Hi !! This is sort of a follow up to a post i did a few months ago, which i highly recommend you read and can be found here. i was really proud of how i expressed my feelings there but now that i've properly rewatched i'd like to talk about some more specific examples, one in particular.
This line (when Liella are working out how to practice best as 11) is so indicative of Superstar's priorities. The way they mirror the show's character-focused structure, and this season's in particular as pointed out by Kanon, illustrates the care the narrative takes with its characters as the same consideration the members show to each other. And tragically i do think that's why it has a lesser reputation compared to Love Live's first two seasons. It undeniably has problems; i will not tell you Superstar is perfectly paced, or even that it never bored me. Like Kanon mentions, it's not a perfectly flowing narrative. But even in that it takes that time for a reason.
i wasn't expecting to appreciate the plot turns i very much did not the first time. The ending of Season 2 really confused me and put me off on my first watch. The fact of Kanon's will-she won't-she about going to Austria resolved and then un-resolved again just frustrated me more than anything. It's still convoluted, and still tantalizingly close to an interesting new story thread, but leaving her friends–her new friends, her kouhai who depend on her–is completely out of character for the Kanon we know. Even though she made up her mind to push herself–and the narrative–to new places, neither her sole self-discovery nor that sense of narrative continuity is the point of Superstar at all. It's a story that instead values consideration for others and the presence to accept their reciprocation.
That's another thing i think i took for granted about Superstar originally. With Kanon at its mushy emotional center, idol-hood is treated as the effort to communicate sparkle to the people who support you more than anything. Giving back–that motivation, that support–is what makes an idol good. In the post-Sunshine tradition Liella isn't aiming for the top, they need to win to keep the group together. Their prime consideration isn't for being the best but for the people around them. And as well as that works for the narrative, it reminds me of my friends and comrades in idol fandom. i get the same feeling reading my oomfs gush over their oshis as i do seeing Liella give their all on the road to the stage. As performers, they're very intentional, even for idol standards; it shows in Kinako's graduation speech. It's all appreciation for that best time of her life, that Liella worked so hard to bring her (and everyone.)
In the end it's something like "Fun is hard work, but fun things are fun, and not just for you, so it's always worth it." That's the kind of sense i'll always appreciate being communicated to me, but especially at a time with as much real-life stress as all this. i've still been doing a writing project a week if you count my AO3 but, yeah, it's taken a lot to keep up with what i honestly see as my sparkle. Thank you for motivating me, Liella! You'll all always have a supporter in me !!