Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shine Post

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: TBA

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: It’s been nearly a year since the idol group TiNgS was formed. Despite the apparent enthusiasm of the group members, however, their ticket sales have always been dismal. The owner of their talent agency calls them in for a conference and it’s made clear that they need to sell out a 2,000 seat concert venue in three months, or it’s all over for the group. This is absolutely a tall order, but the group members are promised a new manager to help whip them into tip-top singing and dancing shape.

Unfortunately, Naoki Hinase, the new manager, has some past trauma related to representing idols – it was, in fact, the reason why he was pushed out of his last job. Hoping to take on simple office work instead, he initially resists the push to represent TiNgS directly. However, Haru, the center, manages to convince Hinase of her own sincerity, even if her group members may not be entirely truthful about their own motivations. Hinase sets a more modest immediate goal of selling 100 tickets to one of the group’s regular shows, but will this be enough to get TiNgS off of life support?

Impressions: Idols are meant to bring a happy world of dreams to their adoring fans, but what happens when those fans are hard to come by? I imagine this is the fate of most idol groups around the world – when there are so many different groups from which potential fans can choose, it’s only those with a special “something” that can attract and keep a fandom alive.

So too, I suppose, it tends to be with anime about said idol groups. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not really a huge fan of idol culture, because as fun as the music and costumes and personalities can be, there’s also a dark side of that fandom that’s rarely discussed in media about it. I also feel like a lot (definitely not all, though) of idol anime I’ve encountered tends to be game-ified, in that it’s either based on an idol-group-raising game (in which the point is for you, the player, to manage and idol group to success) or the POV character is a manager dealing with a group of young idols whose personalities fall into predictable archetypes.

I had hoped that, since this story is based on a book rather than a mobile game that it might introduce a little more nuance and complexity into the formula. Rags-to-riches stories are common, yes, but unique and interesting takes on those stories will always exist. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case, as this episode hits a lot of the early, familiar beats for these types of stories, including most obviously the introduction of a male manager tasked with improving the standing of the all-girl idol group. Not only that, he seems to have some sort of special power that gives him an edge, at least when it comes to detecting the sincerity of people around him.

I don’t want to use this space to pooh-pooh genres that don’t excite me, because those will always exist and there will also always be examples that break the mold in some way. This episode, however, seems to be content to keep its shape intact inside the cookie-cutter. Definitely not a crime, by any means, but it just doesn’t excite me.

Pros: I like that the turning point for Hinase is Haru’s sincerity about her goals. Her goals are frankly cheesy – they’re word-for-word the kind of overly-rehearsed idol-speak that one would expect, but coming from her they seem to be the truth.

There’s also a lot of very good character acting throughout the episode. This is especially good in a later scene where the three members of TiNgS are performing a dance routine together, and each of them is struggling in different ways. In a time and place where decent animation is never a guarantee, it’s always fun to watch an episode where these resources are able to be used.

Cons: There’s honestly nothing about this episode that I’d call out as a distinctly negative trait; it’s competently made and while I don’t personally find the story interesting, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be interesting to someone else. That said, having been a part of the anime fandom for a long time, I have mixed feelings about how character archetypes (and specifically the ones usually matched up with girls and women) are used as shorthand. I think because I’m not a huge fan of this genre I’m less willing to overlook this than if there were something else for me to focus on, so take that as you will.

Content Warnings: None.

Would I Watch More? – There are definitely things to like about this episode, but it lacks that certain X-factor that might help it appeal to someone like me, who has a higher barrier to interest.