Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-24187738-20170416093415/@comment-31861990-20170429000542

As the season of Sunshine went on my choice of best girl became only clearer by the episode. Riko began the series as a transfer student with little to no self-confidence, which resonated with me as I was very similar when I was younger. From this point on, most things that Riko does is because of the determination demonstrated by Chika which I was able to see and connect to my life where I was always an, almost, reclusive person like Maki at the beginning of season 1. This allowed me to connect to Riko as she was set on denying Chika and did on multiple occasions until eventually giving in when Chika told Riko that being an idol could help with her self-discovery and finding what matters to her. Then from here on I always kept it in mind that Riko started in a position quite like myself so as I watched the series I felt that Riko was an inspiration after watching her develop and grow accustomed to the community around her and as she begins to feel comfortable with those around her and those in Aquors.

At this point, I was already invested in Riko both as a character and as a concept because of how I felt she was similar to me at that point in my life but then we get to just before the Love Live! preliminaries and Riko decides to decline the piano competition because she was ready to perform with Aquors and didn’t want to let them down but Chika tells Riko to enter, and what happens next made me realise how similar Riko’s character was to my own personality, then Riko replies with “You don’t want me in the group anymore do you?” and this one sentence which may not seem like much but it hit me like a truck because it made me realise how our nature of second guessing what is said about us and jumping to conclusions leaves us with many doubts about ourselves and those around us. This was probably quite a deep thought about the ending scene of an episode but this ending really caught me off-guard, also with the final part of Chika telling Riko that she needs to find out what is important to her now and whether the piano is just as important as it used to be. At this point, I was close to tears and realised that Riko was, to me, the best character in the show by a long shot.

In conclusion, Riko is my favourite member of Aquors because of how I can relate and connect with her attitude, past and development throughout the season which all allowed me to become attached and truly feel for her as a character and truly look forward to the future; season 2 and beyond.

Email: [mailto:kp50352@gmail.com kp50352@gmail.com]