A Fortunate Coincidence

I’m a relatively new resident of Idol Hell. I’ve barely known anything about Love Live until I started investing more time into the franchise. So what brought me here?

I was at AX 2017, wanting to go to the Overwatch Panel. It was full and I was tired from all the walking. The Love Live Sunshine panel + screening was close, I think it might have been next door or upstairs. So I shrugged and started waiting in line.

Time passes and we enter. After waiting a while, the 9 Aqours members came. People were going wild and having so much fun. People especially loved when Ainya talked in English. I sat there, extremely confused in this hype atmosphere.

This was the event that got me interested in Love Live. Why did people show so much passion and excitement for Love Live?

AX ends and I start watching School Idol Project. I didn’t expect much but for some reason, I keep watching. As I watched more, I saw their struggles as a group and as individuals. I wanted them to save their school, win Love Live and become inspirations for others. Years later, a plain orange haired girl from Uranohoshi stumbled upon μ's and once again, there was another group to cheer for.

These 18 characters had something in common- they wanted to shine. All of them had different backgrounds, personalities, skillsets, and attitudes but in both series, they’re able to unite under a common objective.

I finished both series and wanted more.

So, I started watching Aqours niconamas and reading some interviews and trivia stuff. This will mostly be Aqours focused from here.

Then, I start playing School Idol Festival and I’m having fun. My wallet isn’t having fun though.

But why is all this important?

Love Live reminded me of a lot of positive things that I’d forgotten or neglected. I live in a nation ruled by an egotistical maniac. People are divided. There’s no actual debates or coming to an understanding anymore. The tools to deal with politics are now violence and hate. But, Love Live and the values that it embraces go against all of this negativity.

The anime reminded me that if you want to try something, just go for it. It’s a constant reminder for me that I have to keep pushing myself. It’s a slow process, but I was able to take the first step thanks to this series.

For the songs, it’s hard for me to describe what exactly they do. They make my commutes a lot more bearable, thats for sure. I don’t know… The songs do feel different though. Even if some of them share the same message, there are certain things in some songs that give them a different personality.

Playing SIF reminds me to work harder at my job. Gotta get those packs yo. The seiyuu remind me to acknowledge and respect people for their hard work rather than idolize them.

Finally, I am truly grateful that this franchise exists. Reading some of the interviews, and stuff I find in the community is surreal. It’s still unbelievable how this series rose from a miracle and kept producing more miracles. And with the recent announcement that they will perform at Songs of Tokyo, I hope that more people will gain interest and ultimately be inspired by this series.