For those who love idol music, especially those who love the original “Love Live!”, will definitely want to check out “Love Live! Sunshine!! Season One”. Entertaining and a whole lot of fun, I definitely recommend this Blu-ray release!
Image courtesy of © Sunrise. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Love Live! Sunshine!! Season One
DURATION: (13 Episodes) 325 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9), Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Funimation
RATED: TV 14
Release Date: December 5, 2017
Originally Created by Hajime Yatate
Directed by Kazuo Sakai
Series Composition: Jukki Hanada
Music by Tatsuya Kato
Character Design: Yuhei Murota
Art Director: Junichi Higashi
Anime Production: Sunrise
Featuring the following voice talent:
Ai Furihata/Sarah Wiedenheft as Ruby Kurosawa
Aika Kobayashi/Morgan Berry as Yoshiko “Yohane” Tsushima
Aina Suzuki/Jamie Marchi as Mari Ohara
Anju Inami/Jad Saxton as Chika Takami
Arisa Komiya/Morgan Garrett as Dia Kurosawa
Kanako Takatsuki/Megan Shipman as Hanamaru Kunikida
Nanaka Suwa/Michelle Rojas as Kanan Matsūra
Rikako Aida/Jeannie Tirado as Riko Sakurauchi
Shuka SaitÅ/Apphia Yu as YÅ Watanabe
Asami Tano/Trina Nishimura as Sarah Kazuno
Hinata SatÅ/Amber Lee Connors as Leah Kazuno
Kana Asumi/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Shima Takami
Kanae ItÅ/Monica Rial as Mito Takami
Chika Takami is swept up in idol fever and ready to start her own school idol group. But getting this club started is harder than this idol-to-be expected. She’ll have to work hard to form the idol group of her dreams with her new group of friends.
Back in 2010, ASCII Media Works’ “Dengeki G’s Magazine”, the. music label Lantis and the animation studio Sunrise would create a school idol project known as “Love Live!” about a group of schoolgirls who dreamed of becoming idols in order to save their school, which was slated to shut down.
The original series introduced the group μ’s (Muse) and how a teen named Honoka would find friends to join her in creating an idol group and set their goals high to participate in the ultimate school idol competition, Love Live.
The popularity of the anime series would lead to a manga adaptation, a light novel series and video games.
Fastforward to 2016 and a new idol project was created, meant to be a spin-off of “Love Live!” and would be titled “Love Live! Sunshine!!”.
“Love Live! Sunshine!!” is set in Uchiura, Numazu, Shizuoka (countryside/seaside area) and begins with a girl named Chika Takami who is a big fan of μ’s (Muse) because they are normal girls who saved their school from being demolished.
With Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy planning to be closed down, the school is going to be merged with the other high school, Numazu.  Inspired by the idol group, she and her friends hope they can do the same by forming an idol group and saving their school.
But will they be able to save Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy?
The main characters in the series are:
- Chika Takami – The main protagonist and the leader of the group. Inspired by μ’s (Muse), she is determined to form an idol club and become idols to save their school. She is the group’s lyricist.
- Riko Sakurauchi – A pianist who came from Akihabara’s Otonokizaka Girls’ Academy. She stopped pursuing her passion and moved to Numazu, so she can “feel” the sea. She has a fear of dogs, loves yuri manga and is a composer of the group.
- You Watanabe – A childhood friend of Chika who dreams of becoming a ship captain like her father. She is the costume coordinator for the group.
- Dia Kurosawa – The student council president of Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy. She is a huge fan of μ’s (Muse) but hides her idol enthusiasm, trying to prevent Chika from creating an idol club at school.
- Kanan Matsuura – Chika’s childhood friend who follows Chika’s lead. Kanan lives alone with her grandfather in a nearby island where they run a diving gear shop. Because she often needs to take care of the shop alone, she has difficult attending school. She, Dia and Mari were childhood friends who formed an idol group known as Aquours but it didn’t last.
- Yoshiko Tsushima – A student who calls herself a “fallen angel” for having angered God and wants everyone to call her that. She is looked at being strange but Chika invites her to become an idol.
- Hanamaru Kunikida – Her family runs a local temple and has never seen modern technology so much, so she is enamored with them. A childhood friend of Yoshiko.
- Mari Ohara – She is half Japanese and a quarter Italian and American. Her family is wealthy and runs a hotel chain. She was friends with Dia and Kanan and formed an idol group in the past known as Aquours but she is not sure why her former once close friends are avoiding her.
- Ruby Kurosawa- Dia’s younger sister who has dreamed to become an idol. She has a fear of men and is extremely shy.
VIDEO:
“Love Live! Sunshine!!” is presented in 1080p High Definition (16:9). Colors are vibrant and backgrounds are well-done. But this is an anime series that focuses a lot on character close-ups and idol performances. The anime series looks great in HD!
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Love Live! Sunshine!!” is presented in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Voice acting are well-done on both soundtracks and dialogue is crystal clear with the English dub being more immersive due to the 5.1 soundtrack.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Love Live! Sunshine!! Season One” comes with the promo videos, commercial, textless opening song and trailers.
EXTRAS:
“Love Live! Sunshine!!” comes with both the Blu-ray and DVD plus a Funimation Digital HD code.
“Love Live!” was no doubt one of the pop culture phenomenon that won the attention of fans worldwide. From those who loved the music or people who loved to cosplay as one of the characters, the series generated enthusiasm towards the characters and the voice actresses and also interested in various merchandise.
But in today’s Japan were idol music and idol groups are still popular, “Love Live!” came at such a wonderful time and many people loved the anime series.
So, it’s no surprise that ASCII Media Works, Lantis and Sunrise to capitalize on the popularity of the series.
Showcasing a similar concept of a group of girls trying to save their school and making it into the “Love Live!” competition, “Love Live! Sunshine!!” is an interesting perspective when things don’t always go right but also showcasing a group that worked hard in making their dreams come true, no matter the challenges they had to face.
The series begins with Chika Takami, inspired by the idol group μ’s (Muse). Normal teenagers who went on to save their school and setting their goals to win the ultimate high school idol competition “Love Live!” and then eventually disbanding.
“Love Live! Sunshine!!” connects to the original series in spirit but also goes to show that this group of idols, known as Aquours are different. But also situations are different as Chika finds herself in opposition with the student council president, Dia Kurosawa, who is very much against not interested in having an idol group started on school campus (and Chika and friends not aware that Dia and her friends were the original members of Aqours).
But the first season spotlights on character dynamics, getting us to know the different sides of the characters and how the would come together as a group (similar to Muse). But also showing the agony of defeat as things don’t go so well at times.
And eventually setting things up for the group preparing themselves to compete in the “Love Life!” competition for the second season.
For the most part, I found “Love Live! Sunshine!!” entertaining. The characters are each different in their own way, from those who have phobias, those who act strangely, those with life goals and those feeling the pressure of trying to succeed for the sake of their school.
“Love Live! Sunshine!!” looks great in HD with its colorful palette and for its lossless soundtrack, both soundtracks are fantastic but the English dub soundtrack has the edge thanks to its 5.1 soundtrack, the Japanese is 2.0 lossless. As for special features, I would have thought that there would be the usual audio or video commentary from Funimation but there wasn’t anything but the usual promotional videos, textless opening, etc.
Overall, for those who love idol music, especially those who love the original “Love Live!”, will definitely want to check out “Love Live! Sunshine!! Season One”. Entertaining and a whole lot of fun, I definitely recommend this Blu-ray release!
