Love Live! School Idol Project

Love Live!
ラブライブ! (Rabu Raibu!)
Genre	Music
Manga
Written by	Sakurako Kimino
Illustrated by	Arumi Tokita
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Magazine	Dengeki G's Magazine
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	January 2012 – present
Volumes	1
Anime television series
Studio	Sunrise
Original run	2013 – scheduled

Love Live! (ラブライブ!, Rabu Raibu!) School Idol Project is a Japanese collaboration project co-developed by ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine, music label Lantis and anime studio Sunrise. The project launched in the August 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, and went on to produce music CDs, anime music videos and a manga adaptation. An anime television series will begin airing in Japan in 2013. The project revolves around a group of fictional school girls who become idols in order to save their school.

Characters

Honoka Kōsaka (高坂 穂乃果, Kōsaka Honoka)

Voiced by: Emi Nitta

Eri Ayase (絢瀬 絵里, Ayase Eri)

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjo

Kotori Minami (南 ことり, Minami Kotori)

Voiced by: Aya Uchida

Umi Sonoda (園田 海未, Sonoda Umi)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori

Rin Hoshizora (星空 凛, Hoshizora Rin)

Voiced by: Riho Iida

Maki Nishikino (西木野 真姫, Nishikino Maki)

Voiced by: Pile

Nozomi Tōjō (東條 希, Tōjō Nozomi)

Voiced by: Aina Kusuda

Hanayo Koizumi (小泉 花陽, Koizumi Hanayo)

Voiced by: Yurika Kubo

Niko Yazawa (矢澤 にこ, Yazawa Niko)

Voiced by: Sora Tokui

Production

Since the first issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine was published, the editors of the magazine have hosted reader participation games whose development is directly influenced by the people who read the magazine. The project was first announced in the July 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, which revealed that the magazine would be collaborating with the anime studio Sunrise and the music label Lantis to co-produce the project. The project officially began with the August 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, which introduced the story, characters, and a more detailed explanation of the project. The original plan for the story was written by Sakurako Kimino, who also writes the short stories for Love Live! featured in Dengeki G's Magazine. Original character design and illustrations are provided by Yūhei Murota.

Starting in August 2010, online mobile phone popularity contests have periodically been held to rank the characters, which influences the positions of the idols in the anime music videos produced by Sunrise. For example, the idol who ranks first in a given contest will be in the center position in the front row in the music video that follows. Other polls are used to determine different aspects of the idols, such as hairstyles and costumes. Starting with the November 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, readers were polled to determine name of the idols' group. After the editors narrowed down it down to the five most popular names, readers were polled for a final time, ultimately choosing the name μ's (Muse). A similar polling system was used to determine the names of the three mini units Printemps, BiBi, and Lily White.

Media

Manga

A manga adaptation, written by Sakurako Kimino and illustrated by Arumi Tokita, began serialization in the January 2012 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine. The first tankōbon volume will be released on September 27, 2012.

Anime

An anime television series produced by Sunrise will begin airing in Japan in 2013.

External sites

• Official website Template:Ja icon
• Love Live! School Idol Project (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia