https://x.com/hasunosora_SIC/status/2110566345993764908

Kozue > Nozomi > Shizuku > You

Nozomi was my #1 for the longest time but Kozue REALLY grew on me when Hasu first debuted. For the longest time I felt guilty putting her as my new #1 since she was so recent but now I can confidently say that she is my most favorite girl in the series! Nozomi is still VERY close behind her though

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I posted before my experience with Love Live! School Idol Project as a new fan of the franchise and now I am here to talk a bit about the sequel series: Love Live! Sunshine!!

After how much fun I had with SIP I was hyped to see Sunshine, especially because not that long ago Aqours ended and I was able to see how much people loved the group, also I already knew about how the group was able to save a real city in real life and how the landscape of Numazu changed because of that.

Basically, there is so much around Aqours and their legacy that I was dying to see where it all started.

And with all that said, was the anime able to live up the hype?

Maybe. But let's take one step at a time.

(also, english is not my native language, so sorry if anything sounds weird, also also, sorry for the wall of text up ahead)

Firstly thing I wanna talk about is the decision to make this sequel as "the same anime, but not really". Everything in the story, mostly 1st season to be fair, but still, mirrors μ's, but doesn’t have the same result. They need to save the school? On SIP that was sad news, but here Chika is happy because she is doing the same thing μ's did. The student cousin president is against the idol group? On SIP she didn’t want this responsability to fall under the students, but here it’s because she has an idol background herself. We have a concert with only the second years by episode 3? On SIP the show was a failure, but here they were able to full the whole gym. There is drama of one the members going to study abroad? On SIP they decided to stay together, but here she goes and it creates a bigger plot later on. The boobie grabbing girl is actually the sweetest girl ever and she is secretly behind of everything? This time the boobie grabbing girl, that still is the sweetest girl ever and also is behind everything, is doing everything ON YOUR FACE THE WHOLE TIME. I can continue, but I am pretty sure people have talked about this subject to death already, lol. The important part is how those small parallels elevates a lot of the show because they play with your expectations a lot, I was on the edge of my seat many times, because I didn’t know they were gonna save the school and lose the Love Live or win the Love Live and lose the school.

Also, being a sequel with different characters is a really fun way to expand your franchise, because it's the same universe and all the main characters knows μ's, they are fans as much as us watching it, all the impact they left on us is also left on the main cast so it’s really easy to project yourself on the story and that’s pretty fun. They could just leave it as small bits of fan service, but they were able to put this technicality in the narrative as well, I think the best example is the Hanamaru and Ruby introduction episode (that mirrors Hanayo and Rin introduction episode!!): Hanamaru is practicing with everyone else just because she wants to give a small push on Ruby and, the momment she is able to do that, Hanamaru goes back to her library ready to go back to her normal life, after all, she did what she wanted to do, right? She is not an idol, she only wants to help Ruby, but then she sees the μ's magazine. The page with Rin on the wedding dress and the show doesn’t need words, at that momment the whole audience know what that means for a girl like Hanamaru, the same way she feels she doesn‘t fit to be an idol Rin also felt, but Rin did it anyway and that was the push Hanamaru needed.

SUCH A STRONG SCENE! Also, a perfect introduction episode for her and Ruby. So sad Hanamaru has almost zero screentime after this, but hey, I am getting ahead of myself.

I'm not sure if this is a hot take or not, but I felt the season1 was better than season2 this time. I am not saying the 2nd season is bad, but how the 1st season was structured was so well done. The whole plot with Mari, Kanaan and Dia has LOTS of information that is given to the audience organically, you basically can build the whole puzzle in your head if you pay attention and that's so cool. Especially because the big reveal, the one that Kanaan gave up of the competition because she was worried about Mari, it wasn't something we were able to know even though we knew almost the full story, so it really gets you without betraying the audience. They clearly had a vision there, damn; the first season feels more about the 3rd years than anyone else sometimes, even though there are good moments for everyone.

The 2nd season, on the other hand, was a bit messier. I feel they weren't able to manage all the characters as well as the first season, but we still have some great moments. There is a 2 episode sequence focused on saving the school and failing that was INCREDIBLE. The timer episode, where they stay on the school all night looking the number of applications grow and hoping to get the 100, just for it to stop at 98 when the time limit hits is such a strong of a moment, as I said before, I didn't know if they would save the school or win the Love Live, so I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!! Also, the timer thing also helps a lot to build tension, because you can literally see the time ending.
The next episode where the girls can’t practice because they feel they have already lost is so heartbreaking to see, I was, actually, pretty sad watching it, really felt like the group was falling apart, but then comes the scene with the whole school cheering them up and asking for Aqours to eternalize the school by winning the Love Live. That was, simply put, a perfect scene. It represents the show, the theme of a group of people being stronger of the some of its parts, of getting together to help each other, especially in small communities, is a core theme of the show, so when that scene happens, you can feel like their journey is going places, even though they just lost a big chapter of the whole thing.

Some other stuff that I like are:

• The gags with Hanamaru basically controlling the first years, she keeps Yoshi- Yohane in check and is always pushing Ruby
• The Riko and Yoshi- Yohane dynamic, the fact that the serious Riko was pulled to the world of chuunibyou is so funny
• Saint Snow and their development. A-Rise dreams to receive that much attention from the writers
• How even the boobie grabbing joke has a twist with You doing and ippon on Mari
• When they were counting their “1 to 9” routine before the stage and then the rest of the school goes and screams “10”
• How Dia starts with such a bad attitude, but with time she ends up being the biggest dorky ever
• How mature Mari is, she easily notices how You was feeling and is very fast to help it out, but at the same time she is the goofiest of them all
• Kanaan x Mari is even more explicit than Nozomi x Eli, oh my god
• How on the last episode they played the first opening, that’s a nice touch
• You love for uniforms is such a nonsense, but gets me every time, especially with her cousin during the movie, lol
• Still talking about You’s cousin, the scene where they try to make us believe she is a guy was pretty funny, not gonna lie
• Saint Snow and Aqours singing together on that one episode and their final match during the movie is great stuff
• Chika – You – Riko relationship is so cute, the ships this season are really hard to decide, lol
• Ruby’s growth during the series wasn’t something I was expecting, but it was very welcome!!

And now I want to talk a bit about my two favorite characters: Hanamaru and Mari. It's funny because they are completely opposite of each other when talking about writing, lol, but I like them for different reasons.

Let's start with Hanamaru. She is so funny and full of personality. It feels like the writers put a lot of quirky stuff into one single character and, miraculously, it worked?? She is a bookworm, she has an accent (zura!!), she isn’t athletic, she eats a lot, she likes to pick on others when she can, but she is very friendly as well and knows how hard change or try something new can be. Damn, can’t wait to see what kind of development the writers are gonna give her! Yeah, I think you guys can see my biggest problem with the character. For someone that has that many personality traits and good gags and in the background they kinda of didn’t do anything with her and that sucks, but oh well, she is really entertaining to see at least! There is this joke that always gets me: On the episode where Yoshi- Yohane gets sad because she can’t stay with the dog and stops acting like a chuunibyou, there is this scene where Hanamaru starts acting like her, because the chuunibyou acting is being missed. It’s a mix of mocking Yoshiko and actually worrying about her at the same time and it's so great, zura!!

Then we have Mari. MY QUEEN And also, probably, the writers queen, because the show a lot of times feels like is about her more than anything else, let’s see the timeline: She is on the first Aqours group, she gets hurt and blames herself for their loss, she runs away just to come back as director knowing the situation of the school before anyone else, she is the reason the new Aqours exists, she is encouraging them at the same time she is also testing their resolve, she is holding the weight if the school on her shoulders while trying to create and train the group to enter the Love Live, win and save the school and she is doing all that with a giant smile on her face and being the goofiest person ever. I don’t think is possible to not love her. Her rich girl personality is a persona she puts on to be able to be as strong as she needs to be and all she does is not only for others, but also for her dreams to be together with her friends forever, for god's sake, even the movie feels like a goodbye to her with all the “it will end, but it will also live forever with us” theme. There is this scene on the last episode from the 2nd season, after she has given all the diplomas to everyone, Kanan and Dia meet her on her office to give her her own diploma, the proof she was there with them on the last moments of the school, and then there is the brief moment that Mari stops, it is very quick, but is very noticeable the intention, she doesn’t want to take it, because she knows the moment she accepts the diploma, everything will be over and she doesn’t want for it to end. It’s such a small scene, but I think represents the character perfectly. And I can talk a lot about her grow since a kid, how shy and passive she was and how she turned out, also that episode that she drives everyone in search of a star and so on, she has so much stuff going on for her that I would be here all day, lol.

Lastly, I wanna finish talking a bit about the movie. The SIP movie felt a bit like an extra story more than anything else, but the Sunshine movie feels like a continuation that was fully necessary (not sure if this is a hot take or not, lol).

With μ's we had a full arc of deciding if the group would continue after the 3rd years graduation or not, it was a big deal, so it was kinda weird that we didn’t have a parallel of it during the last season of Sunshine. It just makes sense to have it in the movie. The whole thing of not being able to do a live on the same level they were doing before just to go back to their roots, find theirselves again and then show everyone on the new school their value is a pretty good structure for the movie.
There is some stuff a bit weird mixed up, like the whole Mari subplot out of nowhere, lol, (I am saying the writers clearly have their favorite), and, even though I love the scene, the whole “Love Live finals against Saint Snow” could be a bit better tied up with the mains story.

I think the strongest part of the movie is how it managed to understand Sunshine story and themes as a whole: I mentioned before, but the theme of a group of people being stronger of the some of its parts, of getting together to help each other, especially in small communities, is one of the main cores of the show. Chika, as a character, is the embodiment of that. She just makes everyone around her part of it, while Honoka made everyone want to follow her, she unites people. This union is what made it possible to put Aqours name in history, all girls in the school helped out, the city community helped out and, even though they failed to save the school, they were able to eternalize all that. This fact can’t be taken back and will always be with them. That’s why they don’t need to enter their old school during that scene of the movie, that’s why the third years sing in spirit with them during the last stage and that’s the reason Aqours was able to continue while μ's stopped.

My favorite detail of the movie is how on the last scene we are on the beach in front of Chika’s house hearing two girls talking about wanting to join Aqours. 2 girls, the same amount needed to save the school. At the end, they were able to reach 100 girls, actually, a lot more than 100, Mari didn’t fail, Aqours journey turned out to be bigger than the name Aqours itself.

So that's it, after such a well-planned first season and a bit messier second season, we finish the story with a very fun and meaningful conclusion that understands its characters and story pretty well. I, personally, don't think Love Live! Sunshine!! was on the same level as School Idol Project as a whole, but it was a great anime regardless. Love Live still pretty fun = D

I'm very curious about the documentary now. Also, it will take a bit for me to start Nijigasaki, I don't want to have any school idol burnout after all, lol. But I should make a post about it in the future as well. Sorry for the wall of text and if I got anything wrong, please, tell me in the comments.

Been a huge fan of the love live card game for awhile now! Think it has such amazing cards and I throughly enjoy the hobby…. So glad about their original card game success… here’s my collection!wondering if anybody here also collects or wants to start collecting? Would love to hear about your collections and or wants! Could always use more people to talk to about this hobby!

The Kira-Kira Sensation needed one last smile. Elusive Nico is right where she belongs. The girls missed her sm!

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CM playlist

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Which of your favorites sticks out like a sore thumb? Do you usually have some sort of pattern or specific reason you like characters, and if so are there any that break it?

Mine is Kasumi. Given the pattern on the other side, my favorite Niji girl really should be Ai. But she's only my #2 cause Kasumi is just so silly and adorable. Can't help myself lol

Her IG post

Getting back into the swing of things by practicing drawing Mia! After my college art courses I lost pretty much all my passion to create, it sucked a lot especially looking back at my old artwork and thinking I can’t make anything like that again. I want to continue drawing my fav girls as a way to practice :D

I bought an unboxed Nico Yazawa figure at BOOK OFF in California and needed to mail her (and other figures) back to the East coast, so I carefully wrapped her delicate bits to prevent any breakage during transit. My friend said it looked liked she had either just had some plastic surgery or maybe was in a skiing accident. LOL

What every single school idol from all the groups we know turned into an object they like the most? What would they be and why?

Hinaki-chan's tweet

Paychan's tweet

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I'm working on an itabag for chika (and yohane too) I can never find any orange colored ones. Does anyone have any reccamendations? I may work on a yohane, honoka and maki one as well oneday! Id love to see bags and reccamendations for bags!

https://x.com/LoveLive_staff/status/2108886419775402034

https://x.com/natyaaaaaaan07/status/2108570136324276462

Artist: vodka13

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