English Dub Review: Love Live Sunshine “Taking In A Dog”

Nice doggy.

Overview:

Yoshiko finds a dog after her umbrella flies away from her in a rainstorm. Unfortunately, her home doesn’t allow pets, so she asks Riko to take care of the dog in the meantime.

Our Take:

This episode was largely about taking care of a lost dog, but it turns out it’s more than just that. Yoshiko first seems to have an unhealthy attachment to the dog, but she’s projecting larger issues than what she initially lets on.

Yoshiko admits that despite her chuuni attitude, she doesn’t actually believe that things like fallen angels exist. She’s always had bad luck throughout her life, even in everyday things, enough that she believed that there has to be some external force contributing to that. As she got older, she realized that there were no supernatural forces, that she wasn’t special, but her bad luck continued. Her chuuni attitude is simply from her trying to reclaim her horrific streak of bad luck and trying to turn it into something positive. In finding the dog, she felt like maybe there was some sort of external force out there, guiding her to help it in the rain. In the end, she realizes that there aren’t any external forces after all, but her efforts still forged a connection between her and the dog, and that is still significant.

On the other hand, Riko is deathly afraid of dogs. She knows that they won’t harm her, but she is still terribly frightened of them. In taking care of the lost dog, it forces her to confront her phobia, and see if dogs are really worth fearing. It’s a harsh way to do things, but she ends up becoming fond of the dog, and even wanting to have it back once it is gone. She and Yoshiko bond over their mutual love of the dog, and they end up encouraging each other.

The idol parts of the anime still drag, but the slice of life is where it boosts itself up. While it’s not exciting to see them breeze by the competition, even if they did lose previously, seeing the girls confront their beliefs and find ways to grow up is great. Idols aren’t my thing, but I’m always here for character development.