(L+CR) Love Live! (2nd Season)

[Benigmatica]

Good 3rd Episode, and it's a great thing μ's are getting better, becoming a threat to A-RISE!

@Bakaizer

Throw in some Shana, Asuna, and the rest of Dengeki Bunko girls too!

[blakstealth]

holy fuckin wow.

This episode was absolutely awesome. u's finally meets with A-RISE. I'll be honest; I thought they were gonna be douches. I thought they were gonna try and steal members and shit. And when the leader proposed that u's use their own school as their stage, I thought it was gonna be some kinda trap. But that was far from the case. I'm glad to see that they're very friendly with their competition; they seem like cool gurls. I lol'd when Tsubasa complimented Nico as the "little devil" of the group and her reaction to it. Hopefully, I'm not speaking too soon.

And let's not the not one but two...TWO new songs and performances we were blessed with this week. A-RISE's performance was motherfuckin edgy as fuck and well-animated. u's performance was something we all expected it to be, which was amazing. I can't stop saying how well the 3D and the 2D sequences are blended together. Love Live has come a long way as a franchise.

Also, it looks like there will be different characters holding the white feather in the ED. Honoka was holding it last episode, and now it's Umi. Just a little observation.

and with thatt preview tho:

Spoiler:

who is resigning and where are they resigning from? The two different handwriting styles make me suggest that it's Umi and Kotori for some reason.

[Triple_R]

Episode 3 was incredible. Just a marvelous and startling way of getting A-RISE more involved in the narrative.

Like blackstealth, I also thought that A-RISE would be at least semi-villainous. My first thought was that they weren't interested in Muse in general, but wanted to steal Honoka away to make them a fantastic foursome (which could have lead to Honoka having to agonize over whether to stay true to Muse or take this glorious opportunity to be A-RISE's fourth member). Later on, I considered the possibility that A-RISE encouraging Muse to use their school's stage was about setting a cruel production trap (i.e. have the lights stop working during Muse's performance).

While either of these two possibilities might have made A-RISE fun villains, I'm kind of glad they're coming off in a more positive light so far. Still, I'm going to stay prepared for a heel turn, because there's something about A-RISE's superb silky smoothness that makes me think of your classic rich businessman-type villain.

I'm still wondering what A-RISE's core motivations in meeting Muse like this was. Perhaps they just like Muse, and think getting praised and challenged directly by A-RISE themselves can help motivate Muse into becoming a great rival for A-RISE to challenge themselves against. That's the more optimistic view, and I'll go with that for now.


Both the A-RISE performance and the Muse performance were fun to watch. I honestly enjoyed Muse's a little bit more, but I also felt that if I was scoring this on technical merit, I'd have to give A-RISE a significantly higher score based on how their dance routine seemed faster/trickier to me than Muse's.

[Myssa Rei]

I have a feeling it's more of the latter as well. From what little we've seen of them from the first season, it seems that A-RISE has never been legitimately challenged before. Being on top is nice, sure, but it also leads to complacency and stagnancy.

In Muse however A-RISE (the actual performers; who knows what their management thinks) seems to think that they finally have someone to compete against. At the very least it'll keep them on their game, so to speak.

[Master_Yoma]

Oh my A-RISE but Umi takes it with that china dress

[FlareKnight]

I did like the chance to meet A-RISE and they were an interesting bunch. I wasn't sure how much to read into their actions. I'm curious to find out exactly what's motivating them. It could be a feeling of actually wanting to foster some competition. Although you'd think they'd be more willing to do that against a group from another district since losing before they even got to Love Live itself.

I certainly had some suspicions with their offer. I mean performing after A-RISE isn't an easy act to follow neither is doing it in their own territory. But their quality of performance certainly came through.

It might be more fun if A-RISE had some diabolical plan, but probably is just competitiveness. Certainly being at the top alone can be rather boring even if supporting your competition ends up biting you. Will be a good showdown with them regardless.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Both the A-RISE performance and the Muse performance were fun to watch. I honestly enjoyed Muse's a little bit more, but I also felt that if I was scoring this on technical merit, I'd have to give A-RISE a significantly higher score based on how their dance routine seemed faster/trickier to me than Muse's.

I like the contrast between μ's and A-RISE's music. We've only heard two songs from them so far, but A-RISE is obviously pushing a cool and sexy appeal. Their music reminds me of professional pop songs (particularly K-pop), which I'm sure was a deliberate effort to make them feel like tough competition. Whereas μ's songs in the anime are much more on the sweet/cutesy/innocent side. For the record, I preferred μ's performance too, but I can perfectly understand A-RISE's appeal.

That's not to say μ's doesn't have cool/sexy songs (Maki fans who follow the second link may suffer from significant blood loss), but so far they've been largely absent from the anime, and I realize now that that was most likely a deliberate choice to distinguish them from A-RISE. Maki's song in particular sounds like she stole it from A-RISE.

[RX-78GP04G Gerbera]

Originally Posted by Tempester

That's not to say μ's doesn't have cool/sexy songs (Maki fans who follow the second link may suffer from significant blood loss), but so far they've been largely absent from the anime, and I realize now that that was most likely a deliberate choice to distinguish them from A-RISE. Maki's song in particular sounds like she stole it from A-RISE.

*Police arrive at Tempester's door with an arrest warrant for multiple manslaughter charges*

[playmaker2k]

Images

The Rivals

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[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by playmaker2k

Images

The Rivals

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Great images. I especially like the photoshop done for the "new members" bit.


I was pretty inspired by Episode 3, and so I decided to do a bit of a video montage tribute to Love Live! It's about 4 minutes long, and is to an old movie soundtrack that I think was pretty fitting. Most of it is from Season 1, but there is a little bit of Season 2 in there at the end. I hope my fellow fans enjoy it. Here it is:

[Tiberium Wolf]

I liked A-RISE song, costumes and dancing better.

[Candyshark]

In all seriousness who is their choreographer. The Dance moves is soo on point and fluid thought out CG aside I think you can hardly find anime that does it better in this department.

[EroKing]

[Faerie]

Well, A-Rise was a pleasant surprise. I too thought they were up to no good (because that's what we've grown to expect in these situations) at first.
Their school is pretty nice, cool uniforms as well. Although that crisp white colour can't be practical.
Loved both performances though I've got to say, I slightly preferred A-Rise in this case. I liked the dynamics of their performance better, I think.

This is clearly my guilty pleasure show this season.

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by Tempester

I like the contrast between μ's and A-RISE's music. We've only heard two songs from them so far, but A-RISE is obviously pushing a cool and sexy appeal. Their music reminds me of professional pop songs (particularly K-pop), which I'm sure was a deliberate effort to make them feel like tough competition. Whereas μ's songs in the anime are much more on the sweet/cutesy/innocent side. For the record, I preferred μ's performance too, but I can perfectly understand A-RISE's appeal.

That's not to say μ's doesn't have cool/sexy songs (Maki fans who follow the second link may suffer from significant blood loss), but so far they've been largely absent from the anime, and I realize now that that was most likely a deliberate choice to distinguish them from A-RISE. Maki's song in particular sounds like she stole it from A-RISE.

Darling!! is a beest of a song. haha

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by SkullFaerie

Loved both performances though I've got to say, I slightly preferred A-Rise in this case. I liked the dynamics of their performance better, I think.

A-RISE is very polished, very professional, very smooth. Their songs also tend to be quite catchy. Even their singing sounds professional (making me wonder if their seiyu are also real life pop idols). Sunrise has done a good job in making them seem like a very strong top group for Muse to try to reach. There's little doubt that A-RISE could have a decent-or-better professional music career if they were a real life group.

At the same time, though, I can see why A-RISE considers Muse a threat. Muse wears their hearts on their sleeve in a way that could make A-RISE look too polished in comparison. Honoka in particular is a big reason for this. In a voting-based contest like this, that could make a difference.

[jcdietz03]

Originally Posted by Tempester

I like the contrast between μ's and A-RISE's music. We've only heard two songs from them so far, but A-RISE is obviously pushing a cool and sexy appeal. Their music reminds me of professional pop songs (particularly K-pop), which I'm sure was a deliberate effort to make them feel like tough competition. Whereas μ's songs in the anime are much more on the sweet/cutesy/innocent side. For the record, I preferred μ's performance too, but I can perfectly understand A-RISE's appeal.

That's not to say μ's doesn't have cool/sexy songs (Maki fans who follow the second link may suffer from significant blood loss), but so far they've been largely absent from the anime, and I realize now that that was most likely a deliberate choice to distinguish them from A-RISE. Maki's song in particular sounds like she stole it from A-RISE.

Hmmm...sounds like a ploy to introduce us to some other genre/style μ's music. Don't you think so?

[kitten320]

Same as everyone, I've expected A-RISE to back stab them at some point.

I kinda feel like if one more episode was needed before the concert but if we get to see a proper competition in the future, I can't complain^^

Personally I loved A-RISE Song MUCH more. Muse has a long way to go right now.

Over all great episode, this season keeps improving.

Besides I liked those small exchanges at the beginning with Umi going into panic and Honoka calming her down and Nozomi insisting on sexy outfits

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by kitten320

Besides I liked those small exchanges at the beginning with Umi going into panic and Honoka calming her down and Nozomi insisting on sexy outfits

Sexual harassment!

[RX-78GP04G Gerbera]

Originally Posted by kitten320

Besides I liked those small exchanges at the beginning with Umi going into panic and Honoka calming her down and Nozomi insisting on sexy outfits

And rightfully looking at Maki, Umi, and Eri.