Promotional image featuring characters that appear in the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club anime adaptation, including the protagonist Yu Takasaki
Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club[b] is a Japanese multimediaspin-off project from the Love Live! series and its game series Love Live! School Idol Festival. It was first introduced in 2017 as "Perfect Dream Project" and was initially created as part of the game Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars.[1] Unlike μ's and Aqours, the previous groups from the franchise, they are a group of individual school idols who compete with each other while working together to keep their school idol club alive. Together, they are referred as the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club.[c]
They are featured in the spin-off game Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars along with μ's and Aqours. They also appear as SR rarity cards in Love Live! School Idol Festival.[2][3] The girls were initially split up into groups of three to begin activities in three different apps before their addition to the game: Dengeki Online website (Kasumi, Karin, Setsuna), Famitsu App website (Ayumu, Ai, Rina), and the game's official website (Emma, Shizuku, Kanata). Each place is working as a separate room or branch office for the Nijigasaki High School.[4] Later, they were officially split into three subunits: DiverDiva, A・Zu・Na, and Qu4rtz.
An anime television series adaptation by Sunrise (credited as its parent company Bandai Namco Filmworks since Season 2) aired from October to December 2020. A second season aired from April to June 2022. An anime television series adaptation of the spin-off manga Nijiyon: Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai Yon-Koma, titled Nijiyon Animation, aired from January to March 2023. A second season is set to premiere in April 2024. An original video animation episode, Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Next Sky, was released theatrically in Japan in June 2023. A trilogy of theatrical films based on the project is slated to release in the future, with the first film set to release in September 2024.
Plot
Nijigasaki High School (虹ヶ咲学園, Nijigasaki Gakuen) is a large academy located in Odaiba, Tokyo. The school is popular for its free school style and diverse majors.[5] The story centers on the members of the school idol club in Nijigasaki, who work together as solo idols and their attempt to prevent the club from being abolished. As the story progresses, more girls begin to participate in the club's activities.
Characters
Where appropriate, plot descriptions mentioned below refer to the story in Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars. Other parts of the franchise, such as the manga and animation series, feature some variations in the storyline.
Nijigasaki High School Idol Club
Top: Official group logo in Japanese Bottom: Official group logo in English
Yu is a cheerful second year at Nijigasaki High School who has been friends with Ayumu since childhood and lives next to each other. She belongs to the general course, but decided to transfer to the music course later in the anime series. Both Yu and Ayumu fell in love with school idols after seeing Setsuna Yuki's performance and decided to enter Nijigasaki's school idol club upon discovering that Setsuna is a student at their school. Rather than becoming a school idol herself, she decided to support Ayumu and other school idols. Her catchphrase is "I'm thrilled!" (ときめいた!). She has an optimistic and kind personality, and despite being the group's manager and not an idol herself, her charisma and supportive nature easily attract others and make them interested in idols. Yu is the anime equivalent of the Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars' protagonist. Her name was decided through fan votes.[8] Yu will make her first in-game appearance in School Idol Festival 2 Miracle Live!.
In All Stars, the protagonist becomes interested in school idols after seeing a joint live between μ's and Aqours but after looking for a related club in Nijigasaki, they learned that the existing school idol club is on its last legs of survival and decides to rebuild and reform the school idol club. Unlike Yu, All Stars' protagonist belongs to the music course from the start and already owns a keyboard in their home. The protagonist acts as the manager and song composer for the rest of the members. The protagonist's gender is left vague in the Japanese version, but is referred as "she" in the English version due to the language limitation in third person pronoun. The protagonist is nameable, but is generally referred as "You" (「あなた」, "Anata") by other members.
Ayumu is a second year who became a school idol after a suggestion by the protagonist, who is her childhood friend. She is somewhat shy and clumsy, but also hard-working and kind; however, she tends to be a little too dependent on Yu at times. Ayumu belonged to the general course. She is distinguishable by a semi short hairstyle, a hair bun with a tiny braid around it, and hairpins on her right side of her head. Ayumu likes to put effort toward everything, especially as a school idol.
Ayumu is described as a "hard-working type school idol" (コツコツ系スクールアイドル, kotsukotsu-kei sukūru aidoru).
Kasumi is a first year who refers to herself as "Kasumin." Due to her full name, she is often called "Kasukasu" as a joke, which she hates (as it means "dried out" in Japanese). She belongs to the general course. She is the first person that the protagonist encounters at the school idol club, where she was striving to keep the club alive. She is distinguishable by her beige-colored semi-short hair and a star-shaped hairpin. She wanted to become a school idol more than anyone and sometimes tries to be mischievous towards her rivals; however, she is a good-natured and friendly girl despite her claiming to be mean. She also likes to send hate mails to her rivals, although sometimes it naturally becomes normal fan mail. Kasumi refers to the protagonist as "Senpai."
Kasumi is described as a "black-hearted type school idol" (腹黒系スクールアイドル, haraguro-kei sukūru aidoru).
An honorable first year student and theater club member who was introduced to school idols by her admired senior, she belongs to the international exchange course. Shizuku is one of the five original members of the school idol club, but unintentionally departed as she became devoted to the theater club. She is one of the original N-rarity girls introduced in School Idol Festival; she originally was a Seiran High School student. She is distinguishable by her long brown hair and red ribbon. Shizuku is considered as a yamato nadeshiko, a classical Japanese beauty, and personality-wise she is very level-headed, kind, mature and polite, and can be pretty shy. She comes from a wealthy yet loving family, and is an only child. Her sweet nature is also seen when she invites all her gruop at her home during their practice trip.
Shizuku is described as a "junior type school idol" (後輩系スクールアイドル, kōhai-kei sukūru aidoru).
Karin is a third year student who aims to become a model (already making shootings for a magazine) and has confidence with her body; she belongs to the life design course. Her personality is passionate and mature, yet she also has somewhat of a pure side, and can be clumsy and naive. In the game she is more outgoing and teasing, and is aware of her good looks, while in the anime she is more introverted and a little aloof at first; however, she is shown to be genuinely kind and caring after her personal confidence issues are solved. She is good at coordinating clothes.
She is described as a "sexy older sister type school idol" (セクシーお姉さん系スクールアイドル, sekushi onee-san-kei sukūru aidoru).
Karin is regarded as "2018 MVP" for ranking first-place for three consecutive months; taking only 2nd and 3rd in the other monthly polls.[10]
An energetic second year, Ai is an honor student despite her gyaru appearance. She loves to make puns especially using her given name ("Ai" means "love" in Japanese) and refers to herself as "Ai-san." She joined the school idol club because she likes to try new things. She is very kind and friendly, and quick to socialize. While she is intelligent, she is also pretty goofy and has a rather childish sense of humor. She is Rina's only friend at first, and her caring, supportive nature is shown when she helps her overcoming her social anxiety.
Ai is described as a "true gyaru type school idol" (ガチギャル系スクールアイドル, gachi gyaru-kei sukūru aidoru).
A third year who always looks sleepy and unmotivated, she belongs to the life design course. Kanata refers herself as "Kanata-chan." She often looks sleepy because she studies hard to keep her scholarship. One of the original five school idol club members, she stopped coming to the club because she had to repair her exam scores; she agrees to return as Ayumu promised her that Shizuku and Ai would help her with her studies. She is one of the original N-rarity girls introduced in School Idol Festival; she is originally a Shinonome Institute student. She became a school idol to get motivation from her younger sister Haruka Konoe, another school idol introduced in the game. In the anime, she is a selfless older sister who supports her little sister Haruka and does house chores. She is also a good listener and counselor, helping Yu and Ayumu overcoming their issue of leaving each other to follow their dreams.
Kanata is described as a "spoiled older sister-type school idol" (甘えん坊お姉さん系スクールアイドル, amaenbō oneesan-kei sukūru aidoru).
A second year who, for some reason, does not wear a school uniform nor had anyone seen her at the school. Setsuna is an otaku who likes to sing anime songs. It is revealed that Setsuna Yuki is actually her stage name, with her real identity being Nana Nakagawa, Nijigasaki Academy's student council president. She belongs to the general course. She is one of the original five school idol club members and had left because she was unable to tolerate its atmosphere due to her strong feelings towards school idols. This caused the club's failing state. Under her student council president disguise, she commands the protagonist to gather 10 members in order to keep the club alive. After 8 members (excluding the protagonist) gathered, she reveals herself to be Setsuna Yuki and rejoined the club.
Setsuna is described as a "Mysterious type school idol" (???系スクールアイドル, ???-kei sukūru aidoru), and once her true identity is revealed, she is shown to be an optimistic, charismatic and kind girl with an extremely passionate nature that is infectious to others. Setsuna is regarded as "2017 MVP" for ranking first-place three times out of the six monthly popularity polls held; she held second-place in the other polls.[13]
A cheerful and sweet third year exchange student who came abroad from Switzerland. Growing up there, she loves what nature brings, like mountains and forests. She belongs to the international exchange course. Emma is distinguishable by her twin braids, freckles on her face and her well endowed figure. Like Karin, she also models occasionally; the two are also friends and roommates, and Emma helps her at being more organized and orderly. Her favorite food is bread and she is able to eat a lot of slices, as well as mixing it with other food. Emma is one of the original N-rarity girls introduced in School Idol Festival and she was originally named "Emma." She was a Y.G. International Academy student. She is one of the five original school idol club members; her absence from the club was simply because she went back to her home country for a while — leaving a letter that Kasumi misunderstood as a challenge lettfer from another school's club.
Emma is described as a "pure type school idol" (純粋系スクールアイドル, junsui-kei sukūru aidoru).
A first year student who claims to have a very cute face, but is too shy to show it; thus, she covers her face with the "Rina-chan board," a small notebook with a drawing on it of a facial expression she made with Ai. During live shows, she wears a cat eared pair of headphones with a small monitor that covers her face. She belongs to the information processing course, explaining her well-informed personality on technologies. In one of Rina's bond episodes of the game and anime series, she eventually decides to reveal her face to the protagonist; in All Stars, after reading this story, the player is also able to remove Rina's mask during live shows. She has heavy difficulties expressing emotions and is very shy, but she also has a kind and supportive personality, and is shown to work hard on her technologic gadgets to cure the technical side of the idol club.
Rina is described as a "face-hiding type school idol" (顔出しNG系スクールアイドル, kaodashi NG-kei sukūru aidoru).
Shioriko is an intelligent and hard-working first-year student who for some reason, wants to abolish the school idol club. She later become the student council president, taking Nana Nakagawa's position, so she can abolish the clubs she believes hold no merit for the school. Is it revealed that rather than personally hating the school idol club, Shioriko is just critically thinking about the educational aspects of certain clubs and doing what she feels is right. After events that occurred in chapter 17 of the game, Shioriko joins the school idol club. In August 2020, Shioriko joined the All Stars game's playable cast and Nijigasaki High School Idol Club as an official member, receiving a solo song, a 3D model, and cards obtainable within the games scouting boxes.
Her personality in the game is completely different from the anime. While still diligent and serious, she is not aggressive and is just shown to be kind and supportive toward the club, even before she joined herself. She is also friends with Setsuna to begin with, and keeps her true identity secret when she discovers it.
Mia Taylor (ミア・テイラー, Mia Teirā)
Voiced by: Shu Uchida (Japanese); Lindsay Sheppard[15] (English)
Mia is Lanzhu's friend, who was raised in New York. She is bilingual; she speaks Japanese and English. Unlike Lanzhu, Mia applies to Nijigasaki only because she was persuaded by Lanzhu. She is fairly aloof, standoffih and apathetic at first, but she gets on good terms with Yu and they help each other with musical compositions. Mia is 14 years old but, since she is a genius she skipped grades and is a third year student; she also helps the other members at studying. She is currently the youngest main character in the franchise history. She gets her solo song and a 3D model a while after her first appearance, but was only added as a playable character in September 2021.
Lanzhu is a second-year student and Shioriko's childhood friend. She was raised in Hong Kong. Her mother is the chairwoman of Nijigasaki High School. She is trilingual; she speaks Japanese, Mandarin, and Cantonese. She applies to Nijigasaki to study together with Shioriko along with Mia. In All Stars, she got her own solo song as well as a 3D model a while after her first appearance, but was only added as playable character in September 2021. She is arrogant and stuck-up, lacking empathy, but secretly would like to connect with others on an emotional level; however, while still cocky, in the anime her portrayal is much softer.
Haruka is Kanata's younger sister and a first year member of the Shinonome Institute Idol Club. Like her sister, she was originally one of the N-rarity girls introduced in School Idol Festival, but did not place in the top three of the popularity poll that determined which girls would be a part of the "Perfect Dream Project." In All Stars, she appears in her sister's bond episodes.
Kaoruko is Shioriko's older sister and a supporting character. She is considered as caring for her sister, but Shioriko tends to feel uncomfortable for unknown reasons. In the anime, Kaoruko is a university student who enters Nijigasaki Academy as the school's student teacher in the music course. She is a Shion Girls Academy graduate and used to be a school idol but did not make it to Love Live's qualifications.
A pair of twins who serve as the secretary of Nijigasaki High School's student council. In All Stars, both of them are revealed to be fans of the school idol club.
Broadcast and distribution
Top: TV series logo (Japanese) Bottom: TV series logo (English)
The anime television series is animated by Sunrise and directed by Tomoyuki Kawamura, with Jin Tanaka handling series composition and Takumi Yokota designing the characters.[16] A public vote was held to decide the name of one of the anime's characters, Yu Takasaki, who is voiced by Hinaki Yano and based on the player character in the game.[17][6] The 13-episode anime aired from October 3 to December 26, 2020 on Tokyo MX, SUN, and KBS, October 4 on BS11, and October 6 on region-exclusive channels.[18] It was also streamed live through the Bandai Channel, Line Live, and YouTube Live.[19]Odex licensed the anime in Southeast Asian territories excluding Thailand, where it is licensed by Dream Express (DEX).[20]Funimation (now Crunchyroll, LLC) licensed the series and streams it on their website in North America, and on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand.[21] Nijigasaki High School Idol Club performed both the opening and ending themes, respectively titled "Nijiiro Passions!" (虹色Passions!) and "Neo Sky, Neo Map!".
During the group's 3rd live concert at the MetLife Dome on May 9, 2021, a second season was announced. The main cast and staff of the first season reprised their roles.[22] It aired from April 2 to June 25, 2022.[23][24] Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, now along with new members Shioriko, Mia, and Lanzhu, returns to perform both the opening and ending themes, titled "Colorful Dreams! Colorful Smiles!" and "Yume ga Bokura no Taiyō sa" (夢が僕らの太陽さ) respectively.
During the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club 5th Live! Where Rainbows Bloom concert on September 18, 2022, an anime television series adaptation of the spin-off four-panel manga Nijiyon: Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai Yon-Koma was announced. Titled Nijiyon Animation and directed by Yūya Horiuchi, it aired from January 6 to March 24, 2023, on Tokyo MX and BS11.[25][26] The group, along with Yu Takasaki, will sing the opening song titled "What You Gonna Do" (わちゅごなどぅー, Wachugonadu).[27] During the "Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club 6th Live! I love You ⇆ You love Me" live concert, a second season was announced and is set to premiere on April 5, 2024.[28]
During the live-streamed special for the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club project on November 24, 2022, an original video animation episode for the main anime series was announced.[29] Titled Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Next Sky, the OVA premiered in Japanese theaters on June 23, 2023, with the main cast and staff from the series reprising their roles.[30] On the same day as the OVA's release, a three-part series of animated theatrical films was announced,[31] with the first film in the trilogy set to be released on September 6, 2024. The main cast and staff from the series are once again reprising their roles, with the film series serving as the anime's finale.[32]
Nijigasaki High School Idol Club initially debuted with a nine-member lineup in 2018, consisting of Ayumu, Kasumi, Shizuku, Karin, Ai, Kanata, Setsuna, Emma, and Rina. In 2020, Shioriko joined the group, while members Mia and Lanzhu would follow in 2021. Yu, who is a member of the club but not the idol group, also occasionally participates in group releases and events.
The first nine members of Nijigasaki High School Idol Club were split into three subunits of two, three, and four members. A fourth subunit featuring the last three members to join would later follow. These four subunits are: DiverDiva (Karin and Ai), A・Zu・Na (Ayumu, Shizuku, and Setsuna), Qu4rtz (pronounced "Quartz"; Kasumi, Kanata, Emma, and Rina), and R3birth (pronounced "Rebirth"; Shioriko, Mia, and Lanzhu).[33][34][35]
Notes
^Credited as Sunrise in season 1 (#1–13) and Bandai Namco Filmworks in season 2 (#14–26)
^Japanese: ラブライブ！虹ヶ咲学園スクールアイドル同好会, Hepburn: Rabu Raibu! Nijigasaki Gakuen Sukūru Aidoru Dōkō-kai, often abbreviated as Nijigaku or simply Nijigasaki
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