Love Live! Nijigasaki 2.3: QU4RTZ Unity

The last episode hinted at the anime telling stories about the formation of the NijiGaku sub-groups/units. The first one was QU4RTZ. Peeps in the comments last time brought them up so no point avoiding their names throughout my coverage.

We began with the four girls in question training and discussing their performance. Problem was they couldn’t agree on an idea. Rina suggested they hold four training camps. It’s actually four sleepovers at each girl’s house where the host shared her idea and the group discussed it.

First night was at Kasumin’s who, as always, focused on cuteness and prepared outfits for everyone. They appreciated the thought but no good. As a bonus we got to see Kid Kasu-Kasu. Very cute indeed.

Next night was at Kanata’s. Her idea featured a sleeping theme. Makes sense with her being the sleepy beauty of the group. As a bonus we were not only treated to the return of Haruka but learned where they got their good looks from. And add another member to the growing elite super group that is Mama Live.

We resumed Yu’s side-quest. Her next assignment was to compose a song. She had trouble thinking one up but got some advice from the still socially awkward Mia who said to think about who the the song was for. For example, if the song was for the teacher’s assignment then focus on composing one she’d want her to hear. More on this in a bit.

Back to QU4RTZ. Night 3 was at Rina’s. Her idea was to find a common interest among the four. One of Emma’s answers was lovely. However, that too was a bust. Kasumin made a good point when she said the focus shouldn’t be just on impressing Lanzhu but creating a song they and fans could enjoy.

Felt like mentioning how beautiful Yu looks with her hair down.

So clearly QU4RTZ weren’t the only ones in a slump. Ayumu noticed Yu feeling down too and it’s nice seeing everyone IMMEDIATELY stop what they’re doing to help their queen. She told them about Mia’s tip and they said to instead focus on composing a song she herself would be proud of. Whether it was good or not if the passion in the song could be felt that’s more than enough. She said it might be a bit tough because compared to her wonderful harem she thought there wasn’t anything special about herself. They were like “Babe. There’s a reason why we approve a certain Twitter page dedicated to drawing art of your making love to each of us multiple times. You’re plenty special.” While surprised she thanked her sweeties for their undying love.

Let’s wrap up QU4RTZ’ origin story. Night 4 was at Emma’s. They thought about Queen Yu’s dilemma and could relate. They could understand others but maybe not so much themselves. Thus they shared observations of each other. Behind Kasumin’s love of cuteness was someone who wanted everyone to shine as brightly as herself. The sleepy beauty Kanata was quite the mature woman and motherly figure to the point they thought Haruka had two moms. Emma looked chill and cheerful but was very proactive in her actions. Karin certainly knew that. Lastly was Rina who had leadership potential. The meetings were her idea after all. It is through this experience they learned to better understand each other and strengthen their bond.

Huh. Most QU4RTZ art had them wearing white. Nice twist of them debuting in red.

I mentioned Mia earlier but Shioriko and Lanzhu had interesting scenes too. When asked her thoughts about school idols during a student council meeting Shioriko didn’t really answer it. Later Lanzhu approached her to discuss her own performances and SIF 2. Lanzhu hoped she’d come to her next show. After QU4RTZ’ performance she admitted they’re good but they didn’t change her mind (yet). She had her own goal. We’ll learn what it is sooner or later.

During the credits we got to see Yu take the test. I didn’t recognize what it was an instrumental of but I’m sure it’ll come up again later in the show. It had a lovely beat. Even Mia gave her a “Huh. Not bad.” reaction.

Before we end another great episode I of course must bring up Emma, Karin and Miss Ai’s scene. Emma told Karin about her 4 night sleepover and that she wouldn’t be able to wake her up for a while. Karin was like “It’s cool honey. Go practice with the team. I’ll be alright”. Emma left and Miss Ai showed up doing her thing. Karin’s like “Ai. Please be my alarm clock for a few days”. Next time looks like we’re getting Diver Diva’s origin. Based on the preview it’ll be most interesting.