TOKIMEKI Runners (The Place Where the Rainbow Begins)

The Place Where the Rainbow Begins (虹が始まる場所) is the eighth episode of the ''Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Season 2'' anime series. It aired on May 21, 2022.

Cast

 * Hinaki Yano as Yu Takasaki
 * Aguri Onishi as Ayumu Uehara
 * Mayu Sagara as Kasumi Nakasu
 * Kaori Maeda as Shizuku Osaka
 * Miyu Kubota as Karin Asaka
 * Natsumi Murakami as Ai Miyashita
 * Akari Kito as Kanata Konoe
 * Tomori Kusunoki as Setsuna Yuki
 * Maria Sashide as Emma Verde
 * Chiemi Tanaka as Rina Tennoji
 * Moeka Koizumi as Shioriko Mifune
 * Shu Uchida as Mia Taylor
 * Akina Homoto as Lanzhu Zhong

Trivia

 * This episode...
 * Marks the first animated appearance of Shizuku Osaka's mother.
 * During Yu's piano piece before TOKIMEKI Runners, lightsticks can be seen in white, red and green. This is most likely a reference to R3BIRTH.

Callbacks to previous Love Live! Series

 * To Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club First Live with You!:
 * One of the two still shots during the TOKIMEKI Runners sequence is identical to the concert's Blu-ray Memorial BOX art.
 * To Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club 3rd Live! School Idol Festival ~Yume no Hajimari~:
 * Yu Takasaki performs the piano segment of TOKIMEKI Runners, much like her voice actress did with Yume ga Koko Kara Hajimaru yo.
 * Shioriko Mifune serves as a spectator for the School Idol Club's performance, much like how her voice actress did in the concert's second day.
 * Two girls were seen doing a play similar to that of Solitude Rain's pre-PV act.
 * This is the third time in the Love Live! series where a group's first single is performed in the anime, with it being TOKIMEKI Runners.
 * The appearance of Niji High Express is based on the outfit of Nijiiro Passions!.