Seeing as people are sharing their stories with Love Live, decided to do it too~
I only started getting to the fandom in 2014...
I knew about this series/fandom in 2013 but was skeptical about it- wasn't into idols at that time and was more of a fan of action animes like d.gray-man, naruto, etc.
In addition, I wasn't into voice actors as well- I preferred to keep 2D and 3D apart, and believed that I watched anime for anime characters and not the voice behind them...I was quite... Shallow in thinking at that time...
I think it was a combination of factors that made me started going into this series.
It was a little weird but I actually got my first interest in the series after seeing a picture of a despondent Honoka with some deep quote(which actually had nothing to do with the picture if you've watched the show...)
Then, I heard their song when my brother was playing Love Live School Idol Festival(LLSIF). It was good that I actually pestered my brother for the song and series.
And, even until now, I still love the song. The song was Snow Halation!
The songs were great that I actually started the game(with some influences from my brother), even though I was quite bad at rhythm game; or rather reaction games...
It was so bad that I can't even play most of the hard songs; normal was my difficulty to go for...
As such, I was actually happy whenever I was able to full-combo(fc) hard songs(that I actually kept posting my fc results in instagram^^;)
Slowly but surely, I was able to move from hard to expert~ And even challenged myself to fc expert songs without perfect locks- did some recordings and posted on Youtube!
^That account that I started in EN held a lot of memories for me so I was really reluctant to quit and delete it...
But the circumstances of EN server trying to catch up with Jp(in hosting double events) and the combination of other servers into EN server was too much for me... Plus my JP account was actually much better than my EN account...
The last straw was when I couldn't get into tier 1 for Umi events and then the next double event was actually ChikaRiko event...
With me playing LLSIF and a bit of my brother's influences, I started watching the anime(both seasons) in 2014 and got more invested in the fandom.
I forgot how but not surprised that Love Live made me interested in the voice actors as well- Love Live is a project that linked both the 2D and the 3D after all~
To understand 3D, one needed to know Japanese- In a way, it motivated me to pick up Japanese language in my University:)
The whole 2015 was me going deeper and deeper into the idol hell, and I strongly believed I can go even more until that dread news in 2016...
μ's ending was something I did not imagine, considering that I only knew them 2 years ago(at that time)
It was a hard truth to digest yet I don't blame them; they had been doing it for 6 years and they weren't young either... I could only blame myself for not knowing them earlier...
This regret, disappointment made me want to support more for the next thing in this series; which was Aqours.
I knew a lot of fans weren't happy about the new group as it felt like the group was replacing μ's ... But to me, it felt like a chance for the series to continue and I wasn't going to quit as a loveliver!
I preordered Aqours' first single. It was my first time buying something online- was a little worried and scared of the possibilities of getting cheated...
Everything worked out fine~
And to show more support for their first single, I drew them all in their outfits:
It was fun, working on it, one character at a time(and revealing each character in each instagram post~)
Next came the announcement of the anime(during the first single nico nama)! Again, did each character as a countdown to the anime~
And, I would watch the live broadcast of the anime without fail that I acted childish when I couldn't made it for the live broadcast of one of the episode, due to charaexpo 2016...
Besides that, whenever there were streams, I would watch them. I would also look forward to the weekly radio as well!
Following the year of 2017, it was Aqours first live and the announcement of anime 2nd season!
In addition, I went to Aqours' birth-town, Numazu and straight away felt in love with it! An ideal place for quiet people like me!
Also, it was my first time, participating SIF thanksgiving festival- it was an eye-opener for me, as someone whom had never attend any jp event before!
2017 can be said the peak of my investment to the fandom(>^<)
During the time of support on Aqours, my friend did sometimes ask me if I had forgotten μ's.
That is something that would never happen; μ's is μ's, Aqours is Aqours. They may be in the same series, fandom but they are two different groups whom impacted my life in different ways too! And I do continue drawing μ's fanarts from time to time.
That said, I would be honest to say that the lack of μ's contents sometimes makes it hard to support and ended me supporting more of Aqours instead...
That's why the announcement of μ's being back was great news!
However, I do not know why but I feel a sense of... Disconnection from Love Live recently; or rather from mid 2018 onwards where my work life started...
It could be due to work or maybe how there weren't much Aqours activities available for overseas fans...
And the introduction of a new group doesn't help... Once was enough; a second time just made it bad...
As of now, I am still debating whether to get Aqours Club 2019... Seeing as I don't even read the blogs, apply for fan meets nor buy exclusives from the shop, I don't see the worth in buying(-.-)
Although, I would still get the singles; the upcoming 4th center single and (maybe) sif collaboration singles!
Plus I'm going for this year's SIF thanksgiving festival(as well)!
And that had been my 5 years journey with Love Live as a whole!
I would say I had a lot of firsts with Love Live and if I had never been into this fandom, I doubt would experience so much and be the person I am now!
To end it:
HAPPY 9TH ANNIVERSARY, LOVE LIVE!
Yaiji (僕らのラブライブ9周年)
