30 Days of Love Live! Challenge

I decided to skip Nijigaku subunit songs since there's like... six of them total. I don't even have a QU4RTZ song that I like either so...

Anyway!

Day 8: Favorite PV(s)

This doesn't include the anime songs, such as Happy maker! or BokuHika, but instead the separately released singles like Borarara.

Bokura no LIVE, Kimi to no LIFE
The song that started it all. Let's just be glad that they decided to touch-up the characters' designs moving and didn't just stick with this, right? Poor character design aside, the PV is... still not the great. But even if that is the case, Borarara is a very important song to me. A reoccurring theme throughout this post will be "nostalgia", and Borarara hits hard with it (though maybe not like Mermaid festa vol.1).

Natsuiro Egao de 1, 2, Jump!
Skipping right over Snow halation we have another amazing (and nostalgic), song. And a Nico center no less! Having a different center for an animated PV was significant, as it really showcased how Love Live! did things a bit differently. Even if Honoka is the center of ~37 songs, having dynamic centers allows characters to all share the spotlight.

Wonderful Rush I really like Wonderful Rush because it's such a great tool to use to compare just how much µ's changed in a little over two years (that and it's a bop). Seeing as how it was released ~5 months before the anime, there's this interesting hybrid design between the older PVs and the anime, which I find really cool. And again, shoutouts to a Kotori center PV (she did have baby maybe but still)! It's a very impactful song too, and I feel like it serves as a really good transition from the PVs to the more standard "anime" format. Also, this is a HUGE nostalgia song for me (again lol).

A song for You! You? You!!
I didn't get into Love Live! until late 2016, after which µ's had already disbanded and stopped releasing singles. So for me to be able to experience a completely new album release really meant so, so, much to me. Luckily, this is was my reward, so to speak. I'm really glad that both A song for You!! and Natte Shimatta! are really good songs. I was really afraid of the coupling track not being good, so that was a relief. But the PV itself is great, too, chock full of fan service, cute shots, and meaningful and emotional callbacks to earlier PVs/parts of the series. Maybe after another four-ish years we'll be blessed another new µ's single...

Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM (I don't own the BD, and I couldn't find any high quality screenshots, so here's a crusty one) Looking back on it, I should've made this an HM on one of the earlier challenges, but it's whatever. Kimi no Kokoro, HPT, and Mitaiken HORIZON are okay, but AQUARIUM really takes the cake. Easily one of my favorite and most memorable Aqours songs from back in the day. I don't fully dig You as the center, but I can let it slide since this song is so damn catchy lol.