This one only works if you put in the hours, and that's exactly the point. Six of the thirteen get the spotlight for Chapter 1, and the split cast means Ayumu, Kasumi, Shizuku, Kanata, Emma and Lanzhu actually get room to breathe instead of the usual roll call. Lanzhu standing shoulder to shoulder with them in Okinawa for the School Idol GPX lands differently when you remember where she started in season two. The performances are where the money went: the 2D-to-3D handoffs are clean enough that you stop clocking them mid-song, and the new outfits earn their screen time. Yuu gets pushed to the margins as Ayumu's girlfriend, which will annoy some people and quietly delight others who just wanted it stated plainly. No stakes, no villain, no crisis. Just people you've followed for years being loved on for ninety minutes, and it gets you anyway.

The first film in a trilogy, this Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club movie carries the story forward past the second season and the OVA. Ayumu, Kasumi, Shizuku, Kanata, Emma, and Lanzhu sign up for the School Idol GPX, a competition taking place in Okinawa. Music and slice-of-life moments shape the club's next step as it heads toward the franchise's final chapters.