Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow

Following the closure of Uranohoshi Girls' High School, the third-year students—Dia Kurosawa, Kanan Matsuura, and Mari Ohara—have just graduated, leaving Aqours with solely the first and second-years. While searching for a new place the remaining can use to practice, they decide to visit the new school they will soon enroll in. However, to their surprise, the building seems to be abandoned! It turns out that due to the school board's worries regarding how the freshly transferred Uranohoshi students may burden the clubs, they were instead sent to a branch school. This sets Aqours on a new goal—to prove that Uranohoshi students are serious in their clubs as well. Meanwhile, another problem arises: the third-years have unexpectedly gone missing during their graduation trip!

Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow revolves around the remaining Aqours as they venture out to search for their missing seniors and, at the same time, try to figure out a way to change the new school's mind.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tsushima, Yoshiko Main

Kobayashi, Aika Japanese

Watanabe, You Main

Saitou, Shuka Japanese

Kunikida, Hanamaru Main

Takatsuki, Kanako Japanese

Sakurauchi, Riko Main

Aida, Rikako Japanese

Ohara, Mari Main

Suzuki, Aina Japanese

Kurosawa, Ruby Main

Furihata, Ai Japanese

Kurosawa, Dia Main

Komiya, Arisa Japanese

Takami, Chika Main

Inami, Anju Japanese

Matsuura, Kanan Main

Suwa, Nanaka Japanese

Kazuno, Leah Main

Satou, Hinata Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Hirayama, Tadashi Producer

Herek, Samantha Assistant Producer

Sakai, Kazuo Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 13, 2023

Asasphinx

Recommended

I've held the Love Live series in high regard for years at this point and have went into each series cautiously and optimistically in mind to how the series got its start with School Idol Project. Of the many spin-offs and followups after SIF, Sunshine definitely had a rocky start as Aqours' biggest issue throughout Sunshine seemed to be establishing their own identity apart from the likes of Muse and in some way this movie gives them another chance in doing what season 1 was trying to do, but it still has it's own issues.

Over the Rainbow follows up on the plot point with ... the school that season 2 left off with and the 3rd years are naturally preparing for life after high school away from Aqours and the remaining 6 struggle to function as a group knowing the 3rd years won't be with them going forward. This is the biggest plot point of the movie along with a continuation of school drama Aqours seeks to resolve following the closure of Uranohoshi Girl's High School in season 2, but it's not the only one as the film picks up a good few other narratives and attempts to provide some clarity on. If you're a fan of Sunshine then perhaps you'll be content with how it looks at all issues with heavy dramatization and solving those issues through configuring their emotions and everything else works alongside their own evolutions. You could say the overly dramatic approach to storytelling is a part of what makes this series what it is at this point and I'd be inclined to agree, but I didn't feel like it juggled the handful of plot points too well here. The trip that they take to seek out the 3rd years gets rendered pointless by it not being relevant other than mostly serving for a temporary setting. And like it the other plot points are either rushed towards a conclusion too soon or resolved a bit too easy in favor of the movie reaching a satisfying ending for everyone.

Aqours themselves are all back and carrying the same cute quirks and traits as they've always had and along with them Saint Snow as well. Over the Rainbow somehow felt like it didn't do anyone in Aqours too much justice for anyone individually. Even for the few who get highlighted we're not given too much time to absorb ourselves in the drama because it gets solved quicker than it feel like it should've been. The few who'll get some seperate camera time get at least a little something in, but the rest seemingly get relegated to roles they already had from the TV series.
(Like You being snubbed of screentime more than Chika & Rika, Hanamaru & Yoshiko acting as comic relief to varying degrees, and Ruby at least being able to synchronize & develop in a similar sense with Leah from Saint Snow over their sisters and idol performances with them)

While it staggers with the story it does of course do great with everything else. The songs and performances are of course good as expected, may be so bold as to say I might have a new favorite Aqours song or two now from the movie. While I don't quite have an eye for details regarding things like CGI, there is nothing I have to say against it here because it's something Love Live does very well all around it's multiple series. The models always look good and the choreography for the dances seems impeccable, some of the best choreography in anime tends to come from this series. Also liked how the movie felt more like a musical too with how well they'll move from a scene then immediately transition into a performance.

Over the Rainbow treads into the same familiar territory that it the Sunshine TV series does but for better and worse in various respects from both seasons, but if you liked Sunshine then you'll likely like the movie as well. The movie didn't quite feel like the farewell for Aqours that I hoped it would've been like with μ's but it felt like it did them just enough justice for me to walk away and feel like the series has concluded. But I did like that it ends on the same note that season 1 starts on, and rather than that goodbye like μ's had this felt simple and pleasant. While Aqours' overall tale was a bit rough having retread familiar territory and stumbling a bit on it's own spins it was still nice being with Aqours for the ride.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 28, 2019

Azukano

Mixed Feelings

***SPOILER-FREE REVIEW***

Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow was an anticipated movie for many Love Live Sunshine fans. Using the same trope of "Traveling Abroad" just like the original Love Live series, they look to produce the same amount of closure in the franchise as well as the original did. However, this really wasn't the case sadly.

______


STORY: LLS Movie is an extended epilogue of Love Live! Sunshine!! 2nd Season. With the 3rd years graduating and the others merging in with another school, we look to see how they close the show. It started off nicely with the 1st and 2nd years struggling ... to find their way without 3 missing. However, the switch to the "3rd years missing in Italy" arc was out of nowhere and the result of the arc was worthless other than to showcase the "trip abroad" trope that the original did. Nothing really was given to the characters rather than the "Friends got our back in everything" concept.

Then switching back to include Saint Snow's dilemma was rapid as well and didn't really help the main group of Aqours resolve their own problems until later on in the movie.

The ending did feature a touching way to end off the series, but everything preceding this was clumsily directed and filled with filler. But I'll get to that in the "Enjoyment" section of this review.

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ART: This movie showcased a vast improvement in it's art and animation compared to the 2nd season. The CG models of the girls performing are much better. Backdrops looked quite nice as well.


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SOUND: Just take the same OST you got from previous Love Live anime but add in a few new original songs and you get this movie's soundtrack. I personally liked all of the songs although listening to Aqours' singles, they sound quite similar and not so different from each other. Saint Snow's newest song was my standout pick for the soundtrack of the movie in my opinion.

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CHARACTER: As an extension of my thoughts on the story, the way the movie was paced and directed felt sloppy and really didn't do much for any of the individual characters at all. Even as a group which left a mixed feeling for me when finishing the movie. The characters did showcase the tropes that made us love them from the first 2 seasons cause they did have standout moments of comedy and great character chemistry. But seeing as this movie **should** be a defining conclusion to the LL: Sunshine franchise. This felt like filler and that's disappointing.


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ENJOYMENT: As per mentioned in the previous sections, my enjoyment of the movie was flawed due to the sloppy pacing of the story and underwhelming character growth mixed with the "laugh out loud" moments produced by the lovable girls of Love Live Sunshine. Seeing how they marketed this movie to be a "crazy trip abroad" type of movie and seeing the end result was disappointing in my opinion as the whole trip was pretty wasted potential.


______


FINAL THOUGHTS: Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow was a overall fine movie. As an extended epilogue to the 2nd season of Sunshine, this was a pretty underwhelming experience. However, for hardcore Love Live fans, this will definitely satisfy you for the comedic moments and good songs that the movie offers. If you have seen the trailer for this movie, don't expect much from the abroad trip or even the movie as a whole. You'll be disappointed, like I was.

5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 5, 2019

Garma

Not Recommended

Spoiler

*This review contains spoilers.*

Love Live is part of a bigger multimedia franchise. This is important to consider because the Anime serves more or less as an advertisment for the games and to create a basic level of attachment to its characters. I don't think it's justified to call the Anime adaptations a cashgrab, but all of them so far have been pretty mediocre and anyone who has seen Love Live Sunshine (LLS) knows what the expect from the movie.

If you happened to like LLS, that's great. You will probably like "Over the Rainbow" (OTR) too, as it does essentially nothing different from the TV series. ... If you didn't like the TV series, well that's too bad. You probably won't like OTR either. The movie managed to leave behind the forced drama about Aquors' beloved school closing but at the same time it introduced new unnecessary drama.

Like the TV series, the movie lives off mostly of the cute interactions between the of Aquors. Everyone has retained their quirks and they are used for comedy throughout the movie. We get to see a lot of new musical performances which makes you feel like you're watching disney movie because the characters happen to sing and dance in the most unlikely of situations. Sometime during the movie it became clear to me that the story of the movie is just an excuse to show the characters' new performances. This is also where the movie differs a bit from the TV series: There is no longer any driving force behind Aquors trying to perform as school idols. Heck, there is no longer any driving force behind the story at all. The TV series concluded it perfectly with Uranohoshi closing and merging with another school. And here we are in OTR, with Aquors thinking about how to continue their lives, now that Dia, Kanan and Mari have graduated.

The trip to Italy could have been a great adventure if it hadn't been botchered by the reason of why Dia, Kanan and Mari disappeared. As it turns out, Mari's mother tries to force her into an arranged marriage to restrict her freedom. An interesting turn of events, but the way it's resolved is in typical LLS fashion: Mari convinces her mother to cancel the marriage if Mari can show her that she can make people happy while performing as a school idol. Of course, her mother agrees and Mari manages to persuade her later on. I know that drama has never been a strength of Love Live, but come on ... that whole arc was really laughable.

Dragging through the movie is generic ganbatte talk. The characters are motivating each other a lot, but that's really only on a superficial level. It has been like that in the TV series as well and it's continuing in the movie. Combine this with the fact that there is no competition anymore and you may start wondering what kind of goal our characters have in mind. At the beginning of the movie, it is clear that due to Dia, Kanan and Mari having graduated, the remaining of Aquors have trouble performing at their full potential due to lacking 3 . Fast forward to the end of the movie, they suddenly are able to perform with only 6 , despite having learned exactly nothing.

Aside from Mari's arranged marriage, other subplots have been introduced during the movie as well. One example would be Leah from Saint Snow having trouble to assemble a new school idol unit, now that she can't perform with Sarah anymore. This subplot, like all others, was left severely underdeveloped and it's resolve was basically pulled out of thin air. A new character was introduced as well, You's cousin Tsuki, but she didn't really serve any purpose besides just exisiting.

Music should be one of the greater strengths of Love Live, yet I find most of the songs to be pretty generic J-pop. I have no deeper attachment to any of Aquors' (neither to the Anime characters nor the real singers) and with the exception of "Mirai Ticket" I have not found myself to really enjoy any other of their songs. Maybe I'm not the target audience of Love Live, but I don't see what makes the music any different from other idol groups.

My rating of 4 may seem harsh, but you should put it into your own perspective. It's the same rating I gave the TV series because I think the movie is just "as good" or "as bad", depending on your perspective. As I said in the beginning, if you liked LLS you will probably like the movie too. But looking at LLS as a standalone Anime, I think it's just bad. It's bland characters, bad story, forced melodrama, repetitive comedy and average music all makes it a bad Anime for me. Sadly, the movie offers no real development and makes the same mistakes. That's why I think only fans of LLS will love it. It's certainly not made for a general audience.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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