Aikatsu Planet!

I'll warn you in advance that Aikatsu Planet is definitely a show for people who already like idol anime. As someone who's spent six years of their life deeply embedded in idol culture, this show was a breath of fresh air. Both live action and animated segments blend beautifully. It always makes narrative sense when the girls are in the Aikatsu world, so the transition isn't jarring. I'm always a sucker for the cheesy idol friendship moments and this show has those in spades, but they never come off as cringey. 25 episodes is the perfect length of time to connect with the characters. No ... main character is left unexplored. The show also addresses a lot of modern issues with the vtuber community. There are benefits and drawbacks to anonymity. I appreciate the show's willingness to be honest about how a double life can impact someone, especially a child, even if it does simplify the issue for it's child audience. The music is the most important part of a show like this, though, and they NAILED IT. This is the first time I've downloaded an idol soundtrack while the show was still airing. If you're an idol fan, please consider watching. The live action segments may confuse you at first, but this show is completely worth your time.

Aikatsu Planet is, quite frankly, the perfect example of why most anime just do not work in a live action format.

STORY: 5/10

Look, they tried. Barely, but they did. This season does feature a mild mystery but, like AiParade before it, fails to actually make it matter or be at all interesting.

The new Aikatsu system is initially intriguing and fun, but is so underused it's easy to forget that anything has actually changed. Honestly, it feels like a half-hearted rip of early Pripara at times.

Overall, it feels like a cut-and-paste idol with none of the charm the animated series had, most of which was due ... to the....

CHARACTER: 2/10

The acting makes the poor girls look either shocked or horrified rather than happy sometimes. I hope they're doing okay?!

In all honesty, the characters just aren't that interesting or unique. As much as Raki's catchphrase annoyed me, she was at least sassy sometimes. As much as Ichigo's naivety could frustrate me, she was always up for a challenge. The girls of Planet, on the other hand, have everything simply handed over to them. There's no struggle, no growth, no personality to make me care about them.


ART: 6

Sigh. I can't deny that Aikatsu' CGI has improved over the years, but at what cost? All the texture and sparkle and prints are gone, replaced by basic flat colours and vague checkers. Where are my giant flower decals and lace tiers? I loved seeing the gorgeous designs far more than I cared about the occasionally wonky-armed dancing scenes.

Their characters in animation have zero relevance to their IRL counterparts. It's a bizzare and jerking choice, and I often forget who is supposed to be who, which is a terrible problem given how often it switches between the two.

SOUND: 5

And here we have the worst downgrade of all this season's issues. Past Aikatsu had a bunch of bops, ballads, and rock. This series has generic pop songs and, if heard out of context, I doubt I could guess where they came from. Previous Aikatsu seasons never had this issue, nor should any idol. when the music is as much the selling point as anything else.

OVERALL: A Disappointment

Even on the completion of this series, the sad fact is, it never improved. I originally wrote this as a preliminary, hoping to come back and edit in any good bits, but there frankly hasn't been any worth mentioning.

I've been a fan of Aikatsu since 2014 and have kept up with the series until now, Aikatsu Planet has been nothing but abysmal, and I'm saying this in the nicest way possible. The story is very hard to follow with the live-action and anime being one of its main selling points, especially on the acting; no harm to the actresses I'm sure they're lovely people but banco has a thing for hiring rookies and these girls just, simply could not act if their life depended on it, even in the anime portions of the episodes the girls sound so monotoned. Another issue I had ... with this season was the shift from collecting cards to collecting monsters; one of Aikatsu's key points was cards, what was the reason for even changing that if no one had an issue with it? The only good point Aikatsu Planet had was the character design, but that's, honestly it. If you really want something that's more reminiscent of Aikatsu's older works then I recommend "Waccha PriMagi!", especially if you're an old Aikatsu fan like me.