[2] The film was directed by Takahiko Kyōgoku, written by Jukki Hanada, produced by Sunrise, and distributed by Shochiku.
The movie begins with a scene from the second years' childhood, where Honoka is trying to jump over a puddle left from the rain, with Kotori cheering her on and Umi watching from behind a tree.
Despite failing multiple times and being asked by Kotori to give up and go home instead, she finally manages to soar over it in the end.
The story takes place after the events of the second season, where μ's (pronounced "muse") receives a notification that the organizers of Love Live!
Therefore, to spread the appeal of school idols to even more people, they have decided to send μ's to the United States, where a TV agency has offered to do a cover on them.
While preparing for the live and doing their training in New York City, μ's continues to enjoy themselves as tourists as well, with the insert song "Hello, Hoshi o Kazoete" (Hello,星を数えて) played at the end of the montage.
Honoka was left carrying the singer's microphone set, with one question lingering in her head from their conversation: "What's most important is, whose sake do you sing for?"
But with all the fans telling them that they want μ's to continue forever, the girls' hearts begin to waver regarding their decision to disband.
Principal Minami also calls them to her office, informing them that she too wishes them to continue even if they have to reinvent themselves as something other than school idols.
Faced with the dilemma out in the middle of a rainstorm, Honoka hears a lone voice singing, and runs into the same singer she met before.
Honoka proceeds to run down the hill and take the jump, reaffirming her love for the existence of school idols.
Despite having sent emails to all school idols across the country, not many of them are accepting of it, which leads Honoka to decide that they need to meet them personally in order for their feelings to get through.
Using Maki's money for train fare, they head out in groups of three across the nation to convince school idols to join their endeavor.
As Eli decides to start a race there and μ's begins running, Honoka is distracted by a single drifting petal, reminiscent of the flowers upon the hill in the illusionary world.
When she gets to the site, all of μ's is greeted by the sight of all of the school idols already there, dressed in costumes following a style similar to their own design.
[9] The third single, "Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari / Future Style", was released on July 15 and had "Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari" (僕たちはひとつの光) by μ's and "Future Style" by Honoka Kōsaka (Emi Nitta), Kotori Minami (Aya Uchida) and Umi Sonoda (Suzuko Mimori)[8][7] It broke the franchise record for first week sales set by the second single, with 96,000 copies sold; it was also number-two on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart.
[18] As of December 2015, the film had been shown in several other countries, including Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam,[19] and was also scheduled to be released in Canada at the start of 2016.
School Idol Project anime television series, the film was released theatrically in 4DX format in Japan on March 15, 2024.
was topped the box office in admissions (188,000) and theater average earning ($17,558), It grossed an estimated ¥261 million, marking a 34.5% decline.
[24] The film topped the box office through its third weekend, earning ¥267,161,780 with 188,004 admissions, reaching a total gross close to ¥1.2 billion.
[citation needed] Nick Creamer of Anime News Network said the film is "not a series high point, but it's a reasonable conclusion to the first Love Live!