Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou

"Wake Up, Girls!" is the story of growth and friendship of seven girls living in Sendai, Miyagi who form the idol group "Wake Up, Girls! (WUG)" and work together to become top idols.

Operating under a small production company in Sendai known as "Green Leaves Entertainment," WUG overcame countless obstacles to beat national idol group "I-1 club" at the Idol Festival and win the event. They had suddenly become top idols... but with an idol recession going on, things weren't so easy. The days of steady and honest idol work continued for the girls.

Meanwhile, Sendai-based middle school trio Hayashi Ayumi, Morishima Otome, and Atsugi Itsuka have developed an increasing desire to become idols...

(Source: wikia.com)

Shimada, Mayu Main

Yoshioka, Mayu Japanese

Okamoto, Miyu Main

Takagi, Miyu Japanese

Katayama, Minami Main

Tanaka, Minami Japanese

Nanase, Yoshino Main

Aoyama, Yoshino Japanese

Kikuma, Kaya Main

Okuno, Kaya Japanese

Hisami, Nanami Main

Yamashita, Nanami Japanese

Hayashida, Airi Main

Eino, Airi Japanese

Atsugi, Itsuka Main

Atsugi, Nanami Japanese

Hayashi, Ayumi Main

Hayashi, Koko Japanese

Morishima, Otome Main

Morishima, Yuuka Japanese

Yoshizawa, Takashi Producer

Shiraishi, Naoko Producer

Tanaka, Hiroyuki Producer

Momoda, Hideo Producer

Reviews

Sep 9, 2024

lycoping

Recommended

This is the second series, and third installment, of the "Wake up! Girls" story. Not to bury the lede, it was not quite as good as the first season, but I still don't quite understand why it's ranked so low.

Alright, the animation wasn't great. I'll admit that. There was a point in the end where the CGI was actually choppy, and it was clear that they took as many shortcuts as they could. That is why I didn't rate this a ten. But the story was still really good, and the ending, while not perfect, was very satisfying and I ... thought it was a fitting end to the series.

I found the interplay between the different idol groups to be very interesting, and I think one of the great messages of this series is that even though the groups were rivals and at odds with each other, they still supported each other, because at the end of the day, they became idols for a reason. That reason may be different for every idol, but the theme seemed pretty consistent - they became idols because they loved how they could make people smile. This may be a somewhat idealistic representation of idols, and in some ways this series is a love letter to idols and idol culture, but in other ways it's a stinging indictment, and I found that fascinating in its own right.

I don't regret having watched this. Truth is, even my cold, critical-of-idols heart was a little taken in by the kirakira, and that's not an awful thing. Recommend from me. But if you're looking for a work of art, well animated cute idols, and don't care about the story, you might as well skip it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 7, 2018

rangerkoji

Mixed Feelings

Wake up girls is a series that was really low on my "to watch" list, and I think this is true for most people. As someone who loves to binge watch everything, I was waiting until the entire franchise finished, and I binge watched it.

My Overall Thought:
Some cool characters, ok story, good music, bad animation.

Synopsis:
Just the continuation from the "beyond the bottom" (not going to spoil it). However, we are introduced to a group of three girls that wants to become an idol. Job for the WUGs are steadily increasing, and are ready to put out their first album.


Story:
It was neither good or bad. Compared ... to the previous seasons, it felt lacking, but this is expected. It's hard to have a good story when you already develop your idol's story. The addition of the new 3 girls was refreshing, but it was nowhere close to revamp the story. I think this is why many idol anime end in 2 seasons, and WUG was no different. I don't think you can make another sequel with these characters. To me, this story felt more like the studio saying "we gave up on WUG and want to create a new story in the future, so let us add some new characters for the future franchise".

Art:
If you love watching the artwork (someone like me, especially if you can understand Jpananese and watches anime for the animation), I would not recommend this series. It got worse and worse over time. There were cut scenes that were too long, and I think it had to due with financial problem with WUG production. I think the overall rating would have been 8 if the artwork was better. Last episode was the only redeeming quality (it was really good).

Character:
I actually quite like the characters, but the character development is poor. We are introduced to some of I1 idol's problem (find out who yourself), and that was quite nice. However, I wish there were more to this. Also, alot of the characters disappeared from the previous seasons. For example, I was wondering what happened to bvex?

Sound:
Idol anime needs good songs. One thing I really liked about the songs in WUG is that all the songs felt like it was WUG (as they include this in the song). However, I felt that the songs were overused too many times, and it felt stale towards the end. I would rather have one new song being played, than have a repeat of 5-6 songs that WUG has already sung. Especially the last song they sang. I don't understand why the production team though it was a good idea to play the last live song before the actual finale.

Enjoyment:
It wasn't terrible. If I had my full attention to this anime, then it would have been a much lower score, but its not a bad anime to zone out of.

Overall:
I gave it a 6. But, this series did have potential. Nicer artwork, more funding, etc. Especially when there were some cuts that were okay for too long.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 8, 2017

Revisionary

Not Recommended

Preliminary (5/12 eps)

“Wake Up, Girls!” (WUG) came out in 2014 without much fanfare. While it wasn’t completely unknown to viewers at the time, it was definitely not a show that many paid attention to. Marred by poor production values and a plot that failed to really shine against its competitors, WUG never really managed to be a major player in the idol anime genre.

But nonetheless, it was a remarkable series in its own right. While more popular idol series like “The Idolm@ster” and “Love Live!” gave an idealized version of life as an idol, WUG always had a grounded approach in regards to how it represented ... its young idols. Life as a young star was not as glamourous as it seemed. It was a life filled with competition, stress, and bottom lines. Producers were not there to help their girls achieve their dreams. They were, for the most part, there to ensure that their stars were profitable and marketable. WUG’s willingness to show this side of the business stood out to me, which is why I have always been on the lookout for WUG-related media.

So how does the “Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou” (WUGSS) fare?

Not too well.

Firstly, I will admit that I didn’t head into this new season with very high expectations. People who have read my review on the last entry of the series, “Beyond the Bottom,” will note that I had a rather low opinion of the movie. In my opinion, none of the entries that followed the original series were able to capture the feeling that WUG had. And unfortunately, it appears that this series is no different.

I have a fair share of issues with this season, which is why I am not surprised to see that the show has had such low scores on MyAnimeList.

Firstly, I thought it was impossible for the animation for the WUG series to get any worse. As I mentioned before, WUG had a rather poor production values, which I was hoping would be fixed when WUGSS came around. For whatever reason, the new animation team has not only failed to improve the animation quality, but has managed to make the art shoddier than before. One prime example would be the dance and singing sequences which, unsurprisingly, are the crux of any musical idol series.

Rather than utilizing traditional animation for these sequences, we have been given CGI sequences that are ugly as hell. For those of you that have played mobile idol games like “Idolm@ster: Theater Days,” I am about to tell you that your mobile game boasts far better animation than this animation series. I understand that this may seem like I’m exaggerating, but the animation is so damn choppy for the CGI that I was beginning to worry that my monitor was beginning to lag.

When you finally get to the fifth episode (assuming you last that long), you will begin to realize that the animation has devolved to the point that you are literally watching a glorified powerpoint. WUG has taken animation shortcuts before, but never on the scale of WUGSS, which has led me to believe that either the animation team was completely absent that day, or that they somehow ran out of budget and decided to take an Evangelion-esque approach to animation.

If I had to sum up the story, I would say that it is just alright. There are glimpses of the harsh idol industry that was so well-captured in WUG, but those moments are few and far inbetween. Perhaps there’s more to the story, but at the time of this review, I have decided to drop this season at episode 5. I don’t expect the show to get any better in its remaining episodes. I would love to be proven wrong, but as of now, the show is not very good. If anyone reading this review would like to let me know if this show has gotten any better near the end, I would appreciate it if they send me a message sometime. I don’t expect much in any case.

The only real positive thing I have to say would be in regards to the music and voice-acting. As always, the musical talents from the real-life Wake Up, Girls! Have come to bless us again with their catchy and phenomenal tunes. Although not as great as WUG’s opening “7 Girls War,” “7 Senses” is a decent opening song that lives up to its predecessors. It’s a shame that the opening animation is absolutely terrible.

All in all, “Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou” is an example of sequel that fails to improve upon itself. Its poor animation makes the original look like a masterpiece, while its mediocre and forgettable story prevents it from being anything but missed potential.

I can’t even recommend this to the most dedicated of WUG fans.

I’d stick with the real-life Wake Up, Girls! if I were you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Oct 9, 2017	53 replies	by Yui_Suzumiya69 »» Oct 3, 2023 1:24 PM
	Why isn't episode 13 on MAL? Rorek - Jul 28, 2021	5 replies	by Cainael »» Mar 15, 2022 11:59 AM
	Poll: Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 25, 2017	29 replies	by Serafos »» Jul 10, 2021 3:16 AM
	Poll: Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 18, 2017	8 replies	by Serafos »» Jul 10, 2021 2:35 AM
	Poll: Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 11, 2017	8 replies	by Serafos »» Jul 10, 2021 1:49 AM