💙Happy Birthday Eli!💙

Eli has consistently been one of my most liked characters since I first got into Love Live almost 5 years ago, even rivaling Nozomi. She's mature, responsible, and has a cute side that I think we can all appreciate. Eli's struggle to do what she wants is I think what really helps boost her character. She tried so hard to save the school, and scoffed at the other members of µ's for being talentless and being incapable of making a difference, but in reality, wished she could be right beside them. Finding out what you want to do in life is tough; there's no other way to say it. And Eli was in just that predicament. However, with a push from Nozomi and a pull from Honoka, Eli was finally able to do what she truly wanted, to embrace something she loved dearly, while also being able to save the school. Eli's a simple character sure, but an integral one no less.

So with that, happy birthday to Eli! I admittedly wish I could write a bit more, as I do really, really, love Eli, but life is unfortunately very busy for me atm, so this is about all I can manage. Either way, I hope that all of us Eli fans can have a fantastic days celebrating such an amazing character 💙

The bulk of my Eli merch. For once, I'm actually not waiting for any merch (I did forget to include my Eli shirt though)!

Eli's solo albums and volume of School idol diary, as well as some various keychains. Fun fact: I own more Eli keychains than I do of either of my best girls!

🤍Happy Birthday Kotori!🤍

Kotori is a character that I've had mixed emotions about for almost as long as I've been into Love Live: I either thought she was really good, or really bad. And while she certainly isn't in my µ's top three, I can confidently say that she's made her way into my top five. Kotori's character is very simple, but if you take the time to go back and rewatch SIP, you release that while yes, she is simple, the role that she plays within µ's is both effective and very integral. µ's may not have ever formed had Kotori not been there to push Umi to do so, along with herself, of course. She doesn't have the most interesting dialogue either in terms of relevance, however every once in a while she does say something that shows that she does in fact care very deeply for the group.

"I want to follow our decisions and ambitions as a group. Sometimes we get lost, but I don't think that it's meaningless. If we work together and each do the best we can for our part, I'd say we're on track for a great future."

I really love the µ's 2nd Years, so eventually, by proxy, Kotori has also become one of my favorites. I hope that we can all celebrate Kotori's birthday together, though that shouldn't be a problem since she is one of the most popular. Either way, she still more than deserves to have a proper celebration. So with that, Happy Birthday Kotori!

All of my Kotori merch. Unfortunately not a much as I'd like, but I've only recently started to like Kotori (within the past few months), so hopefully can pick up some more Kotori-themed goodies later on!

🧡Happy Birthday Honoka!🧡

Honoka means so, so much to that it's really hard to even put it into words. She's energetic, positive, doesn't back down, and truly cares for all of her friends (despite what people may think after the S1 drama). What draws me to Honoka the most is probably her bright personality and absolutely amazing voice. Sure, Umi's voice is great and all, but have you actually listened to Someday of my life? There's so much emotion put into that song alone that it really makes me want to cheer Honoka on, you know? These past five months have been really tough for me both mentally and emotionally, and while I would've persevered either way, a large part of why I was able was because of Honoka being there to cheer me on. Honoka gave and continues to give me the courage to move forward, even with the obstacles and pitfalls that life brings about.

So with that, happy birthday to Honoka! Honoka doesn't seem like the most popular character unfortunately, but I hope that for this one day, Honoka-lover or not, we can all come together to celebrate a truly amazing character 🧡

A bulk of my Honoka merch. Still waiting on an order with the YuYuYu neso and Faito Dayo shirt though.

All of Honoka's solo albums and a few keychains. Also, vol. 1 of SID.

All of my (completed) Honoka drawings. I started KiraSen and Snow halation but just never got around to finishing them.

💜 Happy Birthday Nozomi! 💜

Ever since I first watched SIP, Nozomi has been an extremely important character to me. Not only because I think her character is one of the best in all of Love Live, but because I feel that I have a personal connection with her ( I won't get into the details of that since though I've talked about why in a few different posts on Tomodachi/Idol Story). Bottom line, Nozomi is very near and dear to my heart and I hope that she has an absolutely amazing day! 💜

Happy Pride Month everyone!

I myself am not +LGBTQIA, but I've been a supporter of those who are for about as long I can remember. I hope that those who've struggled in the past to comes to terms with their sexual identity, or who've been in situations with unsupportive individuals, are able to find happiness and celebrate yourself and your bravery during this month!

I decided to do an edit of Nozomi since I absolutely adore her and Eli's relationship. Pretty much since I found out NozoEli was a thing, I've shipped it. I had originally planned on having her gohei decorated with all different types of pride-related flags, but decided to settle on Lesbian-themed instead since that fits Nozomi directly. But really, I'm sure Nozomi would be a supporter of the entire LGBTQIA+ movement!

I finally got around to reading Chapter 106 of JoJolion this morning, and while reading I remembered I made this edit quite some time ago and never really shared it. I present to you: Yousuke.

It's not 1:1 (things like the two-color eyes and darker hair didn't quite look right), but I still think it looks pretty good. I'm perfectly willing to accept that in one of the many alternate universes in Stone Ocean that there's at least one where You is Josuke.

I really hope they use the orange palette for the anime.

🎉Happy Birthday Maki!🎉

I unfortunately don't have as much to say about her as some of the other µ's members, but it's still an occasion worth celebrating nonetheless!

I just got my copies of Hajimari wa Kimi no Sora in the mail today, so I thought I'd let everyone know what I thought, as well as dive into some things I noticed in the PV! Afterwards, I want to talk about an issue I feel the Liella! might run into in the future. As for what I think of the other songs, those will be in the comments to conserve space, as well as some other things~

(This was the cutest thing I could think of instead of just showing the CDs)

Right of the bat, this is way better than KimiKoko. I can't say it's better than Borarara, but there's certainly more to see here. What's even better is that they ditch those dumb looking jackets (sorry to anyone that actually liked them lol). They look wayyy too awkward with how they're wearing them, so I am so very glad that they threw them off. Another design choice that I noticed quite a lot is that the faces look really... wide? Surely it's not just me who's noticed something looks different, right? It doesn't exactly get in the way of enjoying the song, but just something I noticed.

What I really find interesting though is that even though there are only five characters this time around, I don't feel that we see enough of their individuality in this PV. Keke especially feels very bland and I'm not quite sure what to think of her character as of now as a result. I understand that we're really not supposed to know each girl's entire story before the anime even starts, but I still feel like they could have done more. After watching it a few more times, I started to guess why each girl may have became an idol just from the PV, and here's what I came up with:

• Kanon lacks confidence and isn’t particularly good at anything (aside from the Latte Art, at least), so she does her part for the school by becoming an idol.
• Keke likes idols so much that she came from China to become one (kinda boring but whatever).
• Chisato didn’t have friends as a kid, and never really stood out as a result, so she works hard at dancing to stand out more. Later on, she’s given the opportunity to become an idol and show her true self? Hell, she’s even able to go from standing completely upright to doing a handstand in about 1/24 of a second (anime runs at ~24 frames per second, so 1/24).
• Sumire did her best to stand out in competitions at a young age, but always came up just short of winning. Though she’s a very expressive and animated person, she still deals with the pain of “not being good enough”, so by becoming an idol she’s able to stand out amongst her peers and show her individuality. *Ren does ballet. Ballet is a form of dancing. Idols dance. Ren becomes an idol.

That being said, as of now my character rankings are as follows:

1. Sumire
2. Kanon
3. Chisato
4. Ren
5. Keke

Overall, the PV itself is fairly solid. I wouldn't put it on the level of, say, A song for You! You? You!!, but it's a good start for Liella!, and I'm glad to know that the future of Love Live! is in good hands.

I mentioned one issue Liella! might face moving forward earlier in the post, and that issue is the lack of variety in their vocals. Both µ’s and Nijigaku have such great variety between all of their members that it’s super easy to pick out who’s who. Aqours seems to struggle with this, and I’ve noticed that for quite some time now, actually. Liella! is still new though, so they still have much room to grow. However, what they lack (much like Aqours), is deep voices, or voices that sound super different. Ren is Hanamaru+Dia, Chisato is Chika+You(I think?), and Sumire sounds a bit like Riko, though I couldn't tell whether she was singing at higher or lower octave than Riko normally does. But again, at the end of the day, it's come down to whether or not you really care about stuff like this. Maybe you really like how they sound, and if so, more power to you! It's hard to judge them completely since this is their very first release, but this is how it feels right now.

That about does it for my little spiel, though. Let me know what you guys think about the songs, the girls, and the future of the group! I'd love to hear what some of you guys think!~

(And for those wondering, I chose the Sumire and Ren backgrounds using the codes from the singles. In hindsight I should've chosen Chisato over Ren, but what can you do ¯_(ツ)_/¯?)

Seeing as how the past few days have been the fifth anniversary of µ's Final Live, I wanted to make a post dedicated to them to show just how much I appreciate what they accomplished in their five to six years as a group.

For one, we wouldn't be here today talking about Aqours, Nijigaku, or Liella!, if not for µ's. Much like the anime, due to µ's immense amount of effort and passion that they put in, they made the Love Live franchise into what it is today. µ's consisted of a group of nine individuals, many whose talent was unknown, and all who were only prepared to simply voice and sing as a character. Being asked to perform live, perfectly following the dances of professionals without having the talent to do so... And then managing to pull off what they did is nothing short of impressive. But does just that make µ's amazing? No, it doesn't. It's how passionate each and everyone one of them was, how much they cared for the work they did, and how much love they had for the fans. And rightfully so.

µ's fans are some of the most passionate people I've ever seen; it was made especially evident during Final Live just how much fans truly loved µ's. I know Aqours went from zero to one in the anime, but µ's did so in real life. We all know that Borarara bombed. Hard. And sure, the fans weren't there en masse then, but once Snow halation released, it was clear that µ's had some sort of talent that was worthy of being supported. Throughout the following years, much of what µ's was able to accomplish was due to the amazing support of fans. Without their support, SIP wouldn't have been made, or it's second season, or the movie, or any of the lives for that matter, and for that I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I wasn't part of the community until eight months after µ's had disbanded, so I was never able to support them while they were active, which admittedly hurts a little. But I've done what I feel like I can to still support them in someway by purchasing every single album, anime BD/OST, and live BD that there is.

But still, what makes µ's so much better than the other groups then? At that point, it's really just your opinion, but for myself, there are a few things that set them apart: the characters and music, simply put. I won't go into much detail on the characters because I've done that enough already (I'll put a link to my rankings post in the comments, though they are a bit outdated). µ's music is really something else: they have enough variety to where nothing feels rehashed, but enough consistency to solidify that they do have a certain sound. The lyrics in µ's songs quite often talk about the future and what's to come, the memories we'll leave behind, and the friendships that will last forever. Being the sentimental person that I am, these types of songs really resonate with me, both with my friends and with the members of µ's. I get that µ's are just fictional characters, but the bonds that I've formed with them are something that feel so real, something that I'd not trade the world for, as dumb as it may sound. I really wouldn't be the person I am today if not for them, so I humbly thank both the creators of the series and the seiyuu for bringing these characters to life.

To wrap things up, I have one thing I'd like to say: µ'sic Forever! Because, after all, this moment is truly the greatest♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

Here's BokuHika Honoka! This was actually the first Love Live drawing I've ever done, and I'm sure that now I could do a bit better, but I'm satisfied with it since I poured all of my love into it 🧡🌺

...And a picture of my BokuHika related items! I have quite a few more items coming too actually, some of which won't arrive until May or June unfortunately :(

EDIT: 2022 Zak here, just wanted to write a few more thoughts down to add on to what I wrote last year. Since I've begun work and now have a girlfriend, I don't have much to time to be super involved in the series anymore, as sad as it is to say. However, µ's will never be forgotten, and their impact on my life is something that I'll always cherish, more than anything else. In 2021, I managed to collect the physical copy of every song ever released, and while it was quite a bit of money, it was (and still is), worth it. I'm no one special, and I don't really have anything about myself that stands out, but if there's one thing I want to be remember for, it's being a passionate supporter of µ's. And for anyone that actually read this, thank you for taking your time to hear my thoughts and sing my praises for this amazing group🧡

As always, this moment is the greatest! µ'sic Forever!♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

Letter #2!

Dear Nanjou-san,

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such an amazing and cheerful person, bringing an unimaginable life to µ’s! Whenever I rewatch the µ’s lives, I can’t help but notice how much you genuinely seem to enjoy performing, not only for yourself and fellow µ’s members, but for the audience too. Seeing genuine happiness and passion for what you do really warms my heart, and I’m not sure anyone else in µ’s is quite as capable of doing that as you. I’m also a huge fan of your work in fripside, especially “future gazer”, which always helps get me in the right mood and to feeling myself again. So, please continue to do your best! I’ll always support you as best as I can♪

-Zak

As an aside, I'm very happy that we're able to send more than one letter! I wrote up letters for more than one seiyuu and it felt like such a waste to only pick one... Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity, it really means so, so much to me 💙

Happy Birthday Umi!

May this year be as great as the last, and may we share many more birthdays in the years to come! For those scouting in Umi's Step-Up, may you have better luck than I (1800 stars and no Umi UR...)!

What really draws me to Umi above all else is her overall simplicity, I suppose. Not to say that she lacks depth, but she isn't an overly flashy character, either. Umi feels like someone that you'd be able to meet, which is to say, she feels much more real compared to other characters. That being said, I still feel as though SIP could've done more with her character, but if you look at the entire scope of SIP, her character does grow, albeit not much.

My Umi collection hasn't grown as much as I'd have liked, due in part to Covid either restricting shipping options or making them too expensive. I do have a few more items ordered that aren't set to release until March-May, so I guess look out for next year lol. My favorite piece of merch would have to be either Birthday Figure Project Umi or my A song for You! You? You!! Umi Neso.

Dear Nitta-san,

The energy that you brought to µ's in your role as both Honoka and their charismatic leader is something that no one else is capable of. A leader must be capable of carrying the weight of their friends, to always be in high spirits, and to lend their support when it's needed--all of which you've done. Without you, µ's wouldn’t have been what it was; µ's was only complete because they were blessed with an amazing individual like yourself. I have nothing but respect for what you've been able to accomplish, and what hardships you've faced and have overcome. Please continue to do your best--and to make every moment in life the greatest♪

-Zak