Stars (vocally) Emi Nitta, Aina Kusuda, Aya Uchida, Pile, Riho Iida, Sora Tokui, Suzuko Mimor, Yoshino Nanjou, Yurika Kubo Directed by Takahiko Kyōgoku Taking off from where the series’ second season ended, the school idol group, μ's are called upon to support the Love Live by participating in an international performance. This leads the girls on a trip to New York even as Honoka ponders the future, be it for the group or simply her own future. As with most of these movies that transition from the TV series, it helps loads to be familiar with the series, especially when you have nine lead characters. That being said, the movie chooses to focus the story around Honoka as she was the one who initially brought the group together and by this point, the three senior members are graduating and the fate of the group itself becomes a sticking plot point. One simple question is raised to Honoka early on and that becomes the gist of her story, and it serves very well to carry the movie. So, on its own, the movie is fairly paced with a number of catchy new tunes, with the strongest ones closing out the show. The animation is beautiful as you can expect from a film production effort although the use of CGI becomes super-apparent when filling in the crowd scenes (see the armies in The Lord of the Rings trilogy series) that there is a slight disconnect between the CGI and the hand-drawn styled animation. As it is a movie following a series, the main cast all know their characters well so there’re no complaints there. If you’re not used to anime of this nature, the vocal performances may be grating, so be warned. The direction, particularly on the musical numbers in the first half, seem to lean more towards a music video aesthetic rather than staged dances normally associated with musicals, but the movie ends in high style that matches the ends of the two seasons that preceded this; one in a grander scale than before, and one in a more intimate nature. Fans of the series may gripe a little if their favourite character isn’t getting enough screen time, but they all do have their moments. The humour is there and the entertainment / enjoyment level is high. In typical Japanese fashion, some elements are open to your own interpretation which may inspire discussion among the fans (who may want to add an additional 1/2 star). (The movie was screened in Japanese with English, Chinese and Malay subtitles.) Rating: ***1/2 / 5 Please support by buying or recommending to others. Thank you. - b
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