Idol Jihen (Idol Incidents)

Increasing income divide, creeping environmental pollution, unsolvable waste issues, childcare waiting lists being discussed without those concerned, repeated corruption… The government, smeared by vested interests, can't do a thing against the many problems and sources of discontent. It's in this situation, with Japan cornered with no way out, that idols rise up to save the day!

The Heroine Party, Sunlight Party, Starlight Party, Bishoujo Party, Wakaba Party, Subculture New Party, and SOS Party. From these seven idol political parties, the idols who have become National Diet members and representatives for each prefecture will smash through the sense of stagnation covering Japan using the power of song and dance! They'll bring back the smiling faces of the people, and wrap Japan in a glittering aura!!

(Source: Honeyfeed)

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Idol Jihen

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Characters & Voice Actors

Hoshina, Natsuki

Main

Yashima, Sarara
Japanese

Onimaru, Shizuka

Main

Fuchigami, Mai
Japanese

Kondou, Sachie

Main

Ueda, Reina
Japanese

Fudou, Mizuki

Supporting

Lynn
Japanese

Kozuru, Mika

Supporting

Akasaki, Chinatsu
Japanese

Yami†Ringo-sama

Supporting

Yamamoto, Nozomi
Japanese

Momoi, Ume

Supporting

Nakaya, Sayaka
Japanese

Iizuka, Sakurako

Supporting

Kubo, Yurika
Japanese

Arai, Shirayuki

Supporting

Kido, Ibuki
Japanese

Amou, Kuruha

Supporting

Yoshida, Yuuri
Japanese

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Ootsuka, Manabu

Producer

Yoshida, Daisuke

Director

Enomoto, Takahiro

Sound Director

Terasawa, Kazuaki

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"Utae! Ai no Kouyaku (歌え！愛の公約)" by SMILE♥X

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Ending Theme

"Respect" by with

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Reviews

May 5, 2017

dostluq

Recommended

I saw there were some bad reviews for this, but I really enjoyed it.

I found this is show entertaining and sweet. The plot was a little slow at times but a show like this doesn't need to be super fast paced or have a bunch of twists. It is cute and made me feel happy and smile. I love Natuski and Shizuka's relationship. They are really heartwarming partners.

I don't think there is anything wrong with having a show like this, especially in these trying times. It doesn't have the tone of some weird political propaganda. I support strong, cute anime girl politicians

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Mar 31, 2017

Nafisa

Not Recommended

I was so disappointed with this anime that I decided to write my first review on it to express my dislike.

Starting with story, the concept of idol politicians is an idea nobody has used before and for good reason, it doesn't work nor make sense. The storyline is typical and half-assed with the recurring theme of "Don't give up!" and "Friendship can solve all the world's issues!". It also reuses the same major morals of taking care of the environment and the people which is fine but predictable. The politics within the story were executed poorly, nothing was particularly realistic or good for that ...

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Mar 26, 2017

Fircoal

Not Recommended

No show this season screamed "Wasted Potential" more than Idol Jihen. Wait!.. A show about idol politicians has wasted potential? Believe it or not yes it does. In fact, I'd say Idol Jihen had all of the ingredients to make it great. However, it had neither the talent nor the drive to actually get there.

Like most people when I read the premise of the show I wasn't hopeful. It seemed like a shallow idea made purely to make a "unique" idols show when really it was just going to be another idol show. Why would idols become politicians? What sense did that make? And episode ... 1 did nothing to change my opinion. There was way too much telling instead of showing, and the characters and its setup just didn't seem that interesting.

As it was it was nothing special. But then Episode 2 happened and I saw hope. In that episode Natsuki sees the trash during her skydive, which was admittedly sorta pointless and silly, and has a vision of it being art. And so the unwanted and unasked for trash site was now turned into a place for the villagers and whomever to decorate and turn into art. And I was actually amazed. Here they provided a solution that improved everyone's quality of life while also keeping in line with the inspirations and characterization of Natsuki. I would find it hard to believe a politician would see the beauty in a dump site. However, a young idealistic idol could see that same trash and see something greater from it. See the potential of entertainment and joy that could be gathered even from something unlikely like that. I then could see the good that Idol Jihens could do. They were entertainers, moulded with a different mindset. They were out to listen to the cries of the people and give them joy and happiness. They might not have been the most political savvy, but they had the heart and a unique perspective, one that could make great things happen. They could bring a populist message to a diet that clearly needed one.

However, there were some flaws in this. Politics is a nuanced field. As much as we'd all like to say that we have the answers there are pros and cons to every solution. There are few things which are slam dunks. While I am fine with the treatment of the Ryogai Party as corrupt I feel they are often too corrupt and not believable enough. Some of the plots are assinine what they try to do. Sometimes it's not even for profit but because of they got slighted. It makes it very hard to see the Idols as anything but 100% correct, which is detrimental to the story.

Still as a feelgood story where we see the Idol's win and create positive change it worked. It wasn't well written but it was pleasant. At least was.

Then they introduced the climatic plot. And here is where the show really fell apart. The problem was all of the nice changes and progress that the Idols made in the earlier episodes were nonexistent in the later episodes. Rather they were focused on strife. Now while strife is important in a character arc, the problem was the characters were never the strong point of Idol Jihen. They were passable when being used to make a point, but failed when being stood up on their own. They certainly weren't worth five episodes worth of heavy plot. To make it worse the plot was terribly constructed. It feels like someone looked up how a traditional narrative should work and forced Idol Jihen to fit into that structure without checking to see if it worked or not. Some of the plot points that come up in that section are ridiculous and unbelievable. They technically work under normal narrative rules but just don't fit in with the show and its structure what so ever. Not to mention the plot arc goes on for way too long, especially for something they're not particularly good at writing.

The other big issue I find is this plot feels like a stark difference from the beginning. Before they seemed untouchable while in this later plot they're always on the defensive, and are more in a position of peril. To me, these two moods don't go together well. If this show was supposed to be more balanced and more of a struggle that struggle should have appeared earlier on with more nuance. If it's supposed to be a happy show, then that should have held through for longer, and had the climactic plot shortened with less hinting or chances towards strife. I feel like either of these decisions would have helped the show, but rather since they went halfway it feels like it has less of a place, and fits too close to a boring cliche narrative when it could have been so much more.

The art style of the show is pretty nice but the CGI in it is pretty bad. Being an idol show the music is pretty good. That said neither are strong enough to carry the show, but they do both help add to the mood.

Idol Jihen's lack of nuance and unsupported faith in conventional narrative structure helped turn what could have been a great show into a bad one. They gambled away their unique traits for their characters and story, but neither of which were worth helping. Had they done it the other way around, I think this would have been so much better. This show never had the best characters but it didn't need to have them. Natsuki was a perfectly fine tool to promote populist change and invoke interesting methods of getting that change. However, as a vocal point she fails. The show had some unique charm that could have sold it, but instead it sold those charms to make a crappy narrative.

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Poll: Idol Jihen Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 26, 2017	16 replies	by Serafos »» Dec 23, 2022 8:08 AM
Poll: Idol Jihen Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 19, 2017	10 replies	by Serafos »» Dec 23, 2022 12:35 AM
Poll: Idol Jihen Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 12, 2017	13 replies	by Serafos »» Dec 21, 2022 7:42 AM
Poll: Idol Jihen Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 5, 2017	8 replies	by Serafos »» Dec 21, 2022 4:50 AM
Poll: Idol Jihen Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Feb 26, 2017	13 replies	by Serafos »» Dec 20, 2022 6:49 AM

Idol Jihen

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Hoshina, Natsuki

Onimaru, Shizuka

Kondou, Sachie

Fudou, Mizuki

Kozuru, Mika

Yami†Ringo-sama

Momoi, Ume

Iizuka, Sakurako

Arai, Shirayuki

Amou, Kuruha

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Idol Jihen

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Information

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Available At

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Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

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Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

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