Love Live! The School Idol Movie

[Yui Is My Wife]

For the record:
Is there actually a run-down barely-held-together-by-duct-tape hotel that they based "The Sunrise Hotel" on, or is it just a generically designed Hollywood Roach Motel?

If the latter, just for morbid curiosity's sake, I'd like to stay there one night to see if Umi-chan was just overreacting to how "Dangerous" it is.

PS.

I spent three days in Brooklyn back in 2014 and let me tell you, SHAME ON YOU HOLLYWOOD AND SEINFELD AND CSI for smearing it as a hole of dirt-drugs-and-violence when it is one of the cleanest and friendliest neighborhoods I've ever been to in a Western Country, filled with some of the sweetest and kindest people I've ever met.

All the same, one night in the crumbling "Sunrise Hotel" just to tick another entry off my Anime-Otaku bucket list.

[wavehawk]

Originally Posted by Yui Is My Wife

For the record:
Is there actually a run-down barely-held-together-by-duct-tape hotel that they based "The Sunrise Hotel" on, or is it just a generically designed Hollywood Roach Motel?

- Maybe not in New York, but there are a few hotels in California that match the description. One in particular comes to mind:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Hotel_(Los_Angeles)

I think Maki doesn't want to book that hotel with you, boys...

[ditto526]

I just got back from seeing it, a great time was had by all, just very sorry to see them go, still want more of them, also the shipping fans will have some fun with it
if you can see it in the theater, go for it, well worth the money

[ditto526]

forgot to ask, can anyone tell me who the mystery girl in the movie was?
please put it in a spoiler so as not ruin it for the others who have not seen it

[Yui Is My Wife]

Originally Posted by ditto526

forgot to ask, can anyone tell me who the mystery girl in the movie was?
please put it in a spoiler so as not ruin it for the others who have not seen it

Well, for the want of a better comparison, I point you to "Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol"

Spoiler:

She is basically "The Ghost of Honoka's Future"; her adult self has come to terms with the fact that the Grand and Glorious Adventures of Childhood are over, and has come to terms with living a mundane life as an average street performer.

A realistic, all too common and frankly depressing outcome for Glorious Childhood Stars, you now think about it.

[ditto526]

Thanks for the information

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by Yui Is My Wife

Well, for the want of a better comparison, I point you to "Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol"

Spoiler:

She is basically "The Ghost of Honoka's Future"; her adult self has come to terms with the fact that the Grand and Glorious Adventures of Childhood are over, and has come to terms with living a mundane life as an average street performer.

A realistic, all too common and frankly depressing outcome for Glorious Childhood Stars, you now think about it.

Thanks for clarification too.

I also thought that its Honoka's future but the color of hair reminds me of her little sister then the voice reminds me of Maki. I've become confuse on her identify.

I just watched the movie and its a good one.

Really liked the dance and song.

When is the release of bluray/dvs?

[ditto526]

Originally Posted by tsunade666

Thanks for clarification too.

I also thought that its Honoka's future but the color of hair reminds me of her little sister then the voice reminds me of Maki. I've become confuse on her identify.

I just watched the movie and its a good one.

Really liked the dance and song.

When is the release of bluray/dvs?

No word from NIS America about the release date, however you can preorder the real version with sub titles from Japan, i have already ordered mine from Amazon japan,with a release of Dec 13, just in time for Christmas

[Yye1]

So a few things on the movie, as I got around to a reshowing. Just a couple of tidbits about the portrayal of New York in the series. First, when someone bumps into you near a subway entrance in NYC, you are more likely to be cursed at than being told sorry.
Secondly, if I were Honoka, I would bathe myself in disinfectants after coming in bareskin contact with the subway floor and the subway platform.
Finally, I do not think the S train exists, I know there is a S shuttle.

Aside from these observations about New York, I found the movie to be enjoyable. I hope for more anime material, but if not, I will enjoy the inevitable crossover between Sunshine and original LL.

[FlavoryFantasy]

BD came out within the past 24 or so hours. Can't wait to see more people's thoughts on the movie! (least those that couldn't see an international showing) Along with rewatching myself later/soon.... Must...see....certain scenes again and again o/

[Triple_R]

I watched the Love Live! Movie last night. I then re-watched certain scenes of it again this morning.

Perhaps the most important thing to say about it is this - It's a beautiful movie. In every way. The audiovisuals are just about flawless, given what the movie seems to be aiming for. It's also a very emotionally beautiful and strong movie, particularly on re-watch.

To save space, and also to avoid spoiling anybody who hasn't seen the movie yet, I'll be discussing it in more detail in the spoiler space below

Spoiler for Love Live! The School Idol Movie:

I feel like each and every μ's member had at least one nice highlight moment, if not multiple nice highlight moments. Nobody felt shortchanged to me here. Everybody felt very true to character the entire movie through. As tightly bonded as μ's clearly is, all of the individual personalities involved really stand out.

That being said, I see three layers to the story here, like three layers of an onion. The outermost layer is "the school idol story". The story for school idols in general. The middle layer is μ's story. Their story, the nine of them as an unified group. And the inner layer is Honoka's story. The movie does a marvelous job of binding tightly these three stories together, like layers of an onion. But like an onion, you can peel them back from one another if you wish.

The movie has some good comedy moments, largely tied into those stand out μ's personalities I mentioned before. Hanayo's white rice obsession was hilarious, as was Rin's Statue of Liberty-like promotional pitch. And those are just two examples of many.

The New York section of the movie was very good. My only major criticism is that it felt kinda short to me, but that speaks to how splendid it was. The English was superb. The interactions between μ's and random New Yorkers were really well-done, overall. Though a small thing, I like how the movie showed some actual racial diversity among the people of New York, as it helped immersion value for me. New York looked fantastic in the movie, for the time allotted to this section, I really couldn't have asked for more. Any New Yorker Love Live fan should feel proud about how their city came across in this movie. There are some nitpicks I could make about the New York section, but they pale in comparison to the strengths of this section. For those curious I think the "Honoka is lost" section probably should have felt more dire. Still, even here, the way Honoka's meeting with mystery singer was handled was simply sparkling superb. So was A-Rise's presence in this movie.

A-Rise's presence in this movie was just right. They arrived fashionably late, making their arrival feel special. But at the same time, they arrived early enough to have a strong overall presence in the movie. It was great seeing A-Rise interact a lot with μ's in the film, including some nice one-on-one moments (such as between Kotori and Anju). Kira is as classy and professional as ever, but also shows just the right amount of emotion at key points.

I like how A-Rise made a different decision than μ's did. I like how A-Rise intends to continue on as an idol group post-graduation. A-Rise and μ's making different decisions adds a certain weight to the conflicts of this movie, making it feel more real that μ's is making an actual decision here, as they could have taken a different path if they had wanted to.

However, μ's is now like A-Rise in that μ's are now big celebrities themselves. Seeing all those teenage girls fangirl over them was a lot of fun, and very rewarding. It's really nice to see μ's go 180 degrees here - from people in awe of A-Rise, to people who now are like A-Rise in making others be in awe of them. I'm very glad the movie showed this. Contrasting this with Season 2 Episode 3 is pretty powerful.

People sometimes talk about clouds having a silver lining. For me, this movie is like a big beautiful sun, but with a melancholic tint on the edges. The exact opposite of the cloud with the silver lining. A very happy movie but with some sadness on the edges for fairly obvious reasons.

On re-watch, I think this all came together very well, helped a lot by the mysterious woman Honoka met in New York. That character was one of the strokes of creative brilliance in this movie. She made the movie more interesting and thought-provoking, while giving Honoka's story an eloquent emotional edge. By extension, the μ's story and the school idol story was also made stronger by her.

All of the musical performances in the movie were good or better. They all were very pleasant to watch in their own ways - Some were funny, some were very catchy, some were epic, and some were touching. The last two performances were the best for me. I thoroughly loved them, especially the 2nd last performance.


It's very sad to say goodbye to μ's. I'm glad that was reflected in the response people made to Honoka's announcement. I particularly liked the look on Tsubasa's face during that announcement, so powerful. But one thing that heartens me is that μ's can't lose.

I think that μ's vision is for something more than just the glory of μ's alone. I think that μ's vision is to create a legacy. A school idol legacy. This comes through very movingly during Yukiho and Arisa's final scene in the movie, which was a great scene for them. J-Pop idols have been huge in Japan for decades now. That's nothing new. But school idols in particular really is something different. When I search google for "school idols" (with or without the quotation marks), what it shows me is all-Love Live! It definitely seems like "school idols" starts with Love Live! School idols gets away from some of the seedier aspects of the idol industry, while also putting a nice emphasis on school spirit. The cost, however, is you're only in high school for so long...

Will "school idols" take off? Will they fly? Well, Love Live Sunshine might have a lot to say about that. School idols either takes off (at least to the point that Sunrise benefits a lot from it) or they don't take off. If school idols take off, then μ's is like the storied firm foundation of a great big building. They are the inspirational originators, the stars that started it all. They leave behind a great legacy to be proud of. If school idols don't take off, then that means that μ's was just too good an act to follow. So even "failure" here would speak to the greatness of μ's.

Either inspirational architects of the future, or a star that burned so brightly that no follower could carry that glow forward. Either is a nice final note for the musically masterful μ's.

An excellent movie, that I strongly recommend to all Love Live! fans.

Originally Posted by Yye1

So a few things on the movie, as I got around to a reshowing. Just a couple of tidbits about the portrayal of New York in the series. First, when someone bumps into you near a subway entrance in NYC, you are more likely to be cursed at than being told sorry.

Maybe the movie writer(s) confused Americans with Canadians.

I hope for more anime material, but if not, I will enjoy the inevitable crossover between Sunshine and original LL.

Before watching this movie, I was hoping for such a crossover. Now I'm not so sure. Aqours have awfully big boots to fill, and maybe being reminded of who owns those boots would make it even that much harder for Aqours to pull it off. If μ's does show up in person in Love Live! Sunshine, it probably should be something short and sweet, in the last or 2nd last episode of Sunshine.

[blakstealth]

I'm in the middle of watching the movie, but I've stopped in the middle of it so many times. I'm about to cry; all this is too much for me to handle. Maybe if I never finish the movie, Love Live will be forever, right?................right?

edit: best movie of the year. best goddamn movie of the year. Best movie of the world.

[FlavoryFantasy]

Originally Posted by blakstealth

I'm in the middle of watching the movie, but I've stopped in the middle of it so many times. I'm about to cry; all this is too much for me to handle. Maybe if I never finish the movie, Love Live will be forever, right?................right?

edit: best movie of the year. best goddamn movie of the year. Best movie of the world.

Oh baby! blakstealth bro....you didn't prepare tissues before hand in case of crying?

[Ernietheracefan]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Spoiler for Love Live! The School Idol Movie:

I like how A-Rise made a different decision than μ's did. I like how A-Rise intends to continue on as an idol group post-graduation. A-Rise and μ's making different decisions adds a certain weight to the conflicts of this movie, making it feel more real that μ's is making an actual decision here, as they could have taken a different path if they had wanted to.

Spoiler:

Will A-RISE compete with Triad Primus..?

[Nork22]

I'm planning to rewatch it again this weekend at my folk's place since they are nearly finish setting up their home theater room. 92" of glory!

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by FlavoryFantasy

Oh baby! blakstealth bro....you didn't prepare tissues before hand in case of crying?

it was a spur of the moment decision to watch this movie. I had just finished my last final exam yesterday, so I wanted to treat myself. I wasn't emotionally prepared for it.

Originally Posted by Nork22

I'm planning to rewatch it again this weekend at my folk's place since they are nearly finish setting up their home theater room. 92" of glory!

christ almighty

but yeah, this beats out every single movie of 2015. I dunno how Star Wars can top it. Sorry, JJ.

[MartianMage]

I liked the movie overall but to be honest I can't really get behind their reasoning why they can't keep on doing their idol activities. I mean if they still decided to break up then I guess that's that it's just that the reasoning behind is... iunno... "cause we like being school idols!" just doesn't do it for me.

[Ernietheracefan]

Originally Posted by MartianMage

I liked the movie overall but to be honest I can't really get behind their reasoning why they can't keep on doing their idol activities. I mean if they still decided to break up then I guess that's that it's just that the reasoning behind is... iunno... "cause we like being school idols!" just doesn't do it for me.

In my perspective (I'm the motorsport racing fan), that would be like this:
School idol= Amateur/semi-pro race driver (InitialD).
Professional idol= Pro race driver.

BTW, they're school idol, not professional..

[blakstealth]

It's because they won't be school idols anymore. They would just be regular idols. I guess there's a big difference between the two, and the second season and movie really tried to convey that as silly as it sounds to us. u's is made up of the OG 9 girls from Otonokizaka High school, and anything different won't be u's anymore.

that's how I interpret it, anyway.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by MartianMage

I liked the movie overall but to be honest I can't really get behind their reasoning why they can't keep on doing their idol activities. I mean if they still decided to break up then I guess that's that it's just that the reasoning behind is... iunno... "cause we like being school idols!" just doesn't do it for me.

μ's never really embraced the J-Pop idol industry in general. At least not in the anime. We never see μ's interacting with an idol agency-based idol group, or a non-school affiliated idol group. Since Episode 1, μ's and the Love Live! anime has been all about school idols. There's no idol managers, and no idol agencies, anywhere to be seen. Here I see a stark contrast between Love Live! and other idol anime like iDOLM@STER and Wake Up Girls. The difference between general J-Pop idols and school idols really does come across strongly in Love Live, when you consider what some other idol anime shows are like.

So it makes some sense to me that this distinction matters to μ's, and I even think it might be one of the main reasons why the LL! anime sold much better than other idol anime shows. Maybe a lot of anime fans aren't interested much in idol industry conflicts and shenanigans, and are just interested in seeing sparkling school spirit draped in the flashy attire and fun music of the J-Pop idol. I think the school part of "school idol" mattered just as much to μ's as the idol part did. It might have even mattered more to them - Let's not forget what the main goal of Season 1 was: saving the school.


Still, now that I think about it... It really is pretty surprising that you don't have a rich businessman trying to cash-in on μ's success, especially post-New York trip. Kind of surprising you don't have some wealthy idol agency owner walking right into the Homura and offering Honoka and her friends 90 million yen (10 million each) to join his idol agency and become a star attraction for him.

I kinda hope Love Live! Sunshine does something like this, since it would be one way for it to stand out from the original Love Live!

And if you want to be hopeful and optimistic, maybe this is one way μ's could come back in the future. Maybe you could have a Love Live! movie a few years down the road, centered around the plot of an aspiring businessman trying to bring μ's back together after they're all graduated from high school and are in their early 20s.