Love Live! Superstar!! (TV series)

Love Live! Superstar!! is an anime television series produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (under the "Sunrise" brand) as the fourth installment in the Love Live! franchise. It is directed by Takahiko Kyogoku, with the screenplay written by Jukki Hanada and Atsushi Saito designing the characters.[1] The series follows five high school girls who overcome personal challenges as members of their school idol group Liella! on their way to gaining prominence in the school idol world. The first season aired 12 episodes on NHK Educational TV from July 11 to October 17, 2021. A second season will premiere in July 2022.[2] Funimation has licensed the series for international releases.[3]

Love Live! Superstar!!
Promotional artwork
Country of originJapan
No. of episodes12
Release
Original networkNHK Educational TV
Original releaseJuly 11, 2021 (2021-07-11) –
present
Series chronology

For the first season, Liella! perform both the opening and ending themes, titled "Start!! True Dreams" and "Mirai wa Kaze no Yō ni" (未来は風のように) respectively, from episode 2 onwards. Special animated music videos made specifically for the NHK Educational TV broadcast featuring original songs by Liella! air after each episode titled "Songs of Liella!".[4]

Episode list

Season 1
OverallEpisodeTitle [5][lower-alpha 1]Insert song(s)Songs of Liella!Original air date
661"This Yet Unknown Feeling"
Transcription: "Mada Na mo nai Kimochi" (Japanese: まだ名もないキモチ)		"Mirai Yohō Hallelujah!" (未来予報ハレルヤ!) by Liella!"Primary" by Liella!July 11, 2021 (2021-07-11)
Kanon Shibuya is on her way to her first day at Yuigaoka Private Girls High School. Keke Tang, a new classmate who just transferred from China, is delighted with Kanon's singing and attempts to recruit her to form a school idol club, but Kanon refuses. Kanon later confesses to Keke that she always wanted to sing, but she passes out in a panic when she performs in public, ultimately giving up singing after she fails the exam to join Yuigaoka's music course. After failing to recruit other girls to join Keke's club, Kanon hears from Keke that her true wish is to become a school idol with her. Kanon runs away at first, but inspired by Keke, Kanon begins to sing in front of their schoolmates, apparently overcoming her fears.
672"No School Idols Allowed?!"
Transcription: "Sukūru Aidoru Kinshi!?" (Japanese: スクールアイドル禁止!?)		—"Memories" by Kanon Shibuya (Sayuri Date)July 18, 2021 (2021-07-18)
Kanon is reinvigorated by her newfound confidence only to find Keke distraught over her proposal to form a school idol club having been rejected by Ren Hazuki. Kanon enlists her friend Chisato Arashi to find out any weakness Ren may have that she may exploit, but nothing comes to light. Kanon and Keke draw up a petition to gain support for the club's formation, and after talking with the headmistress, she agrees to let them form the club if they can get first place in an upcoming local school idol festival. Chisato agrees to teach Kanon and Keke how to dance and also build up Keke's complete lack of stamina. Meanwhile, Kanon starts to write a song based on lyrics provided by Keke. After several days, Kanon completes the song and goes out to jog alongside Keke in the morning, telling her that this is only the beginning.
683"Kuukaa"
Transcription: "Kūkā" (Japanese: クーカー)		"Tiny Stars" by Kanon Shibuya (Sayuri Date) and Keke Tang (Liyuu)"Memories" by Chisato Arashi (Nako Misaki)August 8, 2021 (2021-08-08)[lower-alpha 2]
Kanon once again finds that she cannot sing in front of others. Keke and Chisato try to help her overcome her fear, but after nothing works, Keke suggests that only she will sing as long as Kanon is with her on stage. As a last minute entry, the highly popular school idol duo Sunny Passion joins the same school idol festival as them, only for Keke to realize their chances of winning have now become all but impossible. However, Kanon and Keke still resolve to give their best performance. Keke again asks Chisato to join them as a school idol, but she declines. Kanon and Keke continue to practice, but once on stage during the festival, their performance is interrupted when the lights go out, prompting the crowd to light up the arena with glow sticks with shouts of encouragement. When the lights come back on, Kanon and Keke deliver a flawless performance. Although they do not win the competition, they are awarded the best newcomer award.
694"Street Corner Galaxy☆彡"
Transcription: "Machikado Gyarakushī☆彡" (Japanese: 街角ギャラクシー☆彡)		—"Anniversary" by Keke Tang (Liyuu)August 15, 2021 (2021-08-15)
Kanon and Keke are allowed to form a school idol club despite Ren's misgivings. After Sumire Heanna overhears them talking about the club, she expresses her interest in joining, spurred on by her hopes of gaining more followers on social media. Sumire quickly shows promise in her dancing skills, and she confides to the others how she used to be in show business. Sumire desperately wants to be center stage during their performances, but after polling their classmates, Kanon is the overwhelming favorite for the center position. Sumire quits the club as a result, but Kanon follows her after school, wanting to learn more about her motives for being the center. Sumire never managed to break out of being a forgettable extra, and she thought of overcoming this by being the center. She apologizes for the trouble she caused them, but Kanon scouts Sumire into joining their club, challenging her to take the center position from herself.
705"Passion Island"
Transcription: "Passhon Airando" (Japanese: パッションアイランド)		—"Anniversary" by Ren Hazuki (Nagisa Aoyama)August 22, 2021 (2021-08-22)
Unable to practice outside due to a heat wave, Kanon and the other girls are left to try to find somewhere else to prepare for the Love Live competition. While at Kanon's cafe, they are visited by the Sunny Passion duo of Yuuna Hijirisawa and Mao Hiiragi with an invitation to perform at a local concert in their hometown on Kōzu-shima, to which the girls accept. Chisato later consults Yuuna and Mao, only for them to point out that her friends are lacking in the strength that comes from dancing as themselves. Chisato tells the girls she will be focusing on an upcoming dance competition and will not being going with them to their concert. Once on the island, the girls enjoy a day of fun with Sunny Passion, but Kanon is having trouble coming up with lyrics for the song they will be performing soon. Keke again brings up to Kanon about asking Chisato to join them as a school idol, but Kanon would rather have Chisato pursue dancing as her true passion.
716"I Was Dreaming"
Transcription: "Yume Mite Ita" (Japanese: 夢見ていた)		"Tokonatsu☆Sunshine" (常夏☆サンシャイン) by Kanon Shibuya (Sayuri Date), Keke Tang (Liyuu), Chisato Arashi (Nako Misaki) and Sumire Heanna (Naomi Payton)"Message" by Sumire Heanna (Naomi Payton)September 5, 2021 (2021-09-05)[lower-alpha 3]
Kanon, Keke and Sumire continue to prepare for the upcoming concert with Yuuna and Mao. Kanon completes the lyrics for their upcoming performance and gets positive feedback from Chisato, who Kanon in turn encourages for her upcoming dance competition. Meanwhile, Ren discovers that Chisato plans to withdraw from Yuigaoka if she does not win the competition so she can gain confidence by doing something on her own as opposed to having been supported up to now by Kanon. The day of the dance competition, Kanon comes back to the mainland Tokyo to encourage Chisato, and also to tell her that she helped inspire her to become the best singer possible. After Chisato wins the competition, she goes with Kanon to join Keke and Sumire as a school idol at the concert.
727"Battle! The Student Council President Elections"
Transcription: "Kessen! Seito Kaichō-sen" (Japanese: 決戦！生徒会長選)		—"Message" by Kanon Shibuya (Sayuri Date)September 12, 2021 (2021-09-12)
As summer vacation comes to an end, Chisato transfers to the general program and joins Kanon's class. When the girls discover that the student council election is about to happen, Keke wants Kanon to apply for the student council presidents' position, much to the latter's dismay. Chisato also decides to root for Kanon, as both girls believe that if Ren becomes the president, school idols would be prohibited. To Kanon's excitement, Sumire decides to nominate herself, and despite her widely ranging campaign, she loses to Ren. When Ren goes back on her campaign promise and announces the school festival's main act will feature only the music program students, the school idols decide to investigate and discover Ren's motivation. They go to Ren's house and discover that she is the only Hazuki family member left in the house and that she has run out of money, meaning the school is at risk of closure.
738"Connecting Feelings"
Transcription: "Musubareru Omoi" (Japanese: 結ばれる想い)		"Wish Song" by Liella!"Ringing!" by Chisato Arashi (Nako Misaki)September 19, 2021 (2021-09-19)
Tension continues to rise at school between the music program students and the general education students, prompting Kanon to try to find a middle ground, but to no avail. The headmistress tells Ren to explain her position at an upcoming assembly so as to reach an agreement among the students. Ren tells the school idols how her mother had once tried to save her school from closing down by being a school idol, but was unsuccessful in saving the school. Ren could not find any records of her mother as a school idol and concluded her mother regretted the attempt. After hearing from Ren about her mother's hopes of bringing people together, Kanon looks in the club room and finds a locked box containing the photos and other records of when Ren's mother was a school idol, showing Ren that she had actually cherished those memories. As a result, Ren accepts Kanon's offer to join them as a school idol. The whole school continues to prepare for the school festival, and all five school idols perform for the first time together.
749"What's Your Name?"
Transcription: "Kimitachi no Na wa?" (Japanese: 君たちの名は？)		"Dreaming Energy" by Liella!"Ringing!" by Keke Tang (Liyuu)September 26, 2021 (2021-09-26)
Applications for the upcoming Love Live! competition have opened, but Keke tells the other girls that it will not be easy making it through the preliminary rounds. They first have to decide on a group name, but they cannot settle on anything, and turn to livestreaming in the hopes of getting suggestions from their fans, only for it to end in failure. Meanwhile, Kanon is having trouble thinking up lyrics for their new song, preventing Ren from composing the music until she is done. The next day, Kanon is inspired by a conversation with her classmates about how they view the school idols, soon completing the lyrics and even coming up with their group name: Liella!
7510"Check It Out!!"
Transcription: "Chekera!!" (Japanese: チェケラッ!!)		"Nonfiction!!" (ノンフィクション!!) by Liella!"Dears" by Ren Hazuki (Nagisa Aoyama)October 3, 2021 (2021-10-03)
Due to there being more Love Live! applicants this year than ever before, the school idols have to perform a song based on a rap theme, with the groups who pass allowed to continue to the preliminary round. Sumire shows the other girls that she has a knack for rapping, allowing her to take the center position for their stage performance, despite some misgivings from Keke. However, Keke's opinion of Sumire changes when she sees how hard she has been working to prepare for the concert. After the girls upload a test video, the general opinion of their schoolmates is that Sumire should not be in the center position, upsetting her as a result. After school, Sumire overhears a phone call with Keke and her sister, saying that she will go back to Shanghai if her ambitions as a school idol do not pan out. Unsure of her own abilities, Sumire tries to give up the center position, but Keke reassures her that she thinks Sumire can do it, giving her the confidence she needs to perform as the center at the concert.
7611"Once More, at That Place"
Transcription: "Mō Ichido, Ano Basho de" (Japanese: もう一度、あの場所で)		"Watashi no Symphony" (私のSymphony) by Kanon Shibuya (Sayuri Date)"Dears" by Sumire Heanna (Naomi Payton)October 10, 2021 (2021-10-10)
Liella! makes it through into the preliminary rounds for Love Live!, and the girls agree to perform at the elementary school Kanon and Chisato had attended. Chisato is concerned about Kanon's performance issues returning at the school where her stage fright had first manifested, and the girls visit the school with Kanon able to sing on stage while holding hands with the others. Liella! will have to perform a solo as the theme for the Tokyo preliminary round, and Kanon is unanimously elected to perform it for the competition. To help Kanon overcome her fears, the other girls conspire to have Kanon sing alone at the elementary school. Kanon realizes she has to overcome this herself, and remembers that she was scared to sing in front of others even as a child. Kanon sings flawlessly on stage, soon followed by the other girls to sing with her.
7712"Song for All""Starlight Prologue" by Liella!"Departure" by Liella!October 17, 2021 (2021-10-17)
Liella!'s recent concert has brought in new applicants to their school for the following year, and they are gearing up for a live-streamed concert on Christmas to determine which school idol group will represent Tokyo. Their schoolmates offer to produce the stage for the concert so Liella! can focus on their performance. Sunny Passion visits Kanon, and the latter explains how she has never really cared about winning or losing as long as she could sing. Sunny Passion tells her that once she sings at Love Live!, she will understand why everyone feels like they have to win. Liella! continue practicing, and their schoolmates unveil an illuminated stage set up downtown for the concert. Following the performance, Liella! takes second place behind Sunny Passion, and Kanon realizes what they meant about winning so as to give something back to everyone who had helped them along the way. Reinvigorated, Liella! vows to work hard to someday make it to Love Live! and win it. Months later, a new school year has started with Liella! practicing on the school roof.

Notes
  1. All English titles are taken from Funimation.
  2. Due to the 2020 Summer Olympics, the third episode, originally scheduled to air on July 25, 2021, was postponed to August 8.[6]
  3. Due to the 2020 Summer Paralympics, the sixth episode, originally scheduled to air on August 29, 2021, was postponed to September 5.

References
  1. "Love Live! Superstar!! Anime's Full Promo Video Previews Liella! Members". Anime News Network. June 27, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  2. Loo, Egan (March 13, 2022). "Love Live! Superstar!! Anime Season 2 Slated for July". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  3. "Love Live! Superstar!! Comes to Funimation This Summer". Funimation. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  4. "リエラのうた". Love Live! series official Twitter account. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  5. "Story" (in Japanese). Sunrise. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  6. "NHK Warns of Possible Delays for Love Live! Superstar!!, Major 2nd, 'Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun', More Anime Due to Olympics". Anime News Network. July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
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