“Starlight” is the song and dance revue troupe loved throughout the world. Karen and Hikari make a promise with each other when they’re young that one day they’ll stand on that stage together. Time passes, and now the girls are 16 years old. Karen is very enthusiastic about the lessons she takes every day, holding her promise close to her heart. Hikari has transferred schools and is now away from Karen. But the cogs of fate turn, and the two are destined to meet again. The girls and other “Stage Girls” will compete in a mysterious audition process to gain acceptance into the revue. – ANN
Streaming: HIDIVE
Episodes: 13
Source: Original Multimedia Franchise
Episode 1 Summary: Karen Aijo, despite being a goofball and a little bit of a sleepyhead, is one of the elite students at Seisho Music Academy, a training ground for musical actresses and theater professionals. She made a promise with her friend Hikari when they were children that they’d each become actresses, and Karen has been living that promise to the best of her abilities. It’s been years since Karen has seen Hikari, but as fate would have it Hikari has recently transferred to Seisho after having lived several years overseas. Karen is overjoyed, but Hikari seems distant. When Karen follows Hikari back to school one evening, she discovers a secret hidden below the halls of Seisho. There, Hikari is involved in what appears to be the battle of her life with another of the students as part of an audition for the role of top actress in the Starlight musical. Karen, being who she is, can’t help but don a costume herself and intervene.
Impressions: The premiere of Revue Starlight is possibly one of the strangest opening episodes I’ve seen in quite a while; at the very least, it’s difficult to categorize. The series seems to draw its inspiration from several different sources, from idol anime, to Takarazuka, to Revolutionary Girl Utena. The character relationships have a bit of a yuri flavor to them, and the presentation goes from typical high school daily life to fantasy magical girl battle in a matter of about thirty seconds late in the episode. I get the feeling that the next time I try to describe the series in person to someone, it’ll come across as five times less interesting and ten times as ridiculous as it actually is. But I’m so rarely confronted with something that hits so many of my fandom buttons and seems fresh and unique (at least compared to its contemporaries) so I feel like I’m temporarily at a loss for words.
Takarazuka theater has always been a bit of an interesting enigma to me. This all-woman theater troupe produces lavish, romantic musicals with beautiful sets and costumes starring strikingly attractive actresses in the lead roles. The school that trains these actresses also raises them to eventually take their places as “good wives and wise mothers,” yet the romanticism imbued in the male roles definitely appeals more to women searching for something outside the traditional masculine ideals. This strange dichotomy has always left me with a little bit of guilt; I’m drawn in by the spectacle and find myself swooning over the handsome otokoyaku (male performers) and yet I know full well that the “men in charge” probably don’t have my best feminist interests at heart. In a way it’s similar to the way I consume anime; there are anime series and movies that I believe are portraying an empowering or feminist situation, but in most cases I doubt that the creators had such a thing in mind.
Revue Starlight sets its stage in a Takarazuka-esque performance school. Because Takarazuka is centered around the portrayal of a fantasy that usually ignores some tenets of historical fact in favor of drama and spectacle, I suppose it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise that first episode takes a sharp left turn from reality in its last few moments. Believe me, though, just because I didn’t expect for there to be a musical battle taking place beneath the school doesn’t mean that I wasn’t enthralled by it. This is where the episode feels very reminiscent of Utena; its ability to twist the boundaries of reality (because honestly, there’s no way that replica of Tokyo Tower actually exists underground) and its very physical manifestation of the character’s transformation seems drawn from a similar creative wellspring. The assembly-line construction of Karen’s uniform as she leaps to the stage is very reminiscent of Utena’s transformation into a car in the Utena movie. I enjoyed this quite a bit because it draws from the best of shoujo magical-girl productions and just reliving those memories is something special to me. I think that it also bodes well for the series as a whole since it seems like it’s taking its inspiration from good sources.
Flash and magic aside, though, it’s rare for a series to maintain my interest if it isn’t focused around compelling characters. I think the series is off to a decent start by establishing the relationship between Karen and Hikari. It’s tough to speculate at this point knowing so little, but I do get the impression that Karen’s sunny impression of their past friendship and their relationship in general is likely to be challenged; this goes beyond the difference in their personalities to what I think is more so a difference in their priorities – Karen is talented but seems laid-back and lacking intensity when it comes to school; Hikari seems like nothing but focused intensity, putting her acting first. This doesn’t stop Karen from literally diving into a weird theatrical situation, fighting a duel, and then taking up a prominent position on stage, but she also has a lack of knowledge regarding the whole audition setup and is flying by the seat of her miniskirt. Setting two characters with opposite personalities against one-another isn’t anything new, but it does immediately provide the opportunity for clashes and conflict, and with a theatrical series like this, character conflict is definitely a requirement.
My one apprehension with this series is that I have a distinct aversion towards idol anime for reasons that involve real-life idol culture, and while I recognize that anime can easily ignore some of idol culture’s seedier aspects I’m still reminded of fandom groups of grown men who feel entitled to exert control and judgment over the lives of young women. So far there aren’t any men in this series at all (an aspect that can have its own issues), so I don’t really believe it’ll be a glaring example of creep culture. And though the series clearly draws upon idol fandom, as I mentioned it’s also pulling from many other places to create an interesting fusion of genres that may help it avoid the particular pitfalls of any one on its own.
I’ve done probably overly-much to qualify it but this series unexpectedly shot to the top of my watch list after this episode. It powered through my preconceived notions and prejudices with its combination of flashy theatrics, music, costuming, and quirkiness and seems like something truly unique this season. While it definitely echoes some earlier classics it seems to be paying homage rather than mindlessly aping older stories. I’m interested to see where these series of dramatic duels and character relationships goes.
Pros: The series seems to draw inspiration from many different (and good) sources. The relationship between Karen and Hikari looks like it will be a good anchor for the drama. The dramatic visuals are definitely an enhancement.
Cons: It’s difficult to set aside the real-life downfalls of idol culture.
Grade: B+