As I mentioned several times throughout my hype for this anime I have no plans on making this a “Aqours vs Muse” comparison coverage since I’m sure millions of others will do it and there are some diehard Muse fans who irk me.
With that out of the way let’s take a look at what the next generation have to offer after this premiere.
Behold The “You”. The “Kotori”s successor. Instead of it being diagonal The You is straight.
Calling all new members!
The episode kicked off with the soon to be team leader Chika literally led to her destiny as a future School Idol by the winds of change. Unfortunately the first attempt at recruiting was a failure.
I have a feeling Chika will have the same amount of difficulty getting herself over as Cassie Cage did in Mortal Kombat X.
Cute kouhai.
The second recruitment attempt was also a flop but then Chika noticed two cute kouhai and tried to coerce them. The redhead seemed interested…Also the brunette kouhai has a cutie sentence ender, like “-desu”, “-de gozaru” and “-de geso”. Hers is “-zura”.
Redhead Screech.
The redhead changed her tune when she mistook the pamphlet for a concert invitation rather than a recruitment. The pic sums up her reaction.
The Memenator.
Suddenly we were graced by The Meme, the myth, the MVP for many fans hyped for the show, the one girl everyone expects to become an idol legend, the one, the only, YOHANE! She’s my #2 hype pick BTW. Suffice to say I too expect great things from her. Oh and Hanamaru-zura is a childhood fried of Yohane’s-zura.
Dia, OG’s #1 hype pick.
There she is. My #1. Yes. I expect this girl right here to be the group’s top star. SHE HAS A MOLE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Anyway she’ll be filling the role of “Seitokaichou roadblock” this generation. It means exactly what you think it means.
Kanan, OG’s #4 hype pick.
Kanan currently can’t come to school due to her dad being immobile after fracturing a vital bone though she did slightly react after hearing Chika’s School Idol plan.
The foreigner, OG’s #3 hype pick.
Always bet big money on anime foreigners to deliver the goods.
From magical dust to tripping.
After the trip we learned that the main reason Chika wanted to form an idol group was because of the legend of Muse, or rather how nine ordinary girls who rose from nothingness to become legendary after lots of hard work and determination. Basically any girl can become an idol if they work for it, even someone as plain as Chika. That’s why. I approve of this simpler approach. Like Locodol not every idol story needs them overcoming a crisis or being under pressure to become legends. Wanting to become legends because you want more in your life is good too. Oh and the purple haired girl, Riko, went to the same school Muse went to. Maybe she bumped into Maki at some point since she’s also a pianist.
First new member.
Impressed by Chika’s drive to become a school idol You joined the group. However, that drive wasn’t enough to coerce Big Dia to change her mind. Plus there are no known songwriters at their school. You can guess what happened next and will happen next week…
And that was the premiere of Love Live! Sunshine!! I’m sold.
The Yuri Empire 
The Love Live hype train has come back for us to ride on. I am ready to go where this takes us.
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Same here. So ready to ride once more BABEH!
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This first episode was great, and I’m looking forward to seeing more from all of the characters. Going by this first episode alone, my top 3 characters are You, Chika and Yoshiko- er, I mean Yohane. Will be interesting to see if that is still the case by the time the series ends.
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Good choices for hype girls to kick things off!
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There were aspects of this premiere that I enjoyed and then there were others that I just did not. The animation (both 2D and CG) saw a huge improvement from previous seasons. The show just looks flat out gorgeous in terms of design and art direction. Totally loving the sea-side feel. The music was pretty alright too, especially the ending. My gripes are that… It’s really similar to S1 already and I’m kind of disappointed that the material wasn’t really that fresh. They touched up on the comedy however and that was nice. I dunno. I have mixed feelings about this S1, probably because S2 of the original really just set the bar so high for Love Live! and while I like these girls are giving them a chance, I just really loved Muse.
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Season 1 of Love Live was barely anything like this….I’m not sure how you’re comparing this so strongly when the cast is so different, and the story even more so.
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Let’s see… Chika tries to start an idol club and is immediately denied by an obstinate President, just like Honoka sees A-Rise Chika sees Muse and decides to make an idol club, Chika uses similar means as Honoka to get these girls t join, they’re aiming to compete in the Love Live! It’s pretty similar. They’re just not trying to save their school.
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Chika’s trying to start an idol club immediately at the beginning. Honoka was spending the entire beginning of the episode on figuring out what to do. Yes, they both tried to start an idol club, but this is a series about school idols, that’s a literal requirement for the show to be anything. Is it required for it to be turned down right away? Not really, but where would be the conflict? Also, Dia basically fought with Chika, Eri was very calm and stern with Honoka. There wasn’t any fighting. Just “Why not?” and “explanation”. But Eri also didn’t flat out say she wouldn’t let it happen at first either, just that she needed two more members.
How would Honoka know what school idols were without seeing them first? How would Chika know what school idols were when she’s out in the country? It’s kinda very necessary to move the story forward. Even so, the way it’s handled is much different than in the original. Honoka sees a flier, and that piques her interest, which has her go to the school to see what makes the school so successful. Chika completely happenstances upon the video. Honoka also gets an explanation of sorts while there. Chika’s on her own this entire time.
“Similar means”. Not really. Honoka didn’t try to get anyone to join on the first episode. Her two childhood friends were with her plan from the start. There was ZERO recruiting in the original. that starts in the second episode.
It was more implied that Chika wasn’t even thinking about the Love Live actually, until Dia brought it up. Chika’s main concern was “I want to be a school idol!”
On that end, Chika’s objective is completely different. She wants to change herself. Honoka wanted to protect what was important to her.
And I could go on and give how the cast is so completely different it isn’t funny, but I’d rather not have to go through and do that.
Sunshine is surely blazing its own path. Yes, it has the same concept of what “School Idols” are. Because it’s in the same continuity, and has already been established. Just flipping the rules on people in a series would be a sign of poor writing.
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Oh well. It is what it is.
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We’ll see what happens in later episodes though! Mari still needs to get a proper introduction after all. They can still take it in a completely different direction.
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This anime is my top 1 of the summer and the premier was absolutely phenomenal. Great OP and ED credits. Love Yoshiko and her chuuni ego. I did not expect this LL to be hotter and sexier and yuri-er. XD
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That thing at the end was one of the “Once per episode” insert songs. We have yet to see the ED (or maybe the OP, depending on if they used the ED as the OP, that happens sometimes)
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It has potential from what we were shown.
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I’m not sure what I could add. Yoshiko is definitely my most hyped character. Chika’s a great main character so far! Loving all the cast~ Very interested to see why she turned down (probably just a troll as is tradition) their invitation.
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Yeah. Yohane is a star in the making.
Most likely needs a bit more convincing as we’ll see next week.
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I agree to cirno9fan, Chuunibyou girls are best girls. Yohane is much like a moe girl version of Johannes Krauser from Detroit Metal City (on my perspective at least). Yohane claimed she’s a fallen angel and Krauser claimed he’s the demon king. And besides Yohane’s name sounds like a pun of Johannes.
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This was a great premiere and definitely worth my hype. Mt favorites are probably Riko, You and Yohane, but they’re all great. Really looking forward to seeing more.
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Definitely looking forward to more.
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So far Dia, Yohane and Kanan are favorite characters at the moment.
I’m curious if Dia, like Machi, will have her own Tami (sorry Eli and Nozomi, but you’re not the first overly strict student council president and lenient vice-president duo). If I were to place my bets, it likely be the mysterious foreign girl (for a Kiniro Mosaic classic) or possibly Kanan. It could also be the transfer student or even one of the first years to change things up. It’s too hard to say right now.
Crossover Corner: School iDOLM@STER Project
Ranko: You’ve come far my student! Now go forth and demonstrate all that I taught you!
Yohane: Yes master! I will use my powers to overcome the wicked monsters that plague the world!
Producer: Ranko, we need to go.
Ranko: It’s seems its time for me to depart from this realm and ascend into the heavens!
Yohane: I will pray for your safe return and victory over the forces of evil.
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She will most likely find a sidekick among the other future members who is not Ruby.
The show has plenty of shipping potential.
Ranko’s student has done well so far. We have yet to see the full extent of her power.
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The first episode was really worth waiting for, I enjoyed it even more than I expected!
So far my #1 is Yohane, but each of the 3rd years seemed to have much deeper stories related to becoming an idol.
I found Chika×You to be an entertaining duo, but I’m expecting more couples to show up!
Riko might have bumped into Maki, but not the whole group since she did not know μ’s despite the fact they had braodcasted their announcement to the whole school.
Had she not forgotten, this might suggest a timeline between Love Live! and Sunshine!!
Riko would be our composer, but who would be the lyricist? Maybe Yohane?
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Several potential ships already.
Yohane is a superstar in the making.
Riko will most likely be the composer. The lyricist will show herself when the time comes.
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Ah so good! It’s great to have Love Live to watch again, I can’t wait for the next ep!
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Righto.
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After watching this, I think I put off watching Love Live! long enough.
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Yup.
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Hola
He aquí el primer capítulo de Love Live! Sunshine y veo que la esencia alegre con el fin de entretener está presente, la mayor parte de la animación se veía muy bien, muy definida con muy pocos errores.
Las chicas son hermosas cada una tiene lo suyo pero cabe resaltar los ojos verdes de Dia, el espíritu genki de Chika-chi pero sin duda la voz de Johanne en modo demon fue la que más me gustó es por ello que Johanne is my waifu…
Y se abre la temporada de caza de la chica nueva, Chika-chi no permitirá que ninguna plebeya toque a su futura princesa y estoy con ella, anda ve y capturala
A esperar los siguientes capítulos y las siguientes series, acabo de ver Hatsukoi Monster y se me hizo bastante surrealista pero Kaho-sama lo vale.
No tiene nada que ver pero dejo este trailer, espero que no se enoje pero es que es mi favorito (aunque el juego deja muuuuuuuuuuucho que desear)
Nos seguimos escribiendo
Alexis
cyao
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Ignore el vídeo, creo que ya no sé como introducir un link …
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Dia, Chika y Yohane como hype picks son buenas elecciones.
Yo no estoy viendo Hatsukoi Monster.
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Since the very first single pv appeared, people often ships Chika to Riko but since the second single pv appeared people now ships Chika to You. This is more like Love Live Triangle Sunshine!!
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Could be.
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OG said, maybe Riko bumped into Maki at some point during her days in Otonokizaka. I hope there will be Riko’s Otonokizaka flashback moments and more Muse cameo appearance as the series progressed.
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No. This is Aqours’ story. Muse flashbacks would undermine the new girls’ screen time.
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Okay, that’s your opinion. I respect that OG 😉
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I’d love a crossover movie at some point though.
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FINNALY I WAS SO HYPED FOR THIS! I WATCHED LOVE LIVE! ALL OVER FROM FIRST SEASON TO THE MOVIE JUST FOR BEING PREPARED FOR THIS NEW AGE!
Cute girls, cute uniforms, cute dances, everything!
The Brown haired x red raired was just too cute for me! 🙂
And as his prequel, we have a student council president very restrict, but soon her heart will open just like Eli-chan!
And now is wait for the other episodes to come out, MUSIC START!
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Note: I watched the first love live! for the second time, just for this moment! XD
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The first episode was very enjoyable although it does has some similarities… But as other people said, Yohane does feels very similar to a certain girl. But aside from that, I can’t wait to see how the girls develop.
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This would have been a major issue if it was a direct rip-off but our heroines having a similar obstacle as the legends is nothing to get upset about. At least there’s no school to save from closing down this time.
She is Ranko’s student, who in turn was Rikka’s student. That’s why.
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Sunshine has finally begun!!! ❤
So…episode 1. It had some really beautiful animation and lighting on the characters designs, and I loved all the characters introduced so far. Just as I predicted from the very first moment their character profiles were released, Chika and Riko are tied as best girls for me. And they already have a budding miracle romance NOBODY CAN TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME THOUGH WOW CHIKA AND YOU ARE CUTE TOO AND I CAN DEFINITELY SHIP HANAMARU AND RUBY WITHOUT RESERVATIONS.
I really like Chika’s ambitions more than anything, like they make sense. The whole point of being an idol is to become a star and fulfill your dreams, to shine brighter than anything else. To stop being “normal” and become a goddess or something otherworldly yet still human, doing whatever it takes. And I do think that Chika encapsulates that better than Honoka, because while I loved Honoka from the start due to her energy and charisma, it took her a little while to understand the meaning behind becoming an idol and put all the passion she did into it. But once she did, it was wonderful, of course.
Now, I personally felt like the pacing was better in season 1 episode 1 of the original Love Live! (I’ll fully admit that the bias comes from the fact that they started singing immediately and I’m a huge sucker for that shit) as this episode seemed a little fast, the movements of the characters seemed kind of extreme and erratic to me…
But other than that, I really didn’t have any problems. The callbacks/allusions to Muses were perfect. The OP and ED were great. The whole episode was great and I’m going to rewatch it today.
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Reblogged this on haveyouexperiencedshitsurakuen and commented:
Sunshine has finally begun!!!❤
So…episode 1. It had some really beautiful animation and lighting on the characters designs, and I loved all the characters introduced so far. Just as I predicted from the very first moment their character profiles were released, Chika and Riko are tied as best girls for me. And they already have a budding miracle romance NOBODY CAN TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME THOUGH WOW CHIKA AND YOU ARE CUTE TOO AND I CAN DEFINITELY SHIP HANAMARU AND RUBY WITHOUT RESERVATIONS.
I really like Chika’s ambitions more than anything, like they make sense. The whole point of being an idol is to become a star and fulfill your dreams, to shine brighter than anything else. To stop being “normal” and become a goddess or something otherworldly yet still human, doing whatever it takes. And I do think that Chika encapsulates that better than Honoka, because while I loved Honoka from the start due to her energy and charisma, it took her a little while to understand the meaning behind becoming an idol and put all the passion she did into it. But once she did, it was wonderful, of course.
Now, I personally felt like the pacing was better in season 1 episode 1 of the original Love Live! (I’ll fully admit that the bias comes from the fact that they started singing immediately and I’m a huge sucker for that shit) as this episode seemed a little fast, the movements of the characters seemed kind of extreme and erratic to me…
But other than that, I really didn’t have any problems. The callbacks/allusions to Muses were perfect. The OP and ED were great. The whole episode was great and I’m going to rewatch it today.
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I’m totally agreeeeee, Dia is one of the most beautiful ” badass” that i’ve seen, she made me bite my lip and Riko made me sigh soooo deeply…..
Thanks god you didn’t compare Aqours with Muse!. This season looks great and although there are similar characters (physically basically), each team deserve its own critic with no comparison. Just enjoy it, people!!!
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Dia is excellence from top to botom and Riko is dynamite.
Even though the Muse vs Aqours comparisons will be inevitable just know that you won’t get any of that from me.
I have dealt with Old Guard vs New Guard series comparisons for far too long to take those debates seriously anymore.
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for a sec there i mistook Riko for Madoka from the Jersey Club ^_^;
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Ah yes. Riko learned from the best to always have your swimming suit on if you live in a seaside town and like to swim.
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