Anime Review: Selection Project (First Ep)

Anime Review: Selection Project (First Ep)

By kimizomi - Thursday, January 6, 2022 - No Comments

 

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! I hope we'll all have an amazing 2022 ahead. 

As a working adult, it's been hard to consistently keep up hobbies like binge-watching anime... But sometimes, a break is always needed! If you guys don't know, I have always expressed my love for idol/girl clubs anime, and majority of my posts on here have touched on the same genre. So when I first stumbled upon Selection Project, I automatically thought: Love Live School Idol Project. But okay, while the theme is largely similar, the structure of this show is very much different. So let's talk about it a little shall we?

First off, this anime was part of the fall selections, but the final episode was last released on 24th December so hey, I guess it's still a pretty good time to binge everything if you're interested. 

As the episode begins, we see an idol singing on stage, much like how most idol shows start.

Then, the scene cuts to a young girl on a hospital bed as she watches that same idol from her phone scene. She expresses her desire to be just like her, but I'm guessing it's going to take a while because of her sickness. 

We jump into time to see the same girl, now introduced as Suzune Miyama in her room, and much older. There are posters of that idol on her wall, and we all know she's a super fan. 

Honestly, I was going to think that she was going to school after this, but what surprised me was that she's actually going to attend the preliminary round of Selection Project, a singing competition that her idol used to be in. 

And of course... A competition comes with rivals.

What's interesting about this competition is that is region-based, so the preliminary rounds are held in different regions, with one out of the four contestants being chosen to proceed to the next round. Oh and just to add, Suzune is from the Kanto region. 

We are then given brief introductions to the different girls who could potentially be our main few characters in the next few episodes. And of course, it plays into the different stereotypes of a girl group. 

The shy girl, but probably one with impressive skills

The one who eats a lot but never seems to get fat

The bruh girl

The child prodigy who has an agent/vocal coach (I see this becoming a conflict in the show someday...)

The Ojou-sama.

And she has quite a unique hair style too... Time to add that into my blog post: https://www.milkcananime.com/2019/06/female-anime-hairstyles-weird-and.html

And that one kuudere who probably takes some time to open up...

While there are a lot more characters that were introduced here and there, these are just a few that managed to capture my attention. Ultimately, I'm sure we'll end up with this group of girls.

Before the preliminary round begins, we are then given more information about the idol that Suzune idolised. And in a surprising turn of events, it is revealed that she has actually passed away. 

I wasn't expecting such a mature topic to come out from an idol anime but I guess it's quite relevant to issues that happen in real life as well, as there have been histories of idols losing their lives because of personal reasons or reasons that are associated with cyberbullying. Hopefully this anime will be able to shed light on this topic a bit more. 

And the preliminary round kickstarts. 

For Suzune, singing seems to be her natural talent and a history of a heart disease has never deterred her from wanting to go far in this competition. However, she then faces a moment of withdrawal, leading her to collapse onto the ground. Could it be her sickness? We don't know, but it surely doesn't look good for her.

Yet, she still manages to push herself up to sing the last few lines of the song, which is commendable. Maybe it can still save her thus far. 

As the winner from each round gets announced per region, tension starts to rise. 

And then it comes down to the last region: Kanto. While Suzune has garnered a huge amount of votes in spite of her mishap, it was another hot favourite, Seira, who got it. 

While both of them share an amiable friendship, it is obvious that Suzune is disappointed in herself, as she packs her luggage and heads back home. 

The episode then ends here. 

I think it's a great way to build up to the next few episodes by showing Suzune's loss, because this will make us root for her even more and allow all of us to wonder: what's her next plan?

Overall, the first episode of Selection Project was quite interesting, and I'm looking forward to binge the rest of the episodes to get my idol fix. Also, the character designs are all so unique and I'm enjoying this new style of idol anime that also adds in a bit of the variety format. While there have been many comparisons to Idoly Pride, another idol anime that was released in early 2021, I'm sure idol fans can all rejoice in having more content to watch. 

Alright, be right back while I continue the rest of the series ^^ 

Once again, stay safe, healthy and I'll see you all again in the next blog post!

Written by kimizomi 

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