What makes “Love Live!” so mega popular? We asked one passionate super fan

If you’re into anime and you haven’t been living under a rock for the past two years, you should have at least heard of the unstoppable, indomitable multimedia force known as Love Live! School Idol Project, which first aired in early 2013. The show took off and captured the hearts of Japanese and foreign viewers alike seemingly in the blink of an eye.

In fact, fans of the series are known for being so incredibly dedicated to the teenage troupe that we wanted to find out firsthand what attracted them to the series. Consequently, we had our Japanese reporter ask one enthusiastic fan, whom we’ll call Mr. K, for his personal opinion. What do you think he had to say about the draw of the series?

Mr. K’s nine reasons why Love Live! is deserving of its immense popularity

▼ Love Live!‘s story line follows nine high school girls as they form a school idol group and aim to win the national idol competition.

Reason #1: The characters are so cute ♥

“To say the least, their expressions are incredibly well-animated. The girls’ faces display a full range of human emotions, and they come decked out in a variety of fashions and hair styles for every music video and illustration they appear in. It’s also brilliant how each character has her own specific image color. I like every single one of them; it’s impossible for me to choose a favorite.”

Reason #2: The characters’ personalities are also great

“In addition to their adorable appearances, each of the nine girls has her own unique personality. Even so, the way that they’re able to come together in solidarity and participate in group activities is ideal. It’s another one of the charming points of the show. Once again, I like all of their individual personalities so much that I can’t single out my favorite.”

Reason #3: The anime’s plot is compelling

“Love Live!‘s story is relatively simple, but it keeps moving at the perfect tempo. There’s no other work that explores the themes of friendship, hard work, and victory in the context of high school and the idol life like this one; whoever came up with this original combination of ideas is definitely a genius.”

▼ Some Love Live! collectible merchandise

Reason #4: The songs are super catchy

“You’ll understand if you listen to the show’s music even just one time. I often listen to it on my way to work and it gives me strength to get through another day. Today was like that, too. The soundtrack never gets old because there are plenty of songs featuring all nine members, solo acts, and subunits as well.”

Reason #5: The voice actors are both cute and professional

“I really respect the voice actors who have to sing all the songs while in character. It’s amazing how I get the sense that the characters, and not the actors, are performing. They’re definitely pros in the way they preserve the image of the animated characters. By the way, all of the actors themselves are cute, and I’m a fan of Sora Tokui [who plays Nico Yazawa], Yoshino Nanjo [Eli Ayase], and Aya Uchida [Kotori Minami] in particular.”

Reason #6: The music videos are well-made

“The camera work is really awesome even though they’re animated music videos. When I see such engaging videos, I even find myself wanting to jump into their two-dimensional world! Personally, I like the song ‘Mogyutto ‘Love’ de Sekkinchu!’ the best.”

▼ Here’s the music video for “Mogyutto ‘Love’ de Sekkinchu!”

Reason #7: The “School Idol Festival” smartphone app is fun to play

“Although elements of it are fairly simplistic as a rhythm game, you can experience the full lineup of Love Live!‘s songs in the game School Idol Festival…There are some parts which you can’t unlock without paying, but the songs themselves don’t come with a billing system. It’s also nice to see the original illustrations created specifically for the game.”

▼ An ad for the Love Live! School Idol Festival smartphone game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOx9vrxGlNs

Reason #8: There’s a huge lineup of merchandise

“There have been several collaborations between the franchise and convenience stores in Japan, so there are plenty of collectible goods. It makes the fans even happier that they can purchase them in such convenient locations. I’ve even bought some merchandise at my local convenience store myself. I also bought some collaboration goods being sold at the recent Kanda Matsuri [a Shinto festival held in Tokyo on odd-numbered years]. They were just too cute to pass up.”

▼ Here’s a collaboration you don’t see every day–animation and a Japanese shrine.

Reason #9: Love Live! gives girls everywhere something to gush about

“Again, just like it says above. I see girls chatting about the mobile app game everywhere I go. Many people I meet also enjoy watching the show, so it gives us something to instantly bond over.”

So there you have it. Besides the cute characters with nine different personalities, Mr. K comments that the story line and other musical elements are also enriching in every respect. The staff as a whole, including the voice actors, are complete professionals, and their dedication to giving the best performances possible enhances the work in multiple ways. In addition, the smartphone game and various collaborative goods add to the excitement among fans everywhere.

Typically, the greater the age gap between two people, the harder it is for them to find things in common to talk about. But Mr. K would like to remind us that Love Live! bridges that gap perfectly, and is a perfect example of how anime can be used as a communication tool in today’s society.

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