The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls 2nd Season

Idolmaster's most recent installment is yet another bummer of an idol show. Imagine a rocket launching through the air at full thrust: suddenly it starts tilting and then, out of nowhere, its engines also begin to die. It starts to fall faster and faster, spinning and spinning out of control, until finally it hits the ground and explodes into a massive ball of fire. This is pretty well what the transition between Cinderella Girls' first and second season feels like.

That is not to say that the second season is an absolutely abysmal, unwatchable mess, but it is sure one hell of a disappointing way ... to end a show with promise. Whereas the first season attempts to build towards something meaningful, to give you a reason to care for the characters, the second season takes all that away and presents you with a dull husk of a story. It wants to be dramatic, it wants to make you root for the characters in spite of their crappy situation, but it just doesn't quite understand how the structure of anime is supposed to work.

I was one of the four (maybe it was five?) fans of the first season, in spite of all its issues, because the show still carried some of the same charm and energy that the original TV series and the games had, which I have very much enjoyed spending my time with. It certainly delved into melodrama territory at times, but the conclusion of the first season still made me excited. It made me excited to see how the second season would finally develop the show's large cast of characters, and how it might deliver an emotional 'final concert' to send everything off.

The second season is like one boring, obnoxious episode stretched out to twelve. Everything is constantly bleak and depressing-- literally, since the weather is constantly either rainy or cloudy, and the animators apparently decided the show is now too cool for colour. I understand that weather can sometimes be an effective way to create atmosphere, but when it is non-stop for an entire season of anime it becomes a bit overbearing. Why can't it be sunny on a sad day or cloudy on a happy day? This may seem a silly thing to complain about, but after having seen so many anime attempt to pull off the whole 'my heart is dark and bleak like the rain' thing, I have lost some of my tolerance for it.

It might be a bit surprising, but most of the drama itself, at least in terms of its execution, is honestly pretty OK. Uzuki's voice actress, for example, does an excellent job at the end of episode 23 (or 10 if you count from the start of the season). You can feel the emotion in her voice, her sounding as if she's about to lose it and start crying at any moment, and it still manages to feel authentic--not cloying-- at the same time. There are several moments like this throughout the series; the problem, rather, is that they are out of place. We don't yet have a reason to care about these characters. They have not accomplished anything of significance as idols, and their friendship and their motives have scarcely been explored. Miku and Rina have a whole episode dedicated to their relationship with each other, and it's probably the best in the entire series. But what about all the other characters? Why could we not have more episodes like that focusing on them specifically: their motivations and the little quirks that make them tick? Take a look at Chieri, for example: her design immediately grabbed me at the start of the series, but absolutely nothing is done with her. I couldn't even tell you a single thing about her personality other than that she's shy all the time. And that's a bummer. A real, real bummer.

Contrast Cinderella Girls with Love Live, another popular idol show, and you'll see just how much of an effect strong characterisation can have. All the girls in Love Live (well, maybe excluding one or two) are developed and interesting. A few of them, like Nico or Maki, are among some of the best characters in the genre, and in Nico's case I may even argue for anime as a whole. And you know what? Nico's characterisation was largely developed in a single episode. It turned an adorable, entertaining character into one that genuinely felt human and even pushed the meaning of what being an idol is and can be. I did not feel anything even remotely similar with Cinderella Girls. They are worlds and galaxies apart. It's not just that Cinderella Girls doesn't try to do or say anything new-- it's that it does a poor job even at the generic.

The drama in Cinderella Girls is certainly not helped by the dialogue, which can at times be downright embarrassing to listen to. Most episodes end with juvenile "I'll do my best from now on!!" and "Nothing will ever stop us if we work together!!" dialogue, and will often devolve into nonsense about how they want to "shine" more. Nah, I'll pass on that stuff. Talk like actual human beings instead, OK?

I suppose the sound design can be quite nice from time to time, as the concerts sound like actual concerts with the audience roaring and clapping in the background, and the music itself sounds very much like it's coming from a microphone rather than being ripped straight from a CD like most insert songs in anime do. However, the performances can be pretty disappointing, as highlighted at the end of the first season where three of the songs are skipped over with an image of them playing (since when was this a slideshow?) and maybe five seconds of music in the background. The second season's final performance fares no better. Considering that the music in an idol anime is the single most important aspect after the characters, and when compared with other shows like Aikatsu, Love Live and even the original Idolmaster series, all of which have excellent performances and catchy tunes, Cinderella Girls fails completely at being an idol anime.

Cinderella Girls could have been far more than it is. I could not really recommend it to people on good conscience, even if they may be fans of the main Idolmaster series. It is more mediocre than it is terrible, but the label of "mediocrity" is not by any means a compliment. Maybe you'll come across a character design that interests you, but you'll inevitably find yourself disappointed when you watch the show and realise it doesn't actually give a damn about them. See, Chieri has twintails and, as far as I'm concerned, not giving twintailed goddesses the time of day is an absolute sin. There's a lot of things wrong with Cinderella Girls, but maybe that is the one that ticks me off the most. Screw you, Cinderella Girls.

Mika was a cutie, though. I'll give the show that. Her doujins are probably the one good thing this show has spawned.

This review is my personal thoughts on the show, you may agree or disagree and i dont care.

So first thing first, The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls is an original series produced by A-1 Pictures, the studio famous for Sora no Woto, Gate, SAO, Ano Hana and many more... this anime provided another look at a very interesting idol industry of Japan.

This show has good setting from the start. A producer will seek for potential idols from the street and ask them to join the project which will raise them to top idol. This refreshing start helps the viewer to get a full look at this industry ... and get the story running pretty smoothly.

The charm of shows like this lye in the variety of characters and this show nailed it very well. A huge cast of colorful, likeable and charismatic girls that will surely get to the heart of the viewers. But beside that, this show has many problems.

The story progressing in season 1 is very slow and when it gets to season 2 it's very rush. I may sound like an asshole here but the relationship between the main characters- no matter how touching it is when you're watching- makes no sense. It's like a triangle love between 2 boys and 1 girl but instead of fighting for the girl, they just love the girl and the girl loves both of them. End the story.

So why is the high grade? Becoz no matter how nonsense it may seem, i get attached to the idols, i feel for them very much. And it's nice to see ppl doing their dream work.

The music of this show is amazing. Very pleasant to hear. The animation is fine to say the least. Overall, it's still a good look at the idol industry.

At the point of completing Cinderella Girls season 2 there were no reviews so I thought I'd take up the challenge.
Please keep in mind that this is my first time writing an anime review!

Story: 6
The concept of Cinderella Girls 2nd season was something I was originally excited about. Challenges and conflict was quite lacking in the first season and any actual drama was weak. Since the idols were already at the top of their game, it all felt like a magic dream come true too soon, but now come season 2, this makes sense. As the title suggests, Cinderella Girls takes the classic fairy ... tale of Cinderella but with idols! There’s the evil step-mother, the prince and the multiple Cinderellas – the formula was perfect, except for that they didn’t quite pull it off.

In this season, everything the girls have previously worked for falls apart and they must pick up the pieces to start again. The first half of this season was centered around the main girls bonding with idols from other departments in order to overcome the struggles they face. The problem here is that due to such a high number of characters, the development of each girl is almost non-existent. The drama feels unnecessary and forced with no real meaning behind it, other than just giving minor characters some screentime. Ultimately these episodes serve as promotion for the mobile rhythm game as you won't be familiar with these characters unless you've played it.

After following the routine of attempting to give every character an episode to themselves, the story progresses to focusing on New Generations and in particular, Uzuki. In this aspect, the creators appear to be trying to imitate the original IDOLM@STER anime but fails as it lacks the same emotional impact that the original had. I won’t spoil anything but if you are familiar with the original IDOLM@STER you’d know that I’m referring to that particular episode involving Chihaya.

The build-up to the final episodes was rather weak and resolution was decent but in no way fully satisfying. I feel that the ending to the first season was actually a lot more enjoyable than the entire second season altogether, as the first season ending actually felt as though they had achieved something together.

Art: 9
There’s not much to say here as the art and animation in this season were as solid as the season before. The colourful nature of every character was captured perfectly through pleasing character designs and the animation was always smooth.

Sound: 8
An idol anime isn’t an idol anime without music and Cinderella Girls certainly excels in that aspect. Some songs may not be as memorable as those in other idol anime but they are enjoyable nevertheless. The voice acting is very strong and each voice perfectly suits the variety of characters.

Characters: 6
An issue with this series is that a majority of characters have one-dimensional personalities and are quite easily forgettable. Many were incredibly lacking in screentime as they were constantly overshadowed by the New Generations girls (Rin, Mio and Uzuki), which is a shame since a few of the other characters were often the most entertaining whenever they got a chance to appear. I personally found Ranko in particular to be an absolute delight but her presence in this season was almost non-existent. However, this problem is understandable as with such a high cast of characters, some naturally will have the chance to have more time in the limelight than others.

Enjoyment: 7
A lot of aspects in this season just felt weak but despite its flaws I still got some enjoyment out of it. However, it’s incredibly hard to not compare it with the original IDOLM@STER which I find was far more superior in almost every way.

Overall: 7
In all honesty, this series is more deserving of a 6 instead of a 7, but I'm being generous as I still found some enjoyment in it. Overall, this series isn’t terrible but it’s not too good either. I wouldn’t recommend watching it unless you’re a fan of idol anime as otherwise you’re bound to lose interest.

Thank you for reading my review and any feedback is appreciated.

It is difficult to list everything this show did wrong without giving spoilers, so this will be short.

The story is introduced with Mishiro, a manager who was displeased with the course things in the company were taking, so she proposed some huge changes. This changes lead to a series of individual episodes that tried to develop some characters.
But instead of development, they grew in annoyance or stayed the same, leaving their appearance as the only good thing about them (yeah at least they are waifu material, though not all of them). The drama was poorly executed, extremely forced with embarrassing dialogues, and it is not ... an exaggeration to say that the dialogues were almost at a Mexican soap-opera level of foolishness and melodrama.

Towards the final it started to show some signs that AT LEAST it was going to have a decent final but it finished just as dull as it started

The only merits I can find: The animation that tried to build an atmosphere that could have been interesting without all the flaws I mentioned above and the background music that was sometimes actually good but went to waste combined with the shitty dialogue.

To conclude, in the end this season leaves the spectator with an “absolutely nothing happened here” feeling and questioning “that’s all there is to Im@s CG??”

Does Magic really exists?
Yes!
Like the first phrases of the first episode the whole storyline is like magical.
mixed Feelings,developing potentinal, Breaking and rejoining, Apart of Idol anime,the story line is somewhat like other genre,but I does a great job in conveying idols feelings,the one what every fans never notice.
As I expected from Idolmaster series and the A-1 Pictures
Let's start the detailed review!

STORY: 8
As I said,the story line somewhat more drama type compared to first season.Btw they ,managed to add the Moe part in required part,Moreover Idols feels is conveyed in the best way. I had fun watching those anyway, but I can see others says ... it's waste. The idea I want to convey as long as you starting to enjoy the show you won't see anything, More than the shining of Idols. The same goes with me, So criticiser aside!!

ART: 9
No unnecessary 3-D effect like Love live,that ruin the stage performance. I'm sure the Art is perfect in every show. All Idols were shining on the stage. Thanks for the hard work Animators

SOUND: 10
Most appealing part of the series. Music is perfect throughout the series.All the lyrics is solely based on the feelings/situations,No artifical settings. Beating and BGM part too....
Heart Voice and Uzuki comeback song is the best for me so far in the series.
Respect all Audio partners and workers

CHARACTER: 9
Basically or whatever Story line slightly more concentrated in Unit 'New generation' characters. Like All other idol series,Every character has its own Aura and potential. All are depicted clearly in various episode. Like idolmaster, their is no pattern when and where the character arc to be shown.

ENJOYMENT: 10
There's a very obvious sign as to how much I'm enjoying a show; The more I see, the more I want. If you have clear picture of the series, You surely love the series!

OVERALL: 9
As a honest Idol series fan I Assure It is going to be a new adventure for you guys.

Arigatou!!

Damn this shit sucks!

As a humble Im@s fan who's been carefully eating all the junks they produce for years, That's the first thing i felt when I started this show and yet despite all that I put up with it just so I could see my favorite girls in motion. (And ended up getting no more than a few frames, yes frames and not even seconds, worth of screen time especially For Kanade chan. Jesus...)

You probably have read the summaries already(No MAL'a ofc), I believe The Project Krone had enough potential as a bait to push the story and the characters forward but the ... end result was...boring, plain and simple. You can already predict the flow of story to the last bit of details. That's not the only part the writers did wrong unfortunately, This show suffers from bland characterization, weak punchlines and anything along that line.

Considering the studio behind CinGirls, which is A1, and their attitude toward similar shows, I didn't expect to be impressed in regard to motion, art style and overall cinematography, and I wasn't. Well it ain't no big budget Anime ,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶F̶a̶n̶ ̶S̶e̶r̶v̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶i̶l̶k̶ ̶l̶o̶w̶k̶e̶y̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶h̶.
Though it's not all bad quality wise, i actually liked the few seconds of Nebula Sky playing in the background and glimpses of Anastasia solo staging through the song. But I wish there were more.

Still there's one big thing that this show did very wrong and that is Art, it ranges from uncanny to downright wrong in some places. I remember that one scene where Anya's eyes were hilariously drawn ill sorted. But we should give credits where it's due, the coloring scheme they used is pretty ok.

I'm not gonna delve deep into Voice Acting and Sound direction which is made well. At the very least You can feel the impact of the stages and its Idol standing at the center of it + fans cheering give a nice vibe to it, alas that's bare minimum, I know.

All in All, This Show is no Love Live, if you're not into the franchise it's not a good place to kickoff(putting both seasons together in this review). Just Like most other adaptations you better off playing the games first because it can never ever replace them.
And to those of you familiar with the series, search the Characters' list and if you didn't find your favorite Idols among the MCs, don't bother; Otherwise I believe there's some joy to be had. (Then Again you better invest in Gekijou series if you already haven't, It's a lot better in drawing out the characters, doesn't take itself too serious and it's actually fun!)

P.S: I Wanted to give a 4 but I'm gonna add another point because Anya was cute.

When I saw that there was going to be a new IDOLM@STER, I was extremely excited. I loved the original series, and I was expecting something similar or perhaps something better. Unfortunately, Cinderella Girls was a mess.

Story:
I am assuming you guys have watched the first season, and frankly speaking, the second season felt worse than the first season. The story was all over the place, and it was very hard to follow.
One redeeming factor is that although the story was poorly written, there was some originality. I thought that it was interesting when (I won't name the characters) struggled to find their true identity. ... Is this something I truly want to do? If not, how can I change? Although it was interesting and somewhat original, it was poorly written.
Idol-related anime has been around for quite some time now, and there is a basic formula that most of them follow: forming/ making a group, fist live, struggle (live wasn't very successful), struggle (can I really continue?), final live, etc. It's similar to Marvel's superhero movies; everything feels the same. Although we know most of them are similar, we love them because it works! I am not exactly sure how IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls failed, and it was very disappointing to see great ideas go to waste.


Art:
This is probably the only thing I thought that was good about the anime. Compared to the original IDOLM@STER, Cinderella Girls utilized newer animation techniques, so it was better. I thought the facial expression of Uzuki was done extremely well.


Sound:
The sound wasn't good or bad. If you just look at it as a normal anime, it would be good. But, this is a music-themed anime. So, compared to other music-themed anime, it was bad. In idol-related anime, usually, the live performances are the ones that make you love or hate the anime. For example, K-ON, an anime that is mostly about MOE, had better sound track. Although it was a light music themed, every performance they did was interesting and carefully orchestrated. I was shocked that Cinderella Girls' music would be worse than a moe/music themed anime.
Other music-related anime such as the original IDOLM@STER, love live, Nodame, Hibike Euphonium, etc. had better music than this anime.


Character:
Bland, boring and unmemorable. I was shocked at how bad the characters were. I noticed on the last episode that I can't remember any of the character's name except for some. If I watch a 20+ episodes anime and can't remember all the idol's names, this is just bad. Also, it gets worse in the second season because they added more "side" characters that felt like they should be one of the main characters. They looked cooler, had better voices, etc.
I am from Japan, and when I go to Akihabara, I only see a few shops selling Cinderella Girls' product, and there aren't that many products. In fact, the side character's products are more abundant. Seriously, that is just wrong. When the original IDOLM@STER was released, Akiba was filled with IDOLM@STER content. I am truly disappointed with the character in this anime.


Enjoyment:
Just a so-so. I felt obligated to watch it till the end. So, you decide whether you want to watch it or not.

I was one of the earliest players who started playing the CG game (i.e. Starlight Stage) first, right on the day it was released in iOS, though Android version was released one month earlier. I enjoyed it but only for a month before deleting it, reason being that I had to commit more in real life.

Let's go to the main point. I am lazy to write 2 separate reviews but I will rate both seasons, separated with a '/' mark in my review. 1st number was the rating for season 1 and 2nd number for season 2.

PS: Spoilers alert.

Story: 6/5

Assuming you were born in the ... 90s or way older than that you probably had heard about Cinderella story. Googling "Cinderella" leads you to different versions of it but the most well-known version will be the one where Cinderella went to a ball with her wearing the magical glass shoes (and bla bla bla...)

iM@S Cinderella Girls (will refer as CG later) is another iM@S series branched from the original iM@S girls. The story is set after 765PRO girls have become successful in the idol industry, and 346PRO girls will follow their steps of becoming idols.

CG first season isn't too bad. It follows the original iM@S formula: Recruiting, practicing, uniting, a lot of drama, uniting (again), performance, spiced with a bit of CGDCT stuff. Unfortunately unlike 765PRO, none of the 346PRO girls is dedicated one or two episodes to explain their background, making the girls to look very bland throughout the 2 seasons.

Coming to the second season the plot becomes more and more "dark" and depressing. If you had watched the 765PRO movie which A-1 screwed up so bad, CG second season did the same thing and the whole season turns out terrible as well. In the end, I insist on finishing the whole series just because I want to see how CG ends happily with such depressing plot.

Art: 8/8

Nothing much to say about this. I am still satisfied with the animation considering how bad the plot is.

Sound: 9/9

This is again subjective, depending on your "ears".

Sound is the only thing I can really give good credits to CG. I actually find CG soundtracks better than the original iM@S one. Voice wise, I can pretty much accept everyone's other than Kirari's (which is a bit annoying)

Character: 5/3

If you think 765PRO's 13 girls are too difficult to memorise, welcome to 346PRO where the amount of characters is at least the triple amount of 765PRO. In contrast with 765PRO which is just a small production office, 346PRO is a "castle" for idol training.

However, the problem is you already have 14 main characters to deal with and the anime doesn't care much to develop them. Instead, more characters are introduced and they eventually overshadow the main characters throughout the series (especially in second season). And then there's this "Producer-san" causing problems around with that creepy and murderous look yet the anime is trying to make fun out of him.... (that being said he did pretty well in the second season but still is it really necessary to look like that?). Lastly, the so-called executive who screws up the whole 346PRO (and hence the entire second season) with her own hand...

"The more the merrier" doesn't apply to CG at all.

Enjoyment: 7/3

First season is fine, but the second season is too depressing that there's no enjoyment to talk about.

Overall: 7/5

Prior to CG I had read reviews about how bad CG is compared to the original. The difference between them in MAL ranking pretty much explains why, because it's so true. If you look at my profile picture you understand I am not a fan of iM@S, but the original iM@S is great while CG is 'meh' for me. While both are of the same studio, A-1 screwed up CG so bad that I start to wonder why.

Remember how original iM@S became popular at first, they have developed characters, good soundtracks, nice art and animation, and iM@S series is supposed to be under CGDCT + SOL category. I am fine with melodramas (original iM@S has them too) but they were overused in CG that the whole series becomes more and more miserable. I feel bad for the CG girls especially Uzuki as she is seen as a girl who always smiles at first but turns out to be lacklustre and pathetic in the end (not to mention she initially stayed top in my "list")

S(mile)ing is still nice to listen though.

To end my review, I highly don't recommend people watching CG even if you are a fan of the original iM@S itself. You have been warned.

I have been pleasantly disappointed by this. Possibly spoilers incoming? I'll keep them to a minimum.

As if it's a stereotypical (and casual) occurrence, the second season of this show was awful. The standards were set at a decent bar from the first season, yet they under-performed in the worst way possible. It's not as bad as a 2 or a 3, since the animation, story, characters and songs aren't impossible to bear, but it could have been better.

The story! There's not many spoilers that can really affect the experience of the show, so here we go. After the first season finale, there was a ... small hint towards a 'villain' type of character. And this season starts off with the entire Cinderella Project being postponed until God knows when by said character. Not a bad plotline. I could argue with a lot of people about how this could be something unexpected, maybe even better than the first season. Only if that villain-type character wasn't a fucking moron.

Idols should be idols by themselves as well. It's only fair for group idols to have singles released, right? Well, individuality isn't a thing anymore, since throwing teams together randomly should increase the popularity, bring new fans over and clearly make profit for 346 Productions. This is, in my opinion, truly idiotic. Being individualized was fine; it was a good pretext for the market and a good way to evolve the idol as a person and, of course, as an idol. But suddenly, Rin and Anastasia are thrown in a band of 6 other idols (the project never gets any attention anyway in the show). Also, why not stress Rin with another idol team formed of 2 new idols (that nobody has heard about) just because while practicing, they sounded 'good' or 'they could gain success'? Mio Honda gets thrown around and starts an acting career (because why the fuck not) and Uzuki is the usual shitty non-protagonist she's ever been. I swear, I've heard the phrase "I'll do my best!" coming from her mouth more than lyrics sang my New Generations. I hate the fact that Uzuki Shimamura never got the 'protagonist' spot she deserved. After hyping her up so much in the first season in the beginning, she's overthrown by all the other idols (even new ones) again, and only cared about for a couple episodes. In the first season it was in the beginning, and now it was in the ending. I think the studio tried their best to make the show circular and seem as if it started where it ended, but why would you do this to an Idol show? You would want to see them grow better as Idols. And they're shown like this at the end of the last episode. So why bother going through the beginning of the show again for Uzuki's sake? The studio never bothered to place any attention on her in the first season, so why now? Honestly, it doesn't make any sense. The story is garbage because of the new shitty main character. Even Producer-san can't save this season.

The characters are... what they are. Bland. Simple. Boring. That's to say the least. New Generations as a whole is completely gone from the show. The only ways they mention the band is if they reminisce about it while boasting about progress in new teams. The other idol teams have dissipated as well. There's no more Love Laika and no more Asterisk. They've disbanded because of 'plot development' and 'character development'. Currently, they're all in different groups. It is for their growth, and their growth only. The new main thought about this being good and useful for the idol company. And yet, it ruined everything. Each idol from Cinderella Girls is worse than in the first season. I felt nothing for any of the characters. Producer-san was completely over-shadowed, and he no longer solves many issues in the idol group. Basically, the studio is trying to say 'they can handle their own problems and they don't need their Producer to handle everything anymore'. Then what is a Producer good for? Publicity and morale boosting? That's all? Producer was there for them in the first season. And in this one, he's probably just too overwhelmed with the pressure from the new main (I can't even call her by name, my God...). Did I say that the new main is absolutely hypocritical and braindead by the way? As for that, she's honestly just a filler episode. She ruins the entire show just by being present. I don't want to say anything else, since it wouldn't really change how you already think of her.

Animation was the same as first season. I've got nothing to add, except the fact that I hate when the only characters that seem alive are the Idols, cameramen and a bunch of glowsticks in the audience. Make the show feel more alive for God's sake. At some point, it felt like I was staring at a poorly made canvas of a city road and some characters waiting for a car to go over them. Making unnecessary people static in a shot is productive, but not imaginative. I hate it when shows do this basic shit. It throws the vibe of the episode off.

Sound was alright. The songs were no different than the rest. The intro kind of disappointed me, but you know how it is with A1. They make something good, and then they stomp on it like it was never supposed to actually exist. The first intro? Masterpiece. This second one? As mediocre as they come. Thoroughly disappointed.

The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls Season 2 clusterfuck was disappointing. I can't believe I expected something like this to be somewhat good. I don't recommend watching this season, as it will ruin your expectations for the rest of the Idolm@sters. But maybe! Just maybe... This season was made to be shitty as in to promote the movie and Idolm@ster Million Live! A great scheme, A1 Productions! Absolutely mental! Now I despise all of your unknown and unpopular works.

Story 5
Animation 3
Sound 6
Character 2
Enjoyment 3

Overall: 4

It was dreadful to sit through this. Don't watch this season if you're not ready to endure pain and agony. Good luck.

I don't understand how 346 production is organized. Are Director Mishiro's words about girls being raw materials really true? It looks like it is.

Moving from a small office to a corporation, in fact, we are faced with a more "realistic" kitchen, forging idols. More corporatism, behind the scenes and other features. However, the words about "raw materials" are not accidental. All these subdivisions of 346 Production were created as if only to mold something working that would bring dividends. The project "Cinderella" seems to stand out from this series, but only tries, because there is nothing to talk about any unity, community. They don't have ... a common goal. She has nowhere to come from when all the idols are paired up with two or three people and promoted. That is, there is a further fragmentation of a separate division 346 Production. What for? Well, if to achieve specific results with selected "raw materials", then yes, this makes sense, but it does not pull on more. Not at all. Cinderella's ball is needed only so that they are not thrown out into the street. Just think about it! The ball, not as a stepping stone to becoming a real idol, but as a way of survival. You could say yes, that's the "real" way of being an idol, but why the hell are these girls being turned into expendables? In such a huge corporation, they turn into some kind of microscopic bacteria, and if someone is thrown out, then nothing terrible will happen, because the corporation will find a new one. Director Mishiro's approach just testifies to this. And of course he's shitty.

Well, since corporations don’t care about idols, they just have heaps of them, somewhere around 200 according to the original source (mobile gacha), then they look appropriate here. Do not misunderstand, every girl has a character, though they didn’t reveal it to us, but they showed someone, and because of this they don’t appear before us as individuals. Well, yes, Miku has a cat image, Rina has a rock, Ranko has an eccentricity, and even less can be said about others, but remove one of them from the anime, there will be no disaster. There is, no, it doesn't matter. They are interchangeable from a corporation's point of view. Therefore, there are problems with the perception of them as individuals. They were leveled, which is so unacceptable even in their environment.

Oh boy. Another grandiose problem, in my opinion, is natural chaos, leapfrog and Brownian movement in the groups of the Cinderella project 346 Production. Why were they created at all? Of course, to promote them as idols, as a close-knit, hand-picked team of girls who together provide great synergy. However, dreams do not come true. I understand that not all combinations can be successful, but why the hell are there so many “intercepts” in one subsection? Why the hell does the Producer say that Mishiro, and not him, managed to develop talent in Anastasia? Did "Love Laika" fail, show a terrible result? Why was an undertaking, whose fate is unknown to us, poured into the sewer? Anyway, Minami and Anastasia didn't give a shit about their duet, since they both decided to try the "new"? All for the "new"? Some crap. And with "New Generations" it was such a complete mess. Either we will bring everyone together, then Shiburin goes to the side (wtf? she is already in the group, hello), then Mio-chan, apparently, got bored with their triple alliance and went to the theater, and Shimamu, who initially just wanted to perform with them (a nod to the first idolmaster) is out of work. Fck it. Sympathy, support and liking I have only for her. The end is also not happy, because everyone will continue to run back and forth. It would be nice if these were collaborations, but no, Rin will remain in the Triad. It all looks like an orgy (here's the original source), honestly.

Only for Shimamu and Producer 7 points.