Revue Starlight

Honestly, I went into Revue Starlight expecting it to be another idolesque multimedia project trying to recapture Love Live’s success, and once the series actually began, it was swarmed with comparisons to Revolutionary Girl Utena. Unfortunately, these comparisons have been unavoidable in the discourse surrounding this anime, and few people are trying to appreciate the series for its own appeal. So, before going into what makes this series great, here’s a bit of background. The idea that Revue Starlight is just another Utena-like is mainly based on the director of the anime being Tomohiro Furukawa, who worked under Ikuhara on Mawaru Penguindrum and Yuri Kuma Arashi.However, rather than being inspired by works like Utena, it would be more accurate to say that they share the common inspiration of Takarazuka, a form of Japanese theater in which all roles are played by women. These women are sorted into pairs of Otokoyaku (women who play male characters) and Musumeyaku (women who play female characters). In each troupe, one Otokoyaku will hold the position of Top Star, and she and her Musumeyaku will play the leads in all of the troupe’s productions. This system is the foundation of Revue Starlight, but there’s one more thing I need to address before I can get into that. To credit the direction of the franchise entirely to Tomohiro is to ignore all of the other voices that have had a hand in the formation of the Revue Starlight multimedia project. Though most western fans found out about the franchise through this anime, the stage musical actually preceded it by a year, so it’s worth looking at who was involved, especially since they’ve gone unrecognized by this site. The core trio is made up of Kodama Akiko, Miura Kaori, and Nakamura Kanata, who are the director, screenplay writer, and songwriter for the project, respectively. All three have a background in theater, with Kodama specifically having worked as a writer and director for Takarazuka productions. These women’s love of the stage is the foundation of this franchise, and none of it could have existed without them. With that addressed, we can finally talk about the Top Star system. There are a lot of things that are unfair about this system, and Revue Starlight is an exploration and critique of its structure. As mentioned above, Takarazuka actresses are sorted into Otokoyaku and Musumeyaku, and only Otokoyaku can become Top Star. However, actresses cannot choose which role to play; it is decided for them based on factors such as their height and voice. Characters like Futaba or Claudine could never become an Otokoyaku, much less the Top Star, and it’s because of factors completely outside of their control. Beyond this, the simple fact that there can only be one Top Star pits the members of the troupe into rivalries with each other, and while this can be good-natured and help both actresses grow (as is the case for Maya and Claudine), it can just as easily be harmful. It is for this reason that the protagonist of the series, Karen, wishes to revolutionize the system, so that she can simply stand beside her friends instead of fighting to stand above them. Karen is not the only character who challenges the system, but she is the one most suited to changing it, since she is the only one willing to step outside of its bounds. Others try to resist from within, but both the play Starlight and the Revue itself are tragedies, and their actions only serve to perpetuate this cycle. In contrast, Karen does not hold the existing system in the same high regard as her peers, and is willing to break the mold if that’s what’s needed to protect them. This is reflected in her not clearly fitting into either Takarazuka role – she is sometimes framed as Musumeyaku to Hikari’s Otokoyaku, but is also repeatedly shown to be willing to cross the boundaries of that position. She embodies the ideal of the franchise, and while this does unfortunately come at the expense of her own characterization, the message is so earnest and hopeful that I can't bring myself to think too poorly of it. Considering the amount of this review that I’ve dedicated to discussing Takarazuka, I suppose it’s only right to close on a reflection of whether or not a knowledge of it is necessary to enjoy the series. Starlight is both a love letter and a scathing critique for this form of theater, but in the end, the answer is no – while it’s true that it adds an appreciation for some specific design and directing choices, it’s ultimately interchangeable with any system with a strict hierarchy that forces its participants against each other. With that said, there’s a lot going on beneath the surface of this series, and what you get out of it is proportional to what you put into it. Seeing blogposts and video essays on its subject matter was just as much a part of the experience for me as the show itself, and I doubt this series would have resonated with me as strongly as it did if it weren’t for the fantastic creative community that it fostered. Whenever a multimedia project is involved, there’s always the worry that the anime is made purely as a commercial for the other elements of the project, without any ambitions of its own. This is not the case for Revue Starlight. If anything, this series was too ambitious – there was a looming fear that the production would crumble, and animators were being scouted on Twitter throughout its run. But despite these worries, the team somehow pulled everything off; these characters are believable and relatable, the animation is stunning in both its presentation of the girls’ grand stage duels and their mundane everyday life, and the music is unlike any other anime I’ve seen. It’s a miracle that this series exists, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not at least give it a chance.

There are so many ideas spawning in anime making these days that sometimes, you wonder if there’s enough. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight originally gave me the impression of an idol series with musical themes with its promotional material. I’m not going to lie, idol series these days have become very redundant in terms of context. With some exceptions such as Love Live, the majority of anime musicals haven’t impressed me in recent years. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight soon made its presence for Summer 2018. To my pleasant surprise, it became a showstopper that exceeded my expectations and also left me with an appetite of wantingfor more. Right off the bat, I should mention that the series can be deceptive looking at first glance. You wouldn’t be wrong if you’re getting flashbacks from series like Love Live with the all-star female cast and pretty outfits. Still, this show manages to build a story with its cast and being able to hook me from the start. Featuring a group of nine girls, the story tells about these characters competing in stage plays. Not everything gets too far underway though as the first episode had a more lighthearted slice of life mood with character rehearsing for a theatrical play. Soon, the show surprises us with "Revue Starlight", an underground audition program orchestrated by a mysterious talking giraffe. We are also introduced to some of the main characters such as Karen and Hikari. The series makes it clear that they made a promise to each other but fate unites them at the same school. Make no mistake. Seisho Music Academy is more than just about learning the concepts of stage of performance. It’s about making superstars. There are several selling points in the show that I think are important. The plot itself isn’t too complex but it’s the characters that really create a sensation. Every character establishes themselves throughout the show so it’s not just Karen and Hikari carrying the story. This is important as certain characters aren’t left in the dust and we get to see what others can really do. For instance, there is one episode that focuses on Mahiru, another that showcases what Futaba and Kaoruko’s talents, and even an episode that’s named after the character, Nana. To be clear, Hikari and Karen still get their prominent moments as we see many of their moments together. The most important one revolves around their promise together when they were just kids. By presenting these flashbacks often, it make us want to see how much they can accomplish together. Indeed, the series has the purpose of making this troupe of girls into stage stars. The way characters reaffirms their intention is also noticable through their innate dialogues and narratives. The more I watched this anime, the more I also felt attached to the character relationships. I’m not just talking about character chemistry but how characters behave on stage and in real life. There’s an abundance of moments between the cast that are worth noting. It sometimes creates a sensation of subtle yuri while other times evoke human feelings and amplifying character personalities. This is mostly characterized by rivalries that are established throughout the show. Maya and Claudine is an example who competes for the #1 spot. Mahiru also has her own personal rivalry with Hikari due to her admiration for Karen. The centerpiece relationship deals with Hikari and Karen at how much they have changed. In some of the climatic episodes, we get to see how much they have improved as kids while revisiting their childhood moments. It’s a principle used for this show that is devastatingly effective. Because let’s face it, the series takes good care of its characters without holding them back. I’ll get to the actual theatric performances later on but some of the characters' inner thoughts speak so much about them. You’re definitely on the right track if the series gives you an impression of the anime being a bit too gimmicky at times. Combining elements of music, dance, combat, art, theater, and stage performing feels like the show oversells itself at times. However, I want to also mention that it is able to capitalize on its concepts to make it as creative as it can be. It sells its stage performances like a form of art. There’s also psychology with a deep dive into characters’ motivations in the show. We don’t often see musical series like this too often as it’s about a group or individuals just competing against each other. What I think Starlight got right is how much it can make the audience feel attached to its characters. No one is really left in the dust at the end and every character is memorable. The story gets more and more complex but it just made me love it more. If you fancy some slice of life moments outside of the stage, there’s that too. There’s also one other main selling point of the show and that’s the visuals. To me, it’s like a work of art. The stage performances and theatric character moves is incredibly dynamic even from the very first episode. Director Tomohiro Furukawa should be given praise given the amount of creativity he poured into this work. It reminded me a bit of Mawaru Pengindrum (I mean, that talking giraffe is about as surreal as it can get) at times while also making sure the show didn’t lose its focus. On stage, the characters draw their emotions from their colorful dialogues, theatrical dancing, and human expressions. The unique design of the character costumes are also distinctive with the red fiery capes and uniforms. Every girl in the show also wields a unique weapon as part of their stage combat that includes rapier, cutlass, sword, scepter, bow and arrow, twin katanas, scythe, naginata, and daggers. It brings variety to their stage performances and sets the bar for entertainment. And stage performances can’t be complete with the music. Everything feels so smooth and synchronized as I watched and more of those performances. The music plays in union with the performances that never loses its momentum. The emotional quality of the soundtrack is definitely outstanding with its style. I should also mention that there is a variety of theme song performances from talented artists and all of them left me in awe. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight sets the gold standard for a show being able to make an identity of itself. From the stage performances to its valuable character cast, every episode made me carve for more. It has a pacing that perfectly worked well for this anime while also having moments of lighthearted slice of life and comedy. It’s a show that may not be able to attract a general audience so it's not easily recommendable for anyone. It's an underrated gem that may have slipped under the radar but definitely one worth talking about.

If Revue Starlight put as much effort into the story as it did into presentation it could’ve been a great show. However not balancing the two and not at least compensating on something in particular it brought down both elements. There will be some spoilers in this review but given how lackluster the writing is I sincerely don’t think they matter. Starlight starts off rather simple before trying to make things more complex and failing. We got a few girls, they attend an art school that teaches them all about theater and their ultimate test is to be top stars during a yearly Seisho Festival. Howeverthere’s a caveat. Outside of interpersonal drama and the hardships of study and practice, girls have to compete in a mysterious underground audition ran by a talking giraffe who serves sort of as a stand-in for the audience hungry for spectacle and drama. They get armed with some weapons with a bow being as advanced as it gets, and go at each other until one cuts off a button from the opponent’s outfit. The one who managed to do that and moves up in ranks. Ranks seem to correlate with their prowess as a performer rather than a fighter, so a lot of the time these fights become battles of will where the one who’s right wins. It’s a more or less elegant and thematically appropriate way of putting in action in a show like this and justifying your characters going “yep, screwed up on that one guess you’re right and I’m wrong”. The show runs with this sort of basic structure for about 6 episodes. We get some SoL bits, we get a focus on a character or two, we learn about something that bothers them and then it’s solved in a fight and never matters again. As trite as it might sound this is the best part of the show to me. SoL segments are enjoyable thanks to presentations that’s easy on the eyes and character interactions, who despite their overall simplicity have a good dynamic when you put them together. If I were to make a music comparison this show would be like a shittier Kraftwerk when it came to characters. They don’t have a lot of complexity but compose some basic elements together well enough for it to be entertaining. The fights are also somewhat spectacular, they won’t be wowing many people with top notch animation or stunning action choreography even though both of those are on a decent level. However, when you put together everything they do for the characters, the design of the stages, songs and decent animation and choreography it’s a nice cherry on top of I think almost every episode. Unfortunately when episode 7 rolls in the show changes drastically and tries to be way more complex and dramatic than it has any right being with how barebones the story and characters are, they can’t even establish a coherent theme or statement but you take a look at how it’s presented and it’s as if you’re supposed to be getting something new about life out of this. At Episode 7 we learn that the aforementioned giraffe and his underground auditions grant winner their wish, which one of the girls uses to put on the same show over and over for god knows how long. It pretty much comes out of the blue but at least there’s nice bits of foreshadowing to be found throughout the show alluding to that girl’s strong affection for the event and recontextualize her actions. At this point she seems like a big villain or a psycho, after all it’s not very kind or healthy to force everyone inside a time loop for unknown but presumably very long time. Not to worry through, her crazy gets knocked out of her the next episode so we can build up the drama between the two main characters. That’s what the remaining quarter of the show pretty much is. It’s all about the main couple of Karen and Hikari. Even the story within a story of the show, the titular Starlight is supposed to be a parallel to their relationship and their fate. The two want to be happy together but there can be only one top star so one will have to fall by the end. This is their entire dynamic. One wants to do the impossible and go against “fate”, the other wants to prevent her precious little baby friend from having to face the hardships of losing in that underground tournament and losing her “shine” or basically idol charm and shit. Despite being very simple and straightforward the show leans so much on hitting you over the head with “subtle” symbolism and allusions in dialogue that at times you’d think this is supposed to be some 2deep4you art film. It depends on personal preference, but I found it very frustrating how self-indulgent the show got with that stuff despite having a pretty damn basic, unimaginative plot and themes. Another slightly disappointing aspect is music. Not that it’s bad but unless you’re a fan of JPop already this won’t have anything new for you. Aside from standard instrumental tracks this is just bland, generic idol jpop. It’s nice that lyrics for the fights tie into what the actual fight is about but it’s important to note that unless you’re pirating this anime or know japanese you won’t have much of a clue as to what they’re singing about. On top of that it’s obviously mixed differently from the way a normal track by itself would be so there are many times during a fight where the insert song is getting a bit muted so that characters could talk. Symphogear has a similar thing going on but that show did it much better cause characters actually sing during a fight, so the song itself actually blends in perfectly with the action. At least art is consistently good. There’s a dedication to striking visuals and cinematography. Also while the actual symbolism was pretty damn blunt and obnoxious at times, at least it was consistently nice to look at and I guess it gives people looking for it something to chew at. The last few episodes, I’m not sure from which point exactly, struggled with production but I doubt many people will notice that. Aside from some cheap, slow, panning shots that you’d see in almost any other show it’s clear that the team working on it believed in the project and was passionate about making it so at least there’s no jank there to really leave a bad spot on the presentation. Overall this show is rather hard for me to recommend. If you’re really into idols or SoLs with female cast then sure I guess you’ll get something out of it. Otherwise though it’s just a very mediocre, at times bad even narrative that’s only spiced up by nice visuals. Maybe if it went over the top, or at least harder on the spectacle it would be worth watching just for that but as it is that part alone can’t carry the show.

Anime gets often called 'art' instead of simply 'entertainment' for the simple reason that its audiovisual achievements are more noteworthy than the characters and story that can never really reach the same level as books or manga. But like with everything in life, the polar opposite view point exist. To some viewers there seem to be nothing that kills the industry harder than 'style over substance', and those who despise this way of being should now take notes and never watch this anime. But I can like both. Especially in today's industry where substance is often lacking, new series are copy-paste of everything else that hasalready been made, and in generally the industry has reached a point where quantity of anime series is high yet the outcome is starting to look like serial production where quality is secondary. Few times a year, a series that manages to offer something different than any other series, appears, and if we are lucky, they turn out to be as beautiful as Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight. The setup is very simple, but still unique for the reason that this show falls between the modern music idol genre and the older female character driven narratives focusing on personal career/show business (Prince Tutu = ballet dancer, Glass Mask = actress, Kaleido Star = acrobat). Revue's focus being on revue artists and the main difference between the older way is the amount of girls as this series has a wide cast with more than handful of main characters. The entire story is almost solely build around friendship drama where the series' abstract audiovisual execution and creative usage of different elements exist to symbolize the character development and our characters inner feelings. This all is very light mannered and self-explanatory to the viewer. The most simple way how this is executed is our characters' feelings being presented in actions and "fights" on the stage. Some more obscure analysis could be given as well, such as elevator connecting our characters' personal life to their stage life and the alternative staircase paths showing that there is no shortcut to success. Other interesting elements exist as well such as Tokyo Tower referring to the black swan (the theory and the play itself -- or at least that's how I comprehended it), but in generally, these are only very small details that can add to the viewing experience and ultimately, exist in the series to serve its creativity and overall style. The series is directed by an assistant of Ikuhara Kunihiko who is most famous for directing Revolutionary Girl Utena and Mawaru Penguindrum. His style is in generally considered to be among the most abstract and original the anime industry has to offer. To say that his old assistant has adopted his style is an understatement to a certain extent. For example, some of the more in-the-distance fight scenes especially regarding their background art directing resemble Utena, as well as the elevator, of course which was used in Utena as well. Same thing could be said of the "sewing in progress" scene which is repeated in the same manner as "survival strategy" in Mawaru Penguindrum. I would also like to list several other scenes that were visually just perfect, but I will refrain from spoiling anything. Let me just state that some of the scenes have lot to offer when the revue scenes play with objects that are from another dimensions much like in video games that swap between 2D and 3D. There is also a talking giraffe in the series and one of the characters is called Banana, so I am not sure what else one could wish for. There is also decent amount of music in the series and it's been used in a respectable manner - or at least I respect it when music plays loud and aims to make the series better than it would otherwise be, and that's how it works here. This is not an obligatory watch that every single person should witness, but as far as modern anime goes, a fine piece.