I settled down and watched the first four episodes of Nijigasaki School Idol tonight. This was the 2020 iteration of the franchise, and I hadn’t seen it before. My first thought on starting it was, wow, some of it’s set in Odaiba! I went there last year. That’s where the giant Gundam statue is outside the DiverCity shopping complex. The two main characters, Yu and Ayumu, are shopping there and are seen standing by the needle-like Flame of Liberty statue on the West Promenade in the first scene. I love this! I’m also liking how this story seems to be more about the struggles and formation of this particular school idol club, rather than going almost straight to the School Idol competition – that’s something way in the future for these girls, and they know it. I’m a little confused how School Council President, Setsuna, hid her identity as the former leader of the School Idol Club from her classmates, but it’s not a big deal. I spotted her straight away, even if she was hiding behind fogged glasses and pigtails. By the way, the incidental soundtrack is quite beautiful. Looks like I’m in for another kawaii ride!
I finished watching the Nijigasaki School Idol anime. I’d have to say I think it’s the weakest of the four School Idol shows I’ve seen. The music was beautiful, and much of the animation was terrific, but the story, what there was of it, and the characters, were under-developed. The main problem for me was how the School Idol club members decided to focus on solo idol activities, instead of going for group performances. A theme from this was ‘you are my friend and my rival’, which was an interesting change, but there was very little serious rivalry. Each of the first nine episodes highlighted one of the members, giving the story a fragmentary feel. One of the members, Rina, is so shy she often resorts to putting a smiley face-type board over her face, even when she performs. It begins to make sense, and can even be endearing (I liked the little power plug tail she wears), towards the end of the show, but it just looks weird and off-putting when seen in the title dance sequences. The finale has the girls putting on a festival around the buildings of Odaiba (the giant Gundam was spotted several times!), and because each member performs solo, the logistics of what they’re doing get a bit confusing. I mean, it was Idol, I liked it, it was super-kawaii and all that, but I’ve seen better.
