It’s four o’clock in the morning. I should be sleeping, but my mind won’t stop buzzing. The only sound you can hear is the sounds of rapid typing as my hands shake from the overload of caffeine. I tell myself, “I need to get some sleep,” as I type in the URL for Crunchyroll in search of a good anime. There’s been some buzzing going about the Tumblrverse that a certain anime has come swooping in and grabbing the attention of many pastel-cute bloggers, and I decided to investigate. I prepared strawberries for a snack and a couple of water bottles for the binge watching session. I was ready. I turned out the lights, plugged in my headset, cranked the volume up to eleven (yes, it goes to eleven), and pressed play.
Right away I’m greeted by cherry blossoms drifting through the air and a soft tune. Three girls stood before me in school uniform. Then, singing. The camera pans upwards onto the singers face, and the next thing you know the previously soft tune turns into an up beat poppy melody as the girl runs towards the camera and throws off her school jacket. Was there a point in doing that? I don’t know. All I know is that the sun is peeking through my window, and I can hear colors. Anyway, the camera starts twirling around in circles as the young lady continues to run across the street towards it, then she jumps over some stairs, freeze framing. How does she plan on landing that jump? What was the point in that? Was she so filled with joy that the consequence of jumping over a set of stairs and injuring herself not phase her? Kids these days. That’s when her monologue starts. She introduces herself as Honoka Kosaka, a second year high school student. She goes on to tell how her school, Otonokizaka High School, is in trouble and will be closing down as the camera shows a shot of the three girls from earlier (including Honoka) surround the billboard with the official statement of school closure…or something official like that. All three look horrified, and Honoka falls backwards fainting, claiming her life as a high school student is over. I mean I guess I can relate; if something I enjoyed and spent most of my life doing that had no effect on my skills as a person whatsoever suddenly came to a stop I’d be devastated.
And that’s when the intro started.
The intro was the silent messenger that informed me, “Koji, this anime is going to ruin your life,” as cute high school girls danced around a stage and sang. I was captivated by a particular short haired girl who came across as the tomboy of the group. At this point I’m so sleep deprived and running on so much caffeine my head felt light and heavy at the same time, and my eye wouldn’t. Stop. Twitching. But no. I must watch this anime, as a service to my country. I downed my fifth cup of coffee, and continued to watch. The intro ends, and the sudden urge to purchase Nenderoids of the girls came to me, but it was such a small urge at the time that I was able to shake it off. The episode continues as Honoka awakens in the nurses office, brushing off the encounter with the school notice as a dream and skips merrily down the hallway while her fellow classmates look on in concern. She then finds herself back where she fainted, in front of the notice board, and exclaims in disbelief. Later on, her friends start plotting a way to gather enough attention to the school so that more students want to enroll there. She goes home, unsure of what to do, when she notices a pamphlet for a popular school among young girls called UTX. She then takes it upon herself to visit the school, where she’s greeted by a massive display of three girls greeting the new coming students. The girls on the display, as it turns out, are school idols, students that partake in the activity of song and dance while gaining immense popularity on the internet. It was then that Honoka decided that’s what her school needed, and runs off to find her friends.
Throughout the first season of the show Honoka, Kotori, and Umi recruit various girls for their idol group, Muse, further gaining popularity on the internet and thus having more students enroll in their school as well as competing in live competitions. Now, my opinion on this anime is as follows; it has ruined my life and I cannot stop talking about it, 10/10 would recommend it. But beware: it gets a little gay sometimes and one of them likes to casually grope the other members boobs. So if you’re not into girls being platonic and gropey and just a little gay with each other, I wouldn’t watch it. But if you’re like me and love girls in platonic close friendships, then watch it. Sure, the ending made me cry, but at least I have this Rin Hoshizora body pillow to talk about it to, and this Nozomi Tojo Nenderoid to stare at. Oh, by the way, they also have a smartphone game called School Idol Project that, if you’re into rhythm games, I highly recommend. I myself can’t get a hang of the hard levels, but maybe after I actually fall asleep and sleep off this caffeine I can finally feel my hands well enough to play it. They also have a movie premiering in various theaters across the country, so if you’re interested in that click here.
I guess that’s the end of my first review, I hope you all enjoyed it. I’m going to pass out now.
Peace out.