Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 2

Adored the original “Love Live!” anime and the “Love Live! The School Idol Movie” which told the upbeat, lively story of school idol group µ’s. Although there are plenty of decent series focused on idols, including “the iDOLM@STER” franchise, personally I have liked “Love Live!” most.

When its first season aired last year, was keen on watching the spin-off “Love Live! Sunshine!!” which stars new idol group Aquors. While it was not a perfect anime by any means as it regrettably suffered a few idiosyncrasies due to it trying to mirror the original show, nonetheless genuinely enjoyed watching this new incarnation of “Love Live!” and was hence looking forward to this second season of “Love Live! Sunshine!!”.

The story picks up where the first season left off, new idol group Aquors their struggle to save Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy from being closed down is far from over so we are in for a new season of seeing these cute, quirky girls overcome the challenges ahead, to become famous idols like µ’s and save their school.

Even though some episodes or subplots may include more dramatic scenes and sad moments, this franchise is a lighthearted one overall so its viewers can rest assured that all will eventually end well. These adorable idols will undoubtedly achieve what they set out to accomplish, making this show a fun intermezzo in one’s weekly anime watching list, offering fans an upbeat, colourful viewing experience with plenty of cute girls in frilly, colourful costumes singing catchy idol pop songs.

While shows featuring engaging dramatic plot with properly fleshed-out characters are definitely enjoyable, “Love Live! Sunshine!!” is all about watching cute idols, giving it their best in an idealised world full of joy and colour.

Production quality of “Love Live! Sunshine!!” by studio Sunrise is excellent, with lots of attention going into how the girls are rendered, especially close-up scenes and dialogues. Of course any scenes where Aquors performs or the girls sing as idols are very well cared and it seems that each year the integration of 3D CGI animation for dance sequences with the 2D animation improves visibly.

You can watch the original “Love Live!” and “Love Live! Sunshine!!” on Crunchyroll.