Wake Up Girls! Seven Idols Thoughts


As we move on to the next season, a few of us are still left in the past. An example of such, is me. I haven't finished everything I wanted this season and my watch list has changed immensely, but I hope to catch up to Spring 2014 with the rest of you! For now, I'm currently working on Wake Up Girls!

Concerning the idol genre, I haven't really had much experience with these types of anime. When someone says idol the first thing I think of is Vocaloid, and I love Vocaloid. So shouldn't I love real singers too?

Well when it comes to Wake Up Girls, the answer is yes. So far I'm loving the anime, and the movie was great. I think that music is a great way to change the world, and it's exciting to watch girls of all ages, live up to this. While I tried out IdolM@ster, Wake Up Girls caught me by the hook due to it's more realistic setting in contrast to the vibrant colors we see throughout anime. I started the anime and I'm around halfway through, but I wanted to watch the movie before finishing. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly encourage you to watch. The film adds a different outlook to the story that you won't find in the anime.



Instead of explaining a lot about the movie, here's a quick summary:

"Green Leaves Entertainment is a tiny production company on the verge of going out of business in Sendai, the biggest city in Japan's northeastern Tohoku region. The agency once managed the careers of magicians, photo idols, fortune-tellers, and other entertainers, but its last remaining client finally quit. In danger of having zero talent (literally), the president Tange hatches an idea of producing an idol group. On the brash president's orders, the dissatisfied manager Matsuda heads out to scout raw talent."

The difference between the movie and the anime is quite simple, the movie is a prequel to the events in the anime. Instead of wasting time during the few precious episodes the anime has, they decided to make a movie to explain how these girls got together.  

Kohei Matsuda and Junko Tange, Manager and President of Green Leaves Entertainment Respectively.
 As the movie continues, we see the girls slowly assemble one by one. They all come from different parts of life, some having many talents, others with very few. It's quite nice seeing so many different people coming together for a common purpose. The first half of the anime consisted mostly of this, as we see Matsuda and Tange work to build a good idol group. In about the middle of the movie we see that they run into a problem; there's no center or core.

The second half of the movie somewhat splits off into two different ways.  One part focuses on one of the girls who has yet to join the group named Shimada Mayu, a former idol. The other part focuses on the six girls and their training. The movie progresses forward from there. I won't go into further detail to save time and prevent spoilers.

Awkward meeting with Shamada Mayu
I can say that I was very satisfied with the way the movie turned out. From the anime; once I heard their first song I was instantly hooked. The choreography of the dance was pretty good, and the slight flash of fan service was a nice touch. The girls are all nice and diverse, and none of their personalities really drive me away as each have their own unique charm.

Also I can say that the movie addresses the meaning of an idol and the roles they play in society, which is something that's relevant in our society. Overall I just enjoy a lot about Wake Up Girls, and I think it's a nice change of pace compared to other anime we have which is less realistic and less focused on the common aspects of life. Sometimes it's a great reminder that the life we currently live in the 3D world isn't all that bad, it's exciting enough to be animated after all.


If you're interested please watch the movie! It can be found here. More info here. Thank you for reading!

Comments

Post a Comment

Please comment, I want to hear your voice!

Popular posts from this blog

Useful Danbooru Image Grabber

Image
Ever find yourself needing or wanting a large amount of anime images for no reason? Maybe you're running a Tumblr blog and want to keep it active, but you can't be bothered to find and download pictures by searching all the boorus? For bloggers, collectors, or graphic designers, this Image Grabber is one of the best tools ever created. The Image Grabber can found at this location . It's an easy download, and quick setup. To download simply navigate to the page on the website labeled "Downloads." You can pick a version that's available for your operating system. As of now, there's only a Linux and Windows version. For a list of available file names for your pictures, go here . Showcasing side by side windows. For those who don't like to download things unknowingly, I've taken a few pictures of the program. The interface isn't anything fancy, but it gets the job done. It's not too confusing and if you run Windows 8 you can easil
Read more

The Key to Naruto's Success: Empathy

Image
What makes Naruto such a successful person? Many people have examined and discussed his different traits, his personality, and even the values instilled into him. Yet, I think that while we're looking at the core of Naruto's character, we've forgotten something really important. Naruto, has the ability to understand others and their feelings. He can sense the malice of his enemies and the pain of others. Naruto can understand exactly what they went through and relate, enough to become friends with the people he once called foes. While this seems very simple and straightforward, I feel this sort of understanding isn't a normal thing that everyone has. First, let's take a look at empathy. Most of us probably know exactly what sympathy is, when we feel sorry for someone else due to their problems. Empathy is a little different; it can be described as literally feeling other's pain or emotions. While Naruto possesses sympathy, I feel he also has em
Read more

Happy New Year from Shooting Star Dreamer!

Image
Once again, it's the end of the year! Throughout this year, a lot of things have changed for this blog and for me. Though it is harder for me to keep Shooting Star Dreamer consistently updated, I cannot help but make a New Year's post for you all. As New Year approached things have felt somewhat different than before. I feel that the anime community and anime in general has been changing, or perhaps even evolving. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I am not sure. All I know is that it has changed my approach to anime. (and my frequency of keeping up with anime) Something that has not changed though is my tradition of creating New Year's Resolutions. After thinking over my resolutions in depth, I do not believe they are goals to simply be met in the future. If these goals aren't met but are worked towards, then the progress and growth is still there. Completing the goal isn't necessarily the point of resolutions, its just to have a guide to work towards. A
Read more