Because even figurines find the song extremely catchy.

Japan loves fads. If something starts to become popular, the whole country jumps on the craze and suddenly we’re surrounded by it, like a song that’s stuck in your head. This was true with kabedon and, of course, PPAP. You’ll be singing that for the rest of the day, so you’re welcome.

The newest hit to circulate through Japan is the “Love Dance” which is performed during the theme song for the Japanese drama Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu (English title: We Married as a Job!). During the song, various actors in the series are shown delicately waving their hands and arms around in the various positions that make up this extremely simple dance. 

Well, anything real actors can do, μ’s, from  idol anime Love Live!, can do too! In a mesmerizing stop-motion short uploaded by Twitter user @Pegahsa_bbo, figures of the girls in μ’s (pronounced “Muse”) happily dance along to the song as well.

Just like in the original video, the version by @Pegahsa_bbo has the girls interchanging with each other during the dance while performing the moves with their hands. The elegance of the stop motion not only makes for a perfect homage to the original video, but also displays the energy we’d expect from a group of high school singers and dancers.

▼ Here’s a side-by-side comparison to show how accurate the Love Live! version is.

love-dance-3YouTube/TBS公式 YouTuboo

love-dance-5YouTube/ペガッサさんシティ

▼ Interchangeable pieces make this an easier project.

love-dance-1YouTube/TBS公式 YouTuboo

love-dance-7YouTube/ペガッサさんシティ

▼ The fact there hasn’t been more dances using this pose is kind of mind-boggling.

love-dance-4YouTube/TBS公式 YouTuboo

love-dance-6YouTube/ペガッサさんシティ

For this simple 44-second clip, @Pegahsa_bbo said he took about 800 photos, which is about 18 frames for every second of video. That is a crazy amount of intricate fiddling with the positions of figures. The results are sure to please fans of Love Live! and also fans of the live-action Japanese drama. We’re bound to see more tributes of the “Love Dance” in the coming weeks, and if those are produced with the same care and quality, we’ll probably enjoy them as much as this one.

Source, featured image: Twitter/@Pegahsa_bbo