Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-24187738-20150629213921

Today is a special day.

It's June 30, 2015. It's been five years since the Love Live! project started.

I'm writing this while rewatching the video for the first live concert, which took place in Yokohama Blitz in February 2012. Compare that to the fifth live in January this year, which took place in Saitama Super Arena, stadium-mode with full seating, and live-streamed to even more countries across Asia.

Here are some pictures of what they looked like, back at the first live. The camera-work was good but the technology was lacking, leading to a dull faded video. The costumes lacked impact and were nothing like what we have now. The stage was that tiny, the concert hall only had two floors of seating, they were dancing just two meters from their audience and there were no explosive effects or confetti at the end.

The audience numbers were only in the thousands.

Did these young women, most of them barely in their early twenties, ever dare to dream at that time that they would make it here someday?

That their live concerts would become multi-million dollar productions spanning months of preparation and thousands of personnel?

That they would create not just an anime, but even a movie, that would be screened worldwide?

That their game would be enjoyed by fifteen millon users globally?

That they would create a phenomenon that spread across not just all of Japan, but the world?

I am certain none of them did. Because a dream like that then would've been sheer madness, beyond the level of mere fantasy.

And yet, this is the reality that we've created. Not just them, but us. As it has always been since the start, Love Live! is "A Story Achieved Together". We are all a part of this insane phenomenon breaking records and charting new territory in Japanese pop culture.

Many of us fans may have noticed, Love Live! is at a turning point. The anime storyline has been firmly concluded with the movie, and it remains uncertain what sort of future remains without it. At the SIF Thanksgiving Festival they confirmed a new single would be written, and just today they announced a new serialization of illustrated novellas within Dengeki G's magazine, where reader participation is possible. But we know all these will never be able to fill the large void left by the anime.

In a way, Love Live! is returning to its roots. In another, it is struggling to find its place once again after having crossed the peak of its popularity. Yet, they held true to their principles. They ended the anime because they knew dragging it on would make it lose its meaning (Not quite a spoiler, but this will make more sense after watching the movie).

Aside from the content, the real life issues with Love Live! are equally worrisome. All the seiyuus have made their own name in the industry; only Soramaru and Shikaco have yet to make their solo debuts as singers, but in general everyone has been very successful with their careers and it's bringing them in different directions. Jolno's chronic knee injury has also started acting up since an accident in April, forcing her to sit out performances. Though there are idols much older than even Jolno out there, these are still considerations that add to the slowly growing list of reasons why Love Live! might become unsustainable.

Obviously, whether Love Live! can continue beyond this next year will depend entirely on its performance for this coming year. Will the fans abandon it now that the anime is over? Will earnings fall enough for it to become unprofitable?

So even as we celebrate the 5th anniversary, let us remember not to take things for granted and support them in any way we can. Whether by buying goods, their singles and Blu-Ray Discs, or by attending their events or movie where possible, any little bit helps to show the companies involved that there is still demand for our beloved idols. And beyond that, we want more.

If you look at their history, Love Live! has always been a franchise willing to experiment with new concepts. What new things can they come up with for us in the next few years? What new dreams will they be able to show us? Those are questions we can only hope to answer together, as a whole.

Today is a special day. But it's neither the beginning, nor the end.

Here's to another five more years of Love Live!.

 ♪ LuciaHunter ♪  & ⋆ Ragnarok6354 ⋆ 

21:39, June 29, 2015 (UTC) 