The BEST episodes of Love Live! Sunshine!!
Every episode of Love Live! Sunshine!! ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Love Live! Sunshine!!!
The second term has started and the members of Aqours work harder than ever to save their school from being shut down.
#1 - Rainbow
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/21/2017
Mari gets word that the school open house has been postponed by a week due to road repairs, putting the event on the same day as the Love Live qualifiers. With their only way of attending both events seemingly foiled after a failed attempt at being chosen first to perform at Love Live, the girls are left with the tough decision of either choosing one event over the other or splitting their group between them. Thanks to a moment of inspiration from Chika, however, all the girls manage to perform at the qualifiers before using a monorail used for delivering mandarins to reach the open house on time.
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#2 - I Want to Shine!!
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/2/2016
Having been inspired by the school idol group μ's, Chika Takami, a second-year student at Uranohoshi Girls' Academy, tries to start her own School Idol Club. As Chika and her friend Yō Watanabe try to recruit members, she faces resistance from the student council president, Dia Kurosawa, who states she will not approve such a club. Later that day, Chika comes across a girl from Tokyo, explaining to her how she became inspired by μ's, who showed her how normal people could shine. Inspired by her story, the girl introduces herself as Riko Sakurauchi, a transfer student from Otonokizaka Academy, the same school μ's attended. After Yō decides to become the first new member of the School Idol Club, Riko transfers into Chika's class but declines her invitation to her club.
#3 - Two Girls' Feelings
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/23/2016
With the School Idol Club approved, Chika and the others begin cleaning up their new clubroom. Meanwhile, Dia's younger sister, Ruby, mentions to her friend Hanamaru Kunikida that Dia used to like school idols, but suddenly came to hate them, leading Ruby to feel that she should not like them either. After Hanamaru looking up school idols herself, she encourages Ruby to join the School Idol Club on a trial basis while keeping it a secret from Dia. As the girls practise running up some stairs, Hanamaru struggles to catch up with everyone, but encourages Ruby to focus on what she wants instead of always worrying about others. Afterwards, Hanamaru convinces Dia to listen to Ruby as she states her true wishes. As Ruby joins the club the next day, she notices Hanamaru's wish is also to become an idol and convinces her to join as well.
#4 - Young Dreamer
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/27/2016
As the girls decide to do something for the upcoming summer festival, Chika becomes curious as to why Kanan quit being an idol. While following Kanan on her morning run, the girls overhear an awkward conversation between her and Mari. The next day, as Kanan returns to school, Chika becomes sick of everyone arguing and tries to confront her, Dia, and Mari about what really happened. While Kanan remains defiant, Dia reveals to the others that during the Tokyo event, Kanan chose not to sing on purpose because she didn't want an injury Mari had to get worse by performing, further revealing that she quit being an idol to stop Mari squandering so many possibilities for her future. Hearing about all of this, Mari properly confronts Kanan, and the two finally manage to make up with each other, after which both of them become members of Aqours alongside Dia, who is revealed to be the one who came up with the group's name.
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#5 - Taking In a Dog
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/4/2017
Coming across a stray dog, Yoshiko, whose home doesn't allow pets, asks Riko to look after it. Despite Riko's fear of dogs, both she and Yoshiko grow attached to the dog, but inevitably have to return it to its rightful owner. Unwilling to accept the circumstances, Yoshiko stakes out the owner's house in the hopes of seeing the dog, with Riko deciding to accompany her. After getting to see the dog, Yoshiko accepts that it belongs with its owner while Riko manages to bridge the gap between her and Chika's dog.
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#6 - Don't Call Me Dia-san
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/28/2017
After passing the Love Live qualifiers, the girls realize that they are short on cash for their activities and start looking for ways to raise some money. Meanwhile, Dia becomes uneasy with how Kanan and Mari are close with the others and looks for ways to get more personal with them to no avail, even after some counseling with her third year friends. During a part-time job at the local aquarium, some children start making a ruckus until Dia steps in to calm them down. Once Kanan and Mari reveal to the others Dia's intentions, they approach her and reveal that they admire her mature, responsible self, and that she does not need to change for their sake.
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#8 - Aqours WAVE
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/11/2017
The girls learn that there are only 57 prospective students so far and the deadline for attaining 100 needed students will coincide with the regional qualifiers, which will be held at the same place from the last time. As Kanan reminisces about the special routine she developed two years ago that led to Mari's injury, Mari and Dia convince her to let Chika try it, as they have only one chance left at Love Live. Chika spends two weeks trying to learn the routine without success, until Kanan convinces her that she must give up on it should she not manage to do it the next morning. She then spends the entire night practicing, later joined by the rest of Aqours, who thank her for gathering them together. As the sun rises, Chika finally manages to perform the routine, which she does perfectly as they perform in the regional qualifiers.
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#9 - Catch the Transfer Student!
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/9/2016
Chika keeps trying to get Riko to join the School Idol Club, only to get rejected every time, while Dia shows a surprising amount of μ's knowledge. Hearing about Riko's struggles with piano playing, Chika and Yō take her scuba diving, where she learns to hear the sounds of the ocean. The next day, Riko decides to help Chika composes their music, encouraging her to write lyrics based on her love of idols. After listening to one of μ's' song's, Riko decides to take up Chika's offer and join her club.
#10 - Isn't It Frustrating?
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/20/2016
The girls are left stunned by St. Snow's performance, even though they failed to win, and the gap between them and the top school idols hits harder when they discover they ranked in last place with zero votes. After some harsh parting words from Seira and Ria, telling them not to treat Love Live like a game, the girls are greeted by Dia upon their return home. Dia explains that two years ago, she once formed a school idol unit alongside Mari and their friend Kanan Matsuura, but when they were invited to perform in Tokyo, the gap in talent left them unable to sing. The next morning, Chika lets out all her pent-up frustrations in front of Riko, with everyone remaining determined to continue being school idols and go beyond zero.
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#13 - Uranohoshi Girls' High School
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/16/2017
Following requests from some of the students, Mari agrees to hold a "school closing festival" for Uranohoshi. However, preparations are set back after Shiitake sneaks into the school and causes damage, so everyone stays up late to get things ready for the next day. As the festival gets underway, Chika checks out the various attractions, which includes her classmates arranging a balloon display for everyone. At the end of the festival, Mari almosts breaks down in tears of regret, but is cheered up by cheers of support for Aquors.
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#14 - HAKODATE
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/25/2017
The girls are invited to Hakodate to attend the Hokkaido Love Live regionals, where Saint Snow are competing. However, Saint Snow end up making a mistake in their performance and fail to qualify for the finals. The next day, the girls tour come across a restaurant where Leah and Sarah work, with Leah stating she no longer wants to be a school idol. Noticing that Leah had been crying, Ruby identifies with her fears they she will no longer be able to perform with their respective older sisters. After speaking with Dia, Ruby goes to see Leah and proposes that they both perform a song dedicated to Dia and Sarah as part of a Christmas festival.
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#15 - The Sound of Rain
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/14/2017
Given the task of recruiting a hundred prospective students by the end of the year to save the school, the girls split into groups to write new songs for the next Love Live qualifiers. However, the first and third years struggle to work together due to their differing taste in music genres. Feeling the trouble lies in the girls not knowing each other well enough, Dia tries having them do activities together, but that also leads of a conflict of different tastes. As the girls take shelter from the rain in a Buddhist temple, a leaky ceiling leads to a moment of inspiration, allowing them to bring their differences together and finish their song.
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#16 - Yohane Descends
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/30/2016
As Aquors try to figure out how to improve their idol ranking, Yoshiko Tsushima, who had been absent from school for a while, is struggling to put her chūnibyō habits of pretending she is a "fallen angel" behind her. Watching one of Yoshiko's videos as her persona, "Yohane", Chika decides to invite Yoshiko to join Aquors and have everyone act like fallen angels to increase their appeal. Although this identity gives them a boost in rankings, Dia promptly reminds them that it is only a temporary gain, leading Yoshiko to blame herself. Believing Yoshiko truly loves her persona, Chika once again extends her invitation to join Aquors, encouraging her to love herself for who she is.
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#17 - Aye Aye, My Friend!
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/10/2016
After Riko heads off for Tokyo for her recital, the others ask You to take her place alongside Chika in their dance routine. As the two practice together, Mari notices that You has been feeling jealous of Chika becoming close with Riko, encouraging her to be honest with Chika. Later, after You receives a call from Riko telling her how much Chika cares for her, Chika comes over, telling You to dance her own way rather than try to imitate Riko. The next day, Riko performs her recital while Aqours perform at the preliminaries, both managing to perform well.
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#18 - The Time We Have Left
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/18/2017
Aqours manages to qualify for the Love Live finals, but the school remains short of reaching its target, with Mari's father giving the girls until the next morning before the application page is shut down. Unable to do anything more than they already have, the girls stay overnight at school to watch the numbers until the last minute, only for it to fall just short at 98 applicants. With Uranohoshi's merger now a certainty, the girls, noticing Chika has been hit particularly hard by the result, decide to think over whether they should still perform at the Love Live finals now that they can no longer save the school. The next day, Chika remains in denial, but is encouraged by her classmates to win Love Live and immortalize Uranohoshi as part of its history.
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#19 - We've Got Stewshine
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 9/3/2016
With the arrival of summer vacation, the girls begin training at the beach in preparation for Love Live while also helping out at a run-down snack bar. Meanwhile, Chika overhears that Riko has been invited to a piano recital that takes place on the same day as the Love Live preliminaries. Alhough Riko tells her that she plans to do Love Live, Chika remains worried about it. After hearing Riko's piano playing for herself, Chika asks Riko to go to the recital, feeling she should also do what she wants to.
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#20 - It's Time to Fly
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/17/2016
Aqours qualifies for the Love Live regional qualifiers while Riko wins a trophy in her recital. Despite the popularity of the group, they discover that there are still no applicants for the school. Feeling there is still a large difference between them and μ's, the girls return to Tokyo to meet up with Riko and find out what made μ's so great. There, they meet up with Seira and Leah, who have also qualified for Love Live and state their determination to win. Afterwards, the girls visit Otonokizaka High School, where one of the students tells them that μ's chose to leave no records of their activities at the school. Thinking about these words, Chika comes to realize that μ's was great not because they aimed to be the best, but because they acted freely, feeling that Aqours should aim to do the same instead of just chasing after them.
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#21 - Let's Make a PV
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/6/2016
Mari informs Dia about plans to close Uranohoshi and merge with another high school due to lack of applicants. When Ruby tells the other about it, Chika decides to follow μ's' example and try to save their school. She decides to make a promotional video to attract applicants, but struggles to find some actual good things to say about their town. As Chika becomes determined to figure out an answer without relying on Mari, she learns that Dia used to love idols, but is stopped from inquiring further by Ruby. Later, as girls from all over town gather to clean up the beach, Riko inspires Chika to get their help in filming their promo video.
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#22 - First Step
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/16/2016
Mari Ohara, a third year student and newly assigned as the director of Uranohoshi Girls' Academy, states that if the girls can fill up the school gym with audience members, she will approve their School Idol Club. Realising that there aren't enough students in their school to fill the gym, the girls are forced to search outside the school to advertise their concert. While trying to come up with a name for their group, the girls stumble upon the name "Aqours" anonymously written on the beach and decide to use it. On the day of the concert, only a handful of students show up, but the girls perform their hearts out nonetheless. Just as a power outage occurs and all hope seems lost, a whole crowd of people, who heard about the concert through Chika's sister and friends, arrive at the gym, while Dia secretly hooks up a backup generator, allowing the concert to continue.
#24 - Sunshine!!
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/24/2016
As the girls keep practicing for the regional qualifiers, some of Chika's friends, having seen everyone's efforts, decide they want to become idols and help the school. Despite almost the entire school showing up to support, Riko reveals that the rules prevent them from joining the group on stage. As Aqours take the stage, they put on a pre-show performance about how they came to be formed and what makes their town so great before performing their song, during which Chika calls down everyone to join in.
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#25 - Next Step
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/7/2017
Despite not making it to the nationals, the girls become eager to enter the next Love Live! event taking place next spring. As the girls prepare to hold a concert at a school open house, Mari is perturbed by a phone call from her father, something Kanan and Dia are quick to pick up on. Mari eventually reveals to the others that, despite her attempts to overturn her father's decision, the school open house will be cancelled as it has been decided Uranohoshi High will officially stop accepting new students and be closed down. As Chika is initially hit hard by this news, she remains determined not to give up and make a miracle happen, a sentiment that is quickly met by the rest of Aqours.
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