Why Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari is my favorite Love Live! Song

I plan to make a video explaining this, but for now... here's my blog on it! Enjoy :)

Warning: There will be some spoilers about the plot of Love Live!

If you know me well, it's no secret that BwHnH is one of my favorite songs and that'snot just being limited to Love Live!. From the second I first heard it, it gave me the chills. I knew this was going to be a great song.... and I was not disappointed. It's frequently amongst the top of the LL charts and I would think many of you agree it is an amazing song. If not, I will explain why you are wrong.... or at least give you my insight. From its large wide variety of solos, to having each girl their own name if the songs... each girl gets their own time to shine in the spotlight.... And that's really fitting as the song translates to 'We are a single light'. The song celebrates each individual member, but they all come together in the chorus as one single group.... Singing about their dreams and the final realization of their memories. It's a perfect song that brings the of the μ's.

BwHnH was performed in the LL movie at the end. It's their final live. The last performance. The icing on the cake. From the dance taking place on a huge flower, to the dresses and the stage which look like flower buds blooming..... this song expresses the struggles of their journey and how they bloomed into the group they are today. In fact, as the song progresses the flower bud stage blossoms itself. Furthermore, the dresses themselves change! The dress is made of two layers: one being the white dress that represents a bud and the inside, which is a bright, vivid dress... which represents the flower. Each girl has their own flower they represent which is reflected by the different colored skirt. When they sing "yorokobi (tomo ni) utaou", the stage opens up and the girls remove the top layer and show off their wonderful dresses. This is the flowers (aka the μ's) blooming. At the beginning the line, "Ah! Honoka na yokan kara hajimari" highlights how the μ's began with a subtle prenomition. Which is funny, as Kosaka Honoka was the one that brought forth that prenomition. To truly understand the importance of including all of their names... You'll need to understand their story and how they came to be.

Kosaka Honoka, a happy and determined girl that has a lot of resemblance to Honoka from Dead or Alive.... but maybe a little less inscenous. As the story begins, Honoka wished to save the school from closing down. The problem is she doesn't know how. It is until she saw A-RISE perform that she knew what she wanted to do: form a school idol club. She initially got a lot of criticism and push back... even from her friends. But her courage and perserverance shone through. She fought back no matter how hard the obstacle in front of her.... Of course unless it's classes. Regardless, Honoka became that subtle sign that became the well-known group: the μ's.

Tojo Nozomi, the one who had a pipe dream of having friends, wished for the μ's to come into existence. She was the one who suggested the name of the μ's... Which we know if from Greek mythology. The group was to be of nine members. If you weren't already aware, Nozomi means wish. Through Nozomi's wishes... The μ's came to fruition. Without Nozomi, the group wouldn't very well exist.

Hoshizora Rin, the cheery tom-boy-ish girl who is always filled with energy and an occasional nya~. Some might say her name is an oxymoron. Hoshizora means starry sky. Rin has been known to try not be in the main spotlight... In fact, she didn't want to be an idol in the first place. She often struggled with the idea of being an idol in the first place as she didn't see herself as being 'girly' in the first place. This is highlighted in S2 E04, where the episode where Love wing bell is performed. She has been haunted by her past, where some boys critized her trying to wear a girly dress. Ever since then, she denied her feminity. But through a lot of support by her friends... She finally shined like the starry skies in night when she went up on the stage and performed that song. Love wing bell sang about the hidden beauty that Rin possess. Rin showed that she is special and that she does shine. Both Hoshizora Rin and Tojo Nozomi form the "Ah! Nozomi ga hoshizora kakete" part of the song. This translates to having their wishes in the starry skies. The felt their wishes and dreams where unreachable. Their wishes of being glamorous idols shining in brilliance. Also, the stage they perform on has a night sky. Every star is a cylume held by one person in the audience.

Koizumi Hanayo was a very shy girl. Early on you can see her unable to speak up and hiding behind her anything she could. Hanayo wanted to be an idol ever since she was young.... but due to her timid natuewIt wasn't until that she was given the aggressive push by Maki and Rin that she was able to become what she wanted. Before then, all she was a quiet, shy girl who had one friend.... Rin. But after joining, Hanayo blossomed into a new girl. An idol of her dreams. Someone who isn't timid. Of course Hanayo also has a fitting name. Hana, means flower. Hanayo means a flower field. Hanayo sings "Hana o sakaseru nikkori egao wa". This means our smiles make the flowers bloom. Hanayo became that blooming flower.

The smile part of the line comes from Yazawa Niko. Nikkori means smile. Niko, translates to Elephant. ? Huh? Maybe google translate isn't hekpful here. But Niko is a shorten version of the word Nikkori. This is shown through the anime as well. Niko, was very pessimistic. She was originally a part of another idol group. That idol group did not pan out. Niko idolize school idol groups and she really wanted to be the best idol group. When you see her clubroom, you can see her obsession with idols. However, her soul was crushed when her group failed. Her dreams became distant and Niko became bitter. This caused her to spite Honoka and the other girls. She was harsh on them because she was jealous of what the μ's were becoming. Resistant at first, Niko ends up joining eventually. She was able to join an idol group... much like the ones she fantasize. And of course, the μ's had a lasting impact. With that, Niko was able to smile again and be the happy, goofy girl we love and/or hate today. Niko wouldn't be the same without her "Niko Niko ni!" catchphrase, her pose, and her smile.

Afterward Niko's line, it becomes duets. The song goes on about how they grouped up. Their hearts become one and they begin discovering the world. This parallels their storyline. The girls join one by one and they slowly get to learn more about one each other and become a close knit group. Their hearts become one.

Then we get to Minami Kotori. Kotori as we know means a small bird. The whole group sings "Kotori no tsubasa ga tsui ni ookiku natte". This means the little bird's wings have grown large... Indicating that it can now fly of.

Side note: Kira Tsubasa, a member and the leader of A-RISE, is also apart of that line, where Tsubasa means wing.

As everyone sings this line, the song reflects on how the group was able to grow and truly begin to fly. Kotori, who had her wish to become a costumer designer / fashion designer had her call. This caused a fallout between Honoka and Kotori. This was a grand opportunity for Kotori to go off and 'fly' in a sense. She would take-off in her dream career. But this isn't a solo.... As we know, Kotori almost left. But she didn't... and the group got to fly instead. This line is a reference to S1 E12, and where the song START:DASH!! was performed.

Soon after, they sing "Tooku e to hirogaru umi no iro atatakaku" which means the sea's warm color beckons in the distance. As we know, Sonoda Umi, the one with a dark blue hair... is referenced to in this line. Umi, meaning sea, refers to the future that lies ahead. The sea is vast and wide... and with no clear end. There are many routes... and if you're not careful you could get lost. The future is calling for the μ's and this song acknowledges that this is there last time performing together.

The next two lines are "Yume no naka de egaita e no you nanda" and "Setsunakute toki o maki modoshite miru kai?". This translates to "It's painful, just like a painting drawn within a dream. Would you like to try winding back time?" Ayase Eri is referenced to be the 'e' between egaita and no, 'e' meaning painting. Maki is referred to in the next line, where Maki translates to winding. The two come together to show how much the group accomplished and how much fun they had as friends. They had built a strong relationship and they hate to see their group end as the 3rd years have to move on. They would love to wind back time and be able to continue on longer together. But as they sing "No no no ima ga saikou!", they continue on knowing that even in their last song they are still having fun.

The song continues on with much of the same message. They're sad it's ending... but what they manage to make was something beautiful. The memories formed and the friendships made will continue on and shine on. Their lasting impact not only save their school, but it inspired many other girls and idol groups to become like them. *Cough* Aqours.

Furthermore, the line "Yume no mirai kimi to boku no LIVE & LIFE" makes a call back to their first performance as a whole group: Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE, which occured in S1 E08.

The melody and harmony come together to form an a happy atmosphere ... but in a nostalgic sense. The song symbolizes the group so well... and it's not just the lyrics. The instrumental brings in the listener to a mood where they can feel the struggles that the μ's had and the success they were able to accomplish. The second verse and the "solo" part after the second chorus really develop that mood.

One last thing I want to talk about is the custom animation where each girl got. The flowers that float behind each girl as they sing really brings in a nice touch. Heck, Maki's is my profile picture for my other YouTube channel (Benjamin Sopkin)!! Each girl had a unique segment each with their color and a flower to match them. Just from an animation stand point, it's beautiful. Not every girl got to stand out in every song. Some songs, some girls got almost no video time where they're just by themselves. BwHnH is the of one the first songs to do this special animation, if not the first. This later became more standard in Aqours with songs like HAPPY PARTY TRAIN or Mijuku DREAMER.... but this is still my favorite implementation of it. Also, if we look back at Maki's... We see her winding back... Which is what Maki means. It's a really nice touch.

This is why this is my favorite song. No girl is given the spotlight. The song gives each girl a time to shine and each girl gets to sing their own name in the song. I can't express how hard it is to have nine peoples' names fit into one song. While Nozomi, Honoka, Kotori, and Umi might be more popular names.... That does not make the job easy. The names are not all so well connected. Subtle, wish, starry sky, flower, smile, little bird, sea, painting, and wind are all apart of this song as well as references to two of their most popular songs. The song links the girls and their story seemlessly. This is the μ's song. They are literally a part of the song itself and it flows so well together. The song tells their story and how each girl was important to that. This song is just beautiful and well orchestrated... there was a lot of attention to small detail and they put a lot of work into the lyrics. Coincidences just don't occur on this level, the song had great care during its creation.... and that made it the song we know today. Hopefully Aqours get a song like this in their movie.

If you weren't aware, I also made remixes and an AMV for this song. So if you wish to see the AMV or listen to the song in full, check it out on the site on the Love Live! page!

Thank you for your time and hopefully I gave you guys some insight into this song. If you like this type of video, let me know in the comments. Any constructive criticism is encouraged! If you like this kind of video, let me know and post your suggestions! I might do them!

Thanks again and I hope to see you guys again soon!