English Dub Review: Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club “Cheer!”

Overview:

The club plans the date for their live event. They also figure out ways to support everyone participating in the Love Live! prelims. Meanwhile, Yuu and Ayumu contemplate their dreams.

Our Take:

It’s December and as the year closes out, the school idol club has to pick a date for their live event. They decide on New Year’s Eve so they don’t interfere with the Love Live! prelims. Kanata’s sister, Haruka, is participating, so she wants to support her.

Kanata works on support her sister while some of the other girls work towards their goals as well. Lanzhu wants to improve her group performance skills with Mia and Shioriko. Ayumu receives a letter from a fan in London. Her fan wants to become a school idol too, but they don’t have that culture over there. This makes Ayumu consider going over there as part of an exchange program. Meanwhile, Yuu is considering entering a composition competition.

Ayumu and Yuu struggle telling each other that they really want to go through with these things. Since they’re working towards different goals, they fear that pursuing them will cause them to drift apart. They both individually talk to Kanata about this and she gives them the courage to tell each other and pursue their goals.

Afterwards, some of Haruka’s fans ask Kanata for help on a way to cheer Kanata on during the prelims. The school idol club and a bunch of other girls put together a livestream to cheer on all of the participants, making for a great feel good moment.

It’s always nice to see the girls come together to help someone out like this. The gesture they make to the Love Live! contestants is great and thoughtful, but I also like seeing Ayumu and Yuu finally taking the next steps towards their individual dreams. It’s nice that they’re such close friends, but they want different things and it’s okay to pursue their own goals and remain friends while doing so.

I also have to give a shoutout to Kanata in this episode. Everybody is coming to her for advice and she always delivers. She’s not just the girl who sleeps all the time. She’s actually a much more important part to the club than I first realized. She’s the star of this episode without a doubt.

This is a feel good penultimate episode of the season. I’m sure the finale will leave us on a similar note, but I’m still looking forward to see what’s in store.