Idol Time PriPara

Idol Time PriPara stands up to its predecessor, PriPara, if just barely. I believe that if you enjoyed PriPara you will also like Idol Time, though the sequel still has its flaws compared to the first series.

The main aspect of Idol Time that is lacking is the story; it seems to have a lot of unnecessary filler to stretch out the series. PriPara is also guilty of this, but Idol Time seems to have even more of this. I always look forward to the CG performances in each episode, but when the same song is played for three or four episodes at a time, it ... gets repetitive.

The new characters in Idol Time are a good addition, but fall short of PriPara's main characters in terms of likeability. Personally, I think it's because of having to hear "Kashikoma" and "Yumekawa" ten times an episode.

Overall, Idol Time Pripara is an enjoyable series, though not as good as its prequel. The story are art are okay, and the characters and songs are better. I would still recommend watching Idol Time if you enjoyed PriPara because it adds fresh content and has about the same feel as the original.

I loved the original series, Pripara, it was funny, quirky, enjoyable, etc. When I heard that a new series of Pripara was coming out I was so excited!

Story [5/10]
The story... Ok I'm sorry but the story for Idol Time just bores me. It takes so long for things to start happening. Yui finally makes a team in EPISODE 36!! It took a long time to introduce most of the characters and the main conflict in the show.

Art [6/10]
I feel like the animation for this series isn't as great as the original. The CGI sequences are pretty much the same but the normal ... 2D is pretty lazy and not that detailed.

Sound [9/10]
One of Pripara's best points is it's music. It's SO good! Especially Miss. Prillionaire, Gira Galactic Tightrope, Accha Kocha Game, Ghost Coaster, Brand New Happiness, Kaida Senshin Kakkin Buddy, etc. It's songs are so catchy and fun! The only thing I have to complain about the songs is that songs like Brand New Happiness are played over and over and over again which isn't so bad but the fact that songs like Kaida Senshin are only played once kinda annoys me.

Characters [6/10]
The characters are like mixes of the old ones, they aren't very original. Yui (Laala, Mikan, and Non), Nino (Shion, Dorothy), Michiru (Chiri, Aroma), Shuuka (Hibiki, Chiri). I'm annoyed that they brought back the Black and Green Vocaldolls/Goddesses conflict between sisters thing. Falala and Galala are basically Jewlie+Falulu and Janice+Garuru combined. Like how many times are they going to reuse the same sister drama plot. I'm happy that they added in boy idols like WITH but they barely got any development. I'm sad that most of the old charas barely get any screen time, but it is the sequel so meh.

Enjoyment [8/10]
While I much prefer the original Pripara, IT isn't horrible, it just isn't as good. It has it's funny moments (like Yui and Shougo) and it's times of character development (Michiru, Nino). There are filler episodes but they are mostly enjoyable. I really wish that they would stop using the same plot as Season 3 of Pripara with Super Idol Time and Falala and Galala, but thats my only problem.

Overall [7/10]
It's not amazing but it's not horrible either. I love Pripara because of how cute and fun it is. I always look forward to watching new episodes and listening to the new songs. I would recommend it to someone who like the original Pripara, magical girl-idol shows, and has the patience to wait so long for subbed episodes.

*NO SPOILERS*

Idol Time PriPara was something I couldn't wait, after watching PriPara and hearing the story would go on I got excited, who wouldn't. To this day PriPara is one of my favourite idol type animes but Idol Time can't scratch the surface.

The only thing that keeps me from slowly dragging myself through this anime is the characters from PriPara - and they are in for a few episodes max - and the sound. As always Idol Time lives up to the great soundtrack with it creating upbeat and enjoyable songs. That is sadly the only praise I can get.

The art isn't bad but it ... isn't good. The anime makes some good jokes on it, making me like it a bit more, but the extra details and lines seem off. When I watch a sequal i may expect better animations or better art here and there but I don't expect to see art that looks very different from it's source. It scares me when the old characters stand next to the new, they seem like they've been pasted onto a scene rather than the two being part of it. If they had to change the art style, they should've did minor changes to make the other characters blend into scenes.

I really wanted to enjoy Idol Time but the characters are so bland. All feel like copies from the original and the story is... well I don't know. After 19 episodes of watching I would expect to know the story but other than Lala needing to make this place great there is none. With you following Yui, that is just Lala with catchphrase steroids, and having no idea what is happening because Yui explains things with dream so much you can't tell what things mean or just because that episode lacks a story all together.

The anime feels so force with the only character of being an interest is Nino. I don't need to watch further to predict what is going on and granted this is aimed at someone younger than me, but even PriPara had me still watching with it's childish acts.

Idol animes fall for this usual trap of reboots and some can work well while others fall. Idol Time falls because of my high expectations and the lack of anything new. Despite new characters, new music, new adventures and new mysterious, it still feels old and reused like someone just paraphrased the entirety of PriPara but with their own characters.

I think the big problem is how slow the anime is. PriPara was not fast, but each episode had chaos, real problems or something that made you grow towards a character. Idol Time has new episodes that I watch the OPing (my favourite part of the show so far) and then instantly wish I wasn't hooked onto Lalas' adventures.

Without Lala I am sure many people, not just me, would not be watching this show and so I will drag myself slowly to watch this show. I have no expectations of this to be enjoyable especially with mild spoilers being thrown at me about the ending being way to similar to PriParas.

All in all, without it's prequel, I would not be watching this. I would download or find the soundtrack on the wiki so I can listen to it. Then I would wish upon some star that it didn't have an anime to begin with.

Story: 3/10
Art 5/10
Sound 8/10
Character 2/10
Enjoyment 3/10
Overall 3/10

EDIT: I have crawled to episode 36 and still feel this way. There is in fact a story but it takes a very long time to happen nor is it a focus at all.