From our other sites
The story
A thread on 5ch’s Love Live! board comparing how each entry in the franchise treats its original members has taken off. The thread starter kicked things off by pointing out that Hasunosora’s pre-tournament PV oddly features footage from “Snow halation” and a close-up of Kousaka Honoka, and that the “Hard-to-Live Club” (Nijigasaki) keeps dropping the names of characters from earlier shows — griping that “they’re really milking the old stuff too hard.” That set off a bigger discussion: Sunshine has had original members appearing since its very first season, and Nijigasaki features both original members and Sunshine members in its mobile game SIF All Stars. A wave of posters praised Superstar (Liella!!) as the one group that built its popularity without leaning on the original cast. The thread later spiraled into fan-vs-fan hostility between the different series, with some posts even naming and exposing a specific individual’s social media account.
What people said
The Hard-to-Live Club (a mocking nickname for Nijigasaki's idol club) ← keeps name-dropping characters from past shows, and now even Minami Kotori shows up
They're really milking the old shows way too hard…
That world has μ's, Aqours, and Nijigasaki all existing side by side at the same time, so it's not really 'reusing the past.'
Try again.
It's less 'treating them as past works' and more just straight-up using μ's and Aqours.
They're not milking past works, so Star (Superstar/Liella!!) wins!
Whatever, fine by me lol.
Bottom line: Liella! is the only one that's gotten this far purely on its own skill and effort.
Though I guess Sunshine gets a pass since it's basically a direct sequel.
Of course that's how it is for a group like Hasunosora that values tradition.
That's just dressing up 'exploiting the past' in nicer-sounding words.
That's gross.
At this rate their level of exploitation might catch up to Nijigasaki's.
Nothing will ever top how precious it is that Liella won back-to-back titles purely on their own strength.
The fact that they lean on that easy shortcut from day one says it all.
Aqours took over a year before they finally started doing them, while everyone else jumped right in.
Were they hoping to recreate the μ's phenomenon?
Even using Kotori's name, I don't want to see her in that character design…
Is this going to be another Kerorira situation like with Nijigasaki?
The others are probably fuming inside about people using μ's name without permission.
Thread preserved: Mercury stans (Aqours-and-Superstar fans) who hate the whole Nijigasaki/Hasunosora crowd picking fights with everyone.
So if anyone starts screaming 'it's not fair that only Star gets bashed!' — I'll be linking this thread right back at them.
This.
That's a straight-up rights violation against Pikaere.
That's rough too.
Her dream never even came true.
And how do they explain the fact that a work made with μ's own creative staff turned out like this in the first place?
μ's → Aqours → Hard-to-Live-Live
(the Love Live tournament shrinks)
Anime continuity
μ's → Aqours → Liella!
(the Love Live tournament keeps getting bigger)
Link Like Love Live continuity
μ's → Hasunosora
(the tournament gets a bit smaller but keeps going)
Nijigasaki continuity
No consistent timeline — every series crosses over freely
Only the anime skips the other series
Can't even argue with that.
Honestly, that's a fair point.
Sounds like a fair point, but this reeks of a Nijigasaki stan. Something's off.
No matter how many excuses people come up with, it's pretty simple — people got into Nijigasaki mainly because it looked like the best bet to knock off Aqours, μ's biggest rival.
Honestly, the reason Nijigasaki stans are bashing Star (Superstar/Liella!!) now is just because Star's become a threat to them too.
If Nijigasaki had ended up in Hard-to-Live-Live's spot instead, with grown-up Kotori showing up, the μ's diehards would be singing its praises and converting into instant fans.
Not just 'not blatant' — they genuinely did it all on their own strength.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Starting with μ’s, the Love Live! franchise has run several groups and projects side by side — Aqours (Sunshine), Nijigasaki, Liella!! (Superstar), and Hasunosora — and newer entries referencing earlier characters or songs is nothing new. What split opinion in this thread was whether to read such references as “respect for tradition” or as “riding on someone else’s popularity to generate buzz,” with many posters singling out Liella!! as an example of a group that built its fanbase without leaning on its predecessors. The back half of the thread saw fan rivalries between the different series flare up, including posts naming and exposing a specific individual’s social media account — content that has been left out of this article since it could identify a private individual.
*This article was compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Love Live!) thread “Sunshine ← original members show up from Season 1; Nijigasaki ← original members and Sunshine members show up in SIF All Stars.”
Leave a Reply