It’s finally here, my best Aqours girl’s birthday! And what’s a better day to talk about how much I love Hanamaru Kunikida and how much she means to me? Not that I need a reason to go on about her, but if there was ever a good time it’d be now. I apologize in advance for how long this is going to go on, but I really wanna show just how great of a girl Hanamaru is!
I got into Love Live around 4 years ago now through SIF, and the franchise as a whole means a lot to me. I got into it at a really low part of my life, I isolated myself from the world- even my friends, because I feared so much I was going to be left and I didn’t want to get hurt. I was always the awkward child in my life who stuck to her own things with people just passing by rather than staying, so it wasn’t hard to fall deep into this mindset I was meant to be alone.
The only thing that really stayed with me during that time was the rhythm game I got into right before that all happened. I had fun but it wasn’t something I expected to really get into...Boy was that wrong. During that time I found myself playing more and more, looking up tutorials on team building and event tiering, learning about sets that haven’t been released yet, and finding out about all the communities for it!
It’s funny but a silly little gacha game gave me something to be excited for. Wanting to save up for my best girls and play the frequent events to boost my teams and even tier for my favs! I can’t miss a login day, I’d miss out on a love gem if I did! I need to use all my tokens before the event is over, I’m so close to another reward! There’s a Love Live MOVIE playing near me?! I have to see it!
It took some time, but eventually I stopped isolating myself so much from the world and the friends who mean so much to me too! I even became friends with some other love live fans, while also kind of converting my old friends to livers as well ahah... I’ve rambled on about this topic a lot already, but Love Live really means a lot to me for being there when I needed something the most, so it’s why I’m so passionate about it.
Now you’re probably wondering, “What does this have to do with Hanamaru? Aqours wasn’t even out at that point!” and yeah, Hanamaru wouldn’t come into my life until a bit later! But I wanted to give context as to why Love Live means so much to me, and how I can relate to Hanamaru.
How so?
“I’m fine by myself”
Hanamaru’s childhood was rather lonely, she lived in a quiet temple and would rather live in the world of books. Whenever she was scared or felt alone, the grand stories in the pages kept her company, wishing she could be like the protagonist. Using fantasy to escape the crushing world around you, I can relate heavily to that, hell that’s what I did with Love Live!
Even when she met her childhood friend Ruby, who helped her in something that seemed so small yet meant the world to her, was going to leave her someday. But despite that, they’ve stayed best friends for 10 years, and have only helped lift eachother up more and more.
“Sometimes I wonder, but it might be fate that we were born in the same year, in the underpopulated town of Uchiura"
I’ve actually known my best friends for around that much time as well, so it’s a funny coincidence! But Hanamaru’s fear of abandonment is another thing I can relate to, for so long there’s always been a lingering feeling of fear that I’m going to be alone again. Even now, after making so many more friends through Love Live especially. But I’m happy to say that isn’t the case, and I treasure them all so much to this day! Because of that, this excerpt from her school idol diary is one of my favorite things relating to Hanamaru. It shows just what makes Hanamaru so special to me and why I love her so much- She sees nothing in herself but wants to help everyone around her and show them the same kindness she was shown by Aqours.
*“Neither Ruby nor I are so good at saying what we’re thinking.
When we need help, we reach out our hands.
Either Ruby reaches out to me, or I to her.
And when we hold hands, we become braver.
So, even when Ruby wanted to become a school idol,
I didn’t hesitate to hold her hand.
So that Ruby could be brave.
And so that I could find the courage to jump in with her.
To me, school idols represent courage.
I hope that whenever we’re in trouble, we’ll hold each other’s hands and press forward.
And, I want all the fans of Aqours to see my utmost courage.
I’m short, and bad at dancing, and I’m clumsy, and always falling into puddles, but I want to hold their hands and let them feel my warmth.?
Joining Aqours has really given me so much courage.
I want everyone to know the warmth you can feel in someone’s hands, no matter how scary things get.”*
Her introductory episode in the anime is one of my favorites when it comes to Hanamaru, because it really showcases how much she wants her friends to shine, even if she believes she can’t shine with them. As long as they’re happy, and the world gets to see just how great they are, she’s fine being the girl in the library. She’ll do everything she can to help them, but in the end she doesn’t care what becomes of her, in a way she sees herself as a stepping stool for the people who are more radiant than her, the ones who should be in the spotlight. Her lack of self confidence in herself, but undying support for those around her, is just another thing that makes Hanamaru an incredibly caring girl and makes me love (and relate) to her all the more. I don’t see myself as all that extraordinary, I really only excel at being a clumsy airhead that gets lost in her own daydreams if anything. But I want to support my friends with everything I got! Even if I tend to forget about trying to share my own shine, like our favorite flower girl here.
Seeing her enjoy herself with Aqours, making more friends, becoming the radiant girl she could never see herself as, slowly chipping away at her insecurities, she’s finally a part of the wonderful stories she clung to so much as a child, and I couldn’t be happier to see her bloom. Especially now with her winning 4th center!!! You should have heard how much I was screaming when the results were posted online and I saw her at the very top!!!!!
Speaking of her part in Aqours, she’s an incredibly hard working girl! No matter what it is, she gives it her all to the very end. Helping out with her family’s temple or being a school idol, she does her absolute best. In fact when she was brought into Aqours with Ruby, she found herself looking into Idols and how she could be the best one she could despite her doubt in herself! Her work ethic is super admirable- and even if I can’t say I’m as diligent as her, I know what it’s like to get sucked into learning more about a new hobby or topic. I don’t think SIF for example, intended people to do so much math or look up tier charts, but I still went on researching!
And now a big kicker here: She wasn’t initially my best girl. I know! Shocking right?? I went on so much about her but it wasn’t love at first sight??? I think that says a lot about how great Hanamaru is actually- Because despite my best girl initially being You when Aqours was first announced, I found myself looking at Hanamaru more and more with each piece of news for Aqours. I tuned in more to her powerful singing voice provided by Kinchan, I noticed the verbal tics she had, the caring nature she had for aqours, the gentle but still rather grounded personality she had, everything. The girl in the back quickly became the center star in my heart.
Now that the big things are out of the way, here’s a few more small tidbits about Hanamaru that just make me love her more!
Her huge appetite is a mood, and even if it’s the butt of the joke more times than not I can’t help but feel a little more comfortable with myself seeing a character I love eating so much.
Kinchan!! She works so hard for Aqours and it shows, and seeing such a passionate Love Liver go from covers on NND to being a main girl in the new group is amazing! I do everything I can to see every DV so I can support her and the other girls as much as I can!
She’s the SEGA girl! Sonic was a huge fandom for me when I was younger and I still enjoy the blue blur and his games today! So you can imagine how overjoyed I was to see she was going to be paired up with the hedgehog. (Someday, I’ll get the Sonimaru neso)
The fact my best girl is closest with some of my friend’s best girls means a lot to me! First years trio and Dia from the Kurosawa sisters, it really does feel like fate in a silly way.
Her not liking milk is another mood.
She’s super creative! We all know she likes to read, but she wishes to become a writer someday! And on top of that, she’s actually the fictional creator of the 4komas in Dengeki. I love drawing and like to write a bit, so I have an appreciation for her talents!
Although not my favorite color, I tend to gravitate to yellow things a lot! Maybe that’s why she’s my best girl ahah
She’s clumsy and not that great at physical stuff, which again is a mood.
She’s so pretty!! She calls herself plain compared to the other ‘dazzling’ girls, which yeah her hair isn’t as out there as some of them, but I think that’s all the more wonderful! Her design showcases her plain and gentle character in the best way! With softened eyes and hair that would shine golden in the Uchiura sun, she’s just as dazzling as everyone in Aqours!
This is a bit of a stretch, especially considering both fairytale sets for Aqours- but she reminds me a lot of Belle, my favorite Disney princess! Beautiful kind hearted (but not easily fooled either) girls with a yellow image color, who’d rather not deal with fussy/loud people in favor of reading.
And with that, I’d like to show off the art I’ve done of her! And some descriptions of the pieces from left to right
I was able to draw the first years for a LL zine based around magical girls awhile ago, and I decided to mash them up with my favorite anime of all time: Ojamajo Doremi! Both series mean a lot to me so combining them was super fun!!! This is only a snippet, since the zine is still being put together, but I wanted to share it nonetheless.
A Chibi I drew for good scouting luck when the WBNW limiteds hit WW, I’m happy to report it worked!
I drew this shortly after the valentines Hanamaru UR came out, it instantly became one of my favorite URs and the Ruby SSR with it was just too cute to not draw either! Super over the top frilly lolita designs are some of my favorites, lots of sweet designs and detailed lacing immediately made me fall in love with this card!
And Finally, the piece I specifically drew for Hanamaru’s birthday! It’s of her Universe UR, Chianchian’s designs for Hanamaru are always wonderful and I’ve wanted to draw them for awhile, so I figured now would be a great time! (I hope she comes home someday)
Now here’s my Hanamaru merch! I’m the most proud of my Ita Bag, but I’m hoping to maybe get more into figure collecting now I have a good place to display them. And a lot of the straps I have match with some I’ve gotten friends, so that makes it all the more special! (And I honestly could tell you the story for each piece of merch from figure to button but I know this is getting long)
I also made and decorated some cookies for her birthday! My piping skills aren't too great but I did her character symbol, an Azalea, and some small flowers that are in her new SSR! They're very sweet but were nice with some black tea.
The sock plushie was done by one of my best friends as a gift and I treasure it so much!! She even made it squisher to match my headcanon I love it so much ;-;
And to wrap everything up, keeping in the style of Sukutomo: Here’s my Hanamaru collection on my main Love Live account! I still got a ways to go for filling this out, but I’m happy she blesses me as much as she does!
Thank you so much for reading this far! I hope I didn’t ramble on too much, I just love this bookworm so much I wanted to make sure I was able to do her justice, and maybe help people love Hanamaru just a bit more! She’s such a sweet, compassionate girl who wants nothing more than to see her friends shine, and having other people see her radiance would be a wonderful birthday gift for her I’m sure!
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