History YMMV / LoveLive

* TaintedByThePreview: The announcement of a "Virtual School Idol" project in March 2022 was pretty much met with universal derision from the already existing fanbases, with ''Nijigasaki'' and ''Superstar'' fans feeling that the project would take attention away from the already existing groups, and the common opinions that the ''Love Live'' staff is just attempting to cash-in with the [=VTuber=] fad, and that a [=VTuber=] project (where seiyuu are usually kept hidden) would clash too hard with the franchise's identity (where seiyuu and character are two sides of the same coin). Fortunately, fears would be assuaged once ''Link! Like! Love Live!'' got announced in early 2023 and it was revealed that the project would still feature a prominent idol seiyuu element.

** Are the anthology mangas canon? Some people knew the disclaimer about the mangas being written and drawn from the various artists' interpretations, but due to several of the stories having little-to-no subtext, it doesn't stop the other fans for accepting the stories as BetterThanCanon (sometimes pseudocanon) personally.

* TaintedByThePreview: The announcement of a "Virtual School Idol" project in March 2022 was pretty much met with universal derision from the already existing fanbases, with ''Nijigasaki'' and ''Superstar'' fans feeling that the project would take attention away from the already existing groups, and the common opinions that the ''Love Live'' staff is just attempting to cash-in with the [=VTuber=] fad, and that a [=VTuber=] project (where seiyuu are usually kept hidden) would clash too hard with the franchise's identity (where seiyuu and character are two sides of the same coin). Fortunately, fears would be assuaged once ''Link Live Love Live!'' got announced in early 2023 and it was revealed that the project would still feature a prominent idol seiyuu element.

* TaintedByThePreview: The announcement of a "Virtual School Idol" project in March 2022 was pretty much met with universal derision from the already existing fanbases, with ''Nijigasaki'' and ''Superstar'' fans feeling that the project would take attention away from the already existing groups, and the common opinions that the ''Love Live'' staff is just attempting to cash-in with the [=VTuber=] fad, and that a [=VTuber=] project (where seiyuu are usually kept hidden) would clash too hard with the franchise's identity (where seiyuu and character are two sides of the same coin).

*** Kotori's mother, the director of Otonokizaka, for being generally supportive of her as well as the group, willing to let them become an official club and enter into the Love Live if it'll save the school. Director Minami is also popular with...certain kinds of mother-appreciating fans.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Umi getting a rare item from a capsule toy machine predicted the player's reactions (albeit ''completely unsatisfied'') for getting a rare in ''VideoGame/LoveLiveSchoolIdolFestival''. (By ''School Idol Festival''s standards, The R (Rare) cards ranked even lower than SR, SSR & especially '''''UR'''''.)
** You will never take the original soundtrack's title (''Notes of '''School Idol Days''''') seriously again after reading [[https://dynasty-scans.com/series/school_idol_days a certain infamous doujinshi series released in 2016.]]
** The Episode title for Season 1, Episode 6[[note]]"Who will be the center?"[[/note]]. Guess [[Anime/LoveLiveSunshine who is believed to steal the spotlight in every song released by the fans]]?
** Remember those illustrations of Nico's dream of being an angel along with her friends and Honoka & Umi dressing up as ghosts in the ''School Idol Diary'' novels (and its manga adaptation)? The majority of the fans now believe that they're truly "dead" in the credits sequence of ''The School Idol Movie''.

** This also applies to Umi, who unlike Hanayo didn't get ''any'' focus episodes dedicated to her despite being part of the main Second Year trio, with many feeling that she should've gotten at least one episode devoted to her.

** Nozomi gets most of her popularity from the Western fanbase, despite her BaseBreakingCharacter status. This is because of her [[BuxomIsBetter attractive]] appearance, her CoolBigSis traits, and her debatably having the most LesYay in the anime. There has been regrets with Western fans on how Nozomi gets treated in songs (Out of her three centers, one of them she doesn't have a solo in and another has never been performed live, and overall she gets the least amount of solos in the group) yet that hasn't been a major issue with Japanese fans, since they just don't like her singing voice. Her pairing between with Eli is also one of the most liked by many of the LGBTFanbase in both the Japanese and mainly the Western fandom.

** Also Eli in episodes 7 & 8, for a lot of the same reasons as Nico. The reveal that she couldn't make it as a ballerina was again intended to generate sympathy for the character but it didn't justify her constantly MovingTheGoalPosts to stop the Idol club from suceeding. She comes accross as a selfish [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucrat]] motivated by [[GreenEyedMonster petty jealousy]] rather than someone the audience should actually feel sorry for.

*** Umi, thanks to her attitude, is just as much of this as her two best friends. Some people think she's a likeable voice of reason for being [[SurroundedByIdiots one of the only members of the group]] [[OnlySaneWoman to actually understand the effort]] that goes into being an idol, and find her just as cute and funny as her friends, especially whenever she's concerned about revealing clothes. Others think Umi's SeriousBusiness attitude makes her come off as [[DrillSergeantNasty a bit too strict an manipulative]], especially since neither Honoka and Kotori [[ExtremeDoormat stand up to her]]; this is also fueled by her lack of focus episodes resulting in [[StaticCharacter no real character development]] for her. Her [[spoiler:ArmorPiercingSlap to Honoka]] in episode 12 was also very divisive — a lot saw it as [[LaserGuidedKarma justified]], while many others thought it was ''way'' out of line. And if that wasn't enough, after [[DietEpisode episode 7 of season 2]] came along, Umi's hatedom peaked and accusations of KarmaHoudini began to be thrown at her.

** Eli has a certain following in Russia.

** Nozomi's groping of Nico may cause some viewers to be uncomfortable in the dub. That's because their voice actresses, Creator/LauraPost and Creator/EricaMendez respectively, are [[spoiler: [[Anime/KillLaKill Ragyo Kiryuin and Ryuko Matoi]]. With the former having molested the latter.]].

*** Related: Nico's English voice actress, Creator/EricaMendez, would later voice a character [[Anime/{{Aggretsuko}} who does death metal karaoke]], complete with a face in her "rage mode" that resembles KISS' trademark face paint.

** Nico's birthday is July 22nd, which is the same birthday as [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Arle Nadja]]. Creator/EricaMendez would later voice Arle.

** Umi's [[https://imgur.com/a/oxrHrXH rather frightening smile]] ([[https://imgur.com/a/23lq3W1 sometimes followed by a frown]]) in both the second season's fourth and seventh episodes are seen as '''a''' lethally threatening expression of [[strike:her]] anger.

** Mentioning het shipping or even the very notion that the characters (yes, even animals like Alpacas) are anything but strictly lesbian (not counting Honoka's mother and any of µ's' moms like Kotori's or Maki's) is a major no-no. [[AmericansHateTingle This mainly applies in the West and in some Chinese-speaking countries, though.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: TheMovie opens with µ's travelling to New York City in America for publicity purposes in order to get a School Idol event broadcast worldwide at the Akaiba Dome. Considering the possibilities presented by such a huge city and the cultural divide between the girls and the city's American citizens, this set-up could have easily carried most of the film, but instead it's only the first act. About 30 minutes in, the girls are on their way back to Japan where the rest of the action takes place.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The OVA is notorious for making ''absolutely no goddamn sense.'' It attempts to pass it off as AllJustADream, but fans aren't convinced that the writers weren't high when writing it.
* WinBackTheCrowd: After 2 years of absence, the announcement of µ's' grand return for ''All Stars'' and the upcoming Love Live! Fes 2020 had every single fan tearing up with joy.

''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'' has its own YMMV page [[YMMV/LoveLiveSunshine here]].
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* FandomLifeCycle: The franchise is quite well known in Japan, sitting at minimum a solid Stage 4. It's generally associated with the revitalization of the idol genre in anime, and during the peak of its popularity in the µ's era was almost big enough to be considered mainstream; even after the departure of µ's, Aqours, Nijigasaki and Liella maintain strong, dedicated and active fanbases. Outside of Japan, like most Japanese franchises, the franchise experiences considerably more limited exposure, roughly Stage 3 in scope. The fanbase is comparatively small but tight-knit, and it has enough exposure that many anime viewers are usually dimly aware of the series.

* FanNickname: The token comic relief character in every unit (Nico, Yoshiko, Kasumi, Sumire) is commonly referred to as the "gremlin" in Western circles. All of them share common traits; they are generally the quirkiest character in the unit, are prone to acting out whenever they feel like it, are almost never taken seriously by any of the other characters, and (with the exception of Yoshiko) have a bit of a bratty side to them, some more prominent than others.

* BrokenBase: Discussions regarding the quality of each series when compared to each other can get ''very'' heated. The only thing pretty much everyone in the fanbase agrees on is that µ's and ''School Idol Project'' is the most iconic part of the franchise (which in on itself owes most of its popularity to ''SIP''). Some fans prefer the DarkerAndEdgier approach, and the character development of ''Sunshine''; other fans prefer the individualistic approach and more sober atmosphere (with a very big dose of yuri undertones) of ''Nijigasaki''; and yet some other fans favor the tight-knit dynamics of Liella!, and the smaller cast in ''Superstar''.

* AmericansHateTingle: Both Kotori and Nico are very popular in Japan; the latter's unconditional support for Honoka and the latter's latter's {{Moe}} factor are respectively their selling points. In the Western fanbase, however, they're [[BaseBreakingCharacter more divisive]] (and Nico, at one point, was quite possibly the most divisive girl in the group).

[[folder:YMMV tropes for the franchise as a whole]]

[[folder:YMMV tropes for the first ''Love Live!'' anime]]

* AmericansHateTingle:
** Kotori is very popular in Japan, where her unconditional support for Honoka is appreciated and her voice is considered cute. Most Western fans, however, think she just lacks the backbone to say "no" to Honoka, find her voice annoying, and generally view her as lacking in characterization (to TheGenericGuy levels) compared to the other girls.
** Nico is extremely popular in Japan and [=NicoMaki=] is easily the most popular pairing in the fanbase. In the Western fanbase, however, she is quite possibly [[BaseBreakingCharacter the most divisive girl in the group]].

** Nico is the biggest example of this. Although she's one of the (if not, THE) most popular characters due to her {{Moe}} factor and cute looks, she is also very divisive due to her [[AttentionWhore attention]]-[[TheStarscream grabbing]] [[TheFakeCutie fake cutie]] tendencies; people either [[ButtMonkey love her]] or [[BitchInSheepsClothing hate her]] for it. After [[ADayInTheLimelight Season 2 Episode 4]] aired [[spoiler:and revealed her delusion came from [[CoolBigSis trying to pander to her younger siblings, who she frequently takes care of]]]], the base ironically broke even more about her: either the episode [[FreudianExcuse did justify]] her pushy behavior (which did get pushed aside from that episode onward), or it just gave people even more reason to hate her and {{never live it down}}.
** Eli. Some people like her for trying very hard to save the school, for being one of [[CoolBigSis the best older sisters]] (comparable to Nico) and for [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting and opening to the girls]] in Episode 8, having a tranquil personality from there on. On the other hand, her detractors [[NeverLiveItDown will never forget]] the fact she was an ObstructiveBureaucrat and fairly harsh to µ's for no apparent reason throughout the first seven episodes. Although [[FreudianExcuse her reason to it]] finally surfaces in Episodes 7 and 8 [[spoiler:(her inability to enter several ballet auditions and become a professional ballerina, despite being good at it)]], like Nico, the fanbase divided on this: either it made her come off as a JerkassWoobie who actually developed as a character, or it didn't make much of a difference and didn't justify her behavior enough.
** Nozomi, to a lesser extent than her fellow Third Years. For many, she's a NiceGirl and a lovable TeamMom whose tendency to [[ThanksForTheMammaries grope her fellow idols' chests]] and [[FortuneTeller read fortune through tarot]] adds some mischievous and endearing charm to her. For others, said tendency to grope the other girls makes her come off as a creep for doing what would be clearly defined as sexual harassment in real life, while the other girls [[KarmaHoudini can't do a lot about it]].
** The Second Years are also especially notable for this, since much of the focus of the anime is on them. Either their [[ChildhoodFriends touching friendship]] probably wouldn't have made the story possible, or they're [[VanillaProtagonist boring]] and [[SpotlightStealingSquad take too much screentime away]] from the other girls. Each of them are also divisive in their own right:
*** Honoka is either cute, driven by pure motives, has InfectiousEnthusiasm, and is pretty hard to hate despite taking dumb decisions at times, or she's immature, dumb, and [[InnocentlyInsensitive selfish for stringing along others in her plans without any regards for their feelings]]. The penultimate episode of the first season (see BrokenBase below) really didn't help the debate.
*** Kotori's main charm point, [[{{Moe}} her cuteness]], is also her main source of divisiveness among fans. Aside from that, people either find her pretty, [[NiceGirl nice]], and a very supportive friend, or [[TheGenericGuy uninteresting]] and [[YesMan without much backbone]], while having an annoying voice. Some have even gone as far as to accuse her for being the cause of the drama in the final episodes of the first season due to [[spoiler:hiding her study abroad opportunity]] and [[DisproportionateRetribution consider her even more selfish than Honoka]].
*** Umi, thanks to her attitude, is just as much of this as her two best friends. Either she's a likeable VoiceOfReason for being [[SurroundedByIdiots one of the only members of the group]] [[OnlySaneWoman to actually understand the effort]] that goes into being an idol, and pretty cute for being a huge ShrinkingViolet when it comes to revealing clothes, or she's [[DrillSergeantNasty an overly manipulative and strict girl]] who has only been friends with Honoka and Kotori for so long [[ExtremeDoormat because neither of them can stand up to her]]; this is also fueled by her lack of [[ADayInTheLimeLight focus episodes]] and no real CharacterDevelopment. Her [[spoiler:ArmorPiercingSlap to Honoka]] in episode 12 of the first season has divided the fans even further: a lot saw it as [[LaserGuidedKarma justified]], while many others thought it was ''way'' out of line. And if that wasn't enough, after [[DietEpisode episode 7 of season 2]] came along, her hatedom peaked and accusations of KarmaHoudini began to be thrown at her.
** To a lesser extent, the First Years are this as well.
*** For Maki, simply put, she's just as liked and praised as she is disliked and berated for being a {{Tsundere}} and having a SugarAndIcePersonality from which she [[FlatCharacter rarely breaks out of]].
*** Rin. One side likes her for her CatGirl motifs and for being one of the more properly developed characters during her {{day in the limelight}} in episode 5 of season 2. The other side finds her catgirl tendencies to be annoying.
*** Lastly, Hanayo is liked by a portion of the fandom for being just as {{Moe}} as Kotori, as well as shy, yet having moments where she can actually stand up and act for herself. Others dislike her for exactly those reasons and, like Umi, for [[OutOfFocus not having much focus]] or CharacterDevelopment over the course of the anime other than for her shyness and BigEater tendencies; as such, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter she's not as interesting as the other girls]]. Her voice is also a point of contention. Some find it cute, while other fans find it annoying, and some wish she stuck with the lower voice she used in her earlier songs.

* JerkassWoobie: [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Eli]] [[BrokenBird Ayase]]. Sure, she was mean to µ's during their first moments, but people forget she also wanted to save her school from closing. The school from which she was the StudentCouncilPresident. And despite her dislike of the other girls' "amateurish" routines, she did also know what it was to go through the same when [[spoiler:she practiced to be a professional ballerina]]. Had she just been given a hug by the girls of µ's, she probably would've opened easier to them.
** [[FountainOfMemes Nico]] [[AttentionWhore Yazawa]] is this as well. Especially in her ADayInTheLimeLight episode in the anime and her extended story in the School Idol Diary timeline. This status also makes her eventual breakdown during the beach scene in Season 2, Episode 11 much more painful to watch.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: To put it simple, '''[[UpToEleven all]]''' of the nine protagonists are this.

* {{Moe}}: All the girls could definitely count, but [[ShrinkingViolet Hanayo]] takes it UpToEleven.

* FandomLifeCycle: The franchise is quite well known in Japan, sitting at minimum a solid Stage 4. It's generally associated with the revitalization of the idol genre in anime, and during the peak of its popularity in the µ's era was almost big enough to be considered mainstream; even after the departure of µ's, Aqours and Nijigasaki maintain strong, dedicated and active fanbases. Outside of Japan, like most Japanese franchises, the franchise experiences considerably more limited exposure, roughly Stage 3 in scope. The fanbase is comparatively small but tight-knit, and it has enough exposure that many anime viewers are usually dimly aware of the series.

* UncannyValley: How some feel about Hatsune Miku as she appears in the ''Love Live'' franchise's art style.

* UncannyValley: Even among fans, the CGI used for the girls in the animated [=PVs=] and insert songs for the anime have a reputation for their dubious quality, oftentimes looking a bit "off" and not quite matching the quality of the 2D animation. The CGI does improve somewhat over time, but even in the newer songs the visuals aren't quite there yet. This would later [[ArtEvolution improve much further]] by ''Sunshine!!'', and µ's 2020 single "A song for You! You? You!!" uses ''Sunshine!!'''s level of CG, which makes them look far less jarring than before.

*** Speaking of songs not getting dubbed into English, is it better it should stay that way or not doing it wasted potential since the some of the actresses are good at singing especially [[Creator/MarieveHerington Honoka's actress]]?

* LGBTFanbase: While the franchise is primarily aimed at a male audience, it's also gained a lot of lesbian and bisexual female fans, especially in the West, thanks to all the HoYay between the characters and the [[CostumePorn pretty outfits]] they wear in ''School Idol Festival''. The entire series is also one of the few Animes to gain a positive influence to the queer fanbase.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Honoka certainly qualifies as one within the fandom. Out of everyone, she has the most pairing combinations that are somewhat recognized (Hono/Umi, Hono/Eli, Hono/Koto, Hono/Maki, [[FoeYay Hono/Tsubasa]]).