Eternal Boys

The best analogy I can make for this anime is that it's like a really good racecar driver is driving a really average racecar. The general concept of a realistic idol show will greatly restrict how much depth is going to be allowed through the medium. While it's possible to make a 10/10 SoL Idol anime, it would be incredibly difficult, especially without delving into surrealism. That said, the writers of this anime were adept at using this medium to convey an engaging and overall very moving story. It really feels like this is almost as good as it possibly could ... have been without trying to do anything grandiose. I'll break down some of the strong points.

The characters all feel real. They're not overly engaging, but that's kind of the point; this anime really blurs the line between work drama and idol show, so having characters like Yamanaka feels on-point. By the end of the show I liked every character, but it wasn't in any way overwhelming, which is good because no one character stole the show. Their development feels correct for adults of their age and their responses to the situations they're put in are understandable. That makes for a very muted show compared to a lot of high school SoL anime, or even anime about younger working folks, because writers use youth as an excuse to inject both levity and louder plot effects. That's removed from this anime, so expect a lot of understandable reactions and human responses to pressures. Personally I liked that, even if it did mean that the emotional stakes would remain relatively low.

The episode length adds to the feel of the show. That it's quarter-hour episodes rather than half-hour episodes allows them to tackle things with a speed and attention to detail that they should. Things that would take almost half of a twelve-episode anime only take a fraction of that amount in this anime. The use of the "Character Backstory -> Character Plotline Advancement" episode structure really works with this and makes the focus on individual characters seem less onerous.

The usage of montages is correct. I find that a lot of Idol anime focus heavily on the same plot points, and this anime straight up bypasses some of the expected idol anime plot points using montages. They instead fill their space with character development and actual plot. The time skips are frequent and well-used in order to progress the storyline at a captivating pace. I have to say some people might find that a little bit jaunting, but for me as someone who is tired of seeing idol anime practicing scenes taking up entire episodes, it felt like a breath of fresh air to see the plot moving more quickly than all that.

Finally, the overall feel is solid as a stone. The message and themes are definitely adult and will likely not resonate with many. I can't get too far into specifics on that without venturing into spoiler territory, but by the end of the anime the writers have definitely chiseled the feelings they were trying to put forth. I can't remember the last time an anime was this outright brave in doing that. Like, they knew what they were trying to do and what they had to do, and absolutely accomplished it. I have an incredible amount of respect for that, and hope more anime will choose to take these kinds of risks.

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes Idol anime, Office/Work anime, Slice of Life anime, or who generally likes anime featuring adults dealing with non-sexual adult themes.

Eternal Boys is a really nice SOL idol anime whose message is "anyone can shine" with subtle comedy, lots of feel-good vibes, and a fair amount of realistic, mature drama that a lot of not-young-adults can probably relate to in some way. It uses the 13-minute format well with succinct episode plots. When not focusing on their trials and tribulations as a new idol unit or daily lives together, each member of Eternal Boys gets their own focus episode telling their backstory of what they were doing before they became ossan-idols. All of the members are 35-45-year-old men with no prior idol experience. There's ... Kakizaki, a mature and charismatic former Host. His friend and colleague Nicolai whose stoic demeanor belies a zest for life who's done a little bit of everything but his specialty is his home-made pickles. Imagawa, who's always wanted to be in the spotlight ever since his CM appearance as a child but never made it big. Asai, the youngest of the group and the only father, a former soccer star/divorced dad, kind of the himbo of the bunch. Ishida, a serious tsukkomi who spent the first half of his career as a teacher while secretly being an idol fanboy. Yamanaka, a former model-turned-talent agent-turned-idol with a caring and nurturing personality. And finally kind-of-the-main-character (although everyone gets time as the focus) Sanada, an average salaryman with a nervous disposition, trying his best to adapt to an entirely new career path after the company he worked for for two decades suddenly went bankrupt. There's plenty of ups and downs and some unexpected story developments, and you seriously don't know until the final episode whether or not this unlikely idol group will make it beyond their first year. Overall, it's just a good casual show with short, easy-to-watch episodes whose overall simplicity holds some unexpected depth that gave me a lot of complicated feelings in my kokoro. Personally I give it a 9/10 but realistically I think it belongs at around a 7.5/10, definitely deserves above a 7 and more views. Give it a shot!

This isn't the type of anime that's going to blow minds or win awards or exceed expectations - but that's okay. Sometimes you need a chill, feel-good anime about a bunch of old men struggling with new experiences.

I think some people might be put off by the mental image that the synopsis gives, imagining some cringey old men trying to act like youngins and doing all the things that you see in typical idol animes (often belonging to the otome genre), but that's not really the case. The pacing of the anime rather suits these old men, and if anything, it feels like a slice ... of life anime. Each episode they have some new concept to tackle, each character has their own shortcoming and something that they bring to the table, and while they overcome their new challenges, we get to see a little bit of their past, of their personalities, of their personal struggles.

I don't really think these are necessarily the type of characters you'd simp over or spend your life-savings on their gacha game, and the idol setting is also something that rather drives the plot forward, or gives some background setting to their story, rather than something that they go into detail about in the anime. The novelty of this anime in comparison to some other feel-good SoL anime is that the characters are men in their 30s (iirc) which offers some new perspective.

What really caught me and made me interested in this anime was the first episode - even though I am neither a man, nor in my 30s, I could empathize with the main character's struggles, and this feeling continued as we got to know the other characters of their group as well. While their stories are nothing unheard of, it's still enjoyable to watch, and I look forward to continuing this journey with them.