Anime is a big interest among young adults around the world. People do a lot of things related to anime, like going to anime conventions and anime movies at theaters. One anime franchise, Love Live!, is known for having concerts to showcase the music from the series, and for the first time, one of these concerts, the recent Love Live! Fest, was screened at various movie theaters nationwide.





On February 25, 2020, Fathom Events, a theatrical special event distribution company, screened a delayed viewing of Love Live! Fest, which took place in Japan on January 18, 2020, to various movie theaters across the United States. Before Love Live! Fest, these concerts were only screened in major cities across the United States, forcing many Love Live! fans who lived in smaller markets to see the delayed viewings of the concerts.





As this event celebrated the 9th anniversary of the Love Live! franchise, this concert had performances from all 3 current idol groups in the Love Live! franchise, which were μ's, Aqours, and Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. The concert began with Aqours performing their latest single, Mitaiken Horizon, followed by group and solo performances from the newest idol group in the franchise, Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. After this, there were more performances by Aqours, including the subunits of the group, as well as their rival group, Saint Snow. Aqours then performed more songs, before the concert finally concluded with μ's performing a medley of their songs, followed by their hit single, Snow Halation.

All the idol groups who were at Love Live! Fest. (Source: Sunrise/Bushiroad/Dengeki G's)

Love Live! fans attended the event at the various locations which were screening the concert. They each had their own opinions on these concerts finally coming to more theaters nationwide.





“The concerts finally coming here are great, and an A+ effort,” Jayne, a Love Live! fan who attended the Deer Park, New York screening, said.





“Usually, there aren’t any screenings around here with anything Love Live! related,” Blake, another attendee at the Deer Park, New York screening said, “It’d be great for fans who live here.”





“I loved the idea of having such a huge, momentous occasion be screened in more than just major cities,” Nikki, a fan who attended the screening in Louisville, Kentucky, said. “Love Live! Fest is such a huge event, so I feel that they made the right choice in choosing to screen them in more areas.”





“While it’s great that the screening was more local, the downside is that this resulted in it being on a Tuesday, and thus, a smaller group of fans,” Jon Ingoglia, a fan who attended the Westbury, New York screening, said. “I also felt that too many local theaters were hosting the screening, spreading fans out very thin.”





The attendees loved various parts of the concert. Jayne, Nikki and Blake all loved the μ's segment of the concert. Ingoglia loved the Saint Snow segment of the concert, since he loves the song Believe Again. He also liked seeing μ's and Nijigasaki High School Idol Club on the big screen for the first time, as well as interacting with the local fans. Nikki also liked how she was able to participate by using lightsticks to show support for the idols, as well as Guilty Kiss’ performance.





The attendees have several reasons why others should check out the franchise.





“Everything about the franchise is great in my opinion,” Jayne said.





“Teamwork is an important part of the franchise, which makes it worth checking out,” Blake said.





“The music is great, and the anime helps spread a very positive message that no matter how hard things get, never give up on your dreams,” Ingoglia said.





“People should take a look at the franchise simply because of the rich history and amazing talent,” Nikki said. “Love Live! is highly successful because of the amazing community and support that has been given to these talented singers and dancers.”



