Nijigasaki High School is known for their diverse subjects and the freedom they give to students.
Second-year student Yuu Takasaki has been turned on to the charms of school idols, so she knocks on
the door of the School Idol Club with her friend, Ayumu Uehara. Sometimes friends, sometimes rivals,
the members of this club each contribute their own thoughts and motivations to the group.
(Source: Funimation)
__Note:__ _Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai_ is a real mouthful of a title, so I refer to it as _Nijigaku_ in this review. --- _Nijigaku_ is a new path through familiar territory. If you’ve seen any other entry in the Love Live! series, or indeed, any idol anime at all, your preliminary guesses regarding what this show will be like are probably spot on. There is a group of high school girls, they each want to be the very best school idols that they can be, and they all have certain setbacks which they must overcome to make this dream come true. It’s a simple setup, but told well, as it has been in past _Love Live!_ entries, it can serve as the base for some great anime. Where _Nijigaku_ differs from its predecessors is mainly in how _little_ it does to build on this base. Idol shows are not known for their complex narratives, but even in the straightforward world of its genre, _Nijigaku_’s overall plot is remarkably thin. It begins with some mild conflict caused by the disbandment of the School Idol Club, but once this is resolved, the show drops almost all pretensions of having any overarching narrative whatsoever. Now, this probably sounds like a pretty damning criticism, but don’t fret quite yet, because while _Nijigaku_ may have abandoned a central plot, it does still have a story to tell. “How is that possible?” you might ask. Simple: rather than following a grand narrative, _Nijigaku_ shifts its focus to a series of character-based mini-narratives. Each of these mini-narratives span exactly one episode and each ends with a performance (i.e., a song and dance routine) by the relevant character. In other words—and this is incredibly important—rather than telling a continuous story, _Nijigaku_ is largely an assortment of __episodic character arcs__. Whether you think “episodic character arcs” sounds like a good idea or a terrible one will probably play a central role in determining how much you like the show. And what did I think? Well, that’s what the rest of this review is for... --- First thing’s first, the success of this character vignette focused setup hinges heavily upon one simple question: are these characters worth telling stories about? Thankfully, _Nijigaku_ manages to answer this question with a more or less resounding “yes!” Granted, this is an idol anime, so none of these characters plunge particularly far into the depths of the human psyche—and that’s okay! To put it rather clinically, the goal in a show like this is to have characters that are complex enough to feel novel, but simple enough that a satisfying arc about them fits into one episode. For a show with ten (10!!) main characters and only thirteen episodes, _Nijigaku_ does an astonishingly good job of crafting these kinds of simple but effective characters. Ayamu and Yu, in particular, are standout examples of how good _Nijigaku_'s character writing can be. At the start of the series they are a simple case of "aspiring idol + friend who supports her," but by the end their relationship had grown to be complex and compelling in a way that I absolutely did not expect coming into the show. I will say, though, if you’ve seen a lot of idol anime, or even a lot of anime in general, you will probably recognize the general form of many of the faces here. We have the Socially Awkward Tech Genius (Rina), the Friendly Foreigner (Emma), the Sleepy Big Sister (Kanata), and my personal favorite, the Cute Gremlin (Kasumi), among others. But the point is, given the genre and length of the show, _Nijigaku_’s characters are as interesting as anyone could reasonably hope. ~~~img600(https://i.imgur.com/msr5Ric.png)~~~ >Kasumi demonstrates her Cute Gremlin powers. Unfortunately, the storylines that surround these characters are not quite as successful. In fairness, some aspects of the narrative writing work well—the tone, for instance, wavers delicately between being touching and lighthearted without ever veering into sentimentality or silliness. The problem is this: because of its episodic narrative, episodes of _Nijigaku_ tend to be structured in a very formulaic fashion. Specifically, in each episode, a character… a) is revealed to have some problem which is holding them back from reaching their full potential as an idol... b) overcomes this problem, often after remembering why they love school idols in the first place... c) gives a performance which reflects their newly self-actualized perspective... d) cedes the stage to the next character. It’s a pretty by-the-numbers approach to storytelling, and at its worst it is a little too transparent. Some of the after-credit scenes are particularly egregious in this regard: it can feel painfully artificial when one girl’s arc ends with another saying something to the effect of “all right, it’s my turn on the character development”. That being said, despite the simple form of the episodes, the inherent strength of the characters usually does carry through in the end. I found many of these girls’ stories at least a little bit compelling, and a few of the episodes even made me pretty emotional. When _Nijigaku_’s episodic narratives do work, it’s usually thanks to three key factors. I’ve already mentioned the first two—simple but effective character writing, and a tone which balances being touching and lighthearted. The third factor, however, I’ve only touched on thus far, and it’s importance really cannot be overstated: the _phenomenal_ performances which end each episode. To get straight to the point, these episode-ending performances are the high point of _Nijigaku_. Moreover, they are the element which, to me, comes closest to fully vindicating the new character vignette approach to storytelling. To begin with, on a technical level, the dance sequences are consistently the best the series has seen. Historically, the _Love Live!_ series has been rather notorious for the jarring use of computer graphics during its dance sequences, and while CG does make a return here, I am happy to report that it’s no longer jarring at all. Yes, you can still pretty easily tell which cuts are hand drawn and which cuts are CG, but no longer does the CG animation suffer from the lifeless, washed-out look it used to have. Partly this is due to improvements in lighting and framing, but in larger part I think it’s due to the transition to solo performances. The ugliest uses of CG in _School Idol Project_ tended to be during group shots, and now that those are gone, the result is much prettier overall. ~~~img600(https://i.imgur.com/ahArCBm.jpg)~~~ >Yu is blown away (literally!) by an idol performance. Of course, it helps that on a directorial level, _Nijigaku_’s performances are the most visually interesting the series has ever seen. Now that the girls are performing solo, the animation staff is free to incorporate more abstract and character specific visuals, which greatly increase the amount of variety on offer. But beyond that, the visuals are just… generally more creative. This is, admittedly, a hard point to justify without a slew of examples, but I hope it will suffice to link to [Kanata’s performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6G5NopjVfU) and let its quality speak for itself. This is why I say that these performances are the element of _Nijigaku_ which most fully vindicates the character focused approach: because the girls perform solo, a) the performances look better, b) there’s more of them, and c) they are more varied visually than ever before. Put simply, if you consider performances to be one of the main appeals of _Love Live!_, _Nijigaku_ is an absolute dream come true. --- So, what’s my overall impression of the new character-focused approach to storytelling? Well, I was mostly a supporter, but it came with enough problems that I would hesitate to call it a strict improvement on the approaches of the past _Love Live!_ series. More than anything, _Nijigaku_ feels like a series of tradeoffs. The focus on individual characters makes for more complete character arcs, but the overall plot is left feeling insubstantial as a result. The solo performances are consistently the best the series has ever seen, but the episodes that lead up to those performances can feel somewhat formulaic. If I had to guess, I would wager that _Nijigaku_ will end up being somewhat divisive among _Love Live!_ fans. For those that valued the group dynamics and overall story of the previous entries of the series, it will probably be a minor disappointment, but for those that valued character development and musical performances, it will be viewed as easily the series’ peak. Whatever the case may be, ultimately it’s clear that after the rather mixed reception to _Sunshine!_, the _Love Live!_ series needed some kind of shakeup, and this is a role which _Nijigaku_ quite effectively fills. So, while it’s not without its problems, this show feels like a good omen for the future of the series. If Sunrise was willing to rethink the _Love Live!_ formula enough to produce _Nijigaku_, then hopefully they’re also willing to make the necessary tweaks going forward to make an even better followup. Thanks for reading! Here's a bonus unhinged Kasumi for making it to the end: ~~~img600(https://i.imgur.com/SSJDQzH.png)~~~
Nijigasaki was undoubtedly the most original and unique member of the Love Live franchise, for the first time, their idols don't perform as a group, but as nine individual Solo Idols, each shining with their own unique spark. It brings about the catalyst for originality that this series wasn't able to execute with its predecessor Sunshine, and it paves the way for the most original, well-rounded character development this series has seen so far. img220(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/love-live/images/d/d7/Nijigasaki_hs_anime_01.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200918192736) __Plot__ As I mentioned earlier, I believe that Nijigasaki has the most well fleshed-out plot of all of the Love Live franchise so far. Why do I say this? Because it no longer clings to the past. Sunshine suffered a lack of originality because like its fanbase, the producers couldn't move on from the original Love Live, that is why Sunshine's plot revolved around Aqours trying to find their own individuality. However, here, there is no mention of previous groups, Nijigasaki starts from a completely clean slate and tries to establish their status from the ground up. They don't even attend Love Live, the namesake school idol competition. Instead, they create their own Festival, the School Idol Festival, as a celebration of the joys of Music through Idols. This unique premise immdiately screams to the audience that they are not like their predecessors—they are new. img220(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ER2KqCuWkAAbe3o.jpg) As for the actual progression of events itself, it takes on a different style because of the individuality of each idol. Nijigasaki's selling point is that they are unable to operate as a joint group because of their clashing personalities, that is why they operate as solo idols. We spend the first 9 episodes of the show seeing just why that is how this club operates, I'll be diving into more detail about the intricacies later, but with 9 episodes gone, all that's left for Nijigasaki to do was blend them together to see how they interact, right? __Wrong, totally wrong.__ Instead of taking the predictable approach of melding the 9 solo idols, the anime instead decides to now cast its light on the protagonist Yuu. Who, since she isn't an idol, has been out of the spotlight this whole time. The show paints how the progression of these idols' personalities have caused a rift in Yuu and her childhood friend Ayumu, and graciously paints a clean and heartwarming resolution to this conflict. Just in time for the collection of all the personalities to amass in the highly anticipated School Idol Festival on the last episode. It created for a satisfying and well-felt end to the entire series, and only leaves the viewer yearning for more. img220(https://danbooru.donmai.us/data/__uehara_ayumu_and_takasaki_yuu_love_live_and_2_more_drawn_by_fuyuu310__662d34ab312e38b8287603833448bec9.jpg) __Characters__ This iteration of Love Live, as I mentioned, has the most rounded out cast of characters I've ever seen. They are introduced in a manner such that players of the gacha/rhythm game School Idol Festival All Stars would instantly be able to insert into, but also in a manner so that newcomers to this series would also be able to instantly see their uniqueness. I'll go over them one-by-one. While Yuu herself only received character development when her childhood friend Ayumu did, she's technically the insert persona of us, the player from All Stars, where this series originated. She's a catalyst for change, and since she's not an idol, its the best they can do. As Yuu's childhood friend, Ayumu easily recieves the most development out of all of the idols, her personality paints her as this shy yet sweet cinnamon roll who relied on Yuu to lead her to her passion of School Idols, as Yuu gets more heavily involved in the Club, Ayumu goes through a metamorphosis, painting her new individuality while also a gratefulness of Yuu's help to her all this time. Her innocent personality combined with her reliance on Yuu makes for a character arc that tugs at your feels stronger than any character arc in the series. img220(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ER2K2TsWoAQw8sV.jpg) Kasumi remains, as I unfortunately must point out, a bit left out. Her character arc revolves around her and Yuu attempting to revive the defunct School Idol Club, while also illustrating Kasumi's goal of becoming the cutest school idol around. While her arc itself isn't that great, the style of her personality made her a second coming of the meme goddess Nico Yazawa herself and quickly placed her as the prime candidate for many of Love Live's running jokes, such as the infamous photobomb and her Kasumi box img220(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/love-live/images/c/cf/UR_302023002_Kasumi.png/revision/latest?cb=20200625192116) Setsuna's arc revolves her two conflicting identities within Nijigasaki, as the head of the Student Council Nana Nakagawa, and as the dominant school idol Setsuna Yuki. In her arc we see Yuu help her manage the conflicting personalities her two identities demand while also re-embracing her passion of singing as a school idol. Her insert song reflects this, as it is riddled with large jumps across entire vocal ranges. As a musician myself, I know that making a vocalist jump distances Setsuna jumped in _Dive!_ was mostly taboo until the modern era of music, and even still is only cleanly executable by very profoundly talented singers. Which adds to her status as a well-established school idol. img220(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUbVmzmX0AAMI_a.jpg) Ai's arc talks all about how she orbited the club as a helper from behind the scenes, there to try to get her friend Rina to become an Idol, but eventually fell a bit too close to the planet that is Idols. It paints a vivid picture of how she should try stuff for herself as well instead of always helping others for the sake of being a nice person. img220(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/love-live/images/b/bc/SR_302052001_Ai.png/revision/latest?cb=20200626193251) Emma's arc painted her in a manner that no one saw coming. While it was established she was a Swiss transfer student who came to Japan to try to become a school idol, the anime reveals that it was really Karin who helped her achieve that dream, painting both characters in a manner that both the games and previous knowledge never has before. Her insert song reflects her gratitude and grace, while still maintaining the Swiss folk melodies that was present in her original live _Evergreen_. Rest assured the trend of the Foreign Student lives on in her blood. img220(https://i.idol.st/u/card/art/140Emma-Verde-An-Indescribable-Charm-SR-4az1hV.png) Rina's arc quickly captured the hearts of many, including mine, and made her indisputably one of the characters with the most fleshed-out arcs of the entire series, revolving around her inability to express emotions through her face, we follow her as she tries desperately to fit in while also despairing at her lack of emotions. Her insert song's lyrics suggest that while it's not perfect, its the best she can do so far and she wishes to keep on connecting until she can truly smile without her board. img220(https://i.idol.st/u/still/2x/78Still-Tennoji-Rina-HrS4i8.png) Kanata's arc, like some of the other arcs mentioned so far, had many of us on our heels. It was known that Kanata's signature quirk was her tendency to sleep. The anime not only provided us an explanation for her quirk, but also shaped it into an immersive character arc that left many fans seeing Kanata in a completely new light. Thank you Haruka, you've made your big sister proud. img220(https://danbooru.donmai.us/data/__konoe_kanata_and_konoe_haruka_love_live_and_1_more_drawn_by_shamakho__8d64749cd3304b095e14551215c2e04b.jpg) Shizuku's arc raised her status within the community's perception of the school idols. Many people thought that she was often extremely flat since her entire personality revolves her being a literal drama queen and nothing else. However, the anime adds a layer of complexity to her passion, painting her reluctance to perform due to stage fright as a split persona, and as a musician, I related to her so much. It's no secret that public performance, whether it be public speaking or a public display of talent has been ranked more feared than death, and seeing Shizuku overpower a force that once held me back is not only resolving but also strengthened her persona to the point in which many members of the Love Live fandom instantly respected her after her arc. img220(https://i.imgur.com/FKc1lrn.jpg) Last but not least, we have fashionista Karin. Often painted for her picture of perfection (literally since she's a model). In the games she was indeed a seemingly perfect person, with no evidence of flaws, otherwise an inhuman being. But the anime decided to give her flaws, drawing her persona more down-to-earth. Painting the conflict that rises between your outer and inner self. Now she's not only revered for her over 9000 Ara Ara vibes, but also her uncanny inability to navigate. img220(https://i.imgur.com/aDAcBcA.jpg) Dear god she reminds me of Leon from Pokemon so much __Music and Art__ Love Live once again outdid themselves in this category. Each and every insert song was so vibrant in color and sound that it was a spectacular outburst of passion. While the actual art style feels like it simplified since Sunshine, it was painted with much more vibrant colors, once again reinforcing the fact that Nijigasaki sings in all the colors of a rainbow. As for the music itself, it has certainly become a lot more immersive. Each insert song attuned to the character's individual personalities. Smooth and melodic for Ayumu, Swing and upbeat for Kasumi, Intense and fiery for Setsuna, A Blast of Electric guitars for Ai, Traditional Swiss for Emma, Electronic for Rina, Sleepy and Soothing for Kanata, Orchestral for Shizuku, and Techno and beat-heavy for Karin. Each insert song played a key role in establishing each Idol's individuality and did so expertly Overall, this Love Live has to be the best iteration I've seen so far, its plot is lined with detail and its originality is through the roof, each character received substantial development compared to its predecessor and I can't wait for Shioriko's inevitable entry into the series.
# **Setting expectations**: - This review is being written under a subjective lens and mainly for enjoyment. If you come to expect opinions from a very critical sense, sorry, but I’m not your guy as we may have different tastes. - The number of spoilers will be as minimal as possible to none. There are some image spoilers but it's all out of context. - I’ll try my best to explain what are the things that worked for me and what doesn’t in this review. Hopefully this will help you understand my point of view and let you come to your own conclusion about what this anime might be like for you. I preface because a lot of people online come to expect reviews to fit a mold of what they want which isn’t always realistic. For me, I just like to talk about anime I enjoy. And so this review is about such things. Sorry if this ain't what you're looking for. img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792551337430614016/Erai-raws_Love_Live_Nijigasaki_Gakuen_School_Idol_Doukoukai_-_01_v21080p.mkv_snapshot_03.37_2020.10..jpg) --- #**Verdict** This is where I summarize the entire review for you. Love Live Nijigasaki (abbreviated to LLN in this review) is a 13 episode TV anime series released in Fall 2020. It was animated by Studio Sunrise (Gundam, Code Geass, all previous Love Lives) and directed by Tomoyuki Kawamura (Mitsuboshi Colors, PV for Muteki-kyuu*Believer and Mirai Harmony). The anime’s source material is from multimedia (the SIFAS mobile game and other properties). This series can be described as a musical slice of life. If you’ve had previous experience with slice of life in general, you know that a lot of these stories tend to be episodic in nature with some mini overarching stories if they want it. It should be a given that you’ll expect some stories to wrap up in the episode you’re watching itself. Also, considering Love Live likes to treat its music sequences like musicals, it requires a suspension of disbelief regarding the logic of how these musical sequences play out. If I had to think of one unique thing about this show, it’s the insert-songs. They were very unique and fire which can be a testament to the creators. Having seen all of the Love Live anime and having a general good opinion of them. It’s possible to come into this show without having seen any of them which is a huge plus as it’s a lower barrier to entry. It’s a refreshing story for Love Live and they implement a similar plot structure like previous Love Live anime series. Also, they have done a great job in the characterization department which helps with cheering on a new group of characters. For the visuals, it starts off incredibly strong that looks above-average for the beginning and ending episodes of the series, in-between the visuals look average to what you see in typical anime. The Music PVs (Previews) have their varying quality but I think overall it’s all well-done with some standing out as above-average. Regarding the usage of CGI, they have blended the 2D animation seamlessly with it like in Love Live Sunshine, there’s nothing that looks out of place. As for the animation, it feels like above-average in general for the whole show. While it has its powerpoint slide moments, it doesn’t feel littered with a lot of them. For the audio department, the show offers stellar insert-songs from a large variety of composers and arrangers such as TeddyLoid and DECO*27. In comparison to previous entries, the insert songs stand up alongside their peers, in my opinion. As for the show’s audio and OST, they’ve been serviceable. While the Anime’s OP and ED fit the bill for what the show requires. When looking at the Seiyuu’s (Voice Actor) performances, some are serviceable while some were able to stand-out like Rina’s Seiyuu. Overall, I’ve had no regrets watching this show while it was airing and I’m glad I gave it the chance. I would definitely give it a rewatch in the near future. - For people who have consumed Love Live before, I recommend this new entry! It was well-done and I think you’ll enjoy the ride. - For those who haven’t consumed idol anime before, I think I can recommend this as a gateway for what the appeal is like. It’s easy to consume and presents what I think Love Live at its best - the music and performances. Would you like it? It’ll depend on your preferences in respect to slice of life story elements, music, and drama. I think the slice of life and music elements are very strong and if that’s something that appeals to you, try this out. The drama can vary in terms of quality for this season in particular and that’s not what I would recommend looking for. On my personal rating scale for anime, I would give this an 8.5/10 which is between this being great and loving it. If you want to see more details about this scale, read the next section below. If you want to read the full review, read the rest of this review. img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792552620513427506/Erai-raws_Love_Live_Nijigasaki_Gakuen_School_Idol_Doukoukai_-_01_v21080p.mkv_snapshot_18.17_2020.10..jpg) --- #**Explaining my Rating Scale** I think the common mistake with ratings is that we all tend to judge and associate each review rating on our own personal scale. When people see an average anime - they see that as a 5, some see that as a 6, and others as a 7. As you all know, we all have different tastes hence different rating scales and this is why I’ll post my scale below. My Personal Rating Scale (Anime): 4 and below = I would've dropped this show already but made myself suffer through it for some reason. Regardless, this is the drop zone generally. 5 = This was really meh and I wouldn't take the time to rewatch. 6 = This was meh and I wouldn't watch it again unless I was forced to. 7 = It was okay and acceptable, it was good entertainment and I enjoyed the ride. 8 = This was a great story and I enjoyed the show/movie but it wasn't considered one of the best experiences. Just a great time overall! 9 = If I watched this show/movie for the first time, I'll love this a lot. It ain't life-changing but god damn I'll have one of the best experiences. 10 = This show resonated with me so hard - chills and intense emotional catharsis. img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792552706425487370/vlcsnap-00010.png) --- #**Background** I feel like it’s important to display my biases. I’m a fan of Love Live and I’ve seen all of the Love Live anime: - Love Live School Idol Project (LLSIP) S1, S2, and Movie. My general opinion of LLSIP is that it had a janky S1 but it got better in S2 and had a great finish in the movie. - Love Live Sunshine (LLS) S1, S2, and Movie. My general opinion of LLS is that it had a really strong S1, the S2 was weak at some parts with a great conclusion, and the movie was good entertainment. Overall, my general opinion of Love Live is that it’s silly good fun for the most part but it has some real good moments when it wants to. This can be said for some idol shows I consumed like Idolmaster. Your question could be, do I need to have seen LLSIP and LLS to watch this show? No. It isn’t required and I think that helps this show out a lot because it allows an easier barrier to entry into this franchise for newcomers to get a glimpse of why this franchise resonates with people. I watched this show while it was airing through official subtitles in Japanese audio and English subtitles. img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792552979009110026/vlcsnap-00024.png) --- #**The Review** Now the review. I’ll be talking about the anime in the following categories: **1) Story / Plot / Characters** ~~~*[Evaluation of Story]*~~~ Holy shit, the story is refreshing for Love Live. My biggest worry with this new anime’s story was that it would try to literally repeat LL SIP and LLS story-beats wise. Let me squash those worries away and say that the story presented is completely new in respect to LL SIP and LLS. It does NOT rely on knowledge from those stories/idol groups to appreciate and enjoy this show. LLN can be entered whether or not you know about Love Live’s previous anime and that’s a big win. If you started with LLN and want more, go experience those other stories. Despite the story being new, that doesn’t mean this was completely innovative of the idol genre. I think this story is innovative within the Love Live franchise itself in respect to how they approached their characters and stories. There is a lot more focus on characterization and you feel like there’s a lot more personality shine through from the writing. For being new, does this mean that LLN lost the unique qualities from previous stories? Naw, we see the silly comedy gags that make up the identity of Love Live present throughout. The songs are also taking the page from LLS in respect to presenting a variety of musical genres instead of the generic JPop that was present in LL SIP. LLN is able to take the good qualities from both LL SIP and LLS while adding its own spin to it with new ideas. Like in the previous Love Live stories, there must be a suspension of disbelief in respect to the musical sequences. During those sequences, I treat them as musical videos or musical pieces in the show. When you watch a musical, they require a suspension of disbelief in regards to the logic of the stages. This requirement comes back again for the very unique stages that are brought on for LLN. ~~~*[Evaluation of Plot Structure]*~~~ In Season 1, it’s episodic with a focus on one character at a time while weaving subplots around in the background. It’s nothing new if you’ve watched episodic anime before. If you know the formula from LL SIP and LLS, you know that Season 1 is all introduction of the characters and laying the foundation of its world while exploring some stories here and there. Expect to see this again for LLN Season 1. It’s very possible for a Season 2 and for that season to dive deeper regarding the dynamics between all of the characters like in previous franchises. ~~~*[Evaluation of Characters]*~~~ Wow wow wow. These characters feel really unique than the standard tropes seen in the previous Love Lives. Well… you can see they took similar elements from previous group characters but they did a proper job mish-mashing some of these elements in these new characters than their previous efforts with Aqours making what looked like clones from Muse. It’s honestly refreshing to see there’s a lot more focus on characterization and how they overcome their tribulations. If I had to compare characterization, it feels like they took the page out of idolmaster in respect to implementing genuinely unique qualities of their character. The depth of character isn’t exactly deeper than more well-crafted characters in anime but for Love Live’s standards, it definitely feels deeper which is a win and something any Love Live fan will enjoy. Also, I need to address the main character - Yuu. She’s an idol fan self-insert. It’s very clear from the get-go based on how her character plays out. Thankfully, she starts to form a character as the show goes on but she definitely felt like a huge blank slate and that bothered me for a bit considering the characterization of the other characters being quite stronger. This aspect isn’t a huge big deterrent but for those critical, you can definitely notice it quite quickly. img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792553353497280542/vlcsnap-00034.png) **2) Visuals / Animation** ~~~*[Evaluation of Visual Art]*~~~ Before I start, I need to mention that when I mention bad visual art, Love Live has had a history of it and it generally gets meme’d because it looks funny. Also, some of this is present in the show. However, when I reference bad visual art in this review, some of these aren’t memeable but more of just really bad shots, in my opinion. Overall, the visuals can look inconsistent between certain episodes. In one episode, it can look downright gorgeous to the point where I think to myself that I’m actually watching a Love Live anime. It can look so good that I think it’s possibly the best Love Live can ever look visually on-screen in comparison to previous entries. In another episode, it looks like a generic episode of Love Live in previous entries or any generic episode of anime in general. This inconsistency will set high expectations for those who enjoy gorgeous visuals like me. For me, I adjusted my expectations as the show was airing by bringing it down but for those binging, you need to be warned that the visuals can vary depending on the episode. For such a huge inconsistency, I termed the great episodes as developed by the A-Team and the other episodes developed by the B-Team. As you could guess, the A-Team is brought on for critical episodes (the beginning and end) and the B-Team handles the rest. Do NOT set your visual expectations based on A-Team’s quality, this will hurt your enjoyment through the rest of the run. Once you see B-Team’s quality, set your expectations there and you’ll have a more enjoyable time looking at the visuals. An important question to be asked is if this visual inconsistency also includes the music video previews (PVs) during the show’s run. I would say that thankfully the music PVs do NOT have that huge inconsistency in respect to the episode’s visual quality. In my opinion, they are high quality for most of them but some of them do fall flat. By that point though, it’s all subjective. Regardless, I think it can be agreed that the music PVs are very well-done in general. Also, like in Love Live Sunshine, Sunrise was able to bring in their A-game for the CGI department and was able to successfully blend 2D and CGI seamlessly. There have been 0 complaints regarding how the CGI looks, it may look out of place in certain moments but it doesn’t look like a huge eye soar. ~~~*[Evaluation of Animation]*~~~ I do appreciate the extra effort placed into animating the character’s movements. You can see characters constantly moving in certain episodes and it’s not a constant powerpoint slide. There’s a real feeling of movement and I don’t recall anything looking out of place. Overall, it’s definitely above-average and what you can expect from animation relative to Love Live Sunshine. img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792553515662835803/vlcsnap-00096.png) **3) Audio / Soundtrack / Voice Acting** This is a very subjective section based on a person-by-person’s taste. ~~~*[Evaluation of Show’s Audio]*~~~ I personally found it to be quite serviceable from general anime entertainment. There has been good usage of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds for many scenes. Overall, it was good and I don’t recall anything bad standing out. ~~~*[Evaluation of OP & ED]*~~~ I really like the OP, it has a lot of excitement and shows the potential of the group all singing together, this fits the anime opening credits vibe. Also, I enjoyed how the ED was slower-paced as the way to close the anime episode out, this fits the anime ending credits vibe. ~~~*[Evaluation of OST & Insert-Songs]*~~~ There has been a lot of similar usage of soundtracks throughout the show and this was from me watching this show on a weekly basis. I would hope they would use more variety of soundtracks but if the limited selection means it’s quality, I’ll take that. To be honest, it seemed like they focused more on the insert-songs anyways. The insert-songs are fire and so good that I loop them a lot. They’re all unique and produced by a large variety of composers and arrangers such as TeddyLoid and DECO*27. This creates that very unique feel of each insert-song per character. I believe these insert songs are one of the best that Love Live has to offer in the series entry and I’m really happy to see them not fail in this department in respect to their peers in previous entries. My favourite insert songs are Butterfly, Vivid World, and Dive. ~~~*[Evaluation of VA]*~~~ Some Seiyuus (Voice Actors) have really shined in this show like Rina’s Seiyuu and others put in a serviceable job for their characters which might be in part of the directing and scripting for certain episodes. Regardless, the seiyuus did a good job with what they had. img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792553732084727839/vlcsnap-00036.png) **4) Overall** I’ve spent way too much time writing this review but I can’t help it. There’s a great charm to this series with its memes, music, and performances. It’s why I’ve been able to consume so much of its media at this point. Though it definitely does hurt my critical side of my brain sometimes lol. For Nijigasaki, I have no regrets watching it while airing. Despite the ups and downs, when it hits its highs, I really feel that. When it hits its lows, I really feel that where I get disappointed and bored lol. Still, as an overall entertainment product, I had fun and would definitely rewatch it in the near future if the opportunity presents itself. --- Hopefully, you learned something useful from the review. Thanks for reading. :) img1080(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/409951964949118980/792553870215479296/vlcsnap-00037.png)
This is just gonna be a really short review of my immediate thoughts after completing this new season of love live.
___ #~~~__[Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club: A Review]()__~~~ ___ That's a fun title to write. It, in fact, took me weeks to remember the name of this series and to be able to pronounce it without tripping up on my words. But now that I'm confident enough to spell it, I'm going to write my review on it. One thing you have to bear in mind about this series is that, even though I can find plenty of faults in the characters and progression, Love Live is fundamentally about the music. Just something to note going into the review, although I'll expand on it later. ___ ~~~__Ratings: [17/25]()__~~~ ___ __Premise: [3/5]()__ If you've watched literally any other Love Live, then the thought of another school idol club might make you roll your eyes a little. And I wouldn't blame you, it did to me too. I was particularly tired of the whole 'genki girl begs her classmates, senpais and kouhais to join her new school idol club before having to prove herself and her club to the school council president who turns out to secretly love what they're doing and joins them' schtick, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the series deviates somewhat from the typical Love Live formula. Of course, there's still the buildup of the club and them practicing in order to get approval from the school council president, but there's plenty of freshness to it. The protagonist isn't actually an idol, but instead, works her ass off to help her friend and the other idols find success. The school council president is actually a former, reasonably successful idol who eventually helps the group get through the politics of school clubs while hiding her identity as Setsuna Yuki from the school. Instead of forming an idol group, the girls resolve to become solo idols, helping each other whilst also competing to be the best and making their own sets and songs. Unfortunately, just because the concepts are new, doesn't mean they're all that good. After all, by now, the established Love Live formula almost seems like home, and the process of leaving that safe space has definitely been a little shaky, leading to the manifestation of a few slip-ups in other departments that I'll get into. __Story: [2/5]()__ The progression of this series isn't a whole lot different to its predecessors. Usually, an episode focuses on one member of the school idol club having some kind of problem and the other members helping them to get through it. It's like the old-fashioned villain-of-the-week formula in shows like Power Rangers, but with issues to do with confidence and ability as opposed to kaijus and stuff. However, unlike the other series, there is a marked lack of progression in this series. Sure, we see Shizuku become a little more confident in her acting, and Kanata learns to sleep a bit more, but there isn't much real change. Compare it to the last two; Eli overcomes her reservations about dancing and becomes more receptive to Honoka's efforts to save the school, Nico learns that she doesn't have to rely on made-up success or pretend that her clubmates are backup dancers to impress her friends and siblings, Kotori comes to find that her friends are more important to her than success abroad. In Niji, there is a distinct lack of pivotal decisions or tense moments. Of course, I don't mind a nice, light-hearted series like this, but it without those things involved, I feel like the viewer gets less of a view into the idols' true personalities. As for the actual characters in the series, they definitely feel a lot less distinctive than those from the previous entries. Rina's interesting enough, I guess, and I can relate hugely to Ai's love of puns, but there isn't anyone who is particularly special. There's no professional classical musician putting aside her reservations about pop music to help the club write and perform, and there's no egotistical-yet-insecure girl with a big persona. Sure, we've got Kasumi, but she feels like a discount Nico. Shizuku barely does anything, Ayumu is a generic cute, pure girl, and the only special thing about Emma is that she's from Switzerland. I guess Karin is reasonably interesting as she deviates from the whole 'cute idol' thing in favour of more mature performances, but there isn't a whole lot more to her character than that. If there is a second season, I definitely think it could benefit from more character development and greater challenge to the idols. One thing I want to add is that, at least for me, it was surprisingly difficult to realise which character was the protagonist until the last few episodes. I'm not sure if that's much of a criticism, considering it's probably a sign of well-balanced screentime, but it was definitely a source of confusion. img1000(https://media1.tenor.com/images/f192259ef854e667f49bfb9c052d8955/tenor.gif?itemid=18755991) __Music: [5/5]()__ The insert music in this series is awesome. Almost always super bouncy and energetic, with some sadder and more emotional pieces when they're needed. There were multiple occasions that I marvelled at how great the OST was. 'Nuff said. The OP is okay. One of the weaker openings across all the Love Lives, but there's nothing bad or boring about it. I don't really remember listening to the ED at all, so I won't pretend like I have and give it a rating. Usually, my music section stops there, but this is a Love Live series, so we have to look at the performance breaks as well. NigiGaku feels a lot more like a musical than its predecessors, with characters transitioning straight into song rather than being on stage beforehand. I like it, it's not necessarily better or worse than what's done in the other series, it's just different. The music itself is largely great. Even the 'worst' ones are still enjoyable, with the best ones being veritable bangers. Since they're made by solo idols instead of the whole group, they all have their own unique sound, and are arguably one of the best views into the characters that sing them. Some of my favourites are included in the spoiler tag below. ~~~ ~! Butterfly by Kanata Konoe youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTmCOxIv1Pc) Dream with You by Ayumu Uehara youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cGBTbjvwuo) VIVID WORLD by Karin Asaka youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5-kvHaa9GA) !~ ~~~ __Execution: [4/5]()__ The animation throughout is pretty slick. It's nothing legendary, but it makes the performance segments nice and smooth. In particular, I love the performances; like the songs themselves, the visuals for them are all unique and complement the songs perfectly. The 3D animation has come a long way since School Idol Project, integrating well enough with the 'normal' animation. NijiGaku has some pretty good voice talents, too. A personal favourite, [Akari Kitou](https://anilist.co/staff/119722/Akari-Kitou), plays [Kanata Konoe](https://anilist.co/character/132801/Kanata-Konoe). [Karin Asaka](https://anilist.co/character/132795/Karin-Asaka) is brought to life by [Miyu Kobota](https://anilist.co/staff/119204/Miyu-Kubota), who has had some experience in the idol genre as Sophie Hojo from PriPara. All of the seiyuus do a pretty good job at putting across their emotions and embodying their characters (however shallow they are), particularly Akari Kitou and [Chiemi Tanaka](https://anilist.co/staff/120102/Chiemi-Tanaka) in their hyper-tired and dandere personalities respectively. It helps that the seiyuus sing the characters' songs, as it makes them feel a lot more natural when watching them be sung. __Enjoyment: [3/5]()__ I definitely didn't enjoy this as much as I did School Idol Project or Sunshine. Whilst I managed to keep watching and have some fun, I'm definitely not hanging on the edge of my seat waiting to watch a sequel as I did for the last two. After all, NijiGaku is pretty much all smiles and positivity and no school-closing tension to see resolved. I said in my TONIKAWA review that I like a happy series, but it just feels wrong to see Love Live characters having this smooth of a time. In all, I didn't enjoy this _that much,_ but it was in no way boring or a bad watch. ___ ~~~__Favourite Character: [Kanata Konoe](https://anilist.co/character/132801/Kanata-Konoe)__~~~ ~~~ img1000(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ihgMEYtpLr8/maxresdefault.jpg) img316(https://64.media.tumblr.com/691e66787efab5dccffa5fed53c51ee8/4657e9c283eb10ef-80/s400x600/65c832647bed5865218f4400c7fe5e52198bec83.gifv) img347(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/03/27/b6/0327b68c1780abadf20fee7e9e8c2c08.gif) img1000(https://static.zerochan.net/Konoe.Kanata.full.3012444.jpg) ~~~ ___ Honestly, there wasn't a lot to choose from in terms of a favourite character. After all, there wasn't much character depth to go from. However, I always found myself smiling at Kanata. Her episode was sweet if not particularly progressive for her character, and her solo song was easily (in my opinion) the best one. It helps that she was voiced by Akari Kitou, too. ___ ~~~__Favourite Scene: [Setsuna Yuki's performance of Chase]()__~~~ Honestly, there weren't many scenes that stuck out to me throughout the anime. This was just a fun, energetic performance. A pretty great way to start the series, and a nice little introduction to the idol world for Yuu. Here's a clip of it: ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaz__GPjAqw)~~~ ___ ~~~__Summary__~~~ Altogether, this series was quite a lot of fun. Sure, it was probably the weakest entry in the Love Live series so far, but that doesn't make it a bad watch. Interestingly enough, it's even watchable without having completed SIP and Sunshine, as it's very self contained (as long as you're familiar with the concept of a school idol). Watching this one first might be a better idea, in retrospect, as it could help numb the disappointing nature of this series. One interesting thing I noticed is its deviation from the standard Love Live formula. I talked about it before, but I wanted to give a potential reason why. In Sunshine!!, Aquors is heavily inspired by μ's, and as such, took a very similar journey initially. That's reflected in the progression of Sunshine!!, since the first half or so progresses in much the same way as School Idol Project. However, in NijiGaku, the club isn't inspired by one particular group, and as such, encompasses lots of different musical styles and progresses in a different way. Something that I mentioned in the introduction is that Love Live is about the music more than anything else. While other anime are made to tell a story and show how the characters progress, this one is made so the watcher can enjoy watching a group of anime girls making music and improving their performance skills. It's almost like a reality show, except it's not real (an unreality show?). Everything else is used as a showcase for the idols' music. In that respect, it's difficult to rate it on anything other than its music. For those just looking to listen to some idol music and ignore most of everything else, this is definitely a good watch. Unlike the other two series, this show was based partially on the School Idol Festival mobile game. Despite being a pretty big Love Live fan, I haven't played the game myself, so I wouldn't know if doing so makes watching this better or worse, but it at least provides some explanation for why Yuu is relatively nonspecific and supporting in character despite (I think) being the protagonist. I gather that Yuu wasn't in the SIF game, and she's meant to be a stand-in for the player character (thus explaining her name; Yuu is symbolic of you). It seems that she's meant to be some sort of self-insert, but I think it would have worked better if she was a proper character instead, self-inserts are generally pretty boring in my opinion. So, to summarise, this show was definitely worth watching, with some fun moments and some bright music to boot. But it's rather disappointing in comparison to the other series, and if you've only watched NijiGaku as of yet, I highly recommend you check out School Idol Project and Sunshine for a better Love Live experience: ~~~https://anilist.co/anime/15051/Love-Live-School-Idol-Project/ https://anilist.co/anime/21584/Love-Live-Sunshine/~~~ ___
Love Live's multimedia success proved to the world that anyone could enjoy watching over the growth of overly sexualized teenage girls with quirky personalities and predictable reactions. While it's far from the first franchise built around the idea, it solidified its current form and made it into a science. The original School Idol Project was a sort of linear comedy that defined its characters through their interactions and managed to justify its own existence thanks to genuinely strong directing and a bit of proper novelty, and following seasons distilled the formula into increasingly efficient–albeit transparent–iterations, culminating in Nijigasaki's direct representation of the gacha game: School Idol Festival. This third wave of school idols may be the closest one to the platonic ideal of Love Live, not thanks to its production values (which are far below those of previous entries), but because of how well it knows its audience. ___ ~~~img620(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EPaVd19UUAARzEi.jpg:large)~~~ ___ In a [previous post](https://anilist.co/activity/129646063), I quoted Mari Kotani's take on the condition of moe characters as marketable goods one can catalogue and master. Nijigasaki seems hell-bent on proving her point, and its setup resembles a storefront from the very beginning. Twice a year, overwhelming amounts of fan content starring previous generations of school idols flood the Tokyo International Exhibition Center in Odaiba and leave it inside opaque plastic bags, which makes it the ideal model for this season's all-girls high school. Clean, empty and always under bright skies, it's presented with the glamour of a commercial, so much so that it makes School Idol Project's take on Akihabara look sober by comparison. Nijigasaki High is built like an Odaiba postcard collection, focused on immediate recognition rather than cohesion or structure. Even though it is based on a real building and its surroundings, it feels like a dreamscape designed to make the idols' trials and tribulations more comfortable to watch. ___ ~~~img291(https://i.idol.st/u/background/MDgHxqNijigasaki-High-School-kELJid.jpg) img220(https://cdn-japantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/n-bigsight-a-20170119-870x580.jpg) #####"I can't believe my school is next to the G-Base!"~~~ ___ Each episodic story involves one of the girls facing a personal problem and growing into her sparkling gacha self. That problem, however, can't be rooted in a fundamental personality flaw, and its solution can't involve the protagonist gaining autonomy from the idol group or the audience. As a result, every conflict is either a misunderstanding or a very abstract take on a real issue that develops entirely in moe lingo. There's no need to represent human emotion because the _image_ of emotion is enough; the target audience keeps the dramatic language in the abstract ("Cure your depression by doing something only you can do and obtain your shine" is its own meaning and no longer responds to the whatever emotion came before the metaphor). As far as the show is concerned, further detail or ellaboration is unnecessary, both in writing and style. Normally, Nijigasaki's visual loop is something like _establishing shot -> shot/reverse shot -> GIF-able reaction_, with outfit-background changes that vaguely invoke different media (shot/reverse shot on a stage, on a hallway or in front of the Gundam Unicorn statue) without committing to a serious stylistic venture. At its best, the show actually employs cinematography, but the severely understaffed and poorly scheduled production team is barely able to keep up with it. ___ ~~~img620(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/25/23/09/252309433e120a2d5e56f0a0824b8b7a.jpg) #####I've seen way too many people compare the show's stage play episode to Revue Starlight and Kunihiko Ikuhara's work among others, and said comparisons never go past the presence of certain elements in the abstract. The episode itself is the most boring execution of the idea possible.~~~ ___ Getting this cynical always feels strange, because all anime–including the stuff I enjoy–is fundamentally tied to industrial production and often depends on treading the fine line between creativity and volatile commercial viability. As the last in the trail of giant robots, monsters and figurines, I never expected Nijigasaki to be artsy or critical of the industry. Love Live has always been a late capitalist hellspawn and I've enjoyed it as such, but earlier seasons had an identity as individual products. One could be a School Idol Project fan because of its style, comedy or even drama, but Nijigasaki doesn't have anything to call its own. Every tear in the show, every shot, every outfit and even every piece of plausibly deniable gay subtext feels like an automated consequence of the industrial process rather than anything fueled by intent. What makes it especially tragic is that, despite all my criticism, a lot of people I respect worked on the series. People with creativity, skill and training who did it for a miserable pay and under terrible working conditions, just to end up with a final product that's both shabby and impersonal. ___ ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/nPOcvJj.jpg) #####Have you ever felt bad writing a review? My next one will probably be positive because I honestly don't like being this cynical.~~~ ___ The final episode consists of a series of slideshows summarizing the School Idol Festival. Each of the girls does her one obvious thing surrounded by a few background characters (making it clear that idols are not really about music or even the stage in general, but emotional experiences you can consume and relate to from a safe distance) and repeating her one line. When it's over, they all look straight into the camera and thank the viewer for supporting them as the audience stand-in (Yu) shouts that the School Idol Festival has been the best time of her life. To me, watching this season felt like having a stare contest with a Bushiroad executive; it is far too honest about its purpose to feel more genuine than a 40 second-long Fate commercial. And at least those look good.
#~~~__Story__~~~ Love Live Nijigasaki changed the standard formula which this series was using. Love Live School Idol Project, the first one, put the title in the market and was a big success in Japan. The premise was about a group of girls getting together to prevent their beloved school from closing. In order to do that, they started a school idol club, trying to use the popularity of the idol group to get more people to apply for their school. The story focuses mainly on the hardships they need to face in order to be a good idol group and maybe win the Love Live (the name of the school idol contest). The first Love Live has a good story and drama, with good solid characters and a satisfactory ending. After that, Love Live Sunshine was created, the story is good, the characters are good too, but the premise is the same as the last one. Again, everything is about the girls getting together in order to save their school from closing. Even some of the girls' personalities resemble some of the first Love Live characters. For example, in the first one, the student council president was against the formation of the idol club, and was not giving any suport to make it happen. The Love Live Sunshine studen council president was the same way, the same thing again. In my point of view, the best thing in Love Live Sunshine was the Saint Snow story (the rival group of the main cast), their music is much better and they should have won the Love Live Competition. Now let's talk about Nijigasaki. After seeing the same story two times in a row (Love Live School Idol Project and Love Live Sunshine), Nijigasaki goes in the other way. The past ones were mainly showing the hardships with some comedy. Nijigasaki, on the other hand, highlights the characters. In addition, it has some comedy, some slice of life and a little drama, though much less than in the previous ones. In Nijigasaki there is no school closing, the girls are simply having fun in the idol club. Because of that, there is no idol group here, each of the characters are solo idols with their own style and personality, which are reflected in their songs. Episodes 1 to 9 are focused on the characters. Each episode is focused on a specific character, and in the ending that character's solo song is presented. Episodes 10, 11 and 12 are focused on a festival that every character will perform and in the end they will sing a song together for the first time. Here in Nijigasaki, at least in this first season, there is no Love Live competition, in fact the Love Live was not even mentioned in the anime. The focus is really in the characters and their own motives for being an idol. #~~~__Characters__~~~ The characters play a very important role here, due to the fact that we don't have a big group. __Uehara Ayumu__: She is kind, innocent, and sincere, often responding to the mischief from Karin Asaka and Kasumi Nakasu in a pure manner, which throws the two of them off-guard. However, she doesn't do this intentionally and is truly a pure-hearted girl. She tries her best to be helpful to others. She is a hardworking girl who puts everything in what she does, but she lacks confidence in her activities. She has a best friend named Takasaki Yu and she cares very much about her. In fact, I have the impression that she is in love with her, maybe we could see a real yuri here, in the future (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Ayumu_Uehara) ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/e79mjm.webm)!~ ~~~ __Nakasu Kasumi (Kasumin)__: Kasumi is a kind, friendly and lively girl who loves all things cute, and her love for idols is unrivaled in strength and inspiration. Kasumi wants to be number one in any competition she's in, and often resorts to cheating or even sabotage to achieve that goal. As a consequence, she is a sore loser whenever she achieves anything other than first place. Kasumi spends a lot of her time scheming or thinking up new ways to ensure her own victory; however, these plans often fail or aren't as devious as she thinks. Kasumin is my favorite character from Nijigasaki, I love her personality and the way she talks. She says that her goal is to be the custes idol in the world. Well, for me, she is already the cutest (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Kasumi_Nakasu) ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/pytznt.webm)!~ ~~~ __Osaka Shizuku__: Shizuku is a level-headed and mature honor student. She is considered a traditional Japanese beauty, and is quite timid at times. Shizuku is passionate about acting, and is very skilled at getting into character. She is also a fan of old movies and novels since she was little. However, this passion led her to be anxious because she felt she was the only child who liked these things. Due to her responsible nature, Shizuku is also inclined to take on too much responsibility and keep her thoughts to herself. She worries about things quite often. In addition, during the anime she took a liking to Kasumin, and now, both are very close friends (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Shizuku_Osaka). ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/rvpixv.webm)!~ ~~~ __Asaka Karin__: Karin is very mature and gives off a rather seductive vibe. She uses her adult-like looks to her advantage, such as when she tries to tease her underclassmen. She also teaches others how to be sexy and cool like her. However, these lessons sometimes backfire when people begin to show her significant attention or respond in a pure manner, as Karin will become embarrassed. She works as a model, and has the best voice of the Nijigasaki and the best performance too, me thinks. Karin is my second favorite character in the series (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Karin_Asaka). ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/agy4is.mp4)!~ ~~~ __Miyashita Ai__: As a suggestible person who's always willing to help, Ai has a lot of friends who can be seen chatting with strangers at any given time. She is also very caring, especially with her family and friends. In the neighborhood she lives, she tends to refer to all sorts of people around as siblings. She has the typical gyaru vibe, but she is not a bad student or a bad person. She is very energetic and friendly with everyone. Ai and Rina are close friends (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Ai_Miyashita). ~~~ ~!youtube(https://youtu.be/6GNc0gZeW6k)!~ ~~~ __Konoe Kanata__: Kanata is often seen as being very sleepy and often takes naps during the day. She is very easygoing and prone to napping in the laps of others. She is like that because she does too many things at once, thus, she is always sleepy. She truly loves her sister, in a point where her song in the anime is about her and her sister (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Kanata_Konoe). ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/6cdrbt.webm)!~ ~~~ __Yuki Setsuna__: Setsuna has an energetic smile and a distinctive style of performing. She is easily excitable and full of energy, and she can be moved emotionally very easily. She lights up whenever she is asked a question about her interests, which include anime, manga, video games, and school idols. She is the president of the student council, and in the beginning of the series she was the motive of the disbandment of the school idol club. She took her passion and tried to force it on the others members. In my opinion, she has the second best voice in the series, that only Karin can beat (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Setsuna_Yuki) ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/nuvrup.webm)!~ ~~~ __Emma Verde__: Emma is a kind and easygoing girl with a healing nature. She is very cheerful, pleasant, and tries to look after the other idols. She aims to be encouraging and to help others smile. Like Shizuku, Emma tends to keep her worries to herself because she doesn't want others to worry about her. She gets nervous easily. She used to live in Switzerland and has a very deep passion for her homeland, thus, she tends to use italian words in her songs or when she talks (adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Emma_Verde). ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/l3m96w.webm)!~ ~~~ __Tennoji Rina__: Rina is not good at conveying emotions on her face. Because of this, she makes use of the "Rina-chan Board", a sketchbook that she draws her emotions on. However she is always trying to change herself, to make others understand her better. In addition, she likes game and technology stuff and is very skilled in making videos and animations. This is very present in her song she sang in the anime, where she says she is changing and uses very specific word like ctrl+z ( adapted from https://love-live.fandom.com/wiki/Rina_Tennoji) ~~~ ~!webm(https://files.catbox.moe/fgjkhk.webm)!~ ~~~ #~~~Conclusion~~~ Love Live Nijigasaki is my favorite one, it breaks the standard that was present in the series. It innovated a lot, changing how the club works and putting the characters in solo activities. If you want to see good character development, then you should try this one. You will probably fall in love with some of the girls, or all of them. In addition, it has good comedy and slice of life scenes too. Special thanks to @mrdawn for reviewing this material
The year was 2020. Like the rest of the world, I was in lockdown. I needed something easy and uplifting to watch, so I picked up _[Love Live! School Idol Project](https://anilist.co/anime/15051/Love-Live-School-Idol-Project/)_. I fell in love with Rin; I let myself relax and just have a good time with a cute anime, its catchy songs and charming cast. In 2021, during another fraught time in my life, I moved on to [_Love Live! Sunshine!!_](https://anilist.co/anime/21584/Love-Live-Sunshine/). There, I saw a maturation of the franchise's tropes, with more well-rounded characters, better music, engaging drama and, yes, a lot of that delicious Yuri bait. I cried during several points in _Sunshine_'s second season, and its movie. I was surprised that something as utterly, shamelessly commercial as _Love Live_ could have something to say. About art, about making things with other people, about finding meaning even when life hands you defeat after defeat. ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/cEo7zhy.jpg) #####_I would kill or die for every single one of them, and they're not even real._~~~ In my excitement for all things _Love Live_, I __ran excitedly__ in the direction of the mobile game _Love Live! School Idol Festival All-Stars_. I loved unlocking favourite songs and outfits for the idols. I was charmed by the new cast from the game, belonging to Nijigasaki High School. I was intrigued by how the story developed. I loved spending time with all of these characters, old and new, feeling __one step closer to my dreams__. And I wondered, aloud in empty rooms, how they might handle this in an anime where they couldn't fall back on having members of μ's or Aqours drop by from time to time. Most of all, I wanted to see Rina's backstory, the girl who held up a sketch pad with doodles of facial expressions, because she found it hard to emote. A girl who was such a techie she built an LED mask that showed a pixel-face of her emotional state. What an interesting choice for a character, I thought. I heard the anime featured an original character to take the spot of the player's faceless in-game persona. All of this intrigued me. I was told by fellow _Love Live_ fans to expect a terrible show. I thought: maybe it's a __diamond__ in the rough? Instead, I found something much more complicated. ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/BGcXZee.jpg) #####_The cast of Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club, noticing the length of this review._~~~ See, _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_ is not a bad anime. On paper, it's an interesting new take on the _Love Live_ formula: instead of an idol group, it features 9 solo idols plus a manager. It features decent music, fun music video sequences, great voice acting, and some interesting character choices. It features a series first: a main character who is *not* an idol, ~~you~~Yuu, who takes the place of the game's player character. I felt she could have been __an ideal heroine__. Yet, after its finale I didn't feel catharsis, or bittersweet joy, or... much at all. I thought I had prepared myself by [reading the best review of this anime on this website.](https://anilist.co/review/9291) It still wasn't enough. There is something comfy and familiar about _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_, like the caress of __starlight__ under the skies of your hometown. If I had to compare its narrative style to anything, it is old-school, episodic tokusatsu. In each installment, an issue is introduced which brings one of the main characters into focus. She finds a way through this personal conundrum, usually with the support of another primary cast member’s well-timed “がんばって!”. The dramatic climax is the same in each episode, but instead of battling a monster, it's a music video. (if this description reminds you of _[Sailor Moon](https://anilist.co/anime/530/Sailor-Moon/)_, that original series shared several writers with tokusatsu shows from its studio, Toei). A well-made season of tokusatsu makes good use of this episodic format and builds on it, __very much going__ somewhere. Take _Kamen Rider Fourze_, which uses each of its two-part stories to develop either newcomers to the main cast, or the victim-turned-monster of the week. Throughout, we get snippets of the relationships between the main cast members, and protagonist Gentaro Kisaragi's infectious desire to befriend everyone, no matter how difficult they might be. By the late show, when Gentaro is literally wielding superpowers that _run on friendship_, you're fully invested. ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/DzVu3pM.jpg) #####_Pictured: the main cast of a far better show._~~~ Sadly, _Love Live: Nijigasaki School Idol Club_ is not like _Kamen Rider Fourze_. Instead, it resembles a mediocre, repetitive, and uninspired season of tokusatsu. Utterly predictable in structure, mostly lacking soul or creativity other than what its principal performers give it. And, yes, nothing but a shameless cash-in on your existing love for its parent franchise. Comparisons to previous _Love Live_ seasons are inescapable, so let's get that out of the way. A well-crafted _Love Live_ show makes careful use of music sequences and focus episodes. In previous shows, many girls didn't even get episodes of their own! Instead, they were developed through an experimental narrative technique called _"show, don't tell"_. We learned who they were through their relationships with other characters and how they dealt with whatever new challenge the writers threw the group's way. While music was a focus, we didn't have a song in every episode. Instead, songs punctuated small mini-arcs, and acted as a cathartic explosion that said: yes, [we are here, in this moment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eKcRpdLlwM), and we're doing this. We can overcome these difficulties, together. ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/GqG2IZz.jpg) #####_Remember those fuzzy feelings forever by buying our merch! All major credit cards accepted._~~~ It's a simple, uplifting sentiment, the default setting for _Love Live_. But it has weight because you see the characters overcoming either their own flaws, their hang ups, or growing to understand someone they previously clashed with. _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_ doesn’t have this luxury, as its main selling point is the cause of most of its problems. Making the main cast a group of solo idols isn't something the anime staff had a choice in. They were working with the premise from the mobile game, which this show was created to advertise. Yet, whether by executive fiat or poor creative decision-making, they chose to develop this in the least imaginative way possible. Simply put, every single girl has her own episode (bar Yuu, but we'll get to that). This means 9 out of 13 episodes are focus episodes, leaving precious little space for developing group dynamics in any meaningful way. This isn't always bad, and I want to assure you that I am not immune to this show's attempts at winning me over. There was episode 5, dedicated to Emma and her friendship with Karin. As a reversal of the show’s typical formula, Emma isn’t struggling, _Karin_ is the one with the problem to overcome. She's conflicted between the person others see her as, and who she wants to be. An utterly relatable conundrum. She's helped the School Idol Club out, but doesn't feel she would fit in as a full member because of her image as the one that acts like a grown-up. Much like other episodes, this is solved by the unconditional care and friendship Emma gives her. And yet, in this episode it really landed. Karin's conflict made sense: she's a teenage girl who has worked as a professional model, and has had to grow up before her time. Emma is the bright-eyed foreign girl who just _believes_ in school idols, and who desperately wants to get to know her aloof new bestie. She tells Karin she can be whoever she wants to be, as long as it brings her joy. She then performs a song for her and it just _works_, because it represents her breaking through and connecting with Karin. ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/njsVCAV.jpg) #####_Yes, I am gay and single. Leave me alone._~~~ When the show tries a similar type of story to develop Shizuku, it falls apart. Shizuku is such a cliché of the nice, pure idol, I'd have a hard time telling her apart from Ayumu if it weren't for their appearance. That she's supported by ~~craven cow~~ Worst Girl Kasumi, only rubbed salt in the wound. Shizuku’s episode tries to say something about the masks we wear, and yet it rings empty. You might ask why I did not drop _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_. And there is only one, honest answer I can give to this question. I wanted to watch up to episode 6 at least. Why? ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/MQsEkIu.png) #####_Pictured: Objectively Best Girl. Do not @ me. I swear to god, if you @ me._~~~ The first 4 episodes had been painful to watch, aside from some of the song sequences. Then episode 5 was... a good _Love Live_ episode. Not outstanding, but up there with basically any random episode of _School Idol Project_ or _Sunshine_. It was a perfectly serviceable story. Rina's episode was much the same, showcasing our lovable nerd and telling us the origin story of the Rina-chan board. (Side-note: the Rina-chan board, notebook version, is exactly the kind of gimmick that barely works in animation. It's something you come up with for a visual novel, such as the story mode of _School Idol Festival All-Stars_. When a character is more than a series of static sprites, it becomes incredibly awkward, hence why Rina doesn't use it nearly as often as she does in the game. As for the electronic version, it's built extremely quickly and with little preamble. ~!There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit of Rina developing the electronic board with Yuu's help in the final episode, but that's it.!~) ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/7aMZS4Y.jpg) #####_Like me, Rina has a gamer battlestation. I don't have a gamer chair though, I have a Steelcase Leap V2._~~~ Having seen these two episodes, fear filled me. For someone as opinionated as I am, I often feel an intense fear of rejection when I realise my thoughts on any given thing can be diametrically opposed to those of my friends. I didn't want this. __I wanted to find a forest where I could simply sleep.__ In short, those two episodes did the worst thing they could possibly do: they were good. They weren't excellent, of course. If they were excellent, then this would have been easier. I could've said this show was secretly great. Instead, they are just fine, which fostered anxious ambiguity: is this show good? Are those two episodes really that good? And if they are good, is the rest of the show going to be good? Faced with this, my only choice was to keep watching. Episode 7 was sort of okay. Episode 8 wasn't. Episode 9 almost had something to say. I felt like __chasing__ after this show's essence was breaking my brain. Like the more I tried to stab at its heart, the more it ducked and wove like a capoeira master whose body is entirely made of jello. But, like jello, it was cheap and often tasted horrid. And yet: sometimes, all you want is a bit of gelatinous sugar on your tongue. The __evergreen__ joy of the sugar high. I needed to know. Despite the __heart-thumping beep-boop of emotions__ in my chest that hinted at a gnawing existential void, I pressed on to the finale. Spoiler time! ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/m2jHk0j.jpg) #####_Surprise, Rina is only my second-favourite pink-haired girl who talks about beeping like a robot._~~~ ~!The last three episodes of Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club were a perfect microcosm of the show. Episode 11 brought in some drama which had been building since the previous installment: Ayumu feels a growing distance from her childhood friend, Yu. _"Finally"_, I thought, _"Yuu will get some development, and maybe there will be something that makes Ayumu stand out as a character."_ Things start fairly promising: Ayumu is jealous of Yuu's seeming closeness with the talented Setsuna. Yuu wants to tell Ayumu about her dream, and calls her over to her room to tell her about practicing piano. Ayumu's jealousy boils to the surface, pointing out she showed her piano playing to Setsuna first. Yuu tries to tell Ayumu of her dream, but Ayumu doesn’t want to hear it. In a scene that would not be out of place in a good Yuri anime, Ayumu breaks down and tackles Yuu into bed. She holds her tight, crying. She says she wants to be a school idol only for Yuu, and asks Yuu to belong to her alone. Episode 11 ends with an emotional bang. What could the show do to resolve this scene filled with character drama? img420(https://i.imgur.com/dCnCBfn.jpg) _Love tackle? Check. Yuri bait? Check. Feet? Check, check, check._ In the finale, rather than competing in Love Live, the idols from Nijigasaki have been working on a School Idol Festival and invited other school idol groups to take part. This lets the show repeatedly namedrop the title of its raison d’etre: the gacha game it’s shamelessly promoting. For ultimate branding synergy, the one time we see the School Idol Festival's name in print, it’s with the exact same logo and font as the game, available now for iOS and Android mobile devices! Preparations for the festival are underway and every idol is working on her own stage, each with a distinct vibe. Yuu is at the epicentre, trying to help everyone do their best. Ayumu struggles to muster any real enthusiasm. She'd told Yuu not to worry about the night before, and that was that. Setsuna notices Ayumu is struggling, and walks her home. Ayumu explains that she's conflicted: she's seen how Yuu is helping everyone out, and she's realised there are a lot of people aside from Yuu who support her and want her dream to become a reality. And yet, she was doing this for Yuu, at least at first. Here, I hoped _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_ would deliver something at least somewhat solid, if not necessarily deep. Maybe Setsuna, an experienced idol, could give Ayumu some piece of sage advice that helps her cut this proverbial Gordian Knot, in true _Love Live_ fashion. Something like _"it's good to want to make things for other people, but you also have to find out why you want to do it for yourself, especially if it's something creative."_ That felt like the kind of message the show was building towards, and which a better _Love Live_ season would have delivered. Something appropriate to both characterisation and theme, which would give the audience some kind of resolution. Instead, Setsuna simply says she once had doubts too, but now she wants to do her best! So she encourages Ayumu to do her best. That’s it. This somehow solves things for Ayumu, and she runs away happily. Much like other times during these 13 episodes, I felt like I'd been had. By the time the final episode rolled in, I was mostly checked out. We see the fully realised stage for each idol with their gimmicks: the lively Ai performs next to a food stall; sleepy Kanata has beds for her audience to nap in; total geek and Best Girl Rina is challenging the audience in a fighting game tournament; ~~craven cow~~ Worst Girl Kasumi has a wandering stage made out of a giant effigy of herself, a construct that fittingly acts as a testament to her enormous ego. img420(https://i.imgur.com/PI1SdXh.jpg) _A towering, overwrought monument to unearned self-importance._ Before the final act, a collab between all the school idol groups, disaster strikes. It starts to rain! My disbelief was so unsuspended by this point, the part of my brain with experience as an event organiser started to yell inside my skull. It said simply that girls who managed to be so organised as to put together a festival of this scale so flawlessly, would definitely have plans in the event of rain. Eventually, the rain subsides. Of course, the audience is immediately back, because they believe in school idols! Our girls run to the stage, stomping on puddles as they speed past the statue of the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, glowing green with ~~marketing synergy~~the promise of tomorrow. The final concert takes place, showing us a montage which makes prodigious use of motion graphics. This caught my attention, as it was not unlike the [3rd opening for another Sunrise production](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCcZe1R095k). In fact, I just took a break from writing this review to drink a full glass of water as I watched that OP. You can do it too! Taking hydration breaks is good and healthy! You've come so far, you've done really well. You still have about 946 words left to read in this thing, so maybe a glass of water alongside some beautifully animated credits sequences is just what you need. See you in five. img420(https://i.imgur.com/cQzxzL0.jpg) _While on my water break, I went and snapped this pic of my Love Live! Sunshine!! girls, just so we're totally clear that I'm a craven hypocrite._ _Anyway_, the montage shows us several scenes that seem meaningful and dramatic. Like all the worst montages, these are mostly scenes we never got to see. The School Idol Club meets in the aftermath, their hearts filled by loving fan letters from all over the world and messages from other schools to collaborate. _"I guess we’re going to have to have a second one,"_ says Kanata. Finally, the show ends with you. Yuu. You bow to the teachers as you sit down to play piano for the entrance exam to the music track in Nijigasaki school. This is the subplot Yuu was so excited about: she wants to play music so she can help out the Nijigasaki idols. But you are empty. Yuu has been empty throughout the show, nothing but a vacuous vessel for the audience's (expected) love for the show's cast. She is you, and she is nothing. She doesn't have a personality, or characterisation beyond wanting to support everyone. Yuu is the most wasted character in all of _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_. Here was a chance to do something interesting and different, and just like the rest of the show, it's simply not there. You are not there. Just another person-shaped void.!~ ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/bYlGufC.jpg) #####_I miss them._~~~ This feeling of emptiness, of _lack_, expands outwards to the rest of the show. You realise that this endeavour felt like a puppet show trying, with occasional success, to elicit the same emotions as previous _Love Live_ stories. At worst, you realise the puppeteers aren't the creatives that somehow drew the short straw and had to take on working on the gacha game adaptation. The girls in this show barely feel like people. They are _fantoches_, shapes that vaguely allude to something you loved long ago. Inside them is nothing but the body snatching puppeteer's glove worn by the cold hand of the Bushiroad executive. He has hollowed out anything potentially difficult, any kind of emotional complexity or mildly bold creative choice that could in any way make these girls anything other than unproblematically lovable. There is no Nico Yazawa here, a girl whose acerbic two-facedness was the result of growing up in a poor family and having to look after her siblings. There are no layered personalities like Chika, who is as excited about creating together with her friends as she is prone to depression when things look glum. ~~~img420(https://i.imgur.com/rla5Iys.jpg) #####_Rina-chan... I’m sorry._~~~ _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_ is a vacuous production. It's _The Rise of Skywalker_; _Battlestar Galactica Season 4_; _Macross Delta_; _Game of Thrones Season 8_ and _Gundam SEED Destiny_ : something that makes what came before feel worse in comparison, and makes you~~(Yuu(it was always just you))~~ feel like a fool for caring in the first place. It made me question if I really, actually care about _Love Live_, or find idols at all charming or fun anymore. My bright, __rainbow-coloured passion__ for _Love Live_ was dimming. ~~~img200(https://i.imgur.com/cPAVymz.jpg) img200(https://i.imgur.com/w0gyTHK.jpg) #####_Maybe a 4000-word review of The Rise of Skywalker is next? Stay tuned! (don’t (I’m in pain))_~~~ And yet, _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_ had catchy songs. It had many more Yuri moments than I've mentioned, which, due to who I am as a person, made me curious about its announced second season. Yes, they are introducing even more girls into an already-crowded series. But now that the main cast has been developed, maybe the three new girls can breathe new life into it. Maybe the creators won't feel like they have to so ruthlessly stick to the formula they put together for season 1. Maybe it will be a fully good season of _Love Live_, improving on the first just like previous shows have done. ~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/8z64lxS.jpg) #####_Pictured: The ‘bargaining’ stage of grief._~~~ Or maybe it will remain a pale imitation, especially with the advent of [another true-blue _Love Live_ series](https://anilist.co/anime/114979/Love-Live-Superstar/), which hits right every single note that _Nijigasaki_ dropped, hoping ~~Yuu~~you wouldn't notice. Regardless, they got me. I am weak. I will be watching season 2, listening to the music as my friends drift away from me, realising I am a lost cause. Maybe a year from now we'll be back here, and I'll manage to squeeze four thousand more unnecessary words about another anime I didn’t like. Hopefully not. The only way I can think of to end this ~~treatise~~review is with a warning: _save yourself._ Don't let your curiosity get the best of you. If you see _Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club_ on your travels, keep walking; _no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here_. Don't play the gacha game (__don't play ANY gacha games!__). Find [other idol anime](https://anilist.co/anime/3572/Macross-Frontier/). Find [other idols](https://www.youtube.com/c/ksonONAIR). And remember that even in the most commercial and meticulously capitalist idol franchise, something can come along that crassly says the quiet part out loud: _Yuu are the product._ ~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/Dt22kpk.jpg) #####_There is still hope, though. There is another._~~~
