I am strictly speaking of Sunshine episode 8 and i still think they did it better than the original. I just cant say the original did the characters better when my best girl is the least developed and didnt get any episodes on her own. That by no means say that i like the Aquour characters more though. You're now just twisting my words to "bad characters" when i said they were "not very good" as in "still good", but Sunshine is doing it better is all i am saying. The way they planed for Yous' story and Step Zero to One is pretty cleaver. If Sunshine continues to be as good as the recent episode is, i think there is big hope, but if they regress back to how episode 1-6 are, then i don't know what to say.

Yeah, I though Love Live ORIGINAL SEASON Episode 8 was extremely well-done. I thought it beautifully completed the first section of Eli's character arc, wonderfully trying it into the formation of the full μ's. At the same time, it made Nozomi appear very clever and eloquent and wise, it gave Umi a great happy victory in her conflict with Eli, and it nicely climaxed the Honoka/Eli philosophical conflict that was well-displayed in LL's OP. Then we transition to the first "all 9" μ's live performance and it was a total blast.

LL Season 1 Episode 8 is among my favorite anime episodes of all-time. Heck, it might even be my favorite anime episode of all-time.

Was Sunshine Episode 8 well done? Sure, but I didn't love it the way I did LL Season 1 Episode 8. LL Season 1 Episode 8 was wonderfully cathartic and just pure joy to watch. I'll take that over "sad girl in the snow" gut punches, as effective as they also can be.

LL Season 1 was very well-written in my view. And in my opinion, how likeable/interesting you find characters should factor in a lot to how good you find a show.

Didn't you think episode 8 was well done? If they continue like that, don't you think it's done better than the how the original would? I just giving credit when its earned. Even if a movie is well written and wins tons of oscars, if you don't like the characters, then you won't like them, but you cant deny that it is well written. That is how i approached it.

LMAO at your Riko comment.

So Riko is the only character in Sunshine you actually care about, yet you think Sunshine is undoubtedly going to be much better than the original?

You wrote "The original didn't have very good characterization at all, it was mainly the Honoka/Kotori/Umi trio and that was still fairly weak."

"Didn't have very good characterization at all" essentially means "bad characters". What makes a character is how that character is characterized. "Bad characters" is a critical criticism of an anime show.

"If they continue on with how things are, Sunshine will undoubtedly be much better than the original and we aren't even done with season 1 yet." - You really don't see how this sentence is trashing the original Love Live? You're basically treating it like disposable garbage.

So Pen, what exactly did you like about the original Love Live given how very harshly you're now trashing it on the Sunshine Episode 8 thread?

Frankly, it sounds like you think the OG was just crap, and yet you stuck through those first few Sunshine episodes just because you're a LL fan? Dude, that doesn't make any sense at all.

I kinda agree with you on Yohane, but I feel I've been critical enough on the Episode 7 thread as it is. I find Yohane pretty amusing at times, and she does excellent costume work (her latest costume made me think of Akuma Homura meets The Joker, lol). But she sometimes stands out too much from the rest of Aqours for my liking. I hope she can kinda gel in better in future episodes.

I couldn't tell if your Episode 7 post was serious or sarcastic.

By the way, Pen, given our recent discussions over Love Live Sunshine, I have an anime to recommend to you - Macross Delta

I'm not sure if you've ever watched a Macross property before, but if you haven't, don't be worried about that. Delta is pretty newcomer friendly. Delta has a major idol group that I definitely could see you liking a lot.

I find Sunshine overly silly and kinda weightless. I wish the show had more mature, well-rounded characters like Eli and Umi and Nozomi. One positive about this, is that Sunshine is giving me a greater appreciation for those characters, and the balance that they helped bring to the original Love Live.