Jun 27, 2023
Next Sky is much shorter than many people expected, being only 30 minutes in duration but closer to 23 accounting for the end credits. Not that most OVAs are particularly long to begin with, but this made sense after Love Live! announced not one but three movies to continue the story of Nijigasaki for 2024.
In the first half OVA we see Isla (Aira?), an idol fan from the UK, visit Japan and she's given the full tour by the Nijigasaki girls. We're also given a handful of easter eggs referencing the other installments to the franchise. The second half is focused on Shioriko, giving her
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some good development and a change of hairstyle to signify her maturing as an idol. SIFAS players were wondering where she was during season 1, so I have a theory that may be the reason why they chose her to be the star this time around. It had some funny moments like Shioriko speaking in English which was very unexpected. One thing I didn't like was that due to the cast being so big, most of the characters are just standing around for the majority of the episode. This was somewhat to be expected, but it certainly felt like the third years in particular didn't get to do anything.
For the finale we have a music video for a new insert song "Go Our Way" which was beautifully animated, as Love Live! continues to go above and beyond in their animation quality for each new release. The intro song was too short, but at the very least it makes up for season 2's lack of R3BIRTH songs due to time constraints. I personally found the songs during the end credits to be forgettable, until I end up listening to them on my own time or rewatching. Go Our Way on the other hand is stuck in my head and I can't stop replaying it. For some reason I was expecting more than 1 MV, but its understandable given the short duration.
Overall, a 7/10. Nice and enjoyable to all Love Live fans, but to newcomers or binge watchers you can easily skip it without missing anything. With the closure of SIFAS in about 3 days from this review, I've picked up a bias towards the Nijigasaki characters, so I'm happy to watch them again and see how far they've come since being pitched as a small "side project."
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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