Aikatsu!
 

http://i.imgur.com/kQeIB.jpg

Original creator : Bandai
Supervisor : Ryuichi Kimura
Director : Seiji Mizushima
Series Composition, Script : Yoichi Kato
Character Designer : Hiroko Yaguchi
Music : monaca
Animation Production : Sunrise
Plot summary : In the card game, players use collectible clothing cards to help their idols pass auditions in pursuit of becoming the top national idol singer.

Note : The anime will premiere on TV Tokyo this October.

PV:

The glare... the cuteness, the skirts, the ribbons, the dancing, the moe!!!! Ah.. can't take it... need the dark vibes..

woah, it'll shown in October already?!!!! Noooooo!!!!

Seriously... I'll gonna watch this..!!!!

This looks like the least Sunrise show Sunrise has ever done. :uhoh: I'm still highly puzzled as to why this direct focus on Idol anime for the immediate future with their TV productions when it's not exactly the kind of thing the studio is known for. I must admit with Gundam AGE and now this and Lovely Idol Project their decisions on what to produce of late are starting to puzzle me as well. It almost looks like they are desperate to get a slice of that children's demographic as a matter of pride and won't stop until they have.

I know I said this with Accel World, which I was incredibly skeptical of and it ended up being one of my favorite shows of the season, but if they can somehow magic a show I like out of this (and I'm willing to try at least a couple eps just to see wtf...that is if it's even available low profile as it looks) then there's literally no way in which they can't appeal to me.

Definitely gonna watch this, if anything for the Minako Kotobuki role. The other seiyu seem interesting (read:young) as well though, so I'm really looking forward to this. Idol theme is also always appreciated, seems like nothing could go wrong... well, except if they dare to use a similar horrible CG to the one in the PV

Okay - ep 1 has been released and subbed!

Saw ep 1 last night - I'd guess that the target audience is definitely the younger spectrum (perhaps like Yumeiro Patisserie?), but for that I still found myself enjoying it. :)

Annddd ... ep 2 is out. The group subbing this one also released a v2 patch for ep 1 with more clear kara and insert song lyrics. Not bad, not bad....

Am kinda liking this one and will put it on my ongoing list. :)

This and the ongoing Gyrozetter are basically the same show, aimed at different demographics. Card-game based, CGI-heavy, merchandise-heavy nonetheless interesting shows that air early in the morning. Though knowing Japan, I'm sure there's some overlap on the fringes of the audiences of both shows.

I'm not liking this as much as I hoped, but still watching. Aimed just a tad younger than Yumeiro Patissiere, with clumsier storytelling, and more blatant with the tie-in. ("For idols, these cards are their life." Yeah, right.)

The lead seiyuu, however, is outstanding. Her voice has subtlety and feeling. The seiyuu, Morohoshi Sumire 諸星すみれ, is only 13 but has a long history in TV drama, dubbing, and anime. She was Lili in No. 6 and Kurara in Kuragehime, as well as having acted in over 20 TV dramas and dubbed over 20 foreign TV shows and films. She also has a role this season in OniAi. Here is her blog.

When she was nine, and playing Nina Tucker in FMA2, Paku Romi said that her acting was so good that a shiver ran through the cast at the recording, and it made the adult actors do their best just to equal her. And Kugimiya Rie apparently agreed. (All according to Japanese Wikipedia, sources given.)

http://i.imgur.com/aBxzZ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/xB1JI.jpg

The seiyuu playing Aoi (right) is also pretty good and rather young. She is Tadokoro Azusa 田所あずさ, 18. This is her first named role, but she had a minor role in NakaImo. She won the HoriPro agency's national audition in 2011, getting a place on their roster and a recording contract with Lantis.

And it's also good to hear Kotobuki Minako as the top idol, Kanzaki Mizuki.

When I first watched the OP, I was very happy to see the good 2D dancing. But the actual 3D dancing in the show looks bad to me, graceless stick-figures.

Speaking of this, does anyone have a high quality video of this by any chance? My group that's currently being formed (also doing Aikatsu!) would really be interested in obtaining this so we can sub that too.

The show itself from that video still looks awesome already, if anyone has a breakthrough on that, please send a PM my way.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Hmm, I don't particularly like the change of animation when they go on stage and sing/dance.

I do like the anime itself though with the characters and plot :) I just dread the obvious when the 2 girls start to fight.

Very fair assessments imo. I agree that the seiyuu (only 13 eh? wow....) really is a pleasure to listen to! :D

I am not a fan of the 3d animation style in most any anime series I have seen - akb, Kingdom and this series being no exceptions to this.

But it is indeed a slightly younger audience and nowhere near as "involved" a storyline (at least after 3 eps) as, say, Yume Pat, which is I still re-watch from time to time, in fact - I find it has a lot of re-watchability.

Also - the card thing is something I kinda conveniently ignore.

That was the same thing I thought; but I still wouldn't consider this a total loss. Now, the first ED -- I was seriously hoping that it would be like how the OP was presented, almost.

Why are they encouraging little girls to become idols? Wasn't that an actual real life issue in Japan?

I was watching episode 2 and then suddenly, Johnny Depp! LOL, what are you doing here? Anyway, there has been a great lack of brown haired midriff girl and this needs to be corrected.

Didn't know about this anime.

I like the character designs. Seems like a good idol anime to pass time while I'm waiting for season 2 of AKB0048.
Going to watch this. :)

Sunrise what r u doin ?? D: :eyespin:

Yeah, I still wouldn't write this series off yet since it's just begun. If I'm not mistaken, were there still 2D dance choregoraphy scenes shown as well from time to time (when the girls are in idol clothes)?

Just asking because I'm trying to keep myself in suspense story wise since I'm dealing with "fansub group setup" right now for this show.

Watched up to episode 3. Show is decent enough for me. :)

My only major complaint is why Mizuki looks disturbingly anorexic (espescially her arms) when doing a 3d performance on stage? :uhoh:

That bothered me, too. I wish the staff had a made a different decision there. But I'm still enjoying the show.

Sorry - no ideas from me. :)