One thing that anime does better than any other medium is in its ability to create insanely cute female characters. This includes the entire spectrum: kids who make you smile at their adorable way of talking and acting, high school girls who behave in funny or silly ways, and women who are both beautiful and sexy. And since anime is mostly a male dominated form of entertainment, we see many shows featuring these cute girls. When it comes to Love Live! School Idol Project, it is no different in that regard, but it is able to stand out in more ways than one.
STORY
Love Live! 1 stars three friends, Honoka, Umi, and Kotori, who, upon learning that their school is going to be shut down due to terrible enrollment rates, decide to start their own "School Idol Club" in order to attract more students to keep the school open.
Rather ambitious right out of the gate! The show has this main goal in mind, but for the most part, the show is just "cute girls doing cute things." And it's something that the show does very well. Something that I liked a lot while watching the show was the way in which the characters were able to constantly show their cute sides. Since this is the main draw, it's important that it is also well done. I constantly found myself smiling at the way Honoka would become way too energetic for her own good or Nico spouting out her common catch-phrase, "Nico-Nico-Ni!" It was also a boon that the characters worked quite well together. Meaning, they were able to be cute not only on their own but also in tandem with one another. This gave the group greater appeal and much more lasting impression.
Getting back to the main "plot," these types of shows like to do usually the same thing. That is, do a nice job in the "cute girl" department and then inject some rather lame drama in order to spice things up. Sadly, LL1 follows the same trope. Much of the drama that takes place in LL1 takes on one of two forms: it either is resolved extremely quickly (within one episode) or it is inconsequential. The former I'm a bit more forgiving towards. This type of drama was mainly used to showcase the characters and get them to finally become a part of the music group. The latter I am less forgiving about. If you are going to instill these dramatic elements and not use them for anything, it seems rather shallow. I would rather the show just stick to what it does best, and that is let the girls be cute, rather than just trying to make drama where there doesn't need to be.
ANIMATION
I wasn't sure how well LL1's animation was going to be going in, but I was rather surprised going out.
Starting with the art style, it is not a stretch to say that it is plain but modern. The backgrounds and environments are the typical kinds: school grounds, rooftop, local shrine, etc. They have nice detail, but are nothing extraordinary.
The animation, however, is very good. This includes both the School Idol segments and the non-School Idol Segments. The dancing parts are definitely the highlight of the show. What I found interesting was in its mix of both CG and 2D animation. It would flip-flop between the two while the girls were performing, giving this cool effect of me not fully knowing if what I was watching was CG or 2D. Yes, you can tell at certain times, but for the most part, I was pretty impressed. This is coming from someone who normally hates CG in anime.
When the girls are not dancing, the animation is actually very fluid. Their facial expressions aren't instant, their leg and arm movements aren't rigid, and their hair and eyes are always changing. Even when there are many characters on the screen at once, the show does a nice job of making everything move smoothly.
As for the character designs, its tough making everyone seem unique when working with such a large cast. At nine characters, LL1 does an okay job in this regard. They mainly stick to just differing hairstyles to differentiate the girls, but for the most part, I enjoyed their modern look. It reminded me a bit of KyoAni designs, but not as detailed.
CHARACTERS
There are quite a bit of characters in LL1. μ's (pronounced "Muse") have nine School Idols that take the roles as the main cast. I won't talk about all of them, but I will delve into some of my favorites.
Nozomi is the student council vice president and acts as the "mother" of the group throughout the show. She is mainly there to listen to the characters, to guide their thoughts, and to make sure that the group as a whole works together. She always knows when someone is worried or troubled and she always goes out of her way to make things right. While she has a rather strange fetish of groping the girls when worst comes to worst, she is generally the most calm and level-headed, giving her a nice contrast in comparison to everyone else.
Hanayo is quite passionate about being a School Idol. But her biggest problem is her extreme shyness. Due to this, she is rather cute in the way she acts around others and in how she goes about her daily life. Hanayo is one of the first girls to experience growth and change within the show, and it was nice to see her get out of her comfort zone at least a little bit. One thing that made me slightly sad was the omission of her glasses later on, since it was unique to her character. But this doesn't dissuade her from still being a rather adorable girl.
Probably my favorite from the cast is Honoka. Not only is she the leader type, but she is generally the most optimistic and enthusiastic. She loves to have fun, to try hard, and to motivate her friends. On top of all this, she is quite hilarious during the show due to her overzealous nature. Her reactions to tough practices or attempting to get someone to do her bidding managed to get a big grin on my face every single time.
Again, while I could go on with the rest, suffice it to say that the other characters are just as good. What the show does well is that it not only makes each girl likable/lovable/cute but also that it gives them all appropriate screen time. Some shows have a difficult time showcasing their characters when the cast gets too large. But I found that all of the girls had about equal screen-time during the show (minus Honoka because she's, understandably, the main lead).
In the end, I don't absolutely love these characters, but they are all entertaining to watch individually and as a group, which made my time watching this season that much more enjoyable.
SOUND
LL1 is a music show. As such, the sound within is of pretty high quality. The OP is a tried and true pop idol song. It fits the show perfectly, both in its beat, lyrics, and visuals. The ED is less dancing and more about the girls showing off their singing skills. For both, I found that I liked them quite a bit while watching the show.
The soundtrack features common music pieces, for dramatic and happy moments, but the highlights are once again the School Idol songs. The show features about three different songs in total that the girls sing and dance to, and all of them are nicely composed and fun to watch and listen to.
For the voice acting, I found that everyone did an above average job. Each of the girls has a unique voice to them, and I loved listening to them all. Special shout out to Yurika Kubo for her role as Hanayo, because she was able to give her this normal yet whisper-y voice that I haven't heard elsewhere.
ENJOYMENT
The reason you watch these types of shows isn't for the grandiose plot, the complex characterization, or for the intricate world building. You watch this show because you just want to have fun and see cute girls acting cute. Certain fans of anime might not like how anime itself is somewhat devolving into just showcasing cute girls, but there are shows like this that do an above average job.
LL1 is quite funny. A lot of the humor comes from the character interactions and the way they act. Their personalities are all generally uplifting, and even the ones that aren't (such as Maki) provide comedic scenarios for the other characters.
Beyond that, I also really liked watching the girls perform their dances. Wearing their cute outfits, singing in harmony, and giving it their all was fun to watch. I actually wasn't expecting the amount of dancing and singing that I was given, which was a pleasant surprise in the long-run.
In the end, Love Live! School Idol Project sets itself up to be a show about a group of friends who just want to sing, dance, and have fun together. And you know what? That's exactly what the show did.
SUMMARY
Story: Fine, cute girls with unneeded drama
Animation: Good, plain art-style with superb animation
Characters: Good, all different with something for everyone
Sound: Great, nice OP, ED, idol songs, and VAs
Enjoyment: Good, funny and cute puts a smile on your face
Final Score: 7/10
