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Love Live! Superstar!! Anime Reveals Idol Group's Name: 'Liella'

The official Twitter account for Love Live! Superstar!!, the Love Live! franchise's new television anime, announced on Wednesday that the new group's unit name in the story will be "Liella." As with previous group names in the franchise, the name was sent in by fans and was one among 16 possible names that fans voted for.

The fan "Tora-san" sent in the unit name, and explained that the name is a combination of the French words "lier" (to attach, connect, join) and "brillante" (inner brilliance), with "lier" coming from the unit's in-story school of Yuigaoka Girls High School (the kanji used for "yui" in the school name also means "to connect"). Tora-san further explained that it conveys the unit's inner brilliance even though they are still a "small star," and they must connect with each other's star to become superstars.

The anime's official website describes the anime's story:

Yuigaoka Girls High School is a newly established school that lies between the Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama neighborhoods of Tokyo. The story centers on its first batch of students. With no history, no upperclassmen or alumni, and no reputation, it is a school full of unknowns.

Five girls, among them Kanon Shibuya, have a fateful encounter with school idols. Kanon decides, "I love singing. I want to make something come true with song!" Many feelings converge upon a star that has only started to grow. The future is blank and full of possibility for these girls, and their story that everyone will make possible has only just begun. Soar with your wings, our Love Live!

The characters are named (from left to right in image above) Chisato Arashi, Sumire Heanna, Kanon Shibuya, Tang Keke, and Ren Hazuki.

Hajime Yatate, the collective pseudonym for the staff of Sunrise, is once again credited for original work. Sakurako Kimino is also credited again for original concept, as in previous Love Live! anime. Takahiko Kyōgoku, the director of the original Love Live! School idol project and subsequent film, returns as director alongside Love Live! School idol project and Love Live! Sunshine!! writer Jukki Hanada. Atsushi Saito (Black Fox) is adapting franchise character designer Yūhei Murota's original character designs. Yoshiaki Fujisawa also returns from the first Love Live! series as composer for the music.

The franchise was scheduled to start open casting call auditions for one of the main cast members of the new project on March 12, but the auditions were postponed due to the effects of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The auditions are restricted to unmarried women from the ages of 15 to 22 (as of April 1, 2020). The auditions will not accept applications from those currently in middle school or lower, and those with existing contracts with record companies or talent management agencies.

The new anime project features the tagline, "Watashi o Kanaeru Monogatari — Hello!!! Love Live!" (The story of my dreams coming true. Hello!!! Love Live!"). This is a reference to the franchise's previous tagline of "Minna de Kanaeru Monogatari," which refers to the fact that the school idol group's names, center performers, song lyrics, and other aspects are decided by fan vote.

The franchise announced a separate new television anime series titled Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai (Nijigasaki Academy's School Idol Appreciation Club) in December. That anime will premiere on October 3.

In 2010, the anime studio Sunrise, Lantis, and ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G Magazine launched Love Live! as a self-described "ultimate user-participation project" that lets its fans vote on the future of the fictional idols in the μ's school idol group. A series of music CDs and animated music videos then followed. The first Love Live! School idol project anime series (pictured right) premiered in January 2013, and the second series premiered in April 2014. The Love Live! The School Idol Movie film opened in Japan in June 2015.

The Love Live! Sunshine!! project was first announced in February 2015. The project's three key phrases are "Reader Participation," "Inspired by μ's," and "Seaside Town Setting." Fans chose the group's name Aqours by popular vote.

The first Love Live! Sunshine!! television anime premiered in July 2016. The second season ran from October to December 2017. The Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie Over the Rainbow film opened in Japan in January 2019.

Sources: Love Live! Superstar!!'s Twitter account via Hachima Kikō