dorple / posted on 13 June 2016

On 13 June 2015, Love Live! The School Idol Movie began showing in movie theaters. A year later, some of the cast’s thoughts and opinions have changed, as can be seen from their Final Live interviews in the June 2016 issue of the same CUT magazine, however, what is said here remains an interesting read, and everybody’s voices are distinct and recognizable even through text.

This translation is divided into 3 parts for ease of reading (part 2 is here, part 3 is under construction).

The 9 members of μ’s assemble to discuss!

After the solo interviews and letters, we present a discussion between all 9 cast members of μ’s.

Their feelings towards Love Live! and μ’s, as well as the bond cultivated with their fellow members, are very strong, deep, and warm.

They touch on the scenes from the movie they are particular towards, the μ’s songs they are especially attached to, and “that song”.

The words do not come easily, but they want to speak out –

It must be because they have continued to accompany and support each other through these 5 years, that they can talk about the steps μ’s have trod.

Let us look back together with the 9 of them.

What scenes are you particular towards in Love Live! The School Idol Movie?

– What scenes are you fond of, that left an impression on you?

Nanjou: Us nine in μ’s recorded our lines together, so I remember everyone was going, “So cute, so cute,” in a fuss. What were the cute scenes?

Mimori: The scene with Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan was so good~

Kubo: Right! That’s the one for me, too.

Kusuda: You know, didn’t Rin-chan go to the extent of taking her hood off to cuddle in that scene?

Iida: Uhn. She did good, Rin-chan (laugh).

Kubo: Somehow, how should I say it, there’s a difference compared to how she is in the daytime that comes out. I was wondering if it was because it was just the two of them on their own.

Tokui: It was like her way of being spoiled around a childhood friend, so cute that I teared up.

Nitta: Love Live! is so cute it makes one tear up, right?

Tokui: Yes. Like the dance scenes too, I teared up at those.

Nitta: Something like, “μ’s have worked so hard.” (laugh)

Mimori: Sheesh, it feels as though they’ve split off from the place they are at to just them alone, a feeling like, “In this world, it’s only us” – it’s incredible.

Tokui: You’re still talking about RinPana? (laugh)

All: (laugh)

Mimori: See, there’s a scene where Honoka wanders off from the group, (and Umi) flies into a rage.

Nitta: Uhn, she got angry.

Mimori: Umi-chan’s emotions at the time got very intense.

Iida: That’s a good scene. The scene where Umi-chan was angry was excellent.

Nitta: Although I did feel like, “Umi-chan, sorry for making you worry~” when Umi-chan was yelling at Honoka, I was also, “Aah~ Suzu’s mad at me~” (laugh)

Iida: But for her to be so angry, conversely, if she didn’t trust in her deeply, she definitely wouldn’t be angry. During recording, I cried a lot, too.

Mimori: You were, really.

Tokui: Rather, there was crying basically all the time.

Iida: (laugh) There was indeed, there really was.

Tokui: In the mornings when we were recording, when we gathered, we’d talk about the scenes that were cute, and what we cried over, and I was thinking, we all feel the same way.

Uchida: Hey. We’ve been talking about nothing but cuteness and crying from just now, though. (laugh)

Mimori: Just watching the trailer was enough to make me cry. My tear ducts are terribly lax when it comes to Love Live! In fact, during my solo interview, I really was on the verge of tears, doing my utmost to hold them back. I was that overwhelmed. I figure Love Live! is what has made me so passionate, even I am surprised, truly. Like, “What is this feeling?”

Uchida: When reading the screenplay for the movie, I can very much feel the part where, alongside bewilderment from a change in environment, there is development as well. That especially has aspects overlapping with us as we are now, I went “urh!” (laugh)

Nitta: While looking at them, high schoolers, we really can feel as if we’re looking at ourselves.

Uchida: Yes. There’s a scene in which they’re surrounded by fans and everybody’s confused.

Kusuda: In reality, when we went overseas, there were a lot of people welcoming μ’s at the airports. The same situation arose in the movie.

Nitta: The image of Ucchi who was next to me very much comes to mind. At the airports, Ucchi clung to my clothes and refused to let go (laugh). “You’re going to stretch my clothes!”

Uchida: (laugh)

Tokui: It came as a shock how there were many people who knew of us, at places that we were unaware of, I think the movie was a reflection of real life.

Kubo: Like “You’re on Candid Camera!” will come at us anytime (laugh). To us, an environment on this degree is peculiar.

Tokui: Even now, I could call it a Cinderella story where it’s like you wonder, isn’t the end of the dream lying in wait? Feels like a mysterious tale, huh.

Mimori: Maki-chan had a great scene too.

Pile: At the beginning? (laugh)

Mimori: “I’ll be going,” she said (laugh).

Nitta: But Maki-chan’s got a really active role this time, doesn’t she.

Pile: Uhn, I read the screenplay, and there indeed were many music parts as befitting Love Live!, I could really feel the variety.

Nanjou: For the story this time, the reason for it being the 9 of them is presented through answers like the focus being on school idols, what only school idols can do, tying in to the second season of the TV anime and coming full circle, that’s good. Even where the situation has changed, stuff like their personalities, that they want to cherish their friends, that they love their school, was unchanged at the root of it, doesn’t it make you happy for that? I think the part where they were so fired up because they were school idols, and arrived at the answer as nine, is another way in which they’ve grown.

Kusuda: Nozomi has scenes in which she holds conversations in English, and said, “We are school idols!” I once again came to think that, one by one, these scenes have got all sorts of meanings to them.

Nitta: Nozomi-chan’s lines as well, the words “school idol” have weight and meaning in them, in our portrayals and when we sing, everything to do with Love Live!, is in the spirit of putting that all together there.

Mimori: Also, a female singer makes an appearance this time. Honoka encounters her.

Nitta: Right. For the scenes with the female singer, I do hope everybody’s eyes will be on her.

Mimori: While μ’s will do things on their own, they’ve received plenty of help from those around them too. Therefore, I think hers is a big presence.

[Part 2] [Part 3]