I suppose I should introduce myself and talk about how I got into Love Live! School Idol Project in the first place.
Hey! My name’s Ania! Some of my interests include gaming, writing, and humor. I posted on Tomodachi a couple of times, and I liked the few interactions I had with the community, so I’m trying to become active on Idol Story. My best girls are Umi, Rin, and Nico from μ’s, Ruby, Kanan, and Hanamaru from Aqours, and Ai, Rina, and Setsuna from Nijigasaki. I also love Honoka, Dia, and Shioriko, and I’d probably have them as best girls if I didn’t try to limit my best girls to three per group. I do love most of the girls, and I’m even trying to find ways to love the ones that I’m not too fond of.
How I discovered Love Live: Years ago, a post from a Facebook page that I followed showed up in my news feed. It was a screenshot from School Idol Festival – a screenshot of Nico specifically. She was saying something silly, and the page owner proclaimed, “Best waifu.” Someone asked what the screenshot was from, and the owner told them that the game was called School Idol Festival. They explained that it was a rhythm game, and I was intrigued because rhythm games are one of my favorite genres of games. I hurried to download it. My phone at the time had issues running it, so the screen was stuck on the downloading page with the μ’s chibis. Disheartened, I deleted the app.
One day, I got a new phone with more space. When looking for apps to keep me occupied, the first thing I thought of was LLSIF, so I downloaded it without any issues. I picked Umi as my starter because of mutual hobbies. I was confused by pretty much everything that went on in the game – the scouting mechanic, team building, etc. – but I liked trying out the songs, so I kept at it. I became hooked! I played songs, read stories, and learned a lot about μ’s. Once I figured out how to do events properly, I started gunning for the event SRs. The Aqours Rs were introduced in the sticker shop, and I got to learn to love a whole new group in addition to μ’s. The game made me feel happy, so I put a lot of time (and money) into it.
Fast forward to today, and I’m still playing LLSIF religiously. Sometimes, I feel like I’m falling out of love with it because of some unfavorable changes, but I always find something that keeps me invested. I don’t know if I could ever drop it completely. I really appreciate Love Live, and School Idol Festival and All Stars just remind me of just how much. The characters, stories, songs, and messages are so impactful, and they’ll always have a place in my heart.
