I have been following Love Live for quite some time now. I love the original series and adore Sunshine!! just as well to the point of creating art folders on my computer and even getting some minor merchandise pieces like keychains and cards.
Believe it or not, I expected a lot from the third Love Live generation anime despite not knowing what it was going to try to represent. What I received was wasted potential and large disappointment.
Not sure what to start my rant with, but I guess getting to the story first would be fitting because there is literally none of it. Unlike previous two parts, this had no to zero significant plot. Got to admit, it started kind of well. The first episodes seemed to show what might have ended up being a good storyline. However, once the characters got together (which as I remember happened about 3 episodes in) the whole thing went downhill with next half a show being what’s supposed to be ”character development” which is one of the points I will get back to later. After 10 episodes passed, it remembered it had something to tell. This is the moment we are introduced to… School Idol Festival. What even is that thing and where did they take our very own “Love Live”?... the thing this very show is supposed to be about?... the thing this show is basically named after?... Apparently, the thing that the first two parts were based around and named after simply does not exist in the Nijigasaki timeline. Why is this named Love Live if there is not a single word said about what was the main thing of the original series??? This should not be called Love Live. The story part has more to be told about and I am going to talk about those details in the next paragraph. Moving on.
What I consider the main problem of Nijigasaki crew is the crew itself. Characters. Character development is made in the worst way possible. Instead of being naturally developed with the story (which as I mentioned earlier does not exist in the case of Nijigasaki) going on, every single character is forced into the viewer by having an entire episode dedicated to each of them. What’s so bad about it being like this? Let me explain. Imagine a narrator introducing characters giving a quick description of them in order they appear on the screen. Yes, those short descriptions explaining who the character is, what their interests are, their relations to the rest of the cast etc. In Nijigasaki anime, the descriptions are episodes and the order is the episode order. Every single episode until the SIF introduction just gives us information on characters the viewer is supposed to follow with literally zero further development. You have to accept the characters as they are. In fact, you are forced to do so. None of the characters in this show can be considered main. Every single one becomes main during their own episode. After that they vanish to just hang around for the rest of the screen time. Every time a certain girl appeared on the screen, it felt like they are here just to remind us what their quirk they were introduced in their episodes with is. Kasumi constantly being self-centered, Rina constantly taking out her Rina-board, Kanata constantly reminding us how tired she is etc. These went from fun little things to GOD PLEASE MAKE IT STOP ALREADY. When there was “drama” going on, I had no idea what my reaction was supposed to be. Why would they put the most uninteresting character aka Ayumu in a totally unnecessary drama? Just to show how she does not care about anyone but herself? I guess in her case being a bad character is better than being absolutely nothing because unlike her pals she does not have any specific characteristics other than being Yuu’s friend. How am I supposed to react to characters I never got to care about? Where does the drama itself come from when the whole cast is just having fun while being in literal fillers? The story does not move with the drama too, making it absolutely needless for both nonexistent plot and character development.
This show does have good sights too. Sound and design. Not going to give any comments on the sound part, because, well, this show is centered around music (in fact it barely is, but at least it was supposed to). The character design is close to flawless. Love Live has always had great design, I just wish it was used on the right characters this time…
All in all, the third generation Love Live anime is an awful show. It takes everything good and charming about its predecessors and throws it in the trash bin. This was likely made as a fanservice material for the game fans, which I do not belong to the group of. I guess it is exciting to see characters you have known for years finally getting their own series. I understand why game fans and other people enjoy it and I respect their opinions. I, however, did not like this show. Not just as an alternative setting for two previous Love Live parts, but as a separate thing too. Yes, I would rather watch another “our school is on the edge of getting closed so we have to become school idols to save it” than this.
Ratings:
Story - 1/10
Art - 8/10
Sound - 8/10
Character - 1/10
Enjoyment - 2/10
If season 2 of Nijigasaki ever gets announced, I will not get excited for it as much as I was for this. But I really hope it is going to have something more to it other than unnaturally introduced characters and absent story the first season managed to get us through in its 13 episodes.
“Nijigasaki? – more like Nijigasucky”, - I would say if I were to be Miyashita Ai, because making puns is what her entire character is about.
