Aikatsu!

Although this anime has a bit of a slow start, the story is one of the better ones that I've seen. Although it is a fairly typical coming-to-fame story, it is well done and unlike most anime that feel unfinished it keeps going until the story reaches a proper end. One very interesting thing is the cast collecting in the anime to the point that the main cast actually switches about halfway through. There are around 100 different characters and they each have interesting personalities, although some of them have unfortunately short screen times. The art of the main series is well done with the girlsbeing very cute and are all modeled differently, which is important for such a big cast. In the beginning the dance scenes are a bit of a problem since they're bad enough to feel like carcinogens, but that is fixed later in the show. The dance scenes are actually held in virtual reality in the show and when past recordings of dances are shown on screen they have the same animation as when they were first shown so it may be that their own technology is improving making the bad dance scenes slightly more forgivable. The dances at the end have better CGI than pretty much any other anime I've seen. The music in this show is amazing. There is a total of over 70 songs and although there are both hits and misses the hits are amazing and many are top ten worthy, although partly due to the lack of insert songs in most anime. The voices were all outstanding. Oddly enough, the age gap between the seiyuu for the two protagonists is about the same as for their characters but in the opposite direction. All of the seiyuu do a good job and the ones who speak other languages add a bit of spice to the atmosphere. One character develops an even more cringe worthy version of Engrish, which is interesting to watch. With such a huge cast it's amazing that they gave every character an interesting and unique personality. There are even some characters who end up in the main cast who you wouldn't expect to because of their eccentric personality traits. The anime is about the characters and they all do a great job at making the anime fun to watch. There are sure to be some characters you won't like, but you can only hope that those characters won't get as much screen time. It's great to see the different characters from different places as they will often use this as a method for world development. With everything this anime does well it is incredibly enjoyable. As a kids show they try to decrease the character-viewer disconnect so anything the characters view as being good actually is good. There are some foods in the anime that just make you want to try them and some did have a limited availability in real life but none are available outside of Japan. Just like with anything it's more important who you're with than what you're doing so although this is just a really good rendition of a generic story the great characters and great music make it far better. With every considered this is a great anime that does not disappoint. There are still some questions unanswered, but they did a better job addressing the most probable questions than most anime do. Anime with futuristic settings are bound to have holes in their logic but this one does fit quite neatly. Whether if you like cute girls doing cute things, music anime, or even sports anime depending on your reason for doing so this should be a good anime to watch. As an original anime you don't have to worry about which episodes are filler even though the anime is on the longer side.

This is an anime that I had for a long time as a "I would try it out, but it's so long..." until the day I finally gave it the chance it deserved, and boy I sure didn't expect it to become one of my favorite works. Aikatsu is a series set in a school that has as objective training idols to make them reach stardom. This includes seeing the characters practice for concerts, facing problems and how they improve thanks to them, and seeing them participate in idol-related activities like TV programs, firming autographs (and all the awesome moments that come from seeing fans interactingwith them) or being actresses in movies/TV dramas among others things. This gives a very solid variety to the series and together with the nice comedy coming from the cast makes each episode so enjoyable to watch. It's worth saying that this anime has zero fanservice and has quite a lighthearted tone compared to others from the idol genre. Outside of some unique (and greatly executed) moments, the drama is never particularly big, being “rivals” is another way to say great friends to improve with, and damn if it's wholesome, it's hard to not smile all the time watching this! That doesn't mean that Aikatsu doesn't have emotional moments though, instead it actually delivers the hardest when it comes to payoff when seeing the characters succeeding and taking a step towards their dreams. A big theme of the series is finding the inspiration for a dream thanks to another person, with the own protagonist at the start of the series, Ichigo, being clueless about what she wanted to be until she was invited to the concert of the most popular idol of the moment and was so impressed with her performance that she wanted to become one as well. This is something that will happen many times in the future as we see the characters grow and how they end up inspiring the next students that join the school as the years pass with their actions (yes, years pass as the series progresses, leading to more focus on new characters progressively). That is such a satisfying feeling because we don't see the characters just in the “getting good” phase, but further than that. As it's to be expected of a long length series that has a dance scene (or more) in the majority of the episodes, Aikatsu uses CGI animation for them and, being honest, they don't look too good at first, but that changes fast with the pass of the episodes to the point they look fantastic. That together with the great songs the series has (help, my playlist is full of Aikatsu songs) makes those scenes so, so enjoyable. I will briefly talk about the three main characters at the start of the story: - Ichigo Hoshimiya, a cheerful girl with a heart of gold, absurdly likeable and a big eater, and damn if she can be badass too, nothing stops her! - Aoi Kiriya, a total expert when it comes to idols, she's more of the cool type and combinates so well with Ichigo, who is her childhood friend. - Ran Shibuki closes the main trio with a more mature personality, she has been working as a model since she was younger and is praised for her style. This is really just an introduction to the main trio, between the other idols who get the spotlight (who are a lot), the designers of the brands each idol uses, Ichigo's family, and all the other characters who have chances to shine, the cast becomes really big, but it's done in a well paced way and each character has a nice personality and actions that makes them stay memorable. And I haven't even talked of best teacher Johnny Bepp yet, yeah! In conclusion, do you like following lovable characters and seeing them grow over time in their journey to fulfill their dreams, inspiring future generations to do the same? Do you like great dance scenes with music that you will most likely add to your playlist to listen to again? Do you want to feel awful when you realize that you're halfway through the series and you don't want to see it end of how much fun you're having watching it? Well, Aikatsu is just what you're looking for! I hope this review gives you the push needed to watch this anime in the future, as Aoi would say, it's really something special!

This is a pretty fun anime. I loved it. It is a typical Shoujo idol anime but it's entertaining. The characters here never fail to make me smile. Hoshimiya Ichigo being the main protagonist is extremely fun-loving and naive. Kiriya Aoi is the Idol Professor who supports her best friend Ichigo. Shibuki Ran is cold and hard to approach at first but later Ichigo and Aoi befriends her. All the characters here have special and lovable traits of their own. The music is enjoyable. There isn't even a single song I hate in this series. The animation is pretty nice and I loved the Shoujou-flavours in characters' designs. Thestory is typical idol anime, dreaming of becoming top idol. But the road to success is handled well and it's enjoyable. Overall this is a kid's show and very funny. It's not for everyone though. People who are looking for a lighthearted series will definitely enjoy this.

There aren't many idol anime with over a hundred episodes, and there are even fewer idol anime that have the ability to hook and surprise you for such a long period of time. Coming in at just under two hundred episodes, Aikatsu is a series that manages to do both, and there are so many ways to describe it; energetic, revitalising, and optimistic, to name a few. But the best thing about Aikatsu is that it's able to toss its target audience aside and create something able to entertain people of all ages. Unlike Hollywood family movies or shows like Friendship is Magic, there isn'tmuch dumbing down or simplifying of the content within—it's effective, straightforward, and surprisingly realistic in its presentation. So what makes it different? The premise is straightforward: A school for female idols named Starlight Academy exists to seek out and train its kin, be it through acting, dancing, singing, or some other form of entertainment. Aside from an exceptionally kind headmistress and a few spunky teachers, there is no supervision or management to keep the girls in check; much like college, the primary reason for their attendance is so that they can discover who they are as a person (or idol) whilst remaining in an open social setting. Thanks to its believability, the concept itself provides you with many dramatic writing opportunities. Who are the students? What are their reasons for attending? Why are they all so interested in living a monolithic public life? These questions are regularly asked and answered, and their answers further the countless possibilities of the universe time after time. To bridge the gap between idol and school life, the staff always provides students with opportunities to get their name out and/or obtain new apparel, resulting in a rush of motivation for everyone involved. Depending on their popularity, idols can even influence the work of prominent and rising fashion designers or brands at large. Once the characters' training cycle begins, the lurking element of surprise prevents you from taking your eyes off the screen. That's not to say it's all training and no action; the fun graces you one episode at a time, so the competitions, extracurricular activity, and other unspoilable events don't seem out of place for when their time comes. In other words, the occasional slices of life flow as naturally and beautifully as the show at large. One aspect I've found to be unique to Aikatsu is its painless and beautiful sincerity; the characters have natural unbreakable bonds between one another, be they incandescent rivals or shimmering partners. It shies away from the trends of melodrama and grittiness by keeping things light and sometimes funny, completely aware of the fact that the most powerful emotional stirs are naturally-occurring. The cake is topped with a sprinkling of internal conflict, often pertaining to the difficulty of meeting one's own expectations. For a cast made up of teenage girls, they're delightfully headstrong and angst-free. That maturity spares you the clichéd nature of most conflicts within Idolm@ster and Love Live, and often gives you the opportunity to ask yourself the same questions. I truthfully believe the series is ultimately sociological, as is any great drama. That said, the show's composition resembles western TV dramas much more than it does your typical anime; the supporting characters are constantly evolving, changing roles, and moving into the picture, whilst the main characters themselves aren't as prominent as you may believe. Such traits are definitely not suited to everyone, but for anyone searching for more complex development, they are a dream come true. The continuity put on display here is fairly amazing—things you may haven't seen for dozens of episodes can slowly begin to reappear, and they always have a graceful fall into place. It doesn't sound so surprising on paper, but the practical appropriation of older content happens when you least expect it to. You'll want to trust me on this one. For the sake of performances, a fun little wardrobe transition to 3DCG is made whenever an idol needs to be on stage. But don't hold your breath! While the CG starts out on rocky ground, it goes out of its way to make some vast adjustments every few episodes. By the time you're a third of the way through, all of your gripes with its appearance will disappear. Still, it never stops making improvements, and things become increasingly gorgeous as you approach the final episode. The beauty of the CG is best illustrated during group performances, yet it also has some interesting tricks up its sleeve like flying objects and wireframe views that liven up the stage experience. Some incredible on-stage camerawork does a great job illustrating the benefits of using 3D animation, and definitely proves why the show chose to use the medium in the first place. I'm not quite sure if the show could have retained the same energy without it. Finally, let's talk about the music. Some insert songs are impeccably composed and arranged, others excel in one of those two departments, and the few songs leftover are straight-up bad. From a production standpoint, it's rather hit-or-miss, but the hits have the strength to absolve it of the misses. I even find the insert songs that are only okay to be a treat every once and a while, but due to the subjectivity of music, your personal results may vary. On the other hand, the background music is so subtle and relaxed that I doubt anyone could take issue with it. Heck, sometimes they're just little piano arrangements of prominent insert songs. It's definitely more consistent overall, and kind of sounds like something you'd hear from a modern Nintendo game or device. Kind of perfect to do work to. Point is, this review may make it sound like I think Aikatsu is exceptional and near-flawless. That's because I do. I find its weaknesses completely redeemed by the underlying strengths. I find it able to appeal to any demographic without a hitch. I find it to be of a standard that all other kids' anime should hope to achieve. If you're not sick of anime already, I would plead that you at least give it a shot. Otherwise, it's never anything remotely amazing, nor does it outright excel in any category; it was just enough to retain my interest in anime for much longer than I expected. And so as it decides to let go, I find myself doing the same.

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