Happy (belated) birthday, Mari Ohara!
Your exuberant, kooky personality gives me life!
The thing I love about you most is how chaotic you are. You’re totally unpredictable and spontaneous. You’ve recklessly controlled vehicles ranging from helicopters to non-copyright infringing Volkswagen vans and have nearly run over innocent bystanders with them. You’ve destroyed eardrums with random screeching and metal music that is too hardcore for normal ears. You’ll say quirky things to throw everyone off, and follow them up with “IT’S JOKE!” The fact that you’ll sprinkle in English phrases at random definitely makes you a standout character. You’re an absolute mess and a meme queen, and that’s part of your charm.
You weren’t always totally out there, though. Back in the day, you were pretty reserved because of your upbringing. You didn’t really know the meaning of friendship or start to break out of your shell until you met Kanan and Dia, so, naturally, they held a special place in your heart. Later on, Kanan and Dia became fangirls that dreamed of becoming school idols. Meanwhile, you weren’t interested in school idols at all and we’re pretty hesitant about the school idol life, but you took the leap. When the three of you finally came together as idols, you had the time of your life – so much so that when a great opportunity arose for you, you declined because you wanted to keep doing what you loved with the people that you loved. Your fellow third-years wanted you to do what they thought was best for you in the long-run, though. After The Incident™️, they insisted that you chase dreams that weren’t yours by studying abroad, and the three of you ceased all idol activity, but they pretty much left you in the dark as to why. You grew apart.
I feel for everyone involved in the third-year drama, but especially for you because it seemed to hurt you the most emotionally. Fortunately, you all made up with time, and you even took after one another in some ways during your absence. It was painful to sit through all of the drama that you third-years went through, but at least it all worked out in the end.
Other things I love are your songs (especially in Guilty Kiss, but you can definitely hold your own; I loved Shiny Racers) and your optimism when faced with adversity. Overall, you’re pretty cool. Or smile. Ba dum tshh The only thing I didn’t like is when the creators tried to make you follow Nozomi’s footsteps in the beginning and washi washi others. (Granted, you weren’t as creepy about it as she was, but it still wasn’t okay.) It’s a good thing that the trope got dropped pretty early on.
Sorry if this post seems like it’s all over the place. I’ve been working on multiple pieces of writing again, and my brain’s been puréed while trying to piece this together and working on another thing. I should probably pace myself instead of going all out, but I really can’t help it when it comes to writing. I love writing about things and characters that I love so much, and that includes Love Live! I tried my best to write something not entirely terrible. Keyword: TRIED. Never stop being the go-getting, logic-defying idol that you are! Shiny! ✨
