Hello all! It’s been a while. This particular write-up is inspired by a particular friend of mine who thought that Maki and Rin joining µ’s was sudden and haphazard. The theme of “being honest with oneself” is scattered all throughout the first season of Love Live, but today we’ll just be looking at S1E4. This episode, as you know, is centered around Hanayo. She very clearly wants to join µ’s, but doesn’t believe that she’ll be a good fit due to her soft-spoken, timid nature. On first glance, it can be thought that Maki and Rin are more or less just supporting characters that push Hanayo to action. Closer examination shows that the episode reveals a lot more about Maki and Rin than we think.

So, before we talk about where the hints are, I’d like to revisit the reasons the two girls state they don’t want to join. The reasons are relevant, as they tie in to the hints.

As we see, Rin’s reason for refusing is that she doesn’t think she’s girly enough to be an idol. The reason she thinks this is the case is revealed shortly after, but that’s not important to this particular write-up. Next, we’ll look at Maki’s reason.

Maki is revealed to be the successor to a hospital. As a result, she believes her time to play around with music ends along with her entry to high school. Perhaps she’s convinced the curriculum will become more intense, or perhaps she’s using that as a front so she doesn’t have to say she feels embarrassed to try being a school idol. I will take the time to note that neither of the girls stated outright that they didn’t want to be school idols. Alright, now that we’ve done a quick review of their reasons for not joining, let’s look at the hints. I’ll be going in chronological order, following the episode.

Displays she has interest in µ’s. All I see is longing and regret Watches their live, dejectedly.

In the first screenshot, it’s shown that she does actually have interest in µ’s. The second caption follows directly after the screenshot where she states her music is over. All I can see is longing and regret, but the camera only stays on this view for a short time. She very quickly evades and steers the conversation towards Hanayo, taking herself out of the picture. Next, she shows that she actually has an emotional investment in µ’s. I believe that she’s trying to make a compromise. She believes she can’t join the group herself, but really does want to support the group. If she can convince Hanayo to join the group in her stead and support Hanayo, it’ll be easier for her to come to terms with her refusal to join. The final screenshot here shows Maki dejectedly watching the VOD of the performance. Her facial expression and eyes in the panels leading up to this one show a longing, desire, and maybe even a jealousy. She wants to be there, on stage, with them.

Coming up next, we are really only given one scene for Rin, but it’s powerful.

In this scene, we’re shown Rin trying on a girly dress. If you recall, the reason Rin did not want to join µ’s was that she didn’t think she was girly enough. She does however, want to support her friend, Hanayo. Hanayo had previously asked Rin to join with her, but Rin refused. Despite her refusal at the time, she was interested, interested enough to try a dress on to check if she had become girly enough to become an idol.

Other than the fact that both of the girls were emotionally invested enough to forcibly drag Hanayo to talk to µ’s, Maki shows that deep down inside, she’s proud that she wrote a song for the group. She’s proud about it! Despite previously stating that her music was over. Alright, so they’re both secretly interested in joining but refuse to admit it. Why then, are they able to join at the end?

My answer to that question is, emotions. For Rin’s case, it’s very clear that she can get carried away by her emotions. Plus, she deeply treasures Hanayo. That’s a huge influencing factor here in this scene. On the other hand, Maki is often seen as trying to be more calm and level-headed. I believe however, that an important and very cute part of her personality is how she too can get carried away by her emotions and flustered. In fact, a couple of panels later, she’s revealed to be crying. These strong emotions that both of these girls feel in tandem with Hanayo joining µ’s act as a bridge, allowing Rin and Maki to accept the invitation as it shortly follows.

In summary, though they initially refused due to various different reasons, the two actually did hold interest in µ’s. As they put effort forward to convince Hanayo to follow her desires and join the group, they were confronted by their own desires. Finally, the explosion of emotions at the end moved the two girls join µ’s themselves, despite their doubts.

I hope that this helps explain my position on the episode in a little more detail. I would be interested in hearing your position on the episode as well! Do you feel like these hints are adequate for the episode’s conclusion? Or do you feel like I’m stretching and extrapolating these scenes to mean things that they weren’t meant to? Let me know in the comments below or through any other contact channel that you have with me.

Ciao!

– Sephallia