Gekidol: Actidol Project

This show is a classic case of the "golden rule" of "Show, don't Tell" gone horribly wrong, and trying to salvage any further predicament will only harm your brain cells, much less your eyes. I know I did. But first, a crash course on "Show, don't Tell": ‘Show, don’t tell’ is a classic advice for writers – something like a ‘golden rule’, delivered with complete surety and an authoritative tone by the last generation of authors to the next. This ‘set in stone’ approach drives many authors to try and pick it apart, but it’s survived so long for a reason: it is good advice, most ofthe time. Learning how to ‘show’, and when to do so, is an important skill to have as a writer, and perfecting it can mean the difference between rich, immersive writing and flat, dull prose. Now look at Gekidol. It shows us things, tells us things, but somehow it couldn't find the OOMPH factor to stay relevant, and proceed to butcher like it was nothing. If anything, I will say this now: SKIP this show and the "Alice in Deadly School" OVA tie-in, both shows are definitely NOT worth your time. And yes, you're not reading it wrong, those are extremely BOLD words of confidence. Lightning round for what this show is (but honestly I don't care): - A theater act disguised as a systematic approach to the postmortem setting, yet the BTS (behind-the-scenes) paints a graphic picture of confronting past mistakes and attempts to resolve whatever conflict that may come and fly by. SHIT. - A love story for the post-apocalyptic setting that just doesn't click up with even power fantasy terminologies, and only has them because it's a requirement in name only. SHIT. - Characters that are gathered together for the love of acting, but yet most character development is just as worse of the generic kind, from a large-girl cast of theater + idol (that's how you get Geki-dol by the Japanese Hiragana annotation) to emitting pure distasteful Yuri and fraudulent ass-pulls for friendship conflicts. SHIT. - For an idol show that calls itself "Gekidol", music should be central, but it seems that the Gekijou theatre act is overplayed against the music being overshadowed for the most part. At least, the first OP was what I've liked at the start, but that's about it. SHIT. - Getting some of the worst low-budget studios like Hoods Entertainment to help back up in the visual department? GOOD, because it seems that no other studio is willing to do this batshit of a job premise, good on them. It's also SHIT. - P.S. DO NOT let the production committee have a say in the series composition (and scriptwriting for that matter), their tendency to flout ideas back and forth is just so wack that the story doesn't make any sense. SHIT story, SHIT enjoyment. In a nutshell, this show is SHIT-tier levels of BS, because it can't do anything right, much less give a resolution that also sucks, even with such a simple premise. I wish I hadn't spent my brain cells racking on this, but here I am, talking about BS shows like this that seems to be "The Usual Suspects" that people just don't care about, but rather getting every penny of its worth regardless of its low-ball quality. Again, another classic case of quantity over quality. If at this point you still don't get what I'm trying to say, I'm speechless. Just save your time by not watching this show (and the OVA), I beg you, PLEASE.

So chaotic, yet so bold. --> It is NOT a story about idols, just in case someone misinterpretedpowers like Pastel Memories. Here there’s quality, just put in simple ways. But “simple” doesn’t necessarily means “bad”. The directing seems to go back to 2006, the cuts and the voice timing reminded me Simoun. In a certain way, Gekidol could be seen as a little child of that time. Characters seem shallow and void, but there are backstories for everyone. They may not be exceptional beings with lots of different qualities, that’s for sure. Actually, I don’t care so much because they do what they were created to do, without the authors’ restraint. The story, uff. Story is convoluted, to such an extent that I admire they tried to tell something like that in 12 episodes. Of course, that could be a lot better with a full 24-episodes season. Many passages are unclear and rough, too rushed at the end. The viewer can easily miss some crucial information, and I didn’t even understand 100% of what they tried to convey. Well, a reason to see it a second time. In the end, what counts more is the impact. This was a cryptic, deformed, yet pleasant impact.

Talk about a gem in the rough. When I went into this I certainly wasn't expecting the show to take me on such a wild ride, but here I am. I suppose theater type shows do inevitably muddle the line between the stage and reality, as with Revue Starlight, so I can't say I wasn't unprepared for the twists and the revelations that came, but still. You know, as an adver-anime for the real life Alice In Theater Troupe, I must say I am impressed they'd bother doing a strange sort of plot that goes above and beyond the generic idol-style trappings of other shows.For that, I must applaud its bravery in doing so. I like giving credit for shows that bother to challenge the medium instead of conforming to usual genre cliches and tropes, and for that, Gekidol at least deserves a participation award. I did say it's rough though, and most of that comes to pacing and presentation. Fundamentally I do think Gekidol presents a genuinely fascinating story with parallels to the stage play the girls put up, the problem does come from the rough animation and pacing. The show is a pretty slow burn that doesn't reveal its cards until very late, and even then most of the show is relatively grounded up until the halfway point, where it just goes off the rails. The main characters aren't particularly interesting, with Seria kind of losing her spotlight after the focus shifts to Takezaki and Kaworu in the latter half, and none of the other members of Alice In really do make up for the slack. I suppose the main plot could have used more episodes to flesh it out, as it stands the shift from "PTSD girl does theatre to get over her loneliness" to "Time police shenanigans", while not unprecedented, does feel quite jarring. Perhaps I could also use another viewing to catch any foreshadowing I may have missed. As it stands, Gekidol is in a bit of a strange spot for me to recommend. On one hand I do adore the fact that it tries to do something different, but on another I feel like its shortcomings do overshadow its ambitions at times. Still, I'd recommend anyone with an open mind to give it a shot. Horror-mystery shows don't come too often, and just theorizing on what could happen in the next episode each week is riveting in it of itself. 5/10

Sigh. When trying to create an alternative idol series, it's important to put idols at the centre - and this series fails to do that. Repeatedly. STORY: 5 This story has, essentially, multiple "major" plots with little to join them and even less to make you care. The main character wants to act, not sing, so there's really no incentive to want her to succeed as an idol. It feels more like a means to an end, rather than her actual goal, which made me uninterested in what should have been the main plotline. The secondary main plot is a sci-fi lovers' ... nightmare? Honestly, it's so ill-thoughtout, and feels so irrelevant and messy. It's supposed to be added motivation for the entire cast, but just feels shoved in as an attempt to appeal to a wider audience. CHARACTER: 7 They've managed to make the characters entertaining and interesting enough that I managed to complete the series. Our MC Seria is alone in Japan, and her loneliness - and denial of it - make for great motivators in her friendships, and for the viewer. Her softness is gentle, rather than annoying, and I quite liked her on the whole. Her friends are equally interesting; from those who've failed to be idols, to those who succeed, each has an interesting perspective on the whole thing and make decisions that are as in-character as they are surprising. It's nice to see a show where becoming an idol, or remaining one, is far from a guarantee, and brings real stakes to the Seria's journey. SOUND: 6 You can't get much more "generic idol pop balad" than this. No, really, you can't. It's nowhere near the level of Aikatsu or Love Live, but any of their many knockoffs could happily pinch the songs of Genkidol and you'd be none the wiser. That is to say, they aren't in any way bad, certainly they match the series, but they're just not worth listening to a second time. Or several times, given they're repeated across the episodes. ART: 5 WTF is with the art??? It randomly inserts real people in the background photos, but the anime girls other times. The foreground and characters designs are painfully flat, and the dancing is also not great. It doesn't help that it's clearly all very inconsistent across the series. The fact all the characters look like clones is bothersome, and is real proof that anime does better with different hair colours - or at least different cuts! There's a few moments of glory, like the Holos

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