Review of Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow

In some ways, I actually like this movie more than School Idol Project's movie, which you won't hear many people say. However, there are other ways in which it falls flat. Over the Rainbow is a movie with a good plot but with poor writing. Spoilers: So one of my biggest problems with the movie is just how absurd it all seems. The conflict and the early plot are actually pretty good, I like the dynamic with Mari and her mom fighting about her potential marriage and the fact that the third years ran away. However, the story wasn't executed the best. The characters range frompleasant like Yoshiko to annoying like Hanamaru, who essentially does nothing but eat and whine. Then you get other characters like You that get no screentime because they decided it would be a good idea to include some annoying 1-dimensional copy of her who takes away some of her screentime. Kanan and Dia also don't get nearly enough screentime, I think it would have been kind of cool to see them talk more about their relationship with Mari. The music is phenomenal, as to be expected, especially Saint Snow. The art is pretty good although some of the design choices like the lips bug me a little (that may not bother you, it's more of a personal preference for me). The pacing isn't the best but it is better than the other LL movie, so I guess that's something. I don't really see what was essential about the girls going to Italy. They could have literally done the same story but just have the 3rd years go run away to Tokyo or something. Why Italy? Is it because Mari has family there? You can add that to the list of things that this movie never explains. I do like the conflict towards the end with Leah and Sarah, it's kind of a nice touch but I wish it had been built up to throughout the movie better, it's just kind of shoveled in there.

Despite my critiques, this movie does do a lot of things right. It kept me invested, it had good music, the art was good, and it is, I suppose, a satisfying conclusion to Aqours' legacy. Not the best movie of all times, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.