(L) Kageki Shoujo!!

[Ragashingo]

Episode 13
I liked all the wrap up in this episode. I like who was chosen and why and who wasn't and how they reacted. When Kaoru challenged those talking bad about Ayako with the line "...then you just lost to a piece of bread!" I laughed and cheered. All of her legendary determination directed at defending her friend and the tears they shared right afterward were so, so good! And yeah, despite my worries, the show managed to pull off Sarasa's take on Tybalt. I think that was the biggest single challenge it set for itself, and it met the expectations it set.


Overall Impressions
And thus ends Kageki Shojo! It wasn’t quite what I wanted going in. I’ve been so enamored with the spectacle and music of Revue Starlight, but this wasn’t trying to be that. Which is probably really a good thing. Instead, this was a much more realistic take on one of these all girls musical acting troupes. Specifically, it follows a first year class and we actually never even get to see them on the stage.

There was no singing, no musical play, very few shots of anyone in full stage dress up on stage. But it traded spectacle for character stories. In the final shot of the show we see the 100th class, a class of 40-ish 1st year actresses still learning, posed for a promotional photo directed at potential applicants for the 101st class. Most of the girls in the photo are extras. Not even secondary characters. Because it’d be quite the feat to give full characterization to 30 something girls.

But for the seven or so main characters spread throughout the photo, I can tell some pretty detailed stories. Emotional, dramatic stories. There was a story of resolve and strength of character in the face of a world that was too helpful. There was a story of sisterhood and the ups and downs that familial love can subject people to. The show even had a couple of hard hitting stories that were enough to make me out and out cringe at what happened to one of the characters and what another character did to herself.

The show was fairly low budget. It had to go all out to merely pull off a simple cross fade between someone acting in class in their school uniform and the on stage look they would someday achieve in full costume on a stage in front of a packed audience. The art was never bad, but animation wasn’t the draw here.

Still, at the end, I was thrilled and joyful for the girls who got the roles they wanted and heartbroken for the ones who weren’t chosen. Because I’d seen their backstories and knew how much this all meant to them. It’s really fun to be able to recommend a story only on the strength of its characters!

[Kazu-kun]

So the decisive factor that gave Sarasa the win was "moe" appeal. That's really cool. The show is very self-aware about the nature of Takarazuka as female-oriented entertainment.

[Lukes YGO & WS on YT]

Sarasa did a great job as Tybalt, we got to see her version and she was brilliant.

Ai talking about being nervous and then telling Taichi she was really disappointed is not surprising, she wants to be a top star, she really cares which is why she got emotional.

She didn't care about JPX, she joined so she could escape her difficult home life, that's why she never felt anything during that period of her life.

Not surprised that Ayako got Juliet, her performance was outstanding, and that was really good of Kaoru to stand up for her even though she was disappointed about not getting Romeo.

It was good to see Sarasa's hard working paying off and getting the role, only just, she will have a good rivalry with Sawa.

It was good to see a fair bit of Sawa in this episode, she is a good person, she was disappointed but she didn't complain, she only wanted to learn what her weaknesses were and how she could get stronger.

The fangirling part was hilarious, and Sarasa finally got that hand shake.

And that's the end of my new favourite anime.

Sarasa is a wonderful human being, Ai really needed someone like that in her life, Sarasa helped Ai grow and slowly change into a person that was happy and could smile again.

Ai still has flaws, but at least she is on the right path and has good people around her, Sawa, Chiwa, Chiaki, Ayako & Kaoru are all her friends as well.

I do hope we got another season once the manga progresses further into their 2nd year, it's really exciting what they are currently up to.

[Alchemist007]

It was alright overall. I think it started out stronger than it ended but that's probably because of how it was structured around some girls episodically; and some were stronger stories than others.

7/10

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for final thoughts:

Well, now this is what I call a good adaption.

1. It understood it had only 12 episodes, so it chose to focus on the main girls.
That is smart. Assuming it does not have a major impact on the main story, there is no need to adapt every little sub-character story.
People that complain that say, they removed a whole teacher from the manga in the anime or skipped this story and that story needs to realize that if they animated that story, they would have had to not animate another story. And for the people that have never read the manga, they would prefer to watch stories that focused on the characters they knew, then some sub-character that won't really play a role in the future of the anime.
These adaptions are generally advertisement for the original source, after all

2. It is clear their budget was not incredible, but they knew when they needed to move and did it well.
Except maybe the sports festival, but they were good every other time, so I am willing to forgive that one episode.

3. They casted the characters well.
Think about it! There was an anime where the main protagonist was a diva, who focused on singing... except the VA never sings. Someone else sings... and wasn't good either. Is that convincing to the audience, as a character? It only snaps you back into reality.
But look at these girls. And Yamada, whose is supposed to be the best at singing, was casted a VA who has even done musicals herself (yeah, she's that good).
I guess the last episode, the teacher, was kinda iffy. The girls kept saying how amazing he was, but it only sounded really normal to me. Yeah, as a VA, this guy definitely is good, but as a character, it didn't really sound any different than his usual, without any acting flare to it.

4. And of course, having musicians and other people related to Takarazuka coming in to work on the anime really shows that extra mile they took to animating this series.

So definitely a 10/10
It is very rare for me to give a 10/10 to an adaption, that doesn't actually "finish" the story
Truly a pleasant surprise

[BBOvenGuy]

What a wonderful end to my favorite anime of the season. I really hope we get to see more of this troupe.

Sarasa collecting herself before snapping into the role of Tybalt reminded me of another character I'm very familiar with, Kitajima Maya of Glass Mask. There were important differences, though. Maya really is something of a freak-of-nature prodigy. Sarasa is gifted, yes, but she also has everything she learned from Kabuki, and I liked the way they showed that to us. (Plus Sarasa and Ai are a much better couple than Maya and either Sakurakouji or the boring old Purple Rose...)

Another point I found interesting - both Ai and the class rep gave excellent performances from a technical standpoint, but Aya and Sarasa got the parts because the teachers were taking the audience's reaction into account. This is show biz, after all, and we can never forget that.

Bitchy-senpai getting the part of Scarlett O'Hara is perfect, by the way.

Oh, and when it comes to my writing, I too am much more Salieri than Mozart. But I also think Salieri's fatal flaw was spending so much time comparing himself to Mozart that he didn't realize how good he really had it.

[Kaoru Chujo]

@BBOvenGuy -- Kitajima Maya. Oh, yes! This show doesn't quite give me the deep acting hit Glass Mask does, but still excellent. And a good way to end the season.

But I definitely want more. I'll take another season any time. I have to see Sarasa and Ai on the big stage together. In particular, I want to see a lot more Ai. And I want to see Ai and Sarasa as they mature in both art and personality. I hope the repeated statement that this is just the beginning is true for the anime, too.

[frubam]

Nice end to a solid story. Kinda wished Sarasa lost so she could better sympathize with Ai, but I guess Ai wouldn't have had the same reaction if she didn't felt like she was falling behind Sarasa. Ai has developed her char quite nicely, and grown likable for me by the end. Makes me want to continue to see them grow; as both friends and troupe members =03.

Seeing things a bit from Sawa's perspective was a nice way to wrap up the group, as everyone else already got an episode for themselves. It would have been nice to see her motivations to want to be in the Kouka troupe with a little backstory, but oh well... the exposition of her talking with different people to sort out her feelings of losing the role was enjoyable in its own right.

I like Aya the least, and it felt like she had the most exposition next to Ai and Sarasa which sucked for me =01. I guess with her innocence and kindness, she was a shoe-in to win Juliet. Still, it felt like the show kept putting her in the drama wheel and that was annoying, even if she did come out better/on top each time.

On some side note, I had read somewhere else(RC to be exact) that one of the commenters got the impression that Kou-whathisface could potentially be Sarasa's father. Seems kind of a stretch, although that could explain his overt interest in her. The whole blackmail thing seemed a bit much; 'date Sarasa or I won't vouch for you when its time to choose the Kaoh heir'. Sarasa did hear everything and that's why she initiated the relationship by asking Akiya to be her boyfriend, but there wasn't a response. Makes me wonder what their relationship really is, because when she was asked whether she had a boyfriend a # of eps ago, she said 'I might'. Really sucks that there isn't any further clarifications about this; might have been pretty interesting.... well the relationship between them IS interesting. I wonder what Kou's ultimate intents are, if not the aforementioned father idea? Perhaps hoping to break conventions and have Sarasa come back to kabuki?(that's just as much of a stretch as the father idea, lol)

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by frubam

Really sucks that there isn't any further clarifications about this; might have been pretty interesting.... well the relationship between them IS interesting.

I think the most interesting aspect of their relationship is Sarasa's contradicting emotions. On one hand she hates the fact he gets to play Kabuki while she's not allowed to, even though she's plenty more talented than him. She even resents him deep down. But at the same time she likes the guy, she might even love him. It's a very complex mix of feelings, and this is where she was drawing from for her Tybalt characterization.