Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Let’s talk about virtual idols. Getting their start back in 2007 the virtual idol blurred the line between what’s real and imaginary. These idols are completely computer generated idols that have anime like appearances, are designed to move and talk realistically, and have become a part of the otaku community for their beauty, character, and songs. When you stop to think about it one could think of these as the perfect idols. They won’t age, they’ll remain pure, won’t get caught up in scandals that could ruin their career, and can always be admired by fans. One of best things about these virtual idols is the interaction we the people get to have in making them and I think a good virtual idol group that does a good job with that is Love Live! School Idol Project. Love Live! School Idol Project is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by Dengeki G’s Magazine, music label Lantis and the anime studio Sunrise who worked on The Big O, Code Geass, Inuyasha, and multiple Gundam series. The project launched on mobile phones in Japan August 2010; in the project people would vote for ranking characters which would determine the position of the idols in the anime music videos, their hairstyle, costume, and anything else they thought was worth voting for. It is to say an interesting project; it made you feel like the producer of the group and therefore made you care about the success of the idols. As you would imagine this was a big hit as the project not only has CD and music video releases that are still ongoing but it also has a manga and anime adaption. The anime premiered at the beginning of 2013 and centers around the group in high school trying to save their school. It was written by Jukki Hanada the same guy who wrote the script for the Chobits anime and a majority of the K-ON anime, directed by Takahiko Kyogoku who directed a few episodes from the Mobile Suit Gundam series and episode director for the Detective Conan: The Stranger From 10 Years Later special and features the original voice actors. So with this wide popularity and respected cast members does the anime deliver? Well let’s take look at Love Live! School Idol Project.
Opening and Ending theme
The opening for this anime is Bokura wa Ima no Naka de (translation: We Are in the Now) sung by the voices actors of the anime obviously. It’s very good; the song is upbeat, the dance number is nice, we get a quick glimpse at all of our characters, and each girl has their own part in the song that you can hear which is pretty amazing considering there are 9 people actually singing the song. One of my fears about big groups singing is that you can never really tell the singers a part from each other but here they do a good job. The ending is Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru which is also good. I like the calm atmosphere being presented in the song as we see everyone practicing and having a good time with each other which is what the group is all about. There are various versions of the ending sung throughout the anime. Sometimes will have one person singing it, another time it’ll be a duet, or it’ll be up to seven people singing it.
Episodes 1-5
So the anime starts off appropriately enough with our main character of the seires Honoka a 2nd year student voiced by Emi Nitta who is singing and talks about how her school is going to be closing down after her class graduates because the enrollment of students was very low this year (didn’t know a school could get shut down from low enrollment). This is shocking and sad to all the students especially Honoka who is so shocked by the news she faints in the hallway. Yeah, you gotta understand this is Japan, high school there is the equivalent to applying for college here in America. In America we have two types of schools private and public school and anybody can get into these schools. In Japan high school is a serious matter and are broken into three schools; national which almost anybody can get into those (NKU basically), Prefectural which are the above average schools and require a little more work to get into (Xavier) and Private which is where the prestigious go to high school and eventually go to prestigious universities like Tokyo University (Harvard University). In order to apply for high school you have to take an entrance exam and depending on what score you get decides which high schools will consider you for entrance. If you want get into a prefectural or private school you have to score really high. So you’re probably wondering why the school closing is such a big deal for the students; well because that means that they’re diplomas will mean nothing because it’s the diploma from a school that shut down because nobody wanted to go there and since nobody wanted to go there what worth does the diploma have in the real world?
Getting back to the anime Honoka along with her two friends Umi voiced by Suzuko Mimori (Sherlock Shellingford from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes series) a shy girl who is an expert at kendo and traditional dancing and Kotori voiced by Aya Uchida (Mai from Ai Mai Mi) a gentle girl who’s head is in the clouds try to find something to make the school sound interesting to get students to come but they find nothing. The next day Honoka goes to check out a school called UTX (what it stands for I have no idea but there’s an X in it so you know it’s something awesome) a high tech school that everyone seems to be applying for (no doubt for the free iphones they give away upon admission). As she’s outside the building she looks up on the jumbo screen (man this place spares no expense) and sees a performance of the school idol group known as A-RISE which gives her the idea that if she and her friends become school idols it will gain enough attention to have people apply at their school (makes sense, I was thinking the school could allow boys to enroll and use the pheromones of the girls to attract boys to enroll, but your idea sounds more interesting). Umi and Kotori oppose the idea but after seeing Honoka practicing and seeing how determined she is they decide to join her (the plot has to advance somehow). They take the idea the student council where the vice president Nozomi voiced by Aina Kusuda a 3rd year who works part-time at a shrine, likes to read fortune with cards, and a little perverted likes the idea but the president Eri voiced by Yoshino Nanjou (Aiko from Baka and Test, you know, the perverted green-haired girl who likes naughty stuff) who rejects their idea because they don’t have 5 members and it sounds ridiculous. The episode ends with Honoka singing again and busting some moves right in the middle of the street during traffic (our main lead everyone when she’s not dancing in the street she doing leaps of faith off the Tokyo Tower) and the other two come in and join her even though they haven’t done any practice whatsoever they are singing and dancing accordingly (anime logic folks, it takes reality and breaks it).
In episode 2 they get permission to use the auditorium for their first live concert and begin to practice and exercise to prepare for it. Umi begins to train Honoka and Kotori to get them into shape and increase their stamina by running up and down stairs (cue Rocky music). They get a first year named Maki voiced Pile to compose their first song written by Umi. At first she refused because she’s into jazz and classical music (not bad choices) but after reading the lyrics she decides to compose a song for them. They also get their group name μ’s (pronounced Muse) from one of the students. At the end of the episode Maki gives a disc of the completed song to Honoka secretly and the girls listen to it on the school roof where they’re blown away at how amazing it sounds (not gonna lie, I also liked the song and Maki has a great voice).
Going to episode 3 the girls get ready for the concert tomorrow but they discover that Umi get nervous in front of large crowds (there’s always one). They quickly resolve that issue by having her handout flyers at school promoting the concert but they run into another problem later that night when Umi complains that the skirts on their costumes are too short (first they complain about showing too much cleavage now they complain about showing too much leg, will you women never be satisfied?). The concert comes and nobody shows up (fuckers). Actually no, this is quite sad because they really did try their hardest and we see a montage of them training to make sure they were all set and ready for the concert. Just when Honoka is about to cry a 1st year comes named Hanayo voiced Yurika Kubo a shy 1st year who has been showing a lot of interest in the group and has been secretly supporting them. They decide to go through with the concert and sing their song Start Dash. As they sing a few other people show up like Eri, Maki, Hanayo’s friend, some other girl, and Nozomi come to see them. The concert is pretty good, the song is awesome, and while choreography could use some work it’s not bad for a first concert (scene here: (scene here: https://youtu.be/O5GKRlyYmNQ). After the song is done and they receive their applause (Encore! Encore! Encore), Eri approaches them and ask what they plan to do next seeing as how nobody showed up and continuing it would be meaningless (geez, are you always this negative, I don’t see you doing anything to help the school). Honoka replies by saying that that’ll continue and that they’ll fill up this auditorium with fans to end the episode.
Episode 4 centers around our 3 first-year students Hanayo, her childhood friend Rin voiced by Riho Iida, and Maki who are considering becoming idols but are hesitant for different reasons. Hanayo is afraid to become an idol because she doesn’t think she’s idol material and speaks too quietly, Rin because she considers herself too tomboyish (no such thing and besides we can use her to bring in the lesbian demographic) and Maki because after she graduates she’ll go off to college where she’ll study medicine and take over the family hospital (that’s 3 years away enjoy your high school life ya silly brood. Besides, once colleges see you were an idol I’m pretty sure they’ll be flocking to your step like pigeons on dropped popcorn in Central Park, New York). After Hanayo returns Maki’s student ID to her house she stops by a candy shop which is run by Honoka’s family and she says she’s considering joining them but she’s just not sure if she’s idol material (oh please I’m sure you’re better than a majority of the idols here in America). But the girls assure her that she’ll do fine and that she should think it over and when she wants to join come see them. The next day Maki does voice training with Hanayo since she noticed in class she has a good voice (well at least they sound better than Link, https://youtu.be/0GvtVsFHh9E, well at least he’s trying). After forcefully getting pulled by Rin and Maki to the rooftop where the girls are practicing Hanayo officially joins Muse along with Rin and Maki who get talked into joining as well (and then there were 6).
In episode 5 it begins to rain for a few days so the girls can’t practice outside. After the group realizes they have 6 members they try once again to become an official club of the school but are rejected because there are too many clubs already and the student council is trying to limit them but Nozomi tells them that they could try to merge their club with the Idol Research Club and become an official club (how did that get approve by the school?). They go to meet the club president, a third year student named Niko voiced by Sora Tokui (Nero from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes series) who is a hardcore idol fan. She rejects their proposal saying that their group is unprofessional and that the members lack personas (well can you blame them they haven’t been thrown into a TV yet). After that Nozomi tells Honoka that Niko was also a school idol but the group disbanded because she set the standards too high and the members quit one after another (slackers). As they’re walking home Honoka comes to the conclusion that Niko is just lonely and shy and that she really wants to have friends to be around. So the next day the group breaks into the Idol Research Club Room where they act like members, ask Niko to be their consultant for their next song, and she officially joins the group. The episode ends with them officially becoming a club and getting ready to practice on the roof now that the rain has stopped.
Episodes 6-10
In episode 6 Nozomi is interviewing Muse as part of a way to promote clubs in the school and get new students. While interviewing Muse she asks Honoka what she does as the leader to which she replies nothing. Now that I think about it yeah, she really does nothing, Umi writes the songs and makes the dance moves, Kotori designs the costumes, Maki composes for the songs, and Niko is the advisor of the group. Maki recommends Umi to be the leader which Honoka is okay with but Umi rejects the idea, Rin recommends Kotori but everyone thinks of her as the vice-leader and Hanayo thinks Honoka should remain leader (nobody recommends Niko because nobody cares). So Niko comes up with the idea that they go to a karaoke club where whoever gets the best score will become the new leader of Muse. They all sing and do a good job, everyone scoring in the 90s. They then go on to the next challenge which is dancing where they play Dance Dance Revolution on the hardest mode possible (haven’t seen that done in years). Once again they all play and all score very high (if they got a SSS I’m gonna be pissed). Since nobody stood out in singing and dancing they go to the final contest which is who has the best aura that attracts people (so in other words who has the best pheromones) by seeing who can handout the most flyers in an hour. Once again nobody stood out and when they return to the clubroom Honoka makes the suggestion that they don’t need a leader and that they should all take turns singing in the new song (hmm~ let’s see, that idea would not only take the stress off of one person but would also allow each member to standout more thus attracting a wider audience of different fans and increasing the groups popularity or we could just wing it, it’s gotten us this far). In the end they all agree with Honoka and they upload their new song Someday in Our Future; while not a bad song I just don’t feel it. Eri sees the video and Nozomi tells her that she should acknowledge and join them (*Darth Vader impression* join the idol side Eri and together we shall rule Japan). Eri asks why Nozomi doesn’t help them and she says because the cards say she’s not the person they need (The Cards: The power of the cards dates back to several eons! In fact, our powers can change the course of the world in an instant). (Nitsuj):-_- . . .epic.
Moving onto episode 7 Hanayo tells the group that Japan is hosting a Love Live contest a contest in which the top 20 school idols will compete in a live contest to decide who’s the best of them all. Even though they’re rank low and nowhere near the top 20 they decide to go for it and ask Eri for permission to take part in the Love Live contest but instead go directly to the principal (who is Kotori’s mother) who permits them to enter the contest on the condition that they pass all of their upcoming exams (and you. Are. Screwed.). Kotori and Umi help Honoka study math (I can understand that, that was my weak subject in high school and college), Hanayo and Maki help Rin who has having trouble in English (oh come now, that’ll help you out in the real world someday trust me) and Nozomi helps Niko who is also having trouble in math where she punishes Niko anytime she messes up by rubbing her breast (don’t see how this is a punishment because there’s nothing there to begin with). As Umi is walking out of the school she hears the group’s song being sung by a middle schooler named Arisa who is Eri’s younger sister who comes from Mother Russia and has a hard time reading kanji so she mixes things up a lot (In Soviet Russia kanji has a hard time reading you). Eri comes clean and tells Umi that she was the one who uploaded their live performance on the internet in the hopes that it would show them how foolish they were but instead had the opposite affect (in Soviet Russia you backfire on plan). Eri than says that no matter what they do she will never acknowledge them as a group because in her eyes all school idols are amateurs (*smacks forehead* isn’t that obvious? Real idols have producers getting them jobs, professional dance instructors and a production studio backing them up so that they can make them money. You guys; are just high school girls getting in on the latest buzz!). Later on Nozomi tells Umi the tragic pass of Eri and why she’s looking down on them. It turns out Eri comes from a long line of ballet dancers and she herself was a ballet dancer in Russia however it was revealed to her that she was at the bottom of the list compared to other dancers and could hardly pass auditions. Because of this she gave up on her dream of dancing and choose to close her heart from it in the fear of being hurt (okay, no offence to ballet dancers but being an idol is a lot different and harder than ballet. Second, seriously!? This is the reason why you’ve been a cold heartless bitch to Muse!? Because some idiots in Russia couldn’t see how good you were and placed you at the bottom of the list!? This is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve seen in an anime since the magic element in Hidan no Aria, I’m sorry I’m still mad about that). The day of the exams comes around and they all pass (barely) and go to tell the principal but they overhear a conversation between her and Eri that school will longer accept 1st year applications and is going to shut down next year (it is . . . inevitable).
Picking up where episode 7 left off episode 8 continues the conversation with the principal saying that there will be an open house in 2 weeks and that if the school doesn’t make an impact on the middle school students it will shut down. The student council gets together and tries to come up with activities to appeal to the students and recommend they get Muse to perform but Eri refuses to ask them (dammit woman, listen to your senses! If not for us than do it for the school, in other words us). While that’s going on the group continues to practice but Umi discovers that their dancing lacks impact and that they should get Eri to teach them how to dance. Their hesitant at first but Honoka, Kotori, and Umi ask Eri to teach them and she surprisingly says yes. She puts them through a hard training session thinking the girls will give up but the next day rolls around and the girls are all set and ready for her next lessons which surprises her and makes her leave for some unknown reason (women and their uncontrollable emotions). In the hallway Nozomi gets Eri to admit that she wants to join Muse as well but is hesitant saying that it’s too late for her to join and that they won’t accept her. In her class room the group (who have miraculously changed from their workout clothes to their school clothes very quickly) comes in and invites her to join them in which she says yes and Nozomi also joins them as well (in Soviet Russia group join you). The day of the open house arrives and as the girls perform we get a montage of them training together and hanging out while also cutting back to their performance which is pretty good and the song is very lively and energetic. The episode ends with them getting a nice round of applause for their performance.
Episode 9 centers around Kotori who is working part-time as a maid in Akiba. While the group was in Akiba checking out the Love Live store which has merchandise of them in the store (I’m pretty sure this violates the use of image laws seeing as how the store never got their permission to sell merchandise of them) and they run into Kotori who says she got talked into becoming a maid and that she’s doing it because she wants to better her image and personality to become more dependable like Umi and Honoka. Later on, the group decides to hold a live street performance in Akiba which is the territory of A-RISE (fools! Akiba is the holy territory of the otaku, as long as it is entertaining we will welcome it). They also decide to have Kotori write the lyrics for their new song since she’s worked in Akiba but she seems to have trouble coming up with lyrics (might I recommend you to a handsome bald man from New York who writes good and funny songs). She’s about to give up when Honoka comes up with the idea that since it’s a song about Akiba she should write the song while in Akiba (wow, that actually makes sense) and she along with Umi become maids in Akiba with Kotori. While there they see how bright and cheerful Kotori becomes when working and how she feels that even if she changes this town will accept her no matter what and Honoka makes the suggestion that she should turn those emotions and feelings into a song. The day of the performance arrives and in all honesty next to Start Dash this might just be my favorite song in the series so far.
In episode 10 the group goes to Maki’s family beach house for a little rest and relaxation. I would call this the fanservice episode but there’s not really that much fanservice in the episode and surprisingly I’m okay with that. Not much to say about this episode other than the fact that they have fun, they talk to each other casually getting rid of whole senpai thing for the trip in order to form a closer bond with each other and they have a pretty funny pillow fight scene near the end.
Episodes 11-13 and Special episode
We open episode 11 finding out that the group is now ranked 19th among the school idol groups which means they qualify for the Love Live contest (they’re going to Disney World). They decide to hold one more live performance for the school festival to maintain their position but through a lottery choice they can’t hold it in the auditorium so they decide to hold a live concert on the school roof with Honoka as the center for the performance (let’s all hope she doesn’t disappear like the others). Because of this Honoka works extra hard exercising 3 times a day, barely sleeping, and on the night before the festival she goes out late to train in the rain and gets sick (Like. A. Idiot). While all this is going on Kotori receives a letter from a prestigious fashion boarding school asking her to join which bothers her greatly. She tells Umi about the letter in secret and vows to tell the others after the live performance. Honoka shows up for the performance despite being sick and goes on with the others where they perform their new song No Brand Girls which is a very catchy song and the rain gives the performance a nice effect I say this ranks right below Wonder Zone for me. After the song the episode ends with Honoka collapsing from her fever (saw that coming).
Continuing where episode 11 left off episode 12 starts off with the girls carrying Honoka to the nurse’s office and stopping the performance. A few days pass and they see that Honoka is doing well but they also break the news to her that Muse has withdrawn from the Love Live contest which makes her sad and she blames herself for the withdraw. She stays depress for a few days but after getting a good breast rub from Nozomi she’s back to her normal self and in good time because they find out that the school will remain open and that a new class of students is coming in next year. They have a celebration in which Umi tells everyone that Kotori is leaving to study abroad which shocks Honoka who’s upset that Kotori never talked to her about it but Kotori says that Honoka was so focus on the concert she never had time to tell her and runs out of the room crying. Later that night Honoka sends a text saying she’s sorry while watching a video of A-RISE and coming to the conclusion that she’ll never be as big as them (how this has anything to do with the current situation I have no idea). The next day Eri tells the group they’re going to have a live concert as a farewell gift for Kotori but Honoka still blames herself for everything that has happen up to this point, says that they’ll never reach A-RISE’s level, and decides to quit the group (you punk-ass whore). As she leaves Umi slaps her (good~, now spit on her and tell her she’s scum. Sorry, sadist side came out there a little bit) and calls her a terrible person to end the episode.
In the final episode the group goes on hiatus, Honoka and Umi don’t talk to each other and Kotori doesn’t come to school because she’s preparing to leave. A few friends of Honoka (who are also fans of Muse) walk home with her and they go to the arcade (girls going to an arcade!? Is the world ending) where they play dance dance revolution in which Honoka does exceedingly well because of all her training. After that, Honoka reaches her house where she sees Eri and Arisa waiting for her outside. Eri confesses to Honoka that she was always jealous of her because of her personality and how she never hides her feelings and how she’s sorry Kotori is leaving. Later on, we see that A-RISE won Love Live (obviously, seeing as how that was the only other idols focus on throughout this anime) and the next day Honoka goes to the auditorium where she meets up with Umi, apologizes for quitting, they make-up and sing, and Honoka runs to the airport to stop Kotori from leaving because deep down Kotori wanted Honoka to stop her from going (so wait if you didn’t want to go in the first place why did you decide to go? It doesn’t make any sense? Am I the only one confused by this logic?). They go back to the school where the others are waiting and they all perform the best song in the season Start Dash together and we end with them going back into the Love Live tournament.
There’s a special episode called episode 0 which serves as an introduction to all the characters and the voice actors. It also talks about how the Love Live series got started and everything as well as show footage from their live shows which is very awesome; in my opinion the live performance of Japanese artist is way better than the studio version and they even do a side by side comparison of the live performance and the anime performance to show how identical they are. I highly recommend watching this episode first before getting into the anime as it will serve as a good introduction for people who aren’t familiar with this project and give you a rundown of who the characters are, what you can expect from them, and who’s your favorite.
Final Thoughts
This anime is good but . . . how do I put this *ponders*? Have you’ve ever played a videogame or watched a movie that had so much going on but so little happening? That’s this anime, there’s a lot going on such as trying to save the school and everything but for a large majority of the anime all we see happening is the group getting formed, performing a concert here and there, and then it just suddenly pops up that the school is safe way to go guys. Now don’t get me wrong the story is good and interesting, I like how the group loves their school and the heights they’re willing to go to stop it from shutting down but I feel that instead of just focusing on forming the group and putting on concerts we could have set aside an episode or two and have a side arc in which we explore a few of the characters like I would have loved to see more about Nico’s first idol group and how it failed, explore the friendship between Eri and Nozomi, and look into the past of Maki and how she learned to play the piano and her family circumstances. The story gets very interesting near the last 3 episodes with them dropping out of the contest and reflecting on the mistakes they made and the conflict with Kotori studying abroad I found that be rather interesting. The songs are great, I do wish we could have heard more but for the songs they had they were good and it got be interested in the group. The animation is very nice, it reminds me of the animation from AKB0048 only brighter and energetic. What really makes this anime great are the characters, the bonds they form and share with each other, and how different they are from each other but still pull together and become great friends. I don’t have a favorite yet but I will say that the funniest member so far is Nico; I love how the group treats her like an underclassman instead of a senpai, how she was constantly scheming in episode 6 to become the new center of the group and how she tries to project herself as the happy upbeat idol but in truth is actually quite aggressive; she’s just a funny interesting character to watch.
Final Score
Love Live gets a 6.5/10. It has great characters, great songs, and a great story but what bought this season down was not a whole lot happening in the anime, the limited songs, and the confusing story of Kotori not wanting to study abroad and wanting Honoka to stop her that part just confuses me, was she trying to test her friendship with Honoka or something? I was also hoping to get a little more backstory about A-RISE as well as a few of the other school idol groups and seeing how the group would fare against them. It’s already been confirmed that a second season is coming so hopefully in the next season will have more character development, a look at a few more idol groups, more songs and performances, and see what this Love Live contest is all about. Until then, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*All videos, music, and pictures used in this blog do not belong to me and belong to their respect owners. All rights reserved*
Thanks for reading, as always feel free to leave a comment, feedback, or request in the comment section below or send them iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com