When Love Live! School Idol Project started in 2010, it was a humble music project with aspirations of multi-media dominance. A few years later, there were manga and anime adaptations of the series that brought the nine iconic school idols of Otonokizaka Academy to life. While idol franchises like Idolm@ster and BanG Dream! thrive on delivering a large cast consisting of multiple groups and performers, it always seemed like Love Live! would stay focused on the unforgettable girls of μ’s. Yet, as the project has grown, more and more adorable school idols have gotten involved. There are the passionate members of Aquors and the mish-mash of idols from the Nijigasaki Academy’s School Idol Appreciation Club. Now, a new set of girls is set to join the fun in a brand new anime series.
This freshly revealed crew of prospective high school idols comes from Yuigaoka Girls High School, a name decided on by fan voting. So far, every idol group in Love Live! has consisted of nine girls made up of trios from each school year. The group from Yuigaoka Girls High School, though, only consists of five girls. Their names are as follows, from left to right in the image below:
- Chisato Arashi
- Sumire Heanna
- Kanon Shibuya
- Tang Keke
- Ren Hazuki
Creation of this new Love Live! anime project is credited to Hajime Yatate, a pseudonym used to identify the general creative team at Sunrise. Sakurako Kimino is also credited with the creation of the original idea for the series, as he was for the previous anime in the franchise. Takahiko Kyogoku, who directed the first Love Live! School idol project anime and its film sequel, will return to direct this new series. He’s joined by series writer Jukki Hanada and series composer Yoshiaki Fujisawa. Atsushi Saito of Black Fox fame will be adapting the character designs of franchise artist Yuhei Murota for animation.
Source: Anime News Network
