To idol fans all over the world, the most important announcement of the 2017 Tokyo Game Show came from the Bushiroad event stage. On the first business day of the Tokyo Game Show, Bushiroad launched a bang with a grand show of Love Live! The School Idol Festival of All-Stars.
Love Live, man! The School Idol Festival ALL STARS is a brand-new Love Live! The title of the smartphone, completely separate from the existing Love Live! The Idol School Festival. μs and Aqours, the franchise’s two main idol groups, will be able to meet together in a full-length original crossover story. We’ll also see some impressive new gameplay features, such as 3D concerts alongside the rhythm game.
We know that Love Live for its deadly fans! Love and Love is Live! It’s life. That’s why we talked to Kogure-san, a member of the second department of the Bushiroad Digital Content Division. He was able to clarify numerous details about the launch of this highly anticipated title.
Introduction of the Nijigasaki Academy!
In addition to the μs and Aqours crossover, new characters from the new school, the Nijigasaki Academy, will be introduced into the game. Three of the School Idol Festival’s Normal Idols were promoted to full-spoken main characters. They will also be joined by six new characters. Fans outside Japan may have seen these characters in the “Perfect Dream Project” trailers.
During the special Tokyo Game Show 2017 stage event, Bushiroad unveiled the voice actresses who would play the characters. Now fans can hear special trailers and voice clips for each of the nine girls.
- Aguri kannishi as Ayumu Uehara
- Mayu Sagara as Nakasu Kasumi
- Kaori Maeda, like Shizuku Osaka
- Miyu Kubota, Karin Asaka
- Natsumi Murakami, Ai Miyashita
- Akari Kitō as the Konoe of Kanata
- Tomori Kusunoki as Yuki Setsuna
- Maria Shashide as Emma Verde
- Chiemi Tanaka, like Rina Tennoji
We asked Kogure-san, “Do the Nijigasaki Academy characters have a unit name for their idol group? Or is that a secret? “Kogure-san has given us a surprising answer: they don’t have one. In fact, the nine of them “do not perform together as a single unit.” Instead, he suggested that, like characters from the Idolm@ster series, they perform separately and sometimes have different collaborations with each other.
The Perfect Dream Project is not the name of the Nijigasaki Academy Idol Unit. Kogure-san pointed out that the teasers were meant to point to the announcement of Live Love! Idol School Festival ALL STARS at Tokyo Game Show 2017. The title, “Perfect Dream Project,” was a “codename” for the announcement of the upcoming smartphone title.
“The story we’ve made with you”
The μs and Aqours crossover is like a dream come true for fans of the Love Live series. The full-spoken story mode of the game will be a lovely chance to see how the characters interact. During the Tokyo Game Show, we saw both voice actresses for the main heroines of the series: Emi Nitta, the voice of Honoka, and Anju Inami, the voice of Chika. While they were MCing the event, you could just feel the adorable love of the BFF (and the potential of the ship).
We wanted to know what this title might mean for the music. Are we going to see Aqours covering μ ‘s songs and vice versa? Are we going to have new songs between the two groups? Unfortunately, Kogure-san was not able to say a lot about the matter.
We also asked about the set list when it was launched. Since almost all songs from μ’s and Aqours’ discography are at the School Idol Festival, what could we expect from ALL-STARS? Kogure-san suggested that we would “mostly see new songs with some old songs.”
Bushiroad has also teased that ALL-STARS will feature new gameplay content in addition to the gameplay of rhythm. However, we’re going to have to wait until a later date to learn more. We’re incredibly excited about the story for now. The story has been described with the slogan, “Appro” – “The story we’ve fulfilled with you.”
Waiting for all of the Stars in the West
Finally, we discussed the plans to bring Love Live! School Idol Festival All-Stars in the West. Traditionally, the content of the School Idol Festival, including updates and cards, tends to be delayed by about half a year for English game servers. So, we asked Kogure-san if there was a similar estimate for the English version.
Kogure-san mentioned that the game has not yet been released in English-language green by Bushiroad. The game has just been announced, after all.
However, he suggested that U.S. fans could look forward to Bushiroad events in the future. They will make an appearance at Anime Expo and may decide to attend other American anime conventions in the future.
Love Live, man! School Idol Festival ALL STARS will be released for Android and iOS around the 2018 launch window. Look forward to furthering announcements in the future!