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REVIEW: Love Live! Sunshine!! BD/DVD


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Millhi



Joined: 20 Feb 2017
Posts: 136
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:46 am Reply with quote
Nice review as usual Nick.

Also
Quote:
as her soft tone doesn't necessarily match the boisterousness of Anju Inami's original take.
should be Shuka Saito
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Raebo101



Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 792
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:57 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Sarah Weidenheft


Slight error: It's actually Sarah Wiedenheft (person#128620).
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:16 am Reply with quote
I still don't understand the appeal of Sunshine. I really enjoyed the first show but I still don't see... how should I put this... how a clone of a character roster meet up could succeed by being aware that it's derivative of a character roster meet up? "We're working under the shadow of the characters you love... so that's a thing we'll have to deal with in the show" would seem to be the thinking of the producers. But that's not the charm of the main series, there were no expectations, no roles to fill, just a group of girls who wanted to do something, anything, they could to save the orphanage. I mean club. School, whatever. "We have to have nine members because there were 9 members. There should be three from each year because there was three from each year. We need some who just look good, and we need some with actual talent." But the main series pulled it off as a matter of serendipity, not a checklist.

I can get behind Chika as she's a great main character but for me, the show is just "Chika and company" while the original series was more a cast of contrasting developed characters who all had different reasons and expectations for being school idols.

Long drawn out rambling cut short: Does Sunshine have anyone as interesting as Nico, Mika or Honoka beyond Chika? From the picture, I can pick out Ruby... another girl with pigtails, what are the odds?... but she's more dominated by a character trait, not an actual personality.

That's it.. There's a lack of individuality of... of...

Quote:
Where Sunshine succeeds over the original Love Live! is in its articulation of genuinely imperfect people, people lacking the irrepressible power of someone like the original's Honoka.


1 The word we're looking for is "charisma".
2 Not having any doesn't make people imperfect.
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rizuchan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 974
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:42 am Reply with quote
I notice that Nick didn't even mention it in the review (maybe his copy didn't come with one) but, has anyone had any success redeeming the Funimation Digital Copy? I just get thrown around their site without there ever being a box to redeem it. Support said they were "looking into it" and I never heard from them again.

It's not a big deal, since I have a Funimation subscription and I don't think the "digital copy" is anything different than just their streaming version anyway, but I'd like to at least know if it's a widespread issue or if it's just my account.
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ParaSitius



Joined: 19 Feb 2012
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:12 am Reply with quote
The first cour of Sunshine put me off enough that I can't put the energy together and attempt to watch the 2nd cour. I just found it to be one big lazy effort which rode on the coat-tails of the original show and I found I just didn't care enough about any of the characters or story once they decided to rehash the whole premise of the first show. I watched all the first cour and can honestly say I don't actually remember much about it.

@Animegomaniac - I would think that the 9 character count comes from the fact that the highly successful and money making mobile rhythm game requires that amount, no more, no less.
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kiminobokuwa



Joined: 18 Sep 2015
Posts: 547
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:38 am Reply with quote
Everyone keeps saying that they were riding on the cotails of Muse but that is not entirely true and I highly disagree with this review. If anything, the first season was trying to show how Chika was too much trying to be like muse and not be original in her own way and she realized that. They were implying it so much throughout thr series brcause they wanted to be smart about what they were doing for thr girls. And no, none of these girls are clones of the former muse and if their popularity was based on that alone they would not be as popular as they are today. Each girl is entirely different and that is why it was so hard for them to form Aqours. Especially since the 3rd years have tried before (under the same name) and failed and it was hard to overcome their former shadow. This season was about cherishing Muse because imagine if they did not reference muse at all, the fans would be pissed about that. They wanted to show that they were grateful for Muse paving the way for more idols to become famous. Not to mention the fact that Chika's school was very much close to closing and she thought that if she followed the extact road muse took (including have a nine member group) that would mean she would get success but throughout the anime they shpwed this by ultimately showing no change in their predicament. That is why they showed how Chika had to evolve and forget about trying so hard to be like Muse but instead try to strive to be the best they can be on their own. And THAT is why Sunshine was so popular because of it was just a normal rehash of Muse no one would watch, let's be real. Instead, it showed that even if you follow the exact method there is no guarantee you can get the exact results but you may get something even better than before! Hence why they also closed out the season with them not advancing to the finals. Because they still had more to improve and I think the visuals actually exceeding Muse because the CGI was definitely bumped up greatly from the first 2 seasons. So there you go. Everyone keeps comparing them to the originals which makes no sense because they are not the same girls as Muse. They are entirely different, and I think they have more than proven that they are worth it enough to stand on the same stage as Muse.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:58 pm Reply with quote
rizuchan wrote:
I notice that Nick didn't even mention it in the review (maybe his copy didn't come with one) but, has anyone had any success redeeming the Funimation Digital Copy? I just get thrown around their site without there ever being a box to redeem it. Support said they were "looking into it" and I never heard from them again.

It's not a big deal, since I have a Funimation subscription and I don't think the "digital copy" is anything different than just their streaming version anyway, but I'd like to at least know if it's a widespread issue or if it's just my account.


I've had similar troubles. If I go through the site to redeem, it doesn't have anywhere to input the code, and takes me to the FAQ page. Older titles with Ultraviolet copies worked fine. Like you, I'm a subscriber, so I wasn't too concerned, and I wasn't sure if maybe having a subscription somehow made it not work since I have access to the whole library as is. I hadn't even bothered until now since there wasn't much point between the hard copy and my subscription, but it would be nice to know the situation.
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2434
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:08 pm Reply with quote
Greed1914 wrote:
rizuchan wrote:
I notice that Nick didn't even mention it in the review (maybe his copy didn't come with one) but, has anyone had any success redeeming the Funimation Digital Copy? I just get thrown around their site without there ever being a box to redeem it. Support said they were "looking into it" and I never heard from them again


I've had similar troubles. If I go through the site to redeem, it doesn't have anywhere to input the code, and takes me to the FAQ page.

Same problem here. I opened a ticket, Funimation Support initially asked for more info, and then went quiet. I think it's safe to assume the Digital Copy is not going to work anytime soon, and it should not figure into your buying decision (just rip the Blu-Ray, if you can).
Quote:
So how does Sunshine actually fair?

Editor Me: should be "fare" sted "fair".

As for the show, I was frustrated by Sunshine!!'s relentless focus on μ's and its unwillingness or inability to let go of the original Love Live!, but the second season solved that problem decisively, and IMO is the best thing I've seen from this franchise. I've gone from having heard enough about μ's to kind of hoping Chika meets Honoka in the upcoming Sunshine!! movie.
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 1987
Location: australia
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 6:02 pm Reply with quote
kiminobokuwa wrote:
Everyone keeps saying that they were riding on the cotails of Muse but that is not entirely true...


Agreed. Like I get there's lots of similarities and at a glance the plot is like "oh gee this again" but the series acknowledges that, both in proper plot and in comedy. Like when Chika learns the school is closing down, she gets so excited, because it's just like u's. She's just like any fan who sees something similar to something they like and are like "oh my god! it's like i'm in ___" or whatever.
But it tackles it seriously, like when Chika starts learning that Aqours is its own thing and not to just copy u's. When she takes down the u's poster from her room, it was a big step. (It was kind of emotional to notice, too).

IMO Sunshine does the plot a lot better than the original series. It has more gravity to the situation and feels more, in a way, realistic, in that the girls actually have failures. The original series feels more soap opera-like, and sure Sunshine isn't exactly the greatest writing but it felt more meaningful to me. The original series wrapped stuff up so quick, even with the Honoka gets sick and Kotori might leave plots it didn't feel very dramatic (to me). But Sunshine.... No spoilers but the second season was pretty emotional for me.

Also, I like that the rival group Saint Snow actually got used as more than just "we're rivals but we'll give up coz you guys are so good" characters like A-RISE were in the original series.
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invalidname
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Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2434
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:24 pm Reply with quote
harminia wrote:
Also, I like that the rival group Saint Snow actually got used as more than just "we're rivals but we'll give up coz you guys are so good" characters like A-RISE were in the original series.

Wake Up, Girls! did amazing things with this concept and took it way farther than Love Live… albeit in movies 2 & 3 (which we didn't get here) and season 2 (which has less animation than some visual novels).
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 1987
Location: australia
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:40 pm Reply with quote
invalidname wrote:

Wake Up, Girls! did amazing things with this concept and took it way farther than Love Live… albeit in movies 2 & 3 (which we didn't get here) and season 2 (which has less animation than some visual novels).


I haven't seen WUG but that sounds promising!... if somewhat limited.
It's always good when rival characters actually have personalities rather than just being the same as other mob characters, or only being there for one particular plot point and then forgotten about...
That's why S2 of LLS was great with how it expanded Saint Snow beyond just Those Rival Girls...
But I digress
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Asrialys



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 1159
PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 11:11 pm Reply with quote
Of all titles, I wonder why this one did not receive a limited edition. Makes me miss NISA's oversized boxes. Hopefully, the second season receives one to fit the first season and maybe movie...
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XerneasYveltal



Joined: 09 Jun 2015
Posts: 667
Location: Philippines
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:24 pm Reply with quote
I knew from the get-go that Sunshine has some serious identity issues distinguishing itself from its predecessor, and the review apparently says it all.
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4369
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:45 pm Reply with quote
XerneasYveltal wrote:
I knew from the get-go that Sunshine has some serious identity issues distinguishing itself from its predecessor, and the review apparently says it all.


at least its minor compared to idolmaster cinderella girls which pretty much was a walking identity issue when it came to distinguishing itself from its predecessors.

Quote:
and I was particularly impressed by how Sarah Weidenheft managed to match the squeakiness of Ruby's personality without going into grating, faux-childlike territory.


true enough. hell its cause of that performance is that there some people on other forums who think she would have make a better version of asterisk war's flora than sandy fox and that's saying a lot considering on how much people disliked that lolicon maid flora.
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tomdean



Joined: 22 Jan 2018
Posts: 125
PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 3:28 am Reply with quote
Sunshine is basically a childish version of the original. The original had troubles, drama, slightly more inappropriate jokes(the chest grabs, the nico-maki yuri).The original had to suffer spoiler[ the humiliation of playing into an empty space, the group splitting up, best friends fight, being set up the the then-council president], whereas in Sunshine just falls into place, spoiler[have no audience? Don't worry. 200 people will miraculously show up all at the wrong time. Can't do a move that even an extremely fit and athletic Kanan can't? Don't worry somehow practising well into the night is the best way to perfect the move and your body is not tired at all at 5am in the morning. Even failure to save the school and the break up of the band doesn't nearly feel as dramatic. Everything will somehow be alright]

Sunshine is clearly targeted at a younger audience; this is absolutely fine, some animes are for a younger crowd and some for older. I just personally find Sunshine at times cringey, at times childish and at times Disney-like. Judging by its success, I can only say that, if people enjoy it, great, but it's not for me.
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