English Dub Review: Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club “The Memory of Dreams”

Overview:

The school idol festival is underway and Shioriko is working hard to make sure it runs smoothly. However, it’s clear that she’s not completely satisfied staying on the sidelines.

Our Take:

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The school idol festival is in full swing and everyone’s having a blast. Everyone, that is, except for Shioriko. She’s helping with the festivities, but her sister mentions that Shioriko always wanted to be a school idol.

Kaoruko used to be a school idol herself, but her group never made it to Love Live! Seeing her sister crushed like that made Shioriko give up on that dream. She only wants to focus on what she’s good at. That way, she doesn’t have to face that kind of disappointment.

Once the girls find out, they urge her to follow her dream. She refuses, but then they just treat her to a good time at the festival. At the end of the day, they try to get her to take the stage.

Kaoruko urges her sister on as well. She ensures Shioriko that she has no regrets and that she became a teacher so she could help people, especially her.

Shioriko performs on stage for her sister and friends and seems much happier. She gets an offer to join the club, but she wants to postpone that until the festival is over.

This is a fine story for Shioriko and it’s a nice bonding moment with her sister. Not only that, but we also see some conflicting emotions from Lanzhu. Of course, Lanzhu and Shioriko are childhood friends and Lanzhu doesn’t look happy when she sees her with the other girls. She looks rather lonely in fact. I wonder if this will change her mind about joining the school idol club.

There’s also an interaction between some of the club members and Mia. Not much of note happens here. They just bribe her to go to the festival with a coupon for a hamburger.

I still think there are far too many characters that we’re supposed to pay attention to. Mia is one of the characters who I feel keeps getting lost in the shuffle. I like that the show is shifting the focus between characters depending on the episode. However, it’s easy for me to lose track of some of them and forget who’s who. After all, there are 13 main characters this season. I just think that’s too many.

Regardless, this is another decent episode. I’m still more interested in Lanzhu’s arc than anything else and it seems the seeds are being planted for her potentially joining the club. Only time will tell if this is what she chooses.