kwest - 2016-06-03 20:31:25

When I finished season 1 of School Idol Project, I felt that the series could have ended right there and I would have been completely fine. When I finished episode 12 of season 2, I felt the exact same way. It's good that each season feels so self-contained that they can be independent of each other. With the movie, lightning has struck again, but how hard?

So, the plot. For whatever reason, the creators decided to make the movie's story almost completely removed from the music. Aside from the penultimate song, you could take out all the musical numbers and the plot would be more akin to an extended episode of the show.

Immediately following the end of season 2, a production company from America contacts μ's to host a concert in America to promote Love Live overseas. Upon the concert's success, μ's is confronted with an immense amount of demand, and they now face the dilemma of meeting said demand. It's actually less sensical than I'm making it out to be, but since when does anyone watch Love Live for the plot? This plot is clearly fluff unlike the show, but the fluff is certainly enjoyable to an extent. Your mileage will heavily depend on how invested you are in the characters, although if you've watched this after the previous two seasons like I have, it probably won't matter.

Remember when I said that the music was kept separate from the story? I have never seen musical numbers come out of nowhere so often. The songs themselves are certainly not bad, but it's jarring to be at one point in a serious situation and then BAM! Musical number! The only exception to this are the songs by the mysterious female singer, and the last two songs, the latter of which are built up throughout the plot and are easily the best songs in the movie.

Something I forgot to mention in the second season was the usage of background music, composed by Yoshiaki Fujisawa. The reason I bring this up now is because the background music is just as great, if not better, than the musical numbers themselves. They serve to heighten and enhance the mood of the movie, and it does a wonderful job.

Finally having an extended chance to listen to the Japanese voice acting, it's pretty good. I had my doubts about it when I watched the Endless Parade skits, but now they've grown on me. I still prefer the English voices from the show, but at least I'll be primed for what's to come.

Sunrise on a movie budget is exceptional, particularly with this movie. The constantly-refining CG from the show has been perfected here, and the rest of the animation is above average as well. There are some scenes that use fewer frames of animation, particularly for comedy or scenes of inactivity, but there was nothing that particularly bothered me.

Although I feel that the story of μ's could have ended on a much better note, I feel that this movie, while ultimately unnecessary, was still enjoyable. The plot isn't meant to make sense, but the music is all you watch Love Live for, anyway. With the conclusion of μ's tale, it leaves Aquors with fairly large shoes to fill. Let's all hope that they aim to exceed their predecessors.

purdy.verna - 2015-09-24 11:27:08