I haven't watched the ep that aired this week, but I am liking the episodes like Dia's where they focus more on the characters rather than the "story." Especially since they keep trying to make the story interesting by adding tension of "which event will they participate in???" when we all knew 10 seconds into opening the episode that they would end up doing both and everything would work out. The characters are the weakest point for me (especially since almost every single one of them has a clone in the original Love Live! And/or is not very unique otherwise) so strengthening them and making them seem more different like Dia is something I'm looking forward to.
I realize I'm usually overly critical of Love Live but I've been liking this season a little more than the original. I wish I had seen this one first so that I wouldn't be so bothered by the characters being similar!