Kimama ni Idol

“Kimama ni Idol” is a 1-episode comedy/action/drama about 3 teenage girls trying to buy their way into idol stardom. While its characters and plot are predictable and full of cliches, and the climax is terrible, this OVA is notable because it features an actual celebrity (with her name slightly changed) as one of the villains, which is something rather rare to see in an anime.

The gist of the story is: 2 teenage girls from Kyoto, Natsuki and Haruka, win 90 million yen in a lottery. They decide to run away from home and spend their money lavishly in Tokyo, and later come across a man ... who looks like he’s harassing a girl. After causing a commotion which gets the police involved, they all run into the hotel the girls are staying at, where the guy explains what was going on — he was trying to prevent the other girl from committing suicide. The girl elaborates, saying she came there from Niigata to become a singer, but a producer tried to rape her, so she decided she’d kill herself. The girls end up using their money to form an idol group of their own, with the other girl, Fumiko, as a member. The guy also sticks around to help out, and Natsuki contacts her childhood friend who lives in Tokyo and has him be their manager. They face a lot of rejection. Even when it looks like they’re going to receive some media exposure, they get sabotaged by two celebrity musicians who are producing a rival music group that’s using similar performance tactics (although the girls, whose group is creatively titled "Celebrity Idol Group," used these tactics first). One of these musicians was the person who had attempted to rape Fumiko, by the way. The girls eventually are tricked into getting on a helicopter that takes them to an uninhabited island, where the celebrity musicians have X-rated plans for them. Will the girls be able to escape and obtain the fame that they fought so hard (and paid so much) for?

As you may be able to tell from the above synopsis, there is significant tonal whiplash in this OVA. It’s generally comedic and lighthearted, but there are some dark themes introduced early on (the girl trying to kill herself because of an attempted rape). These themes are dealt with seriously, but not thoroughly, and are kind of brushed aside as the character who experienced both of these events seems to recover quickly. Meanwhile, the climax is absolutely terrible. There’s an attempted rape scene of multiple characters which I would characterize as “goofy.” Yes, a goofy rape scene. It comes out of nowhere, and even has its own theme music. The climax then gets even more outlandish, with a midair fight between a helicopter and an airplane. The whole thing is incredibly unrealistic, and although it’s supposed to be funny, the attempted rapes make it feel awkward.

The characters are all one-dimensional and largely forgettable. The antagonists, who appear to be based on a famous musician and possibly her producer, are treated like Scooby Doo villains in the end, with no real comeuppance for their actions.

Regarding technical aspects, while the animation is not that great, the art itself is decent. The background images in particular have a nostalgic aesthetic to them. The voice acting is just average. Although this is an OVA about music, there aren’t a whole lot of songs in it. A handful of songs play in the background, and then there are two main songs — the titular insert song “Kimama ni Idol” and the ending theme, “Yume ni Naritai.” These songs are okay, but not memorable.

There is a significant amount of explicit content in this OVA, particularly towards the end. In addition to a scene depicting attempted suicide, there are a few scenes of attempted rape, and some nudity associated with these scenes. There’s some minor violence as well, although no one actually gets hurt or killed.

Overall, while it has stereotypical characters and a rather unrealistic and silly plot, “Kimama ni Idol” is borderline watchable until the climax, when everything gets thrown out the window. Having a famous celebrity (and possibly her producer) be the antagonists was an interesting decision and it makes this anime notable, but the ending renders this OVA not worth watching. Also, it’s currently only available in Japanese. I recommend avoiding this one.