It's not that this one is prequel or sequel to Second Years or March 15, it's just they feel the same way.

Manase always like to draw this kind of relationship between the second year trio, it's so strong meanwhile so easy to break. I wonder if anyone would like to translate 心かくれんぼ(http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=45976842), it is my favorite of all his/her works.

It's not that this one is prequel or sequel to Second Years or March 15, it's just they feel the same way.

Manase always like to draw this kind of relationship between the second year trio, it's so strong meanwhile so easy to break. I wonder if anyone would like to translate 心かくれんぼ(http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=45976842), it is my favorite of all his/her works.

Pass it on to the guys that translated this one i'll say..

Anime Spoilers ahead.
I don't think that in the Love Live! universe this could be plausible at all considering the airport scene and the whole event concerning Kotori leaving, The only person who could get Kotori to stay was Honoka, and the person Kotori had the hardest time telling was Honoka. In fact she just came right out and told Umi she would be leaving and needed advice on how to tell Honoka. Umi also asks Kotori that is she were the one to ask her to stay would Kotori change her mind and Kotori said no. The one person who Kotori can possible love romantically in all of Love Live! is Honoka. There were no moments in the anime where Kotori and Umi showed anything more than the love between good friends which I thought was clearly shown. When it came time for Honoka to stop Kotori she had no idea why it had to be her and she only went to the airport because Umi forced her to, and Honoka also just said what she was supposed to and Kotori came back. I think Kotori is the only one of the three childhood friends is in love with one of the other while Honoka has Tsubasa and Umi either doesn't get shipped with anyone, or she's shipped with Eli (or even her little sister)

I really don't like Kotori x Umi, in my opinion the only possible ship between Honoka, Kotori, and Umi us Kotori x Honoka and I pair Honoka with Tsubasa so Kotori is left out. The only ships that work for Umi are Eli or Alisa with preference for Eli.

I did like the story for what it was though, and the art was nice.

I read this argument very often... and I can't possibly agree.
The HonoKoto scene at the airport... the fact that Honoka was the one who stopped Kotori from leaving, "The only person who could get Kotori to stay was Honoka" is NOT because Honoka has feelings for her or Kotori stayed ONLY cuz Honoka asked so... Of course, Honoka is the main character who else in the world would do that work?? If Eli, Nico, or Maki were the main charecter then one of them would have been the one who stopped Kotori...

I think Umi didn't stop Kotori because, unlike Honoka, she's not selfish, she couldn't ask her that... and btw, the one that makes Honoka go to the airport to stop Kotori is clearly Umi... so, please, don't say "there were no moments in the anime where Kotori and Umi showed anything more than the love between good friends"

I read this argument very often... and I can't possibly agree.
The HonoKoto scene at the airport... the fact that Honoka was the one who stopped Kotori from leaving, "The only person who could get Kotori to stay was Honoka" is NOT because Honoka has feelings for her or Kotori stayed ONLY cuz Honoka asked so... Of course, Honoka is the main character who else in the world would do that work?? If Eli, Nico, or Maki were the main charecter then one of them would have been the one who stopped Kotori...

I think Umi didn't stop Kotori because, unlike Honoka, she's not selfish, she couldn't ask her that... and btw, the one that makes Honoka go to the airport to stop Kotori is clearly Umi... so, please, don't say "there were no moments in the anime where Kotori and Umi showed anything more than the love between good friends"

Soo... your saying Honoka is just an accessory for KotoUmi.
It's folly to think that Honoka doesn't love kotori and umi. That would imply that the second years friendship was a lie
There are equal amounts of ship fuel between the three.

last edited at Apr 2, 2015 9:47PM

I read this argument very often... and I can't possibly agree.
The HonoKoto scene at the airport... the fact that Honoka was the one who stopped Kotori from leaving, "The only person who could get Kotori to stay was Honoka" is NOT because Honoka has feelings for her or Kotori stayed ONLY cuz Honoka asked so... Of course, Honoka is the main character who else in the world would do that work?? If Eli, Nico, or Maki were the main charecter then one of them would have been the one who stopped Kotori...

I think Umi didn't stop Kotori because, unlike Honoka, she's not selfish, she couldn't ask her that... and btw, the one that makes Honoka go to the airport to stop Kotori is clearly Umi... so, please, don't say "there were no moments in the anime where Kotori and Umi showed anything more than the love between good friends"

Soo... your saying Honoka is just an accessory for KotoUmi.

Tsk, don't overreact, I never said that.
In that part I felt like Umi "used" Honoka so she would ask Kotori to stay (thing Umi could never do)... but meh, it's just that I find it funny...

I could imagine Love Live becoming the centre of ruthless pairing wars between opposition fandoms...There are good arguments for either one out of KotoUmi, HonoUmi and HonoKoto. In fact there is no pairing that doesn't have a solid argument against it.

THIS ISN'T NICOMAKI WHY NOT

Manase trying to break up the OT3? How sad!

WOahwoahwoahwoahwoah. Slow down there. Honoka is not unpopular. People love her because she is just a natural leader, and no one can be credited for u's except for her. She is impassioned and goofy. I don't think we can call someone who started up a club that involves ridiculous amounts of physical activity and training "lazy".

Plus 'getting forced onto Tsubasa'...no one's forcing that ship. It just feels awesome the idea that the two leaders of the most popular idol groups find inspiration in each other and fall in love through the process of going through that.

@ColonalCat
She's unpopular, not in the red zone, but her personality is not something that people can stomach all the time, or sometimes people think it's "just your generic genki girl"

"Getting forced onto Tsubasa" though, is really one of the common practice with KotoUmi works. The moment artist tries to pair the whole µ's members into 2-person relationship, Honoka will be always the one that get kicked out from the pairing.
The idea of HonoTsuba is quite interesting, despite being lacking, and I actually enjoy reading HonoTsuba books, but definitely not the one where Honoka get pushed away for the sake of pairing Kotori with Umi.

Imagine if it was Umi, instead of Honoka.
The KotoUmi fans reaction to those was rather bad, and yet pairing Honoka/treating her as leftover for anyone else was a fair thing to do? Yeah... no.

Sometimes I wonder why a pairing has to be definite. I guess lots of people don't like it one sided huh, or perhaps two people (or more) liking the same person.

I read this argument very often... and I can't possibly agree.
The HonoKoto scene at the airport... the fact that Honoka was the one who stopped Kotori from leaving, "The only person who could get Kotori to stay was Honoka" is NOT because Honoka has feelings for her or Kotori stayed ONLY cuz Honoka asked so... Of course, Honoka is the main character who else in the world would do that work?? If Eli, Nico, or Maki were the main charecter then one of them would have been the one who stopped Kotori...

I think Umi didn't stop Kotori because, unlike Honoka, she's not selfish, she couldn't ask her that... and btw, the one that makes Honoka go to the airport to stop Kotori is clearly Umi... so, please, don't say "there were no moments in the anime where Kotori and Umi showed anything more than the love between good friends"

@Adri_VolKatina
Honoka was the least person that want to be separated from anyone else, notably Kotori and Umi.
It's not because Honoka is the main character. I hope you're not forgetting that before Umi, Honoka's closest childhood friend is Kotori. Has it been someone else, she wouldn't be getting a major breakdown in S1 Ep12.

That day, on Kotori's flight, Honoka intended to talk with Kotori and Umi on the auditorium, but turns out Kotori has left for her flight.

Feelings wise, it's hard to argue about "feelings." Romance based feelings are no-go for the official works. Any other type of feelings? Friendship? It's there.
Kotori did stay partially because Honoka wished so.
Previously, she wanted to learn to be as designer, that is pre µ's.
What she wanted now is to stay with Honoka and Umi as idols, µ's, but she didn't know what to do, nor she had the courage to make decision.
What she wished was someone to tell her to stay, and that's where Honoka play the role. (But if you want to incorporate romance-tier feeling, that's where it kicks in here. Kotori -> Honoka. Otherwise, let's say no romance happened on the series)

Umi, as childhood friend, could probably wish the same as Honoka, wanting Kotori to stay with them. She did indirectly try to stop her from studying aboard, with a lighter implication. "It can't be helped." At that point, regardless what she does, it would be meaningless
Nevertheless Umi is still a close friend with Kotori, and so does the other two, but for the anime, she's more of a supportive character, just for this whole airport scenes.

Yuri implication? Unlike other pairings, they're close as they are already, and most likely wont be as apparent as other pairings. If you want something that ties both of them together, it's season 2 first few episode.
"Regardless what Honoka choose, Kotori is willing to follow her decision" - Anime, first three episode (Kotori -> Honoka, which somewhat is similar to Umi -> Honoka on her SID)

I could imagine Love Live becoming the centre of ruthless pairing wars between opposition fandoms...There are good arguments for either one out of KotoUmi, HonoUmi and HonoKoto. In fact there is no pairing that doesn't have a solid argument against it.

I thought it already is.

Why do I have a feeling some of us are getting somewhat sidetracked.

last edited at Apr 3, 2015 12:02AM

Nico saw this coming!! from the very beginning she saw how over friendly they were and immediately said to them "hey are you guys ok with this?" Nico told you guys!! now you see what is happening?! You are getting hurt!!

OMG THERE'S A TYPO MACHIGAI ANON SHREK UP AGAIN

OMG THERE'S A TYPO MACHIGAI ANON SHREK UP AGAIN

why is she so bad

OMG THERE'S A TYPO MACHIGAI ANON SHREK UP AGAIN

why is she so bad

SHE PUT EFFORT INTO IT THEREFORE IMMUNE TO CRITICISM!

@ColonalCat
She's unpopular, not in the red zone, but her personality is not something that people can stomach all the time, or sometimes people think it's "just your generic genki girl"

I understand that. In my experience everyone will say they like Honoka least, but few say they outright dislike her. If you do think that, hey, all the power to ya. I personally like her a lot...but perhaps that's the existential in me coming out and seeing her as the main responsibility for the entire show in the first place, even if she wasn't the MC.

"Getting forced onto Tsubasa" though, is really one of the common practice with KotoUmi works. The moment artist tries to pair the whole µ's members into 2-person relationship, Honoka will be always the one that get kicked out from the pairing.
The idea of HonoTsuba is quite interesting, despite being lacking, and I actually enjoy reading HonoTsuba books, but definitely not the one where Honoka get pushed away for the sake of pairing Kotori with Umi.
Imagine if it was Umi, instead of Honoka.
The KotoUmi fans reaction to those was rather bad, and yet pairing Honoka/treating her as leftover for anyone else was a fair thing to do? Yeah... no.

I empathize with this. Maybe once we get the movie there will be a LOT more TsubaHono hints and that will help ease tensions.

Sometimes I wonder why a pairing has to be definite. I guess lots of people don't like it one sided huh, or perhaps two people (or more) liking the same person.

There's a spectrum. On one hand you have people who ship a character with whomever like best, regardless of canon (canon meaning the writing and the work and stuff...not like the ship is necessarily "canon"), and on the other you have he-who-shall-not-be-named out on a witch hunt for anything breaking up their ships. Most of us fall closer to the latter without the hatred and aggression. Just...if a ship presents itself as best, people will support it. Sometimes the ship REALLY pushes the boundaries, such as things like blatant incest KururixMairu in Durarara and OT3s like...well no canon example off the top of my head; in these cases, sometimes people stray because they're uncomfortable.

Honoka was the least person that want to be separated from anyone else, notably Kotori and Umi.
It's not because Honoka is the main character. I hope you're not forgetting that before Umi, Honoka's closest childhood friend is Kotori. Has it been someone else, she wouldn't be getting a major breakdown in S1 Ep12.

Gonna butt in, because why not. I think it's a character deal. I don't think Umi would ever stop anyone, not even her lover, from chasing her dreams. Not that Ho-girl stopped Kotori for anything selfish...she asked and offered Koto, who accepted. However Umi let Ho know of Koto's plans because she knew what Honoka wanted, and somewhat what Kotori wanted...she just also knew she couldn't give to Kotori what Honoka could.

This is the prime basis for the OT3. You can make the ships work any which way, including towards all three of them. I don't subscribe, but I don't deny it either. I'm just working on deciding how I feel about OT3s in general.

Yuri implication? Unlike other pairings, they're close as they are already, and most likely wont be as apparent as other pairings. If you want something that ties both of them together, it's season 2 first few episode.

Careful...if you mean other pairings with the three of 'em, it's a solid argument. But NozoEli was way more glaringly obvious throughout the second season, and NicoMaki had a lot of subtext as well (just a step back from season one).

I could imagine Love Live becoming the centre of ruthless pairing wars between opposition fandoms...There are good arguments for either one out of KotoUmi, HonoUmi and HonoKoto. In fact there is no pairing that doesn't have a solid argument against it.

I thought it already is.

Thankfully, it isn't. There's a heated debate, but it's not really a war yet. Hopefully it never will be. I don't want LL to degenerate to Bleach level.

OMG THERE'S A TYPO MACHIGAI ANON SHREK UP AGAIN

why is she so bad

You two are so mean ;<

people debating and analyzing which ships are more likely in an idol series

people debating and analyzing which ships are more likely in an idol series

Meanwhile the Uploaders try to break the tension.

Meanwhile the Uploaders shit posting.

There I fixed it.

Anime Spoilers ahead.
I don't think that in the Love Live! universe this could be plausible at all considering the airport scene and the whole event concerning Kotori leaving, The only person who could get Kotori to stay was Honoka, and the person Kotori had the hardest time telling was Honoka. In fact she just came right out and told Umi she would be leaving and needed advice on how to tell Honoka. Umi also asks Kotori that is she were the one to ask her to stay would Kotori change her mind and Kotori said no. The one person who Kotori can possible love romantically in all of Love Live! is Honoka. There were no moments in the anime where Kotori and Umi showed anything more than the love between good friends which I thought was clearly shown. When it came time for Honoka to stop Kotori she had no idea why it had to be her and she only went to the airport because Umi forced her to, and Honoka also just said what she was supposed to and Kotori came back. I think Kotori is the only one of the three childhood friends is in love with one of the other while Honoka has Tsubasa and Umi either doesn't get shipped with anyone, or she's shipped with Eli (or even her little sister)

I really don't like Kotori x Umi, in my opinion the only possible ship between Honoka, Kotori, and Umi us Kotori x Honoka and I pair Honoka with Tsubasa so Kotori is left out. The only ships that work for Umi are Eli or Alisa with preference for Eli.

I did like the story for what it was though, and the art was nice.

Couldn't agree with you anymore.

I don't know what the hell happened on this story

The way I see their relationship, based on the subliminal message I thought is beeing shown in the anime, is going like this: Umi loves Kotori, Kotori loves Honoka, and Honoka likes both of them.

I uses like here not because I think she's in love with someone else, (I can't see anything between Honoka and Tsubasa >,<) but because she's either too dense about love or too focused on the whole school idols thing to be concerned about it. Of course I do agree that she likes them enough that she might agreed if one of them ask her out. And since the one who loves her is Kotori, I'm not with HonoUmi faction.

I do see it's possible for Honoka to be with Kotori, but it also depends on whether she noticed Umi's feeling for Kotori or not. She might be too dense to notice it and agreed to going out with Kotori. But in case she noticed it, she won't think twice to shot it down. She'd do this because she'll put μ's harmony in priority.

And that's what might actually happened in that episode when the three of them in triple hugs, maybe Honoka noticed their feelings, and that is Honoka's way to say "Both of you are important to me, so (for now) let's keep how things are like this". Well, a kind of "let's just be friend for now" rejection for Kotori, and most likely even before she confessed her love. Well, I think Kotori herself is content with it.

As for Umi and Kotori, I believe Umi always knows Kotori's feeling for Honoka. This might or might not stop her to ask Kotori out. If I'm to imagine Umi confessing her love to Kotori, eight out of ten she'll accept it. So KotoUmi is possible.

My logic can't accept HonoKotoUmi no matter how sweet it might sounds like. It fit them, and "everyone can be happy" that way, but there's now way I can imagine a three way relationship like that without leaving each of them favoring one over the other. Well... let's just use "love can't be explained with logic" and "this is an anime, so let it happen" to keep enjoying the sweetness of this ship can offer.

Gosh, I wrote too much. It's not like me at all.

My logic can't accept HonoKotoUmi no matter how sweet it might sounds like. It fit them, and "everyone can be happy" that way, but there's now way I can imagine a three way relationship like that without leaving each of them favoring one over the other. Well... let's just use "love can't be explained with logic" and "this is an anime, so let it happen" to keep enjoying the sweetness of this ship can offer.

As someone who's been in three (and more) way relationships that have been plenty fulfilling, I'd suggest that what you said is correct and the issue is your not being able to imagine it rather than anything about the relationship structure itself. To be sure, a relationship like that carries a lot of social disapproval, but then so do lesbian relationships at all in Japanese culture. Plus of course it's fiction so whether it works out or not is up to the author saying it works out, and writing it so it's internally consistent. In this particular story, perhaps not. In other stories, definitely so.

Is everyone receiving exactly equal attention at all times in a three-way relationship? Of course not. That doesn't happen in two-way ones either.

Is everyone receiving exactly equal attention at all times in a three-way relationship? Of course not. That doesn't happen in two-way ones either.

Nezchan gets it.

Is everyone receiving exactly equal attention at all times in a three-way relationship? Of course not. That doesn't happen in two-way ones either.

Nezchan gets it.

I'm sorry to hear that Kouhai isn't paying sufficient attention to you. Perhaps a spare could help fill in those little gaps?

;>

I'm sorry to hear that Kouhai isn't paying sufficient attention to you. Perhaps a spare could help fill in those little gaps?

But of course! That's where you come in, isn't it? :o