(CR) Wake Up, Girls !

[Master_Yoma]

Hmmm seems a little off like they started in a new season after something happened

Maybe I should watch the movie

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Attack of the clones.

It's clearly a potshot at AKB48's extremely popular Heavy Rotation (except for the cheerleader costumes, the background and the floor looks familiar).

Originally Posted by Kanon

I've only watched the movie so far and it wasn't good even if you set the bad production values aside. The girls lack what is most important in that kind of anime: individuality. It's already bad enough they all have the same face, they don't even have a personality! The only character that was somewhat developed was Mayu. I can't believe that was 50 minutes long. I feel like nothing happened.

Oops, the audience is getting bored. Quick, panties!



What is Yamakan thinking? He keeps complaining about otaku anime and now he makes a generic idol anime with gratuitous panty shots, which is the epitome of what he hates. If not for the otaku caricature walking around (10 bucks he's supposed to represent the audience), I wouldn't have been able to tell it was made by him.

If he truly means "realism", he should've put shorts on the girls in the first place (and it's now required for all idol groups and individuals to wear undershorts or bloomers), but it's too late.

[Seiryuu]

Originally Posted by sa547

It's clearly a potshot at AKB48's extremely popular Heavy Rotation (except for the cheerleader costumes, the background and the floor looks familiar).



If he truly means "realism", he should've put shorts on the girls in the first place (and it's now required for all idol groups and individuals to wear undershorts or bloomers), but it's too late.

Is that what the manager meant by "mise-pan"? I only skimmed through this but caught the spot right moments before the "concert" where one of the girls fidgeted and the manager realized they didn't have "show panties" and said he'd go get some (like they sell them on the streets or something), and the girls decided to go without them, since this would be their "first and last" and a bit of SERVICE wouldn't hurt any of them. I must admit though, it doesn't seem all that big of an improvement to go from plain panties to something that covers exactly the same amount and in many cases looks just like panties. Shorts is one thing, but putting panties over your panties shouldn't be that big of a boost to modesty.

From my quick scan, I have to admit that those panty shots seemed to be the high point of the show. As others said, much of what happens is about as typical as can be, making this just a new version of the same old idol shows drained of unique qualities leaving it with no distinction except for its being one of the few modern idol shows to show that. If I continue this at all it will be low on my list.

[sa547]

Actually, most high school girls now wear short shorts to deter sexual harassment and phonecam voyeurs at all times, but some don't wear bloomers for other reasons.

[Esclair]

Watched only episode 1 (haven't gotten around to the movie yet). So far it's actually kind of what I was looking for, ie, a more serious idol type show where they'd introduce the less 'savory' elements that plague the idol business, compared to the more light hearted ones like Love Live!. Hopefully there will be a lot of suffering to come.

Episode 1 at least gives a decent overview of a few of the characters. Mayu is obviously the main heroine, and her conflict is already outlined. Being a washup trying to re-enter seems like it'd be pretty difficult, especially if she was kicked out of her original group for doing something that might have offended fans (just look at some of the AKB scandals). The 2chan chat at the beginning seems to suggest something like that probably happened. Her former group building a stadium where they're at will definitely ignite some sparks down the line.

The other girls don't get as much coverage but judging from what little screen time they got, I'd say aside from Mayu, Miyuu and Minami seem like the most dedicated, with Miyu already coming up with her intro and Minami indicating that it's her dream to be an idol. Hisami seems like she's more into drama, and the whole idol thing is just another way for her to enter the drama world. Yoshina and Kaya don't seem to be too into it, and Airi only has some screen time as Mayu's friend.

The live dance was pretty nicely done as there was no CG involved (I really hated the CG use in Love Live!). I'll be satisfied as long as the rest of the dances are as good. I'm guessing a lot of the sameface syndrome is a method of cost saving in order to put all their budget into the dances, which I guess is a fair trade off.

The episode also ended on an interesting note. Going 'gravure' is a pretty common route for less popular idols to go in order to gather more fans. The company that expressed interest obviously doesn't think much of the girls aside from using them as a 'meat' service. How they resolve this issue will give a pretty good indicator of the type of writing this show will move forward with, so I hope it's not solved with any contrivances.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Esclair

Being a washup trying to re-enter seems like it'd be pretty difficult, especially if she was kicked out of her original group for doing something that might have offended fans (just look at some of the AKB scandals).

(Offtopic) If you are going to look into those "scandals", I suggest not reading sites such as SanCom, Japanator or Kotaku, as they tend to quote Shukan Bunshun (Japan's equivalent of the National Enquirer or Star).

Most of the so-called "scandals" involve members who visit male friends' homes (including known celebrities) and sometimes have to sleep over (no sexual contact whatsoever, but I'll never know what actually goes on), and often paparazzi would be staking out and then take photographs, making it look like there's an unsavory secret affair involved, and thus breaking the so-called "No-Love Rule". Of course what follows is then picked up by the networks as hot gossip, and at the same time some wota go up in arms heap insults at their former oshimen.

TBH, the yellow press in Japan can be just as vicious as their counterparts elsewhere.

[rulfo]

There's little to no KyoAni roots left in terms of production. The character acting in this episode was so terrible. I'm already not a fan of the designs and seeing so much of these flaws just kills it even more.

The dance... Well ok that was good I guess. Nothing too great though. It wasn't fun to watch. Even Kannagi's OP had a more energetic feeling.

5/10....

[Flower]

You know, I am actually glad in an odd sort of way that I read people's reactions in here first before watching the movie and then ep 1. Because I found myself enjoying both Wake up Girls productions, and part of me can't help but feel people are being a little too rough on the series, esp after only one ep.

I liked the idols shown, though they only just, just touched on their personalities and differences.

I enjoyed the story.

I thought the music (both op and ed) were quite pleasant, and to be quite honest in terms of singing enjoyment I felt they were better than anything else I heard in Love Live or akb4008. I also enjoyed the choreography of the park performance.

Same face? Does not matter to me at all, there are plenty of series I really enjoy with the same "syndrome" - im@s and hidamari sketch most immediately come to mind.

The director someone that is offensive on a personal level and has a bad rep? Don't care either. I kinda feel that as much as possible we should try to judge each work on its own merits. Great directors can do terrible things and vice versa.

That is not to say that the series is by any means anything like anime of the year. Yes, it has its weaknesses, to be sure, but for now there are plenty of other things to encourage me to definitely give the next few eps a try.

[Freeter]

This is going to be one glorious trainwreck. Yamakan certainly has my attention.

[ZodiacBeast]

Originally Posted by Flower

You know, I am actually glad in an odd sort of way that I read people's reactions in here first before watching the movie and then ep 1. Because I found myself enjoying both Wake up Girls productions, and part of me can't help but feel people are being a little too rough on the series, esp after only one ep.

I liked the idols shown, though they only just, just touched on their personalities and differences.

I enjoyed the story.

I thought the music (both op and ed) were quite pleasant, and to be quite honest in terms of singing enjoyment I felt they were better than anything else I heard in Love Live or akb4008. I also enjoyed the choreography of the park performance.

Same face? Does not matter to me at all, there are plenty of series I really enjoy with the same "syndrome" - im@s and hidamari sketch most immediately come to mind.

The director someone that is offensive on a personal level and has a bad rep? Don't care either. I kinda feel that as much as possible we should try to judge each work on its own merits. Great directors can do terrible things and vice versa.

That is not to say that the series is by any means anything like anime of the year. Yes, it has its weaknesses, to be sure, but for now there are plenty of other things to encourage me to definitely give the next few eps a try.

I can understand IM@S having sameface, but I never really noticed it before in Hidamari. Now I'm going to notice it every time I watch it.

I don't think sameface is inherently bad (although it is rather disappointing to see), but Wake Up Girls is the first time I noticed it and cringed. The scene from the first episode where the group is waiting on the new producer (uh...the guy that pulls out the swimsuit) was rather awkward.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I enjoyed this episode. I enjoyed the characters and how the script and seiyuus brought their personalities out. I thought the performance in the park might be the best concert scene I've seen in any anime. The pantsu were unnecessary, the sequence was strong enough without them.

Yamakan's Haruhi ED was a classic of music and movement. Up to now, I have been waiting in vain for him to do something I thought was as good. It may be that music and movement is what he does best.

I do see the irony that he previously railed against the anime industry's pandering, and threatened to quit anime, but now seems to be doing it himself. That doesn't change the fact that this first episode worked for me.

There were things I didn't like so much. I found their manager unconvincing (even though he was Asanuma Shintarou). And some scenes felt slow.

[ronelm2000]

Yamakan? Err... okay, moving on.

Well, it's actually good. Quite a bit more realistic than any idol anime I've seen yet. *cough* *cough* It has some weaknesses but hey, I like it. Funny enough, I find parallels to Yamakan's storyline here. *cough* kicked out of KyoAni the idol group* XD

[aiuewatcher]

I've liked Tatsunoko for 35 years. Aaand I love IM@S, I mean Satoru Kousaki. So, I must watch till the end

[Dop]

I watched the 'Seven Idols' thing, and that's it for me, I'm out.

If I watch one idol show this season, it'd have to be a rewatch of Idolm@ster...!

[MeisterBabylon]

What can I say? iM@S is the balls.

Love Live was good until the center just upped and changed character.

I'm a bit wary of WUG given the lack of anything striking. However, they managed to capture a tiny bit of the wonder I got when I watched Lin Minmey for the first time. Unlike iM@S and LL!, WUG is both a comeback and a rise-through-the-ranks story. That's enough to establish a niche in the series.

So I hear Yamakan is back. And that he's against otaku anime. Well, putting the mise-pan in there is a parody of the post-AKB48 world (the current bloomer rules wouldn't have come about without some of their more... active ex-members). And something tells me he's breaking a few of his own rules to subvert them later.

All parts are there, and we immediately can tell who's the main character and what the plot is going. They've also set up some plot hooks with the president's disappearance. Everything is a caricature of the Japanese idol industry, right down to the threads and threads of hatefans.

The previous idol anime were very much light-hearted anime, but WUG seems to be going for darker tones that reflect what the real world is like. Hopefully we start getting into all those nasty scandals and we'll see how things come out the other end.

The voices really could use some experience though. Never mind Sameface Syndrome, the voices just lack the timbre I've gotten used to from all the big name actresses. But as these 6 girls all just started, it fits their characters.

Not world-breaking, but definitely worth a watch.

Also, watch 7 Idols, then start the anime. It reminds me of the double-sized pilots that US shows have and I think for what its supposed to do (setup the show) it really accomplished the mission. I seriously doubt the whole story could have fit into 25min, and I doubt splitting it in two would've achieved the same effect as the full pilot. Very good touch by the production team.


EDIT: OKAY so I watched the 1st episode of the TV release. Gee thanks, a live action ending and a live action preview. Why am I not surprised, Yamakan?!

[Haak]

So I just watched the film and it wasn't half bad. I'm always a little sketchy about idol anime since idol music is way too cutesy for me and I've never really understood the idol culture. I mostly just ignore them unless there's something that grabs me and in this case that something was my desire to bitch about Yamakan again but the show managed to leave me dry on that front. XP

I liked the down to earth nature of the story, especially the "start from scratch" plot line which is what I liked about Idolm@aster too. The story even managed to take it one step further and truly show the more cynical side of the business (money, money, money), but what was surprising is that it didn't come off as pretentious which is what you always fear when you're watching a Yamakan show. I also liked the low key nature of the story. Nothing was overly-dramatic, even Mayu's revelation which was still pretty subdued. I could appreciate that. The downside, though, is that it meant it would never break past "good". It was good but I never felt it was very good and it's definitely not great.

The story is obviously not without it's flaws. As others have pointed out, the girls' were not developed all that much and we never even found out what Mayu's past was, but I wasn't too bothered about that, since it was only a 52 minute film and I never really expected them to be able to juggle eight characters beyond an introductory level, which I'm pretty sure is what the film was meant to be anyway.

As a result, the most interesting character ended up being Tange the manager(). I just can't help but wonder why she did what she did. Even if she had a lousy personality, I always felt she was at least somewhat serious about making this idol thing happen. Why else would she bother to look for girls who actually have some experience? If you're going to con a bunch of girls that way then it would be far easier to just pick up everyone off the street. Less effort involved and they're easier to dupe. And the friends she got to write her a song for the girls seemed genuine about her Tange helped them out when they were down, which suggests she at least used to be more principled than this. Whatever it was, I'm guessing she never intended to run of from the beginning, and something must have happened midway to make her change plans.

Though really, I can't help but wonder where the parents are in all of this. If I had a daughter (hurr) who was conned out of her debut then I'd be pretty livid. I can't imagine at least one of the girls' parents didn't feel that way.

There were a few other questionable moments. Having Mayu and Matsuda land in such an awkward and suggestive position after the swingset incident where a child just happens to run in her path, was just plain forced. And I don't know what Yamakan was thinking about the whole pantsu thing. It's amazing how not one of them was even remotely bothered about it (i bet they would have been if their parents were watching XP) but I find it even more amazing that not one of them thought about it beforehand, especially the one who actually has extensive experience in the field. The Otaku stereotype walking around in the background was also somewhat questionable but it didn't end up being mean spirited so I guess I can give a pass on that.

Well, time to watch the first episode of the TV series...

[Kanon]

The first episode of the series was better than the movie. I thought what happened in the movie was just a one time thing, but it looks like they truly intended to depict the darker side of the idol industry. I'll keep watching a bit more to see where they're going with that. Another good point is that the girls that aren't Mayu finally got a bit of focus. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give me an idea what kind of girl they are.

Now, the bad. The OP is made up of animation from the movie and promotional art, and they reused the entire concert sequence. Is the budget of this series that minuscule? And this is only the first episode... I fear the worst.

[Flower]

Heheheh.

You know, I actually liked the fact that they used the material from the movie for the OP, and found it helpful as a super compressed summary of what went on therein. Questions about budget never entered my head - I kinda thought it was a narrative type thing....

[Benigmatica]

I have to say that Yamakan did a good job on the first episode. Although it has flaws, such as the hand-drawn dance sequence, at least Wake Up, Girls! is making a deep connection to Sendai, even though it's growing little by little.

OFF-TOPIC:

With Sweet Diva and I-1 copying AKB48, seems that the days of idol groups with few members are numbered in the anime world.

[Marina2]

Originally Posted by Benigmatica

I have to say that Yamakan did a good job on the first episode. Although it has flaws, such as the hand-drawn dance sequence, at least Wake Up, Girls! is making a deep connection to Sendai, even though it's growing little by little.

OFF-TOPIC:

With Sweet Diva and I-1 copying AKB48, seems that the days of idol groups with few members are numbered in the anime world.

Isn't that suppose to be its strong point?

Hand-drawn dance sequence is always better than 3DCG.