hi, i’m magician, and my love live story isn’t very special but i thought i’d share it anyway.

my best friend watched love live before me and i actually teased her a little about it. all i knew (or thought i knew) about love live back then was that it was cutesy, its fans were obsessive and creepy more often than not, and that nico and maki were characters in it. it wasn’t until march of 2016 (the day before my birthday) when i first downloaded the game, mostly as a joke.

surprisingly, i actually sort of enjoyed the game. i picked maki as my starter because she was the girl i’d heard most about, i played a few songs, made some stupid newbie decisions (good bye mermaid rin, now fed into pool umi) and overall, was mildly entertained by it. i played off and on for the next few months, playing religiously for a week or so and then closing it and not touching it the next. it wasn’t until may/june of 2016 i caved and watched the anime, and i understood why love live was so popular.

from then on, i was a fan. i officially ended up calling maki my best girl, i bought μ's’ greatest hits album and memorized the lyrics. that summer was when sunshine was airing, and i admit i really didn’t care much about aqours at that point. i liked hanamaru and yohane and called them my best girls, and i thought their music was pretty nice.

a little background in my personal life, because that’s an important part of this story as well: in 5th grade (2014-2015) i was diagnosed with adhd-pi (primarily inattentive). the years before that i was loud and talkative and very, very creative, but i also didn’t really mature like the rest of my friends did. i loved playing pretend, and drawing, and acting out stories on the playground. a number of my friends began to sort of avoid me because i was so bright and energetic.

in sixth grade i was bullied quite a bit. a good part of that was mildly homophobic bullying but the majority was making fun of my art and my interests. safe to say when i moved to junior high in seventh grade, where all the elementary school kids mix and friend groups are both disbanded and formed, i was depressed, got sucky grades, and did my best to hide any of my immaturity. i also didn’t really have any friends except my best friend, mentioned earlier, but even she started to make new friends as she was the more social one of us.

getting into love live the summer before seventh grade seems like fate in retrospect. love live was the one thing keeping me going through school and made me excited to get up in the morning. the music- about fighting for your dreams and believing in yourself- felt empowering.

but it doesn’t end there. when i saw love live sunshine for the first time and truly fell in love with aqours was when i began to view those nine girls as my best friends. especially yō watanabe, who had those same issues i was having, feeling left behind by her friends but learning her relationship with chika hasn’t broken but grown to touch other girls as well.

aqours became my favorite group in no time. watching them grow, waiting excitedly for their releases, supporting them the best i could- it felt like they were taking my hand and helping me back on my feet. to this day, aqours remains the group that makes me the happiest. each of the nine girls has helped me in some way with their unique stories and personalities and i can’t express how thankful i am for that.

aqours (and love live in general) makes my days brighter, brings a smile to my face, and delivered me to a much better place. i met many of my friends through the game, one of which i’m proud to call my girlfriend, i was introduced to idols in general, which are a source of joy in my life, and i actually began to be myself again in real life.

that’s my love live story. it’s not sparkly or anything, and it’s just a personal journey, but love live has truly been a source of light in my life and i hope it will forever :)