Last time, Keke is trying to figure out her future. She returned to Shanghai as her older sister, Mengmeng, invited Liella to visit. Now, she asks Kanon and her friends to perform at the School Idol Festival that is happening there to save Keke. I wonder what she means by this.
Interestingly, we see a flashback of Keke during middle school. She is a top student in her class, but Keke’s life is all about studying and nothing else. It’s the reality that schools focus a lot on academics to prepare students for high school and, eventually, college entrance exams.
One day, on her way home, she eventually discovers school idols. When she was with her friend, she was so amazed by seeing Sunny Passion’s performance that she dropped her drink, and her friend had to catch it. After researching them, she eventually decided to study abroad in Japan to become a school idol. Of course, Keke must repay her parents for allowing her to study in Japan. From what Keke is saying, MengMeng means saving Keke as she wants her little sister to continue her dream of being a singer.
Besides the flashback, we know the whole shtick: Margarete gets upset over Kanon for caring more about Liella since they are their rivals. Tomari feels the same way; she wants validation that Natsumi will keep her promise. Of course, MengMeng believes they are part of the same group.
Still, I’m surprised they are still doing the “competing with Liella” thing. After all, they haven’t realized that there is one idol unit per school, meaning Margarete’s plan of winning Love Live in her separate idol unit doesn’t work out. The funny thing is that they eventually performed with the rest of Liella at the School Idol Festival.
As expected, Keke seems conflicted about what to tell her parents. Her older sister wants her to continue her dream, while her parents want her to attend college. Of course, Keke did her best preparing for the performance as Chisato decided to make the center this time, which makes sense.
As expected, Kanon ditched Margarete to talk to Keke as she found out that Keke was the center. Eventually, Keke revealed that she can’t speak to her parents about her future at a tea shop. Keke revealed that her parents allowed her to go to Japan to study abroad. Keke wants to repay them by giving them peace of mind and going to college, but she is concerned about how her older sister will react, and she can’t let her parents hang out any longer. Of course, Kanon wants Keke’s dream to continue, but Keke says this will be her last year.
Eventually, in the car with her parents and older sister, Keke said she was going to college. MengMeng feels down as Keke wants to give up her dream. Even the members of Liella notice something is off, especially Sumire, as Keke’s smile is rough. She already knew since she overheard it. Still, Sumire wants Keke to continue her dream of singing.
As expected, Kanon ran to Keke after MengMeng told her what happened and asked if this was okay. She knows Keke is lying but does not want to do this as she fears what her parents think. Understandably, she wants to make her parents happy, but Keke needs to do what makes her happy. It shows as Kanon shares her plans after high school, saying she plans to go to Vienna to study music.
With that, Kanon decides to perform on stage with Liella. As expected, Margarete seemed surprised, but she and Tomari went along with it. Is it a sign that Margarete will give up the rivalry to give an excellent performance with Keke, who is the center of it all? Eventually, Keke wants to continue her singing career, which is what she wanted to end for her parents.
In the end, Kanon seems happy that Liella could perform in Shanghai. That said, I kind of hope that Sumire would be more involved in getting Keke back to her dream. As expected, Kanon did that, which kind of stole Sumire’s thunder. The next episode will determine Margarete’s fate of having her separate idol group. From the looks of things, I think we will finally have a unified Liella and Margarete defrosting soon, and it’s about time, too.
Very happy for Keke embracing her calling thanks to her bestie and girlfriend showing her the way. That scene where Keke realized she had become what she always admired was so beautiful.
I will miss Mengmeng. She’s lovely.