Love Live! School Idol Project - Anime Review

Since I wrote about School Idol Festival earlier, I'd like to write a review about the anime - School Idol Project! 


Text sources from Wikipedia
Plot 

Honoka Kōsaka (2nd year) is a girl who loves her school, Otonokizaka Academy. When the school is planned to be closed down due to a lack of applicants, Honoka becomes determined to save it. Learning that school idols are popular, Honoka and her friends start up a school idol group called "μ's" (pronounced muse) in order to attract new students. Once they successfully prevent Otonokizaka Academy from closing, the girls from μ's aim for higher grounds and participate in "Love Live", the ultimate school idol competition featuring the best groups in the country. Despite winning the competition, the girls from μ's disband soon after for their own personal reasons.

Love Live Sunshine!! is set in another school, the ocean-side Uranohoshi Girls' Academy, which is passing by the same peril as Otonokizaka Academy used to, until Chika Takami, a huge fan of μ's, decides to follow their example and gathers friends to form another group called "Aqours" (pronounced aqua) for the sake of their school as well.

Characters 

μ's

Honoka Kōsaka (高坂 穂乃果 Kōsaka Honoka) 

Voiced by: Emi Nitta

Honoka is the main character of the series, and is a second-year student at Otonokizaka Academy. Her family works in a wagashishop named Homura. She loves singing and has a cheerful and bubbly personality and she never gives up on anything, to the point of usually overexerting herself. She is shown to be lazy and reluctant to do work, but is highly driven when it comes to her school idol activities. Her hobbies include swimming and collecting stickers. She is the leader of μ's, and is seen taking center position in some of the group's songs. She later succeeds Eli as student council president.

Kotori Minami (南 ことり Minami Kotori)

Voiced by: Aya Uchida

Kotori is Honoka's classmate and childhood friend, who is the daughter of Otonokizaka Academy's chairwoman (Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka), whom she closely resembles. She is known for having her head in the clouds despite holding responsibility as the group's wardrobe supervisor and choreographer. She is very considerate of the feelings of the people around her, but also indecisive and prone to going with the flow. She becomes part of the student council.

Umi Sonoda (園田 海未 Sonoda Umi)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori

Umi is Honoka's classmate and childhood friend who is a member of the school's kyūdō club, in which she is quite accurate. She believes Honoka is bossy and pushy, but realizes the perks of having an adventurous friend, usually acting as the voice of reason for her. She is the main lyricist of the group. As the daughter of a traditional family, Umi has expertise in kendō, koto, nagauta, calligraphy, and traditional dancing. She succeeds Nozomi as the student council vice president.

Maki Nishikino (西木野 真姫 Nishikino Maki)

Voiced by: Pile

Maki is a first-year honor student who comes from a wealthy family of doctors. She is a talented singer and pianist, but is expected to become a doctor and inherit her parent's hospital, which causes her to refuse joining μ's at first. She is initially haughty and standoffish, but eventually warms up to the group over the course of the series. Maki is the main composer and vocal coach of the group. She later becomes the vice president of the Idol Research Club.

Rin Hoshizora (星空 凛 Hoshizora Rin)

Voiced by: Riho Iida

Rin is an athletic first-year student skilled in hurdling, association football and basketball. Like Honoka, Rin has a cheerful personality but loses motivation easily and is a tomboy. She is best friends with Hanayo, who she tends to look after, and has a habit of ending her sentences with "nya" (the Japanese equivalent of Meow). She has a complex about looking "cute" due to an incident in her childhood in which several boys made fun of her for attempting to dress more feminine. She is eventually able to get over it with the help of her friends and expresses her femininity more.

Hanayo Koizumi (小泉 花陽 Koizumi Hanayo)

Voiced by: Yurika Kubo

Hanayo is a first-year student interested in drawing and origami. She is referred to as Kayo, an alternate reading of the kanji in her name. Her closest friend is Rin, who is her childhood friend. She has an extreme fondness for rice and eating in general, and is a shy person at heart. Prior to joining μ's, she had poor self-esteem and was prone giving up easily. She has dreamed about being an idol since she was little and her catchphrase is, "Somebody, please help me!" or a variation depending on the media. She later becomes the president of the Idol Research Club.

Nico Yazawa (矢澤 にこ Yazawa Niko)

Voiced by: Sora Tokui

Nico is a third-year student interested in fashion, and thus acts as the group's wardrobe supervisor alongside Kotori. She has the strongest desire to become an idol out of everyone in μ's, and has tirelessly worked hard in order to achieve her goal. However, much to her chagrin, Nico is childlike in appearance and behavior despite her age, looking much younger than the rest of the group. Nico formed the Idol Research Club, but all of her club members left one after another because of her high standards. When Honoka and her friends ask her to have the club as μ's base of operations, she is reluctant at first, doubting how far they are willing to go to become successful idols, until she approves of their effort and eventually joins the group. She has a tendency of acting like a big shot and constantly craves attention, but is deeply caring of the people around her. Unlike the other members of the group, she has an idol persona, and tends to invoke her catchphrase, "Nico Nico Smile" with an accompanying pose. After she graduates, she passes on the role of club president to Hanayo. Nico's three younger siblings (Voiced by: Sora Tokui) are Cocoa Yazawa (矢澤 ココア Yazawa Kokoa^?) , Kokoro Yazawa (矢澤 ココロ Yazawa Kokoro^?) , and Kotarō Yazawa (矢澤 虎太郎 Yazawa Kotarō^?). She is a very good cook.

Eli Ayase (絢瀬 絵里 Ayase Eri)

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjō

Eli is Otonokizaka Academy's third-year student council president who is determined to save the school. Although she opposes Honoka's plan at first, she ends up becoming the last girl to join μ's. She is part Russian because of her grandmother, and tends to say the Russian word "хорошо" (IPA: [xərɐˈʂo]; pronounced horosho, "good"). She is extremely talented, excelling at academics and athleticism, and is able perform her duties as the student council president flawlessly. Eli's specialty is quilting, and her experience with ballet qualifies her as the group's choreographer.

Nozomi Tojo (東條 希 Tōjō Nozomi^?)

Voiced by: Aina Kusuda

Nozomi is the third-year student council vice-president, and the oldest of the group. She acts as the voice of reason to Eli, who was the first friend she made after spending her whole school life transferring from one place to another due to her parents' work, choosing to live by herself in order to stay in Otonokizaka. She also acts as the spiritual leader of the group, and has an almost all-knowing vibe to her, acting when she knew things got too far and even naming the group based on events that were yet to happen. Although she is not from that region, Nozomi speaks in Kansai dialect. Her hobby is fortune-telling, and she uses it to quickly fit in at a new school whenever she is forced to move. Despite having a serene personality, she has a rather mischievous side to her, and is prone to groping the other girls when she finds them distracted or depressed in a form of "cheering them up".

Aqours

Chika Takami (高海 千歌 Takami Chika)

Voiced by: Anju Inami

Chika is the main protagonist of Love Live! Sunshine!! and a second-year at Uranohoshi Girls' Academy. She is a big fan of μ's, and was inspired by them to become a school idol in order to save her own high school from closing down. Her family runs a traditional inn known for its open-air hot springs with an ocean view.

Riko Sakurauchi (桜内 梨子 Sakurauchi Riko)

Voiced by: Rikako Aida

Riko is a modest, down-to-earth second-year from Akihabara who transferred from Otonokizaka Academy. She believes herself to have no special talent and thus has no interest in becoming a school idol, but is dragged into it by Chika.

Kanan Matsuura (松浦 果南 Matsuura Kanan)

Voiced by: Nanaka Suwa

A third-year student and Chika's childhood friend. Kanan lives alone with her grandfather on a nearby island where they run a diving gear shop.

Dia Kurosawa (黒澤 ダイヤ Kurosawa Daiya)

Voiced by: Arisa Komiya

The prideful, third-year student council president of Uranohoshi Girls' Academy. She and her younger sister Ruby are part of a well-known and respected family. Dia reluctantly becomes a school idol after losing a match to Chika, but due to her character, will accept nothing less than victory at Love Live!.

You Watanabe (渡辺 曜 Watanabe Yō)

Voiced by: Shuka Saito

An energetic second-year student with a positive outlook. You aims to one day become a ship captain, just like her father.

Yoshiko Tsushima (津島 善子 Tsushima Yoshiko)

Voiced by: Aika Kobayashi

Yoshiko is first-year student with "chūnibyō" (中二病^?, "delusions of grandeur"). She refers to herself as "Jeanne" (ヨハネ Yohane^?), and describes herself as a fallen angel who has angered God, as she is always been extremely unlucky.

Hanamaru Kunikida (国木田 花丸 Kunikida Hanamaru)

Voiced by: Kanako Takatsuki

Hanamaru is an easily-distracted first-year student whose family runs a local temple. She refers to herself as "Ora", "Maru" short for her given name, and ends all of her sentences with "-zura" because of her Shizuoka dialect. She is also a member of a local choir due to her talent at singing.

Mari Ohara (小原 鞠莉 Ohara Mari)

Voiced by: Aina Suzuki

A third-year student at Uranohoshi. She is of mixed descent, her mother being Japanese while her Italy-based French father runs a hotel chain.^[12] Mari is a bright person who prefers to take action by herself, and does not feel herself to be suited to become a school idol. Mari composes the music for Aqours, and her favorite music genre is industrial metal.

Ruby Kurosawa (黒澤 ルビィ Kurosawa Rubii)

Voiced by: Ai Furihata

Dia's timid and crybaby little sister, Ruby has long since dreamed of becoming an idol. She has androphobia (fear of men), as she has never talked to anyone male outside of her own father. She sometimes refers to herself as "Ora" like her best friend, Hanamaru.

Others

Ayase Arisa & Kousaka Yukiho

• Yukiho Kōsaka (高坂 雪穂 Kōsaka Yukiho) is Honoka's younger sister who often does embarrassing things in private. Voiced by: Nao Tōyama
• Alisa Ayase (絢瀬 亜里沙 Ayase Arisa) is Eli's younger sister who is a big fan of μ's. Having mostly lived abroad due to her being part-Russian, she is unfamiliar with many Japanese customs. Like her sister, she tends to say the Russian word "хорошо". Voiced by: Ayane Sakura

A-Rise (left to right : Yuuki Anju, Toudou Erena, Kira Tsubasa)

• Tsubasa Kira (綺羅 ツバサ Kira Tsubasa) is the leader of rival group A-Rise and is a student at UTX High School. Voiced by: Megu Sakuragawa
• Erena Toudou (統堂 英玲奈 Tōdō Erena) is a member of A-Rise with a more adult look than the others and is a student at UTX High School. Voiced by: Maho Matsunaga
• Anju Yuuki (優木 あんじゅ Yūki Anju) is a member of A-Rise with a princess-like demeanor and is a student at UTX High School. Voiced by: Ayuru Ōhashi