Hi! ^^ I'm Marina!(or Aqua if you prefer ^^) I make videos reviewing and analyzing Love Live and Sailor Moon! Also I stream and occasionally post the odd...other, video lol ^^ Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon~^^ Channel Outro Music: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sZYlbedkc_0.html&ab_channel=R3MusicBox Model and most channel art by: twitter.com/Phoebe_rot
I listened to this while doing schoolwork at near midnight, this is a really solid analysis of the movie even though I haven't watched it, I just feel like this was as comprehensive as your content usually is Marina! Thanks for giving me the boost I needed to push through!
Season 3 is proving to be an interesting continuation. Wien is proving to be one of the most interesting characters in the franchise and im interested in seeing what they do with her.
Okay, so after seeing the beginning of Season 3 where they said "Um, Ackshually, she's still going but it's been deferred for a year," I am really suspecting some sort of monkey wrench thrown into the production plans with this ending. The seriousness with which they treated the buildup to Kanon going to Vienna, and how it makes sense for her character arc to end with going out and seeing the world instead of wallowing in self-pity at home like how she started the series, makes me feel like this was the intended ending for Superstar as a whole. And it would have made sense for it to be the S3 ending as the entire series was framed as the chance to see Liella grow over the entire three years of high school. However, if they didn't know they would actually get a Season 3 at the time, production probably felt pressured to throw in this subplot earlier than expected because they might not get another chance to end it the way they wanted to. Maybe Season 3 was confirmed late into the production run, and the writers would have reacted the same way Kanon did to the news, thinking it was already too late to scrap the plotline so they had to abruptly change the ending to keep her on. It's also telling that while S2 was released a year after the 1st, S3 took two years, probably to try to figure out how to dig themselves out of the hole they got themselves into. While the ending seems confused, that adjective describes Season 2 as a whole, and I know a lot of TV show seasons that end up feeling awkwardly paced because of the "Will we get renewed or not?" waiting game. Season 1 didn't have that problem because it was written as its own self-contained story with only the last episode left as an open-ended conclusion to set up the next season's theme. Many shows are best in their first season because they're written with the attitude of "We may not get another chance to tell more of the story so let's just do the best we can right now!"
This one is quite personal to me because Kanon is my absolute favourite character in the entire franchise, and admittedly, a lot of it is a result of her increased screentime allowing her to be more dynamic and multifaceted compared to the many Love Live characters that get one or two focus episodes and end up defined primarily by their character archetype. On my initial predictions list of which Superstar characters I'd like, I thought she'd be pretty low, but she genuinely surprised me. This girl, who initially stood still because she was afraid of failure, but who became so determined to overcome her own character flaws because she cared about other people that much. This girl, who in one scene is a crybaby afraid of a cute dress, yet in another scene perfectly and confidently manages to comfort Chisato even after getting initially rejected after a 12 hour boat trip with a big performance the next day, that was actually pretty inspirational to me. I actually noticed myself becoming more confident and willing to not hold back on trying new things after seeing her Season 1 character arc conclude while realizing like her, that while I was a pretty flawed person, that wasn't all I was. And while she took a lot of screentime in S1, her relationships still felt mutual. Everyone grew and overcame their anxieties together, and when her arc concluded at the end of Episode 11, it felt like she now saw the girl that everyone she helped and got help from along the way saw (it helped that the BGM framed it like a long journey's end from an adventure anime). It was where all the many pieces of the puzzle from her 10 episode arc came together in a beautiful way. Unfortunately, yeah, with S2 she ended up becoming the scapegoat for the season's messy writing just as Ren was for S1. I think the issues with her study abroad plot especially were that it felt like the show was rewarding her as an individual while glossing over the accomplishments of Liella as a whole, and this was reinforced by the entire season thematically building up to winning Love Live, but that subplot making the actual victory feel like an afterthought. It's hard to shake the impression of the writers stealing everyone's glory and giving it to Kanon, and it's telling that online polls showed many people were actually okay with the season until the Natsumi arc and these last two episodes. I feel like they intended to cap off her story with her going to Vienna, but maybe they weren't sure if they would get a S3 so they abruptly forced it in until they realized the show was continuing and backtracked? I don't know; I hope we get a Wha Happun? behind the scenes someday. In the end, Kanon will always be defined by her S1 story for me, and even a mediocre S2 doesn't take away from that. I'm glad you pointed out that everyone's character arcs were half baked in S2 while Kanon just happened to be the most visible character to blame for it. I'm hoping S3 can somehow leave a better lasting impression.
Honestly, I still like Kanon, as the mc. Also, please don't let the early episodes of season 1 be the only ones that give Keke focus, there's still family drama to explpore. On a different note, I didn't find Kanon had to much screen time, I see it more season 2 needed more episodes to actually cook. Like a 26 episode run would have probably done wonders, cause 26 is better for expanding a cast of 9 instead of 13 for a cast of 9. Basically cause I frustations of the writers just not following through on ideas. I still much dislike, only Sumire reacts to Keke possibly leaving, and nothing from Kanon, Ren and Chisato. Also if Kanon had been a spotlight hog, it would be her we have crying over Keke possibly being taken away, not Sumire. So Kanon not really a spotlight hog. And you said Keke would seem like a love interest in other series, but I find Kanon basically has subtext with everyone except Shiki by end of season 2, so not really Keke's position. So about this Keke backlash, do go on. You only got 2 more of gen 1 of Liella to talk about to complete the set, go on complete. :p
For the record Wien is pronounced "Ween", as she's named after the Austrian city of Vienna which is pronounced as such natively. As for the essay, I really do enjoy hearing this perspective on her. I never thought I'd hear someone provide any defense for the season 2 ending arc in any capacity, but I do get where you're coming from about it fitting her character's arc. My issue is that if they intended there to be a season 3, this arc was never meant to be a conclusion in any capacity which makes the idea of Kanon leaving an impossibility from the very getgo. I get the idea of Kanon leaving to follow her dreams, but I never got the feeling prior to Chisato being like "but this is what you've wanted to do all your life, this is your big chance!" that this was something Kanon was genuinely considering. If she was conflicted prior, I wish the show made that readily more apparent. I also have to disagree about the Natsumi recruitment being good for Kanon. I like that Kinako was the one getting involved with Natsumi as the one Kanon was primarily focused on passing the torch along to, especially given the themes of Love Live. The idea of people being better and stronger when they connect is something I've seen present in every Love Live story, and with the Superstar generations, they have a chance to show a passing of the torch from generation to generation. Kanon inspiring Kinako leading to Kinako inspiring Natsumi in turn could've been one of THE BEST SCENES in the entire series in my opinion. Anyway, ramble over, awesome job on this video, I really enjoyed it! :)
@@ghostvalkyrie5054 will fix her name pronunciation in future thanks for the info lol ^^ Should say I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, I don’t know if I articulated it well in the video but I was mainly looking at things here from a “ok if this is Kanon’s story what were they trying to do” angle. Honestly while I *get* what they were going for with Natsumi and the ending arc I don’t think either were done well for what you said I think in Season 3 they’re 100% going to try and actually give Kinako that moment and it’s going to fall flat because they wasted it the first time. I used to be a RWBY fan and that show was entirely “here’s shit we should have done like 3 seasons ago but wasted” and it’s a big part of why I stopped caring. Like I think there’s a difference between “this was planned set up and pay off” and “uh we should have done this but didn’t so now we’re doing it because people are complaining because our writing is shit” I don’t know if I said it well but I think what you said, with the ending arc being pointless because it was clearly never going to be an ending is honestly my biggest problem. I think if they fleshed it out and actually committed to Kanon leaving and let the status quo chang3 it would have fixed a lot of these problems, hell even if they didn’t build up to it better I think it would Kinako not getting the moment with Natsumi would annoy people still but I genuinely think it would make it good pay off if it was instead a building block to her doing it after Kanon is gone, maybe not the best, still would get why it would annoy some, but at least it would feel like, a story I guess? An arc? She isn’t able to do it the first time but in the absence of the one who did it before she grows to be able to it’d be like, a story at least? Whereas now it’s just, nothing. It’s not going to be as impactful as it could have been if the committed to it the first time like you said because nothing has changed In hindsight them not committing to Kanon leaving is my biggest problem with season 2, I think a lot of its problems are lessened if they did that if that makes sense? The POINT of a season 3 would be the group needing to function without their ace, both in talent and emotional support and I think that would make a compelling story but they introduce the idea hastily and spend the whole last episode teasing it before throwing it away and like, idk A lot of the stuff I talk about, and I tried to make this clear in the video but I think I kinda failed, I think works with the idea that she left in the end, I certainly think it was still flawed, like seriously they should have introduced the school thing before halfway through the 11th episode and had her seem like she cared more than “well this is an opportunity I guess?” But I think flawed stuff like Kinako and Chisato getting overshadowed by her genuinely could have worked if it *was* part of a larger story. Once she’s gone they’re the ones that need to step up, and I think they still could have had the impact you mentioned But love live can never change its status quo so Yeah here we are I knew they were never going to commit to the idea and the whole last episode any enjoyment I could have had was ruined because I was just waiting for them to drop the act, but the whole time between when the two eps first aired my mind was going “wait if they commit to this and still do a season 3 keeping this change that would work so well though” and like yeah I’m probably articulating awfully I’m sorry
@@AquaMarina369 one of these days I’m going to talk about Love Live as an idol property and what that means for its storytelling, cause I rarely see that discussed in context of Love Live. I think it’d make a great video essay
@@ghostvalkyrie5054 you should! It’s something I try to cover a lot Ultimately I feel like the needs of being an ad for idol groups holds most of the shows back, they can never commit really to anything outside a specifically mandated status quo and I think stuff like this shows where the series really struggles with it Idk if I’ll make it but I’ve been ruminating on the idea of a video about the Superstar 2 finale and how rather than my opinion improving overtime on the season like I’d hoped it’s just gotten worse It’s an awful episode that exists solely to build up to the shock value of the cliffhanger ending, but said ending is not a shock whatsoever because anyone with a vague idea of what these shows are would know they’d never actually be allowed to have a status quo change like Kanon leaving, no matter how much it would fit and benefit the character and story Rambling but I’d love to see that, it’s honestly something that’s bothered me a lot about the franchise. None of the shows, even the ones I like, ever feel like they can reach their full potential because of what they have to be Like I love SIP and it’s my favorite love live show and the one I think works the best but it’s REALLY obvious by the movie they’re struggling to work within the confines of what the franchise allows. That movie SCREAMS like it was conceptualized with a time skip in mind, even of just a couple months. But they were very clearly not allowed to show any of the characters in college/after high school so instead it’s just a story of “do we go back on this decision from a week ago” which even the characters admit they knew they were never going to lol
Great analysis. This video made me realize that what makes Superstar!! fall flat for me; the fact that it's Kanon's story and not the group's. Love Live! has always been about the group's story. Nine normal girls become incredible idols. SIP is Muse's story, Sunshine!! is Aqours' story, the NijiAnime is Nijigasaki's story... but Superstar!! is Kanon's story, not so much Liella!'s. It's so weird, especially when Nijigasaki isn't even meant to be a group but rather, solo idols in the same club, yet they feel like a more cohesive group. I'm deep into the Love Live! rabbithole, so I still love Liella!, but it very much is because of the voice actresses (shout out to Kumachan, we love a weirdo knowing she is one) and not so much the characters. I honestly cannot forgive the questionable writing decisions in Superstar!! (even in season 1, where there are only 5 members) when season 1 of Sunshine!! developed all 9 girls fantastically, even when Ruby and Hanamaru share an episode and Dia didn't get one (but you can very much see her develop throughout the season). T̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶2̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶S̶u̶n̶s̶h̶i̶n̶e̶!̶!̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶r̶e̶d̶i̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶f̶u̶m̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶i̶c̶.̶ To me, the single main character approach just does not work in Love Live!, not even from a capitalistic perspective. All girls being loved leads to more sales, a single one getting the attention while the other ones aren't as good or popular would just overall reduce sales, I think, especially when that popular character's items go out of stock. This should be obvious by the fact Niji remains the strongest group in Love Live! even now. Group has 12(+1) girls, all of them have gotten episodes in the anime (even if Kasumi and Setsuna's initial argument in season 1 is incredibly stupid, both Niji seasons overall are pretty solid). It also doesn't help Sunny Passion just feels kind of whatever when compared to A-RISE, Saint Snow and Lanzhu. I also want to compare this with something that might seem unrelated to my thoughts on Superstar!!: The Ensemble Stars!!'s Main Story. It's unnecessarily long while still feeling rushed, it's weirdly paced, it probably was like 5 episodes long in the anime, it's an actual 4/10- and yet, it's so charming and even gives us time for us to see the rival unit's side of things (because the actual unit that's supposed to be the big bad might as well not be there). It also has the charm of being 11 and just writing whatever comes to mind and being like "this is my cool plot with my cool characters and they win everything and they're the best". Reading "season 2" of that story, you can definitely see an increase in the quality of the writing. Point is... even in the midst of bad writing, I'm feeling a lack of charm in Superstar!!? (Though I also think Nijigasaki is not as charming as SIP and Sunshine!! are, but Niji is very good overall). I'm still in the process of reading Hasu's story, but I can already see why Hasu is so well liked; it focuses carefully in all its members. Though this may seem like an overall negative comment towards Superstar!!, I don't mean it that way, it's just incredibly frustrating to see the writers fumble one of the core things that make the franchise so loved. Love Live! would never be where it has managed to reach if it weren't because everyone in the group is so incredibly loved, Muse and Aqours being the main examples of that. Another thing (not related to my thoughts on the anime anymore) I'd like to add is that I think Superstar!! not having been involved prominently in a Love Live! game does hurt the bigger popularity Liella! could have. Muse were the OGs in SIF, by the time I started playing SIF around 2015-2017 Aqours had already been added to SIF, and needless to say, they were implemented well, Niji had their own game, Hasu has their own game... Liella! is missing out. SIF2 could have been a good game to let them grow further... if the game had been better (Love Live!, how the hell do you think of releasing an anime-rhythm game with gacha that doesn't have an interactive map or at least a decorative space where the idols can interact in this age?) Love Live!, as in, the companies involved in the Love Live! project, should begin to understand that they need to do something major unusual for the franchise for things to go upwards. Have not watched MyGO!!! yet, but I think it got so popular because the themes seem to be more serious when compared to the in-game stories in the Bandori game. Project Sekai, which started as a side project for the company behind BanG Dream, has been incredibly popular for a while now and one of the main reasons is Mizuki alone, a queer character. Also, iirc, the rights to BanG Dream where given to another company, AKA Project Sekai has gotten so big they don't have the need to maintain BanG Dream anymore. I really hope Love Live! takes an even riskier gamble than Hasunosora was. Introducing a CANONICALLY queer character would be great (me when money-hungry companies ignore terminally online Twitter users, not introducing a trans girl to Love Live! just feels like they do not want to become more popular. I've seen JAPANESE PEOPLE talk very excitedly about the possibility of Mizuki coming out in their/her next event. JAPANESE "conservative society" PEOPLE.) I'm sorry for the longass yapping, I just really love Love Live! and want to see it become better and more popular if they do something new (so they know they're doing something well), maybe even somehow have the popularity it had in like 2018 (who am I kidding, that would be the equivalent of Project Sekai's popularity nowadays lol). Great video as always and I'm already excited to see the analysis videos for season 3. Even if I myself don't enjoy Superstar!! as much, I do enjoy listening to/reading other's people's opinions on stuff I don't like as much to compare it to my own thoughts and review things I might have missed. This video actually made me want to rewatch Superstar!! as a whole, haha.
3:37 "In any other show, she'd be a love interest" oh maybe that's why I'm obsessed with KuuKaa LOL Great video! It was very interesting to see your take on the whole Kanon discussion. Kanon is still one of my favorite characters from Superstar and I'm glad this video can show so much of the good of her character. Let's hope for a great season 3!
on the point of kanon being a nicey nice two shoes in season 2, while i do think they show her to still have flaws and struggles, my personal issues with her writing and why i still feel like she comes off a bit too perfect now ultimately comes down to characterization. i still really like kanon and think she’s interesting on paper, but i think she honestly wouldve stuck a bit more for me if her general demeanor was a bit less consistently always nice and calm and if we maybe got a bit more edge from her if that makes sense? like again she has clear flaws but she doesnt feel as human or unique as she quite could because i feel like the writers were scared to make her more of a Failgirl lol. tl;dr we needed more grumpy glasses-and-bun kanon
when u suggested kanon actually leaving and setting up kinako to replace her i audibly GASPED it made so much sense!! her learning to take over the reigns, acting as a bridge for both 1st and 2nd gen, being kanon's ren's AND chiisato's successor at the same time.... big brains....
I love your channel so much!! I'm 16 and I just got into sailor moon--I'm not even _close_ to finishing the second season, but I'm so excited to see the beauty of this series. the dynamic between Sailor Neptune and Uranus seems to be portrayed with such care, which matters so much to me as a younger lesbian. Your commentary is spectacular and well-paced!
Nice update to your old vid Marina! I like this more nuanced take because, yeah the real world is way more complicated and people are more complicated, people don't fit in boxes. Great vid as always!
It's very telling how much Usagi loves Rei seeing as in that one particular Sailor Stars Episode of the original anime (spoilers) Rei is the last one of the Inners to go. Rei dies in Usagi's arms after explicitly protecting Usagi from Galaxia. When Ami, Makoto and Minako die Usagi begs them to not leave her, but when Rei dies it seems to finally sink in what happened to them and she's devastated.
Rei and Usagi's relationship is one of the best things about 90s Sailor Moon. While I don't want to disrespect the the OG manga Crystal suffered from losing that. It has no heart in comparison to the 90s adaptation imo.
Episode 11 was actually the first episode of Sailor Moon I ever saw, in the DiC dub. It just perfectly showcased what the series had to offer, and I became fully invested.
I knew about the hilariously heinous stuff LL fans were doing before I even knew what the series was about. I know anime fandoms can be pretty horrendous (then again, all fandoms can be - none are immune), but these people take it to a whole 'nother level. Even though I've made great friends who are avid LL fans, this stuff is why I get a little sus when someone has a LL pfp.
It is just so wild that the Love Live fandom has simultaniously the best and worst fans in the anime industry. I've yet to see this dichotomy repeat itself in other fandoms to this degree
I think to a degree it's common in every relatively big fandom, the crazy people always end up being a lot more vocal Love Live is especially crazy though with how many stories are out there 100% agree on that lol
Now THIS is a video I’ve been waiting for! I have to say, this one is really funny start to finish, but the funniest moment for me was at 2:10 when you accidentally referred to the Chika neso as “Chiko” LMAO
Thank you for encouraging me to make this one lol :p ^^ I didn't even notice I mispoke when I was recorded but decided to leave it in because it was funny lol
“They did the Kotori leaving arc…but worse!” I don’t think I can sum it up better than that direct quote. At least SOME parts of the Kotori leaving arc I find redeemable. This though? Nothing. I can’t think of a single redeeming quality, it’s just dumb.
I'm still proud of that summation so I'm glad you like it too lol :p ^^ I think since this video I've grown even more sour on this arc because I think the most redeemable thing is the core concept. Having Kanon make a choice to go out of her comfort zone to follow a dream in a way beyond what she ever could have imagined is a really fitting end for her character. Like the show starts with her failing to get into her "dream school's" music program and being ready to walk away from it all before realizing she couldn't live with herself if she did. Then because of taking that step she gets an opportunity bigger than she could have imagined! I think Chisato needing to kinda push/remind her also fits her character too But then they just, well they were never going to commit and the whole thing isn't setup or executed well and, yeah I hate it lol, I think I hate it even more than I did when I made this video lol
Ren forgetting what her mother said is the equivalent of an amnesia plot line, and it’s a shame because Ren had SO MUCH potential here. This could’ve been so much more powerful if Ren’s mom overworked herself being an idol and over exhaustion led her to getting sick and passing, cause then Ren would fear students overworking themselves and facing similar fates. What we got was thematically sound but the writing dropped the ball HARD imo, it was way too contrived for me to take it that seriously. Still, I genuinely like Ren a good deal, and having a dorky school idol pres was a fun change of pace, especially in her S2 episode. Sure, Dia has her dorky moments, but Ren feels like Genjitsu no Yohane Riko levels of dorky. It makes for a fun contrast between trying to be all responsible and being a total dork 90% of the time, which her S2 episode captures perfectly IMO. I’d even argue that’s the best Liella S2 Episode because of just how funny it is. But yeah, Ren has missed potential but I still love that dork nonetheless.
Yeah I think that's the big thing with Ren there's a lot that wasn't handled well but she's too damn likable to hate lol, agree on her ep being season 2's best lol There's definitely a lot of ways they could have handled her season 1 arc to make it less contrived lol. Like you said if her mom died from overworking herself, I think they even could have played into the angle that Ren is worried about the school her mom put so much work into starting's reputation being hurt by this weird band of misfit's trying to win an idol contest since like, between "bombed out of the music program by freezing on stage immediately Kanon, and everything about Sumire and Keke she kinda has the right to be concerned lol. Plus like there's a lot to explore in the fact that she was clearly grieving and not acting/thinking rationally which *is* there but they just didn't really deliver on it Rambling but agree with everything you said lol
I wish there had been a few more Usagi/Ami episodes before Rei was introduced. There's fifteen episodes between Rei and Makoto getting introduced, and eight or nine episodes later Minako gets introduced. I don't see why Ami got so little time before Rei was added compared to the others.
Rei actually was the writer's pet, and Ikuhara (Yes, Ikuhara same guy that created Utena) i believe had a crush on her. Some of the writers REALLY liked Rei, while Ami's later popularity comes from popularity polls and her being a role model for audiences. Theres a scene in the Princess Avademy episode where Rei dandes with a guy violently and he blushes, that's Ikuhara's self-insert, same hairstyle and everything he had when he was working on Sailor Moon
Why do all my fav girls fall into the background 1. Shizuku (although the first movie implies she’s gonna play a major role, THANK GOD) 2. Hanamaru 3. Kinako
Note Shizuku was basically forgotten in season 1. She did get some more relevance in season 2, but even then she was more or less a background character with just some more relevance I still won’t get over the gay furry fanfic she wrote though
Crystal definitely took liberties, they undermined the impact of Sailor Moon defeating Metalia by having her power not be questionable compared to her allies. Sailor Moon only ever defeated underlings and stopped (but didn't slay) Zoicite. Having the generals survive took away from showing the strength of the senshi and it feels like Takeuchi's humour didn't get adapted to being as funny on screen as it was in panel. Back to what your video is about imma drop a Dic dub quote: "I agree completely."
6:55 To be fair to Keke, there's this undertone of getting upstaged at one's own culture (i.e. Japanese girl is better than cooking Chinese food than girl from China) that would have been humiliating for her. Sure, we the audience know Sumire is genuinely trying to help her save the meal and cover up her mistake, but as someone of Chinese descent, I get her frustration. Unfortunately, a lot of anime treats Chinese characters as the butt of jokes for not properly assimilating into Japanese culture (which makes Keke as a character a breath of fresh air), and immigrants tend to carry that inferiority complex and desire to prove oneself as a result of such prejudices. But that does tie into what you said about Sumire coming off as unintentionally arrogant, and even a lighthearted foreshadowing of the much sadder moment where she threatens to quit because she thinks she's just letting everyone down. Both are moments where she shows she genuinely does care about others, but doesn't necessarily express it in the best way. Honestly, I really appreciate that they didn't take the easy route and magically had everyone get along after Sumire's introduction, because of course there's going to be conflict when you put flawed, impulsive teenage girls with attitude together. But after everything, they truly did feel like true friends, some of the strongest in the entire series.
