English Dub Review: Love Live Sunshine “Our Own Shine”

Finding that shine.

Overview:

It’s the last day for Uranohoshi, and the graduation ceremony is held. To finish it off, the girls give one final performance.

Our Take:

It’s the last episode of Love Live Sunshine— officially because there can be no Aqours after this. Uranohoshi’s last day is graduation, and with graduation, the third years are leaving.

None of the students want to leave the school, the place they’ve been so fond of. They celebrate by decorating the outside of the school with hopeful messages, and in the end, closing their classrooms together. While it’s not physically important, it’s symbolic that the girls close the doors on their memories together, so that they at least go out on a happy note.

Chika goes to the school, visiting the places where the cast came together. They’re all in different places now, with more friends and more confident. Some, like Riko, even managed to get over their fears. They took steps towards growing up as people, and managed to instill hope in the students. Most importantly, they managed to win Love Live and engrave the name of Uranohoshi in history.  The girls set out what they accomplished to do, and found small victories in there. All of their classmates attended and were inspired by their performance, allowing the closing of the school to end on a hopeful note.

At the very end, Chika plants the winner’s flag on the beach, so that everyone going by can see their flag and be reminded of hope. Overall, that’s what the series is about– hope. Even though the future can change, the girls still decide to stride forward regardless. At a new school, at university, or on their own, at least they can find their way.

All in all, a conventional wrapping up episode, but it finalizes everyone’s storylines, and finished everything neatly.