News

S. California's UTB Airs Love Live! Anime Starting on Friday

United Television Broadcasting Systems (UTB), a Japanese-language television station in Southern California, will air the first episode of the Love Live! School idol project television anime series starting at 9:00 p.m. PDT on Friday. The station had revealed last month that it will air the first and second seasons of the series. New episodes will air every Friday at 9:00 p.m.

UTB describes the series as follows:

The traditional school Otonokizaka High is situated between the three towns of Akihabara, Kanda, and Jimbocho. This school is also in imminent danger of closing. Because of this crisis, the second year student Honoka Kosaka takes center stage with eight others to do something about it!
“To protect the school we love so much, we have to do all we can… We have to become school idols! By becoming idols and advertising how great our school is to the world, more students will want to apply!”

In 2010, the anime studio Sunrise, Lantis, and ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine launched Love Live! as a self-described "ultimate user-participation project" that lets its fans vote on the future of the fictional idols. A series of music CDs and animated music videos then followed. The first television anime series premiered in January 2013 and the second season premiered in April 2014.

Crunchyroll streamed both seasons as they aired in Japan, and NIS America released both seasons on home video with an English dub. The Love Live! The School Idol Movie film premiered in Japan last June, and NIS America also handled its theatrical release in North America.

Thanks to Seiru for the news tip.