Oh, remember Love Live? Yep, that's it! This time, it's rainbow-coloured!

Hey, people. It's been a while since I had a blogging spree on anime since January. In recent times, it has been about anime songs, which are Tutu Ballerina and Poppin' Bubbles. Also, I did have my take on the Genshin Impact 1st year anniversary fiasco on this blog. So yeah...let's move on.

The cute girls...

As a Love Live fan...well, I actually like Aikatsu and Idolmaster more. Yeah...ANYWAY...This is yet another Love Live franchise, which comes as a surprise to me. I started writing this while Love Live Superstar is still airing. Will write and publish a post about it after it finishes airing. ANYWAY...LOVE LIVE SU...Ahem! Sorry, it's LOVE LIVE Nijigasaki High School Idol Club!!!! (Dang it, the title is so freaking long).

WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT! This post is very likely to contain spoilers for this anime. So...if you are planning to watch the anime without any spoilers, you can either continue to read this post or move on and watch the anime.



P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

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LOVE LIVE!!!!

Well, well, Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club...it has been...what? Like the third Love Live franchise running. At first, it's only Love Live and then it's Love Live Sunshine. Now, it's Love Live Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukou-kai. Anyway, this anime is actually part of the Japanese multimedia spin-off project from Love Live! series and its game series Love Live! School Idol Festival. Well, it's quite obvious from the way I put it initially.

When it was in the Perfect Dream Project form...

From the Wikipedia page, I found out that it was first introduced in 2017 as the "Perfect Dream Project" and was initially created as part of the game Love Live! School Idol Festival All-Stars. Oh...OK...well, interesting... Anyway, this one is slightly different from the two previous franchises. I'll further explain that in the next section. 

Love Live All Stars!!!

Anyway, the girls are featured in the spin-off game Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars along with μ's and Aqours. The anime television series adaptation is been made. It is done by Sunrise and aired from October 3 to December 26, 2020. Ooh...a second season has been announced? OK...and it's set to premiere in 2022. NIIICEEEE! I'm looking forward to it. Anyway, let's move on. Shall we?

This is the season 2 announcement visual. Quite a beauty...

Plot

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Yuu and Ayumu hangout time

AYUMU-PYON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The story...starts with Ueharu Ayumu and Takasaki Yuu hanging out together. Ah...I remember that she talks about Ayumu's loli childhood moments. Ayumu-pyon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHEM!!! I slap myself back to reality...Anyway, they saw a live performance by a mysterious school idol, Yuuki Setsuna (Why is she mysterious? You are about to find out later). From then on, Yuu (mostly) and Ayumu are caught in the rabbit hole of the world of school idols. BUT just as when they tried to join Nijigasaki High School's School Idol Club, they found out that it has been disbanded. That attempt by them caught the attention of a former member of the disbanded school idol club, Nakasu Kasumi who is trying to revive the club. Kasumi then proceeds to recruit the two girls, Yuu and Ayumu to get the club revived.

That performance...

That passion...

The shocking moment...

From then, we got to know from the investigation of former members (except Kasumi) of the school idol club that the mysterious Setsuna is actually the head of the school's student council, Nakagawa Nana. From there, we get to know the cause of the club's disbandment: It's because of a certain disagreement between Setsuna (aka Nana) and Kasumi. Oh yeah, it's that Kasumi, the one who tries to revive the club by recruiting the two girls, Yuu and Ayumu.

Ah...that moment...

Anyway, back to the topic. Because of the disagreement, Setsuna ended up doing a solo performance instead of the planned group performance. After the performance that Yuu and Ayumu saw, the whole club was disbanded, bringing us to the situation we are in now. Oh, what dispute? It's the dispute of working hard and being cute. It was Kasumi vs Setsuna. Uh...what the f**? Really?...facepalm...I dun even know what to say to that. NEXT!!!!

Time to bring back Setsuna

Back to the story, Kasumi together with Yuu and Ayumu tries their best to revive the club. Kasumi later realised that hard work is not incompatible with being cute. Man, she is practically the Yazawa Nico of this group. What a joke. After that, the rest of them tried to convince Nana to join to revived club. After all their efforts, they finally get the club revived with the old member, together with the new members, Yuu and Ayumu and later, Tennoji Rina and Miyashita Ai. Yuu is not gonna be the idol (because it's "you" aka "us". You will understand it if you do some research or play the game) but the manager for the school idols within the club.

That moment...

After the revival of the school idol club, the girls go on a school idol adventure unlike the OG Love Live and Love Live Sunshine. Rather than as a singular group like the previous two franchises, the girls are debuting as individual school idols who compete with each other while working together to keep their school idol club alive. I was actually really surprised by this but it is refreshing. Well, I can't deny that it feels a bit weird but it is interesting, I admit.

Thinking...and gathering...

Anyway, each of the members found their way to being a school idol as they grow. Also, they got another new member, Asuka Karin because of Emma. Each and every member of the club have their own story about their growth as a person and as a school idol. They even got the classic training camp. Those are interesting and light-hearted times. Unfortunately, Yuu's private conversation with Setsuna planted a seed of insecurity in Ayumu when she saw them together from afar.

Uh, oh...

The club later then decided to hold a special concert for all of the members. Each of the members performs in stages that are specially made for each one. It's like a festival in which u go to different stages in a certain area to see different people performing. During the preparation, Ayumu starts to show signs of unease in the midst of all the excitement. That is making things interesting. You ask me, why she felt this way? Let's talk about it in the next paragraph.

O.O...oh...

Ayumu...oh, Ayumu...you just have to make it so...yuri. I blame the anime community and Bandai. Just kidding BUT Ayumu did show some "yuri tendency" after she saw Yuu talking with Setsuna. When Yuu told her about her plans, Ayumu-pyon pounced on Yuu like a thirsty rabbit. Anyway, the reason is that she is insecure about Yuu's changes as Yuu takes up the piano and starts to do more for others. AHEM! I'm not gonna create even more shipping here. Put that away and keep them in your rooms, you deviants!

Cute smile

Ahem! Putting the potential shipping aside, Ayumu eventually put that down and get herself back up again after she saw her schoolmates (who are also fans) helping her out on the stage in the special show that the club are preparing to hold. Pyon~, pyon~, pyon~...I wish that she pounces on me like that. AHEM! ENOUGH! slaps myself in the face...AHEM! Back to the topic, shall we?

Kasumi...wtf is this?

Good performance

From there, the special concert went really well for each of them. And yeah, everyone is glad that it's a success, including Ayumu-pyon Ayumu. Well, things went smoothly to the point where so many people from all over the world sent them fan letters. And with that, the anime comes to a close and so do this section of the post. Moving on.

Sweet gathering...

Anime Rating

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Story (Rating: 8/10)

The story that is no longer focused on saving the school from closing and no longer focused on the girls having to perform together as a unit, is refreshing, in my opinion. I think it gives a fresh life, at least, for this franchise. The story flow is pretty smooth, no hard transitions and the pacing is being done well. The story is also pretty easy to understand. Well, although it feels kinda odd when compared to the previous franchise, it is still a really interesting and good direction.

It looks fine and all but...

...this happened. And Ayumu...O.O

That moment sealed the deal for the festival...

Art and Animation (Rating: 8/10)

Cute girls and Ayumu-pyon? HELL YEAH, why not?! Muhahahaha!!!! AHEM! I got a little too excited there. The characters are pretty cute. The animation and CGI (dun tell me the part where the girls dance and sing dun have CGI at all) are really well-executed. The studio has improved much, I say. xD

That firey performance...

Sound and Music (Rating: 7/10)

As usual, good theme songs and insert songs flood the anime. It really depends on which one is your cup of taste. Me? I like the opening theme song. Need to check out the rest of the songs, if I'm not mistaken, they are pretty good too.

What an opening sequence...

Characters (Rating: 10/10)

Ayumu-pyon~! 10 OUT OF 10!!!!! AHEM! Each character is pretty well crafted in terms of their background story and characteristics. The interactions between different characters are still cute and interesting. I believe that there will be at least one of the girls you would like. For me, it will be Ayumu-pyon~!!!!!! AHEM! I gotta calm down. As for the relatability of the characters to the audience, there are quite a few of them like the backstory for computer face girl.

Awww...

So sweet...

Enjoyment (Rating: 10/10)

Do I like Love Live? I like it absolutely! CHECK. Do I like cute girls? DUH!!!!!!! YES! CHECK. Do I enjoy this anime? Bruh...at this point, do you even need to ask? Of course, it's a YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That moment...xD

Yuu and Ayumu moment...

Another Yuu and Ayumu moment. Hope that it was me instead of Yuu.

Overall Rating: 8.6 (8.25)/10

Screenshots

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Uehara Ayumu!!! KYAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Ah, it's you, Nakasu Kasumi. It's all your fault.

Yuuki Setsuna...YOU ARE BACK!!!!!

Miyashita Ai...Nice!

Emma Verde...quite an interesting one...

Tennoji Rina. I finally know why the robot face...

Konoe Kanata, I didn't expect that you wear that outfit.

Osaka Shizuku...can you be my main character for my story? xD

Asaka Karin...cool. The colour scheme...Reminds me of Aoi from Aikatsu

Cute girls in swimsuits!!!

Yuu and Ayumu with their swimsuits...

Emma, Kanata and Karin with their swimsuits...

Ai and Kasumi in their swimsuit...with a water gun. smirk...

Setsuna, Rina and Shizuku in their swimsuits...

Time for a deep dive!!!

The girls having fun...

Ayumu...will you marry me? Just marry me. xD

PV/Trailer

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Conclusion

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Well, looks like we have reached the end of the post. It was great to write once again with enjoyment rather than feeling obligated to do so since this is actually just my casual pass time activity and not my job. Still, I would hope to write more in the future. As for this post, I actually would like to finish it before Love Live Superstar ended but I think it's better to publish it this way as I'm not adding a burden to myself like in the previous attempts. Also, one more thing, I think I need help. I can't take Ayumu off my mind when I'm doing this blog post. Help. Anyway, I hope that you have an enjoyable experience browsing this blog. Goodbye, and God bless you! 

Nice outfit, Ayumu-chan.

AYUMU-PYON!!!!!

Awww...my sweet Ayumu