As I had been playing LLSIF, I had been exposed to a lot of Love Live, much more than the anime series seems to be able to offer. As a result, I keep getting attached to Love Live more and more. A little while ago, I initiated a random twitter survey asking everyone who watched Love Live/play LLSIF who their Best Girl is. While fair to give my own choices as well, I decided to tackle on the challenge as to answer why they are the Best Girls for me as well.
Maki
As typical as it sounds, I always had an infatuation with tsunderes, even now, and with that, Maki becomes a Best Girl material for me at first glance. Her tsundere qualities are actually quite clear – she acts cold and withdrawn, and while she is awkward in doing so, she also seeks the fun and enjoyment from the forging of friendships deep down, which fortunately the girls of u’s are more than willing to give it to her. Other than being a tsundere, she also has a certain class in a way she carries herself, perhaps in due part to her origins from a wealthy family. I mean, just look at the way she crossed her legs, hmmmmmmmm Furthermore, she also listens to Jazz music, a genre which also recently becomes one of my favorite, and also certainly not a genre girls of her age, especially ones from Love Live at that, listen to. All this paints the “cool” characterization to her character, and there is actually another term for that “kuudere”, also another one of my favorite archetypes. And when you think about it, Maki actually seems quiet and reserved, and because of Honoka’s constant bugging, her tsundere qualities came bursting out instead. Her tsundere qualities, other than being shy and awkward in accepting companionship, could also be a defense mechanism to retain her “cool” image. One of the reason why I’m so affixed to Maki – it is as if she is an epitome of two of my favorite -deres. In the end though, I think my main reason for liking Maki, all these analytic jargon aside, is simply because she’s a tsundere. I guess I’m just biased towards tsunderes like that, and it seems her tsundere qualities had even earn herself some love from a certain someone. Which reminds me…
Nico
While getting myself heads over heels for Maki, other girls seem to become a lesser focus for me until a little later. Nico at first took my interest because of her character design; black hair and red eyes, sound just a little familiar, no? She also has twintails, something I’m weak of. I think an interesting characterization to Nico is that while designers seem to like making characters like her “full-frontal” cute; admittedly, there’s no “full-frontal” here. Other than being cute during her idol performances and her cutesy acts, Nico spend the rest of her days pouting, whether or not it’s from her inferiority complex at Eli’s maturity and Nozomi’s boobies, and her failed attempt at seeking attention and so on; resembling a pouting of a small animal, a little bit like this. To me, this much more cute compared to just being stereotypically cute. This is the interesting bit here – Nico arguably isn’t someone who is cute, but tries diligently to be. Not only just the cute facade however; Nico is someone who sets big expectations to herself, most evident example being her backstory, and also during one episode where she blatantly told her sister she was the center of u’s. Nico’s whole character is built upon the concept of effort and expectations; and the desire to be a perfectionist. Outside of the anime’s scope, one last reason I like Nico is that she is a well-matched contrast to Maki. Yes, in case you haven’t already notice, Maki x Nico is a very heavily shipped pairing, and for good reason; admittedly, shipping them is also one of my latest obsession. Did I mention Nico can cook too? That is totally waifu material!
Umi
Umi is basically the Mio (K-ON) of Love Live; although Umi is a bit different in a way that she also seems to possess leadership qualities, a trait I don’t see Mio has, other than a few jabs and retorts at Ritsu. Archetypes preferences aside, one of the thing I find appealing in girls is self-dependance, and Umi excels in it-she just seems to get her act together. Especially during the early days of u’s, Umi was pretty much the cogwheel of the group, training Honoka, Kotori and some other early members of u’s; and writing lyrics for their songs. If Honoka is the fearless leader and Kotori the rear support, then Umi is someone whose in the middle and assists both sides. If Honoka is Roman Reigns and Kotori Dean Ambrose, then Umi is Seth Rollins; she is the architect of the group. I think it’s not too exaggerating to say that u’s rocky formation wouldn’t had survive if not for Umi. Along the way, she even conquered her stage fright, in due part to her strong willpower, but with also, the support of her friends. Furthermore, who wouldn’t love someone who can throw pillows at supersonic speed? Oh, and also, tsundere.
I asked this already in twitter and I guess I might as well ask it again – who’s your Best Girl(s) in Love Live? I would like to point out that even when I had pinpointed my own, I actually think all the girls in u’s are all equally likable characters-there is not a single character I didn’t care about, nor is there a single character I hate at all. Perhaps this is why I like Love Live so much? It’s an anime filled with a vibrant, quirky, gratifying but also down-to-earth character cast; and all them are equally likable – all of them are equal Best Girls, and is one of the best damn thing about the franchise.
Kai’s Questions
Kai’s Question #1 – Revealing Figures
Kai’s Question #2 – Android Online Games
Kai’s Question #3 – Storing Anime
Kai’s Question #4 – Light Novels?
Kai’s Question #5 – Weekly or Marathon?
Kai’s Question #6 – Sweaty Hands and It’s Effects on My Gaming Experience
Kai’s Question #7 – Best Girls of Love Live!
