The Favs 8: Love Live

With the Final Live being the end of Muse, since it is the final concert that the VAs are doing since their contract expires. I decided to give a proper send off and talk about this series in this Fav post.

It is my first idol anime. Although that does not make it for being a favorite. I have seen a lot of anime and I have a lot of shows that I deem as a favorite. Sometimes it is of a genre and sometimes I just enjoy it enough where I would label it a fav.  So, time to talk about a series whose character’s story has been told. It may be coming to an end, but more will be coming, with Love Live Sunshine this summer, but they will be the first and should be remembered as the ones that started it all. Without further ado, let’s get started.

The Plot:

With the discovery of their school being shut down, Honoka wants to find a way to save it. She believes that the school needs to gain attention to have more students enroll in their academy. To do this she believes School Idols could help gain the attention to draw students in. Along with the help of her friends, Kotori, and Umi (cough Waifu cough), they start the journey to form a group of idols to compete in the Love Live competition to save the school.

 

Info:

• Genre: Music, Slice of Life, Drama, Comedy
• Airdate: January 2013- March 2013 and April 2014-June 2014
• Length: 26 Episodes, 1 Movie
• Studio: Sunrise (Home of Idols, Mecha, and Gintama)
• Source: Music Franchise/ Music Videos
• Licensor: NIS America
• Sequel: Love Live Sunshine (Summer 2016)
• Dub: Yes (Music is not dubbed)

Last Viewing:

I did do a review of season one, season two, and the film. So, Season one was in February. Season two took a little longer, and that was in March. The film was in December. All in 2015 of course. I have yet to rewatch it. I was tempted to watch it dub, since that was recently released and I was rather curious. I hoped to do that before writing this post, but I did not get to it.

 

Why A Fav?

This one is a little tricky on why I would label it a Fav. Could I say because the idol waifu Umi is in it? No, because Kaede is in Idol Master Cinderella Girls and I do not like the show all too much.

I remember getting into this series way back when I was still new to blogging and twitter. Around February I was on twitter a bit more. Back when I hardly followed people, Nick’s Monday spam of Maki pics filled my TL. After wondering who she was, what series, ect, I learned it was Love Live. I did mention this was the first Idol series I watched. So although hesitant I gave it a shot.

I just liked it, I finished Season one in just a few days. The characters, besides Nico, were enjoyable. Some I liked more than others, Umi obviously, while others not so much. I just found it fun for when it was meant to be humor. But it kept that balance of being serious towards the end. Looking back on the review it was one reason why I really enjoyed the series. But this is only on season one that I have focused on.

Season two, well I have problems with. Towards the end however it made up for it. The movie on the other hand that really revived my faith that I lost in season two. Despite the fact that there were a lot of rocky moments that made me not like it or love it, I just do. The movie was what season two tried to do. It gave that sense that the story is over.

Preferred Method:

There is a dub as I said and I have not seen it at this time. If you have seen both I would be interested in your thoughts.

 

Love Live or IdolMaster?

Since this post does not have a Preferred Method and I saw it last year so I cannot do the Does it Hold category. Time to do something original for this post.

I only bring this up since both series, although deal with Idols, both have several similarities and a lot of differences. I will say although I like both, Love Live is getting a post and IdolMaster is not. Since these posts are called Favs, that probably answers that.

This could be taken into a much larger post.  But I will go a bit shorter. IdolMaster Cinderella Girls was just too serious for me. There were too few characters I liked, and even some I hated. I do not like saying hate, but it is true. The original IdolMaster I hold over Cinderella Girls. The reason for this is that it does not have all that melodrama that is constant in CG, it may have that drama towards the end, but it does not shove it in your face.

So, why Love Live over IdolMaster. IdolMaster introduces all the characters, over 13, at once. It then takes time to focus on the individual characters. Even then not all the characters get much focus after their individual episode. Love Live does it right, they are introduced a little slower, but not at once. Although some characters got proper development in the second season, I just like how they each get an equal amount of time to shine between the nine of them, versus the 13 fighting for the limelight. They both have characters I enjoy they have the light hearted-ness and touch of drama at the right time. But Love Live just makes it work a bit better with their characters, which I have said Characters can save a series from a bad plot, but they can also break a series if there bad despite how good the plot is.

What I don’t Like

Season 2, I just do not like it, and I have a great reason why.  Season one ended with them saving the school, despite not entering the Love Live. Season two it was more for them doing the Love Live just for fun. That motivation that made them go forward was just not there in season 2. Although it was known that the Third Years would be graduating it was not till the final few episodes were it gained that sense of urgency that was in season one. Because they decided to disband Muse, it brought season two back for urgency. Season two was not all bad, it gave a lot of character development to those that did not get much in season one. I just wish that sense of urgency that appeared at the end of the series was more important since the beginning. The ending as well, it just skipped the competition and was like “They Won, time skip one month.” Although it was not so bad, since they only had one other music group known in the series. The movie gave the proper closure than anything that season two did not really give.

Long story short, the problems are in the story for season two.

Wait, wait, I change it to Nico, just Nico.

Little Tidbits:

• Idol Waifu: Umi
• Best Girl: Secret, but if you want to know Top Five Love Live Best Girls
• Favorite Song: Start Dash (Season 1) or Sunny Day Song (Film)
• Favorite Outfit: Maid or The New York Dress for the song
• Favorite Episode: Either the Maid one or the one that made Nico likable remotely.

 

So, what are your thoughts on this series? Any reason for liking or not liking it? Any series of this genre you like more? Feel free to comment.

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As always I hope you enjoyed.

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Again, I hope you enjoyed and see you next time.

– Joe