Love Live!
School Idol Project is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine, music label Lantis, and animation studio Sunrise. The project revolves around a group of nine schoolgirl friends who become idols in order to save their school from shutting down. It launched in the August 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, and went on to produce music CDs, anime music videos, two manga adaptations, and video games.
A 13-episode anime television series produced by Sunrise, directed by Takahiko Kyōgoku, and written by Jukki Hanada aired in Japan between January and March 2013, with a second season airing between April and June 2014. Both anime series and film are licensed in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand by NIS America, MVM Entertainment and Madman Entertainment, respectively. An animated film titled Love Live! The School Idol Movie was distributed by Shochiku and released in June 2015. A follow-up project focusing on a new set of idols, titled Love Live! Sunshine!!, launched in 2015.
Plot
Honoka Kōsaka is a girl who attends Otonokizaka Academy. When the school is scheduled to be closed due to a lack of applicants, Honoka becomes determined to save it. Honoka goes to UTX, where her little sister planned to go for high school, and sees a crowd watching a music video of A-Rise, UTX's school idol group. Learning that school idols are popular, Honoka and her friends follow A-Rise's footsteps and start their own school idol group called μ's to attract new students. Once they successfully prevent Otonokizaka Academy from closing, the girls from μ's set their sights higher. They participate in Love Live, the ultimate school idol competition featuring the best groups in the country. Despite winning the competition, the girls from μ's disband soon after for their own personal reasons, and because the third-years are graduating.Characters
Where appropriate, plot descriptions mentioned below refer to the anime television series. Other parts of the franchise, such as the manga and novel series, feature some variations in the storyline.μ's
;Honoka Kōsaka;Kotori Minami
;Umi Sonoda
;Hanayo Koizumi
;Rin Hoshizora
;Maki Nishikino
;Nico Yazawa
;Nozomi Tojo
;Eli Ayase
Others
- Yukiho Kōsaka is Honoka's younger sister who often does embarrassing things in private. A 3rd year middle school student at the start of the series, she eventually enters Otonokizaka, heading the Idol Research Club by the end of the series, when all members of μ's have graduated.
- Alisa Ayase is Eli's younger sister who is a big fan of μ's. Having mostly lived abroad due to her being part-Russian, she is unfamiliar with many Japanese customs. Like her sister, she tends to say the Russian word "хорошо" which means "good". She is very close friends with Yukiho, the two entering Otonokizaka together after middle school. She, alongside Yukiho, is seen heading the Idol Research Club at the end of the series.
- Tsubasa Kira is the leader of rival group A-Rise and is a student at UTX High School.
- Erena Toudou is a member of A-Rise with a more adult look than the others and is a student at UTX High School.
- Anju Yuuki is a member of A-Rise with a princess-like demeanor and is a student at UTX High School.
Production
Starting in August 2010, online mobile phone popularity contests have periodically been held to rank the characters, which influences the positions of the idols in the anime music videos produced by Sunrise. For example, the idol who ranks first in a given contest will be in the center position in the front row in the music video that follows. Other polls are used to determine different aspects of the idols, such as hairstyles and costumes. Starting with the November 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, readers were polled to determine the name of the idols' group. After the editors narrowed it down to the five most popular names, readers were polled for a final time, ultimately choosing the name μ's. A similar polling system was used to determine the names of the three subunits: Printemps, BiBi and Lily White.
Media
Print media
A manga adaptation titled Love Live!, written by Sakurako Kimino and illustrated by Arumi Tokita, began serialization in the January 2012 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine. The manga ended serialization in the magazine's May 2014 issue and was transferred to Dengeki G's Comic starting with the June 2014 issue. The first tankōbon volume was released on September 27, 2012, and three volumes have been released as of May 27, 2014. The second manga titled Love Live! School Idol Diary, written by Kimino and illustrated by Masaru Oda, began serialization in the June 2014 issue of Dengeki G's Comic. The first volume of School Idol Diary was released on September 26, 2014.A light novel series titled Love Live! School Idol Diary is written by Kimino and contains illustrations by Yūhei Murota, Natsu Otono and Akame Kiyose. ASCII Media Works published 11 volumes between May 30, 2013 and August 29, 2014. A fan book titled History of Love Live! was released on September 10, 2014, which features the Love Live! articles published between the July 2010 and February 2013 issues of Dengeki G's Magazine.
Anime
A 13-episode anime television series produced by Sunrise, directed by Takahiko Kyōgoku, and written by Jukki Hanada aired in Japan on Tokyo MX from January 6 to March 31, 2013 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Bokura wa Ima no Naka de", while the ending theme is "Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru"; both are performed by μ's. An original video animation episode was released on November 27, 2013. A second season aired on Tokyo MX from April 6 to June 29, 2014, also airing on TV Aichi, Yomiuri TV, and BS11, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki", while the ending theme is "Donna Toki mo Zutto"; both are performed by μ's. An animated film titled Love Live! The School Idol Movie was released in theaters on June 13, 2015. It was released on Blu-ray in Japan on December 15, 2015. A second film, Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow, was released in Japan on January 4, 2019.Both anime series and the first film are licensed in North America by NIS America, who released the premium edition of the first season on Blu-ray on September 2, 2014 and an English dubbed version was released with the standard edition of the first season, along with the premium edition of the second season, on February 14, 2016, as well as the standard edition of the second season on April 12, 2016. The series also began airing on Mnet America from February 5, 2016. The film was released in North America by NIS America on June 28, 2016 in a premium edition, and July 26, 2016 in a standard edition, both with an English dub. MVM Entertainment released the first series in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2015 on DVD, with plans to release it on Blu-ray Disc in 2016 with an English dub. MVM Entertainment also released the second series in 2016. Madman Entertainment released the first season in Australia and New Zealand on June 10, 2015 on DVD.
Video games
A free-to-play game titled Love Live! School Idol Festival as developed by KLab and released by Bushiroad for iOS devices in Japan on April 15, 2013. The game is a collectible card game with elements of rhythm game and visual novel genres. A version for Android was also released. The game was localized into English and released worldwide on May 11, 2014 for both iOS and Android devices, and also received localizations available in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. At the end of September 2016, the English version of the game added Korean support due to merging between the two servers. A new game titled Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars, which also features members of Aqours as well as a new set of characters from Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, was released on September 26, 2019 in Japan. The game released globally on February 25, 2020 with support in Thai, Korean, traditional Chinese, and English.A series of three rhythm-action video games developed by Dingo Inc., titled Love Live! School Idol Paradise, were released on August 28, 2014 for the PlayStation Vita. The three games were released as Vol. 1 Printemps, Vol.2 BiBi and Vol.3 Lily White. These games sold 88,169 physical retail copies altogether within the first week of release in Japan.
Rin Hoshizora became the new face of the Puyo Puyo games in 2015 as part of a campaign by Sega to market the popularity of the anime by giving her a place on all of their current franchises. A mobile gamed titled Puchiguru Love Live! revolves around the mini-stuffed dolls sold resembling the characters. It was released on April 24, 2018 for Android and iOS, and was shut down on May 31, 2019.
Discography
Aside from individual and duet singles, the nine idols of μ's are divided into three mini units with their own singles themselves: Printemps, BiBi, and Lily White . Seven of μ's' singles include an anime music video.Some titles containing English words which are officially stylized in unusual title case are rendered below in normal title case.
| Title | Artist | Release date | Peak Oricon chart positions | Notes |
| Love Live Radio Kagai Katsudō: Nicorinpana Theme Song DJCD | Nico Yazawa, Rin Hoshizora and Hanayo Koizumi | October 17, 2012 | 73 | Theme song from the Love Live! µ's Public Relations Department ~NicoRinPana~ radio program |
Reception
had two editors review the first season in 2013: Carl Kimlinger reviewed the first six episodes of the series, finding fault in some of the characters lacking depth and the use of 3D animation in the dancing scenes, but praised director Takahiko Kyōgoku for his use of visuals and for giving a realistic approach to idol groups. Rebecca Silverman reviewed the latter half of the series, criticizing the 3D animation and the characters not breaking stereotypes but found it enjoyable because of its charm and offering viewers some characters they will like, concluding with, "When you're feeling down, give this a watch, because if nothing else, Love Live! has its heart in the right place and only seems to want us to smile." Silverman reviewed the second season in 2014, commenting on its tendencies to get melodramatic and lack of equal attention to the main cast, but praised it for fixing the problems she found in the first season and providing genuine emotion from its characters, saying that "it is a lot of fun and one of the most enjoyable entries into the idol genre, a position it solidifies with this second season."In 2014, Love Live! won the Anime Work Award in the 19th Animation Kobe Awards, an annual anime event in Kobe, Japan. In 2015, μ's won The Best Singing award in the 9th Seiyu Awards. μ's ranked No. 8 among Oricon's best-selling artists of 2015. The group sold over 800,000 music CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs for over ¥3.15 billion. This is the first time μ's has reached the top 10 in the annual list of best-selling artists. In 2013, μ's was ranked at No. 64, and was ranked at No. 13 in 2014. μ's was ranked No. 10 among Oricon's best-selling artists of 2016, earning about ¥2.54 billion in 2016. μ's is the only female idol group from anime that ranked No. 10 among the top 15 Nikkei Entertainment's Girls Group Ranking in 2016.
Love Live! was ranked No. 1 in top-selling media franchises in Japan for 2016 and ranked No. 4 in 2015. The franchise earned over ¥8 billion in 2016 and over ¥5 billion in 2015. This includes the raw yen totals of Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, music CDs, novels, and manga, but not video games, film tickets, digital downloads, and other forms of media sales. In 2013, physical media sales generated in Japan. DVD and Blu-ray sales of the anime's second season in 2014 sold in Japan. The franchise's physical media sales generated in Japan between 2015 and 2018.
In 2016, μ's received the Special Award in the 30th Japan Gold Disc Awards and their second best album Love Live! μ's Best Album Best Live! collection II was also chosen as Animation Album of the Year. The group even dominated Tower Records Japan's anime CD ranking of 2015.
Controversy
Fans of the English version of the Love Live! School Idol Festival game discovered that most of the homosexual subtext between the various girls depicted in the game were removed. In some instances, overt references to relationships between girls were changed to imply a relationship between a girl and a boy. Klab has since issued a statement on the controversy:An update released on June 30, 2015 made adjustments to the translated text to retain their original meanings.