Mr. Cygames, tear down this wall
Characterizing the relationship between the fanbases of the Love Live!and [email protected]tends to veer between “beautiful friendship” and “vicious rivalry”, depending whose social media feeds you follow, but mobile megagame Granblue Fantasyis casting its ballot for unity, thanks to its latest event. Fresh off the back of its summer specials and Persona 5crossover, Love Love Sunshine!! Aquors Sky-High!kicks off today. It’ll feature a new stoyline that will see the school idols of Aquors (the idol unit featured in Love Live Sunshine) debut in Granblue Fantasy‘s skybound setting. Aquors’ music will feature in the game during the event, as well, and new pieces of gear themed after the Love Livefranchise and idol fandom in general will be available.
All nine members of Aquors – Yoshiko Tsushima, Hanamaru Kunikida, Ruby Kurosawa, Chika Takami, Riko Sakurauchi, You Watanabe, Dia Kurosawa, Kanan Matsuura, and Mari Ohara– will be playable in-game, but in a twist, appear on the battlefield in trios based on their “year”, making for three distinct units. A tweet from the official Granblue account previewed the mechanic, which looks like it will make for a crowded front line once you catch ’em all:
【グランブルーファンタジー】8/9から開催の「ラブライブ！サンシャイン!!」コラボで加入するAqoursメンバーのバトル演出を一足早くご紹介！バトルには学年ごとに3人1組で参加！さらに、図鑑やマイページでは3人の掛け合いボイスも聞けます！開催まであと少し！お楽しみに！#グラブル #lovelive pic.twitter.com/mVgfSoysmf
— グランブルーファンタジー (@granbluefantasy) August 7, 2018
Where, you might ask, does the element of [email protected]rivalry come in? It’s simple: Over the last few years Granbluehas run no less than fivedifferent collaboration events with the [email protected]franchise. And while the [email protected]has the numbers on its sidewith twenty playable [email protected]characters between theCinderella Girlsand SideMbanners, all of them are merely silver “SR” characters, while the nine (technically three) new Love Liveadditions start at gold “SSR” rank. Whichever side of this collaboration comes out on time, one can at least be sure that Granblueis at least trying to have something for everyone.
As an aside, if you’re thinking about starting with Granblue Fantasy, idol events like this (and their reruns) are a good time to do so, as the various idol characters are all easily obtainable without spending a cent on gacha rolls, and in many cases are good enough to carry an early and mid-game roster. Some are even competitive as the best characters in their rarities and elements.