Anime REVIEW: Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 2

Love Live! Sunshine!! is available in streaming form on Crunchyroll

With the immense juggernaut that is the Love Live! franchise showing no signs of retiring any time soon, the reveal that Love Live! Sunshine!! would be returning for a second season was anything but a surprise. After all, why would ASCII Media Works, Lantis and Sunrise give up on their premier money-spinner while the story of Aqours is still only half-finished? With the show’s first season establishing the nine new girls as a group looking to follow in μ's footsteps, it’s the second that aims to take them beyond that and make a proper name for themselves.

First Impressions: Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 2

Love Live! Sunshine!! is available in streaming form on Crunchyroll

Though the Love Live! hype train certainly hasn't shown any signs of stopping over the past few years it's time for it to hit full steam once again as the second season of Love Live! Sunshine!! is finally upon us. When we last left the girls of Aquours they still weren't any closer to saving their school from closure, but they had gotten their first taste of the stage at the regional qualifiers as well as realised that they need to forge their own path instead of simply following in μ's' shadow. Now we're back for another 13 episodes of seaside song times, as Chika, You, Riko, Dia, Kanan, Mari, Yoshiko, Hanamaru and Ruby continue their path to idoldom.

Game REVIEW: Weiss Schwarz Love Live! Sunshine!! Range

RRP: £18.99 per deck, £4.95 per booster (8 cards) 

Where to buy?: Available from your friendly local game shop! www.findyourgamestore.co.uk 

Move over µ's, there’s a new idol group in town. Last year we saw the girls of Love Live! School Idol Project hand over the torch, a new generation of idols in Love Live! Sunshine!!, who will be returning to screens later this year for a second season. In the meantime Weiss Schwarz developers Bushiroad are continuing the success of their multi-anime franchise card game with a brand new range of Love Live! Sunshine!! cards starring Chika, You, Riko, Kanan, Dia, Mari, Yoshiko, Hanamaru and Ruby – aka Aqours. 

Once again thanks to the wonderful team at Esdevium Games (the UK distributor for Weiss Schwarz, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cardfight Vanguard and a whole host of other card and board games) we’re taking a look at the Love Live! Sunshine!! trial deck, along with four packets of booster cards to help bolster your deck.

Game REVIEW: Weiss Schwarz Love Live! Trial Deck & Love Live! DX Vol 2/Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya Boosters

RRP: £18.99 per deck, £4.95 per booster (8 cards)

Where to buy?: Available from your friendly local game shop! www.findyourgamestore.co.uk

Anime and trading cards are two things that have always gone hand in hand. From the card games (which on occasion are indeed on motorcycles) of Yu-Gi-Oh! to the classic Pokemon and Digimon cards, it seems all the biggest franchises come pre-bundled with some sort of highly addictive collectible card game. However in terms of sheer scale there's nothing that quite compares to Weiss Schwarz, the multi-franchise card game from Bushiroad that features characters from the likes of Love Live!, the Monogatari Series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Stay Night and more. As well as taking Japan by storm, an English-language version of the game was also released in the West to allow card gamers to battle it out with their favourite anime heroes.

Thanks to the wonderful people at Esdevium Games (the UK distributor for Weiss Schwarz as well as the Pokemon Trading Card Game, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cardfight Vanguard and more) we're going to be taking a look at some of the game's latest English releases. Let the waifu wars begin as we get to grips with the game through the Love Live! School Idol Festival trial deck, as well as checking out some booster packs from the Love Live! DX Vol.2 and Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei ranges!

Anime REVIEW: Love Live! Sunshine!!

When you've created a juggernaut like Love Live! School Idol Project, you can't just end things when your idols retire. Although μ's seem just as popular as ever, their time in the spotlight is over as a new idol group takes to the stage in sequel series Love Live! Sunshine!!. Once again animated by Sunrise in a joint project with ASCII Media Works and Lantis, this new series takes place sometime after Honoka and co have gone their separate ways, paving the road for a swarm of prospective idols in the titular tournament. Forget about μ's, now comes the time of Aqours.

First Impressions: Love Live Sunshine!!

The time of μ's may be over but the spirit of Love Live! School Idol Project continues! After dominating the idol genre for the past few years the franchise from ASCII Media Works, Lantis and Sunrise has renewed itself for what will likely be another run of dominating the anime scene, branching off with a brand new cast and setting. Now using the banner of Love Live Sunshine!! (perfectly timed with the start of the summer 2016 anime season), this series follows nine new girls as they set out to become school idols and compete in the prestigious Love Live tournament. Welcome to the stage, Aquours.

Movie REVIEW: Love Live! The School Idol Movie

What do you do when you've created a successful anime franchise that's already spawned two seasons, CDs, manga, light novels, video games and more? End things with a movie of course! And that's exactly what Love Live! School Idol Project has done - ending it's final episode with the perfect lead in to a full blown cinematic feature. Going by the full title of Love Live! The School Idol Movie, this film is the swan song of μ's before the band go their separate ways and the group is retired to make way for a new group of super stars in Love Live! Sunshine later this year. Given μ's monumental success, it's only fitting that they be seen out in style.

Anime REVIEW: Love Live! School Idol Project

Every so often there comes around an anime franchise that seems almost impossible to ignore no matter how hard you try, and in the past three years Love Live! School Idol Project has definitely qualified as one. The idol-themed series from ASCII Media Works', music label Lantis and animation studio Sunrise has gone from strength to strength spawning not only an anime series but also a movie, multiple manga adaptations, light novels and a rather addictive iOS/Android game by the name of Love Live! School Idol Festival. Summer 2016 will see a brand group of idols take the reins in spin-off series Love Live! Sunshine, but for now we're looking back on the ones that started it all. The original Love Live! School Idol Project ran for a total of 26 episodes split into two 13-episode seasons, with the first airing late 2013 and the second following mid-2014.