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Japan Airlines Cancels Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Event Due to Threat

Japan Airlines (JAL) announced on Tuesday that it has canceled its March 28 special event at Kyoto Station, after receiving an email message threatening to disrupt the event. The event would have promoted its campaign tied to the Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai Kanketsu-hen Dai-2-Shō film.

As a result of multiple discussions with the organizations involved and the local police, the airline decided to cancel the event to prioritize the safety of attendees. Voice actors Miyu Kubota (who plays Karin Asaka) and Shū Uchida (Mia Taylor) were scheduled to appear at the event. 

The Kyoto event would have promoted JAL's ongoing "Nijigaku Member to Issho ni Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe Kankō Sora no Tabi!" (Sightseeing Flights to Kyoto, Osaka, & Kobe With the Nijigaku Members!) campaign. The tourism campaign ties into the film and has been running from November 7, 2025 (the film's opening date in Japan) to May 31, 2026. It includes an augmented reality app (to allow fans to view and "photograph" the idol group members performing at the three cities), a location-based quiz to win rewards, exclusive novelty gifts, and limited character goods.

The Kyoto event would have been the second special cast talk show event at the three cities highlighted by JAL's campaign. The first event in Osaka featured voice actors Natsumi Murakami (Ai Miyashita) and Moeka Koizumi (Shioriko Mifune) as guests on January 31.

The first film in the Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai Kanketsu-hen finale trilogy film opened in September 2024, followed by the second film in November 2025. The third and final film, Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai Kanketsu-hen Saishūshō, will open next winter.

The film trilogy is set after the two previous television seasons and the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Next Sky original video anime project. In the story, the club receives an invitation to the "School Idol GPX" contest. In the first film, six members from the idol club — Ayumu, Kasumi, Shizuku, Kanata, Emma, and Lanzhu — go to Okinawa to compete. In the second film, Karin, Ai, Setsuna, Rina, Shioriko, and Mia go on a trip to the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe in Japan's Kansai region.

The first season of the main Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club anime premiered in October 2020. The second season premiered in April 2023. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan, and later streamed an English dub.

The franchise's staff introduced the members of Nijigasaki Academy's Idol Appreciation Club in 2017 as part of KLab Games and Bushiroad's Love Live! School Idol Festival smartphone game's "Perfect Dream Project" (PDP).

Source: Japan Airlines via Yaraon!