#but snow halation real!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

eyeballtank · 1 year ago

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Maybe i should do another Rentry post for these but just in case.

Honestly, if Crowbcat wanted to be even more /v/, he could've not bothered with those videos about Halo (Which even Martin O'Donnell liked) and instead gone full "Babby's first FPS that ruined the genre".

He even made a positive video about Doom 2016, for a guy that is essentially "/v/ outside of /v/".

Like he could've technically been worse, since /v/ even had threads shitting on RE4.

Love Death and Robots seems at first to be a spiritual successor to Heavy Metal in terms of being a showcase of different sci-fi stories.

The problem is that Heavy Metal had a particular appeal that isn't really present in LDR, mostly the "nerd into 80/90's heavy metal/sci-fi" stuff while LDR has typical modern elements.

But this might also be partially why the Heavy Metal comics brand is dead, because they dropped that appeal/focus years ago.

If people look at the 2 animated movies or those illustrations by Simon Bisley, they'll get disappointed knowing HM stopped showing tits at some point.

Though someone i follow that is a bigger comics expert points out that Heavy Metal was more about the art while 2000AD was more about the stories and also had better variety so it wasn't just "cool characters nerds like".

The thing with Lois Lane in the new Superman cartoon is that she looks like a generic tomboy but to some people, she was just a white office lady.

I guess it's like how Marian from Double Dragons wans't really a visually iconic looking character, so nobody cares that River City Girls turned her into Dorohedoro Noi.

But it also might be a difference from Harley Quinn where if these characters like superheroes or villains have interesting designs, then the likes of Batman's butler Alfred or Spiderman's Aunt May exist to look normal and not have actual designs.

So to some it isn't a loss because she never had a "design" as they think.

SiivaGunner was a fun gimmick at first but i think what made the channel kinda boring is how many memes they started to incorporate and even make it part of a "lore".

Like Grandad and Snow Halation are "part of it" but then there's all these various attempts at referencing specific e-celebs and memes.

It's specifically lame when they reference Keemstar or Logan/Jake Paul like those are human beings worth liking.

Also makes the "wholesome" aesthetic weird.

"Awww look at Kirby and Frisk from Undertale, videogames are so cute... anyway, here's the shittiest memes you've already been tired of seeing on Youtube mixed along".

People already give Triple Q some shit for being irony poisoned or meme centered, even if he hasn't reached the level of Grandayy.

Probably the same deal with Tumblr people going "NO MORE IRONY, I WANT SINCERITY" but still showing hints of the meme/irony culture they grew around, when they could either develop real life experiences or interact with actual good media.

Maybe a problem with nerd portrayals in pop culture is that the idea of them being outcast and all is there but Star Wars was always popular, so pop culture was "partially correct".

Like replace Star Wars and Star Trek with Heavy Metal comics or something less talked about and all those caricatures in tv shows could've been more accurate.

When it comes to fiction copying/taking stuff from its own fields, comedy is probably the worst case of this because you'll realize certain caricatures or "types" come from someone's observations and then later comedies take it and it becomes autopilot in a way.

Maybe it's the case with media leading to stereotypes or biased views on real people but moreso something that makes characters feel less sincere.

I dunno, making another generic fantasy setting with orcs and dragons is less evil in comparison to a sitcom copying the same character traits.

Seeing people go "you're not a real fighting game fan unless you're part of the FGC" is funny because it's obviously a response to people mad at the censorship in Skullgirls.

But also because it's a way to make any game less beloved than it is because of how exploitable it is.

"You're not a real Mario fan unless you're a SM64 speedrunner".

When Doom Eternal came out, even guys with "hot takes about JRPG's" and those that mock Redditors talked about the Isabelle crossovers and did basic Doom memes.

Most of them might as well be fake fans because they're not too invested in wads and browse Doomworld.

See how that sounds?

I think i already said in Rentry posts that Sseth became either safe or too reliant on current memes.

Emptyhero however still makes risky jokes and is still funny.

If i finish my game, i wouldn't care if he shat on it as long as he made a review of it funny.

If you think about it, Zoomers grew up with Smosh and ERBOH, so they watch breadtubers and essay video makers to overcompensate.

It's the closest they get to "intellectualism" to make it up for watching shit that other online groups would put it beneath 9gag.

10:

I wonder if there's a correlation between people complaining about "edgy animation" (As in, when Spongebob has better animation/is animated by actual animators than SU) and people that hate AAA games with "photorealistic" graphics.

Because there is an arguement for "corporate" art styles still requiring effort but then they'd realize that applies more to 3D "CalArts" animation that even the Mario movie has than Spongebob.

Even with videogames, developers "scaling down graphics" won't just be the end of Naughty Dog but even fantasy or sci-fi designs people like.

Not even "343 overdesigned sci-fi" or "DarkSiders copycat autopilot fantasy" but there's character designs people won't admit have a lot of detail.

Unless that "i want shorter games with worse graphics" image is less about scale and more about quality as in "the Metal Slug series is soulless because it having good pixel art means it took slavework while my shitty indie game is REAL SOUL because the art style being bad is a good thing".

Maybe it's a clique thing where people just advertise the "right kind" of games.

And again, corporations LOVE stiff animation and hate effort taking animation from passionate animators.

11:

I think the reason why people have some interest in people taking shit seriously is because of what comes next: When they "betray" that investment.

Like Zoomers still taking screenshots of art they deem illegal/immoral to mock someone or taking "Proshippers DNI" off profiles to not get blocked by artists.

Or people treating "groomer" as a slur when they could easily use it against the other side when they find their actual examples of groomers.

Something where the issue is not "taking shit seriously" but more "doing a terrible job at it", because when you take something like culture wars or fandom shit seriously, your brain might as well have some connection like your life somehow depends on it.

You can see this with germophobes who wash their hands too many times, then they make food for someone and don't wash their hands: Are they outgrowing their habits? Or are they revealing they only care for their safety, even if the food isn't contaminated by a real threat?

Maybe it's a sign of people only acting a certain way to fit in a group.

Because it can also come off as a sign of a weak character if you fuck up even something you're supposed to base yourself around.

12:

The idea of a Barbie moving having politics is funny because the "outside" of Barbie has all these feminists thinking girls are forced to play with it or that the character is a terrible representation of women.

In a way, politics in media could be about the "outside" and not what's coming from the setting or story.

Same deal with Doom: Why bring up the UAC argent energy plot when you have John Carmack making the games moddable out of a "hacker respector" way and Romero getting the sack by ZeniMax when wanting to share some assets related to the games?

13:

The occasional overlaps between SA and Tumblr are funny because they seem opposite at first until you realize their opposites explain the overlaps.

One thing is troll's remorse, another is nerds that were always easy to mock still trying to be the bullies.

Knowing the history behind Dril and even Homestuck can reveal some lore between a site where nerds wasted money on a forum while telling other nerds to die and another that acted as a hugbox for freaks to feel "heckin valid".

14:

I think a reason why OG Lara Craft is more liked than the boring new Lara is because she's clearly a comic book/action figure type character and the other is a generic "realistic" character that might as well be an NPC.

Part of why you can't put Solid Snake/Big Boss in the same field as actual generic "white guy protagonists" because of stuff related to their designs, backgrounds, personalities, gameplay etc.

Also explains why some Resident Evil fans (Even if a small minority) aren't much into the remakes or 7/8.

And a problem with both Doom movies and the cancelled Doom 4 having generic SWAT soldiers when Doom always had a particular "sci-fi security guard" aesthetic while the new games have the Sentinel stuff.

15:

The reason to make fun of shit like boomers complaining about woke stuff is if they do it in a situation where it's not the case or they exaggerate something, but you can tell some people mock these even in situations where it's not unreasonable.

Otherwise, the people mocking these boomers would still mock shit like ResetEra freaking out over cute girls in a JRPG.

Like you see people claim Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album art is "appropriating LGBT culture" because of the rainbow and instead, it's the boomers talking about that group of people that get to be mocked.

Being stupid isn't exclusive to one side.

It's why people think it's more convinient to be left wing and then get surprised when there's grifters or shit like that.

16:

A lot of "media literacy" boils down to adding modern politics to a movie that otherwise had a very different message.

Meanwhile, Fritz the Cat had political themes that could apply to modern times but "media literacy" types and animation fans ignore it because it's not coming from their desired background/area.

17:

One of the worst images i saw was a Soyjak making fun of people that prefer to ignore Twitter.

Years of guys on /v/ being told to "go to Twitter" everytime they complain about censorship and now when some anons say "stop posting Twitter screencaps on /v/", they're told "um you should care what Twitter people say".

The mere fact that Twittier is essentially "the center of the web" is a bad thing and destroying the site would be one of the few good things Elon Musk ever did in his life.

#blog

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oldweedsmokingbf · 1 year ago

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it's also been ingrained into my brain... I remember around when I graduated HS I hadn't played in a year or two and my friend was getting back into it and was having a hard time completing missions and songs so I was like "hey lemme do this expert song for u real quick" and I didn't 100% it but I was able to pass and played it like I never missed a beat with that game and the whole time she was staring at me jaw agape... if you hand me snow halation on expert on the og love live app my hands will move against my will like I have phantom hand syndrome and I will be able to get through it w/o failing... I conditioned myself to be good at love live at the snap of someone's fingers

crazy how 10 years ago I was actively giving myself carpel tunnel from playing love live everyday and made it even worse when I'd 100% expert songs.... I was crazy and now that app doesn't even exist anymore 😔

#speaks

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schoolidolradio · 3 years ago

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#love live #love live school idol project #rin hoshizora #hoshizora rin #rin mix #solo #snow halation #real talk

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amaneyuqi · 5 years ago

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*** hourz

#censoring all of sad because if i dont speak it into existence it will not be true #i wanna write angsty christmas reddie #and what about it #i need a coping mechanism and klance just aint doing it for me anymore #i kinda h8 that i'll never finish my fic i put my entire heart into it #if u wanna read it tho.............#snow halation by melchiorrr on ao3 babey #im proud of the first part if only my brain could conjure up the second #i have a huge part of it already typed out since 2017 and like... theres potential #theorhetically i could finish it #i just dont vibe with klance anymore even tho it's the ultimate ship of all time #anywayz i'm not sure why im going on about this #seriously though read the first part it's good maybe i'm biased but it is its really good #byeeeeeeeee #peace sign emoji #laptops dont have emojis how sad #ok bye for real gonna go look for inspo

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7grandmel · 10 months ago

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Todays rip: 17/01/2024

Because I Love You

Season 1 Featured on: GilvaSunner's Highest Quality Video Game Rips: Volume 6.66

Dedicated to Satoru Iwata

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More than ever these recent days, I've been thinking a lot about the SiIvaGunner community - earlier this week with 2023! YEAR OF THE PORTAL RADIO! I unabashedly wrote more about that than the rip itself. Because I find it to be such an interesting fandom to be part of, due just to how...scattered, it feels, in a lot of ways. The main hub of discussion is the SiIvaGunner Fan Discord, which by the very nature of Discord servers themselves has a sort of, fleeting and temporary feel to it - its hard to get a feel of what's what around there when there's no real way to see "popular" posts or whatnot like on other social media. And even on Twitter, and the handful of people you'll find here on Tumblr like me, there's a big divide with SiIvaGunner fans, those who just like to keep up with the silly mashups, those invested in the lore, those far too invested in both like me, and so many other subfactions - it rarely feels like we're able to band together to form a unified voice.

But whenever we are, it tends to be within the one place we're all drawn to. The YouTube channel itself.

Throughout Season 1's wild lore progression with GiIvaSunner's termination, Chad Warden, Snow Halation, and The Reboot, it became clear to us in the audience that the best way to keep track of all that was happening and to share those news with others, was to simply do it in the comments of all the videos we were already watching. All the classic jokes, new jokes, sudden twists, and places with room to speculate on what it all could mean - no matter what a rip was about, there'd always be a community there, a crowd of people always awaiting what could be right around the corner. A crowd that, directly through the events of The Reboot, had now learned to actually respect one another, and to share their love of rips, music, and gaming with one another, unified as fans.

And its that knowledge of the community's growth, the way it manages to feel both bizarrely disconnected yet simultaneously unified, that makes Because I Love You hit all the harder than it already does. Because especially back then, we were all expecting SiIvaGunner to just play along as they always do, to keep making silly rips no matter the day, keep us in the community engaged in what's being made. Yet Because I Love You, neither in title nor contents holds no joke in sight - it's a beautiful, hand-played piano cover of the titular song, paying respects to the late Satoru Iwata who passed away a year prior to the video's upload. A community and channel otherwise known for its laughs, bits, and intricate lore, were suddenly faced with a piece of darkness from the real world - the lingering sorrow that followed Iwata's death.

Just a day after this post goes up, SiIvaGunner is set to appear at this year's MAGFest, represented by a bunch of its current team members. Members of the SiIvaGunner team are more recognized now than ever before, yet back during the days of following Season 1, it was quite easy to miss the fact that the channel was ran by a group of creatives to begin with - that it wasn't just an elaborate prank by some mysterious organization of employees, or just a shameless reposting page, or whatever other conspiracy floated around back in the day. For as much fun as SiIvaGunner likes to have, for all the absurdities and shitposts and takeovers - it is a channel ran by humans, humans who just like us, were brought together by a unified love for video games. A loss like Satoru Iwata's is one that was only truly felt by those who truly do love video games as an artform - to those who, for instance, have dedicated years of their life to following a channel all about celebrating all that the music of video games means to their players, old and new.

Because I Love You, much like Telling Fish Tales, is simply a beautiful reminder of all the human love, empathy, and community that exists within this silly channel. And even back in Season 1, the community knew to set their jokes and banter aside to pay their respects to Iwata, to all that he accomplished for the history of the medium, and for helping to rescue one of the most beloved, influential and downright legenary games of its time. All these years later, and as SiIvaGunner itself enters one more Season of running, I hope we can continue respecting and honoring those that craft the experiences we hold so dear.

United or scattered, those feelings remain.

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mihotose · 1 month ago

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tracing defender-gumi (kitahara, coco, nako, nassu)

kitahara immediately points out koko-nako and says she's surrounded by cute names as well as the fact that her name is sayaka just like nassu's character, so all their names are connected

after watching tracing defender they talk about how cool the big monitor behind them was, and kitahara talks about how amazing everyone was, as a member of straylight, of whom tracing defender is originally

they all compliment nassu for her high kick and she says ookuma-san and saitou-san were on either side of her and their legs were up to her head so she thought she had to do her best as their kouhai

coco says she felt a bit of pressure as the "cool" and "good dancer" group

kitahara says when she heard those from love live learned the choreography on their own by watching the video with such a short rehearsal period, she thought "for real?" so she asks them "was that actually for real?" and they're all like "...yeah it was" "EHHH?"

they do say it was pretty difficult though. nako says during rehearsals she was trying to work out how itd look at the real thing and kitahara heaps praise on them again

KNOT! as nassu introduces the video the others audibly get excited which embarrasses her w

and after the video they all clap and tell her it was really cool!

nassu tells them that knot was a new song from only two or three months earlier [actually it debuted about 1.5 months earlier] and they had never performed it outside of hasunosora so they didn't know how people would react, but it was red and blue from top to bottom, side to side, and they could hear everyone's chants through their iems

coco says it has symphonic parts but its also edm and rock like, and its a really interesting song. the two of them are good dancers too. nako points out they each dance slightly differently and they all tease nassu for fidgeting out of embarrassment while being complimented

nassu says knot is the hardest song for her and the one she worries most about in rehearsals. for the shout she doesn't want to make it compulsory. because everyone is so hyped she tries out many different words during rehearsals, and this time since they were at tokyo dome, of course she had to choose "DOME!"

we will! a letter points out that the four who performed it are all connected by circles! chisato loves circles, yokoyama nao is from osaka = takoyaki, fukuMARU koito, lanZHU = ball

nako talks about how we will is the op for s2 and how its a song containing their excitement for the start of their new story, and how she was surprised how assured she felt during the collab even though the people with her weren't liella

after the video coco is stuck just saying "cute..." for a while lol "they're the type of cute girls you want to give head pats to"

nako says with liella we will is all about the dance and they don't do shouts or anything but since they changed the choreography for the collab she was able to shout out and jump and it was fun in a completely different way

for their personal favourites nako immediately shouts out mirakura park (nassu: our girls?). "dododo was so dododo"

nako says its so catchy and memorable for even those seeing it for the first time. she couldn't take her eyes off them (coco: childhood friends!!!)

coco says snow halation and kitahara starts fake crying because she was gonna say that lol

kitahara says she never dreamed she would be able to sing it. its a song that everyone remembers their whole life and even now she still feels like it was a dream

coco points out how perfect it was everyone was wearing white outfits. and that she cried backstage w (kitahara nearly cried too while singing)

nassu's is thank you that hasunosora and shinymas did together. its a precious song from their histories by two kouhai groups with really straightforward lyrics. hasunosora was on carts for it and she was really happy to be able to get close to everyone, and there was even a line in the lyrics that was "i can see you properly." she can really remember everyone's faces from back then

kitahara's story is about how the director JUNGO-san had a pompadour and gakuran before the show. he was having more fun than anyone at a time when everyone was feeling really nervous

coco said she wanted to wear a gakuran (the coats from ryouran victory road) too but it was only for specially selected members :(

coco says nijigaku had a dressing room to themselves. the seats were arranged so that they would be facing away from each other, but they wanted to eat together since they're all good friends, so they laid out mats and had like a picnic together and played card games

nako asked if that's how they normally eat and nako says they usually use the table but since they had the space they decided to all sit on the floor. since it was before the show they were all wearing their outfits already too

coco says that nijigaku surprisingly didn't feel very nervous? (nako: so that's why you were able to have a picnic... we don't have that much mental strength...)

coco says of course they value their alone time, and there are some members who want to concentrate or go through moves by themselves, but basically everyone felt pretty excited

for nako's story she says there's an area behind the stage with hand mics and monitors and stuff. liella went there before they sang and they could hear watanabe-san and machico-san from million-san going "liella-chan... they're all so cute..." to each other from behind them lol

those two have cute outfits that show off their legs and stomachs and when nako told them they're cute they let her touch. she looked at her hand for a while after

nassu says that she always takes her contact lenses out right after a live and that she's actually quite reserved and coco immediately protests lol. nassu clarifies she's not Shy she's Reserved, like on day 1 she didn't go anywhere besides the dressing room and the stage, and she was too nervous to ask anyone for selfies

after the show someone told her her performance was really cool but she has no idea who it was because she didn't have her contacts in. their outfit was red and white with frills so it must have been someone from million-san, and if that person is listening she'll be waiting for their message!

kitahara says she wants to go out for dinner with them and hear them talk even more! they all ask for a second time!

ijigen radio (calling the imas seiyuu by family name since i dont know nicknames)

inoue says kan-san was amazing in how she always practised her choreography right up until she had to go on. kankan gets flustered and says inoue and shuka are amazing as well and they made her feel really comfortable. shuka says theyre both cute

inoue, shuka, and kankan were the first collab unit singing let's sail away on day 1, and theyre really grateful they got to be the top batters

after watching a clip of their performance kankan tells them how the other hasunosora members kept making fun of her for blocking her face with her hand mic when looking through the telescope she had made with her hands lmao (also brought up on mirapa radio). inoue tells her the actual move was making a telescope with one hand (with the mic in the other)

shuka says when aqours were given the choreography for dreamy color it was a kind of dance they hadnt really done before, so they thought it was nice to have grown a little. kankan and inoue gush over how beautiful they were performing it

they talked about the cute lotus image of the eien no euphoria choreo and since kankan and inoue collabed on both it and let's sail away shuka complains its unfair and she wants to do the lotus moves too lol (kankan: i wanted you to join too 🥺)

shuka's top song that left an impression on her was doing aozora jumping heart with everyone to open day 1

kankan was really moved by the other members working together with the senpai during the collab songs. also! one of her friends from university was in sukumyu (minamino hana) and theyve always wanted to perform on the same stage together someday, so she was really happy for it to happen at ijigen. she watched the sukumyu songs while backstage and liked that they started off the second half

inoue liked going on the carts! shuka is jealous aqours didnt get a go on those special big carts

inoue says akarin teased her during a rehearsal of ijigen big bang one time when she happened to be next to her and she got obsessed and every rehearsal after tried to find her to keep going. shuka tries to tsukkomi this but says this is something only kitou-chan can do. kankan's like "this bond of theirs is nice" and shuka's like "idk about a Bond" and then inoue's like "our bond has deepened because of the teasing." shuka then recommends this method to get close to people since it was april

the next behind the scenes anecdote is titled "she barged into aqours' dressing room!?" and shuka's like "this one could only be mine guys" when the others try and make it a mystery

shuka says kurosawa tomoyo came to hang out in aqours' dressing room, since even though she voices an imas girl, she also voices you's cousin tsuki! which made shuka feel weird since it was like looking at two different people. she talks about how they hung out and took videos together and kankan adds she saw them and that they have the same vibes. inoue says they do have the same kind of fun approachable aura

kankan's anecdote was how she was able to take lots of photos with her senpai, but the most memorable was the one with cyaron. she really wanted to take a photo with them but she was scared to ask since theyre her senpai. she was just outside the dressing room when she saw them and she must have been staring because furirin-paisen asked what was up and that's when she was able to speak to them and finally ask for a photo, and thats how she was able to have the confidence to talk to other senpai too. she says aqours are really good at closing the distance and shes really grateful they all posted the photos with her on twitter

shuka says there was pressure not to mess up the songs from the other work, and they were worried how the fans would feel, but theyre really glad P and love live fans accepted them. but even then behind the scenes was a pain w but everyone had fun! thats how she'd sum it up. it was fun!

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tappdancing · 3 years ago

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Tag Game

Rules: answer 10 questions & tag 10 people you want to know better

Thankies for the tag @moekaneko

Relationship status: Real answer - Single. Other answer - Vane, Lancelot (GBF), Yuno Grinberryall, Nacht Faust, Tsumugi Tsukioka-

Favourite colour: Turquoise, or just greens and blues in general, as well as blacks and greys

Three favourite foods: Red bean boba tea; mini Dutch pancakes (woo its that time of year again); nachos

Song stuck in my head: Snow Halation by µ’s or Lost One’s Weeping by Neru

Last song I listened to: Tachitsuteto Power by 22/7

Last thing I googled: ‘mayo man gintama’ because I had forgotten Hijikata’s name and was discussing him with a friend fufu

Dream trip: Norway/Iceland to see the Northern Lights or Japan

Anything I want: For college to finish quicker...and to go get mini Dutch pancakes right now

Tagging: @beepomeepo @franken-x @pandapillow @fandom-kitsune @roadbrrrn @nuga-nareul @thorn-princess

#tag games with tapp

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shattered-ass · 3 years ago

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bw megatron feels like hed watch love live

the real reason why dinobot left the predacons was because he was tired of doing the snow halation dance

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ganbaramen · 4 years ago

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Their intention is always to be by your side. The solid foundation of Aqours: Suwa Nanaka, Komiya Arisa, and Suzuki Aina (Translated Interview)

Translation: ramen Translation Check: xIceArcher Quality Check: arbshortcake, Mega-, Yujacha

In their new songs, Aqours is cooler and more mature than ever!

—Aqours, the school idol group from “Love Live! Sunshine!!”, is celebrating their 5th year since their activities began. Your 5th anniversary Dome Tour theme song “Fantastic Departure!” is releasing soon. How did you feel when you listened to it?

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Suzuki: Like we’re setting off on a new adventure. It’s very Aqours-esque—like we’re reaching out to a more distant place.

Suwa: Right, it’s a song unlike anything we’ve had before, one with very strong undertones of a new beginning.

Komiya: We’ve had the privilege of performing at Tokyo Dome and MetLife Dome, but I feel like this song depicts us as we move a step beyond that.

Suzuki: I think people are wondering what will happen to Aqours from now on. This song conveys that Aqours is moving forward, that we aren’t disappearing.

—How did you feel when you were recording it?

Komiya: For this song, they said that it’d be good to sing in a more mature way than usual, right?

Suwa: Yeah. I remember them telling us to sound cool.

Suzuki: On the CD version, only Chika says the “attention please” line at the beginning, but actually, all of us had recorded it. They told us to say it in a mature way, so I got the impression that the song would have a mature vibe to it.

Suwa: I felt like Chika’s voice was really gentle on the CD version of “attention please”! It’s very Chika-like to be cool yet still be gentle.

—Any parts that you particularly like?

Suzuki: There’s a part where we each sing in turn, starting with Ruby, and the way it flows between us got me especially emotional. “Thank you, FRIENDS!!” starts with Chika, so everyone’s lines in the song flow together to connect to Chika. That gave me goosebumps.

Komiya: Until now, the 3rd years usually only got their own part once the song got to the second verse. But here, we sing our solos in the same parts across both the first and second verses. At the bridge (where the background music is quiet), each of us sings our own part, which I think is quite rare.

—How do you feel about the B-side, “Aqours Pirates Desire”?

Komiya: The singing range is really low!

Suzuki: Right? It’s low for Aqours.

Suwa: It thrashes from low to high, so I was wondering whether my own vocals would be in the low parts or the high parts. It turns out mine were in the high parts, so I was like “Ohh, I see!”.

Suzuki: The bridge part is quite low!

Komiya: Oh, and the lyrics in my part have “red” in them, so that’s probably why I got those lines. (laughs)

Suzuki: I really like the “one, two, one two three four” part at the beginning, as well as the parts that are a little “impish”. Maybe I should say we act a bit like pranksters.

Komiya: True, it’s the cool side of Aqours.

Suwa: Yup, very cool.

Suzuki: The instruments used in the song also give it a pirate-like feel, in a good way.

Komiya: I want to dance and wave a flag around to it.

The Dome Tour, made possible by everyone’s support.

—Details have yet to be released, but right now, what do you want to try during the Dome Tour?

Suwa: First of all, I want it to happen…

Suzuki: Exactly! The Dome Tour is something that absolutely wouldn’t be possible without everyone who’s been supporting us.

Komiya: You could say that before we knew it, we became something incredible.

Suwa: We’ve really been raised well. (laughs)

Suzuki: I think this tour is only happening because everyone has been looking forward to it, so when the day comes that we can hold it, I want to give a performance that’ll live up to those expectations.

—Aqours already has experience performing at Tokyo Dome, so what do you pay attention to when you’re on stage at large venues?

Komiya: Our 1st Live (Aqours First LoveLive! ~Step! ZERO to ONE~ in 2017) was at Yokohama Arena. Since then, our choreographers kept stressing that “because there are also fans in the stands, you should be conscious of not only the arena sections in front of you, but also those up in the stands”. Because of that, we haven’t had to wonder about what to do if the venue is really big.

Suwa: During our 4th Live (Aqours 4th LoveLive! ~Sailing to the Sunshine~ in 2018), we were hard to see when we were riding the Aqours Ship, so the staff told us to make big movements.

Suzuki: But when we looked at our rehearsal footage, our movements often looked small even when we were trying to make big movements!

Suwa: The studio is completely different from the actual venues.

Komiya: Yup. And sometimes we have no choice but to use a small studio for our rehearsals.

Suwa: Right, right. The member that’s supposed to be the furthest from you sometimes ends up right next to you because you have to loop around [since there’s so little space]. Also, the actual venue has a two-level stage, but we might have to rehearse at a studio that’s just one flat level.

Komiya: But because we had that experience with such hardships, for times like Fest where we couldn’t spare much time for rehearsals, we were able to say “Just tell us where to position ourselves, and we’ll be good!”.

During the photo session after the concert, a display of initiative despite their shyness!

—At Love Live! Fest in January, you crossed the borders of the series to share a stage with µ’s and the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. Did anything in particular strike you from Fest?

Suzuki: It’d have to be µ’s performing “Snow halation”—that was unforgettable. After “Snow halation” (on the second day), we were going to go out on the Aqours Ship. So while we were on standby backstage, we could hear µ’s singing. I ended up crying as we gathered in a circle, feeling like “we’re living in a dream”.

Suwa: Everyone was tearing up at that point.

Komiya: Yup. It was a really mysterious feeling.

Suwa: That moment was something we would have never imagined several years ago, so even we couldn’t picture it.

Suzuki: The fact that we would be performing with everyone from the Love Live! series at Fest… it didn't feel real.

Komiya: When I first heard about Fest, I almost couldn’t believe it! (laughs)

—What are your memories of Aqours’ songs at Love Live! Fest?

Komiya: Even though it had been a long time since we did a concert, we didn’t spend much time rehearsing.

Suwa: Not to mention that we did a lot of songs.

Suzuki: Not to mention that we did unit songs too. (laughs)

Komiya: Also, the stage manager had messages for us before and after our performance, like “do your best”.

Suzuki: Right, right. Things like “You’re the best!” or “That fired me up!”.

Suwa: I understand saying that to us afterwards, but it was inconvenient saying that before the performance because we’d tear up. (laughs)

Komiya: Besides that… they made a ditch in the stage so that the Aqours Ship could move. So we couldn’t be in our normal positions. But even so, we were able to adapt to it right away, which was amazing.

Suzuki: Yes. If this was a long time ago, we wouldn’t have been able to.

Komiya: I was kind of scared of myself because of how much better I could adapt. (laughs)

—How were the performances from the members of the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club?

Suzuki: They really had nerves of steel—just incredible.

Suwa: Because they were all doing their solo songs.

Suzuki: If that were me, I’d be so nervous, like “I can’t do this!”.

Suwa: Maybe the Nijigasaki girls were thinking that too!

Komiya: We started out as a 9-member group, so that’s what we’ve gotten used to, after all.

Suzuki: When we were performing solo at our 3rd Live (Aqours 3rd LoveLive! ~WONDERFUL STORIES~ in 2018), I felt fidgety. (laughs)

Komiya: At that time, I was concentrating so hard that I don’t remember whether the penlights the audience was waving were red or white…

Suwa: The colors were mixed!

—Did you mingle with members from the other units?

Komiya: Our dressing rooms were on the same floor as the Nijigasaki girls, so we ended up meeting in the bathroom. Aside from that, we only occasionally crossed paths after our rehearsals finished.

Suzuki: After the concert, there was time to take photos with each other!

Suwa: But Aqours has a lot of shy girls, so we were kind of paralyzed. (laughs)

Suzuki: I was just paralyzed in awe. But then Kusuda Aina from µ’s was kind enough to come up to me, saying that “we’re both Aina!” and “our colors are both purple!”. It was so hard to believe—I was screaming really loudly on the inside. (laughs)

Suwa: Arisa was the exception, though—she wasn’t shy at all.

Komiya: Yup. I went around getting photos as I pleased. With the Nijigasaki girls, it was like an entire photo session, and from µ’s, I got pictures with Pile, Nanjo Yoshino, and Emitsun (Nitta Emi).

Suwa: I took photos with Mimori Suzuko and Uchida Aya.

Komiya: Everyone was shy, but we took the initiative—”I’m not letting this chance slip away!” (laughs)

Five years of closing the gap between their own personalities and that of an idol

—As we look back on Aqours’ activities, would you mind telling us how you feel about these past five years?

Suzuki: I had never danced before, so I was worried about whether I’d be okay, and whether I’d be able to keep up. There was the challenging leapfrog (in “Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?”) and most of all: the fact that while Mari is tall, I’m the complete opposite.

I thought a lot about how to make my movements on stage appear bigger and how to bring out the sexy aura that Mari has. I worried a lot about those differences.

—How did you overcome those?

Suzuki: Once the anime started, it was a lot easier to see Mari’s expressions. That enabled me to spontaneously picture what Mari would do. It felt more and more like she stood by my side.

It doesn't really feel to me like the gap's been bridged yet, but I've slowly become more confident in our closeness thanks to the fans who'd say “Mari was on stage!".

—Suwa-san, how about you?

Suwa: I really started from rock bottom: no experience in singing or dancing, much less dancing within a formation. It wasn’t that I was missing something—it’s that I was missing everything. We had girls who could already sing or dance, so I inevitably felt like I had to put my all into it—or else. The only solution was to practice hard.

—Did you become confident in yourself through that practice?

Suwa: Good question. I memorize choreography faster than I did before, and my experiences over this time catalyzed my growth. Kanan and I only share a voice, while our appearances and personalities differ. So for concerts, I make my hair blue and my eyes purple. This makes me feel closer and closer to becoming one with Kanan.

—And how about you, Komiya-san?

Komiya: “Love Live! Sunshine!!” was pretty much my first time taking on the role of a voice actress. I had no understanding of how to approach reading an anime script, nor how to move in front of a mic. So I worked myself up into a frenzy. But since none of the other members had much experience with recording, I was relieved that, in some sense, we were all positioned at the same starting line.

Besides that, since I originally worked as an actress, I was overwhelmed by how I didn’t feel “idolish” enough for the job. You could say that my pride led me to feel too embarrassed about being sparkly like an idol.

—Do you feel like you’re able to project yourself as an idol now?

Komiya: Up until around our 2nd Live (“Aqours 2nd LoveLive! HAPPY PARTY TRAIN TOUR” in 2017), the stronger feeling was that of obligation—”I must do this”.

But I realized that I couldn’t enjoy performing at concerts when I was being animated by this obligation. Once I started focusing on enjoying myself, my feelings shifted as well. Though honestly, I still don’t know whether I really sparkle or not. (laughs)

—Komiya-san seems very close to Dia in terms of appearance.

Komiya: When I first saw them, I actually thought “there’s one that looks just like me”. (laughs) Yet she’s level-headed and talented, so our personalities differ. But, just like Aina, I got to know her human side, thanks to the anime. From there, I’ve gotten to understand her more and more.

All three of the third-years are unexpectedly laid-back?

—What’s your impression of the relations between the third-years?

Komiya: Even though they find it hard to be fully honest with each other, they’re actually the ones that love each other the most!

Suwa: Though we only got to see that after graduation, right?

SuzukI: Yes, yes. They drifted apart, made up, and matured in Season 2 of the anime. Then in the movie, they finally became honest with each other.

Komiya: In the movie, I felt like their relationship went back to how it was when they were children, in a good way.

—You can feel how strong the bonds are between the third-years from how their childhood relationship continued all the way from their youth to now.

Suzuki: Since the third-years are childhood friends, they’re the ones that have known each other the longest, even among all the Aqours members. It’s really a great relationship—you can feel how strong their bonds are from watching the animated performance scenes.

—What’s something that the third-years will never lose to the other year groups in?

Suzuki: Maturity…?

Komiya: If we consider the anime, maybe it’s their ability to communicate their thoughts to each other, without saying a word. Aside from that, there are many scenes in which the third-years have to pull the first- and second-years back to reality, so perhaps the third-years’ strength is being grounded in reality.

Suwa: In real life, we worked hard for the third-year songs (“Tousou Meisou Moebius Loop”, “Yosoku Fukanou Driving!”) during 5th Live (“Aqours 5th LoveLive! ~Next SPARKLING!!!~” in 2019), and I think our performance was second to none compared to the other year groups.

Komiya: Also, we’re quite calm, and I guess more laid-back than the other year groups. We had plenty of standby time when we were performing for the 69th “NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen”. We had a narrow space separated by partitions, and the three of us got together, then wondered if we should prepare for the performance by taking a nap. (laughs)

Suzuki: Right, and not only that, but Suwawa (Suwa-san) went straight to sleep before me or Arisa! (laughs)

—So it’s characteristic of the third-years that you’re rock steady and ready at any moment.

Suwa: Yes, I think so. During the standby time, the first-years seemed like they were constantly playing games, so it was pretty lively over there. (laughs)

Komiya: Our ages aren’t even that different…

—What is your mindset as you approach this 5th anniversary year?

Suzuki: We now have the privilege of performing on a dome tour in our 5th anniversary year. Although we’ve evolved and the stages have gotten bigger throughout the years, my feelings haven’t changed from when we started, and I want to move forward while keeping them in mind. As we move ahead, I don’t want to be satisfied with our current abilities. If each of us keeps doing what we can, I’m sure we’ll continue to be loved.

We’ll keep trying our best, so I hope that everyone will keep warmly watching over us. Please continue to support “Love Live! Sunshine!!” and Aqours from now on.

Komiya: After passing our goal of performing at Tokyo Dome, it would be nice if this dome tour serves as a fresh start as we visit several places.

Also, I’d be really happy if this tour enables many people to meet us for the first time. For those of you that are already fans of Aqours: if you have friends or acquaintances that are even a bit interested in us, I hope you can get them to come to a concert of ours and fall into the deep end. (laughs)

Since the venues have gotten bigger, we might end up seeming far away to some people. But our intention is always to be by your side. So please rest assured of that and enjoy our activities.

Suwa: Maybe there are people who learned about Aqours for the first time through this article. Even as we enter our 5th anniversary year, we won’t stop moving forward. If we’ve sparked anyone’s interest, please watch our previous performances, and maybe we can walk forward together from now onwards.

The third-years cast tells all: what’s great about the other two?

Suwa Nanaka on Komiya Arisa

Arisa gets greedy for food! (laughs) Whatever it is, if it's got something to do with food, her going to check it out once we get there is kind of cute. While she seems like an older sister type, the gap between that and her easy-going pace is funny.

Suwa Nanaka on Suzuki Aina

Aina’s very good at singing in a genuine, straightforward way. Personally, I like her baby-like appearance (laughs)—it makes her really cute.

Komiya Arisa on Suwa Nanaka

Suwawa is always calm and collected, and she makes sure to pay attention to what’s around her when she acts. Her calmness in the face of anything, anywhere, is amazing!

Apparently, she also did some cooking during the shelter-in-place period. I usually don’t hear about her cooking, so that surprised me, and I think that part of her is quite cute.

Komiya Arisa on Suzuki Aina

Aina is kind and easy to work with. Because of that, I feel like she’s able to bring us together. She’s always smiling and brightening up the room, no matter where we are, which is also very charming.

Suzuki Aina on Suwa Nanaka

Suwawa is the one I hang out with most in private, and she’s reliable in taking the lead by saying “let’s go here” or “let’s do this”. Though that might just be because I’m indecisive. (laughs)

When we’re out on a date, she walks on the cars’ side of the sidewalk like it’s natural, and when I run into trouble during Aqours’ activities and the like, she comes to my rescue. Her casual kindness is really amazing.

Her best feature is her skin, which is as pale as snow. This is gonna make me sound kind of creepy (laughs), but it feels very pleasant to touch.

Suzuki Aina on Komiya Arisa

Arisa asks me “well, how about we go to a cafe?” whenever I’m troubled, and there, we talk it out directly—she’s the type to show rather than tell. Because she doesn’t like being indirect and she’s not two-faced, you can safely believe that she really means what she says.

But even though she seems reliable, she can be airheaded—she’ll do things like spill some food or space out. That gap moe is cute.

Q&A: Suwa Nanaka, voice of Matsuura Kanan

Question 01: Tell us what you really like about Matsuura Kanan!

She’s somewhat naive, but she’s very thoughtful about her friends. Her figure is great, too. I think she’s charming in many ways. In the anime, the third-years have many serious scenes, but in the movie you can see them brighten up and run free after graduating from high school—I like that as well.

Question 02: Personally, is there anything you want or something you want to do right now?

It’s not really a “thing”. It’s difficult in the current situation, but I have a hobby of traveling, so I just want to go somewhere.

If I could choose, I’d go to Europe, but what I really want right now is to travel, so I feel like anywhere is fine.

Question 03: Are there any media, like books or games, that you’ve taken an interest in recently?

“Mystery to Iunakare” [a manga series]. I already liked mystery and crime dramas, and my interest was piqued when I happened to see an ad for it. Every time, even though I try figuring it out, I can never figure out the culprit, and after it gets solved, I go back and realize there was actually foreshadowing. I take quite a bit of time to read it.

Question 04: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A kindergarten teacher. I like babies, so up until around middle school, I also thought I wanted to be a nursery school teacher. Right after that, I started wanting to become a voice actress.

Question 05: What do you do on your days off?

I go on solo trips. Even if the next day suddenly opens up, it’s pretty hard to invite someone out, so I almost always go out alone. Sometimes I go to places I’ve been thinking about visiting for the longest time, but there are also places that I had booked a hotel at when my holiday was confirmed.

Q&A: Komiya Arisa, voice of Kurosawa Dia

Question 01: Tell us what you really like about Kurosawa Dia!

Everything, of course. (laughs) To be specific, in her roles as the student council president and as Ruby’s older sister, she always feels that she has to be reliable. But when she tries too hard to no avail—that human side of her is cute.

In Season 2, Episode 4 of the anime, you can feel that charm of hers gripping your heart. She hides her own feelings so that she can watch over everyone, but her own feelings slowly reveal themselves. It’s wonderful that she was finally able to act freely after that.

Question 02: Personally, is there anything you want or something you want to do right now?

The other day, I put on socks with lamé [fabric with metallic fibers] in them, and I noticed that my favorite black sneakers have a hole in them. I didn’t notice until now, since I’ve only worn black socks! I really want to get new ones as soon as I can.

Also, I’ve been buying more groceries that require freezing, and since I’ve noticed my freezer is small, I want a big freezer.

Question 03: Are there any media, like books or games, that you’ve taken an interest in recently?

I’ve always been buying “Kuroshitsuji” and “Kinou nani Tabeta?”. Recently, other than books and manga, I’ve gotten into the “Boku no Hero Academia” anime—I’ve watched through Season 4 of the anime as well as the movie. I like the Big 3’s Amajiki Tamaki.

Question 04: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Sailor Moon. When I was young, since the classical ballet tutu looked like Sailor Moon’s uniform, I apparently thought that I could become Sailor Moon if I learned classical ballet. Though I completely forgot about that thought. (laughs) In middle school, I wanted to become a pharmacist, and in high school, I wanted to become a dietitian.

Question 05: What do you do on your days off?

I roll around and nap on the sofa, staring at the ceiling with no thoughts, head empty. (laughs) If I have errands to run or outings planned, I go out. But I don’t want my skin to get tanned, and when I wonder what reason there is for leaving the house if I don’t have a purpose in mind, I find myself not wanting to go out. If possible, I like to just stay inside my home and not do anything.

Q&A: Suzuki Aina, voice of Ohara Mari

Question 01: Tell us what you really like about Ohara Mari!

She’s a very positive girl—she shines, she’s positive, and she’s fearless. But I particularly like how thoughtful she is towards her friends. Even though she never puts it into words, she loves Aqours so much that she’s always thinking about the other members even more than herself. It’s not often that someone can do as well as Mari in “conveying her love to everyone”.

Question 02: Personally, is there anything you want or something you want to do right now?

I want a Nintendo Switch Lite~! The Coral Pink one. I already have a Switch, but I want another one to carry around.

Besides that, right now, I want to do a concert as soon as possible! Even though concerts are tough, I want to find a way to carry my voice to our fans.

Question 03: Are there any media, like books or games, that you’ve taken an interest in recently?

I’ve been reading [the manga] “Houkago wa Kissaten de”—it’s a comfy romantic comedy, and I can’t help but grin when reading it. It really makes your heart skip a beat! (laughs) I’m also into the game “Identity V”. I mostly play the Violent Struggle game mode.

Question 04: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was around five or six years old, I would say I wanted to work at “a cake shop!” (laughs), but from late elementary school to middle school, my dream was to be a manga artist. I was pretty serious—one thing I did was taking a correspondence course on becoming a mangaka.

Question 05: What do you do on your days off?

Sleep, play games… to me, that’s the best way to spend my time. (laughs) I often don’t go out, but sometimes I go shopping with my younger sister.

#love live!#love live! sunshine!!#nanaka suwa #arisa komiya #aina suzuki

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