Tag: idols

Spring 2016 Capsules

Don’t bother with Ragnastrike Angels (if you can even find it). It’s a glorified 30-second commercial for the mobile game, and it’s over before you even realize it.

 

With three minutes of runtime, Pan de Peace! (the pun, it hurts !) at least manages to provide a more decent bite of content. It’s yet another adaptation of a 4-panel manga starring four girls with vague lesbian overtones, with the gimmick being that they’re all crazy about bread. Perfectly inoffensive, but nothing particularly distinctive or interesting either ; it’s comfort food, basically. And since I’m on a diet, I’m gonna skip it.

 

Oh, and just in case, the new JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series, Diamond is Unbreakable starts off very promisingly. The colour design is even more striking than before somehow, too. And with only 39ish episodes planned, there’s a good chance it’s going to be less bloated than Stardust Crusaders.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 2

 

As previously mentioned, I won’t be doing a full review of the first episode of Macross Delta, as I already covered a preview of it three months ago. Let’s just say that it’s still as charming, and there are few more minutes of stuff happening at the end. (Since the actual first episode is somehow shorter than the preview, I presume they cut several minutes of fluff earlier on ; none of it is really missed.)

 

And for completeness’ sake, Sailor Moon Crystal is back, now covering the manga’s “Infinity” arc. On the one hand, given the popularity of the first anime version of it, it’s a no-brainer. On the other hand, the manga version (followed to the letter here) unfolds quite differently, and not always for the better. (The “reversion” stuff in this chapter is particularly silly pseudo-science.) And well, the usual flaws of Crystal are still present, especially the lack of atmosphere.

But who cares ? I bought the whole manga despite not liking it much ; I can certainly watch through this for completionism’s sake. (Especially as “Infinity” isn’t too bad as manga arcs go.)

 

Shounen Ashibe: Go! Go! Goma-chan is a short kids’ show about a boy (Ashibe) and his pet seal (Goma), adapted from a 4-panel manga series that already got two TV series in the early 90s. To say that it’s very dated indeed is an understatement ; most of the jokes and caricatures seem lifted straight out of the 70s or earlier. Otherwise, it’s perfectly inoffensive, but I’m way too old to be in the target audience.

Onigiri adapts a MMORPG as a series of shorts. Interestingly, it chooses to take the piss out of this fanservice-ladden cliché-fest, mocking thoroughly how male characters aren’t voiced, or having the main characters’ account be suspended because of tool tampering (as I was indeed wondering about the machine-gun and flamethrower whipped out by one of them in this med-fan setting…). To my surprise, most of the jokes are actually funny and delivered with good comedic timing, so I could see myself keeping watching it for a while.

Bishoujo Yuugi Unit Crane Game Girls is a baffling series of shorts, featuring three random girls being assembled so that they can save the world, but with their handlers telling them they’re going to be idols and playing crane games. The joke is in dire need of a punchline, and doesn’t work at all ; and it isn’t helped by fugly Flash-like animation. Skip.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 3

 

Nope, not doing a full review of Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou. It looks awful and is barely animated, the premise is silly (being a DJ is just like cooking Tonkatsu !), and it quickly got on my nerves. I’ll pass.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 5

Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Komugi started her life as a minor (if colourful) side-character in Soultaker, a 2001 anime series mostly notable as an early example of Akiyuki Shinbo developping what would become his signature style. (As a Shinbo fan, I loved it, but it’s a convoluted multiple-conspiracy paranoia-fest that often ends up lost into its own ass, and thus a bit of an acquired taste.)

In the following years, studio Tatsunoko inexplicably released a few OVAs starring Komugi (maybe the merchandise sales for her were strong or something), without Shinbo (now off to transform SHAFT into what it’s today), and recasting her as an actual magical girl. (In Soultaker, she was a looney experiment who behaved like a magical girl. It’s the contrast with everything else that made the joke work.) Some of the wider ST cast got randomly converted into supporting roles, with way too many inside jokes for the show’s own good. The end result was a parody of the genre which just wasn’t very funny.

And now, more than a decade later, for some unfathomable reason, we’ve got yet another retool of the concept, starting with the origin story. Can they make it work this time around ?

Characters

Komugi is now just an ordinary energetic middle-school girl, with a barely burgeonning idol career on the side. (As in, she’s doing advertising outside local shops, and her fanbase are those three old dudes.) She keeps dreaming about hitting the big time, though.

Kokona, her best friend, is arguably close to there. She’s PERFECT at everything at school, the student council president, has a decent idol career, and has even branched out into acting recently. She’s super-nice, too.

Usa-P is a weird critter stalking Komugi and coercing her into becoming a magical girl. He’s obnoxious and kinda creepy, of course.

The supporting cast is kinda big, between Komugi’s family, the people at the girls’ talent agency, their classmates, the two other critters who are obviously going to power Kokona and another girl up too… as a result, none of them rise above being one-dimensionally generic.

Production Values

Okay, I guess. At least the fanservice levels are positively subdued.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear gods. They’ve somehow managed to make it even worse. It’s blander and less energetic. In an effort to map more closely to actual magical girl shows’ structure, it’s become tedious and boring. It doesn’t even have the weirdness of the bizarre Soultaker cameos (which admittedly nobody would get now), instead replacing them with more generic Tatsunoko sight gags (which aren’t particularly funny either).

It’s terrible on every level. The jokes are beyond trite, and sparse on the ground. But it’s too self-aware to work as an actual magical girl show, either. And it’s just not funny, which is the worse sin a parody can commit.

Stay well away from this one.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 3

Ultra Super Anime Time Block (Winter 2016)

Ultra Super Anime Time Block is an interesting timeslot broadcast by TokyoMX for the last few seasons. Basically, rather than a normal 24-minute-long anime series, it’s a collection of three completely unrelated shorts, each 8-minute-long. I’m all for this kind of thing, as there’s room for shows that can’t sustain a whole 24-minute episode, without falling into the other extreme of 2/3-minute episodes that end up being rather unsatisfying (but are very common because that’s easy to fit somewhere into the schedule). Of course, that depends on the actual shows proposed being any good. So how’s this season’s selection ?

 

Please Tell Me! Galko-chan adapts a gag web-manga where the gimmick is that the narrator goes out of her way to ask (rather crude) questions to the cast. The joke is that while main character Galko looks the part of the classic truant “gal” girl, she’s actually mostly normal and there are mundane explanations for her gal-like outbursts. Oh, and everyone has puns for their names. (Otako is the otaku-like girl, and so on.) As a whole, it’s mildly funny, if a bit overreliant on gross hygiene gags. There are worse ways to spend 8 minutes.

 

Sculpture Boys (Sekkou Boys) is an original concept about a bunch of male idols… Well, the first episode is mostly focused on their new manager, just fresh out of art college. With not much artistic talent, and completely burned out of painting sculpture after sculpture after sculpture, she moved on to a field where she would only deal with actual people. Or so she thinks, as her new charges are… a quatuor of classical busts. Talking (and presumably singing) busts. (After all, as the agency’s president says, there’s no danger of them sleeping around, so that’s one less headache to deal with compared to “normal” idols.)

The premise is patently absurd, but the show manage to sell it by ignoring the actual title characters for most of the episode, and instead building to the manager’s inevitable freakout. Even if you’re aware of what the series is about beforehand, the joke is so well-paced that it still works. I’m not sure there’s 12 (even short) episodes of material here, but I’m willing to give it a try.

 

Tabi Machi Late Show is about professional cooking or something ? It’s deathly dull and barely animated at all. The only good news is that it’s only 4 episodes, so its slot will be taken over by something different in February (a new iteration of the Kono Danshi franchise) and March (a remake/extension of Makoto Shinkai’s 1999 short She & Her Cat, of all things ?).

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 2

STAR-MYU – High School Star Musical

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh, dear. This is a show about a colour-coded boys’ band attending high-school. There’s just no way I can take this seriously, given how the previous show lampooned the genre to hell and back.

Characters

Hoshitani is our central protagonist. He’s enrolled into this school because he’s looking for some handsome singer he once saw wearing this uniform, and for some reason hasn’t bothered at all to look into how things work here.

Fortunately, this shy guy called Nayuki is perfectly willing to provide him with tons of helpful exposition. They end up being roommates, of course.

So the idea is that there are “Star” singer groups which are created from a very selective process organized by the most senior and elite Star group. You enter individually, and there’s certainly no guarantee you’ll end up with people you enjoy the company of. Hoshitani certainly has already managed to piss off a couple of them.

Since the Super-Star group are all humourless and stern dudes, I’m pretty sure the bizarre and mismatched group our heroes end up with is the work of one Ootori, who’s been roped in to help the Super-Stars out through a combination of nepotism and plain awesomeness. I like this dude, he’s a fun troll.

Since there’s not a single female character of any significance in sight, I’m guessing this is a boys-only school.

Production Values

Good enough for this kind of thing, and the musical numbers aren’t too bad.

Overall Impression

Yeah, no, sorry, I just can’t judge this fairly. It’s actually quite decent, with enough of a sense of humour about itself to be perfectly watchable despite piling on the clichés. I’ve seen much worse in the same genre. (Shonen Hollywood, I’m looking at you.)

But, well, I’m just not the audience for this kind of thing, and it was unlucky enough that context destroyed any interest I may have had in it. I’ll pass.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 3

Summer 2015 capsules

Out first show of the season is My Wife is the Student Council President (Okusama ga Seitokaichou!), a series of 8-minute shorts adapted from an erotic comedy manga series. I have to say I feared the worst from the title. An underage wife ?

The good news is that the premise doesn’t involve any actual marriage yet and merely involves the student council president being, er, very “sex-liberated” (condoms for everyone !), and aggressively pursuing her vice-president. So far, he’s not receptive at all to her stalker ways ; which anyone would be even without the huge stick in his ass.

The bad news is that it isn’t really funny. I just can’t laugh with the show, as I find the title character more horrific than cute. And the boring, by-the-numbers point-of-view character doesn’t help matters.

Don’t bother with looking this one up.

 

Wakaba Girl is a typical adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga as a series of 8-minute-long shorts (extended OP sequence included). It’s basically a “cute girls being cute” affair, with the central gimmick of its heroine Wakaba coming from a very high-class family and being delighted to attend a normal high school where she can make normal friends. Cue many jokes from her being more than a bit sheltered.

It’s cute, reasonably well-paced and funny, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. That’s plenty enough reasons for me to keep watching.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2015

 

Wakako-zake is a series of 2-minute (OP included) shorts about a woman who eats out at restaurants, with the constant in her menu being alcohol. And, er, that’s it. Not much in the way of jokes or story (aside from a couple of dudes trying to pick her up), just some food porn. Pass along, nothing to see here.

 

Sequel Watch !
– Dragonball Super picks up a few months after the Majin Buu arc, which means we’re ignoring Z’s epilogue with Uub and its timeskip. (To say nothing of GT.) The good news is that no knowledge from the recent movies seems to be required ; the new antagonists are introduced properly and seem to be heading towards their first meetings with the heroes. The bad news is that it’s a very slow start, reintroducing the dozens of members of the supporting cast and what they’re up to now. Even then, I think we missed Krillin & family, as well as most of the minor useless members of the Z-fighters ; we’re mostly focused on the extended Son/Briefs/Satan households for now. There’s little in the way of actual plot right now, aside from the Supreme Kais worrying about new villains showing up anytime now. But then they always do. Since I actually like the more slice-of-life comedy segments of Dragonball, I’m not complaining. (Although less Goten/Trunks screentime would be a relief.)

– Speaking of reintroducing dozens of supporting characters, Durarara!!x2 (Middle Part) feels it was the time to introduce more new characters. And hey, it does makes who comes to try and finish Izaya off in his hospital room a genuine surprise. A nice callback to his introduction, but still unexpected. Aside from that, it’s mostly a matter of positioning all the pieces back in place.

– Symphogear GX – Determination to Fist has a positively metal opening action sequence that’s going to be hard to top. It does unfortunately show again that Aoi Yuuki is miles behind Nana Mizuki & Ayahi Takagaki in singing talent, but them’s the breaks. At least we get another Nana Mizuki/Yoko Hikasa duet. Not feeling the new antagonists yet, but I’ll give them time.

– Gatchaman CROWDS Insight… I have no clue where they’re going with this new team member and the alien. But it’s certainly very energetic and colourful as usual, and Hajime is still very fun. (“Berg, shut up-su!”)

– As for Working!!!, I’m fearing the ship may have sailed. I quite enjoyed the first two seasons, but this reintroduction episode left me quite cold. Maybe it’ll pick up steam later on, but this wasn’t a good start.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2015 – Page 3

 

I’m sure that, like me, you rolled your eyes when Bikini Warriors showed up on the schedule, especially as an adaptation of a line of “sexy” figurines. The good news is that this series of comedy shorts makes its tired cliché of a premise the central joke. Yes, those bikini-style armours are ridiculous and can’t protect much ; let’s have fun with that ! And frankly, the few chuckles it raises are enough to overcome the rudimentary animation and the obnoxious fanservice. It just about gets away with it, and that’s the best it could have ever hoped for.

Million Doll is an adaptation of a web manga series as 8-minute shorts. It’s an exploration of idol fandom culture that just rubs me the wrong way. I think that’s because it seems to lionize its shut-in protagonist and agree with her contempt of the more dilettante fans who are quick to move on from an idol group to the next… never mind that she’s already much creepier and unhealthy than all of them combined. It’s a show that requires you to adhere unconditionally to the glamour of the idol subculture (and dismisses its unpleasantness as coming from a few icky fans), and that’s not something I can get into. It doesn’t help that it’s barely animated, and suffers from a downright ugly CG-animated dancing opening sequence. Avoid like the plague.
SuzakiNishi the Animation is a weird beast. It’s notionally an adaptation of voice-actresses Aya Suzaki & Asuka Nishi’s radio program, where they discuss business models. In practive, this is a series of “comedy” shorts depicting them as new transfer students in high school. The gags are trite and there’s just nothing here that builds upon its name characters or the original premise. Really don’t bother with this.
Kurayami Santa is a bizarre oddity : a series of horror shorts set in the 60s that’s half animation looking like it came from that period, and half actual vintage live-action footage from then. It features a demon looking like a creepy child who punishes evidoers, but in cruel and circuitous ways that make you shudder more than applaud. While I’m intrigued at how this came into being, there’s a gap between that and actually finding it entertaining ; it’s just too weird for me.
Danchigai is an adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga about five siblings rough-housing each other. (Well, they mostly all gang up against the one boy, second oldest of the lot.) It’s very mildly funny, but nothing to go out of your way for.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2015 – Page 5

The iDOLM@STER – Cinderella Girls

What’s it about ?

The iDOLM@STER is a massive multimedia franchise, originally adapted from various videogames where you manage a unit of idols. There was a big TV series in 2011, adapting the original game (+ various other spin-offs, including a movie last year). But you really don’t need to know anything about it ; while Cinderella Girls takes place in the same universe, it adapts a different game, features a completely different cast and has a slightly different premise.

Characters

Uzuki is your archetypal idol hopeful : not much skill, but tons of enthusiasm to make up for it. She’s sticking with her training even though all her classmates have long given up, in spite of all her rejections. And now she’s finally getting a second chance to join 346 Production’s Cinderella Project !

The Producer (no name given, following a franchise-wide running joke) from 346 Production has a big problem : he looks very creepy and menacing, and has trouble expressing himself in anything else than a few terse words. Really he’s just a bit shy and inexperienced, but that fearsome appearance doesn’t help him dealing with…

Rin, a random high school girl he crossed paths with. He’s determined to recruit her, despite her explicit and repeated lack of interest in becoming an idol, and her growing annoyance at the rumours of a creepy stalker hounding her. (Which sounds worse than it actually is, but he does approach her every day in the street…)

As this kind of things happen, it’s Uzuki who eventually convinces Rin to give it a try.

Apparently there are at least a dozen new idols involved in the Cinderella Project (presumably introduced in further episodes), but the Producer needed to recruit a trio of them before going any further in developing Uzuki’s career. (Presumably the third member is the one making a cameo auditioning for it at the episode’s tail end.)

Production Values

Decent enough. It’s always a shame that this franchise’s idol songs are consistently forgettable crap, but them’s the breaks. At least their dancing looks good.

Overall Impression

The iDOLM@STER (2011) had an absolutely terrible first episode, sketchily introducing all 12 of its idols (+ the supporting cast) at once and using a “documentary” gimmick that only mucked out its Producer’s actual personality (not that he had much of it, but still). This is a very notable improvement, taking things much more slowly and devoting itself to only a couple of girls and the Producer. It’s all the stronger for it, especially as it opens on the start of their story instead of joining it halfway through. Which is only to be expected, as the whole point of the Cinderella Project is to offer a “from nobody to idol” narrative.

But what really makes this episode sing is its impeccable comedic timing. It gets a ton of mileage out of its Producer, who’s got way more presence and charm than his 2011 counterpart, and manages to be funny just by by being onscreen. He’s also got really good chemistry with Uzuki and Rin, which bodes well for when the cast’s size increases.

I expect a pleasantly forgettable workcom like its predecessor ; this is turning out to quite surpass my expectations.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015 – Page 2.

Shounen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This series is the sequel to a 2012 light novel about a male idol group.

Characters

“Shounen Hollywood” was an idol group… 15 years ago. This isn’t their story. This is about their successors, a group of five teenage wannabes who’ve be scouted by the original group’s producer.

Frankly, even while watching the episode I couldn’t bother keeping track of each of the five’s actual personalities. It doesn’t help that the producer is intent on having them adopt ridiculously fake stage personas, all equally punchable.

Aside from the insane producer, the one character who sticks out is the hideous gay caricature who trains the kids. Urgh.

Production Values

Well, if it’s good-looking teenage dudes you want, you’ll get them. They all kinda have the same face, though.

And of course all the songs are crappy J-pop.

Overall Impression

There are actually some decent jokes in this. But that’s not enough to save this shapeless, plotless mess which seems bent on making me dislike all its characters. (Not hate, as that would imply some actual impact.)

You can sell me on idol shows if you’ve got the right kind of energy. This doesn’t have what it takes. It looks like an exercise in tediousness I have no wish to see any more of.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2014 – Page 3.

Futsuu no Joshikousei ga (Locodol) Yattemita. (“Ordinary Schoolgirls Tried to Be Local Idols”)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga about… well, you know how some recent anime series feel like they’re a collaboration with some town’s tourism board ? Well, it’s about this kind of thing.

Characters

Nanako, our protagonist, is an ordinary high school girl : she has a generic circle of friends, nags her mother for pocket money, and wonders whether she should join a club. Her gi character quirk is that she’s a bit of a perfectionist : once she commits to something, she wants to do it properly.

Her uncle is a civil servant in a town with no attractive feature whatsoever, and badly bleeding inhabitants to its neighbours. He tries his best to counter the tide, though ; his latest idea : “Locodol”, i.e. local idols. He ropes his niece into putting a show at the newly refurbished swimming-pool. Chaotic disaster ensues.

Fortunately, Yukari, the other girl he hired, has an actual clue on how to do this, and manages to salvage the situation. She and Nanako quickly become friends ; why not keep doing this ?

Production Values

Perfectly okay. Bright and shiny, as you’d expect this to be.

Overall Impression

There’s an interesting idea at the core of this : some towns are desperate to attract (or at least retain) young adults, and seizing on any fad for this purpose. This bleak reality gives an edge to an otherwise very fluffy gag series. Actually, I was kinda surprised Uncle’s plan somehow worked out, as it feels slightly undeserved.

But hey, this is funny. That’s a decent start for a comedy. Can it keep up among the deluge of Thursday shows ? We’ll see. I’m willing to give it a bit of rope.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2014 – Page 2.

Bakumatsu Rock

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

What. The. Heck. Is. This. Thing.

Okay, let’s start with facts. This adapts a PSP rhythm game. It’s nominally set in the Bakumatsu era (mid-19th century, at the transition between Edo & Meiji), but in practice it’s a gleeful anachronism stew. The plot involves the EVIL government enforcing a monopoly on music (only a few selected musicians/idols can play, and only the totally insipid J-Pop-ish “Heaven’s Song” repertoire), and a ragtag bunch of handsome rebels fighting back with the power of ROCK (also insipid J-Pop).

Characters

Ryouma is our red-headed, pointy-haired protagonist. He’s a moron who can barely scrape a living thanks to the generousity of a couple of friends (who do have proper jobs). Nobody cares about his “music”. He somehow was gifted a guitar by a mysterious “master”, and raising enough fuss in his inept attempts at gathering an audience that the authorities are starting to take notice. And because he’s the hero, his music gives him glamour superpowers at the end of the episodes, just in time for the insert song.

“Cindy” (who resents the girly nickname) and “Doc” (who can build stuff like samurai-detectors) are two disciples of the same mysterious master who are investigating the bozo wandering around cluelessly with their master’s guitar. Cue the usual misunderstandings, until Ryouma’s “charm” eventually wins them over.

The authorities are also handsome dudes, because of course they are. While the top echelons are obviously EVIL, several of the rank and file look well on their way to changing sides – they certainly seem to like this new ROCK thing.

There are some female characters around. Aside from that one friendly restaurant owner (who’s voiced by a guy), they’re all idiots, easily fooled by the government’s scheme.

Production Values

Together with Free!, this makes Wednesdays “fanservice for women” day, because there are sure a lot of handsome dudes on display here. And despite having way less excuses for taking their shirts off all the time, they do show off their abs a lot.

This is a shiny and day-glo production, because of course idols. I’m a bit wary about the CG animation for the song numbers ; not because it looks bad, but because the director is resorting to many editing tricks to use as little of it as possible, often using static shots instead. Are we already having budget problems ?

Overall Impression

Well, this is certainly a thing. It’s obviously a joke, and to its credit it commits all the way to it. The problem is that it’s more baffling than actually funny. It certainly isn’t helped by charisma-depleted main characters, and music that’s just bland J-Pop. And I’m certainly not part of the core audience.

As a rhythm game, I can see this being quite fun. As a full-blown anime series, it’s just a bit tedious. One episode was way enough for me.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2014.

Wake Up, Girls!

(50-minute prologue movie + 12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The formation of an idol group, in way more detail than you can be entirely comfortable with.

Don’t skip the movie, it’s the essential first step of the story (and as such I see why Crunchyroll licensed it).

Characters

Ms Tange is the president of a very minor Sendai talent agency, and after a few setbacks she decides to try and cash in on the idol craze. With barely any budget or actual know-how, of course. Frankly, she’s the kind of horrible person that are dime a dozen in the entertainment industry : callous, cynical, has no shame whatsoever, and is a complete jerk all around. And that’s before she takes off with all the agency’s money and leaves everyone else hung to dry.

Matsuda, her long-suffering assistant, does seem sincere, but he’s wildly out of his depth, and content to follow her orders to prey on naive teenagers. I’d pity him if I didn’t know better. (Because, seriously, enablers like him are also part of the problem.)

The girls they’ve picked up are, frankly, the bottom of the barrel. Okay, there’s the “leader” who does have some professional experience as a fashion model, and the one who won a singing competition, but after that, it’s just “whoever answered the ad” : a waitress at restaurant who hopes this is going to be better than being pinched by customers (ahah, you fool), another waitress from a maid café who sees this as her big break, a rich 13-year-old girl who’s endearingly naive about the industry, and a girl-next-door type who sounds horrible even when not singing.

Mayu, on the other hand, is their jackpot. She’s the former MVP of top idol group “I-1”, which she left for mysterious reasons. Whatever it was, it left her with some deep trauma, and no wish to be an idol ever again. (It also left scars in her family, with her apparently now single mom having had to move back from Tokyo to her parents’, and taking some unsavoury jobs.) She only went to the agency to escort her best friend. But of course she’s eventually talked into joining, impressed by the eagerness of those hopefuls.

Production Values

Quite good indeed ; there’s some neat attention to body language at every step. Interestingly, the dancing sequences are not CG (which is all the rage these days), but traditionally animated.

Overall Impression

I have no clue what this series is going for.

On the one hand, this is a multimedia project designed to launch the title idol group ; heck, all the girls have the same first names as their voice-actresses/live-action versions, for convenience’s sake. (All of them being complete newbies recruited for this definitely shows, with some of them being painful to listen to.) And it definitely carries the message that idols have a positive impact on people’s life.

But on the other hand, it makes a point of showing in great detail how scummy the idol industry is. Aside of Matsuda (who’s still young and naive), every producer is a terrible person with very shady methods. The fan messageboards are toxic garbage. The humble debut is as unglamorous as possible. And there’s no escaping how this unit got its start as a cynical cash-grab.

I’m going to keep watching this, as it’s a fascinating detailed look which barely whitewashes the milieu. As long as it keeps up with that angle, I’m interested. Even though I fear it’s going to hedge its bets eventually.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 5.