It seems that, above any other arc in Sword Art Online pre-Alicization, there is no other that resonates with audiences quite like that of the Mother’s Rosario. Despite being the most low-stakes in terms of magnitude as well as only being 7 episodes in length, it’s regarded as the best arc by most viewers of the show, even by people who dislike it, and I find that pretty interesting, but it makes sense when you look at how it approaches telling its story.
The Love Live franchise is one that contains a lot of different themes and motifs that it carries over and develops from season to season, and it’s latest iteration Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai AKA NijiGaku is no exception. Although separate from the mainline story, it still manages to hold true to the spirit of the franchise, and as it follows the journey of Takasaki Yuu and her goal of finding her dream, it’s easily a perfect continuation of the series!
Sword Art Online is easily one of the most misunderstood series in all of anime, and Craftsdwarf I am going to be taking a look at the series arc by arc to show the good aspects that lie within. Today, I’ll be talking about the Aincrad Arc and how it builds the thematic core for the series as a whole, focusing on Kirito and Asuna as well as the intentions of Kayaba Akihiko.
It’s no secret that Saint Snow is extremely well-loved in the Love Live! fanbase, as they are introduced in the story of Love Live! Sunshine!! with an instant impact. They are edgy and way cooler than Aqours appeared at the time, and to this day receive some of the best music in the franchise. But their importance in the story and what they serve in comparison to the journey of Aqours is often misunderstood, so in celebration of Leah Kazuno’s birthday, I wanted to break down what made this duo so amazing.
A-RISE were the greatest school idols in the world. They were the winners of the first Love Live! and were μ’s superior in every regard…yet they still lost. Why was it that group of perfect idols that lost in the end? Why didn’t they receive as much character development as Saint Snow? Well, it all has to do with what they represent in the world of Love Live and the journey of μ’s. So let’s find out.
The anime for the next entry in the Love Live franchise is coming on October 3rd and I’ve been filled with thoughts and ideas as to how Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai AKA NijiGaku is going to carry out its story considering how fundamentally different it is from School Idol Project and Sunshine. But, taking into account the info from the newly announced trailer, my understanding of the story mode of School Idol Festival All Stars, my general knowledge of the themes of the Love Live series so far and some outside similarities with the iDOLM@STER, I wanted to take this chance to predict the plot of the NijiGaku anime!
On the birthday of the third member of Aqours, the one who changed the destiny of Uchiura, I wanted to talk about Sakurauchi Riko, a girl who is very well liked in the Love Live fandom, but is also heavily misunderstood. Everyone seems to focus on her in ships and sometimes even malign her as stealing Chika from You, but I feel that people don’t understand who Riko is and what her relationships to Chika, You and even Datenshi Yohane mean for not just her personal journey, but for the entirety of Love Live! Sunshine’s story.
So let’s find out together why Riko is more important than you think!
To descend the Abyss is to abandon all that you know and love. For the sake of satiating one’s desire, they embark on a journey of no return, risking life and death solely for the goal of discovering what lies at the bottom. Just to look into the dark and find a single light, every delver makes the climb into this world that is unbearably cruel, ripping and tearing them apart, threatening their lives, and warping them in both their minds and bodies. Only the greatest and most insane of delvers will attain such heights, or rather depths, to become those known as White Whistles, those who have delved farther than any other and achieved things that no other delver possibly could. The Lord of Annihilation who destroyed any enemy that stood in her way, The Unmovable Sovereign who had unparalleled strength and retrieved a great many artifacts from the Abyss, and possibly most infamous in the story of Made in Abyss and even within the fandom of the series itself is the Lord of Dawn famous for his scientific achievements that have benefited society as a whole yet done so at the expense of all lives he deemed necessary to sacrifice.
For Bondrewd the Novel, all is worth sacrificing for the sake of progress, even that which he loves.
In celebration of her birthday, today we’re talking about one of the most central characters to the story of Love Live! Sunshine!! as well as the sequel film Over the Rainbow: Ohara Mari! Fans of the series see Mari as that upbeat, meme spouting ball of positivity that everyone seems to love, but what I feel is a bit undersold is just how central to the series, its themes and the development and understanding of its characters she actually is. The frivolity of a school idol, of wasting one’s youth doing nothing but having fun with others that you love that is one of the foundations of Love Live’s story lies at the core of Mari’s struggle, because for her who had so many expectations placed upon her, she found freedom in this world that she was introduced to by her friends. Arguably hers is a story of tragedy and reconnecting that lies beneath that bright surface, and in order to understand anything about Aqours or even Love Live! Sunshine!! itself, I feel it is vital to understand who she is and what her struggle poses to the world of Love Live! So on the birthday of Uranohoshi’s chairwoman and the ninth member of Aqours, let’s celebrate that girl whose life was forever changed by the wings of freedom that are school idols.
This is Ohara Mari, the girl who struggled against all odds to show her shine to the world.
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