English Dub Review: Love Live Sunshine “Awaken The Power”

Happy holidays!

Overview:

Ruby and Leah team up, and bring the rest of the kouhai with them.

Our Take:

This episode is a direct follow up to the last episode, mainly of Ruby’s plight and how she wants to show how she’s grown up. The kouhai team up with Leah to make a brand new performance ushering in the new year.

Since this served as more of a conclusion to the story that began the last episode, it forms as more of a finishing touch to what was introduced last time. Ruby has slowly evolved to show some more confidence. She is a shy type, who is always following behind her sister, Dia. Dia means a lot to her and when she hides behind her sister, she doesn’t need to show confidence. At the prospect of Dia leaving, Ruby realizes that she needs to learn to take charge herself and proves that through her collaboration with Leah.

Leah has previously just been a member of Saint Snow, but now she gets her own chance to shine. She deeply cares for her sister, and so she dissolves Saint Snow. It’s not as though she wants to stop performing, but to her, Saint Snow represents her time with her sister, and anything she takes going forward should be completely new. She also reveals upon talking with her classmates that she isn’t very close to them, but is still ashamed of being dropped from Love Live. Upon her classmates offering her support for the upcoming collaboration, she breaks down. She has been shouldering a lot, and without anyone to speak to that’s not her sister, she’s only been able to keep her feelings bottled up. Perhaps Ruby extending a hand to her was something she really needed after all.

The collaboration ends well, and the girls go into the holiday season with a positive outlook. What seemed to be nosy ended up working out for the best.