English Dub Review: Ensemble Stars “Summer Live ~Part 2~”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

While Ra*bits and 2wink prepare for the theme park concert, Trickstar preps for their shared Summer Live performance with Eve. Realizing that winning the SS was only the beginning of their journey, they promise to work even harder with Hiyori (despite his arrogance.) Meanwhile, Jun goes to Mr. Sagami to submit extra paperwork needed for the Summer Live, but then realizes that Mr. Sagami used to be a super idol that rivaled his father. Jun goes off on him, clearly slighted that a man who is unshaven, sloppily dressed, and drinks on the job was the person who devastatingly defeated his father onstage all those years ago. Jun tells him that he will feel delighted in defeating his students at Yumenosaki Academy, and leaves.

Ra*bits and 2wink perform at the theme park, and they’re a smash hit. Soon enough, the time for the Summer Live arrives. Despite their disagreements in choreography, Eve and Trickstar begin their performance. Just as easily as they start, though, Eve gets a spotlight dropped specifically on themselves, and Makoto figures out that Eve made the choreography in order to outshine Trickstar. He also realizes that they promoted the concert without mentioning Trickstar at all. Despite this, though, Makoto speaks to Jun onstage and tells him how happy he is to perform at all, since it wasn’t too long ago that they were unpopular. Eve sees the merit in Trickstar’s genuine love for performing afterwards, and so does Eichi.

Our Take

As mentioned, there are a ton of characters in this show, and it seems like they just won’t stop coming. The character of “Mama” was briefly introduced as someone Anzu apparently knew during childhood, but he came just as quickly as he left. This show is constantly juggling introductions with character and plot development. Things can sometimes seem unsteady because of this.

Speaking of Anzu, Eichi and Rei seem to blame Anzu for Eve’s shady trick, due to the fact that she’s been paying attention to other groups as a blossoming producer. Everyone seemed to be at fault for not noticing, though, so it seems unfair to blame her for something everyone — including Trickstar — should have picked up on earlier.

It’ll be interesting to see how (and when) Eden finally comes into the picture. There’s the upcoming SS which Trickstar plans to defeat them in, but it’ll be harder considering that Eve will be united with Adam. Eichi and Rei want Anzu to get back to acting closely with Trickstar, but does this mean she’ll finally have a bigger part in the series? She’s barely a character and more of a tool for plot development.

Personally, it’d be a fantastic twist to see Mr. Sagami perform. The information where he used to be a super idol was surprising, so hopefully, they’ll use that character quirk. Despite this being the Summer Live finale, there really wasn’t anything noteworthy aside from future plot-related setups. Hiyori and Jun didn’t face any repercussions for their actions simply because Trickstar once again used the power of friendship to let the situation roll of their backs. Predictable, yet fitting.