The Worthy Rival of Aqours… Where are they now?
In this blog post, I am going to talk about the School Idol group in LoveLive! Series, wherein they were either hated, or being loved by some people who are indeed Aqours fans in the LoveLive! Sunshine!! Anime. The name of this group is Saint Snow, which was composed of Leah Kazuno and Sarah Kazuno.
So before you make judgment, or making comments and said, “Who is Saint Snow?”, “We do not know them.”, or such related comments that are not related or futile, please read first, right after this paragraph.
Who is Saint Snow?
Saint Snow is the rival School Idol Group of Aqours that appeared in LoveLive! Sunshine!! Anime. This group was only composed of two people, Leah Kazuno (voiced by Hinata Sato) and Sarah Kazuno (voiced by Asami Tano), and they are from Seisen Girl’s Academy, the school where they came from.
Leah Kazuno is the other sister who is tough and serious, while Sarah is cool and modest. In contrary, they were of opposite polarities when it comes to their personalities.
Contextual Spoilers ahead. Read at your own discretion.
Saint Snow made their appearance when Aqours finally meet them at the Kanda Shrine grounds. They were once invited to perform at Tokyo for the event.
Saint Snow had impressed Aqours with their spectacular live performance, despite that they are just a duo unit. But in the end, at the later part, they were never once being victorious in the LoveLive! Finals.
Notable Achievements and Recognitions of Saint Snow
Saint Snow is one of the first rival groups in LoveLive! Series that has released several songs credited under their group name. This included their Season 1 and 2 songs of the Aqours Anime (i.e. SELF CONTROL!! and DROPOUT!?), and even releasing their first-ever single and PV, the Dazzling White Town. Also, this group has collaborated with Aqours, forming a temporary union group, under the name Saint Aqours Snow, and releasing some songs like Awaken the Power and Over the Next Rainbow.
Saint Snow has also appeared in some major live events, notably in Aqours 5th LoveLive!, LoveLive! Fest, and in the HAKODATE UNIT CARNIVAL live events. With their success of their previous appearances, Saint Snow has also hosted their 1st GIG Live, subtitled as Welcome to Dazzling White Town, in year 2020.
Also, Saint Snow has appeared in LLSIF as initial R members that can be exchanged with Seals (Stickers). By that time, they are the first rival group in LoveLive! Series to have their first-ever SSR rarity, in which some of the previous rival groups had never done it before.
Where are they now?
When Saint Snow has performed their first and last gig-live in 2020, this has become their last, silent farewell to fans who are following them in years, along with Aqours.
So the question is… Where are they now? They had gradually disappeared when they had done their previous livestreams, while playing some LoveLive! games.
Asami Tano is a great voice actress, originally voicing some cute and tough-looking Anime characters. She was under the Amuse Agency, and she has voiced several characters under her name. She was recently married since 2021. By that time that she was inactive doing her role as Sarah Kazuno, in terms of live events and appearances, she was doing other major voice roles and appearances in the other Anime series, notably in Zombie Land Saga as Saki Nikaido.
Meanwhile, Hinata Sato is a great voice actress talent too, despite of her younger age in years. While she is no longer active in doing her role appearance as Leah Kazuno due to several projects and schedule conflicts, she began appearing in some other Anime series and projects, notably in D4DJ as Noa Fukushima, and some other video game series by SEGA, the Hatsune Miku: Project SEKAI Colorful Stage!, as Mizuki Akiyama.
Although that Saint Snow is no longer active indeed, they are appearing and making cameo in some other LoveLive! games, the Wai Wai Home Meeting for PS4/PS5 video game, and their songs are still playable on the SIF2 MIRACLE LIVE! rhythm game. But then, their recent achievements has left good memories for fans who are indeed long-time fans of the Aqours Anime.
Ending and My Possible Predictions
Saint Snow was a great rival group in LoveLive! Series, that was once adored, but never remembered by some fans. Because of Aqours, they were made to do their first-ever gig-live, that was once happened, but never again. But then, never getting to watch their 1st GIG live was a total regret, knowing that they had silently left the School Idol Universe without giving their proper thanks and farewell. And I am sure Leah and Sarah had finally realized their own dreams. Of course, they had made their first achievement in releasing some of their songs, which is more than any of the known existing rival School Idol groups. But then, I wish that there are some new rival School Idol Groups, in which they could be like Saint Snow in LoveLive! Series in the near future, in terms of releasing new songs in numbers.
In the present, Saint Snow has really left the School Idol Universe (and graduated from the Anime and movie), while leaving the portion of their memories and achievements behind with its fans. Yep, their Anime insert songs, their songs from the Dazzling White Town album, and their collab songs with Aqours, can make Saint Snow a powerful rival force to be reckoned with.
To end this O&E post, there are some predictions of mine, in which it can be true or not. One clue here is the Yohane the Parhelion Anime, where Yohane is the main character. But then, having these girls, the Saint Snow, to appear as either cameo or major characters are a possibility. And that is really my expectation or prediction. But that prediction of mine can not be true, and I am just saying that it’s just a “possibility” that they might appear without warning.
Overall, the Saint Snow is a worthy, formidable rival School Idol Group.
