IDOLiSH7

On her first day of work at her father's small production agency, Tsumugi Takanashi was not expecting to be made the manager of the agency's new male idol group. Though shocked that her father is trusting her with such a major project so soon, Tsumugi vows to do everything she can to support the seven young boys. After seeing how well the boys work as a team, Tsumugi meets with her father and learns that her first job as manager will be to cut four boys from the group. This is because her father believes seven idols are too much to manage, and the current top group, TRIGGER, only has three members.

After holding an impromptu audition, Tsumugi returns to her father and boldly declares that she refuses to cut anyone from the group, as each member has a unique allure which collectively enhances the group's appeal. She returns to the boys and they are thrilled that none of them will get to miss out on their dreams. Together they become IDOLiSH7, and prepare to take on the fiercely competitive world of idols.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nanase, Riku Main

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Ousaka, Sougo Main

Abe, Atsushi Japanese

Izumi, Iori Main

Masuda, Toshiki Japanese

Izumi, Mitsuki Main

Yonaga, Tsubasa Japanese

Rokuya, Nagi Main

Eguchi, Takuya Japanese

Yotsuba, Tamaki Main

KENN Japanese

Nikaidou, Yamato Main

Shirai, Yuusuke Japanese

Kujou, Tenn Supporting

Saitou, Souma Japanese

Yaotome, Gaku Supporting

Hatano, Wataru Japanese

Sunohara, Momose Supporting

Hoshi, Souichirou Japanese

Bessho, Makoto Director

Hamano, Takatoshi Sound Director

Katou, Makoto Episode Director, Storyboard

Inokawa, Shintarou Episode Director

Reviews

May 22, 2018

Minster122

Recommended

When I tell people to watch this show, they tend to brush it off because it's an idol anime. Because they think it's going to be typical reverse harem show. Then I get them to watch just the first two episodes and then they're addicted.

Story: 9/10
It's not the usual "I have talent, I'm going to be an idol" plotline. Rather, nothing actually goes smoothly for these precious boys. The story likes to throw a lot of stuff at you and then only solve a few of the questions you have. It's kind of frustrating since there are plot lines that you would like to see ... discovered but are never explored (until later in the game). But most of the anime is dedicated to the struggles of the group as a whole and builds up harmony and relationships. It's pretty down to earth for an idol anime and although there are cliches, they build off the cliches instead of leaving it unaddressed.

Art: 9/10
What more can I say? They all look SUPER pretty. It's an idol anime afterall, can't have idols without prettiness. It's not perfect since it's got some spotty CG in there, but most of it's pretty well done. It was just a bit jarring with the switch between animation and CG.

Sound: 10/10
Great soundtrack. If you don't find yourself humming along to the songs, it'll usually end up stuck in your head later. They originally had some great songs, but then added in more anime original songs to keep even the fans of the game happy. The voice acting is also superb. Each voice actor does an amazing job at making the characters sound natural and like their own selves. They really seem alive rather than a character in a show.

Character: 10/10
There is no way you will not love every single one of these characters. Sure, you'll have favorites, but even characters you start off disliking will worm their way into your heart. Each character is surprisingly profound and is developed throughout the show. Heck, even the manager is given character development. Sure, some more then others (there are a lot of characters. They can't fit it all) but each has their own charms. Each person has their own set of struggles, but watching them influence each other and themselves gives you a strange sense of hope. THEY'RE ALL PURE I TELL YOU. PURE TO THE SOUL.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Each episode seems pretty short even though they're the same length as usual. They like to end each episode with cliffhangers, which sucks, but it'll have you on the edge of your seat at all times. Some of the events are predictable, but each reaction from the cast will have you laughing one moment, crying the next, and some moments of outrage because WHY DO THEY NEED TO GO THROUGH THIS?


I've loved IDOLiSH7 since the game released two years ago. I'm so happy to see it's getting so much love and support. Color me biased, but this franchise has a lot going for it. And it's not just because they're pretty to look at. The amount of love the creators also put into the series is conveyed easily to the amount of character building and world building that is evident in the series. Not the usual reverse harem, but bros and girls alike should be able to find something they enjoy about this series.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Sep 13, 2020

abystoma2

Mixed Feelings

Well, that was certainly better than expected. While I can't say that the first impression of many was wrong - another anime for female audience with focus on bishounens, it's better than most of similar titles. There isn't too much focus on a fanservice and as a pleasant surprise it does actually have a story. Not a story I would call great, but certainly not a story I would call bad either.

The characters indeed have personalities beyond just being a pretty face, so right from the start there's one of the biggest flaws of bishounen-focused anime gone. Considering that even I who's not even close ... to the target audience enjoyed this series to an extent, I'd say it did a pretty good job within its genre.

The animation isn't exactly unique and it's visually the weakest work by TROYCA so far. That said it's still an okay animation without any jarring defects or mistakes.

I can't say much about the music - if I heard only the sound, I wouldn't be able to distinguish it from other jpop boy bands. It didn't make me cringe so that's good enough for me as it's not my preferred genre. Fans of boybands will most likely enjoy the songs.

Overall, if you like male idols, there is a high chance you will like this anime. If you don't, you might give this a try anyway, keeping at least with the three episodes rule. While you might not love it, it might still turn out to be not so bad.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 14, 2020

Blue_Maroon

Not Recommended

First off, let me say that this kind of show isn’t really up my alley. I watched this based off of a personal recommendation and was expecting a 17 episode slog, but to my surprise, I actually found myself enjoying it at times (for better or worse).

It starts off pretty slow, following the standard idol anime beats while introducing a cast of standard shoujo pretty boys as idols. And, oh my god, do they ever put them to use. There is a LOT of shameless yaoi bait throughout this anime.

In my opinion, yaoi bait (as with any other form of fanservice) is acceptable if ... it feels organic within the story and not thrown in haphazardly, or worse yet, create plot lines FOR the fan service. At that point it feels like the creators are insulting my intelligence by assuming that I’m just some horn-dog lapping up any image of anime titties or two pretty boys touching each other.

The anime suffers from this problem, which leads to a whole host of issues:

1. It would take me out of the show because I don’t believe this behavior to be realistic, especially in a country like Japan.

2. As a result of this unrealistic behavior, I would view the already trope-esque characters as being even more artificial, causing myself to become uninvested in the emotional parts.

3. Thus actually became part of my enjoyment with the anime because I couldn’t believe how out-there and desparate it was to get its audience to ship their characters.

Fan service aside, I also had problems with how the manager character was written. She is supposed to be the audience insert character, but ends up being a much weak cinnamon roll with no definining character traits. She is constantly shown to be inept at actually managing the group by herself and even relies upon a high schooler in the group to make the big decisions surrounding the group.

In addition to this, the pacing of the anime is all over the place. I legitimately could not tell you how much time has passed between episodes. I assume by the end of the season a year has passed, but if not for the final couple of episodes, it could have been 3 years in the future for all i knew.

Idolish 7 isn’t all bad though, there are some plot twists that I didn’t think were going to happen and I genuinely enjoyed some of the interactions beteen the idols, especially in the middle of the season.

Also, the art was pretty solid (except the CGI performances of course) and the first song that the group sings has grown on me by the end of the season. The rest of the songs were either ok or bad and the music not in performances was often overbearing or out-of-place in scenes.

All in all, while Idolish 7 was still better than I was expecting, it was still plagued by some weak writing, shameless yaoi bait, and poor pacing. But, because it isn’t trying to be a deep drama, I could forgive some of these shortcomings and enjoy it more for what it is trying to be.

It’s a solid 4.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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