maki.

This track works again in a much different way in Episode 9 of Season 2, picking up when Cotaro shows Nico the snowmen he made of µ’s. The high woodwinds here work perfectly for expressing the sweet, loving scene between Nico and her younger siblings. Nico is overcome with pride and joy inside from her younger brother’s present, eventually leading into Nozomi and Eli arriving to walk to the venue with Nico. The low woodwinds here work to show the bond Nico has developed with her fellow third years over the course of the show, agreeing to walk with them and going as far as to even invite them in to her apartment, which Nico never would have done before. The strings finally pick up with Honoka, Umi, and Kotori preparing for the student council’s presentation and their confidence therein. This piece, to me, is one of the shining examples of the show’s OST because of how well it is used in multiple scenes.

In conclusion, I have this to say: Love Live has an absolutely spectacular soundtrack. Further than that, Love Live is shown over the course of the series to have fantastic sound direction, with each song being used within the series coming at a time where the track matches perfectly with the emotion it carries. While I may have used fewer tracks in this write-up than the last one, I felt like these were some of the most powerful tracks out of the entire soundtrack and served the best to capture the emotion they aspired to achieve. I don’t know that I’ve ever found a series where I felt so strongly about the sound direction throughout and how well I feel it is executed. Love Live cuts to the pinnacle of music anime for me by moving past the threshold of having quality insert songs, but by also knowing exactly how to use it’s backing tracks and how to make each moment of musical direction within the show meaningful.

[Love Live Spoilers] Rin: Why Self-Esteem and Confidence Matters

While I’ve talked in the past about idea of being honest with yourself and your own desires in the past, I feel that, in Love Live, there is one character in particular who transcends this issue into a very basic lack of self-confidence and unhappiness with her own image. She is a character that, throughout the show, exhibits the traits of a classic tomboy, almost never being seen wearing a skirt aside from their school uniform, and is practically just a human-shaped ball of energy and genki all the time. Of course, I’m talking about Love Live’s cat-like little first year herself:

Rin Hoshizora

Rin is introduced into the series through Hanayo as her best friend, and exhibits the same amount of energy in her first appearance as ever. She is first shown trying to convince Hanayo to join her and check out the athletic clubs at Otonokizaka, while Hanayo secretly desires to look at µ’s and attend their concert. While her appearances in the first couple episodes are brief, Episode 4 is where Rin makes her big first appearance and we learn a couple things about her, the biggest of which is her adversity to anything girly.

It’s shown that since a young age, Rin has always been adverse to doing most anything girly, especially wearing skirts. Many times, Rin would be picked on or made fun of when she would wear skirts. The other children would all tell her she was like a boy, both in attitude and appearance. This picking and joking clearly affected her even up to the modern day. Rin never wears skirts or girly clothing outside of their school uniforms. This was one of the primary reasons Rin initially did not want to be an idol. She didn’t feel being an idol suited her and she felt she wouldn’t make a good idol. This even carries into Episode 5 of Season 2 when the girls want her to wear the frilly dress for the fashion show, but she steadfastly refuses this idea. Rin even begins a bout of self-deprecation when talking with Maki and Hanayo, saying that she isn’t cute and implying that Hanayo is far cuter and would make a much better fit for the leader and center position in Honoka’s absence.

This entire after-school scene with the other first-years leads into the root of Rin’s personal problems: a severe lack of self-confidence due to her own low self-esteem and lack of happiness with her personal image. Rin shows that she clearly doesn’t think of herself as cute and she carries that thought with her in her own actions. Rin is always opposed to doing cute, girly things and always prefers to act in her own tomboyish manner, because she doesn’t like trying to be girly. Years of being picked on whenever she would try to do something girly even drives her adversity to wearing dresses and skirts, and it can be seen manifesting in how she chooses to dress, often opting for long pants and t-shirts as opposed to skirts and dresses. This lack of self-confidence and unhappiness in her own image really manifests itself in Episode 5 of Season 2.

Episode 5 opens with the second years of µ’s on a school trip and the first and third years left at Otonokizaka to try and manage for a fashion show that µ’s is going to be performing in. With Honoka, the group’s typical leader gone on the trip, the decision is made for Rin to be the group’s leader while they wait for Honoka and the others’ return. While Rin is opposed to this at first, she begrudgingly accepts, after Nozomi explains that Honoka picked Rin as the best choice and the first years agree. Explaining that Rin isn’t very good at that kind of thing, Maki and Hanayo chime in that Rin is pretty shy, especially when it comes to herself.

After a less than impressive showing at the group’s after-school practice, we come to the sidewalk scene with the three first years wherein we get a full look at Rin’s lack of self-confidence. She proceeds to put herself down, saying things like she wouldn’t make a good leader and she’s not someone who stands in the center. Rin says that she’s nothing like an idol, talking about how Hanayo’s cuter and more girly. With Hanayo trying to tell Rin that Rin is cuter than her, Rin vocally denies it and shouts that she’s not a good leader before running off. With Hanayo explaining to Maki about Rin’s past and her experience when she tried to wear girly things, Rin runs off and hides in an alley.

This scene to me shows the full scope of Rin’s own lack of self-confidence and her image of herself. From bashing on her own abilities as a leader despite having only one day of leading behind her, to her adversity to wearing anything girly and her self-deprecation of her own image, Rin is shown to be very damaged from a self-confidence point of view. Rin feels that she isn’t as girly or cute as Hanayo, and also indicates that she doesn’t think she sings as well as Maki. The constant insults she hurls at herself throughout the course of this conversation shows a clear lack of self-esteem and really shows why it is she doesn’t like doing anything girly.

Later in Episode 5, it’s revealed that, due to the typhoon, the second-years will be unable to return from their trip in time for the fashion show and that the remaining girls will be forced to put on their performance for the show themselves. At this time, the frilly dress to be worn by the center is introduced, and met with a look of shock by Rin. Rin strongly refuses the idea of her wearing the dress, saying that she wouldn’t look good in something so girly. This comment makes Maki bring up their normal outfits for concerts, to which Rin remarks that they are all wearing the same clothes and she’s on the outside. Rin goes so far as to say that she shouldn’t be the center for the sake of µ’s, which, in and of itself, implies a huge lack of self-esteem and self-confidence in her image. With the girls deciding what to do without Rin acting as the center, the idea of Hanayo is proposed and Rin jumps right on board with it, saying that Hanayo is much cuter than her and she would make a perfect center. While pushing the same point as the previous scene, Rin’s own lack of confidence and her low opinion of her own image is put fully on display in this scene. Going so far as to say it would be better for the entire group if she doesn’t act as the center speaks volumes for how she thinks of herself.

The next scene, however, is where this wall of Rin’s lack of self-esteem and her own disrespect for her own image begins to manifest. With the girls adjusting the dress for Hanayo, Rin is seen looking back at Hanayo, with a look in her eyes that screams of regret and doubt. Despite her own opposition to the idea of wearing the dress, Rin secretly has some desire to do it, that comes from deep down inside. It’s shown in this scene and multiple others that Rin really wants to dress like a girl and act more girly, but she is always too embarassed to do it. Though she brushes it off, it’s clearly apparent to the other girls of µ’s how she feels. As much as Rin insists that doing girly things and wearing dresses doesn’t suit her, she holds a desire deep within her to embrace her feminine side that she seems too nervous or scared to act on.

This idea of doubt in Rin’s heart and her own inner desires leads into the final scene, with the day of the fashion show arriving and µ’s preparing for their performance. With Nozomi telling the girls that they need to get ready for the concert, Rin gives a rousing speech and goes to her changing closet, to be met with the very dress that she starkly opposed wearing. Upon going to ask about this, she turns to the rest of the group, who have all donned groom outfits for the purpose of the concert. Eli reveals that the girls prepared for having Rin as the center and Hanayo goes to Rin. Hanayo thought about how Rin felt and accepted the position of center, only because she could see the inner turmoil and distress Rin was facing herself. Hanayo calls back (and the OST itself does this too) to the time when the three first years joined µ’s. With Rin being the one to give Hanayo the push, Hanayo wants to do it for Rin now. Hanayo explains how cute she thinks Rin is and Maki tells Rin to look at the outfit, saying it suits Rin best. This help and support from her friends in µ’s are the push it finally takes for Rin to tackle this lack of self-esteem herself.

Finally, the episode leads into the episode’s iconic song and one that really suits Rin the best: Love Wing Bell. With lyrics that talk about how even someone like Rin can be cute and a general idea of casting off hesitation and friends helping to reach new goals, the song itself speaks to Rin’s character. Throughout the course of the series and especially this episode, Rin is shown to have personal problems with her own cuteness and is always shown hesitating when wanting to wear a dress or act girly. Because of this, she always opposed wearing things like skirts or dresses, and always chose to act like a tomboy instead. But, because of the help of her own friends and each of the members of µ’s, Rin was able to overcome these self anxieties and feel more confident in embracing her own feminine side. She is even shown while the song is playing at practice after the concert, wearing a skirt during one of the group’s rooftop practices.

Rin’s story throughout Love Live is one of self-esteem and struggling with confidence in oneself. Due to past experiences of being picked on when she would wear a skirt, Rin always had problems with her own feminine image and this festered into her initially not wanting to be an idol and, later on, not wanting to be the center of attention. However, Rin was always shown to have doubts in this, showing deep-down that she always wanted to dress and act girly, but was too nervous to in the end. Joining µ’s would help to start a new era of Rin’s life and would begin to cause a change in her opinion. Because of the loving support of all her friends, Rin was able to finally tackle her inner demons and come out more confident in herself and with a higher level of self-esteem.

[Love Live Spoilers] Love Live: A Message of Being Honest with Yourself

Last night, I finished Season 1 of my most recent rewatch of Love Live, and I’ve been inspired more than ever before to start writing about things I appreciate from the show. That being said, over my Eli and Nozomi write-ups and the last few episodes, I’ve picked up on something I had never really noticed before about the latter half of the first season.

In Love Live Season 1, there is a prevailing theme through the second half of the season about being honest with one’s self and being honest with your feelings. It’s an issue that affects a lot of characters within the show in different ways and each character resolves this issue through different ways. It touches on multiple members of the cast throughout, so I’m going to take a short look at each character and how this idea is applied to them.

Eli – The first and, in my opinion, most obvious example is Eli and her personal growth throughout the first eight episodes of Love Live. Now, I’ve already talked at length about my thoughts on Eli, but I just want to take a few moments and re-propose those ideas in relation to this theme. As it is revealed throughout the course of Episodes 7 and 8, Eli has been at least somewhat following µ’s and the girls since their inception and the first concert. It is shown that Eli has always had an interest in the idol group and wanted to become an idol deep-down, but she cast off these ideas for the purpose of saving the school. Because she was so focused on saving the school in her own method, she completely shut out of her mind the idea of being an idol and opposed µ’s at every step. At the same time, due to her own history in ballet and her training as a child, she viewed µ’s as beneath her and an “embarassment to idols”, due to not being up to her level of dancing. This idea persists with Eli until around Episode 7, when Arisa is introduced and it is revealed that Eli had recorded the first Live in the auditorium for her younger sister. Arisa was shown to adore µ’s and idols, and this adoration finally started to break Eli and she began to doubt herself. This doubting was brought to a head in Episode 8, when Nozomi confronted Eli in the hallway in one of my absolute favorite scenes. This scene finally shattered Eli’s opposition to being an idol and let the inner turmoil she was experiencing spill out, which finally resulted in Honoka offering to Eli to join µ’s. Eli was able to finally drop her cold, harsh attitude and accept the idea of being an idol. She came to terms with her own desire to be an idol and finally started to be honest with herself about what she really wanted.

Maki – Our next example of being honest with one’s self comes from the tsundere queen of µ’s, Maki. Maki is introduced in the beginning of the series as a bit of a loner, not really having many friends and choosing to spend her afternoons after school alone in the piano room. After some insistence and pressure from Honoka early on and finally Hanayo indirectly causing her to become a member, Maki joins µ’s but she still tends to keep her distance from the rest of µ’s. It isn’t until Episode 10 that this wall begins to shatter, and it’s in large part thanks to Nozomi. Nozomi notices in Maki the same thing she sees in Eli: a person who’s denying their own feelings and instincts. She points this out to Maki, who doesn’t get it at first, but Nozomi then spends the rest of the episode trying to get Maki acclimated to the rest of the group. This is executed by Nozomi interacting with Maki in such a way, and eventually pinning a pillow fight starting on her, that Maki, after struggling with this idea for the entire episode, is finally able to use Nozomi’s name naturally. With this and the ensuing beach scene where Nozomi talks to Maki about how she loves µ’s and it’s members, Maki begins to finally drop her tsundere attitude with the rest of the group, and shows she is able to talk to Eli normally too. Because of Nozomi’s pushing and help, Maki was able to confront her innermost desire of being a part of the group and interacting with the other members of µ’s and was able to overcome her initial opposition to doing so.

 Kotori – With Kotori, we come to the controversial “drama” arc at the end of Season 1, when it’s revealed that Kotori will be moving away soon and likely won’t be back until after the second years graduate. This idea sparks a lot of backlash from Honoka and shock from the other members, but there’s an underlying layer to this idea that comes from looking at Kotori and her character. For the entire series, Kotori follows Honoka with whatever she does and always supports Honoka in her efforts. Honoka acts as the leader for the second years, with the other two always following along with whatever crazy ideas she had. In this, Kotori wants Honoka to tell her not to move, and to stay being a School Idol. Though she had decided to move on her own, deep down in her heart, she didn’t want to go, she just wanted Honoka to stop her. However, any time she tried to tell Honoka about her plans, Honoka was always excited about being an idol or performing for the Love Live, so Kotori never had the heart to tell Honoka, which led to the ensuing drama. Kotori could never come to terms with her own desire to stay, and always looked to Honoka to make this decision for her. While this almost ended with her leaving, Honoka was brought to her senses through the combined efforts of her friends and the other members of µ’s and met Kotori at the airport. Kotori had never been able to be honest with her own desire to stay in Otonokizaka and be a School Idol, and it took Honoka to make her finally decide to stay. While Kotori’s part of this is a bit more flawed than others, it still stands to make a point for the message of being honest with yourself and trusting your own desires.

Umi – Umi’s is an example of this that isn’t as obvious as some others and isn’t as much of a focus, but it still goes with this theme and kind of rings similar to Kotori’s. Umi always followed along with Honoka and always let Honoka drag her along with whatever she’s doing. As such, when Honoka quit being a School Idol, Umi didn’t see the point in continuing with Honoka quitting and Kotori moving overseas. However, it was obvious that Umi knew in her heart that wasn’t what she wanted. Umi showed to be one of the most upset about any of the girls of Honoka’s decision to quit, and she has a strong scene in the latter half of Episode 13 where she meets Honoka in the auditorium. Umi explains that even though she didn’t want to do it and didn’t want to be an Idol, Honoka took her along to an amazing place and Umi realized what she really wanted was to be an idol, which caused her to confront Honoka in the auditorium and tell her that Umi herself had wanted to be an idol, even after how strongly she had initially opposed the idea.

Honoka – If Eli’s is the most obvious example of this theme being used in Love Live Season 1, then Honoka is easily the second-most, stemming from her decision in Episode 12 to quit being a School Idol. Between the shock of µ’s going on hiatus and withdrawing from the Love Live, the revelations about Kotori moving, and her own depression from the withdrawal, Honoka made the decision that she wanted to quit being an idol. This was a decision that upset several members of µ’s, but after Episode 13 begins, it begins to become apparent that Honoka regrets this decision. Through the help of her classmates (Hideko especially) and their escapades through the day, eventually ending at the arcade and the DDR game, Honoka begins to realize she regrets the decision to quit. Honoka comes to realize herself that, in quitting, she was ignoring her own innermost desire and wanting to be an idol. She slowly began to come to terms with her own denial, through the help of both meeting Nico, Rin, and Hanayo at the shrine steps who are continuing to train as idols and Eli coming to her and telling Honoka what she’s done for her. Honoka finally goes to the stage and Umi meets her there and finally, Honoka is able to come to terms with her feelings and her desires. Becoming a School Idol, singing and dancing, was never about saving the school in the beginning. It wasn’t even about winning the Love Live or even going to the Love Live. To Honoka, the thing she loved the most was singing. Honoka finally comes to terms with the fact that she loves being an idol and wants to stay an idol, through Umi’s help and the help of the other girls.

Rin (Season 2 Spoilers) – I tried to keep this write-up mostly to Season 1 spoilers only, but there was one arc and episode in particular from Season 2 that I would be remiss to not mention, that being Rin and her personal growth. In flashbacks, Rin is shown from a young age to have always been a tomboy, to the point where she was embarassed to do anything girly or wear skirts. This point is exascerbated early in Season 1 with her initial opposition to being an idol, because she doesn’t think she would make a good idol. Rin has always struggled with her own feminine image since she was young, and it takes until Episode 5 of Season 2 to realize this. With the six remaining girls to put on a concert for a fashion show with Honoka and the second years stranded on their class trip due to weather, everyone decides on Rin to be the leader for the concert. Rin is initially harshly opposed to this, thinking she wouldn’t look good and not wanting to wear skirts or dresses or anything. However, Rin, throughout the episode, shows little moments of doubt when she looks at the dress. Hanayo notices this and realizes Rin isn’t being honest with herself. She’s opposing wearing the dress and being the center vocally, while secretly wanting to do it inside. With Rin still opposing the idea, Hanayo and Honoka finally organize the idea for Rin to go on-stage wearing the dress, with the rest of the girls wearing groom outfits. This fashion event turns into a big success and causes Rin to finally come more to terms with her own feelings and image, and she actually begins wearing a skirt in her practice uniform.

The concept of coming to terms with one’s own feelings and one’s innermost desires isn’t really a new thing, by any means, but I feel Love Live executes this idea really well, while not making it the absolute center of attention. It takes a little bit of analyzing, but throughout the course of Love Live, each character is shown to have their own issues with repressing their feelings and not acting on their desires that is eventually overcome. Each character’s way of overcoming this feels natural and it always reinforces the group mentality of Love Live, with others helping their friends to see what it is they truly want most.