Love Live! School Idol Project
Nine schoolgirls become idols to save their school.
Love Live! School Idol Project is a Japanese multimedia franchise from Dengeki G's Magazine, Lantis, and Sunrise. It follows nine schoolgirls forming an idol group to prevent their school's closure. The project began in August 2010 and includes music CDs, anime videos, manga, and games.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Comedy
- Musical
- Slice of life
- Creator
- Hajime Yatate (story), Sakurako Kimino (concept)
- Director
- Takahiko Kyōgoku
- Producer
- Satoshi Hirayama
- Yūki Makimoto
- Kaoru Adachi
- Shigeru Saito (Season 1)
- Writer
- Jukki Hanada
- Voices
- Emi Nitta
- Aya Uchida
- Suzuko Mimori
- Riho Iida
- Yurika Kubo
- Pile
- Sora Tokui
- Aina Kusuda
- Yoshino Nanjō
- Music
- Yoshiaki Fujisawa
- Opening theme
- "Bokura wa Ima no Naka de" by μ's; "Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki" by μ's
Facts from the source article.
Characters
Honoka Kōsaka is a second-year student at Otonokizaka Academy whose family runs a wagashi shop named Homura. She has a cheerful personality and is very determined, often overexerting herself. She is lazy about work but highly driven in school idol activities, and she is the leader of μ's, usually taking the center position in songs. She later succeeds Eli as student council president. Eli Ayase is the third-year student council president who initially opposes Honoka's plan but eventually joins μ's. She is part Russian through her grandmother and says the Russian word "хорошо" (harasho, meaning "good"). Eli excels at academics and athletics, performs her duties flawlessly, and her ballet experience makes her the group's choreographer. Kotori Minami is Honoka's classmate and childhood best friend, and the daughter of the school's chairwoman. She serves as the group's wardrobe supervisor, is kind and selfless but can be indecisive. She briefly worked at a maid cafe and considered studying abroad but stayed with μ's, later joining the student council.
Media
The Love Live! franchise began with a manga series written by Sakurako Kimino and drawn by Arumi Tokita. It first appeared in the January 2012 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, ran until the May 2014 issue, then moved to Dengeki G's Comic. The first collected volume came out on September 27, 2012, and five volumes had been published by May 27, 2017. A second manga, Love Live! School Idol Diary, also written by Kimino with art by Masaru Oda, started in the June 2014 issue of Dengeki G's Comic. A light novel series with the same title, written by Kimino and illustrated by Yūhei Murota, Natsu Otono, and Akame Kiyose, saw 11 volumes released between May 30, 2013, and August 29, 2014. A fan book called History of Love Live! was released on September 10, 2014, compiling articles from the magazine. The anime adaptation, a 13-episode series produced by Sunrise and directed by Takahiko Kyōgoku, aired on Tokyo MX from January 6 to March 31, 2013. A second season followed on the same channel from April 6 to June 29, 2014. An animated film, Love Live! The School Idol Movie, hit theaters on June 13, 2015.
Reception
Anime News Network editors reviewed the first season in 2013. Carl Kimlinger found fault in some characters lacking depth and the 3D animation in dancing scenes, but praised director Takahiko Kyōgoku's visuals and realistic approach to idol groups. Rebecca Silverman criticized the 3D animation and characters not breaking stereotypes but found the series enjoyable due to its charm. Reviewing the second season in 2014, Silverman noted tendencies toward melodrama and unequal attention to the cast, but praised it for fixing first-season problems and providing genuine emotion, calling it one of the most enjoyable entries in the idol genre. In 2014, Love Live! won the Anime Work Award at the 19th Animation Kobe Awards. In 2015, μ's won The Best Singing award at the 9th Seiyu Awards. μ's ranked No. 8 among Oricon's best-selling artists of 2015, selling over 800,000 music CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs for over ¥3.15 billion. The group ranked No. 10 among Oricon's best-selling artists of 2016, earning about ¥2.54 billion. Love Live! was ranked No. 1 in top-selling media franchises in Japan for 2016, earning over ¥8 billion that year.
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