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[Tye The Czar]

Well i tried to watch this new series, But this new LL girls are just not as unique as muse so i kinda stop after the first episode.

I object to that.

The originals were very 2-dimensional cute girl archetypes with a few exceptions. Aqours still has some archetypes, but are otherwise better written and well-rounded.

And Nico was always great as a Kanye-West-meets-Starscream foil who goes through great character development in Season 2.

 

[CoinArt]

I've been translating some cute NicoMaki stuff. That second one is slightly NSFW due to non-explicit nudity.

 

[Jintor]

Aqours doesn't have Nico so it is already infinitely better.

Wow you've got that disease where you say the opposite of true things

 

[BGBW]

Jintor is a respectable member.

 

[Jintor]

Looks like it wore off

 

[Bob Coffee]

So who's hype for todays Tokyo trip ep? If theres a real muse cameo other than posters, or a nontan charm hanging at kanda myojin im going to be pissed. Save actual moose cameo stuff for the inevitable aqours movie.

 

[PK Gaming]

Love Live: Sunshine 7

If last week's episode was an exercise in frustration, then this episode was definitely a return to form. Love Live at its best basically.

Spoiler

Episode 7 unleashes the girls on Tokyo, and we're basically treated to non stop fun and whimsy. I've said this before, but the Sunshine girls have sooooooo much chemistry with each other. Like, between Muse (at 6 members) and Aqours (at 6 members) there's no comparison—The dynamic between Chika/You/Riko/Hana/Ruby/Yohane is SUPERB. There was an emotional layer to this episode (specifically, Dia's conversation with Ruby and Riko opening up to her future girlfriend Chika) and it was handled pretty well. Dia's goodbye to Ruby in particularly is basically what I was hoping their relationship to be like (much better than when she tells Ruby to GET RID her idol stuff). Emotional scenes in Love Live are good when there's restraint.

Dia's conversation with Mari was so incredibly silly, but unlike the previous episodes drama, there's definitely a self awareness. The entire scene is just framed in the most ridiculous way. Mari outright stating that maybe "they can do what we can't", Dia's kabedon... it almost feels like they're intentionally being overdramatic over school idols. "If they fail... it will destroy them."

Thinking it over, it would be nice if Mari/Dia/Kanan's character development amounted to them realize that it's okay to fail.

 

[Anony]

too much muse circle jerk, they should really move away from this unless they're gonna make a cameo

 

[BGBW]

too much muse circle jerk, they should really move away from this unless they're gonna make a cameo

Final episode will reveal that idols, once they've graduated, become one with the Idol System, a hivemind designed to manipulate the public's mental state after it was discovered that school idols leave the population in a state where they do not want to commit crime. The Love Live competition is designed to draw out girls with the best potential to help keep the system going.

 

[Bob Coffee]

too much muse circle jerk, they should really move away from this unless they're gonna make a cameo

A cameo is precisely what they shouldnt do(unless it was say A-rise who are likely pros by this point). Untill the inevitable movie. Let aqours stand on there own and have there own story. The second they have any muse member appear in person cheapens sunshine so much that there really isnt any point.

 

[Bob Coffee]

Final episode will reveal that idols, once they've graduated, become one with the Idol System, a hivemind designed to manipulate the public's mental state after it was discovered that school idols leave the population in a state where they do not want to commit crime. The Love Live competition is designed to draw out girls with the best potential to help keep the system going.

I like this, anyway we can tie it into macross or megazone 23 lol.

 

[D3RANG3D]

Spoiler

 

[PK Gaming]

The deepest lore

 

[D3RANG3D]

:O

 

[froliq]

riko top cute

 

[Hugstable]

Spoiler

lol poor Tsubasa getting Dogged

 

[Tye The Czar]

Spoiler

The new rivals were great, having that 'popular smug douchebag' attitude you often see in Western works.

And their name too!
Saint Snow
SaintS now

Spoiler

Saints Row

A Ha! I knew it! They are part of the Tokyo division of the Saints!

 

[Hachitora]

Final episode will reveal that idols, once they've graduated, become one with the Idol System, a hivemind designed to manipulate the public's mental state after it was discovered that school idols leave the population in a state where they do not want to commit crime. The Love Live competition is designed to draw out girls with the best potential to help keep the system going.

No mechs? That doesn't sound exciting at all

 

[CoinArt]

​

 

[Bob Coffee]

Shiiiny fun time ep7

Spoiler

this ep could have made me drop the series if one of µ's members actually showed up. But no µ's members show up in person, although they did visit Kanda myojin(the shrine nozomi worked at during og LL) and thankfully there were no sightings of miss spiritual power herself. However they did give chika her cliche as fuck honoka running up the stairs(the same stairs!) moment framed in exactly the same way as og LL. the only other blatant µ's reference was a quick shot of some nesoberi in an akiba shop as the aqours group wanders around . I expected far worse this ep to be honest, with it taking place in otonokizaka's backyard.

At one point chika suggests they visit otonokizaka, to which riko passes, they dont end up going and some good comes out of that. We get a little more background on riko. Otherwise the Aqours interactions this ep were really great. Yohane is amazing as usual(the waiting for the train scene, and the black magic store scene lol, So when are we going to get a shin megami tensei:Guilty Kiss with Yohane negotiating with little demons?), along with zuramaru's choice in travel outfits. You is on point as usual with a strong uniform game.

I am interested to see where the plot line with the third years go, especially since its been spelled out much like i predicted that they failed as idols in the past, and Dia is really worried about not putting ruby and co through the same thing. meanwhile mari thinks they should be given a chance to go beyond their previous attempts. i hope in the next few eps we get a little bit more kanan backstory as to what went on also.

The new rival team has that super douche air to them and i love it, they give off a way different aura than A-RISE did. i wonder what style of music Saint Snow will do? next weeks episode should be interesting with the title "isn't it frustrating?", will aqours loose at this school idol event? in any case i am actually looking forward to next week

 

[phoenix296]

http://www.siesta-tokyo.com/article/439086791.html

Vote for μ's or Aqours to perform at the 2020 Olympic games!

 

[elhaym]

Finally got a chance to watch after Otakon and yeaaah, ep7 had some good moments but it STILL seems to be pushing to hard towards Aqours = µ's mkII (I'm still kind of rolling my eyes at Chika's チ-shirt).

... also, did You have a different outfit in every single scene in this ep, or is it just me?

Spoiler

That catalog must have been super effective and her family must be rich.

 

[Jintor]

Man there is nothing, NOTHING like that thrill of finally getting that fucking full combo.

I'm never going to play any of these songs on expert am i

 

[JoeFu]

Man there is nothing, NOTHING like that thrill of finally getting that fucking full combo.

I'm never going to play any of these songs on expert am i

Wait until master! My phone hates me and drops inputs so I haven't full combod a song in ages

 

[PK Gaming]

In an alternate universe, Kanan is the cheery sidekick

Who also wants to smash Chika

 

[Bob Coffee]

In an alternate universe, Kanan is the cheery sidekick

Who also wants to smash Chika

Im sure kanan will become more cheerful once she drops the edgelord motif because of past idoru failures.

 

[Verelios]

Wait until master! My phone hates me and drops inputs so I haven't full combod a song in ages

There's a level higher!? I just became able to A combo all of them but S is way too much.

 

[Anony]

i am so burned out of this game
used up my saved up 150 gems and didnt get anything

taking a break from this game, only logging in for dailies now

 

[Tye The Czar]

So far, who are your main ships for Sunshine?

Ambition-wise, I'm just going to make it Chika x All of Aqours.

More realistically: 3 OT3s for each year. Ruby x Yoshiko x Hanamaru, Chika x You x Riko and Dia x Kanan x Mari.

 

[JoeFu]

Ships are awful

 

[elhaym]

Ships are awful

qft. main reason I ended up unfollowing several LL related accounts on Twitter tbh.

 

[PK Gaming]

Ships are awful

 

[Jintor]

My main ship is the one they went diving off all those episodes ago

 

[JoeFu]

qft. main reason I ended up unfollowing several LL related accounts on Twitter tbh.

Ruins everything. Freaking avatar/Korra community was awful lol

 

[Hachitora]

Forgot that I wrote up episode 7 stuff but never posted lol. Might as well do it now.

Sunshine Ep7 Thoughts

Spoiler

I thought this was a very cute episode. Seeing them go around Tokyo and just having fun was great, especially seeing You, Yohane, and Riko go to places they liked (riko liking Yuri, lol).

Dia seems very concerned that the 6 of them are going to end up the same way the 3rd year group did, which I guess is why she was so against them being idols. I'm going to guess that they aren't going to do well in this competition, but they will pick themselves up. The 3rd years will probably see this and join them after seeing their resolve was stronger than theirs.

Seeing the old shrine was interesting. I was hoping for not too many µ's mentions, but I mean, they're in Tokyo, so I expected it. Saint Snow seems like an interesting rival group so far, but too early to tell. Also, that girl can fliiiip goddamn. Can't wait to see their performance next week.

We get a tiny bit of background from Riko's past at Otonoki, but we've seen a bit of that already, so there's not much new that was shown. The 3rd year subplot moves along pretty slowly, and with the season getting closer to the end, I'm afraid it seems like the full Aqours group won't be assembled until the last few episodes. Also, the DiaMari kabedon was the best part of this episode. Mmmmhhhmmmmmmmmmmm.

Not much I wanted to say about this episode. It did feel different from the OG episodes, though. At least, much more than the last few. I hope next episode picks up where this one left off.

Sunshine ep8 Thoughts

Spoiler

Saint Snow is pretty great. Like A-Rise, their performance had no CG, and they were animated pretty well. The song itself was pretty catchy too.

Seeing Aqours fail is interesting, as after the 2nd years' concert in the original, they seemed to be handed victory after victory. Aqours gets another punch in the gut from reality, and the way they react to it is pretty relatable. The feeling of trying your best at what you love, but still being completely outclassed by what feels like absolutely everyone; I'm sure many people have felt like this at some point in their lives. Seeing Ruby cry in her sister's arms was a little tear-jerking for me. Seeing Dia react to it like she knew exactly what went on was good, she probably felt the exact same way Ruby did. Seeing Chika finally express her emotions on the beach was also a tear-jerker. She was actually hitting herself too "It's frustrating, isn't it?" Is such an appropriate title for this episode, as Chika was clearly extremely frustrated with what happened. But after that beach scene, they pick themselves up, and won't let that one setback hold them down. Seeing HonoKotoUmi do this in their concert was nice, but seeing the 6 members of Aqours do it was a bit better in terms of showing off perseverance, I think.

The 3rd year plot is starting to pick up some speed. Sidenote: Can't believe Kanan just has an instant "Mari bootycall" light. I'm starting to support KanaMari a bit more now... But anyway, seeing these two talk was good, nothing out of the ordinary (at first), but seeing the 3rd years in their first year was cute. Not-edgy-Kanan was such a sweetheart omg. Let her live again. Then, seeing Mari offer a hug to Kanan was so sweet, and you can see the emotion in Mari's face. Seeing Kanan just walk off, and seeing Mari hurting right after... more hearbreak ;_; Mari gets a bit more character in this episode, which is great. We also get a bit of what I think Kanan will be once she gets that hard outer crust off.

This episode was pretty good. My only gripe is that the 3rd years don't seem too close to joining. I'm sticking with my earlier prediction (not sure if I posted it here?? Lol) that the 3rd years wouldn't be joining till at least episode 10. The preview for episode 9

Edit: Cuz of this episode, I can't listen to Step! Zero to One the same way again
http://hachitora.tumblr.com/post/149225913786

 

[CoinArt]

Shipping is fun, if you don't get angry about it or follow folks who do. At its core it's just cute couples, which... is good! And cute!

X

 

[CoinArt]

Chika's intimidated by Saint Snow's heart-pounding rhythms and slick moves
I'd thought it odd that Arise's role in OG had been split between Muse for inspiration and SS for rivalry, but now I wonder if they're setting up some sort of "stop paying so much attention to the past, there's school idols in the present" pivot
Oh, I assumed that, because we the viewers saw them, Saint Snow were the champs, but apparently not
Oof. Apparently Aqours sucks
At least an idol starting out in imas land has one fan...
The Saint Snow girls are dicks
They didn't advance, so they decide to bully the last place group
Petty as hell
This town must really suck if a group of teens has nothing better to do than wait at a train station to hear about ~the capital~
Did they not look up the results or something? This is awfully insensitive
It's really weird how the third years have all these clandestine meetings
Maybe they were spies, not school idols
Yes! Dia hanging out with the others!
This is what I want!
First year Dia is so cute and enthusiastic!
FUCK GOD DAMMIT
I hate when subs translate "style" as "style"
Hagu!
I don't like these super-short-sleeved summer uniforms(edited)
Hagu?
No hagu...
KanaMari rejected...
I swear, half the words Zuramaru's said so far in this show have been "zura"
hagu!
Lol, only Yoshiko has an umbrella, because she always has an umbrella
Lol, the umbrella doesn't help if she falls in the water
Yoshiko's definitely inherited Nico's "butt of every joke" trait
Hah, nice
Step! ZERO to ONE

A good episode! Our friends were challenged, they fell down, and they got back up! More Dia! Finally some concrete third year stuff, with cute flashbacks and hugging! Riko got to return the encouragement that Chika lent her! And then a callback to a song from the first Aqours single! A good episode!

Sunshine is turning out to be even more of a sports show than OG.

 

[phoenix296]

Once again the rival group is the best one. The yuri was so strong I didn't even need to wear goggles this episode.

Also, how likely is it to get 0?

 

[BGBW]

Love Live Sunshine

Love Live has changed. It's no longer about songs, ideologies or schools. It's an endless series of idol battles, fought by school girls and dance routines. Love Live, and its consumption of life, has become a well-oiled machine. Love Live has changed. Love Live audiences watch Love Live concerts to feed their Love Live needs. Promo cards used to enhance their idol teams and look pretty on the menu screen. Ranking control. Information control. Emotion control. Wallet control. Everything that can be, is branded and consumed. Love Live has changed. The age of µ's has become the age of war. All in the name of achieving dream from the crushed hopes of others. And those who win the war, control and become history. Love Live has changed. And when the concerts become total war, war... becomes Snow Halation.

 

[Hachitora]

Also, how likely is it to get 0?

Not very much at all, I would think. But y'know, anime

 

[CoinArt]

I dunno, it kind of makes sense. I'd guess nearly every other group there is from Tokyo, and they'd have supporters in the crowd. Rather, I imagine most everyone's vote is already decided heading in, so you're either competing for the attention of the few undecided voters or (harder still) you're trying to convert another group's fan, and Aqours came in as newbies with no established fan base.

Zero doesn't mean they suck, anyway, it just means that no one thought they were the best.

 

[phoenix296]

You'd think at least one person would vote for the underdog.

 

[Bob Coffee]

Sun shiiiinnny ep 8

Spoiler

This episode was exactly what sunshine needed. I wish it could have came sooner. Aqours gets rekt hard and gets last place in the tokyo event(which i dont even think is even a love live qualifier!), Then gets double rekt by saint snow,( who didn't even make top 5!) who tells them "love live aint no game". And finally seeing how the group reacts to the loss, chika in particular is good stuff. we finally find out what happened with the third years, Dia starts thawing a bit, and we get flashbacks of happy kanan. Here we finally start to see a difference between µ's and aqours. µ's never faced a loss, Aqours just faced the idol kobiyashi maru.

 

[Tye The Czar]

Once again the rival group is the best one. The yuri was so strong I didn't even need to wear goggles this episode.

Also, how likely is it to get 0?

I indeed love The Saints' arrogance toward Aqours.

Spoiler

Sure, they're no A-RISE, but their dancing looked downright silly and their song was exceptionally edgy.

Otherwise, this is the best thing that's happened to Sunshine so far. I remember how forced School Idol Project's drama felt in both seasons; it's clear now that Sunrise learned their lesson by adding proper buildup and subtlety this time around.

 

[CoinArt]

Though I dearly love OG LL, it's crazy how much better written SS is.

 

[tenton]

You'd think at least one person would vote for the underdog.

Spoiler

But then how do you get STEP! ZERO to ONE to make sense?

 

[Hachitora]

Though I dearly love OG LL, it's crazy how much better written SS is.

We should get a Love Live Kai

 

[Tye The Czar]

Spoiler

But then how do you get STEP! ZERO to ONE to make sense?

Like this:

 

[BGBW]

And there was me thinking this thread was my safe haven away from the Resident Evil 0 anime.

 

[phoenix296]

Can't escape Rem. (I've tried)