Lanzhu Zhong is an interesting character, and I have seen many say some unkind things about her, but I believe she’s misunderstood and it saddens me, as the way I interpret her fits me and my own story extremely well. I want to explain who I believe she is, through the lens of someone who has behaved identically.
I will be talking about the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club anime. Not the game, or Nijiyon Animation for that matter, even if I would consider Nijiyon Animation as part of the same canon. This also does not take the movies into consideration, due to the movies simply not being out yet as I’m writing this! Well, the first movie is out, but not in any accessible way to me, so I have not seen it. If I have more to say after seeing the movies, I’m sure I’ll make an update post!
You could consider this an analysis of her as a character in the anime, and I will dive deep, but I will also reference myself throughout. …Which might be a little poetic given what I’ll talk about. I hope you’ll understand by the end of this post.
If you’re wondering how long I can talk about Love Live!, consider how long I can talk about this single aspect of this single character in this single season. 🤭 Safe to say I’m passionate!
Since it is so long, there will be a summary at the bottom to quickly get my thoughts across, but you’ll be missing a lot of context. This is fine of course if you just want to know why I take this liking to her, so long as you believe what I say! If you read the summary only and don’t believe what I say in it, context will be in the full post. I’ve made sure to tell you which episode the info is coming from throughout the post. ^^
Note that when I refer to an episode of the show, it will be in reference to the second season.
Also note that quotes are translations, since the show is in Japanese, and could be translated or interpreted with different words.
