Marinate1016

Kageki Shojo took me by pleasant surprise. As a huge Love Live and idol stan, I was obviously going to give it a watch. What I was not expecting was such a competent story about the darker aspects of show-business and the pressure that many girls are under to succeed in the industry. By week two, it was by far my most anticipated show of the week and I loved it so much I couldn’t help but go out and by every volume of the manga. So, firstly, Kageki Shojo isn’t an idol show per se, it’s more of an acting show and follows girls fromvarious artistic backgrounds coming together to study the performing arts. That’s a bit of a different take on the usual girl idol group team-up to save a dying school formula we often get. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s nice to have something unique. Episode 1 is your usual cutesy pilot style set up, but from episode 2 onward the show really gets going and at points gets surprisingly dark. Offering realistic, but hard to watch depictions of sexual harassment, grooming, eating disorders and child abuse. Yea, this isn’t your usual Revue style set up. I was also amazed by how much each of the characters was developed over the course of the season. While it’s only 12 episodes, it felt like all of the girls had plenty of time for their arcs. Most are dealing with some sort of trauma from their past that stands in the way of them and achieving their goals. The story satisfactorily provides backstory, conflict and resolution for each making for a very enjoyable story. The artstyle in the show is quite unique. It’s extremely bright and pleasant to look at. It mixes elements of traditional shojo art with a more modern take. I think the voice acting is also great in the show. During some of those darker moments I mentioned earlier, they really add a lot of emotional and depth to scenes. I can confidently say that if you enjoy shojo manga and revue/idol shows you’ll find Kageki Shojo to be a very enjoyable watch. Underneath it’s bright and colourful exterior, it deals with very real issues that girls face. While it didn’t have the hype that some shows had this season, it quickly made its way to the top. Kageki Shojo gets 10 out of 10.

Edenharley

Kageki Shoujo was such an incredible depiction of the acting world and really gave me a lot to think about regarding it, I can safely say it had some of the most realistic and modern drama I've ever seen in an animated show all based within a great setting with some fantastic characters to embody it. I really don't have any issues with this show, it did everything I wanted and was so captivating in doing it. The story focuses on this prestigious drama school and our main cast who are admitted to it. From the opening episode the viewer is shown how elite Kouka academyis and you really believe this the whole way through. I cannot stress enough how much this show made me really think about the drama and issues it brought up, pretty much every episode introduces an issue or thinking point about the prestigious world these girls live in and it's handled in such a scarily realistic way consistently. The characters are portrayed so well in these situations and it's all so believable that I was just genuinely impressed throughout. Speaking more about the characters, most of our main cast have a pretty expansive backstory that is explored throughout the episodes, and they all have their fair share of issues that so many young girls in similar situations in the real world absolutely experience - but it never feels like a trope. They are absolutely written in a way that makes it all seem grounded and you can tell how much they are affected - this isn't limited to just them either, things the other girls do reflect so much on the others and there is a lot of growth because of this. I absolutely love our main two characters Ai and Sarasa - the development between them from start to finish is so heart-warming and is handled so well, especially Ai. Her character is so damn well written, at the start she is struggling with so much and internalises all of it, but she slowly opens up and Sarasa is absolutely the catalyst - without going into spoilers Ai's backstory is so horrid and unfortunate, but you see how much she grows from it by the end and it's just so great. The art and animation definitely aren't anything too special but are still really good, everything is very soft and colourful which really sells the idea of Kouka being very pristine and perfect. The soundtrack as well is great throughout, I really love the ED. Overall this is an absolute must-watch show, it might not sound interesting from the premise alone but I hope this review was able to hook people into checking it out because you will absolutely not regret it!