While I agree, in Love Live's case, I think the personal obstacles that each character go through are more vital here than a rival.
True, but then they shouldn't add a rival at all. It is really strange to add a seemingly over-powerful rival and then defeating it by just walking past it, and not even as a finale.
And in general with Love Live: Since almost all the songs are always sung by all 9, they lack character, they all sound the same. They are good and there isn't any i really dislike (like i dislike some of the im@s songs), but there isn't any really standing out (like some of the im@s songs which just blew me away when i first heard them).
DON'T PLAY WITH ME, SCAMCO! You KNOW I want this!
I don't see A-Rise as a rival, but I see them more as motivation. Muse knows that A-Rise are pretty much King S**t when it comes to school idols and Honoka sees them and says "I wanna be just like them". It's not like Jupiter where the main purpose is defeating them in a competition, but rather Muse looks after A-Rise and model themselves after them. So really, they're not meant to be actual "rivals" but more a driving point for Muse to keep going until the end.
I have a feeling that Love Live is about "cute" girls doing "cute" things... It's like the creators want to please the fans and nothing more...
Having finished the anime this summer, it actually isn't. It isn't at all. Its similar to THE iDOLM@STER 2011 anime where its mainly about the girls developing as idols, except Love Live is more of a group effort rather than iM@S' focus on individuality. I recommend at least giving the first three episodes a shot to see if you'll like it.
The last episode I watched was the one with "Snow halation" instead of normal ending.
