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medea10 · 2 years

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My Review of Love Live Superstar

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I never left Idol Hell. Every season, I find myself watching something idol related or playing one of the rhythm games. And now I just happen to be back in Love Live’s grip. So, who’s escapade am I watching now, Honoka, Chika, Ayumu, or one of those so-so grabs from LLSIF?

None mentioned!

That is correct. Superstar was announced in early 2020, shortly after learning about the Love Live Nijigasaki series that was to come later that year. This time, fans got a chance to input name ideas for the name of the group and the name of the school these girls will attend.

SUPERSTAR: So, we all knew going in this new story that it was going to be different from all of the other series to come from the franchise. Yes, all of the series have stark differences, but end up becoming school idols in the end. Let’s take a look and Yuigaoka High School to see how the girls there differ from all the others in the Love Live franchise.

Kanon Shibuya always loved singing. Once she puts on her headphones, she’s on full blast. The only problem is that when she has to perform, like in an audition or solo performance, she freezes up. This even caused problems when she was auditioning for an entrance into Yuigaoka High School (a school famous for its music program). Kanon was still accepted into the school, it’s just that she was shunned from the music department, so she’s only a regular student in the general studies program. Kanon just decided to give up her dreams of singing. But on her way to school, she was singing without realizing and caught the attention of another student. Keke Tang was enthralled and wanted to know more about Kanon.

Later in the day, we learn that Keke is a student originally from Shanghai. So, we’re keeping with the tradition of having one member in the group not Japanese. And then we see she came to Japan to be a school idol. I guess Keke is pretty much like Emma from Nijigasaki since she did that exact same thing! But the girls are constantly stopped by a student council member (Ren). She bans their attempts at them starting a school idol club (much like Eli and Dia from previous series). Thankfully, the principal had a little mercy by allowing Kanon and Keke to start an idol group at school under the condition that they win 1st place in a local competition. While it was damn-near impossible, the girls won a special newcomer award for their performance and the principal caved in on giving Keke and Kanon the opportunity to start a school idol club.

LICENSING: When this first came out it was a FUNimation exclusive and no one else could touch it. But once the FUNimation/Crunchyroll merger happened, Crunchyroll slowly got ahold of this anime. Love Live Superstar eventually made its way onto the catalog, like one week before the second season aired. It was a long wait, but we got it. My only gripe was that I was watching this weekly and would get impatient with each episode. The episodes would air in Japan Sunday night (my time) and I would have to wait 24 hours for the major sites to get it. Stupid, first-world gripe!

NEW CHARACTERS: As usual, we have the barrage of high school girls with aspirations of either becoming an idol or something in that field. And once again as usual, we have brand-new seiyuus voicing these characters. In fact, only one of the girls has one anime credit to her name because Liyuu sang a couple of theme songs for anime. Before I get to the seiyuu list, let’s talk about the girls of Liella.

As I’ve mentioned in the synopsis, Kanon has a gift of song. Unfortunately, stage fright has always been her biggest cripple. As a result, she was never given a chance to do a solo and it even messed with her chances of being admitted into the music program at school and was instead shoved in the general studies program. It wasn’t until she met Keke and got interested in becoming a school idol that things started to change in terms of her stage fright.

Keke came to Japan from Shanghai in order to become a school idol. And after listening to Kanon singing, Keke was convinced that Kanon must become an idol with her. But Keke’s first inspiration came from an idol duo named Sunny Passion. Funny enough, Sunny Passion ended up becoming the girl’s first and main rival.

Sumire joined the school idol club in hopes of being awarded the title of “center”. That’s cute, lady! As it turns out, Sumire has some experience in show business. Even though her biggest role was when she was a child in an isopod costume dancing, she still sees that as a win (if not totally embarrassing). Get ready to see a lot of scenes of her dancing in the isopod costume. And just like many other Love Live characters with catchphrases, Sumire has one too.

Chisato is Kanon’s very close friend and they’ve stayed close for many years. Chisato got in the dance program at school. So, when Kanon and Keke ended up forming the school idol club, Chisato decided to help the girls with training. Chisato ends up an idol eventually, it’s just that it took a while because of a dance competition.

Ren’s story gets a little complicated. Yes, she’s the typical snotty president. And she does reject the idea of there being any kind of idol activity on campus. But in reality, her mother was a school idol when she was in high school. In fact, her mother was an idol in order to save her school from shutting down. Where have I heard that story before? Anyways, it didn’t go well and the school closed. But Ren’s mother worked hard to bring to life another school in its place that focuses on music programs (Yuigaoka). But in later years and after her death, the school faces closure and Ren faces having to leave Japan to go live with her father. But does she change her outlook and join Kanon? Come on, you all know the answer already.

Here's the cast!

JAPANESE CAST: *Kanon is played by Sayuri Date

*Keke is played by Liyuu (known for the ED theme to I’m Standing on a Million Lives)

*Sumire is played by Naomi Payton

*Chisato is played by Nako Misaki

*Ren is played by Nagisa Aoyama

ENGLISH CAST: *Kanon is played by Kristi Rothrock (known for Ilulu on Miss Kobayashi)

*Keke is played by Julia Gu

*Sumire is played by Lizzie Freeman (known for Chizuru on Rent-A-Girlfriend, Trish on Jojo’s Pt. 5, Cardinal on SAO: Alicization, Hinata on Tokyo Revengers, Chitose on Tonikawa, and Mujika on The Promised Neverland)

*Chisato is played by Maddie Matsumoto

*Ren is played by Natalie Van Sistine (known for Yor on Spy x Family)

SHIPPING?: I know it’s almost impossible asking me what I support in any Love Live series without going total multi on everyone (with some exceptions). In the first season, I wasn’t totally thrilled with anything with a few love/hate moments between Sumire and Keke, but that’s all from them. Come season two, I raise my eyebrow slightly at the sight of Mei and Shiki…and then again at Mei and Ren. Mei is total lez-chow and I stand by that.

Yeah, I’m a Mei x Shiki shipper after all that.

IS THIS A FIRST?: When it comes to female idol shows, usually the male gender is rare if not non-existent. When it comes to the Love Live franchise, men are literally non-existent physically. All the parents seen are female. Mari from Love Live Sunshine had a father, we were damn sure of that. But not once was he seen or heard. Every school for the Love Live animes were strictly female-only schools. Every character who had a sibling has to be a sister or too young to notice. So, excuse me while I spit out my ginger ale when I see Kanon’s father not once, but twice in the series.

I mean yeah, they didn’t give him a face and he doesn’t say anything. But he exists! Look at this fool. They have to have him face away from his daughter because the anime dictates it. He totally exists in an idol anime. I think he’s some kind of linguist. That’s the most I’ve ever heard of a father in the Love Live franchise in like, ever!

END OF SEASON ONE: After getting Ren to join the group, the girls face their toughest struggle(s). Love Live! Yes, we get the actual Love Live competition in this series. Now let’s list all the problems these girls have. What’s this groups official name? What about songs? Who’s going to write these lyrics? What kind of music? Better call Kanon to figure everything out.

You know what? Kanon does too much for his group. I can understand helping Chisato out, they’re besties! But Kanon became an idol because Keke begged her, overcame her massive stage-fright, did all the music to all the songs sung up to this point, help Ren sort out her mommy issues, and now she’s gotta do all this. She’s the most hardcore of the leaders of Love Live. Apparently, this year there was a record number of school idols competing in Love Live. And so, there’s going to be preliminary rounds to weed out the unwanted. First, we got a rap battle.

And I gotta tell you, whenever I think of rap and anime, I get the giggles. Whether Veronica Taylor doing a rap for KidsWB or Akio’s rap in Clannad, 9 times out of 10, I will laugh! And this episode did not let me down in the laughter department. But we did get some character growth for Sumire. The girl who was never given a chance to shine on stage gets her chance and the girls make it to the next round. Okay, next qualifier. Solos!

LET’S PILE MORE SHIT ON KANON! Oh yeah, they sure did. They chose Kanon to do the solo. Not only that, but get her to sing for her old elementary school by herself, literally forcing her to confront her fears of performing in front of an audience from where the trauma first started. Dick move, guys. I know everything turned out okay for Kanon and she was able to make peace with the past, but seriously that was just fucked. Chisato does dance moves, Keke makes costumes, and Kanon does everything else. What the fuck guys? Ren, Sumire, pick up some slack, you fucking dead-weights!

Well, it’s time to prepare for the next qualifier and we do get several good notes to go on here. The school has dodged the shut-down fairy that shows up quie a bit in this franchise. A lot of girls are interested in enrolling for the next school year. Add to that, Ren’s father sends money in order for the school to stay thriving and for Ren to continue to live in town. And the girls are going to perform their qualifier in style thanks to the people of town and their dedicated classmates. Their performance was…it had Snow Halation vibes. Did anybody else feel that way too?

Unlike that performance, this gave the girls of Liella a big dose of reality. Second place! This finally struck a chord with Kanon who up to this point was just trying to overcome her crippling stage fright. It hurts to lose. But the girls of Liella are going to work even harder for the next Love Live and we will see that next season.

Holy God damn, two Love Lives in one year!

SEASON TWO: Here’s something we’ve never seen in any Love Live up to this point, the girls are one year older. Yeah, all of the Love Live series are kinda set in the world’s longest school year. But the Liella girls are now second years and are about to be senpais to a bunch of incoming freshmen. Ooh, does this mean we’re getting new members?

Yes. Yes, we are!

The incoming freshmen were aware of Liella and were big fans of the group. It’s just that no one wants to venture on and become part of the school idol group out of intimidation. They all know how close Liella came to getting into Love Live and that their rivals Sunny Passion see them as their biggest rival (despite competing at a higher level than Liella).

New student Kinako Sakurakouji (from Hokkaido) kinda stumbled upon the girls practicing and they have high hopes for her (despite being a “Plain-Jane”). Kinako wasn’t aware of the appeal of Liella or school idols until she watched a prior performance and was entranced. Other students like Mei (the one with the red hair) knew of the group, but was one of those who feared of screwing up their chances of making it to the top. Shiki (the one with the blue hair) joined Liella on her own only to get under Mei’s skin, but enjoyed it so much that she decided to stay on as a permanent member. And Natsumi (the one with the blonde hair) is a V-tuber! We get a little deeper with Natsumi as she seemed to have failed on many dreams, but eventually got bitten by the idol bug. Now we have the standard 9 members.

*Kinako is played by Nozomi Suzuhara

*Mei is played by Akane Yabushima

*Shiki is played by Wakana Ookuma

*Natsumi is played by Aya Emori

As of the date of posting this review, the English cast for the four new members has not been announced, nor has there been a drop on an English dub coming out.

TWO RIVALS: So, this season of Love Live, Liella has another rival to look out for. We’ve seen different kinds of rivals throughout the Love Live franchise. A-Rise was a challenge for µ's, but supportive nonetheless. Saint Snow was one of those rivals where they had chips on their shoulder, but became allies to Aqours. As for Nijigasaki, I can’t really say any of the other schools were rivals. Everyone worked together and everyone had each other’s back. This series has the duo group Sunny Passion. They’re kinda like A-Rise in a way. They’re challenging to Liella, yet supportive. In the second season, Sunny Passion was still there. And then the creators thought, how about we give Liella another rival?

Meet Wien Margarete! She…oh, I am being told that I put up the wrong stock-photo of her and that this is really a picture of some Himalayan pink salt.

Here’s Wien Margarete for real. She has low opinions on school idols and idol competitions. And has this fixation with Kanon that I don’t know if it’s grudge-worthy or a tsundere in the making. Make your own call on her. What’s a nice way to say this? Margarete is like all of Ash Ketchum’s asshole rivals mashed into one with a vagina. You’re so welcome for that image!

So, was it absolutely necessary to have another rival for Liella? Sure, why the hell not? I honestly think that she’s only going to be a temporary rival. Isn’t she only a middle schooler? If she’s in her final year there, she could enter Yuigaoka High School if we’re to get a third season. But at this point and time, it feels like a little overkill to have two rivals for Liella. Sunny Passion was a hard rival to beat. They beat Liella the previous year and with this being their final year to compete in Love Live, they might be unbeatable. At least that’s what we all thought until little miss pink salty bitch came in and beat Sunny Passion in the qualifiers.

ENDING: Liella is about to go through the same thing as the year prior, Tokyo prelims for the Love Live. As we all remember, they came in second to Sunny Passion. This year, Sunny Passion isn’t even in the competition. They lost to the solo idol Wien Margarete. And sucks for them as this was Sunny Passion’s final chance to compete in Love Live since both of them are graduating high school this year. Margarete is a unique idol. She made her stance about school idols and the Love Live competition during a video conference. It was not looked upon favorably. Regardless of her salty-bitch attitude, Margarete is no one to mess with. She’s fierce! She even beat Liella earlier in the season at a local competition. So, the stakes are pretty freakin’ high.

The second years once again came upon this dilemma of having the first years perform in the competition or just have the original 5 members. This is something we really haven’t come across in any other Love Live series. Nearly all of the idol groups in Love Live banded together in the same year. Yes, Kanan, Mari, and Dia had a little more experience than the rest of the girls of Aqours, but it wasn’t even a thought of having just them perform in the competiton. Here, the second years have a whole year’s worth of experience and performing under their belt. The first years just started and are only in this like a couple of months. In the end, the group decided to perform as a group, the full group. As a result, they won first place and get to advance to the finals. Good for Liella! Good for Kanon! Now let’s all watch Liella revel in their victory. I mean, let’s watch the salty pink bitch throw a hissy fit now.

No, I’m not kidding. Margarete took the microphone out of the emcee’s hand and cried foul over Liella winning over her. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!

The audacity of this bitch right here.

The internet obviously thinks the same thing. This bitch and the audacity of it all! Kanon wanted to know why Margarete is the way she is. She wants to see if there’s something behind this sore loser act or if she’s just a bitch. Turns out Margarete and Kanon have a little more in common than one would think. As you might recall, Kanon had a rough time when it came to singing in front of crowds even though she wanted to sing. And as a result, she would fail each audition, including the one to get into the music program at her high school. With Margarete, her dream was to follow in her elder sister’s footsteps and enter this music school in Vienna, Austria. But it seems that she was given an opportunity to maybe enter if she were to go to school in Japan, learn about school idols, and compete in Love Live. I believe the terms were for Margarete to win Love Live and then she’d be accepted to that school. Not only did she lose, that school in Vienna is interested in Kanon and wants her to go for her third year of high school. I think this might be Margarete’s chance to get in (again) because this school really wants Kanon.

Kanon of course declined the offer. But that isn’t the end of that subject. Chisato brings it up again and tells Kanon she should go to Vienna. Actually, all of the girls of Liella want Kanon to go. This kind of opportunity only comes once and she shouldn’t waste it. So, after enough arm-twisting, Kanon decided to go. And now for the finals of Love Live!

Liella won!

On Kanon’s way home to get ready for her trip, Margarete stops by (wearing a Yuigaoka uniform) and says the exchange has been cancelled. And that’s how season two ends! Gee, I hope there’s a movie that can clear things up for us.

A THIRD SEASON?! FOR REAL?! But Love Live’s never get a third season. The sequence goes first season, second season, movie, done! I guess we will live to see a third season here. I want some explanations of seeing Margarete in the Yuigaoka uniform. Is she going to the school now or what? And if so, does that mean she’s going to be member #10 for Liella?

I don’t like how they ended this episode. Everything up to this point has been really exciting to watch. This Love Live is inching closer to being my favorite of the Love Lives. I’m still partial to Love Live Sunshine if you want to know the truth. But the season finale giving us a major cliff-hanger was not a good look. I know it’s more of a, you want more, stay tuned! At this point, the third season is announced and they’re in the middle of auditioning for new members. That means this third season might take a while before it’s fully finished. I’m guessing 2024. I know Margarete will be in the third season. But I’m wondering if Kanon’s younger sister is going to enter Yuigaoka and become an idol like her sister. I know we already have Ruby and Dia from Love Live Sunshine, but I don’t know, I kinda like that idea. But we’ll see what happens when it happens.

Love Live Superstar has been a fun ride and if you were a big fan of any of the Love Live series, I recommend you check this one out. Yes, the story is formulaic, but season two does give us a lot of interesting twists and things we haven’t seen in this franchise yet. I applaud this series on some of the risk-taking they took. Not that cliff-hanger though, they did no one any favors by doing that. But if you want to check out this Love Live series, Crunchyroll has every episode available. And while you’re there, check out Love Live Sunshine and Love Live Nijigasaki. Still no word if they’ll gain the original Love Live series back.

Final thought: Shiki is best girl in this series.

#anime review #love live #love live supertar #keke tang #kanon shibuya #sumire heanna #chisato arashi #ren hazuki #shiki wakana #mei yoneme #kinako sakurakoji #wien margarete #liella #sunny passion #natsumi onitsuka

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