Learn Japanese with Love Live! School Idol Project

Anime by Japanese level › N3

How hard is the Japanese in Love Live!?

Ikkimi rates Love Live! at N3 (everyday Japanese at full speed). What sets its level: school club talk, catchphrases. Of the 192 anime Ikkimi rates by hand, 44 are easier and 80 are harder.

Levels follow the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, from N5 (easiest) to N1 (hardest). They are Ikkimi’s estimate of how hard a show’s Japanese is to follow, from how fast people talk, how many unusual words there are and how clear the voices are. They are not official JLPT ratings.

Format, episodes, year and genres are from AniList’s entry, which may cover only the first season.

The words in the title

The Japanese title, ラブライブ！, is a first lesson in itself. Its 2 words, as a dictionary lists them:

How to learn Japanese with Love Live!

Ikkimi lists Love Live! on Crunchyroll. What each service carries varies by country. Ikkimi does not stream anything: you watch on your own account, in Chrome on a computer, and Ikkimi adds a Japanese line you can click on top of the player.

On Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll rarely has Japanese subtitles. On a Crunchyroll episode, Ikkimi looks for a matching Japanese subtitle file in Jimaku’s public catalogue, loads it and lines it up with the episode by itself. If Jimaku has no file for an episode, you can search by hand in the Ikkimi popup or load a subtitle file from your computer.

1. Add Ikkimi to Chrome

   Get the extension from the Chrome Web Store and sign in.

2. Play an episode

   Open Love Live! on Crunchyroll. The Japanese line appears on top of the video.

3. Click the words you keep hearing

   The video pauses and the word opens: kana, romaji, meaning, JLPT level and a recording by a native speaker where one exists (never a computer voice; otherwise the line from the show plays again). Keep three to five words an episode, the ones that come up again.

4. Review them later

   Kept words come back as flashcards on the Ikkimi website, with the scene and the line they came from, just before you would forget them.

Easier and harder shows

Shows within a level of Love Live!, with the most genres in common first.

Easier

• N4K-On!けいおん!school club chatter, everyday wordsNetflix
• N4 to N3Horimiyaホリミヤcasual school talk, short scenesCrunchyrollNetflix
• N4 to N3Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid小林さんちのメイドラゴンhome and office talk, one very polite speakerCrunchyroll

Also N3

• N3Your Lie in April四月は君の嘘school talk, music words, poetic monologuesCrunchyrollNetflix
• N3Bocchi the Rock!ぼっち・ざ・ろっく！casual school talk, band words, mumblingCrunchyroll
• N3Sound! Euphonium響け！ユーフォニアムband club talk, music wordsCrunchyroll

Harder

• N3 to N2Violet Evergardenヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデンformal polite speech, letters read aloudNetflix
• N3 to N2BEASTARSschool talk, long inner monologueNetflix
• N3 to N2The Way of the Househusband極主夫道short episodes, gangster speech about houseworkNetflix

See every N3 anime or all 192 anime by Japanese level, and read how to learn Japanese by watching anime from zero.

Questions

Is Love Live! good for learning Japanese?

With some help. Ikkimi rates it N3 (everyday Japanese at full speed). What sets its level: school club talk, catchphrases. It sits in the middle of Ikkimi’s levels. A beginner can follow it with kana and romaji on every word, but it is easier after one or two simpler shows.

What Japanese level is Love Live!?

N3, on Ikkimi’s scale from N5 (easiest) to N1 (hardest). Of the 192 anime Ikkimi rates by hand, 44 are easier and 80 are harder. The level is Ikkimi’s estimate, not an official JLPT rating.

Where can I watch Love Live! with Japanese subtitles?

Ikkimi lists Love Live! on Crunchyroll. What each service carries varies by country. Crunchyroll rarely has Japanese subtitles, so Ikkimi looks for a matching file in Jimaku’s catalogue and lines it up with the episode.

What does the title ラブライブ！ mean, word by word?

ラブ (rabu) means “love”; ライブ (raibu) means “live (broadcasting, music, etc.)”.

How many episodes does Love Live! have?

AniList’s entry lists 13 episodes of about 24 minutes, first aired in 2013. Later seasons may be listed separately.

What should I watch before Love Live!?

Shows a little easier than Love Live!, with genres in common: K-On! (N4), Horimiya (N4 to N3) and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (N4 to N3).

Sources: show details from AniList; meanings from JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0); readings and word splits from kuromoji.js with IPADIC; JLPT word levels from Jonathan Waller’s unofficial lists. See Credits. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@ikkimi.app.