Drama Digest
The Venus Program is an idol scoring system that uses an entirely impartial technology employing AI and data, ranking idols based on a set of different factors. Every year, the Venus Grand Prix is held where idols’ worth is determined by utilizing this program. When Mana Nagase shows up, she is the brightest star in the cycle. However, everything comes crashing down when an unfortunate accident destroys all her chances and ends her journey.
Mana’s previous manager, Kouhei Makino, decides to continue his career at Hoshimi Productions several years later. While interviewing girls to form the perfect idol group, he meets Kotono Nagase, Mana’s sister, who wants to carry her sister’s legacy forward under Makino’s guidance. There is also Sakura Kawasaki, who has a voice identical to Mana’s.
The two girls get through the evaluations and form a 10-member idol group with eight other girls. Idoly Pride showcases how all the girls learn the requisites of team-building and bravery through all the difficult challenges every idol faces.
The Feel-Good Part
Idoly Pride gets a lot of things right. It strikes the right balance of cute girls, pretty outfits and incredible music and dance numbers. It also adds the angle of supernaturalism which is fascinating to watch. The characters are explored thoroughly and have dimensions. Kotono’s arc of self-actualization is excellent and realistic. There is also an intriguing discourse about all the pressures and violations female idols are mainly subjected to. It also discusses the standing of pop music in this century and how the industry’s preference for it overtakes more traditional forms of music.
The Disappointing Factor
The anime has numerous flaws, one of the chief ones being its predictability. The girls compete with seasoned idols and although they are rookies, they manage to beat the latter with their minimal training. By the first few episodes, the viewer can easily deduce that the girls never lose, no matter what the level of difficulty is. The cast is not used to its full potential either. The three protagonists are the only characters with sizeable chunks of dialogues, while the rest just speak in passing remarks, which drills in their insignificance. The show could have given the other girls more personality and character. It would have made the show a lot more intriguing and a lot more realistic. The CGI also appears choppy, and the transitions could have been smoother.
In-Depth Analysis
Idoly Pride is an insightful look into Japan’s idol culture. It provides excellent commentary about the hardships idols have to face: both mental and physical. It has themes of self-discovery and coping, coupled with different weekly missions. The arc with the idol ranker keeps the viewer excited about the developments that are supposed to follow.
However, it is not free from its own set of flaws. The editing is not up to par, nor is the CGI. The CGI is good at times but mostly fails whenever the dance sequences have more than one person. The downright predictability is a drawback because it takes away a lot of the intrigue. The lack of dialogues from the other girls is an obvious shortcoming because if they had more lines, their personalities could have been explored better, and the bond between the girls would have been more solidified.
Star Power
Although it under-uses the voice acting staff, Idoly Pride’s Kanda Sayaka, Yuuki Moeko, and Hinata Moka do an exceptional job voicing the three protagonists.
Overall Opinion
Watch this if you are into the idol genre of animes because once we overlook the glaring mistakes, this is quite an entertaining treat.
