Sep 2, 2021
Love Live! School Idol Diary Special Edition originally started serialization in 2016 in Dengeki G but only gained more popularity as it was republished in the official Love Live Days magazine which was the time when it also finally got printed.
It is considered a spin-off of the School Idol Diary series because it isn't based on the novels but its status as such is a bit weird since both of the mainline SID manga weren't either straight adaptation of the novel series and also had a lot of original material so it isn't that different at the end of the line.
To start off is the
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obligatory comment on Yuuki Takami because new series means new artist, and while it's certainly flawed with all character designs looking exactly the same and a lot of reused expressions, I still think it satisfying in rendering the playful, upbeat and childish personalities of the members of muse which is precisely what I like in them. It pales if you have to compare to Masaru Oda but it's all in all very energetic and has a great flow to it so I don't have a lot of room to complain.
Now the biggest quality of this special edition is how it carries that will to insert itself into the continuity of the series and I personally see it as a perfect companion to the movie, it really follows into the same theme of school idols being not just a goal in itself but a way of personnal fulfillment for each of them. The series starts off with mini-arcs focusing on a different duo (and not necessarily the obvious ones) and shows how their time together allowed them to better themselves, get some access to their dreams for the future, dealing with the expectations of the people around them, there's also some more context to some of the character's meeting and to some of the romance. It manages to have the right amount of actual character progression to not be bloated.
The last part called epilogue deals with the 3rd years graduating and I like it much better than the official sequel written by Sakurako Kimino that veered into more needless drama and unnatural interactions to please the fans. It's an honest lookback on everything the franchise has accomplished over the years and just like the movie perfectly illustrates them overcoming the sadness of their separation and their wish to live inside everyone forever.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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