Alright.. First post in a long time. I will finally be reviewing Love Live, the anime specifically.
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characters (from left to right):
Top row: Maki, Nozomi, Eli, Rin.
Middle row: Kotori, Honoka, Hanayo.
Bottom row: Umi, Nico.
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For starters, or to those who have never heard of Love Live. It is a multimedia project co-developed by different companies, like Lantis and Sunrise. It was launched on August 2010.
I don't want to go deeper on the franchise details and history because this is an anime review after all. I will leave a Wikipedia and the official website link at the bottom.
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| Debut in anime(With 3 first members) |
The first season of the anime was released on January 2013 and the second season was released on April 2014, a gap of a year. The anime is about a group of school girls who become idols to save their school which is shutting down.
Note that in the anime, Love Live is an idol competition where idols compete to become the best.
The first season is about Honoka Kousaka(The main character). Formed a school idol group Muse(
μ's) with 3 of her childhood friend Sonoda Umi(Best girl) and Kotori Minami to save the school from shutting down because the lack of new student enrollment. It covers the formation of Muse, their debut, more members joining, Love Live debut, hiatus and re-entering Love Live.
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| Season 2 announcement |
Next, season 2 is basically the continuation of the first season. The school did not close down, Honoka appointed as the new student council president and because of the extreme success of the first Love Live(The competition). The next Love Live was started immediately, giving Muse a second chance. The second season covers the rise of Muse to entering the finals, to winning Love Live and finally the disbanding of Muse(Because they have 3 senior member). And everything ends with the performance of the first season opening and a movie announcement.
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| Winning Love Live(Everyone present) |
Enough of the series details, now is the part where I tell about what I think of the series. First of all, I really enjoyed the anime(Both season). The visuals is top notch, but needs improvement on some areas. The story line is great and easy to pick up and understand, although it could use some improvement here and there. The soundtrack is also very catchy and The openings and the endings is great.
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| Nice visuals |
I also find every character is likable n their own way, like Honoka whose persistence, The tsundere-ness of Maki. At first, I don't really like Ayase because of her cold personality, as the series progress, she started to become a better person and became one of my favorite character. Although my favorite is Sonoda Umi, I love everyone because of their own charm. And generally, I love idol anime and watching all characters and their different ways.
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| Everyone is likable |
The negative thing I have to point out about the anime is.. What's going on behind the scene?. The songs that they wrote is good and all but, who played the instruments?. I know that Maki compose the melody, Umi wrote the lyrics and Kotori designed the costume. But, who handles the recording?. Don't get me wrong, I've mentioned that I like the soundtrack but watching the anime. We can see the writing process but what about the recording process. How do they compose the instrumentals?What is going on in the studio?. Everything is already there, the songs and all. I wished they showed what's going on in the studio.
The same also applies for their live shows. How do they set up the stage?. Where do they get the budget to get the props?. Who is their producer. Comparing Idolmasters, The producer is one of the character and we can see how he manages his idols. But Love Live, the producer is never shown and who manages the group. They have a group leader, but the producer?. I'm sure they have one, because Honoka mentioned it once, but who is he/she?.
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How do they get the budget to film this kind of music video?
And the filming process. |
So long story short. I really enjoyed the anime but I wished there was more behind the scenes stuff, like they could show the recording process of a song, how they set up the stage and film their music videos and who manages the group.
So, That was what I think of Love Live. I loved the series but could use some improvements here and there.
I will try to write more things on my free time. In the meantime, leave a comment on what do you think and how can I improve. Thank you
Wikipedia link :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Live!
Official site :
http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/
