Umi Sonoda

Sonoda Umi is one of the nine main characters in Love Live!. She is 16 years old and a second year in high school. Umi was born on March 15 and is a Pisces. She has long blue hair and brown eyes. Her main color is blue. She is 159 centimeters tall, and her blood type is A. She is the center of Lily White, a mini idol unit. Her solo album is called "Umiiro Shōjo ni Miserarete (海色少女に魅せられて)". She is voiced by Suzuko Mimori.

Background
Umi is Kousaka Honoka and Minami Kotori's classmate and childhood friend. She is also a member of the school's archery club, which she is quite good at. She believes Honoka is bossy and pushy, but also realizes the perks of having an adventurous friend. Among the members of μ's, Umi takes the role of being their physical trainer and choreographer before Ayase Eli joins the group and takes up that role.

Personality
Umi is normally a shy girl, but she has a strong will and has some qualities of a leader. Despite of this, she is content to stay reserved and always thinks logically. Umi becomes the group's lyric writer, and wrote the song "Start:Dash!!". Umi is uncomfortable with wearing short skirts, but gets used to it after their first live. Apparently, if awaken while sleeping, Umi takes on a completely different and angry personality, and has the ability to throw "supersonic pillows," according to Episode 10.

Clubs and Hobbies
As the daughter of a traditional family, Umi experts in Kendo, Nagauta, archery, calligraphy, and traditional dancing. starting the second season is named new Otonokizaka High School's student council vice president.

Chronology
Season I = In Episode 1, after discovering that Otonokizaka High School is closing after all of the students graduate, student council president Eli and her friend Toujou Nozomi approach Kotori and her friends. They ask her if she ever heard her mother tell her anything about the school shutting down. When Kotori says no, Eli and Nozomi both excuse themselves. Honoka, Umi, and Kotori begin trying to think of a way to attract students to prevent their school from shutting down. Honoka then gets the idea to start an idol group with Kotori and Umi to save the school. However, Umi says to drop the idea. Later, Kotori shows Umi how Honoka is working hard on becoming a school idol and both of them join Honoka. They are set on becoming idols, even though their idea of a school idol club was rejected by Eli.

In Episode 2, after Honoka manages to book the school's auditorium for a concert, they realize they don't have a name for their idol group nor a song to work with. To settle the matter with the name, they decide to hold a contest for it. As for the song, Umi reluctantly takes the job of writing the lyrics, but in return, Kotori and Honoka have to exercise to get better stamina. Eli warns them that their plan could backfire and ruin the reputation of the school, however, the girls' class supports them, and they receive a name for their idol group: μ's. Honoka also gets a girl named Nishikino Maki to compose a song using Umi's lyrics, and Maki sends a CD to Honoka's home.

In Episode 3, it is the day before μ's first concert, and Umi starts to get more nervous about performing. To boost her confidence, Honoka and Kotori have Umi pass out fliers for their concert. When Kotori reveals the costumes μ's would be performing in, Umi gets more anxious because of how short it is. When it's finally time for the concert, nobody is there. However, before the girls gave up, a student named Koizumi Hanayo shows up to see the concert quickly followed by her best friend Hoshizora Rin. Despite the small audience, μ's performs the song "Start:Dash!!," which attracts a small crowd. After the song finishes, Eli appears and walks down to the stage, asking them what they plan on doing since their plan has failed. Honoka replies that μ's will keep on performing until they can one day fill up the whole auditorium.

In Episode 4, Hanayo, from the previous episode, debates with herself whether or not to join μ's. Sometime later, Hanayo comes across Honoka's sweet shop, where Umi and Kotori also are and where they notice a video of their performance of "Start:Dash!!" gaining views on the internet. The girls then ask Hanayo to join the club. Maki and Rin know about Hanayo's shyness, so they both give Hanayo a push, which then helps Hanayo agree to join μ's. Rin and Maki both decide to join, as well, thus making μ's have six members.

In Episode 5, while in a fast food joint, trying to think of a place to practice during the rainy season, Honoka realizes that there's enough members to form an official club. However, the girls learn that there's already another Idol Research Club. It ends up, however, that a girl name Yazawa Nico is the sole member of the club. The girls ask her if they can merge their groups together, but Nico flatly rejects them, based on the fact that they don't have personas. After learning from Nozomi that Nico once tried, and failed, to become a school idol, Honoka comes up with the idea to join the Idol Research Club and have Nico teach them how to be proper idols. Nico happily accepts.

In Episode 6, Nozomi films interviews with each member of μ's. When Honoka was being interviewed, Nozomi asked her why she's the leader when she does nothing for the group. It then leads to a singing and dancing contest to determine the leader. The member with the most points becomes the leader. However, in the end, everyone gets similar scores. Honoka then suggests that maybe μ's doesn't need a leader, causing everyone to agree with her, but also making them believe that she is the most worthy of becoming the leader.

In Episode 7, Hanayo tells μ's about the Love Live! tournament, a concert where the top 20 school idol groups compete in. Needing permission to enter, the girls then go over to the chairwoman for permission. Despite Eli's objection, the chairwoman tells them that they can enter, but only if they all pass the upcoming exams. Umi and Kotori help Honoka study, who generally has bad grades. Once the exams are done and everyone passes, everyone goes to the chairwoman's office, but overhear her telling Eli that the school would be shutting down next year.

In Episode 8, following the events of the previous episode, the chairwoman clarifies to μ's that the school will shut down if the upcoming open day is received negatively. Umi suggests to the group to get Eli to teach them how to dance. Eli agrees to their offer and puts the group into intense training, but is surprised by their willingness to continue. Nozomi tells μ's that Eli wants to join, but believes she can't because of how she treated them in the past. μ's go to Eli and formally invite her to join. Eli becomes honest with her feelings and joins, along with Nozomi who reveals that she came up with the group's name: μ's, which refers to the nine goddesses of music. Coincidentally, there are nine members in μ's. The now complete group performs "Bokura no LIVE, Kimi to no LIFE" at the open day to a pleased crowd, making the open day a success.

In Episode 9, after discovering Kotori working secretly in Akihabara at a maid café, Eli assigns Kotori to write lyrics for a new song based on Akiba culture, because she knows Akiba best. However, Kotori struggles to write the lyrics. However, thanks to Honoka and Umi, she is able to create the song "Wonder Zone" by recalling her feelings when she works in Akihabara. After the performance, Honoka, Umi, and Kotori go pray at a shrine for μ's success. Then, as they were leaving, they look up at the stars and promise to each other they'll be together forever.

In Episode 10, μ's decide to go to Maki's beach house after getting permission from her parents. Eli creates a rule that no one is allowed to use the honorifics "senpai" for the duration of the trip, so they can break down the barrier between upper and underclassmen. The girls spend the whole day at the beach playing, but Nozomi and Eli are quick to notice Maki not participating. At night, Nozomi initiates a pillow fight, and all of μ's except Umi play. However, two pillows hit Umi while she was sleeping, causing her to get cranky and throw "supersonic pillows" at everyone, hitting Nico, Honoka, and Eli. Just as she was about to hit Hanayo and Rin, Maki knocks Umi out with a pillow, causing her to fall back asleep. The episode ends with all the members of μ's breaking down the barrier between upper and underclassmen, and holding hands while watching the sunrise.

In Episode 11, μ's has manage to reach rank #19 on the school idol ranking site, making them eligible to apply to the Love Live! tournament. This puts pressure on μ's to keep their position. However, Nico fails to win a lottery spin to use the auditorium, causing μ's to think of where to have a concert. Honoka comes up with the idea that they can use the rooftop to hold their performance, and the group hesitantly agrees. While training on the rooftop, Umi tells Honoka that she shouldn't be working herself too hard, but Honoka said that it's all right. When Umi asks Kotori to tell Honoka to stop, Kotori doesn't respond because she is in deep thought. After Umi snaps Kotori out of her daze, Kotori says that Honoka should do whatever she want, disappointing Umi and making Honoka happy.

Later on, during a phone call, Umi asks Honoka if she ever noticed Kotori acting weird. When Honoka said that she didn't, Umi changes the subject by telling her to go straight to bed instead of exercising, then calls Kotori. Kotori then explains the reason why she's been down lately to Umi, but the audience do not get to hear the conversation.

While getting ready for the concert, Umi asks Kotori if she was fine with her decision, to which Kotori says yes and that she'd tell Honoka about it. Despite the rain, the girls perform "No Brand Girls". However, afterwards, Honoka faints, surprising both μ's and the audience.

In Episode 12, following the events of the previous episode, μ's go to Honoka's house to check on her. They discover that she's still recovering and has a sprained leg. They sadly tell Honoka that they dropped out of the Love Live! tournament, meaning their ranking was removed. Honoka blames herself for the incident, but μ's tell her that it's everyone's fault, instead. Everyone gets depressed from this event, but Honoka the most. On the rooftop, Maki, Hanayo, and Rin announce that the school has been saved, thus the group decides to have a celebration. At the party, however, Umi and Kotori are noticed to not be in jolly spirits. Umi then reveals to μ's that Kotori is moving to a fashion boarding school for the rest of her high school career. Everyone is surprised by the announcement, but Honoka gets angry at Kotori for not telling her earlier. Kotori explains to her that she wanted to tell them but couldn't, and runs away.

The next day, on the rooftop, μ's reveals that they're planning to do a final live with everybody before Kotori leaves. But Honoka tells them that it was her fault and that none of this would've happened if it wasn't for the accident. The members tell her to stop saying that, but Honoka then says that the school is saved, therefore there's no reason to keep on performing and that it's impossible to go against a group like A-Rise. Honoka tells them that she quits, but before she leaves, Umi slaps her cheek, saying that she didn't think that she's that kind of person and that she's the worst there is.

In Episode 13, following the events of the previous episode, Honoka and Umi still don't speak to each other. Eli decides to put μ's on a hiatus. However, Nico disagrees with Eli, saying that she wants to continue being a school idol. Umi visits Kotori and asks her if she really is going to study aboard. Kotori sadly tells her that there's nothing they can do about it at this point, which saddens Umi.

At school the next day, Honoka is at the stage where she, Kotori, and Umi performed "Start:Dash!!" Umi comes into the auditorium because she was invited by Honoka to come. Honoka apologizes to Umi, but Umi laughs and tells her that she has always been a nuisance. She then tells her that Honoka brought her and Kotori on a long ride, taking them to places they didn't have the courage to go before. Umi then sings the first verse of "Susume→Tomorrow," Honoka the second, and Kotori, who is at the airport, the third.

Afterwards, Honoka brings back Kotori from the airport and μ's performs "Start:Dash!!" in the auditorium, despite wearing their school uniforms, and this time with the auditorium filled with people. Honoka then tells the crowd to say "μ's Music Start!" and μ's are in the school idol ratings again. Season II = In Episode 1, Princpal Minami announces that Otonokizaka will still accept student applications for next year. After the announcement, the podium is then passed on to the succeeding student council president, Kousaka Honoka, to deliver her speech. Honoka managed to introduce herself but had forgotten the contents of her speech.

At the student council room, Umi scolds Honoka for forgetting her speech that they wrote together then places a large amount of student council work in front of her. Eli arrives at the student council room together with Nozomi to check on the trio.

μ's talked about the news about Love Live! being held once more. They were hesitant at first because of the thought that they have to compete against A-RISE for the preliminaries, but after Umi stated that it was too early to give up, they all agreed to give it a shot, except for Honoka who told them that it's okay for them not to enter Love Live!. All of them were shocked at Honoka's statement and asked her if there was anything wrong with her but she said that she was happy just being able to sing and dance with everyone. Honoka then suggests that they all hang out together after school for a change of pace.

That night, the members of μ's, except for Honoka, talked about Honoka's weird behaviour. Nozomi told them that the regular dance practices and sessions may be enough for Honoka.

The next day, Nico challenges Honoka to a race to decide whether the group enters Love Live! or not. During the race, Honoka finally understood the meaning of Yukiho's words, as at that time, Eli, Nozomi, and Nico will graduate and no longer be school idols, making this year's Love Live the last opportunity for μ's to perform together as a group of nine.

Everyone told Honoka their feelings about entering Love Live! making Honoka state her true desire to enter Love Live! as well. They all sang "Susume→Tomorrow" and Honoka told them that they will aim for victory.

In Episode 2, Hanayo tells everyone that only unreleased songs are allowed to be performed at Love Live!, meaning they can't use any of their existing songs. Eli tells them that they have no choice but to make a new song and decides to go on a camping trip.

They were amazed that Maki's family had a vacation house even at the mountains. When they were about to leave the train station and head for the bus, Rin told them that they might be forgetting something. They forgot about Honoka who was still sleeping on the train.

Everyone was amazed yet again when they saw the house and the things inside. They found out that Maki still believed in Santa when they were talking about the fireplace. Nico was about to laugh and mock her for it but the others prevented her from doing so, claiming that it was a serious crime to say it. After settling down, Maki, Umi, and Kotori proceeded to doing their jobs upstairs while the others proceeded to doing some basic drills outside.

While in the living room, Honoka noticed that Maki wasn't anywhere near the piano and decides to take the tea that Hanayo made to the girls upstairs. Honoka opens the door to where Umi was staying but found no one inside, finding a note on the table stating "Please don't look for me" instead. Panicked, Honoka proceeded to Kotori's room and found no one inside as well, finding a picture on the wall with the words "Help me" instead. Honoka soon noticed that there was cloth tied by the window that leads outside. She looks outside and finds the three sighing.

The others found out that the three were in a slump because of the pressure and decides to split the work to all of them. They decided on forming three groups, with the first group consisting of Kotori, Hanayo and Honoka to work on the costumes, the second group consisting of Umi, Rin and Nozomi to work on the lyrics, and the third group consisting of Maki, Nico, and Eli to work on the music. There was no progress for the first few hours but after hearing some encouraging words from their group mates, the three who're originally assigned for the tasks met on the house and was able to finish everything that night. The others found the three of them sleeping in the living room with their finish products and decided to let them sleep for a while. They immediately started practicing as soon as the three woke up and continued to practice hard even after returning from their trip, aiming to win Love Live!.

In Episode 3, Honoka, Hanayo, and Eli were browsing the Love Live! site. They saw the different stages prepared for the preliminaries. Hanayo told them that because of the number of groups that will enter the preliminaries, they are allowed to perform anywhere other than the concert halls. After practice, μ's talked about the mechanics of the contest. Four groups will be able to move on to the final round of the preliminaries. They also concluded that there will only be three spots to compete for, knowing that A-Rise will get a place for sure. Honoka suggests that they use their school as their stage so that they can perform comfortably. Nico and Hanayo told Honoka that she was naive and that they only have one shot at it. They needed something original to stand out and catch everyone's attention. But before they can decide the place, they still needed to practice being on air so they asked the broadcasting club for help. Honoka, Umi, and Hanayo were the ones who tried out the mic. The results wasn't what they really wanted but at least it was very μ's-like.

After that, μ's decided to look for a place to hold their live but it turns out that they're out of new stages. They looked elsewhere and ended up in front of the UTX building. The group saw A-Rise's promotion and Honoka says that they won't lose. Just then, A-Rise's Kira Tsubasa appeared in front of the sceond year trio. Tsubasa hushed Honoka before others could see her then she grabbed Honoka's arm and ran, dragging her inside the building. Hanayo and Nico noticed that Tsubasa was there, running with Honoka and chased after them.

A-Rise revealed to μ's that they've been watching and keeping an eye on the group for quite a while. They thought that μ's was going to be their biggest rivals during the last Love Live!. Tsubasa, Erina, and Anju then revealed each of μ's members' good points. Eli asked them why they knew so much and Tsubasa answers that it was because it was rare to see a group with a caliber like μ's and that they didn't want to lose to μ's. Honoka also states that they won't lose either and says thank you to them. Tsubasa then offers to perform with μ's on the same stage, which is their school's rooftop, to which Honoka immediately agrees, surprising the rest of μ's members.

The day of the preliminaries came, A-Rise's Tsubasa and μ's Honoka agreed to give it their all and shook hands. Arisa and Yukiho are shown watching with a laptop at the Kousaka residence. Arisa was worried but Yukiho assured her that they will be fine. A-Rise performed their new song, "Shocking Party". Seeing A-Rise perform, most of μ's members were starting to feel that they can't win. Honoka immediately disagreed and cheered everyone up. Some of there schoolmates came and cheered them on as well. μ's found a new hope and was ready to perform. μ's performed their new song, "Yume no Tobira" and received good responses from their audience.