I was surprised that there was a lot of in-theater advertising for Love Live at the theater I went to. They had an illuminated poster, posters at the concession stand, and it was high up on the titles/times board (instead of say, down at the bottom). There was no way for the people who were in the theater to see something other than Love Live to not know it was there. So I wondered what a "non-anime watcher" might think about it.

By chance I found this review from an actual newspaper:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/movies/2015/09/10/review-love-live-school-idol-movie-garish-confusing/71928468/

I can only imagine the discussion that happened when the editor told this guy to go cover this movie lol

Well, if those "normal people" enjoy other cartoons and animations, their reactions would likely be far from spectacular. Instead, even if they don't normally care for animations, they should view it with the same variety of opinions as other anime viewers. A show is a show. If it's any good, the feedback will reflect it. "Normal people" aren't much different from us. Personally, Love Live bores me half to death. There's bound to be someone else who'd think the same.

Never could get into it really,i am not much into fanservice.>.<

ROFL

I love Love Live, but to the "uninitiated", I guess that makes sense. I mean - there's no build up for that person to really enjoy it. I haven't seen the movie itself, but I assume that it can't make much sense without context from the two seasons that came before it. Add to that the fact that Idol Anime is already unfamiliar even to some anime fans.

I mean, there's just no relatability there. It's funny because I never really thought about "What if I showed my family or friends Love Live?". Might be interesting to try

But, I haven't seen the movie yet, so perhaps the movie was actually pretty bad? That's a possibility, but I think culture shock is more likely - especially considering that idol anime is generally an acquired taste even among anime fans. But who know? Could have been a sub-par representation of the show.

Still very funny to read his opinion though XD

Im normal...

Sometimes

^ Yep, what he said. I haven't watched any.

Im sure they just figure it to be an animation or Japanese cartoon.

I always hear or see people talking about going to see the latest Naruto or w/e movie in theaters but I've never seen an anime ever play in a regular Regal cinema once, I hear about screenings and the likes but those are usually at the studios or the likes.

I should clarify that I meant "normal people" as a tongue in cheek shorthand for people who don't watch anime, or anything else nerdy.



Exactly, especially older folks. For example, I saw an older gentleman with a crew cut at the theater who looked like a retired navy captain or something, I'd really like to know what he thought about it. I'm sure he was there with family or something.



To be fair, there was no way someone who decided to see the movie without having seen Love Live before was going to get any of the humor, it was 99% in-jokes.
The movie is prefaced by a short 3 minute recap of the TV series, which is probably enough to understand the gist of the movie otherwise.

I'm amused at the difference between the review at ANN and this one, the ANN review is so detailed and it's like the Arizona Republic guy didn't even try lol
Not that the difference is really surprising because of the different audiences.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/love-live-the-school-idol-movie/.92890
Incidentally, ANN gave it a B-.

Sorry, it was a little hard to tell if you were serious or not, so I tried to establish a balance addressing both. Well, anyway, notably older US folks have a good shot at enjoying anime, because they're the ones who enjoyed the prime of the Golden Age of American Animation.