Love Live Sunshine S2
Previously, on Tiro Finale....
Now, on Tiro Finale....
Excuse that poor start to a blog article but I'm running out of smooth transitional opening sequences. Last week, I talked about The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls and so this week, I thought I'll give Love Live Sunshine some time in the spotlight.
The original LL did not really impress me and while I watched the entirety of Season 1 of Sunshine, again, it didn't grasp me as quickly as I imagined it should. Season 2 of Sunshine, while still harbouring the same sort of approach and theme of the first season and the series before it, is a little more accepting. In this case, I mean that I can accept it more than before.
I'm not too sure whether it's because The Idolmaster softened me up but I quite enjoyed last week's episode of Sunshine. I'm definitely going to enjoy the Dia-centric episode for this week and I'll probably be tuning in for the whole season again.
I enjoy seeing the interactions between the girls and their comedic moments together combined with the energising voice acting along with the superb animation quality. I've actually went back to view the first season of Sunshine and I couldn't believe that the interactions didn't get to me then.
Part of this may be due to the close-minded approach I went in with as I had just gotten off the original LL at that point in time. It could also be due to the fact that I now know what makes LL interesting to the majority of their fans and with the characters clearly in my head after a little bit of unsupervised exploration into the idol scene, I can actually see them in a new light in the anime.
The nuances in their interactions in the anime are similar to animes like One Piece or KonoSuba where, even out of the current subject matter, conversations can continue and overlap with one another. The animation also complements the voice acting tremendously, adding a lot of flair and emphasis on small motions that make for a greater impact.
One thing I will say, now that I am seeing the Love Live franchise more clearly, is that their character designs are quite rigid. It's definitely not a bad thing by most people's standards (I mean, Dragon Ball characters all look like siblings) but when it comes to an idol anime about girls singing and dancing with personality, I would think that altering designs would make for a better approach.
I noticed this article by animenewsnetwork that showcased a whole new idol group for a different school. That would be cool and all if they didn't just look like the same cast with different hair colours. The girl in the middle looks like Honoka and Chika combined! There is almost zero variation aside from the girl who looks like a gyaru and even that is stretching the definition.
Of course, this is just something I'm putting out there. Maybe the company is making a conscious decision to have all the girls look the same as part of their selling point. Who knows! But Dia will always just be Dia. She's the one and only!
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