Love Live Bluebird: Despair
Oct. 22nd, 2025 09:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gildedstageI should have taken it as a sign that my dread woke me up and kept me from going back to sleep at 4 in the morning, 3 hours before the livestream. Mentally, I wasn’t nearly as worried since there were good options for every group, but, oh man, I should have been concerned. My first experience at being there for unit name voting (even if it’s just for cover song units for now, or so they say) is frustration and despair at the average person’s taste. At least it’s memorable, I guess?
The names selected were CHAKI! for Asakusa, MixNori=Tea for Fukui (the name pronounced minority…), Plumina for Umeda, and SH1ON for Sendai. SH1ON, the least creative option that just switches the I in Shion with a 1. The option where the suggester literally confessed that they had no better ideas so they submitted it. The meltdown in the Ikizuraibu fan discord was immense when that was revealed (and my first reaction was literally “fuck off.”)
SH1ON is especially frustrating because it brings nothing new to the table. If they do ever reuse these unit names in the future, the names have a lot of influence on the aesthetics and themes of the group. For example, if Solistar won, space could have become an association of Shion’s. There were so many names with actual effort and meaning put into them. As much hate as & you got, it was at least thematically relevant and sweet for Shion because she only felt accepted online and cherishes that connection with her audience.
CHAKI! is cute and I’m probably only taking my anger out on it because of SH1ON, but it does annoy me that the reasoning provided makes no sense. They said it’s inspired by “chakichaki no edokko,” but Akira isn’t even from Tokyo. I think I can also accept MixNori=Tea since it’s a visually pleasing name, even though I know that pronunciation will be a sticking point for the English-speaking side of the fandom. Plumina is plain and boring, but I guess that’s the best we could have hoped for. So disappointing…
It did make me feel a bit better that they revealed some new PNGs during the stream. I love how the characters look like there are no thoughts happening behind those eyes in the chibi icons. That adorable middle school Mai from this month’s LLD is making me excited that we’re finally getting to see the backstory of girls other than Polka.
The new art of them in their WiML costumes for their 1st Live merch is also fantastic and I’m tempted to buy an acrylic stand if I have the chance. All the poses are great. I’ve taken so many screenshots of Aoi making that exact pose they chose for Shion, so that’s perfect. I’m surprised that Noriko was not only spared from the fanservice curse, but she also has a lovely self-confident pose that tempts me just as much as my two oshi… Yukuri is as elegant as always and Aurora looks so adorable with her gentle face and stretched out arms. I also really like Mai’s dorky pose, but I’ll be here all day if I talk about all of them.
The names selected were CHAKI! for Asakusa, MixNori=Tea for Fukui (the name pronounced minority…), Plumina for Umeda, and SH1ON for Sendai. SH1ON, the least creative option that just switches the I in Shion with a 1. The option where the suggester literally confessed that they had no better ideas so they submitted it. The meltdown in the Ikizuraibu fan discord was immense when that was revealed (and my first reaction was literally “fuck off.”)
SH1ON is especially frustrating because it brings nothing new to the table. If they do ever reuse these unit names in the future, the names have a lot of influence on the aesthetics and themes of the group. For example, if Solistar won, space could have become an association of Shion’s. There were so many names with actual effort and meaning put into them. As much hate as & you got, it was at least thematically relevant and sweet for Shion because she only felt accepted online and cherishes that connection with her audience.
CHAKI! is cute and I’m probably only taking my anger out on it because of SH1ON, but it does annoy me that the reasoning provided makes no sense. They said it’s inspired by “chakichaki no edokko,” but Akira isn’t even from Tokyo. I think I can also accept MixNori=Tea since it’s a visually pleasing name, even though I know that pronunciation will be a sticking point for the English-speaking side of the fandom. Plumina is plain and boring, but I guess that’s the best we could have hoped for. So disappointing…
It did make me feel a bit better that they revealed some new PNGs during the stream. I love how the characters look like there are no thoughts happening behind those eyes in the chibi icons. That adorable middle school Mai from this month’s LLD is making me excited that we’re finally getting to see the backstory of girls other than Polka.
The new art of them in their WiML costumes for their 1st Live merch is also fantastic and I’m tempted to buy an acrylic stand if I have the chance. All the poses are great. I’ve taken so many screenshots of Aoi making that exact pose they chose for Shion, so that’s perfect. I’m surprised that Noriko was not only spared from the fanservice curse, but she also has a lovely self-confident pose that tempts me just as much as my two oshi… Yukuri is as elegant as always and Aurora looks so adorable with her gentle face and stretched out arms. I also really like Mai’s dorky pose, but I’ll be here all day if I talk about all of them.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-23 04:29 pm (UTC)Bluebird’s reception has been mixed so far, but the experimental setting definitely has a lot of potential if they play it right. I think it’s very interesting how the group itself has become a long distance relationship the girls have to learn to manage with the pressure of their own non-idol dreams.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-23 06:55 pm (UTC)