is a Japanese

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

project created by

Hajime Yatate is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Sunrise animation staff. Name "Hajime Yatate" is considered to be named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's ''Oku no Hosomichi'': Credited series This collective entity is credited as the o ...

and

Sakurako Kimino is a Japanese novelist. She created ''Sister Princess'' and ''Strawberry Panic!'', two very successful bishōjo series where almost all the characters in both series are young girls. She also created ''Love Live!'', which has been adapted into fo ...

and co-produced by

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

through

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

;

Bandai Namco Music Live formerly Bandai Namco Arts, is a Japanese company formed by the merger of Bandai Visual and its subsidiary Lantis (company), Lantis by its owner Bandai Namco Holdings in February 2018. The company is responsible for the same area of its predece ...

through music label Lantis; and animation studio

Bandai Namco Filmworks , previously and still famously known as Sunrise Inc., is a Japanese animation studio founded in September 1972 and is based in Ogikubo, Tokyo. Its former names were also Soeisha, Nippon Sunrise and Sunrise Studio. Its primary division, , is r ...

(formerly known as Sunrise). Each of the individual titles within the franchise revolve around teenage girls who become "school idols". Starting in June 2010 with ''

Love Live! School Idol Project is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by ASCII Media Works' ''Dengeki G's Magazine'', music label Lantis, and animation studio Sunrise. It is the first multimedia project in the ''Love Live!'' franchise. The project revolves aro ...

'', the franchise has seen multiple

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series, two anime films,

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

, and video games. The

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...

series ''

Love Live! School Idol Festival (often abbreviated as ''LLSIF'' or ''Sukufesu'') is a Japanese rhythm game series. The original game, developed by KLab and published by Bushiroad's Bushimo, was first released in Japan on April 15, 2013 for iOS and June 8, 2013 for Android (ope ...

'' features characters across multiple ''Love Live!'' titles.

Overview

Each title in the ''Love Live!'' franchise focuses on groups of teenage schoolgirls who become "school idols" as an

extracurricular activity An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities a ...

, and their main activities involve singing and choreographed dancing to self-

written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

songs they perform at concerts or other music events. Other activities include designing their own costumes, as well as filming promotional videos and

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s. Top-class groups are very popular among fans of school idols, aided in part by exposure in magazines and other media, in addition to

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...

of school idols sold in shops catering to ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...

''-related items. The ultimate school idol competition featuring the best groups in Japan is called Love Live, and entry into the competition is determined by the popularity of each group. The size of these groups can range anywhere from solo idols to groups with nine or more members. Due to the highly competitive nature of the Love Live competition, some school idols opt not to attempt entry and simply take part in performing at other events. However, participation in the event is very prestigious, and any group that wins the competition is afforded legendary

status Status (Latin plural: ''statūs''), is a state, condition, or situation, and may refer to: * Status (law) ** City status ** Legal status, in law ** Political status, in international law ** Small entity status, in patent law ** Status conference ...

Franchise history

'' was first announced in the July 2010 issue of

' ''

Dengeki G's Magazine is a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and seria ...

'', which revealed that the magazine would be collaborating with the anime studio

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

and the music label Lantis to co-produce the project. The project officially began with the August 2010 issue of ''Dengeki G's Magazine'', which introduced the story, characters, and a more detailed explanation of the project. The original plan for the story was written by

, who also writes short stories and light novels for ''Love Live!''. Yūhei Murota created the original character designs. Starting in August 2010, online mobile phone popularity contests were periodically held to rank the characters, which influenced the positions of the idols in the anime music videos produced by Sunrise. For example, the idol who ranked first in a given contest would be in the center position in the front row in the music video that followed. Other polls were used to determine different aspects of the idols, such as hairstyles and costumes. Fans also determined the name of the initial school idol group, ultimately choosing the name μ's (, muse). Lantis released the group's first single in August 2010, and they continued to release several more singles and albums over the course of the next two years, including performing their first concert in 2012 at Yokohama Blitz in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan. This was soon followed by an anime television series that aired from 2013 to 2014, and an anime film in 2015. Love Live! series logo

The

series ''

'' developed by KLab and published by

Bushiroad is a Japanese entertainment company, producer of collectible card games and trading cards, publisher of mobile apps and games, promotional items and many other venues, which was founded in 2007 by Takaaki Kidani and is headquartered in Tokyo. ...

's Bushimo for Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

platforms launched in 2013. The initial game is

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

with an

in-app purchase Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...

system. It features songs and characters across multiple ''Love Live!'' titles, along with newly introduced girls, and stories that are not included in other media. The English localization was released worldwide in 2014, and it also was localized in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. An

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

version of the game developed and published by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

titled ''Love Live! School Idol Festival: After School Activity'' was released in Japan in 2016, and a

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

port was released in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, Japan, and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

in 2021. Another spin-off game titled ''Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars'' was released in 2019 in Japan and 2020 worldwide. The next major installment in the franchise was the spin-off ''

Love Live! Sunshine!! is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by ASCII Media Works' ''Dengeki G's Magazine'', music label Lantis, and animation studio Sunrise. The project is the second series of the ''Love Live!'' franchise and is a spin-off sequel of '' ...

'' announced in 2015. Fans also chose the name of the idol group for ''Sunshine'', deciding on the name Aqours (, aqua). Similarly to ''Love Live! School Idol Project'', Lantis released the group's first single in October 2015, releasing several more singles into the following year. This was followed by an anime television series that aired from 2016 to 2017, and an anime film in 2019. In March 2017, the official website of ''Love Live School Idol Festival'' launched the "Perfect Dream Project", which featured nine new girls that would be incorporated into ''

Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club is a Japanese multimedia spin-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 ''Lov ...

''; a tenth member was added in 2020. Unlike μ's and Aqours, they are not a traditional group, but rather individual school idols who compete with each other are referred to collectively as the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. The idols are featured in ''Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars'' alongside μ's and Aqours, and also appear in the main ''Love Live! School Idol Festival'' game. Lantis released the debut album for Nijigasaki High School Idol Club in 2018, and this was followed by two more albums and several singles over the course of the next two years, including performing their first concert in 2018 at DiverCity Tokyo Plaza Festival Square. An anime television series premiered in 2020, with a second season which premiered in 2022. In January 2020, a franchise-wide concert, titled ''Love Live! Fest'', were held at

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...

, in commemoration for the franchise's ninth anniversary. All three groups at the time performed at this concert, including μ's, which was their first performance after a three-year hiatus since their "final" concert in April 2016. Another spin-off titled ''

Love Live! Superstar!! is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by Kadokawa Corporation, music label Lantis, and animation studio Bandai Namco Filmworks (formerly known as Sunrise). The project is the fourth installment in the ''Love Live!'' franchise after '' ...

'' was announced in 2020 as an anime television series. Fans also chose the name of the idol group for ''Superstar'', deciding on Liella! (). The anime series premiered in 2021; a second season aired in 2022. A third season was announced following the conclusion of the second season. Another spin-off, focusing on "virtual school idols" was announced in February 2022. They will begin their activities starting late 2022. A teaser video released in October 2022 announced that the launch of a smartphone app in April 2023. A new project that focuses on

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

performances titled ''School Idol Musical'' was announced on September 26, 2022. It features 10 girls, five of each who are students of two "legendary schools" located in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and Hyogo.

School idol groups

Media

Anime series

A 13-episode

television series of ''

'' produced by

, directed by Takahiko Kyōgoku, and written by

Jukki Hanada is a Japanese anime screenwriter and light novelist. His grandfather is essayist and literary critic Kiyoteru Hanada, who also gave him his first name. Screenwriting * series head writer denoted in bold Television series *''Jankenman'' (1992) * ...

aired in Japan on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

from January 6 to March 31, 2013 and was simulcast by

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

. An

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

episode was released on November 27, 2013. A second season aired on Tokyo MX from April 6 to June 29, 2014, also airing on

TV Aichi JOCI-DTV, branded as , is a television station in Nagoya, Japan operated by the Aichi Television Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (TVA; ja, テレビ愛知株式会社, Terebi Aichi kabushiki gaisha) and is an affiliate of the TX Network. Broadcasti ...

Yomiuri TV JOIX-DTV (channel 10), branded as , is the Kansai region flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned by the subsidiary of the eponymous Yomiuri Shimbun#Yomiuri Group, Yomi ...

, and BS11, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. Both seasons are licensed in North America by

NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...

, who released the premium edition of the first season on Blu-ray on September 2, 2014 and an English dubbed version was released with the standard edition of the first season, along with the premium edition of the second season, on February 14, 2016, as well as the standard edition of the second season on April 12, 2016. The Blu-ray set for season one has since gone out of print and season one was removed from Crunchyroll.

MVM Entertainment MVM Entertainment, also known as MVM and MVM Films, is a British licensor and distributor of Japanese animation. The company also sub-licenses anime titles from US anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban Visi ...

released the first season in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2015 on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, with plans to release it on

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

in 2016 with an English dub. MVM Entertainment also released the second season in 2016.

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

released the first season in Australia and New Zealand on June 10, 2015 on DVD. A 13-episode anime television series of ''

'' produced by Sunrise, directed by Kazuo Sakai, and written by

aired between July 2 and September 24, 2016 and was simulcast by

. A 13-episode second season aired between October 7 and December 30, 2017. The series is licensed in North America by

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

, in the United Kingdom by

Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, b ...

, and in Australia by

. An English dub by Funimation began streaming from July 30, 2016. A 13-episode anime television series of ''

'' produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks, directed by Tomoyuki Kawamura, and written by Jin Tanaka, aired between October 3 and December 26, 2020. It was also streamed live through the Bandai Channel, Line Live, and YouTube Live. A second season aired between April 2 and June 25, 2022. ''

'' was announced in 2020 as an anime television series, and aired for 12 episodes between July 11 and October 17, 2021 on

NHK Educational TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK E, is the second television service of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It is a sister service of NHK General TV, showing programs of a more educational, cultural or intellectual nature, periodically also sh ...

. A second season aired between July 17 and October 9, 2022. A third season has been announced. On June 26, 2022, '' Genjitsu no Yohane: Sunshine in the Mirror'', a fantasy spinoff featuring the cast of ''Love Live! Sunshine!!'', was announced for 2023.

Films

An animated film titled ''

Love Live! The School Idol Movie is a 2015 Japanese animated youth school musical film. The film is part of the ''Love Live! School Idol Project'' multimedia series by Sunrise, Lantis and ''Dengeki G's Magazine'', taking place after the second season of the 2013-2014 anime te ...

'' was released in theaters on June 13, 2015. The film was released theatrically in South Korea on September 3, 2015, in the United States on September 11, 2015 and in Indonesia on October 21. As of December 2015, the film had been shown in several other countries, including Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and was also scheduled to be released in Canada at the start of 2016. It was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

in Japan on December 15, 2015. The film was released in North America by NIS America on June 28, 2016 in a premium edition, and July 26, 2016 in a standard edition, both with an English dub. An anime film titled ''Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow'' was released on January 4, 2019 in Japan. An English dub of the film was released on February 25, 2020. The main staff and cast return to reprise their roles for the film.

Magazine

A dedicated ''Love Live!'' magazine launched on July 1, 2019 as a spin-off of ''

'' published by

. Initially untitled, the magazine offered readers the chance to suggest names for the magazine and vote on them, leading to the magazine's title of ''LoveLive! Days'' starting with volume 3. The magazine offers information on the entire ''Love Live!'' franchise including the latest information on school idol groups, media adaptations, and also includes serialized ''Love Live!'' manga. The magazine also gives fans the ability to influence the franchise by voting on ideas for songs and costumes.

Sales

''Love Live!'' was ranked No. 1 in top-selling physical media franchises in Japan for 2016 and ranked No. 4 in 2015. The franchise's physical media earned over ¥8 billion in 2016 and over ¥5 billion in 2015. This includes the raw yen totals of Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, music CDs, novels, and manga, but not video games, film tickets, digital downloads, and other forms of media sales. In 2013, physical media sales generated () in Japan. DVD and Blu-ray sales of the anime's second season in 2014 sold () in Japan. The franchise's physical media sales generated () in Japan between 2015 and 2018. The following table lists the annual content revenue from ''Love Live'' media in Japan, as reported by market research firm

Hakuhodo is a Japanese advertising and public relations company. It is headquartered at Akasaka Biz Tower in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. History Hakuhodo is one of the oldest advertising agencies in Japan and was founded by Hironao Seki at Nihonbashi-H ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Official worldwide website
{{Sunrise ASCII Media Works Bandai Namco franchises Bushiroad Kadokawa Dwango franchises Lantis (company) Mass media franchises introduced in 2010 Sunrise (company)