Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai 2nd Season

In a display of happiness and enthusiasm, the second season of Love Live Nijigasaki is a welcome return for the series. It not only manages to capture everything that made its first season shine but also expands on its many themes and ideas all while continuing to set itself apart from the other entries of this franchise.

There are oftentimes certain expectations when it comes to each iteration of Love Live. One might assume that certain familiar story beats would be prevalent within each version or that each series must follow a similar storyline but this is not always true. And while Nijigasaki may not have ... the same level of tearful or dramatic storytelling like its counterparts that older fans may look for, it makes up for it by doing its own thing and excelling at it. It still maintains many of the core aspects people love about the franchise in being a charming and inspirational story with cute slice of life yet doesn’t resort to many of the stumbles its counterparts make and that’s what I feel makes it so special and unique.

Given the nature of the first season, it was difficult to imagine where they were going to take the story. Would they go down a similar route of having dedicated episodes for each solo idol or would something change? As much as I liked how they handled individual character episodes before, it seems the show had some different ideas this time around. The story picks up around where we left off with the school idol club riding off the heels of the School Idol Festival and given their immense success, they decide to host another one. But there are many hurdles that lay before them before they reach that point as they now have to face adversity to their beliefs as solo idols. We see the debut of three new girls to go alongside our main group in Lanzhu Zhong, Mia Taylor, and Shioriko Mifune and they play a significant role this season.

Lanzhu Zhong is an exchange student from Hong Kong who transferred to Nijigasaki High School in order to become a school idol. However, she has no intention of joining the idol club as her ideals don’t exactly line up with that of our main group. While in the first season we saw the main group receiving support from others as well as interacting with their fans, Lanzhu deems this to be unnecessary claiming that connecting with fans and viewing them more as equals will hold her back and instead treats them as mere spectators made to admire her from afar. Being a perfectionist who loves to express herself with confidence, she wants to be someone who captivates more than anyone else while bathing in the spotlight alone and even thinks she can outperform the school idol club during the next School Idol Festival. This paints her as a sort of competitive rival who challenges the school idol club in what they believe in as well as Yuu in particular, saying she is better off leaving the club entirely in order to fully pursue her dream in music since she isn’t an idol.

Mia Taylor is also an exchange student and is what some may label as being naturally talented at music and a prodigy having skipped grades and is seemingly quite smart. Coming from a prestigious music family, she seeks to write songs. Throughout the course of the show, she utilizes and relies on Lanzhu in order to spread her songs and gain recognition as well as gives Yuu some advice while she is in the music course. Mia also happens to speak fluent English to go alongside her Japanese (due in large part to her voice actress being part Australian) which is something I rarely see in anime. I found it commendable how every remark she makes in English would oftentimes be surprising at first yet would simultaneously feel as if it flows naturally with her conversation rather than being out of place.

Shioriko Mifune is someone who begins working with Setsuna in doing Student Council business. She steadily becomes more involved with the school idol club’s antics and provides support whenever she can while having a strict belief that she needs only do what she knows she can do best. She also has a family member who plays a role in shaping how she views idols.

Like with the previous season, Nijigasaki continues to characterize in subtle and natural ways while not merely resorting to one particular character trait allowing for easier understanding and relatability to these three new characters despite whatever personal goals, motivations, or struggles they might have. Their addition to the cast feels rather seamless as they make themselves relevant as the series goes on with their own arcs and backstories while not taking away too much screentime from everyone else.

As for the rest of the cast, while each of them received an ample amount of development and characterization in the previous season, this season expands on it. They now have to prove Lanzhu wrong and that there’s value in being helped by others and connecting with them, especially fans. But how will they go about doing so?

The Nijigasaki group has been one that focused more on the individual with each member having their own color corresponding to them in order to stand out. But now the idea of overlapping colors is introduced and with it comes the incorporation of subunits. Now subunits have always been a thing in Love Live from µ's and Aqours, however, it has never been implemented into the actual story before as far as performing goes and has largely been a non-anime aspect of the franchise. For those unaware, a subunit is essentially a smaller group comprising only a few of the members. In Nijigasaki, these units are aptly named QU4RTZ, DiverDiva, and AZUNA and much like with each solo idol song, each subunit carries with it its own style of music and performance. I found this aspect to the show to be particularly interesting since it not only gives them an answer to Lanzhu’s call in letting them reach out to her in different ways but by already being solo idols, they earn a lot more freedom and flexibility in what they can do when expressing themselves. They are able to expand on their group dynamic and relationships with one another and create an entirely new color by understanding and bringing forth each of their individual strengths. It also now gives the characters a new perspective and plays well into the overall themes in that despite being solo idols, everyone was great at observing others yet struggled at seeing themselves and being honest in order to move forward and we saw this many times in the previous season. With the element of subunits (as well as some other events later on) now in the story, it should be noted that the pacing has noticeably been slowed down in several of the episodes which is a bit of a contrast when compared to the more brisk pacing of the first season. The focus is not just on a singular character but on many as we view each of their perspectives and how they handle transitioning into a small group setting. The girls continue to grow and learn new things about themselves through each other and the idols aren’t the only ones who develop either. Yuu does as well.

When the school idol club helped her find her dream, Yuu joined the music course in order to play piano and write songs but she finds herself struggling quite a bit having to ask for advice. Both Mia and the idol club give differing opinions on what she can do and Yuu inevitably has to decide what strategy fits her best as she wants to prove to Lanzhu that she can accomplish her goals her own way while being a part of the club and give back to everyone who inspired her.

And while Nijigasaki now focuses much of its attention on miniature group arcs, it doesn’t completely shy away from still excelling on its individual character ones. Each main girl gets a distinct focus at some point this season but Setsuna, being one of the more noteworthy and significant girls of the cast, receives in my view one of the strongest episodes of the series. She is someone who has been struggling to maintain the secret of having two different identities: one as the responsible student council president and the other as an enthusiastic school idol and the way in which she is able to handle this provides a rather surprisingly mature and emotional but fitting closure to her arc as well as a notable stepping stone for how the rest of the story will be impacted from that point.

The side characters also see much prominence having become fans or appreciators of the Nijigasaki group. It feels like there is a concise network amongst the different schools where they can rely on one another in times of need or to arrange certain school events. There were a few moments though where I felt some of their introductions were a bit out of place with their presence being made merely to solve certain plot elements.

The artstyle has remained consistent across both seasons with character designs and highly detailed backgrounds. As far as performances go, there was a part of me that thought going into this that it would not be able to live up to the same level of quality as the previous season. Thankfully that was not the case. Studio Sunrise continues to deliver with Love Live Nijigasaki having some of the most smooth, gorgeous, and visually stunning use of CG and animation quality in the franchise. I simply cannot praise the animators, the directing, or the storyboarding enough. Despite having a complex arrangement of scenes (particularly with the subunit performances), each one flows well into the other with the same level of robust choreography, cinematography, and dynamic camerawork as the first season as well as maintaining the aspect of being like a music video. I particularly appreciated all the little references and easter eggs they sprinkle throughout the songs that more hardcore fans will recognize (like of other Nijigasaki songs not shown in the anime or of the girls in different outfits). It’s a nice touch.

Being from a well established idol franchise, Nijigasaki has incredible music, both solo and group. There is a noticeable difference in the feel between the two types of songs. Solo songs largely reflect the nature and personality of the idol who’s singing (like Lanzhu’s invigorating performance about being at the top) whereas group songs have a mixture of personalities incorporating a multitude of themes. While one may prefer one over the other, I think subunit performances still carry a lot of the vigor, energy, and charm that one would expect from a solo song. They feel a bit reminiscent of the other series for which group songs are the norm. My only real complaint about the music is that we didn’t get a full version performance of a certain Lanzhu song that came for a short while. The voice actresses excelled in their roles both with portraying their characters as well as singing every song with passion and enthusiasm. Soundtrack is still utilized well throughout particularly in the more lighthearted and comedic segments which there are plentiful amounts of. The implementation of song styles for OP and ED mirrors that of the previous season with the OP: Colorful Dreams! Colorful Smiles! being an upbeat and enthusiastic song with gorgeous visuals to kick off every episode while the ED: Yume ga Bokura no Taiyou sa is a more quiet track with a somber tone and childlike drawing visuals reminiscent of Neo Sky Neo Map.

With everything said, I believe this is an excellent season and a fitting continuation to Nijigasaki. While its story may be simple in nature and the pacing is a bit slower this time around, the ways in which Nijigasaki is able to portray its entire main cast and their issues to go alongside its excellent use of themes without resorting to much drama is something I feel makes it stand out even amongst the other entries of this franchise. When the first season of this show arrived, many viewed it as a breath of fresh air as it brought several new things to the table and mixed up the typical Love Live formula in various ways. Now with the second season, it continues to do so, this time incorporating new and innovative aspects even to itself. The cast has grown larger in size and yet it still manages to give the new girls adequate time to shine and characterize them in genuine and meaningful ways while not neglecting the screentime and development of everyone else. It’s noteworthy how far the Nijigasaki girls have come from their beginnings where they each had an episode dedicated to them and how they now deal with the new challenges before them. There is a sense of progression and it’s quite sad knowing a journey like this has to end at some point since this is one of the most lovable casts I’ve seen.

Experiencing Love Live Nijigasaki has been some of the most fun I’ve ever had with an anime and it’s a show I initially went into with some hesitation. But by the end, it’s proven to be something quite special. There’s meaning, there’s fulfillment, and there’s heart in the journey these girls go through.

For the past two years I have thought of nothing as much as I have Nijigaku season 2 and I’m delighted to say that just like season 1, this season takes the LL franchise to new heights.

If you’re a LL fan you know that the story is usually secondary to the songs, performances and Yuri ships and for good reason because that’s usually what makes LL entertaining. Not this time around. Unlike S1 which was mainly independent character driven episodes and the occasional performance. Season 2 of Nijigaku feels like an actual overarching story is being told to which the new characters are integral. It ... feels like there’s actually something we’re building up and working towards with recruiting the new girls and preparing for the first live, which makes for a really fun and exciting ride.

From the very first episode when Lanzhu is introduced and we get her first performance of Eutopia, I knew we were in for a treat this season. It felt like for the first time in the LL franchise the girls actually had a legitimate adversary/antagonist. Seeing her go from rival to fan and ultimately a member was such a cool experience. The episodes in this season at times felt like normal slice of life anime episodes with some emotional backstories and growth from the new girls. You actually got to see them evolve over the course of the season culminating in an amazing live finale. Shioriko and Mia’s unique stories were a breath of fresh air to the series as well. It felt like everyone got the perfect amount of screen-time and development and that’s very rare in an idol show. Hat has to go off to Sunshine.

As I said earlier, Nijigaku s2 takes everything to the next level. I can honestly say the performances and story this season were the best of the franchise in my opinion. The development of the various sub groups and the introduction of several new fan favourite characters like Mia, Lanzhou and Shioriko was so fun. I woke up every Saturday at 9am to watch this as soon as it aired, and didn’t regret it for a moment. The first live we got in the finale was one of the hypest moments in LL history for me.

I sincerely hope that we get a movie like SIP/Sunshine, OVA or more Nijigaku content in the near future because it is by far my fave idol project and I’ll miss it a lot. Until then, we have Superstar s2 to look forward to in a few weeks! Let’s hope Sunrise continues their excellent form.

Nijigaku season 2 gets a very free 10 out of 10.

Spoiler Warning

Here we are with the anticipated second season of Love Live Nijigasaki. The first season received mixed reviews from fans of the series, but I thought it was the best Love Live installment at the time. This second season, however, does not properly execute based on the foundation laid by its predecessor.

This season of Nijigasaki introduces three new characters, Lanzhu, Shioriko, and Mia, but the story is centralized around Lanzhu and her interactions with Shioriko, Mia, and the girls of the School Idol Club. Her philosophy is to captivate others and put on an amazing performance, with that being the extent of it. She ... also disagrees with the beliefs of the School Idol Club, she believes that people should pursue their dreams without needing the help of others. This creates conflict within the characters, where both sides believe in different things. Additionally, this creates an antagonist within the show, which is a first for Love Live, as well as one of the most interesting things that Love Live has done since its start in 2014.

Where I find this anime to struggle is keeping its attention on this theme. At the start, it focuses on this quite solidly, featuring several developments between Lanzhu and the girls to further the plot. One of the main things that occurred during this development was the creation of subunits. Initially, the first subunit was made to “challenge” Lanzhu’s ideology. I feel that this progressed the plot well, carrying the themes of dreams nicely in a short, few-episode mini-arc. After this, two more subunits were formed. Why? I have no clue. The creation of these subunits made absolutely no sense. One of the more important things during the previous season of Nijigasaki was that everyone was a solo idol. Why do they suddenly want to join up when they were against it before? It’s incomprehensible.

The pacing of this season was very inconsistent. Every arc in the show is dedicated to one or two episodes. Everything that was dedicated to a single episode was rushed, yet all assigned two episodes were properly developed. One exception to this rule was Mia, where I felt she got proper development due to how differently she was written from the rest of the cast. She got a single episode to share with Lanzhu, plus little bits of other episodes. Overall, this helped make her development feel more natural and did not require her to have an entire episode dedicated to herself. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Shioriko or Lanzhu. Shioriko followed the single episode rule, while Lanzhu only felt like she got the episode with Mia and bits of other episodes. While yes, Mia got the same treatment and it worked, why is Lanzhu different? Well, she is the main “antagonist,” while Mia was more of a side character. This inherently means there should be more put behind her than the other characters and this is where her character faltered.

Another problem I had with the characters was the relationship between Ayumu and Yu. It could have been handled much more strongly. There was a deficiency of interactions within this season and it makes me question why they decided to establish their relationship in the former season. It wasn’t completely terrible though, as the show dedicated episode 12 to the two of them, which was one of the better episodes within the show.

Despite everything I said so far, not everything about the characters and story is bad. The new characters bounce off the old ones when they interact and interactions between the cast as a whole are sharper than in the previous season. I had a solid amount of fun watching these events play out. The story is starting to reach its end as well. From where they are currently, they’ve started to worry about the graduation of the third-years. Although this could be seen as generic sports anime worries, or standard Love Live “we gotta win before the third-years graduate” kind of thing, I quite enjoy it. It is not an unreasonable thing to think about, while also providing a sense of time.

The animation for this season was varied in quality, but overall solid. My biggest issue is the background art. Sometimes it looked perfectly fine, nothing too amazing, but was solid; at other times it looked like garbage. The backdrops looked like blurry jpegs without even attempting to be hidden. Characters would also be poorly composited within the scene. Outside of these moments, the show looked fine. The character models looked consistent most of the time and the performances looked solid. The animated segments of the performance all looked great, on par with the images from the game they’re based on. The CGI parts were decent. They weren’t as groundbreaking as something like Houseki no Kuni, nor as well-hidden as those in Love Live Superstar, but they looked fine.

Speaking of performances, how did everything sound? It sounded really solid. The BGM was nice to listen to throughout the episodes, and the performances sounded pleasant. Granted, some performances were stronger than others, all were at least something that I would see myself listening to. The lyrics to these songs were all nice and occasionally meaningful, linking to their character arcs within the show, or, in the case of Lanzhu during the first episode, telling you about their character.

This season of Nijigasaki has some highs, as well as some lows. From a technical standpoint, this show is pretty solid, providing captivating performances, while from a writing standpoint, this show can be lacking at times. Overall, this season has been somewhat of a downgrade from its promising first season, which has been very unfortunate to witness.

Thank you for reading.

PDP Season 2

Expected to be an improvement from season 1’s formulaic format which it kinda did in some ways. There’s an actual ‘story’ now and let characters interact via a subunit approach. Unfortunately two of the sub unit stories were very underdeveloped and had no reason for them to be formed in the first place. The emotional notes this anime tries to hit ultimately fall flat due to plot convenience, one note side characters that’s just a plot device and nothing more, and changing characters like Shioriko for the worst and any of Yu’s and/or Setsuna’s struggles just being fixed in 1 minute just feeling ... like filler. Very disappointed in this anime with the only saving grace being Emma becoming more of a character and Lanzhu moving away from her LLAS self (but losing her competitiveness). The show is just watchable but I don’t recommend it.

It's that time again, it's time for another Love live! A second season of Niji, a standout for the Love live series for me honestly. Rather than following the same ol dried up formula of any new series that comes about. There isn't no saving the school, or it being in trouble in this one, its all about the love of singing, and the love of idol, which is just great. Its why I love Niji so much, while sure, there are some flawed areas when it comes to it's writing, but in terms of a story context, with it feeling different, standing out from ... the crowd, makes it for an enjoyable watch, which really drives home in the second season.

Story and characters: 8
When you look at this story, you think to yourself.''What is truly your dream. Do you truly want to be an idol.' One may tink that's a silly question, and all in this series want to be idols. But that isn't truly the case, that deep of a plot point can really hit home, and make one question if the path they're on going forward will be the right one. Which is another huge reason I love this show. They not only show the fun of being an idol with it's great production and such, but have deep character stories to really match up with it. Superb stuff.

The reason why characters are in this section, is while you've got the returning cast members of course. Still being themselves as you knew them from the first season. But we've been introduced to some really impactful players from the get go, and the hits won't stop coming. You've got Lanzhu, who honestly could be a main character of her own LL,yet alone be having a major role in here. Se's passionate, driven, doesn't hold back in what she thinks, and truly knows what shes doing. A standout. Another character we've met is Mia, who wants to be acknowledged, and thanks to Lanzhu who sings her songs, thats certainly possible. Even if she may not seem to bothered by it. But it's two great cast members that add a new element to the already many cast members.

But what really helps the second season, is that we already know the cast members, personalities, the works. Therefore the main entire focus is their interactions and story, which is really well done here I have to say.

Sound and art: 9
Do I really need to dive into why this is very important, and how good LL normally smashes it? Production, style, animation, all good and great. But once again, the songs have been stellar, and they'll continue to be stellar. If you're into LL songs and such, you know damn well you're getting your moneys worth here. Top tier stuff, no more needs to be said on this.

The second season of LL Niji has started off with a bang, that it'll more likely continue on. So get watching now, if you enjoyed the first season, you'll enjoy this.

Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai 2nd Season

A direct sequel to the first season which revolved around the newly introduced 3 character from the SIFAS game and what do you expect it's just a typical Love Live! story where with the girls want to achieve their dream as a school idol where they face many difficulty either from other or themself and with the power of friendship overcome it together.

This is a series that cannot go wrong that i've been watching for nearly a decade and for me it has its charms. Though this nijigasaki series is kinda more casual and lean ... towards sol comedy which is very good considering they've been using the same formula for their 3 other titles, it's a breathe of fresh air but without leaving its core element which is school idol. This series also served as a medium to promote and deepens the story of the game character like Lanzhu which portraits more villainy in the game without clear reason, but as you watch you actually discovered that she has her reason.

For me the story and character is a solid 8. The sound and enjoyment of the song never dissapoint, so a solid 10. Lastly the artstyle is different from the 3 other title which i don't really know if sunrise had another sub studio or not because the current artsyle is more enjoyable to watch, also the CGI getting better every year, solid 9.

In conclusion this is just another love live anime that never dissapoint for me, the story is pretty similar but yeah what do you expect, but as someone who watch this show for almost a decade, i really enjoy this season so i will give it an 8/10

This season sucks.

(Some) of music like Emotion is great, and there's a few things to like here and there, Ai for example gets a great episode which was really surprising because I honestly didn't care about her at all. But that's about all I have to say positive about Niji season 2. So let's go thru all the negatives.

1- Inconsistent animation
In some of the episodes, the animation looks great and then in other episodes it's extremely lazy for no reason whatsoever. I don't expect this level of laziness from Sunrise, and it's unacceptable for a massive studio that prides itself on quality.

2- Characters and ... Character Relationships
Ayumu and Yuu's relationship (which I didn't care much for in season 1) takes a complete 180 in season 2 especially towards the end in a laughably sad attempt to create drama because the writers must have realized there was no tension or anything to captivate the audience in the previous 8-9 episodes. It's like whoever wrote the later episodes didn't even watch season 1 or just forgot about it.

3- Exposition
You have no idea how awful it was sitting through 11 minutes of characters monologuing. I think the episode with Qu4rtz was one of the worst but there's several where nothing interesting happens other than a song (some episodes don't even get that) and there's tons of time with characters just blabbing something that never gets brought up again just to pad time and get the episode over with.

4- Our three new girls
Out of the three new girls, the only one with a slightly interesting arc was Mia. Lanzhu seemed like she was going to be a villain character like in the game but what happens is nowhere near as exciting. Shioriko's episode is even worse.

5- Jokes fall flat
The jokes are so poorly timed in this season. The problem isn't even writing it's just that the delivery is terrible and they fail ALMOST every single time. Great example is this one scene where Kasumi rages, but the voice acting doesn't even match the expression she makes so it's not even funny.

Stay away from this season if you have high standards for anime. Even as a Love Live enthusiast I expected some semblance of quality but what I got was the beginning of Sunrise mass-producing Love Live for nothing other than to make a profit. I thought first season of Nijigasaki and the game were just mediocre and bland with a few good songs and jokes, but this was just depressing. I just wanted the episodes to be over so I could catch up on Komi and Spy X Family, and while I don't think either of those shows are 10/10 Oscar-worthy masterpieces, they don't insult the audience's intelligence and actually want to tell an entertaining story.

After season one of Nijigasaki ended, I knew there wasn't anything that was tying me to this mortal plane, so I simply stopped existing for sixteen months until the second season came out. Now that this season has come and gone, I'm writing this review before I go back to not existing.

Most of my thoughts on this series remain unchanged from the first season, and I wrote a long winded review on that already, so go check that out if you're interested. Here's the tl;dr:
The characters are for the most part fun and have a good chemistry with each other, the art style is ... a welcome departure from the usual shininess of its sister series, and every single song is phenomenal. The most important point I made was that I was really impressed with how the melodrama in the anime didn't overstay its welcome, thereby maintaining the lighthearted nature of the show and improving the emotional impact of each of the girls' stories.

Moving onto Nijigasaki season 2, countless anime with a large cast fail to create the feeling of a cohesive friend group when there's no mingling beyond the characters that are grouped together from the start. Nijigasaki manages to avoid this with the formation of sub-units within the school idol club. The usual groupings by school year or implied yuri pairings get shaken up with these new sub-units, and they serve to create a strong group dynamic. This kind of variety in character interactions is even seen in smaller inconsequential scenes throughout the season. It's these little details that go a long way in bringing life and personality into the show.

A small criticism I had with the first season of Nijigasaki was it still could have used more time to flesh out some of its characters so they aren't just tied to their defining traits. I'm glad to say that for the original ten members of the club, this has been remedied in the second season. Shizuku is shown to be more than a dull actress for the theater club, as her being a yuri fanfic writing dork is the whole (and hilarious) reason behind the formation of the AZUNA sub-unit. Ai's happy-go-lucky character gains a little more depth when she gets closer with the calm realist Karin. Ayumu and Yu's dependence on each other is actually quite pleasantly directly addressed this season and they learn that it's okay to branch out to other interests even if the other is not beside them. Yu's role as basically Producer-kun and importance to the club is actually pronounced this season as well; she learns to compose music for the girls and continues to be the supporting backbone for the club.

Shioriko, Mia, and Lanzhu are all welcome additions that fit in well with the rest of the club. Lanzhu is set up as a competent rival for the Nijigasaki school idol club to prove their worth to. She easily could have been written as obnoxious and arrogant, but she's actually quite agreeable and lets her talent speak for itself. A really nice detail about Mia is she produces contemporary J-pop music designed for mass appeal for Lanzhu, but when she writes music the way she wants for herself, it doesn't sound like what is currently trending but is in the style of 2000s style pop music. Mia's obligatory English phrase every episode is always funny and her interactions with the rest of the cast is the strongest of the new characters. Unfortunately for my second favorite girl of Nijigasaki, Shioriko, I can't say the same. I've already liked her since I played the mobile game, but I would not blame any anime-only viewers to think she is a bland character. I don't think the anime did enough to show the strong-willed or moe sides of Shioriko. Even her new song is probably the weakest of her very strong list of solo songs.

The music is great as usual. I love the OP and ED just as much as the first season. There are sub-unit songs for AZUNA, DiverDiva, and QU4RTZ; solo songs for Lanzhu, Mia, and Shioriko; and a few group songs. Overall the quality of music is great and I listen to them all pretty much daily.

Nijigasaki once again delivers an incredibly fun and lighthearted Love Live experience. Like its first season, it doesn't overly indulge in the bits of drama throughout the story. The Niji girls come back for more fun sukuru aidoru related activities and the new girls add more to my enjoyment of the series. That being said, this second season did not enamor me as much as the first season. I fell in love with the first season when it was new and exciting. Season 2 of Nijigasaki, however, is like coming back to a comfy place I already know I will continue to adore. If you are a fan of the first season of Nijigasaki, then you will like the second season for sure.

Well, as someone who used to play a lot of Love Live: SIFAS, which this is all loosely based off of, season 1 left me disappointed with the lack of interesting conflict or drama due to none of the "antagonists" showing up. This left me hopeful that season 2 would correct this; I was left sorely disappointed once more.

Lanzhu was supposed to be the ultimate villainess that split the idol club apart, and ended up being quickly defanged and befriended as a secret fangirl of the other girls. As for Shioriko, she was introduced as an afterthought instead of a true challenger to ... Setsuna's position as the student council president, and barely had ANY presence or character as a result.

I understand that the mobile game plot's drama wasn't exactly popular with the hardcore love live fanbase, but neutering these two characters THIS far is quite frankly, ridiculous. There is now absolutely zero stakes, conflict, or drama, and the entire show is now just fluff and girls just singing and dancing for the sake of it, with no real ultimate goal or actually visible character development. The resulting show is an incredibly boring slog to watch through, music video sequences aside.

I'm sure the hardcore love live fanbase that dislikes any sort of drama will like this, but come on man, there's MANY "cute girls doing cute things" shows that are far more entertaining to watch than this.

If you really want your friends to see how BAD and BORING LoveLive series can get, this is the anime you should show them! Zero storytelling! Zero plot! Zero character developement! Even Yakusoku no Neverland season 2's power point presentation at the end of the last episode was more interesting and packed with more plot than this LL anime. Some say it's a great slice of life, but have some pride at least. Don't make yourself a clown.

Okay so as a huge Love Live fan I gotta say that I LOVE Nijigasaki as a group. I really like the characters and I really enjoyed their ... story in the game (Love Live School Idol Festival All Stars) BUT. This second season of the Niji anime is a disgrace to the LoveLive anime series. It is SO bad that I cannot even put it into words.
Firstly, we have new characters: Lanzhu, Shioriko and Mia.
Lanzhu's REAL personality was SCRAPPED from her character literally SCRAPPED. This is not real Lanzhu. The 'thing' that was shown in the anime is her different, more hidden side. I really hate how much Lanzhu-less she became in the anime...
Shioriko became a literal 'I am dead af all the time' character. Just a piece of wood.
Mia likes borgars.

Unit episodes were pretty promising but everything collapsed after QU4RTZ episode (which was really good and I loved the interactions between the characters). DiverDiva episode is a complete waste of screen time - we got more info about some NPC than about Ai and Karin put together. Terrible episode.
AZUNA episode was just gay theatre. Mediocre.

And now there are these Ayumu and Yuu parts that should not even exist.
In the first season it was bearable and kinda understandable - fans finally had their OWN character to join the series. However, with her every appearance on the screen, Yuu is becomming more and more boring. Yuu is such a badly wirtten character and I couldn't even focus on what she was saying because it was all so meaningless to the whole series. Her lack of participation and screen time made the action more promising tbh (but then she showed up again).

I give this crappy dog poo show a powerful 4 - the number which represents members of QU4RTZ because they deserved their episode and it was great.
I loved the music - songs were great as usual (it's a LoveLive series after all).
Unfortunately, good music cannot re-wind time and it has no ability of healing the wounds we were given by this abomination of idol storytelling. Time wasted, mental damage left. I was really looking forward this season, but it just burned out my eyeballs. Watched for cameos of my fav characters.

As someone who recently got into Love Live just because of Kanata 's single from Season 1 of Nijigasaki and made me catch up to the Love Live series I was really looking forward this to be the first Love Live I watch while it was airing. Nijigasaki is my personal favourite Love Live series just for the diversity and amazing music.
Season 2 puts the bar of season 1 even higher with the animation being even better and the CGI looks even better than some of the 2D animation. Like season 1 the songs so far have been bangers. The introduction of the three new ... characters Lanzhu, Shioriko and Mia have been an interesting addition. Lanzhu and Shioriko's characters have been changed a lot from the games story but still gives them some great story. The final few episodes are amazing.
The pace for season 2 is slower compared to the previous one with more focus on characters and seeing how much they have developed from season 1. The character chemistry and the comedy with between them is fantastically done.
I highly recommend checking this love live series as it is a perfect entry point for anyone who is not an original fan and my favourite Love Live definitely.
My score for this so far is 9.5/10

Sadly, this is probably the worst season of Love Live so far.
All the technical aspects are incredible (art, sound, music, animation), but the story is just ass.
The order of events causes every single opportunity for confrontation of ideals to get extinguished before it can even start. The decision to deviate this much from the SIF All Stars mobile game's story causes everything that made it so great to just plummet into the abyss. Furthermore the fact that several characters' development arcs just got shafted or were basically non-existent.
The first 2 to 3 episodes were very promising, but after that the story took a complete ... nosedive, with maybe one or two slightly decent self-coherent episodes here and there.

This generation is the epitome of the franchise of Love Live, it really feels like fresh air for any fan without abusing formulas or recurring gimmicks. And if it, does it have a reason behind it. It rethinks the franchise in general while still having what we define Love Live by: musical performances, charismatic characters, dramatic moments, yuri, and of course School Idols. What it means? Well from non-professional idols to freedom of expression. The series uses it as a wild cart for all kinds of situations in order to reach a larger age group of audition, so…

-Spoiler Warning-

This season is truly a love ... letter to all the fans and a demonstration that the staff love these characters. Nijigasaki is the perfect definition between doing things for pleasure and to do the same things to please the public: the best artist isn’t the one who does everything for the unconditional love of the fans or the one who does it simply to enlarge the self-ego. It’s the one who connects with people thanks to their work and passion and that’s what allows them to grow and learn together. In the series it shows in Yuu (realizing that she wants to make a song for her friends that please they), Lanzhu (who at the beginning only does it to show that she can but in the process, she abandons anyone), Shizuku (who ends up learning to express herself and stops to being afraid of people’s opinions), Ayumu (who stops being so obsessive with her beloved Yuu and decides to open her world to connect with other people) … In fact, I could say any of these girls because perfectly fits in this description.

Nijigasaki emphasizes the importance of collectivism and individualism alike. In general, we could say that this is the main theme of the series. Each of its characters in different ways teach us to accept ourselves and the same time to understand others without lose what makes us unique. In addition, thanks to the complexity of the character with their faults and virtues, their problems and worries, they create other interesting sub-themes, like for example:

-As being and expressing yourself without problems you will not only be better with yourself and with the other people, but also you can learn a lot of new things thanks to it.
-The importance of living in the present with the future in mind in order to be able to live in the moment but worrying about possible problems that could happen tomorrow. And to leave the past just for don’t make the same mistake again and not to yearn for it.
-The problem of extreme pragmatism that makes it impossible to enjoy the little things that make us happy.

Actually, this show has a lot of content with full of details, some more obvious and others that you will have to stop and see several times. And I’m not just talking about the visual aspects, the dialogues themselves too. But everything has its negative side, this is linked to the over saturation which generates higher expectations that end when at some point there is some irrelevant conversation/action that doesn’t contribute much to the narrative. Without doubt, with more episodes or more time the series would have benefited from it.

And one of this benefited would be the interaction between the characters. In the first season, we could see how some of them practically didn’t even speak to each other, while in this season it’s the opposite. They became a connected group (demonstrated in the Tokimeki Runners episode) and thanks to this they quickly adopt the new three new members of R3birth. But that causes, that the strong relationships that we knew before are practically abandoned. They are still present and as strong as before, but opaquer:

-Karin and Emma keep worrying about each other. Emma worrying about Karin when she's depressed, or when Karin lets Emma to practise with quartz even if it means she loses her "alarm clock."
-Shizuku and Kasumi still know each other the most. Kasumi admits that her hairpin is very precious to her and seems to know her beloved Shizuku's house beforehand. And for Shizuku, she is the first to tease Kasumi in an affectionate way and not get a growl from her.
-Ai and Rina keep supporting each other, Rina hugging Ai when she is worried or Ai immediately trying to help Rina and being with her.
But as I said, that is put on the back burner, giving more relevance to new interactions that not only allow us to observe how they are growing as a group, but also how they continue to grow as separate individuals. Which reminds us of the main theme I mentioned before.


Throughout 13 episodes, 26 if we count the first season, we have some moments that are more dramatic, others more emotional and others whose function is simply to show how the characters continue growing. But always maintaining a hopeful air, because since real life is very hard, it is not healthy to be depressive all the time, as it happens with the girls in the series. There aren’t unnecessary or forced dramas, all the situations are there for a reason which in some cases is simply to make the show more realistic. Which reminds me that even the background characters are made to be differentiated from each other, because even though they haven’t got any characterization, the program treats them as if they were others character who have their own story.

But like all things nothing is perfect, as I said before most of the elements are compressed which also implies that some situations could have given much more of themselves or could have been much more complex. As in the case of Kanata, a hardworking girl who push herself to work to support her house and keeps the scholarship and because that she needs to rest a lot. However, the series, if she isn’t the focus, tends to only remember that she likes to sleep, when she is much more than that. Or Shioriko, who the series only shows as a compassionate but pragmatic and very stoic girl, who also, her appearance is very sudden and not as well integrated as Mia or Lanzhu. An expected problem due to she was not introduced in the first season, and part of its development comes from there in the game story.

Another failed aspect, and this time a contradictory one, is the treatment with Yuu. Despite having achieved characterization and motivations of its own sometimes the series treats her as a flat character that everyone loves and has her in their sights no matter what. She has already shown that she is not really a self-insert character but sometimes the series seems to forget that, for the sake of the audience that is looking for that. This causes a contradiction between her development and her treatment, which although are few there are notable enough.

On other hand, the visuals of the series are magnificent, with a fluidity of movement and an impressive focus on details. But due to the time and budget that this implies, in each chapter we find a handful of static images, which also with the passage of the episodes increase. To the point of recycling images for the last episode. Even so, the series knows what shots to use, what colors and what lighting is necessary for each occasion in order to give each situation more meaning or to emphasize it. Moreover, like the previous season, the CGI is much better than any other in the franchise.

It would be a pity if, being a partially musical series, the sound side would fail and fortunately it doesn't, from the inserted music to the background melodies, they are there for a reason. It makes use of some leitmotivs, such as Kasumi's antics, and others made for specific moments to accompany and emphasize the scene. And the MVs are undoubtedly the best to date, both the lyrics, the visuals and the melody tell us things about the episode and those who are singing: they anticipate events such as Lanzhu's main problem or show us the development they have had as the AZUNA song.

And not to forget to reuse past music like Tokimeki Runners, Love my Friends or Mirai Harmony, who endow the songs with new connotations and work to show us things. Certainly, contrary to the others generations where the references were purely references, in the case of Nagasaki, in addition to that, they serve as purpose.

To all this? What exactly is Love Live Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club?

It is a series that not only avoids the standards of the franchise itself, but also those of the media itself, since the program does not have an intrinsic plot, it is built by the characters. The series is about following the evolution of the characters and growing up with them. Which brings us back to what I explained at the beginning about the connection between the artist and fans. Individualisms and collectivism. Truly a love letter to the audience and the characters itself.

To close the whole circle the program starts with Yuu and Ayumu going to school where they learn about their dream together, and ends with both of them separately pursuing that dream but with a stronger connection than ever. At the same time, as for the second season, it starts with Ayumu surprised and practically refusing the hug of a welcoming fan, and ends with another hug but this time accepting it and being welcomed one.

I just want to say that Love Live Nijigasaki is truly a beautiful and amazing anime to watch. Even though I been a Love Live fan for a very long time since 2016 basically. I felt a special spot for Love Live Nijigasaki compared to SIP and Sunshine and even Superstar.
Love Live Nijigasaki is honestly that anime in the Love Live franchise that was really outstanding the fact in the first season of the anime, I really loved how they introduced and gave some backstory on the characters, even during season 2 I love how they introduced and have some backstory on Mia, Shiriko, ... and Lanzhou. Not to mention it was finally a Love Live anime that didn’t involve in having to save the school. Even though Love Live Nijigasaki started as Love Live School Idol Perfect Dream Project and was meant to never be something so big when they were introduced in 2017 I’m so glad that Perfect Dream Project got to become something big and amazing known as Love Live Nijigasaki. I’ll truly miss this anime and I know we still got a year or two till we get the anime but truly this anime was amazing. I know the art of the anime was rather something unique compared to SIP, Sunshine, and Superstar, but it was so refreshing to have a new style for the series and all. I know season 2 could’ve improved on its art style but honestly I still love the style and all.
If I had to be honest for those trying to get into Love Live I highly recommend Love Live Nijigasaki since it’s cute, amazing, funny, and sometimes fruity amongst the girls but overall wholesome. Plus honestly you would love this much more than SIP and Sunshine since you wouldn’t need to watch it order yo watch Love Live Nijigaskai. To be honest if you are trying to get into Love Live Nijigasaki and Superstar is the two Love Live animes where you wouldn’t have to watch it in order. Plus the music in Love Live Nijigasaki is so amazing and all. Okay I’m sorry for spitting my heart out while typing this review but the anime will always have a special place in my heart!

There wasn't really any conflict or drama leading into this season finale. Hell, we wrapped up all the stuff with the new characters back in episode nine, so there certainly wasn't going to be any big surprises or twists in here. Much like season one, Nijigasaki chooses instead to go out with an episode-length concert, but whereas season one's ending felt like a victory lap, this one feels like a farewell.

Like, not in the sense that things are wrapped up or there's no room left for more stories or gags with these characters. Nobody graduates or moves abroad or ascends to School Idol Godhood to ... oversee future generations of Love Lives. They could, theoretically, make another season or movie with this cast without having to change or ignore anything in this finale. If nothing else I'm hedging my bets with that title up top. But I dunno – after watching that big group performance, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was some kind of goodbye, as if the show was staring straight into the camera and bidding adieu to its fans.

And I mean that pretty literally. From what I can tell, they went so far as to include actual fanart sent in by Nijigasaki fans, constructing a huge wall of fan letters and messages in-universe for the cast before their big New Years concert. Like most marketing-driven properties, Love Live! has always been pretty tuned in and reactive to fans – by all accounts the changes to Lanzhu and Shioriko's stories were in response to pretty negative fan reaction to the game's storyline – but this is taking a step beyond even that. Add in the sheer amount of cameos from characters exclusive to the mobile games, and this episode turns into a heaping bowl of fanservice for longtime Livers.

Granted, there are still some problems with that, mostly stemming from the issues that have pestered this season. Every single idol gets a new song to perform this episode, but there's nowhere near enough time for them to each get the music video treatment, so instead we get 30-second snippets of every girl going out on stage individually, and that drags after a little while. There are some cute moments – Rina's fans recreating her faceplate with glowsticks is absolutely adorable, and it was nice seeing her help bolster Mia's nerves; Shizuka's song just outright namedropping Audrey Hepburn – but it has the dual problems of each individual section being too short to mean much, but still taking up too much time in aggregate. There are just too many characters here that, by the law of Not Pissing Off A Character's Fans, have to get roughly equal screentime, and that can't fit into a 20-minute episode of animation.

After that though, things pick up. It's incredibly sweet to see Yu get some fan mail and flowers of her own. I joke about her being Nijigasaki's harem lead, because she is, but she's also a character in her own right, and one that could sometimes fall by the wayside in season one since she never got up on stage herself. But this season, for all its faults, let her shine as brightly as the rest of the girls, and her reaction to inspiring the same excitement that got her to pursue music is a great way to bring her full-circle.

But the real sendoff comes in the extra-long closing song, and if this really is the last of animated Nijigasaki, this is a pretty perfect swan song. It's not my favorite song as just an isolated track, but the presentation put into this last performance really does feel like a heartfelt sayonara to the show and characters. Every girl gets a solid line in – and Crunchyroll even went the extra mile by color-coding the subtitle text – with a visual callback to the solo songs from their individual character episodes. There's an entire portion of the song that's just showing off the crowd, which I'm pretty sure included every single generic R-rarity character from the School Idol Festival mobile game. Not to mention the montage of seemingly everyone across the world watching the performance on everything from smartphones to billboards. It's about as emphatic a “goodbye” as you can get without actually saying the words.

And if this is the final number for Nijigasaki, it's as good a closer as you can ask for. While this spinoff hasn't been perfect – and this season in particular has hit more than a few stumbling blocks – I have definitely enjoyed my time with it. If nothing else, Kasumin has clawed her way into my favorites of the franchise, and there's been a few tunes along the way that are taking up residence in my writing playlist. It's not the best that Love Live! has to offer, but it's been a good time, and if they do ever want to bring this cast back in anime form, I'll happily follow that rainbow too.

I give this show a lot of credit. There was no lack of continuity between season 1 and season 2. There were some changes that I appreciated, ones that I took exception with in the first season, most notably they took away the 3D performances and made them 2d. I think it made it flow much better. The character development is time went by and the challenges that come along with getting older I handled well. There's still an overwhelming sense of excessive positivity, though it's much more under control this season. I think this was a very nice leave put together show and this ... second season gave proof that success can be maintained without something going bad as is seen in other shows. This is a good watch, in my opinion. I really enjoyed it.

High School Musical 2.

The Nijigasaki High School Idol Club is back for more song and dance shenanigans.
If you’ve watched the first season then you already know what you’re in for. The cute girls you know and love doing cute and wholesome things in-between all the excellently animated singing and dancing. It’s wholesome, simple and very anime.

Season 2 feels a bit less bloated in it’s 13 episode structure. It doesn’t suffer from what I like to call “too many characters syndrome” like the first season did because of the casts familiarity. The seasons main plot thread is focused on Yuu, the pseudo-club manager and her ... position as a music composer rather than an idol in the club whilst the rest of the girls experiment with group idol performances as well as improving their solo ones. Lanzhu, Mia and best girl Shioriko (with fang) are all welcomed additions to the cast and the show takes it’s time introducing them and building on their characters as well as the rest of the idol club members.

If you’re here for the story you’ll probably be disappointed.. Although it’s not as much of a problem as it was in season one, having so many characters to give equal screen time too means that the story quality fluctuates from episode to episode and some club members are way under-utilised. The slice of life story telling isn't bad, but it’s just very factory standard slice of life and any conflict that comes between the girls (mainly instigated by Lanzhu) feels very forced and easily resolvable. However, when the show gets it right, it’s very good and fun to watch. Also as much as I don’t mind her, Mia does represent one of my new anime pet peeves which is the ‘character that speaks in engrish every other sentence’ archetype. I personally just find it annoying.

Admittedly, I did think the season finale was well set up and surprisingly emotional. It caps off the season pretty well and although I would recommend Love Live Superstar over Nijigasaki High School Idol Club if you want to give this franchise a try, the music and animation (which I don’t really need to talk about, it’s Sunrise) gives Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club more than enough to sing and dance too.

7/10 Good.