Selasa, 14 Januari 2014

Sherlock facts: 21 things you didn't know

1. It all began with a speech

In 2006, well-known Holmes enthusiast Mark Gatiss was asked to address the Sherlock Holmes Society's annual dinner at the Houses of Parliament. Gatiss, who brought along Steven Moffat as his guest, told the audience about a meeting at the BBC to discuss the possibility of resurrecting Arthur Conan Doyle's creation for a Christmas special. He and the Corporation failed to reach an agreement, but as he "raced round the endless circular corridors, frothing at the mouth at what these philistines might be planning", Gatiss bumped into John Simpson, recently returned from Kabul. “As he passed me,” Gatiss explained, “I touched him on the arm and whispered: ‘You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive’.” This gave him the seed of an idea, which he and Moffat subsequently grew into a modern-day Sherlock: "A young army doctor, wounded in Afghanistan finds himself alone and friendless in London," he teased the group. "Short of cash, he bumps into an old medical acquaintance who tells him he knows of someone looking for a flatmate. This bloke’s alright but a little odd..." Gatiss was effectively pitching his and Moffat’s Sherlock to the toughest crowd imaginable, and they approved.

2. There is no abandoned tube station at Sumatra Road

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The location chosen for the bomb-laden tube carriage meant to blow up Parliament in the season three opener The Empty Hearse is actually in West Hampstead, and isn't the site of a half-finished London Underground station (although the Bull & Bush abandoned station is nearby). It's nowhere near Westminster, but was chosen by Gatiss as a sly reference to The Giant Rat of Sumatra, a Holmes adventure mentioned (but never expanded upon) in The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. Sherlock's production team couldn't get hold of a real carriage, so mocked up their own District Line replica - despite exterior shots clearly showing a Jubilee Line train. Tube-loving viewers have also been quick to point out other inaccuracies.

3. Not everybody appreciated Irene Adler’s nudity

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The BBC reportedly received over 100 complaints about actress Lara Pulver’s portrayal of Holmes’s female sparring partner as an upmarket dominatrix who used pre-watershed seminudity to bewitch the detective in A Scandal in Belgravia. But some Sherlock purists objected on different grounds. Irene Adler as conceived by Conan Doyle in A Scandal in Bohemia, it was argued in blog after blog, was a formidable woman of honour, who would never allow herself to become a pawn of Moriarty, or to fall for Holmes after showing him her breasts. Steven Moffat disagreed with the feminists. "In the original,” he told The Guardian, “Irene Adler's victory over Sherlock Holmes was to move house and run away with her husband. That's not a feminist victory."

4. Holmes and Watson are good enough to eat

Speedy’s Cafe, the sandwich emporium frequented by Holmes and Watson in the series, is a real café on Gower Street, near Euston – the BBC’s stand-in for 221b Baker Street. (In the Sherlock pilot it was run by Una Stubbs’s character and named Mrs Hudson’s Snax n' Sarnies, but that idea was swiftly dropped.) The fans who flock there from all over the world can now enjoy specially created Sherlock-themed snacks, specifically the Sherlock wrap (chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, peppers, red onion, cucumber, chilli sauce – all "wrapped up as tightly as Sherlock’s personality") or the Watson Wrap (roasted vegetables, spinach, tomatoes, spring onion, Brie, sour cream – "safe, warm, and comforting, like his personality"). A Moriarty sub is reportedly in the works.

REVIEW: Sherlock: The Empty Hearse

5. Despite China’s best efforts, Sherlock isn’t gay

As amply demonstrated by the kisses in season three’s first episode,The Empty Hearse, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have always enjoyed flirting with the ambiguity of Sherlock’s sexuality. "Everyone recruited him to their perspective, their interpretation," Benedict Cumberbatch once said when asked about Holmes’s sex life. "I’ve had asexuals come up to me and thank me for representing asexuals." But they’re mistaken, according to Moffat: "There's no indication in the original stories that [Holmes] was asexual or gay," he told The Guardian. None of which has stopped millions of Chinese fans from adopting Sherlock as a gay icon, with a vast archive of literature dedicated to his romantic exploits with Watson. There’s a 39-chapter romance novel; a much-viewed video super-cut, above, of Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (or ‘Curly Fu’ and ‘Peanut’, to give them their Chinese nicknames) exchanging longing looks set to slushy music; plus, of course, the inevitable S&M scenarios. All of which may seem like fairly standard fan-fiction fare – until you remember that in China, writing such filth is a crime punishable with a lengthy jail term.

6. Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t play the violin quite as well as Sherlock

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In Arthur Conan Doyle’s story The Cardboard Box, it transpires that Sherlock Holmes owns and plays a violin made by Antonio Stradivariushimself. The Sherlock production team, however, uses a different violin for each series (series three’s is a £1,200 Chinese-made Con Fuoco), all on loan from Cardiff Violins. (The shop’s website contains a sweettestimonial from a ‘Mr John H Watson’, thanking the staff for being ‘extremely patient’ with his friend: ‘He would thank you himself; only, well Sherlock doesn’t really do that sort of thing ...’) For season two’s on-screen violin scenes, Cumberbatch was taught how to play and ‘violin act’ by Eos Chater, a member of the classical group Bond. Although the actor played live on set, the playing heard on the soundtrack is by Chater. "Benedict had a week, and made a surprisingly good sound," she wrote of the experience on her blog. "I have no doubt he would be a good violinist if he had the inclination."

7. Yet his pen-catching skills are beyond reproach

A scene in The Blind Banker shows John throwing a pen to Sherlock, who catches it without even looking at it. Cumberbatch made the catch on the first take (using a mirror so he could see it coming), but the cameraman was too slow and missed it. He got it again on the third.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: Is he the greatest ever Holmes?

8. China can’t understand why Sherlock takes so long to make

During David Cameron’s official visit to China last December, the Prime Minister allowed Chinese citizens to ask him questions throughSina Weibo, the country’s Twitter-like social network. Among queries about Larry the Downing Street cat, Tom Daley, Visa application forms and Wendi Deng, by far the most popular request was: “Please urge Sherlock crew to be quick! They have had us waiting for two years for every season!” Cameron diplomatically pointed out that “I can’t tell them what to do, as it’s an independent company”, before urging fans to pass the time by reading Conan Doyle’s stories.

9. Sherlock’s staircase would please purists

In Conan Doyle's A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock asks Watson how many steps lead up to their quarters at 221b Baker Street. Watson hasn't a clue. “I know there are 17 steps, because I have both seen and observed,” Holmes tells him. Because Sherlock fans are similarly observant, there are 17 steps leading to the first floor of the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and another 17 between the hall and front room on the Cardiff set of Sherlock.

READ: How Sherlock became a global phenomenon

10. In Japan, he’s a comic book hero

Japan has a long tradition of Sherlock-influenced, copyright-avoiding manga or anime: Young Miss Holmes, a manga comic about Sherlock’s niece; Detective Hound, a canine anime series co-created by Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki; the unrelated Detective Dog Sherdock, a comic in which the sleuth is reincarnated as a dog; and the Arthur Conan Doyle-inspired boy crime-solver Detective Conan, whose latest animated adventure trounced Keanu Reeves’s 47 Ronin at the Japanese box-office. But the BBC series recently received the ultimate accolade: completely faithful (ie, free of tentacled creatures and and robots) comic-book adaptations of the episodes A Study in Pink and The Blind Banker in Young Ace magazine. As the above rendering proves, Cumberbatch’s gamine features make him the perfect manga hero.

11. And in South Korea, he’s (almost) a pop star

K-pop pretty-boys SHINee paid tribute to the series with their 2012 hit Sherlock, and an accompanying video full of slightly suspect Holmes-ian references (violin, shabby Victoriana decor, an ‘iWatson’ laptop), in which they solve a jewel heist seemingly perpetrated by a ghost:

12. ‘221b Baker Street’ actually looks like this

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The 370 sq ft one-bedroom flat above Speedy’s Cafe (see number 4), which is in fact about a mile away from Baker Street but doubles as Sherlock’s home for exterior shots, was available for rent in early 2012 for the price of £330 a week.

13. Sherlock isn’t a sociopath

In A Study In Pink, Anderson flippantly calls Holmes a psychopath. "Do your research, Anderson," comes the reply. “I'm a high-functioning sociopath.” Not true, according to psychologist Maria Konnikova, who convincingly argues that Sherlock is altogether too loving, empathetic, and aware of his own faults to be considered a sociopath.

14. But he may be autistic

Late last year, autism charity the National Autistic Society cited Sherlock’s single-mindedness, inability to understand social norms such as sarcasm, and incredible feats of recall as evidence that he might be autistic. This, despite Watson making a direct reference to his friend’s Asperger’s in The Hounds of Baskerville.

15. Even the fonts have meaning

As typography design experts have noted, the lettering used for Sherlock’s on-screen graphics varies according to the occasion. For text messages, AF Generation Z is used; to show Sherlock deduction process, it’s P22 Johnston Underground (above); Irene Adler’s high-end Vertu phone uses the business-like Verdanda. Johnston Underground is also used as the basis for the series’ custom-made title font.

FIRST LOOK: Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing

16. The Russians have their own Sherlock

Freud’s Method, a crime drama produced by Russia’s Star Media, bears a striking resemblance to the BBC series. The lead character is Roan Freydin, a "psychologist and professional poker player" working as a "special consultant" to the police, who are infuriated by his "eccentric methods" but impressed by his ability to solve crimes using "psychological science" and "intuition". Even the opening titles look a little familiar, as Mark Gatiss noted with his tweet: "Ha! The sincerest form of flattery".

17. Sherlock is (possibly) responsible for BlackBerry’s woes

In 2010, season one of Sherlock showed Holmes using a blazingly fastBlackBerry 9700; come season two, broadcast by the BBC in early 2012, he’d made the switch to an Apple iPhone 4. By the end of January, BlackBerry co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie had stepped down, admitting that the company had failed to compete with Apple. Coincidence? Draw your own conclusions.

18. Matt Smith wanted to be Watson

A week before landing the part of Doctor Who, Matt Smith auditioned to play John Watson; Steven Moffat decided he was "too barmy", and that one Sherlock was enough. Martin Freeman, on the other hand, arrived at his audition having had his wallet stolen on the way and was in such a bad mood it was assumed he wasn’t interested. The following week, he returned in a better frame of mind, read with Benedict Cumberbatch, and the part was his.

19. Benedict Cumberbatch hates Sherlock’s hair

The actor’s preparations for looking the part of Sherlock include intense Bikram yoga sessions, swimming, and no smoking or drinking during filming. But there’s one thing he especially hates doing: growing his hair. As he told The Times, “I can’t think of a wittier or even accurate comparison, but I just think it makes me look a bit like… a woman.”

20. Mark Gatiss learnt to swim in Moriarty’s pool

At the end of season one, Moriarty lures Holmes and Watson to a beautiful public pool in order to kill them. The location used (for both the cliffhanger and the beginning of season two, forcing the crew to return a year later and recreate the signage) is Bristol South Swimming Pool; according to the Sherlockology blog, this is also where a young Mark Gatiss learnt to swim.

21. Sherlock and Mrs Hudson knew each other in a previous life

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Benedict Cumberbatch has often said that Una Stubbs (above), who plays his screen landlady Mrs Hudson, mothers him on the set of Sherlock. But she has good reason: Stubbs is an acting contemporary of Cumberbatch’s mother Wanda Ventham (who made a surprise appearance in The Empty Hearse as Sherlock's Les Mis-loving mother, alongside the actor's father Timothy Carlton as Holmes senior), and used to live around the corner from her when Cumberbatch was a child. So a four-year-old Benedict would often find himself forced to endure hours of boredom as Stubbs and his mother gossiped on park benches or street corners. Stubbs nonetheless found him “Very polite... A lovely boy.”

Ten Facts about Sherlock Holmes

1. Sherlock Holmes was originally going to be called Sherrinford. The name was altered to Sherlock, possibly because of a cricketer who bore the name. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Holmes (of course), was a fan of cricket and the name ‘Sherlock’ appears to have stuck in his memory. Doyle was also a keen cricketer himself, and between 1899 and 1907 he played ten first-class matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club – quite fitting, since Baker Street is situated in the Marylebone district of London. For more on the creation of Holmes, see the detailed ‘Introduction’ in The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes.

2. The first Sherlock Holmes novel was something of a flop. The detective made his debut in the novel A Study in Scarlet (1887), written by a twenty-seven-year-old Doyle in just three weeks. Famously, Doyle was inspired by a real-life lecturer of his at the University of Edinburgh, Dr Joseph Bell, who could diagnose patients simply by looking at them when they walked into his surgery; the other important influence on the creation of Sherlock Holmes was Edgar Allan Poe’s fictional detective, C. Auguste Dupin (for more on this, see our post on Poe’s contribution to detective fiction here). Doyle wrote the book while he was running a struggling doctor’s surgery down in Portsmouth. The novel was rejected by many publishers and eventually published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual (named after the husband of Mrs Beeton, of the book of cookery and household management). It didn’t sell well, and more or less sank without trace.

3. The second Sherlock Holmes novel was the result of a dinner party with Oscar Wilde. One person who had admired the first novel was the editor Joseph Stoddart, who edited Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. He convinced Doyle, at a dinner party in 1889, to write a second novel featuring the detective, for serialisation in the magazine. Wilde, who was also present, also agreed to write a novel for the magazine – his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which appeared in 1890, the same year as The Sign of the Four, Doyle’s novel.

4. Sherlock Holmes didn’t wear a deerstalker. Much. The famous image of Holmes wearing a deerstalker hat is a product of the celebrated images which accompanied the short stories, which appeared in the Strand magazine from 1891. It is when the stories began to appear that Sherlock Holmes became a worldwide sensation. Sidney Paget, who drew the illustrations, had Holmes wearing a deerstalker when the detective went into the country to investigate mysteries at country houses and in small rural villages, but most people think of the detective as always donning the hat when off to investigate a case.

5. Sherlock Holmes is the most-filmed fictional character. According to IMDb, Holmes has appeared in 226 films and been played by dozens of different actors since the advent of cinema in the late nineteenth century.

6. Sherlock Holmes is not the most-filmed fictional character. That is, not if you include non-humans (or partial humans). Dracula has been filmed more times than the great sleuth, at 239 times, but since Dracula is part-man, part-vampire, Holmes is the most-filmed fully human character.

7. Sherlock Holmes didn’t make deductions. At least, not most of the time. Instead, and if we want to be technically accurate, he used the logical process known as abduction. The difference between deductive and abductive reasoning is that the latter is based more on inference from observation, where the conclusion drawn may not always necessarily be true. However, in deduction, the conclusion drawn from the available data is always necessarily true. But then again, since Holmes’s reasoning always seems to be correct, perhaps it is deduction after all!

8. Holmes never says ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’. Not in the ‘canon’ of original Conan Doyle novels and stories. Holmes says ‘Elementary!’ and ‘my dear Watson’ at various points, but the idea of putting them together was a later meme, which possibly arose because it neatly conveys Holmes’s effortless superiority to his ‘dear’ friend and foil. The first recorded use of this exact phrase is actually in a P. G. Wodehouse novel of 1915, Psmith, Journalist.

9. The Sherlock Holmes Museum both is and isn’t at 221B Baker Street. Although the museum in London bears the official address ’221B’, in line with the celebrated address from the stories, the museum’s building lies between 237 and 241 Baker Street, making it physically – if not officially – at number 239.

10. There’s more to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle than Sherlock Holmes. Much more, in fact. Among other achievements, his legal campaigning led to the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal. He was knighted for his journalistic work during the Second Boer War, not for his achievements in fiction, law, or medicine. We owe the word ‘grimpen’ to him (from Grimpen Mire, in The Hound of the Baskervilles). He wrote historical novels (such as The White Company and Sir Nigel, set during the fourteenth century) which he prized more highly than his detective fiction. Winston Churchill agreed, and was a devoted fan of the historical novels. Doyle also wrote science fiction romances, such as The Lost World (1912), which would inspire Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, and, subsequently, Steven Spielberg’s film (the sequel to the novel and film being named, in homage to Doyle, The Lost World). Doyle also took up legal causes himself: read Julian Barnes’s novel Arthur and George for his most famous real-life case.

Fact Of Kotori Minami Love Live!

Minami Kotori is one of the nine main characters in Love Live!. She is 16 years old and a second year in high school. She is also known as "Legendary Maid Minalinsky" while working in Akihabara. Kotori was born on September 12 and is a Virgo. She has grayish-brown hair, normally styled in some way, and amber eyes. Her main color is gray. She is 159 centimeters tall, and her blood type is O. She is part ofPrintemps, a mini idol unit. Her solo album is called "Kotori, Lovin' You". Kotori is voiced by Aya Uchida.

Background

Since she was young, Kotori has been friends with Kousaka Honoka and Sonoda Umi. Her mother is the chairwoman of the school board.

Personality

Minami Kotori is known for having her head in the clouds. Despite this, she is the group's designer along with Yazawa Niko. Kotori has a very huge aptitude for fashion, and is very good at drawing the costumes for the group. Kotori is shown to be very kind to her friends, and does genuinely care about them, especially about their feelings.

Kotori is also shown as the most indecisive person among all nine members, and tends to have Sonoda Umi and Kousaka Honoka, her childhood friends, make decisions for her. She also has a hard time expressing her feelings, since she always takes other people's feelings into consideration.

Clubs and Hobbies

She is μ's wardrobe supervisor and helps with the choreography. It was discovered in episode 9 that Kotori works in a maid café in Akihabara and is a famous maid named "Minalinsky". She is known as a "Legendary Maid" in Akihabara due to her kindness, cuteness, and soft voice.

Chronology

In Episode 1, after discovering that Otonokizaka High School is closing after all of the students graduate, student council president Ayase Eri and her friend Toujou Nozomi approach Kotori and her friends. They ask her if she ever heard her mother tell her anything about the school shutting down. When Kotori says no, Eri and Nozomi both excuse themselves. Honoka, Umi, and Kotori begin trying to think of a way to attract students to prevent their school from shutting down. Honoka then gets the idea to start an idol group with Kotori and Umi to save the school. Later, Kotori shows Umi how Honoka is working hard on becoming a school idol and both of them join Honoka. They are set on becoming idols, even though their idea of a school idol club was rejected by Eri.

In Episode 2, after they book the school's auditorium for a concert, Kotori shows the two the design of the outfit they're going to wear for the performance that she's going to make herself. They realize they need to come up with a name for their idol group, and hold a contest for it. They also realize they don't have a song to perform yet, so Kotori and Honoka convince Umi to take the job of writing the lyrics. In return, Umi has Kotori and Honoka exercise to get more stamina.

In Episode 3, it is the day before μ's first concert. Umi starts to get more nervous about performing. Honoka and Kotori have her hand out fliers for their concert to build confidence. When Kotori reveals the costumes μ's would be performing in, Umi gets more anxious by how short it is. When it's finally time for the concert, nobody is there. However, before the girls gave up, a student named Koizumi Hanayo shows up to see the concert, quickly followed by her best friend Hoshizora Rin. Despite there barely being an audience, μ's perform their song "Start:Dash!!" which attracts a small crowd. After the song, Eri walks down the stage and asks them what they plan on doing, to which Honoka replies that μ's will keep on performing until they can fill up the whole auditorium.

In Episode 4, Hanayo debates with herself whether or not to join μ's. Sometime later, Hanayo comes across Honoka's sweet shop, where Umi and Kotori also are and where they notice a video of their performance of "Start:Dash!!" gaining views on the internet. The girls then ask Hanayo to join the club. Nishikino Maki and Rin know about Hanayo's shyness, so they both give Hanayo a push, which then helps Hanayo agree to join μ's. Rin and Maki both decide to join, as well.

In Episode 5, while training, Honoka and Kotori come across a girl named Yazawa Niko, who threatens them to disband μ's and runs away. While in fast food joint, trying to think of a place to practice during the rainy season, Honoka suddenly realizes that there's enough members to form an official club. However, the girls learn that there's already another Idol Research Club. When the girls go to the Idol Research Club's room, they learn that Niko is the sole member. The girls ask her if they can merge their groups together, but Niko flatly rejects them, based on the fact that they don't have personas. After learning from Nozomi that Niko once tried, and failed, to become a school idol, Honoka comes up with the idea to join the Idol Research Club and have Niko teach them how to be proper idols. Niko happily accepts.

In Episode 6, Nozomi films interviews with each member of μ's. When Honoka was being interviewed, Nozomi asked her why she's the leader when she does nothing for the group. It then leads to a singing and dancing contest to determine the leader. The member with the most points becomes the leader. However, in the end, everyone gets similar scores. Honoka then suggests that maybe μ's doesn't need a leader, causing everyone to agree with her, but also making them believe that she is the most worthy of becoming the leader.

In Episode 7, Hanayo tells μ's about the Love Live! tournament, a concert where the top 20 school idol groups compete in. Needing permission to enter, the girls then go over to the chairwoman for permission. The chairwoman tells them that they can enter, but only if they all pass the upcoming exams. Kotori and Umi both help Honoka study, who generally has bad grades. Once the exams are done and everyone passes, Honoka and everyone excitingly go to the chairwoman's office, but overhear her telling Eri that the school would be shutting down next year.

In Episode 8, following the events of the previous episode, the chairwoman clarifies to μ's that the school will shut down if the upcoming open day is received negatively. Umi suggests to the group to get Eri to teach them how to dance. Eri agrees to their offer and puts the group into intense training, but is surprised by their willingness to continue. Nozomi tells μ's that Eri wants to join, but believes she can't because of how she treated them in the past. μ's go to Eri and formally invite her to join. Eri becomes honest with her feelings and joins, along with Nozomi who reveals that she came up with the group's name: μ's, which refers to the nine goddesses of music. Coincidentally, there are nine members in μ's. The now complete group performs "Bokura no LIVE, Kimi to no LIFE" at the open day to a pleased crowd, making the open day a success.

In Episode 9, after μ's discover Kotori working secretly in Akihabara, Eri finds Akiba a good place to have a concert and, since Kotori knows it best, assigns Kotori to write lyrics based on Akiba culture. However, Kotori struggles with writing the lyrics, which then begin to affect her studies. Honoka and Umi help Kotori to come up with an idea by working with her in the café. Kotori then comes up with lyrics to create the new song "Wonder Zone" by recalling her feelings when she works in Akihabara. After the performance, Honoka, Umi, and Kotori go pray at a shrine for μ's success. Then, as they were leaving, they look up at the stars and promise to each other they'll be together forever.

In Episode 10, μ's decide to go to Maki's beach house after getting permission from her parents. Eri creates a rule that no one is allowed to use the honorifics "senpai" for the duration of the trip, so they can break down the barrier between upper and underclassmen. The girls spend the whole day at the beach playing, but Maki is the only one not participating. At night, Nozomi initiates a pillow fight, and all of μ's begin to play, except Umi, who is sleeping. However, two pillows hit Umi while she was sleeping, causing her to get cranky and throw "supersonic pillows" at everyone, hitting Niko, Honoka, and Eri. Just as she was about to hit Hanayo and Rin, Maki knocks Umi out with a pillow, causing her to fall back asleep. The episode ends with all the members of μ's breaking down the barrier between upper and underclassmen, and holding hands while watching the sunrise.

In Episode 11, μ's manage to reach rank #19 on the school idol ranking site, making them eligible to apply to the Love Live! tournament. This puts pressure on μ's to keep their position. However, when Niko fails to win a lottery spin to use the auditorium, μ's is forced to think of where to have a concert. Honoka comes up with the idea that they can use the rooftop to hold their performance, and the group hesitantly agrees. On the day of the concert, it's raining, but the group decides to perform, anyway.

While warming up on the rooftop, Umi was telling Honoka that she shouldn't be working herself too hard, but Honoka said that it's all right. When asked by Umi to tell Honoka to stop, Kotori didn't reply at first because she seemed to be in deep thought. After Umi snapped Kotori out of her daze, Kotori said that Honoka should do whatever she wants, disappointing Umi and making Honoka happy.

Later on, Umi calls Kotori. Kotori then explains her situation to Umi, but the audience don't get to hear the conversation.

While getting ready for the concert, Umi asks Kotori if she was fine with her decision, to which Kotori says yes and that she'd tell everyone about it after the concert. After performing "No Brand Girls," Honoka faints, surprising μ's and the audience.

In Episode 12, μ's go to Honoka's house to check on her. They discover that she's still recovering and has a sprained leg. They sadly tell Honoka that they dropped out of the Love Live! tournament, meaning that their ranking was removed from the site. Honoka blames herself for the incident, but everyone tells her that it's all of their fault. Everyone gets depressed from this event, but Honoka the most. On the rooftop, Maki, Hanayo, and Rin all announce that the school has been saved, thus the group decides to have a celebration. At the party, however, Umi and Kotori are noticed to not be in jolly spirits. Umi then reveals to μ's that Kotori is moving to a fashion boarding school for the rest of her high school career. Everyone is surprised by the announcement, but Honoka gets angry at Kotori for not telling her earlier. Kotori explains to her that she wanted to tell them but couldn't, and runs away.

The next day, on the rooftop, μ's reveals that they're planning to do a final live with everybody before Kotori leaves. But Honoka tells them that it was her fault and that none of this would've happened if it wasn't for the accident. The members tell her to stop saying that, but Honoka then says that the school is saved, therefore there's no reason to keep on performing and that it's impossible to go against a group like A-Rise. Honoka tells them that she quits, but before she leaves, Umi slaps her cheek, saying that she didn't think that she's that kind of person and that she's the worst there is.

In Episode 13, Eri decides to put μ's on a hiatus. Niko disagrees with Eri, saying that she wants to continue being a school idol. Umi visits Kotori and asks her if she really is going to study aboard. But Kotori tells her that there's nothing they can do about it at this point which really makes Umi sad.

At the airport, Kotori's mother drops her off and Kotori tells her that she can walk by herself at this point. While waiting for her flight, Kotori sings the third verse of "Susume→Tomorrow," coincidentally with Honoka and Umi singing the first and second.

Before Kotori could get on her plane, Honoka manages to get to the airport and grabs Kotori's arm. She tells her that she wants to continue being a school idol with her, and hugs her, telling her not to go. Kotori then cries and that she's the one to say sorry.

After Honoka brings back Kotori from the airport, later on in the episode, μ's performs "Start:Dash!!" in the auditorium, despite wearing their school uniforms, and this time with the auditorium filled with people. Afterwards, Honoka tells the crowd to say "μ's Music Start!" and μ's are in the school idol ratings again.

Fact Of Nishikino Maki Love Live!

Nishikino Maki is one of the nine main characters in Love Live!. She is 15 years old and a first year in high school. Maki was born on April 19 and is an Aries. She has crimson hair and purple eyes. Her main color is red/red-pink. She is 161 centimeters tall, and her blood type is AB. She is part of BiBi, a mini idol unit. Maki is voiced by Pile.

Background

Maki comes from a wealthy family of doctors and is somewhat pressured to become a doctor like her parents, which would lead her into giving up music. Because of her wealth, it is discovered in Episode 10 that Maki's parents own a beach house. Therefore, μ's gladly insisted Maki to go ask her parents if they could use it, which they allow.

Personality

Maki has tsundere qualities and has a hard time admitting her true feelings to her peers. She's also stubborn like when she was being invited to play at the beach. During the beach episode, Maki was withdrawn from the group and not participating in playing. It wasn't until Toujou Nozomi started a pillow fight in the middle of the night that Maki began to get involved.

Clubs and Hobbies

Maki is skilled at playing the piano, and is the composer of the group. Her other hobbies are photography and stargazing.

Chronology

In Episode 1, Kousaka Honoka overhears Maki playing the piano and singing "Aishiteru Banzai!" inside one of the music rooms. Honoka asks Maki if she wants to become a school idol, but Maki quickly declines.

In Episode 2, Honoka asks Maki to compose a song for them, but she declines. However, Honoka manages to get Maki to read the lyrics Sonoda Umi composed. After class, Maki remembers Honoka telling her about them training by the local shrine, and decides to take a look. While watching them train behind a wall, Nozomi sneaks up on her and grabs her breasts, causing Maki to scream. Nozomi gives Maki advice to secretly help them, and Maki decides to compose a song using Umi's lyrics. She mails the CD to Honoka's house. Maki also votes for them on an idol ranking site. However, when asked about the song, she denies it.

In Episode 4, Maki's student ID was found by Koizumi Hanayo, who goes to her house to return it. While there, Maki explains to Hanayo that she'll probably have to quit music in order to study medicine and inherit her family's hospital. However, Maki tells her she'll support Hanayo to become an idol. Later on, Maki goes with Hanayo up the rooftop to where μ's is practicing, along with Hanayo's friend Hoshizora Rin. Both Maki and Rin give Hanayo a push to accept μ's offer of joining, and they both decide to join as well.

In Episode 5, while in fast food joint, trying to think of a place to practice during the rainy season, Honoka realizes that there's enough members to form an official club. However, the girls learn that there's already another an Idol Research Club. It ends up, however, that a girl named Yazawa Niko is the sole member of the club. The girls ask her if they can merge their groups together, but Niko flatly rejects them, based on the fact that they don't have personas. After learning from Nozomi that Niko once tried, and failed, to become a school idol, Honoka comes up with the idea to join the Idol Research Club and have Niko teach them how to be proper idols. Niko happily accepts.

In Episode 7, Hanayo tells μ's about the Love Live! tournament, a concert where the top 20 school idol groups compete in. Needing permission to enter, the girls then go over to the chairwoman for permission. The chairwoman tells them that they can enter, but only if they all pass the upcoming exams. Maki and Hanayo both help Rin, who generally has bad grades. Once the exams are done and everyone passes, everyone goes to the chairwoman's office, but overhear her telling the student council president Ayase Eri that the school would be shutting down next year.

In Episode 9, after μ's discover Minami Kotori working secretly in Akihabara, Eri finds Akiba a good place to have a concert and, since Kotori knows it best, assigns Kotori to write lyrics based on Akiba culture. However, Kotori struggles with writing the lyrics, but with the help of Honoka and Umi, Kotori is able to write lyrics to create the new song "Wonder Zone" by recalling her feelings when she works in Akihabara.

In Episode 10, μ's decide to go to Maki's beach house after getting permission from her parents. Eri creates a rule that no one is allowed to use the honorifics "senpai" for the duration of the trip, so they can break down the barrier between upper and underclassmen. The girls spend the whole day at the beach playing, but Nozomi and Eri are quick to notice Maki not participating. At night, Nozomi initiates a pillow fight, and all of μ's begin to play except Umi, who is fast asleep. However, two pillows hit Umi while she was sleeping, causing her to get cranky and throw "supersonic pillows" at everyone, hitting Niko, Honoka, and Eri. Just as she was about to hit Hanayo and Rin, Maki knocks Umi out with a pillow, knocking her out. The episode ends with all the members of μ's finally breaking down the barrier between upper and underclassmen, and holding hands while watching the sunrise.

In Episode 11, μ's has manage to reach rank #19 on the school idol ranking site, making them eligible to apply to the Love Live! tournament. This puts pressure on μ's to keep their position. However, Niko fails to win a lottery spin to use the auditorium, causing μ's to think of where to have a concert. Honoka comes up with the idea that they can use the rooftop to hold their performance, and the group hesitantly agrees. On the day of the concert, it's raining, but the group decides to perform, anyway. After performing "No Brand Girls", Honoka faints, surprising μ's and the audience.

In Episode 12, following the events of the previous episode, μ's go to Honoka's house to check on her. They discover that she's still recovering and has a sprained leg. They sadly tell Honoka that they dropped out of the Love Live! tournament, meaning their ranking was removed. Honoka blames herself for the incident, but μ's tell her that it's everyone's fault, instead. Everyone gets depressed from this event, but Honoka the most. On the rooftop, Maki, Hanayo, and Rin announce that the school has been saved, thus the group decides to have a celebration. At the party, however, Umi and Kotori are noticed to not be in jolly spirits. Umi then reveals to μ's that Kotori is moving to a fashion boarding school for the rest of her high school career. Everyone is surprised by the announcement, but Honoka gets angry at Kotori for not telling her earlier. Kotori explains to her that she wanted to tell them but couldn't, and runs away.

In Episode 13, Eri decides to put μ's on hiatus. Niko disagrees with Eri, saying that she wants to continue being a school idol. Maki tells her that they can't continue without Honoka. Later, Maki goes into the music room and remembers Honoka clapping after playing "Aishiteru Banzai!". After fetching Kotori at the airport, later on in the episode, Honoka runs into the backstage of the school auditorium and slips, hurting her butt. Kotori also comes in and μ's perform "Start:Dash!!", despite wearing their school uniforms, and this time with the auditorium full of people. Afterwards, Honoka tells the crowd to say "μ's Music Start!" and μ's are in the school idol ratings again.

Detective and Anime

Selasa, 14 Januari 2014