Love Get Chu

Love Get Chu ~ Miracle Seiyuu Hakusho ~ So this is the first all-out seiyuu anime that I have seen. Airing in 2006 in Japan only, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into. I originally wanted to watch this because of the title Love Get Chu….. and the OP that I found. It was enough to make me go “Hmmm, yes this might be fun”. Love Get Chu is about a group of girls trying to become seiyuu (voice actors/actresses). It’s a very coming of age, slice of life, comedy type of anime. The girls that we’re introduced to are not experts; rather, wewatch them become seiyuu from the very beginning, training school. The girls themselves are pretty great, they’re all very different personality wise, but they’re also full of clichés, so if you hate that, this probably isn’t for you right off the bat. We have our super Main girl, the star of the show, the airhead who’s entirely naïve, the natural klutz and the one who is always ready to cheer everyone up; Momoko Ichihara. We also have the shy, quiet and reserved girl Rinka Suzuki, the tomboy Tsubasa Onodera, the observing intelligent girl Amane Oohara and the childhood friend Yurika Sasaki. There is also a male lead, the guy who is a part of a love triangle, the one who wants to become an animator, the filler; Atari Maeda. I call him filler because he’s honestly not needed for Love Get Chu. Most of the time he’s just sort of “there”. Sure there are episodes where he helps Momoko get to know herself better or where Momoko can rely on him sometimes, but by the end of the 25th episode, I was rather tired of seeing him. He’s the childhood friend to Yurika and the love triangle involved Yurika, Momoko and himself. The story in Love Get Chu is that of what I imagine other seiyuu like anime are, but since this is my first time watching one, I have no direct comparison. I think the biggest issue Love Get Chu has is identity. It starts off as a “we’re going to become seiyuu” and “we’re all rivals” sort of thing. Of course by episode 5, they all become seiyuu and the anime takes a turn for the hardships that are included to become one and the difficulty it is to be a really good seiyuu. It then goes into idol territory and tries to bring up some sort of antagonist; at least that’s what it looked like. I can’t even remember his name; I swear his name is only said like 10 times or something. There are these business and political aspects to Love Get Chu which just show up for seemingly no reason at all. If the entire anime had focused on either becoming a seiyuu, idol, or a combination of both, instead of shoehorning romantic elements and some fake antagonist, I’d give it an 8 or more. It’s a little funny, thinking about the way Love Get Chu started and ended, they could be considered different genres really. The beginning has all this great work, lovely animation, great face reactions, super funny scenes and antics between the girls. A little further than halfway through and despair and sad things start to happen, of course it doesn’t last long at all, but my problem is “why”? Why bother having it if you’re not going to expand upon it. Same with the romance elements and things. I’d actually have preferred it if Yurika won Atari; her tactics were slimy and really bad, she took advantage of Atari being drunk and not remembering anything to make him hers. Things like that, which when typed out (and watched too) is 100% dark when compared to the Love Get Chu I watched in the beginning. Like I said, I think Love Get Chu had an identity crisis and just couldn’t figure out how to make 25 episodes of worthwhile content; would have been better off being 1 cour. Art style, depending on how you look at it, could be considered bad or good. Airing in 06, most people would expect something nicer to watch, but I actually liked the very early animated art style. It’s cute, the eyes are extra big, the mouths can get crazy wide and faces are different. The entire aesthetic looks really pretty and the outfits the girls wear, oh my goodness, super cute stuff. If there is one part of the show that I really really liked, it’s the art style, the beautiful bright colors, the clothing, the way the world looks; I loved watching Love Get Chu, that’s for sure. Sound and things: An anime with a huge focus on seiyuu, so the best thing is how different each seiyuu can sound. There is one specific episode that really highlights the powers of a veteran seiyuu, I won’t spoil it, but being able to do 5 different sounding people, that was really cool to listen to. BGM is very normal and nothing to praise, except for when the sadder things start to happen, the change in both tempo and expected music is very stark and different. OP and ED are pretty amazing. The OP is what made me want to watch Love Get Chu, it’s cheerful, it’s super happy and the animation to go along with it is fantastic. The ED, which took a little bit to warm up to, is what I would say J-Hip/hop or something; once the beats drop and the vocals kick in is when the ED shines and makes it good to listen to. It’s also accompanied by Usumaru, Momoko’s keychain mascot usagi doll who dances on screen, so it’s super cute. Over all, I think Love Get Chu is a very good anime, it probably does things differently than other seiyuu shows, since I figure this is a genre that’s hard to really make interesting. The “dark” business and politics of hosting and managing seiyuu is rather unnecessary, but appreciated since it shows some different things. The romance is okay, or more like mediocre; the way Momoko breaks down is very anime, very exaggerated and most definitely not real; the way she handles the truth however, can be very real and that’s a very delicate aspect of a girl’s life to pull off, so good job on that front. 8/10, but only because talking about the art raised it a number.

I didn't expect to have to do a review, and since this show is fairly unknown, I think it wasn't necessary, but I needed to share my impressions with someone. I usually expect an anime with a rating of 6 to be either hidden treasure (Futakoi Alternative, Uta kata) or a great idea poorly executed but still retaining memorable features (Geneshaft, Divergence Eve). Love Get-Chu is the latter, but without the memorable aspect. Love Get Chu is the swan song of Radix studio, which like every studio, has at least one undeniable masterpiece that won't be forgotten as long as there are people watching anime:Haibane Renmei. But it's not a tuneful and worthy one, so it can't even be considered a swan song. In short, it is the story of a group of young girls wishing to become seiyuus. The story goes on well and interestingly in the first half, until episode 14. Then the love triangle involving the main character drags things out and when we finally get rid of it, the last episodes descend to the ridiculous in an insane championship to decide who will play the main role in the most awaited anime in history. If you're a fan of seiyuu and voice acting, the first half involving the slice of life and the whole career description will be pretty good, followed by a bearable ride to the end. If you're anyone else, the first half will be good or decent, and the rest unbearable or dragged out. Interestingly, Shirobako is a mirror image of what Love Get Chu could have been like if it had been performed well. The fact that it's the male lead who declares himself at the end and makes things happen is noteworthy. I suspect that if the show was better realised, perhaps the same story would only need 12 or 13 episodes, not 24 ( the last one is an extra). After that show, Haibane's studio went bankrupt and became Studio Seven, which produced other kinds of masterpieces, but it's still a sad ending and a terrible death. ------------ Eu não esperava ter de fazer uma review, e como esse show é bastante desconhecido, eu creio que não era necessário, mas eu precisava compartilhar minhas impressões com alguém. Eu geralmente espero que um anime com nota 6 seja ou tesouro escondido (Futakoi Alternative, Uta kata) ou uma grande idéia mal executada, mas que ainda guarda características memoráveis (Geneshaft, Divergence Eve). Love Get-Chu é o último, mas sem o aspecto memorável. Love Get Chu é o canto de cisne do estúdio Radix, que como todo estúdio, tem pelo menos uma inegável obra-prima que não será esquecida enquanto houver gente vendo anime: Haibane Renmei. Mas não é um canto afinado e digno, logo, nem um canto de cisne pode ser considerado. Em resume, é a estória de um grupo de moças desejosas de se tornarem seiyuus. A estória segue boa e interessante na primeira metade, até o episódio 14. Depois o triangulo amoroso envolvendo a protagonista torna a coisa muito arrastada, e quando finalmente nos livramos dele, os últimos episódios descem ao ridículo num campeonato insano pra decidir quem fará o papel principal do anime mais esperado da estória. Se você for um fã de seiyuu e voice acting, a primeira metade que involve o slice of life e toda a descrição da carreira será muito bom, seguido de uma viagem suportável até o fim. Se for qualquer outra pessoa, a primeira metade será boa ou decente, e o resto insuportável ou arrastado. Curiosamente, Shirobako é um espelho de como Love Get Chu poderia ter sido se tivesse sido bem realizado. O fato de ser o male lead quem se declara no final e faz as coisas acontecerem é digna de nota. Suspeito que se o show fosse melhor realizado, talvez a mesma estória necessitasse apenas de 12 ou 13 episódios, e não 24 ( o último é um extra). Depois desse show, o estúdio de Haibane faliu e virou o estúdio Seven, que produziu outro tipos de obras-primas, mas não deixa de ser um final triste e uma morte terrível.