Love Live! Sunshine!!

Plot

Love Live Sunshine!! is set in Uchiura, Numazu, Shizuoka where one of its schools, the ocean-side Uranohoshi Girls' Academy, is planned to be closed down and merged with another high school in Numazu. Chika Takami, a girl without anything she really desires, is inspired by μ's to gather friends and form their own school idol group called Aqours (アクア, Akua, pronounced "aqua"), seeking to promote the school to prevent that. In order to do that, they enter the same "Love Live" school idol contest once won by μ's, which is much more difficult than before thanks to its increase in popularity.

Characters

Where appropriate, plot descriptions mentioned below refer to the television anime series. Other parts of the franchise, such as the manga and novel series, feature some variations in the storyline.

Aqours

Chika Takami (高海 千歌, Takami Chika)

Voiced by: Anju Inami (Japanese); Jād Saxton (English) Chika is the main protagonist of Sunshine and a second-year student at Uranohoshi Girls' Academy. Always claiming herself to be too ordinary, she finds that girls of μ's are so shining despite being normal students. This leads her to form a school idol group like her idols and becomes the only thing she seriously wants to do. The youngest among three daughters, her family runs a traditional inn known for its open-air hot springs with an ocean view. Sometimes Chika loves to insert terrible puns between her words, even explaining them.

Riko Sakurauchi (桜内 梨子, Sakurauchi Riko)

Voiced by: Rikako Aida (Japanese); Jeannie Tirado (English) Riko is a modest, down-to-earth second-year transfer student from Akihabara's Otonokizaka Girls' Academy. She was a young pianist, but somehow stopped and moved to Numazu so she could 'feel' the sea. She has a fear of dogs, despite the fact that the Takami family's dog, Shiitake, seems to take an interest to her. She also is revealed to have an interest in various shōjo and yuri manga, often buying collections on her brief returns to Tokyo. After joining Aqours, she becomes the composer of the group.

Kanan Matsuura (松浦 果南, Matsuura Kanan)

Voiced by: Nanaka Suwa (Japanese); Michelle Rojas (English) A third-year student and Chika's childhood friend. Kanan lives alone with her grandfather on a nearby island where they run a diving gear shop. She has a hard time attending classes as she must take care of the shop alone while her grandfather recovers from a fractured bone. She, Dia, and Mari are childhood friends who formed a school idol group in their first year named Aqours, but disbanded quickly, leading the three to separate. Kanan is responsible for their first disbandment, feigning stage fright to treat Mari's sprained leg and to convince her to pursue her studies abroad, all of which were kept secret by Dia. Kanan is the most athletic member of the group and acts as their main choreographer.

Dia Kurosawa (黒澤 ダイヤ, Kurosawa Daiya)

Voiced by: Arisa Komiya (Japanese); Morgan Garrett (English) The prideful, third-year student council president of Uranohoshi Girls' Academy. She and her younger sister Ruby are part of a well-known and respected family. Dia reluctantly becomes a school idol after losing a match to Chika, but due to her character, will accept nothing less than victory at Love Live. In the anime, Dia also is a diehard fan of μ's and after she, Kanan, and Mari separated, has been hiding her enthusiasm about school idols until she is convinced to join Aqours by Chika and the others. She is the origin of Aqours' name, passing it on to Chika's group from when her, Kanan, and Mari were school idols. She scolds and corrects the other members with her catchphrase "Būbū desu wa!," (ブッブーですわ！) the Japanese onomatopoeia for an incorrect buzzer.

You Watanabe (渡辺 曜, Watanabe Yō)

Voiced by: Shuka Saitō (Japanese); Apphia Yu (English) You is an energetic second-year student with a positive outlook. You is Chika's childhood friend and also aims to one day become a ship captain, just like her father. Her catchphrase is "Yōsorō!" (ヨーソロー!, (Keep her) steady!), also known as "Aye-aye!" in the English dub. She loves uniforms, whether they are idol costumes or work-related uniforms like police or shrine maiden outfits. Due to this, she is the main costume coordinator of the group.

Yoshiko Tsushima (津島 善子, Tsushima Yoshiko)

Voiced by: Aika Kobayashi (Japanese); Morgan Berry (English) Yoshiko is a first-year student who tries to erase her chūnibyō and attend high school like a normal student. She refers herself as "Yohane" (ヨハネ), claiming that she was a fallen angel for having angered God, and wants everyone to call her that (though nobody actually calls her that). Like Chika, the reason she becomes a chūnibyō is because she feels like she is too ordinary, as her Yohane identity makes up her entire personality. After joining Aqours, she decides to keep her chūnibyō antics instead.

Hanamaru Kunikida (国木田 花丸, Kunikida Hanamaru)

Voiced by: Kanako Takatsuki (Japanese); Megan Shipman (English) Hanamaru is an easily-distracted first-year student whose family runs a local temple without several modern-age utilities such as computers and hand dryers. Because of this, she becomes enamored upon seeing them, much to the surprise of others. She refers to herself as either "ora" or "Maru", and ends all of her sentences with "-zura" because of her Shizuoka dialect. She is also a member of a local choir due to her talent at singing. Before joining Aqours, she is an avid reader at the school's library. She and Yoshiko were friends during kindergarten, and Yoshiko calls her "Zuramaru".

Mari Ohara (小原 鞠莉, Ohara Mari)

Voiced by: Aina Suzuki (Japanese); Jamie Marchi (English) Mari is a third-year student at Uranohoshi. Her Italian-American father runs a hotel chain and in Japan, she lives in one of their hotels. Mari is a bright person who prefers to take action by herself, and does not feel herself to be suited to become a school idol. Her favorite music genre is industrial metal. Due to her background, Mari speaks in an English accent and often mixes English and Japanese (Italian in the English dub) in her speech. Mari's family is one of the main sponsors of Uranohoshi, to the point of having her appointed as the school's chairman despite being one of the students. She was friends with Dia and Kanan, having even formed their own idol unit in the past that was disbanded some time later due to Kanan and Dia wanting her to pursue the scholarship she got at a school overseas.

Ruby Kurosawa (黒澤 ルビィ, Kurosawa Rubii)

Voiced by: Ai Furihata (Japanese); Sarah Wiedenheft (English) Ruby is a first-year Uranohoshi student as well as Dia's timid younger sister, who has long since dreamed of becoming an idol. She has androphobia (a fear of men), as she has never talked to anyone male outside of her own father. In the anime, her shyness is increased so she enters in panic when she is touched by anyone she is not used to regardless of sex, being only comfortable around Dia and Hanamaru at the start of the anime. Her catchphrase is "Pigī!," (ピギィ！) a Japanese onomatopoeia for squealing whenever she becomes surprised or frightened.

Others

Seira Kazuno (鹿角 聖良, Kazuno Seira) - One of the members of the idol duo Saint Snow, a rival of Aqours. Voiced by: Asami Tano (Japanese); Trina Nishimura (English)

Ria Kazuno (鹿角 理亞, Kazuno Ria) - Seira's sister and partner in Saint Snow. She and her sister were inspired by A-RISE to become school idols in a similar fashion that the members of Aqours are inspired by μ's. Voiced by: Hinata Satō (Japanese); Amber Lee Connors (English)

Shima Takami (高海 志満, Takami Shima) - Chika's eldest sister. Voiced by: Kana Asumi (Japanese); Colleen Clinkenbeard (English)

Mito Takami (高海 美渡, Takami Mito) - Chika's older sister and the middle child of Takami family. Voiced by: Kanae Itō (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)

Print

A manga titled Love Live! Sunshine!!, written by Sakurako Kimino and illustrated by Masaru Oda, began serialization in the May 2016 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine. The first tankōbon volume was released on September 24, 2016.

A 160-page fanbook of Aqours, titled Love Live! Sunshine!! First Fan Book, was released on June 26, 2016. The book was published by ASCII Media Works and contains an introduction of Aqours' members, original manga written by Sakurako Kimino, and a newly drawn cover by Yuhei Murota.

Anime

A 13-episode anime television series, produced by Sunrise and directed by Kazuo Sakai, aired between July 2 and September 24, 2016 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The series is licensed in North America by Funimation, in the United Kingdom by Anime Limited, and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. An English dub by Funimation began streaming from July 30, 2016. The opening and ending themes are "Aozora Jumping Heart" (青空Jumping Heart) and "Yume Kataru Yori Yume Utaou" (ユメ語るよりユメ歌おう) respectively, both performed by Aqours. Every week while the anime was airing, Bandai Visual released merchandise called "memorial items" inspired by an item in each episode only available for a limited time. A second season will premiere in October 2017.

Video games

In January, 2016, Love Live! Sunshine!! live streamed a special announcement regarding Aqours joining the Love Live! School Idol Festival rhythm game app starting in July 2016. In the game, Aqours get their own stories, new songs, and cards. KLab also added R rarity cards for each Aqours members, even though they were only voiced after July. In June 2016, Chika and Riko were featured in the in-game regular events for the first time.

Music

The nine idols of Aqours are grouped into three mini units: CYaRon! (You, Ruby and Chika), Azalea (Dia, Kanan and Hanamaru), and Guilty Kiss (Yoshiko, Riko and Mari). Three of Aqours' singles include an anime music video.