Love Live! School idol project
26 Episodes + Movie
2013 (Season 1)
2014 (Season 2)
2015 (Movie)
Series Order
This does not include the OVA* or the ONA** episodes of this series as neither are included in the western releases nor are either required viewing (i.e. they are merely bonus episodes). Please also note that this entry does not include any of Love Live!’s spin-offs, such as Sunshine!!. They will be covered separately because they tackle a different cast and story.
Love Live! School idol project
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Love Live! School idol project 2nd Season
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Love Live! The School Idol Movie
Genre
Music; Comedy; Drama
Synopsis
Bizarre as it may seem, there are some people who love their schools! Some such people would be Honoka and her two friends. Unfortunately for them, their school is about to shut down; fortunately for the school, Honoka has a plan to save it. After seeing the popularity a rival school enjoys thanks to its school idol group, Honoka sees a future where she and her friends save their own school. Not that forming a school idol group is without its complications: they need outfits, music, lyrics, choreography, a club room to practice in, the ability to balance their school work and idol life, and of course the student council has to approve it. Although student council president Eli Ayase might be stubbornly rejecting every proposal they make, Honoka has the most crucial trait of a school idol: determination. It’s a good thing, too, because she’s gonna need a lot of it to get through the hard times ahead. How do you even get people to come to your first concert when nobody knows who you are, anyway?
Content Advisory
This is not a comprehensive list of every individual use of strong content, merely a guide to show you how extreme it gets and how strong it tends to be. Also, the tags I’ve given each segment (e.g. Very Strong Language) is based on my own system and does not necessarily reflect the tags the BBFC (or other national equivalent) use. According to my system, the ‘Mild’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Strong’ and ‘Very Strong’ adjectives are based on strength, not on volume. Now, obviously, the strength of any type of content is subjective; what I consider strong might just be a relaxing weekend for you. Hence, I have added an explanation for my decision to allow you to make your own informed decision.
Mild Sex References
Sometimes characters discuss breast size and one character gropes another’s breasts in a couple of scenes. That character calms down a little after season one. It’s all done over the clothes and for comic effect. No nudity is present.
Reasons to Watch
This is the difficult part. I don’t want you to see this entry as an oversized ‘DON’T WATCH THIS’ post. Equally, I don’t want to influence your opinion with a biased review – there’s a reason this website is called ‘Anime Insights’ and not ‘Anime Reviews’! In this section, I’m going to try to convey to you some of the reasons (in no particular order) that I’ve seen this series’ fans give for enjoying it!
Among the most famous and popular idol anime around. It is also considered to be one of the most polished in the genre.
Very good production values (i.e. very good artwork and animation) make it a visually enjoyable production, too.
The cute/fun factor the series has been praised for means it’s an easy watch, so it could be ideal for a gateway anime.
Barrier of Entry
Unsurprisingly, if you don’t like idols and/or idol anime, this is probably not for you. Although, I should hope you got that from the title!
May be overly dramatic in places for some.
The choice to use mostly 3D animation for the dances may not sit well with some viewers.
Music
Opening Themes
Bokura wa Ima no Naka de by μ’s (Season 1)
Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki by μ’s (Season 2)
Ending Themes
Susume→Tomorrow by μ’s (Season 1 Ep. 1)
Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru by μ’s (Season 1 Ep. 2-3, 6, 8, 10)
Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru by Pile, Yurika Kubo & Riho Iida (Season 1 Ep. 4)
Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru by Sora Tokui (Season 1 Ep. 5)
Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru by Yoshino Nanjō & Aina Kusuda (Season 1 Ep. 7)
Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru by Aya Uchida (Season 1 Ep. 9)
Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru by Emi Nitta (Season 1 Ep. 12)
Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki by μ’s (Season 2 Ep. 1)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by Yoshino Nanjō, Aina Kusuda & Sora Tokui (Season 2 Ep. 2)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by μ’s (Season 2 Ep. 3, 11)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by Sora Tokui (Season 2 Ep. 4)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by Riho Iida (Season 2 Ep. 5)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by Riho Iida, Pile & Yurika Kubo (Season 2 Ep. 6)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by Emi Nitta, Aya Uchida & Suzuko Mimori (Season 2 Ep. 7)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by Yoshino Nanjō, Pile & Aina Kusuda (Season 2 Ep. 8)
Snow halation by μ’s (Season 2 Ep. 9)
Donna Toki mo Zutto by Emi Nitta (Season 2 Ep. 10)
Bokura wa Ima no Naka de by μ’s (Season 2 Ep. 12)
Happy maker! by μ’s (Season 2 Ep. 13)
Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari by μ’s (Movie)
Hardcopy Notes
The film has not been released in the UK, so it would have to be imported. Australia’s releases are DVD Region 4 and Blu-Ray Region B and America’s standard edition release is Region A (it may also be Region B, but it’s a risk).
The UK DVD Collector’s Edition of season 1 does not include the English Dub, as it was released before the dub was announced. However, the re-release and the Blu-Ray Collector’s Edition does contain it. At this point, it’s more difficult to find the version without the dub!
Staff List
Animation Production: SUNRISE
Director: Takahiko Kyōgoku
Series Composition/Screenplay: Jukki Hanada
ADR Director: Tony Oliver
ADR Script: Caitlin Glass
Music Yoshiaki Fujisawa
Original Creators: Hajime Yatate & Sakurako Kimino
Animation Character Design: Asako Nishida & Yūhei Murota
Chief Animation Director: Asako Nishida (Season 1 + 2) & Yūhei Murota (Movie)
Art Director: Yukihiro Watanabe (Season 1), Yasunao Moriyasu (Season 2 + Movie) & Erika Okazaki (Movie)
Lead Voice Actors
Emi Nitta as Honoka Kōsaka
Aya Uchida as Kotori Minami
Suzuko Mimori as Umi Sonoda
Yurika Kubo as Hanayo Koizumi
Pile as Maki Nishikino
Riho Iida as Rin Hoshizora
Sora Tokui as Nico Yazawa
Yoshino Nanjō as Eli Ayase
Aina Kusuda as Nozomi Tōjō
Lead Voice Actors (Bang Zoom! Entertainment)
Marieve Herington as Honoka Kōsaka
Cristina Vee as Kotori Minami
Kira Buckland as Umi Sonoda
Xanthe Huynh as Hanayo Koizumi
Caitlin Glass as Maki Nishikino
Faye Mata as Rin Hoshizora
Erica Mendez as Nico Yazawa
Erica Lindbeck as Eli Ayase
Laura Post as Nozomi Tōjō
For Your Anime Dictionary
*OVA (sometimes also referred to as OAV) stands for Original Video Animation and is basically a straight-to-DVD episode. They tend to be fun self-contained episodes that have little to do with the main plot of the series, though there are many complete series that have been entirely made up of OVAs! Because they aren’t subjected to broadcast content restrictions, these can have more explicit content and any length they find suitable.
**ONA (or Original Net Animations) are episodes that are not broadcast on TV first, but instead debut on the internet via video-sharing sites (e.g. YouTube, NicoNico Douga, etc.) or Over-The-Top media services (e.g. Netflix, hulu). They tend to be short, low-budget productions with simplistic art-styles and a focus on comedy. Most are designed as fun accompaniments to a series, rather than continuations, but their actual quality and length can vary – some are even like full-length series!