Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-24187738-20190629183214

9 Years.

9 Years.

9 has always been a special number in the Love Live! franchise, and I'm sure I don't need to explain why. As we approached this special anniversary, you could feel the tension in the air. Whole slews of announcements, more than we could keep track of.

Just recently they announced a new Emitsun-hosted program with other members of all 3 school idol groups. And today, another one-night revival of KotoHonoMaki. Tomorrow marks the sale of the first volume of a newly serialized Love Live! Magazine.

It's a global trend we've also seen in the gaming and movie industries of late. The appeal to nostalgia, with countless remakes of classics. Revivals of old franchises are not surprising. What's special here is that this is the same long-running franchise, bringing back old content they once had to pause momentarily due to circumstances.

Aqours is an incredibly strong group, but they also got to where they are today by standing on the shoulder of giants. μ's is an incredibly talented group we all miss, but they could also only return with Aqours's help. Without Aqours holding the fort and growing the project even further for the last three years, it might have just faded away.

And let's not forget Nijigasaki High School's talented idols. Challenging the established stories of their predecessors, everything about them screams of new structures that defy the norms set by μ's and Aqours. Highly experimental, but the girls are no less passionate and driven to succeed. Don't sleep on these girls, they have a bright future ahead of them.

As Aqours approaches the same point that μ's was at when they shockingly announced their Final Live, we see the parallels. Animation content that has written itself into an ending. Next live announced, with neither name nor number. There is a sense of apprehension in the fan community, whether we could be seeing the end of Aqours soon.

Personally speaking, I don't think this is the case. There's still a lot of ways for these girls to grow further, even though the 2D content has slowed to a trickle. With SIFAS coming out within this year, its story promises a reboot to the timeline by having all three groups start in parallel within the same school year. Will the Love Live! committee seize on this chance to start afresh with new stories? Only time will tell.

(Either way, unlike μ's which was forced to pause their activities by real world circumstances such as health, our Aqours girls still have a long performing school idol career ahead of them.)

The past, present, and future of Love Live! are all here now, and also in the days ahead. Love Live! will continue to push new frontiers, and we have no doubt new things are coming.

At the same time, the old guard is tired at this point. People like me, and Rin from Love Live! Updates on Twitter, we're honestly done. We still love this franchise as fans, but we've also moved onto new aspects of our lives that we can no longer do this with the same blazing passion we used to. Most of the posts on the Love Live! Wikia Twitter account these days are actually done by mr_dr_dj and MasterMirage from the /r/LoveLive community. Effectively, they're the ones running the account now.

A new generation of fan account managers, Wikia editors, and people passionate about the franchise are needed, to push the content to other fans. For now, we highly recommend following Nijigasaki Perfect Fans Paradise on Twitter @niji_fans_para for all the latest news not just on Nijigasaki but also all aspects of the Love Live! franchise.

At its heart, Love Live! is a project with the fans, by the fans, for the fans. We are all the 10th member of these groups; everyone has to do their part to help grow this franchise. Some of my greatest experiences in this fandom has been the sensation of seeing these girls grow with our support. That is the miracle of the Love Live! project.

We hope to see everyone again for the next anniversary and its exciting contents, as well.

 ♪ LuciaHunter ♪  http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/emoticon-bank/images/5/5b/Little_Devil_Emoji.png June 30th, 2019

The rest of this message is on a more sombre note so I'll keep this short.

Those who have been working on the Wikia & Twitter would know I've become increasingly inactive since mid-2017 when I got into my job working in this very industry... Some people more active in Discord communities would also recognize me on my official role in a certain other franchise.

Six years ago, Love Live! gave me everything by being the first fandom I dived headlong into. The first time I saw Emitsun in real life that year, I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do: I wanted to work on these types of content and events; I wanted to show other fans the dreams they wanted to see, the same way I was shown mine.

No matter which side of the fence I stand on, whichever fence it is, this has never changed. My dream remains to deliver the content you guys want to see.

At the same time, I've been irresponsible by not having a proper succession plan in place as I switched my efforts from one end to the other. It is hard to let go of an account I grew from 700+ followers into the juggernaut it is today; not to mention the content I created on the LL Wikia itself. When an account is this big, it is hard for us to vet and take on new mods. But it is also hard for new fans coming in to follow other accounts, due to sheer follower count comparison.

We've held on for the last few years against it with a series of mods from within our friend group: Mods Ischy, Luiseiti, now mr_dr_dj & MasterMirage. But it always feels like it's just a constant battle to update the account with the latest news, and it's difficult to actively try to grow the content out there.

So I would like to open mod applications for this account, for the first time ever. If you think you have the personality & drive to try and take this account and the LL fandom further, please feel free to email LLWikia@gmail.com with the following:
 * Current Twitter handle
 * When you got into the fandom
 * Best girls (2D and/or 3D)
 * Why you would want to be a part of this account
 * Optional: Anything else you might want to mention. Your personal history with the franchise, why you love it, the most obscure and useless fact about the Love Live! franchise you know... anything at all.

We look forward to hearing from people who love the project and wish to grow the community further.

TL;DR
 * Lots of revivals with the 9th Anniversary, welcome back μ's!
 * Don't sleep on Nijigasaki! Follow @niji_fans_para!
 * Stan Aqours, they've got ways to go.
 * New passionate fans are needed to push into the future, us old-hats are donezo.
 * Mod applications for @LL_Wikia are open! 