Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight

Damn, does this series truly knows no bounds at knowing how to captivate its audience, by showing the weaknesses that breaks you and cultivating that into the strength that makes you better and more spirit-willed with confidence. That's the vibes I got with watching Shoujo Kageki: Revue Starlight, truly a hidden gem, sleeper hit, AND a seriously underrated masterpiece that can compete with the likes of Your Lie In April, in terms of musical development (more on that later). And before you ask, this isn't an idol musical fan-fest anime (like so many that I come to despise over the years).

Since this is an original ... series, I might as well first introduce to you, one of the strongest staff line-ups for this series (because its their efforts that made the show stand out):
Director Tomohiro Furukawa, the protégé of popular director Kunihiko Ikuhara, handling this series. For the many of you whom have watched Revolutionary Girl Utena back in the mid-90s, the similarities will be very striking as many of Ikuhara-sensei's signature directionals is replicated well by Furukawa (his student), such as the Yuri or class settings of works past, with surrealism. With Revue Starlight, the captivating visuals and the show-don't-tell aesthetic all mesh together to form one big picture of storytelling exposition with intelligent creative control, and that's where the series truly executes majestically at its best.

Music composers Yoshiaki Fujisawa (known him for creating A LOT of excellent music repertoire) and Tatsuya Katou, coming from the Love Live! Sunshine series. I was hesitant with Tatsuya Katou because he is a name that I didn't have high expectations with, but knowing his list of works (Fate/kaleid, Free!, Mirai Nikki, Hanebado! to name a few) immediately put me at ease and rest assured, I really thank both composers because EVERY song in here, be it the OST and the Revue songs, were done with much debacle and the subversive aspect means of portraying the feelings and emotions that the main characters struggle with to achieve their very best. With the addition of sound composer Haru Yamada for his marvelous works (Banana Fish, Made In Abyss, and the No. 1 rated anime movie of all time, Kimi no Na wa.), this is an OST that is worth every bit of listening to it as is with watching the show.

Alright, let's get into this series proper, shall we?

Shoujo Kageki: Revue Starlight (doesn't tell much but) shows us about the stories of human ambitions: The cost of fame that comes with wanting to be the very best (like no one ever was), and coming into contact with the setting of harsh competitiveness, comes people's perception of us on the main stage.
From there, the story splits into two:
The Starlight, or which I like to call it "The tip of the iceberg", is about as average as it gets: Practice sessions galore and some character drama about girls arguing and motivating one another as they image themselves on stage, always wanting to be the main character that stands out above the rest.
The Revue auditions, aside from the weird giraffe-host aspect, pits the girls against each other to question whether the feelings from the Starlight festival-cum-play (which seems to always be in repeat, but case-by-case basis with the different characters' perspectives) are truly what they appear to be, and how can they exceed their limits of understanding what they truly want for the best of themselves and the others, at the expense of some sacrificial aspects of their lives.

So basically, a story with lots of plot holes, yet manages to not feel old nor boring, with the endless amount of possibilities that the new future of the girls' wishes could be granted that benefits them to the best of their ability. And yet another series that truly just doesn't give a shit about us trying to predict the plot (which it isn't), and changed gears so fast that we can barely catch up to, and that makes for a fun and fascinating idea that so many anime refused to take the road less travelled, and the risk pays off tenfold here.

The Starlight Kukugumi, which are the main 9 girls of the series, have taken lots of stride to be at where they are, and it's exciting to see every girl gets their own exposition, the perspective they're watching from:

The (main) childhood-friend troupe:
Aijo Karen, the loudspeaker of the group, and one that's not afraid to showcase her talents while being energetic to everything around her, she and Hikari and childhood friends running up the pace on Revue Starlight, and seeing it as a promise to stand together on the fated stage.
Hikari Kagura, the never-giving-up but sore thumb of the group, has a connection with Aijo since being captivated by the Revue Starlight as children, but grows up in failure and had to be content with trying again in Japan, only to see Aijo caught up to her brilliance and her tsundere-side of hoping the same situation as Aijo does.
Mahiru Tsuyuzaki, the stay-by-my-side-always friend to Aijo, is the third wheel in the Karen-Hikari relationship, to stand alongside her on the fated stage. Jealous of how Hikari has stolen her spot, she refuses to call off the relationship by proving that she is the better character aside Aijo, amidst admiring the light that was shone on her, until Karen breaks that mentality and shows Mahiru her own path to greatness without her.

Futaba Isurugi and Kaoruko Hanayagi, these two girls are situations similar but different from how Karen and Hikari were done: both girls supported one another from childhood, and always on the constant look-out of doing things together...until someone breaks that tradition (Futaba) and the score is settled out of the conflict that both friends had for each other.

The master-of-all-trades troupe:
Maya Tendou and Claudine Saijou, both hard workers, impressive at their acting crafts and wanting to be at the very top spot. And since Maya's No.1, and Claudine being the runner-up to her, this reminds me of the situation between All Might and Endeavour (which series I leave that to y'all to figure out). Being a perfectionist isn't easy, and with that comes the level of pride that has been established from the get go, and both characters aren't willing to forgo the spot (which makes for an interesting storyline arc).

The impressionist and repetitive troupe:
Junna Hoshimi and Nana Daiba, both characters who seemingly have their own stories to share as well.
Junna is the example of following your own dreams despite the conformance to the society, and is a little shy, but doesn't beat around the bush to give the clear answer. Nana (or Banana as the girls nicknamed her), her aim to keep the status quo. Both characters are exactly how the world functions and it is very relatable to our own standards.

The more we learn from the characters, the better the storytelling...ain't it so?

Not to mention that Kinema Citrus, the studio that brought you Made In Abyss, showed up with force on this series, and it's a well thought-out production through and through. The striking animation, beautiful artwork all combine forces to create one hell of a bullet show that does just as you would of the music genre: give it a whole lot of justice and experience.

I'm very impressed of the show overall, the elephant in the room is only with 12 episodes, the well done pacing and whatnot made me crave for more to milk on and it's sad because this series definitely set the gold standard for future musical series to follow. It's not a show where people can understand immediately, but it's definitely one that would be left forgotten. If you manage to pick this up, share this around with people who love musical anime, I can promise that it will impress, and impress it does to the fullest.

Honestly, I went into Revue Starlight expecting it to be another idolesque multimedia project trying to recapture Love Live’s success, and once the series actually began, it was swarmed with comparisons to Revolutionary Girl Utena. Unfortunately, these comparisons have been unavoidable in the discourse surrounding this anime, and few people are trying to appreciate the series for its own appeal. So, before going into what makes this series great, here’s a bit of background.

The idea that Revue Starlight is just another Utena-like is mainly based on the director of the anime being Tomohiro Furukawa, who worked under Ikuhara on Mawaru Penguindrum and Yuri Kuma Arashi. ... However, rather than being inspired by works like Utena, it would be more accurate to say that they share the common inspiration of Takarazuka, a form of Japanese theater in which all roles are played by women. These women are sorted into pairs of Otokoyaku (women who play male characters) and Musumeyaku (women who play female characters). In each troupe, one Otokoyaku will hold the position of Top Star, and she and her Musumeyaku will play the leads in all of the troupe’s productions. This system is the foundation of Revue Starlight, but there’s one more thing I need to address before I can get into that.

To credit the direction of the franchise entirely to Tomohiro is to ignore all of the other voices that have had a hand in the formation of the Revue Starlight multimedia project. Though most western fans found out about the franchise through this anime, the stage musical actually preceded it by a year, so it’s worth looking at who was involved, especially since they’ve gone unrecognized by this site. The core trio is made up of Kodama Akiko, Miura Kaori, and Nakamura Kanata, who are the director, screenplay writer, and songwriter for the project, respectively. All three have a background in theater, with Kodama specifically having worked as a writer and director for Takarazuka productions. These women’s love of the stage is the foundation of this franchise, and none of it could have existed without them.

With that addressed, we can finally talk about the Top Star system. There are a lot of things that are unfair about this system, and Revue Starlight is an exploration and critique of its structure. As mentioned above, Takarazuka actresses are sorted into Otokoyaku and Musumeyaku, and only Otokoyaku can become Top Star. However, actresses cannot choose which role to play; it is decided for them based on factors such as their height and voice. Characters like Futaba or Claudine could never become an Otokoyaku, much less the Top Star, and it’s because of factors completely outside of their control. Beyond this, the simple fact that there can only be one Top Star pits the members of the troupe into rivalries with each other, and while this can be good-natured and help both actresses grow (as is the case for Maya and Claudine), it can just as easily be harmful. It is for this reason that the protagonist of the series, Karen, wishes to revolutionize the system, so that she can simply stand beside her friends instead of fighting to stand above them.

Karen is not the only character who challenges the system, but she is the one most suited to changing it, since she is the only one willing to step outside of its bounds. Others try to resist from within, but both the play Starlight and the Revue itself are tragedies, and their actions only serve to perpetuate this cycle. In contrast, Karen does not hold the existing system in the same high regard as her peers, and is willing to break the mold if that’s what’s needed to protect them. This is reflected in her not clearly fitting into either Takarazuka role – she is sometimes framed as Musumeyaku to Hikari’s Otokoyaku, but is also repeatedly shown to be willing to cross the boundaries of that position. She embodies the ideal of the franchise, and while this does unfortunately come at the expense of her own characterization, the message is so earnest and hopeful that I can't bring myself to think too poorly of it.

Considering the amount of this review that I’ve dedicated to discussing Takarazuka, I suppose it’s only right to close on a reflection of whether or not a knowledge of it is necessary to enjoy the series. Starlight is both a love letter and a scathing critique for this form of theater, but in the end, the answer is no – while it’s true that it adds an appreciation for some specific design and directing choices, it’s ultimately interchangeable with any system with a strict hierarchy that forces its participants against each other. With that said, there’s a lot going on beneath the surface of this series, and what you get out of it is proportional to what you put into it. Seeing blogposts and video essays on its subject matter was just as much a part of the experience for me as the show itself, and I doubt this series would have resonated with me as strongly as it did if it weren’t for the fantastic creative community that it fostered.

Whenever a multimedia project is involved, there’s always the worry that the anime is made purely as a commercial for the other elements of the project, without any ambitions of its own. This is not the case for Revue Starlight. If anything, this series was too ambitious – there was a looming fear that the production would crumble, and animators were being scouted on Twitter throughout its run. But despite these worries, the team somehow pulled everything off; these characters are believable and relatable, the animation is stunning in both its presentation of the girls’ grand stage duels and their mundane everyday life, and the music is unlike any other anime I’ve seen. It’s a miracle that this series exists, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not at least give it a chance.

There are so many ideas spawning in anime making these days that sometimes, you wonder if there’s enough. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight originally gave me the impression of an idol series with musical themes with its promotional material. I’m not going to lie, idol series these days have become very redundant in terms of context. With some exceptions such as Love Live, the majority of anime musicals haven’t impressed me in recent years. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight soon made its presence for Summer 2018. To my pleasant surprise, it became a showstopper that exceeded my expectations and also left me with an appetite of wanting ... for more.

Right off the bat, I should mention that the series can be deceptive looking at first glance. You wouldn’t be wrong if you’re getting flashbacks from series like Love Live with the all-star female cast and pretty outfits. Still, this show manages to build a story with its cast and being able to hook me from the start. Featuring a group of nine girls, the story tells about these characters competing in stage plays. Not everything gets too far underway though as the first episode had a more lighthearted slice of life mood with character rehearsing for a theatrical play. Soon, the show surprises us with "Revue Starlight", an underground audition program orchestrated by a mysterious talking giraffe. We are also introduced to some of the main characters such as Karen and Hikari. The series makes it clear that they made a promise to each other but fate unites them at the same school. Make no mistake. Seisho Music Academy is more than just about learning the concepts of stage of performance. It’s about making superstars.

There are several selling points in the show that I think are important. The plot itself isn’t too complex but it’s the characters that really create a sensation. Every character establishes themselves throughout the show so it’s not just Karen and Hikari carrying the story. This is important as certain characters aren’t left in the dust and we get to see what others can really do. For instance, there is one episode that focuses on Mahiru, another that showcases what Futaba and Kaoruko’s talents, and even an episode that’s named after the character, Nana. To be clear, Hikari and Karen still get their prominent moments as we see many of their moments together. The most important one revolves around their promise together when they were just kids. By presenting these flashbacks often, it make us want to see how much they can accomplish together. Indeed, the series has the purpose of making this troupe of girls into stage stars. The way characters reaffirms their intention is also noticable through their innate dialogues and narratives.

The more I watched this anime, the more I also felt attached to the character relationships. I’m not just talking about character chemistry but how characters behave on stage and in real life. There’s an abundance of moments between the cast that are worth noting. It sometimes creates a sensation of subtle yuri while other times evoke human feelings and amplifying character personalities. This is mostly characterized by rivalries that are established throughout the show. Maya and Claudine is an example who competes for the #1 spot. Mahiru also has her own personal rivalry with Hikari due to her admiration for Karen. The centerpiece relationship deals with Hikari and Karen at how much they have changed. In some of the climatic episodes, we get to see how much they have improved as kids while revisiting their childhood moments. It’s a principle used for this show that is devastatingly effective. Because let’s face it, the series takes good care of its characters without holding them back. I’ll get to the actual theatric performances later on but some of the characters' inner thoughts speak so much about them.

You’re definitely on the right track if the series gives you an impression of the anime being a bit too gimmicky at times. Combining elements of music, dance, combat, art, theater, and stage performing feels like the show oversells itself at times. However, I want to also mention that it is able to capitalize on its concepts to make it as creative as it can be. It sells its stage performances like a form of art. There’s also psychology with a deep dive into characters’ motivations in the show. We don’t often see musical series like this too often as it’s about a group or individuals just competing against each other. What I think Starlight got right is how much it can make the audience feel attached to its characters. No one is really left in the dust at the end and every character is memorable. The story gets more and more complex but it just made me love it more. If you fancy some slice of life moments outside of the stage, there’s that too.

There’s also one other main selling point of the show and that’s the visuals. To me, it’s like a work of art. The stage performances and theatric character moves is incredibly dynamic even from the very first episode. Director Tomohiro Furukawa should be given praise given the amount of creativity he poured into this work. It reminded me a bit of Mawaru Pengindrum (I mean, that talking giraffe is about as surreal as it can get) at times while also making sure the show didn’t lose its focus. On stage, the characters draw their emotions from their colorful dialogues, theatrical dancing, and human expressions. The unique design of the character costumes are also distinctive with the red fiery capes and uniforms. Every girl in the show also wields a unique weapon as part of their stage combat that includes rapier, cutlass, sword, scepter, bow and arrow, twin katanas, scythe, naginata, and daggers. It brings variety to their stage performances and sets the bar for entertainment.

And stage performances can’t be complete with the music. Everything feels so smooth and synchronized as I watched and more of those performances. The music plays in union with the performances that never loses its momentum. The emotional quality of the soundtrack is definitely outstanding with its style. I should also mention that there is a variety of theme song performances from talented artists and all of them left me in awe.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight sets the gold standard for a show being able to make an identity of itself. From the stage performances to its valuable character cast, every episode made me carve for more. It has a pacing that perfectly worked well for this anime while also having moments of lighthearted slice of life and comedy. It’s a show that may not be able to attract a general audience so it's not easily recommendable for anyone. It's an underrated gem that may have slipped under the radar but definitely one worth talking about.

If Revue Starlight put as much effort into the story as it did into presentation it could’ve been a great show. However not balancing the two and not at least compensating on something in particular it brought down both elements. There will be some spoilers in this review but given how lackluster the writing is I sincerely don’t think they matter.

Starlight starts off rather simple before trying to make things more complex and failing. We got a few girls, they attend an art school that teaches them all about theater and their ultimate test is to be top stars during a yearly Seisho Festival. However ... there’s a caveat. Outside of interpersonal drama and the hardships of study and practice, girls have to compete in a mysterious underground audition ran by a talking giraffe who serves sort of as a stand-in for the audience hungry for spectacle and drama. They get armed with some weapons with a bow being as advanced as it gets, and go at each other until one cuts off a button from the opponent’s outfit. The one who managed to do that and moves up in ranks. Ranks seem to correlate with their prowess as a performer rather than a fighter, so a lot of the time these fights become battles of will where the one who’s right wins. It’s a more or less elegant and thematically appropriate way of putting in action in a show like this and justifying your characters going “yep, screwed up on that one guess you’re right and I’m wrong”.

The show runs with this sort of basic structure for about 6 episodes. We get some SoL bits, we get a focus on a character or two, we learn about something that bothers them and then it’s solved in a fight and never matters again. As trite as it might sound this is the best part of the show to me. SoL segments are enjoyable thanks to presentations that’s easy on the eyes and character interactions, who despite their overall simplicity have a good dynamic when you put them together. If I were to make a music comparison this show would be like a shittier Kraftwerk when it came to characters. They don’t have a lot of complexity but compose some basic elements together well enough for it to be entertaining. The fights are also somewhat spectacular, they won’t be wowing many people with top notch animation or stunning action choreography even though both of those are on a decent level. However, when you put together everything they do for the characters, the design of the stages, songs and decent animation and choreography it’s a nice cherry on top of I think almost every episode.

Unfortunately when episode 7 rolls in the show changes drastically and tries to be way more complex and dramatic than it has any right being with how barebones the story and characters are, they can’t even establish a coherent theme or statement but you take a look at how it’s presented and it’s as if you’re supposed to be getting something new about life out of this.

At Episode 7 we learn that the aforementioned giraffe and his underground auditions grant winner their wish, which one of the girls uses to put on the same show over and over for god knows how long. It pretty much comes out of the blue but at least there’s nice bits of foreshadowing to be found throughout the show alluding to that girl’s strong affection for the event and recontextualize her actions. At this point she seems like a big villain or a psycho, after all it’s not very kind or healthy to force everyone inside a time loop for unknown but presumably very long time. Not to worry through, her crazy gets knocked out of her the next episode so we can build up the drama between the two main characters.

That’s what the remaining quarter of the show pretty much is. It’s all about the main couple of Karen and Hikari. Even the story within a story of the show, the titular Starlight is supposed to be a parallel to their relationship and their fate. The two want to be happy together but there can be only one top star so one will have to fall by the end. This is their entire dynamic. One wants to do the impossible and go against “fate”, the other wants to prevent her precious little baby friend from having to face the hardships of losing in that underground tournament and losing her “shine” or basically idol charm and shit. Despite being very simple and straightforward the show leans so much on hitting you over the head with “subtle” symbolism and allusions in dialogue that at times you’d think this is supposed to be some 2deep4you art film. It depends on personal preference, but I found it very frustrating how self-indulgent the show got with that stuff despite having a pretty damn basic, unimaginative plot and themes.

Another slightly disappointing aspect is music. Not that it’s bad but unless you’re a fan of JPop already this won’t have anything new for you. Aside from standard instrumental tracks this is just bland, generic idol jpop. It’s nice that lyrics for the fights tie into what the actual fight is about but it’s important to note that unless you’re pirating this anime or know japanese you won’t have much of a clue as to what they’re singing about. On top of that it’s obviously mixed differently from the way a normal track by itself would be so there are many times during a fight where the insert song is getting a bit muted so that characters could talk. Symphogear has a similar thing going on but that show did it much better cause characters actually sing during a fight, so the song itself actually blends in perfectly with the action.

At least art is consistently good. There’s a dedication to striking visuals and cinematography. Also while the actual symbolism was pretty damn blunt and obnoxious at times, at least it was consistently nice to look at and I guess it gives people looking for it something to chew at. The last few episodes, I’m not sure from which point exactly, struggled with production but I doubt many people will notice that. Aside from some cheap, slow, panning shots that you’d see in almost any other show it’s clear that the team working on it believed in the project and was passionate about making it so at least there’s no jank there to really leave a bad spot on the presentation.

Overall this show is rather hard for me to recommend. If you’re really into idols or SoLs with female cast then sure I guess you’ll get something out of it. Otherwise though it’s just a very mediocre, at times bad even narrative that’s only spiced up by nice visuals. Maybe if it went over the top, or at least harder on the spectacle it would be worth watching just for that but as it is that part alone can’t carry the show.

Anime gets often called 'art' instead of simply 'entertainment' for the simple reason that its audiovisual achievements are more noteworthy than the characters and story that can never really reach the same level as books or manga. But like with everything in life, the polar opposite view point exist. To some viewers there seem to be nothing that kills the industry harder than 'style over substance', and those who despise this way of being should now take notes and never watch this anime.

But I can like both. Especially in today's industry where substance is often lacking, new series are copy-paste of everything else that has ... already been made, and in generally the industry has reached a point where quantity of anime series is high yet the outcome is starting to look like serial production where quality is secondary. Few times a year, a series that manages to offer something different than any other series, appears, and if we are lucky, they turn out to be as beautiful as Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

The setup is very simple, but still unique for the reason that this show falls between the modern music idol genre and the older female character driven narratives focusing on personal career/show business (Prince Tutu = ballet dancer, Glass Mask = actress, Kaleido Star = acrobat). Revue's focus being on revue artists and the main difference between the older way is the amount of girls as this series has a wide cast with more than handful of main characters.

The entire story is almost solely build around friendship drama where the series' abstract audiovisual execution and creative usage of different elements exist to symbolize the character development and our characters inner feelings. This all is very light mannered and self-explanatory to the viewer. The most simple way how this is executed is our characters' feelings being presented in actions and "fights" on the stage. Some more obscure analysis could be given as well, such as elevator connecting our characters' personal life to their stage life and the alternative staircase paths showing that there is no shortcut to success. Other interesting elements exist as well such as Tokyo Tower referring to the black swan (the theory and the play itself -- or at least that's how I comprehended it), but in generally, these are only very small details that can add to the viewing experience and ultimately, exist in the series to serve its creativity and overall style.

The series is directed by an assistant of Ikuhara Kunihiko who is most famous for directing Revolutionary Girl Utena and Mawaru Penguindrum. His style is in generally considered to be among the most abstract and original the anime industry has to offer. To say that his old assistant has adopted his style is an understatement to a certain extent. For example, some of the more in-the-distance fight scenes especially regarding their background art directing resemble Utena, as well as the elevator, of course which was used in Utena as well. Same thing could be said of the "sewing in progress" scene which is repeated in the same manner as "survival strategy" in Mawaru Penguindrum.

I would also like to list several other scenes that were visually just perfect, but I will refrain from spoiling anything. Let me just state that some of the scenes have lot to offer when the revue scenes play with objects that are from another dimensions much like in video games that swap between 2D and 3D. There is also a talking giraffe in the series and one of the characters is called Banana, so I am not sure what else one could wish for. There is also decent amount of music in the series and it's been used in a respectable manner - or at least I respect it when music plays loud and aims to make the series better than it would otherwise be, and that's how it works here.

This is not an obligatory watch that every single person should witness, but as far as modern anime goes, a fine piece.

Starlight Review is what happens when you aim high but fail in execution. One could almost forgive the director for all of the homages to Ikuhara (though curiously I didn't catch any to Penguindrum, a project he actually worked on) peppered throughout the work, but when all is said and done these references, set among a half-baked story, may come off as clumsily endearing but end up holding it up to these other, better works and highlighting where it falls short.

Stylistically, this work comes off saturated in Ikuhara, and from episode one it takes up some very explicit imagery from Utena (the duels, the tower) ... and sets them to a very pretty orchestral score and even musical theater. An underground audition! A scoring system which rules over students mercilessly! Calls from a mysterious entity that offers to grant your wishes! A giraffe! There's clearly a lot going on here - a mix of familiar and fresh - and even if the art's fairly plain (auditions aside) and Karen could use a throat lozenge, it gives the impression that it's going to tell a big story.

Unfortunately, the story Starlight ends up telling borrows from the weaker elements of Ikuhara - repetition, awkward humor, weirdness for the sake of weirdness - with most of the strengths left aside. The story itself isn't really that big, and depending on how much you enjoy yuri and the Nanami episodes of Utena your mileage may vary on large portions of it which tend to muddle on with awkward humor and eye-rolling professions of love and starlight and promises. Much of the show is centered around conflicts between sets of characters themed around tensions which presumably arise between theater nerds, and while the themes of sacrifice for art and conflict between performers is the show's strongest element even these tend to lack depth. What's remarkable about Starlight is how conservative the storytelling element is - the conflicts between the side characters are wrapped up uncomfortably neatly, most within the space of a single episode, and they're back to being friends by the next. For a theater school everyone's awfully nice to one another. One also has to wonder at the consequence of focusing so much on these side characters when they all end up shuffled off to the audience for the show's finale.

The main story of Starlight is equally unsatisfying, if not moreso due to all of the attention it's given. Featuring some of the blandest character design in the story, they're also some of the least interesting - for how fraught their relationship is, the substance of it isn't developed much beyond Karen's endless repetition of their promise and Hikari's lukewarm reception for much of the show. Like other elements of the show, it's something which intrigues on first glance and tires on third or fourth.

Starlight has an interesting premise, and despite its unambitious execution it has some genuinely strong episodes. Despite this weak first entry, I'm looking forward to what the director does next.

Another one of those shows which has a great first episode, however is completely lacking throughout the series in story, character development and to a degree, sound direction. For a show with an arts school setting and singing each episode, you would think that story and sound would be a priority, not for this show though. The biggest disappointment so far I've watched. The first episode was actually really great, and I thought it had potential, sadly the rest of the show just pales in comparison.

I have no idea why they even made this show, when it was so obvious that the animators wanted to ... make a show about manufacturing. Literally the best part of the show was the transformation scene. I've never even seen such a high production transformation scene before. I graduated mechanical engineering and I'm surprised they even researched about different industrial manufacturing processes like annealing, drawing, and stamping which normal animators would have no business knowing! And they weren't just flimsy drawings but it's as if the animators actually visited and thoroughly researched the production line of some factory, all for one scene that doesn't even last 1 minute!!!

They could've set the show in an engineering school instead of an arts school and the show would make 100x more sense considering how much animation and research they put in that transformation scene. In comparison, the only thing I remember arts related in anyway was "position 0", pathetic.

WAKARIMASU?

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight is the biggest meme of 2018, and by that I mean people have been tricked into thinking it's actually good, I'm going to delve into the first few episodes because that was all I could take of this pile of garbage so let's get into the breakdown of what makes this show as bad as it is.

First off we have our main character Karen, who's aspiring to be the top performer within her theatrical school and attain the lead role in the last play that their class will be performing together. The previous year they had the lead roles performed by ... Maya and Claudine who are the current #1 and #2 performers of the class, as we get deeper into the series the show brings us numerous episodes showcasing one or two of each girl at a time in order to give us some sort of background on them, now while you would think that's a good idea this series manages to completely scrap the character they just took the time to tell us about just to jump into the next one after bringing them into the limelight, as if those were their 15 minutes of fame only to be forgotten immediately after.

Let's talk about the major focus of the series now, the characters. Every single character is single pane dull to the point that you know every word out of their mouth before they even say it and not one constructive thing is said. I'll just take a second here to give an example of this. Hikari says to Karen: "I'm going to become a star." Karen says back to Hikari: "Wait, Hikari! Let's become stars together!" and that's literally every interaction with all of the girls in this series, you have Karen's roommate who seems to be in love with Karen but somehow Karen doesn't notice and her roommate's only lines are that of worrying that Karen's attention is being shifted away from her while throwing in comedic verses as she takes care of Karen's personal well-being because Karen can't even seem to wake up on her own.

This series may have the worst take on superstar competition that's ever been conceived, the top performers in the theatrical class are invited to take part in a Revue, or battle of bow and sword on a stage play beneath their school by a talking giraffe that doesn't allow the girls to talk about the existence of what transpired; if we put this into a metaphor the entire stage play battle beneath the school was actually the personification of the girl's talents battling with each other, but it's done in a way that's entirely serious and takes away not only from the characters themselves but deviates the story from moving any further ahead. It's said that even after losing one of the stage battles they have the chance to work their way back up to the top of the Revue, this would be a metaphor for them being able to overcome people with more talent by hard work and willpower, but because of the way this is presented they instead pit the losing girl against the winning girl again only to crush her dream completely.

The inferiority complex between Claudine and Maya may have had the most potential to be somewhat interesting given that they were clearly the most talented people in the school, but Claudine backs off and doesn’t give herself the drive to push further after putting in extra training and builds a mental wall stunting her performing ability, had there been more focus on these 2 characters this series could have done better than if we were watching Karen and Hikari’s rise to stardom. Unfortunately even Maya and Claudine weren’t free from the stigma of being completely dull and the lack of dialogue really hinders any chance this series may have had.

The last thing I’m going to say here is that I’m genuinely upset that people weren’t mentioning Karen’s voice actor’s performance, not only was the singing absolutely atrocious in comparison to the background characters, her lines were so lacking of any sort of depth that you would think she wasn’t the main character and just there for comedic relief as someone chasing after a dream they could never actualize, Karen had no right to be aiming for the top spot given her lack of innate talent and Hikari was such a poor excuse for someone that had been attending the most prestigious school before her attendance at Karen’s school that it’s almost funny she wants to be an actor but can’t even bring herself to develop emotions outside of jealousy and her underhanded tactics to get rid of her competition. Hikari’s only redeeming quality would be her ability to sing and dance which unfortunately also fall short of both Maya and Claudine.

Had this series not tried to be completely serious in their intention to present such stupid ideas for their metaphors and lack of overall story and character interaction I honestly might have liked it as an abstract series as something similar to Yuri Kuma Arashi and it was very unfortunate that it didn’t have a better direction. Given that I only saw 5 episodes of this series before dropping it I might have been inclined to watch the rest if I didn’t see so many reviews stating that it “stays great” so I’ll be backing far away from the second half and just assume Karen and Hikari become stars together because their talking giraffe granted them their childhood wish even though they both lack the necessary talent in the performing arts.

Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight - If Mawaru Penguindrum, Shoujo Kakumei Utena and BanG Dream! had sex with each other.

I can't explain this series but I'll just say a few things. First of all, I did not expect this show to have psychological aspects in it at all. Second of all, I also did not expect it to be quite action packed and elegant at the same time. I guess that's "revue" for you ( A revue consists of song and dance woven into a mesmerizing play ).

It took me quite some time to realize that I have to concentrate more than usual in order ... to keep up and understand the show just like Mawaru Penguindrum and Shoujo Kakumei Utena. Man it was awesome. Though the ending felt a bit rushed, this was probably the best experience I've got from an idol anime.

11/10. Very good. Recommended to everybody.

If you pluck the tiny star, then you may obtain a tiny measure of happiness. If you pluck the giant star, then you may ask for a great reward.

Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is maybe the most confusing anime to watch from Summer 2018. But at the same time, it's also the most predictable. It's a(nother) Bushiroad idol project. But at the same time, these characters are not idols - they are Stage Girls. Its story originally conceived by the people who usually work on the famous Takarazuka Revue. Its anime adaptation is directed by Furukawa Tomohiro, a close friend x protege of the famed Ikuhara Kunihiko, ... known for the heavy use of metaphors, symbolism, and a rather eccentric plot in all of his anime.
Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is neither an idol anime nor an opera play. It might come as a cheap knockoff of both, actually. But at the same time it is its own thing.
And that's what makes it great.



Writing Part I: Plot, Writing Method, Screenplay : 9

To be honest, I feel that it's wrong for me to split this part into two. But MAL scoring format demands it.

Since MAL advises me to not write synopsis and not spoil, I shall retell the plot in a short manner: it's a group of teenage girls fighting for their hopes and dreams, while discovering and rediscovering their own definition of identity.

Being a story of self-discovery of more-than-4/5 main characters, Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight puts its focus more on the characters than an overall continuity of a grand plot. Although, that doesn't mean there is no grand plot; There is a grand plot, being told slowly, some parts through metaphor, and some parts through foreshadowing. But that's not the only thing it foreshadows: it foreshadows everything, builds every personal plot of every character in a subtle but, at the same time, obvious manner. It's almost like it doesn't try to tease you to be interested (which some people I encountered in my process of making this review actually found issue about,) but when the twist comes and we learn more about the character's personal motives, viewers are given with a mix of emotions best described as awe. There's a complexity in it (which I will later explain,) but of the tidy sort. One that shows that Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is properly written by a proper pro-writer.
Its heavy use of metaphor serves to hide everything until the great reveal happens. (Well, sometimes it isn't as great, but it still keeps certain qualities which I will explain in the next section.) But the best part isn't that; The best part of the usage of metaphor in Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is that some of the metaphors are later proven to not be just a mere metaphor, but instead it's the real, literal thing! As the borders of what is hyperbole and what is reality cease to exists (in a Utena-ish fashion, I need to point out,) viewers are presented with a feast for the minds, the ears, and the eyes: of something that are both brave, challenging from an artistic view, and entertaining from a mainstream Japanese anime industry perspective.



Writing part II: Characters (Personalities, Motives & Mindset, and Progression) : 9

Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight... is, in essence, still an idol anime. The personalities of its characters are troupey. But at the same time, its great focus in adding depth into the motives of each of these seemingly run-of-the-mill anime girls put the anime clearly a cut above the rest of other idol anime, or even other anime these days, where complicated character development for many characters is a privilege, usually reserved only to big anime with big money and big timeslot for many episodes or multiple seasons. Each character maintain multiple layers of motive (which I can't explain here, because spoiler.) Each character learns, relearns, and learns more of their truest reason of becoming a Stage Girl, and comes out stronger, wiser, and with more conviction to their identity, despite of the cost they had to pay in process of that.
Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight can do it for all 9 characters in 12 episodes, and does it even better than most anime, imo, as it provides more depth, with a stronger logical foundation, without making us feel cringe of the risky dose of metaphors, instead it makes us love the characters, with its nice alteration of light-hearted moments and serious plot points.

And last, here comes the meta. The underlying belief which is the core idea of the writing of Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is the philosophy of pairings in Takarazuka Revue. As depicted in the story of Starlight Gatherer, the fictional play that is the setting of the whole story, each characters' development and progression are closely tied to the perceived partner they have.
In my humble opinion, it serves as its best quality but also biggest downfall.
An anime with a certain driving and proven ideology or philosophy often works very well (and, if its lucky, gets big and famous.) It's because the writer(s) has a set of ideals for the story in which it becomes a guide to how the plot should go should the writing process hits a roadblock. It also gives the characters more soul, as their ways of thinking become strong. Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight maintains this philosophy in each character plot. The conflict of relationship with others and also with the respective character's partner creates a clear guide for the actions of each character. They know what they want. They know what to do. They know what should have been done but not done yet (and thus they did it, it's the plot.) In its process, each character learns of the different meanings other characters have about being a Stage Girl, and they learn their specific role to their respective partner and to the group. This means that the story has a clear direction, and will not turn into a mess of jumbled ideas.
But it's also a weakness, in my opinion, because of two things:
1) Because it leaves an impression that the girls are too glued to each other, and thus they are not truly what they believe they are, but they are just a Stage Girl who are a part of the stage, and part of the acting of each other's. While that's true in relative to the setting (of the world of stage play,) still each person is herself in real life. Real life isn't a stage, and the girls won't be bounded to a clear obvious direction of fate. In simpler terms: it could have gone slightly coming-of-age drama, but it didn't. (Or maybe it did, but did it slightly the wrong way.)
2) The beauty of a plot is always divided into two parts: the real in-dimension story, and the meta. The understanding of this philosophy in Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight helps a lot in understanding the story and how and why each character develop the way they did. But the problem is: not everybody understand that. As such, at times it can create confusion and misinterpretation. Although that, in itself, is also something beautiful, it becomes a problem when people quickly judge the anime for its seemingly troupey-at-first-sight characters. Adds to the metaphors which were already confusing enough, it might shoo away people who love to nitpick an anime (like me) and can't enjoy an all-girls set of cast.
Fortunately, though, all the other parts help to deal with this issue.


Visual Art (Storyboard & other technical stuff) : 10

The storyboard of Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is simply magnificent. Being a story full of symbolism (and yes, once again I say the word,) metaphor, the anime needs to make sure that the daily life scenes deliver a calming yet foreboding nuance, and the action scenes deliver a thrill despite keeping the eccentric yet honest nature of the dialogues. Plus it needs to make the action looks great despite not having that much time and personnel in production. With all that, Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight manages to maintain a stable and relatively high standard in its every animation each and every episode, even during not so important scenes.
Another important thing to point out is that Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight decides to keep all the action to happen in a stage (a stage, as in opera stage.) The girls are fighting for real while dancing and acting. But they're not dedicated warriors, so naturally they won't look as good as the real thing. So a still cut wouldn't look real. It instead takes an old approach of constant camera actions and angle switch. It's an approach made popular in anime by Shingeki no Kyojin, and later on it is shown to have a bit of SnK influence in its animation. But it's not just that: the choreography for all the battles are great. (Man those Naginata play of Kaoruko.)
To complement all of those is the extravagant use of props. During daily live scenes where the room shouldn't change too much, the staff dared to constantly move all the items around it but the most key items, to constantly create a sense of change, of time actually progressing and there are human activities. While during battle scenes, we are treated to a sort of props changes that can be done, but hard to make authentic, in real life. Imaginative, metaphorical (yeah,) symbolic props that break the law of physics and underline the magical tone, the "shine" of a stage. It contributes greatly in making a powerful battle scene no one had expected when they first started watching this anime. A sort of battle scene that usually you get in shounen anime, instead.
In overall, there are constant movement to not only the animated characters and fluid battle locations, but also the seemingly silent and repetitive rooms of the daily lives of the girls. Such a constant movement requires constant (small, but constant) redrawing every episode.
Such simple yet tiresome decision adds a lot in the watching experience of the viewers, whether they realize it or not.



Sound (Voice Acting, SFX, BGM) : 9

To people who follow Japanese live action stage play, the names of maybe 3/4 of the seiyuus here are familiar. They are the real actresses who play the live action stage play. Some are Takarazuka Revue's veterans, others are aspiring talented actresses from various fields of entertainment. But, anime is anime, so I will talk strictly from that view:
1) Everybody can sing well (obviously.)
2) Everybody can act (also obviously.)
For a regular seasonal anime viewers like me, hearing some of these voices in anime actually feels new and refreshing. Although, I do need to point out of the clear difference I noticed that bugged me earlier in the season, between an actress from a different field who goes into anime, and a regular established seiyuu. In stage acting, the actress needs to have loud voice to make sure she is audible. But in return, she has her face expressions and body motions to help her make her acting feels convincing, or just the melody of her songs to help suck people into her singing. While in anime, no. The seiyuu only has her voice, but has to express as many as what a stage actress does. Motion, expression, are the jobs of the animators. As such, the seiyuu can only rely on how she imagines her character to look like when doing a scene, and as a result, the seiyuu always has to make sure that whatever comes out of the animation department, the acting remains convincing and engaging. This was a problem for me earlier on, as I clearly noticed how the way of reading some lines would have worked in a live action, but not in anime with the character's expression looking like that. As the season went on, I got used to it.
But now it's over, and I'm writing a review, so I need to point it out.

The SFX work of Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is decent, and maybe that's the worst part of this anime (that isn't bad at all, actually.) The use of SFX itself is able to catch up to its heavy use of props and tools, especially during scenes that involve a stage. It does its supporting job very well, of helping to create the right vibe all the time. Although more often than not, it got drowned by the acting and the BGM. But I guess maybe that's the right way?

It probably is the right way. The BGM of Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is.... a big spend. They use all(?) the songs in the album from live during battle scenes. It keeps every fight new and special.
While for non-vocal BGM, piano plays an important part most of the time. One thing that I notice is that every character have a specific tune that plays only during their penultimate moment of revelation. Although during other scenes, there are probably a total of... 12, maybe? BGM that they keep playing all the time. While I personally see it as a part of the depiction, during my process of writing this review, I did find someone who thought of it as repetitive (especially bcs it's piano-heavy,) and so I thought that maybe there are other people who may think so. (Or maybe not. Who knows?)


Enjoyment: 10
No need to say much. My AOTS.
(I mean: I just wrote a freaking essay on this thing, backed by a little "field" study on the internet.)


Overall: 10

If you ask for a tiny wish, then you shall gain a tiny bliss.
If you reach for a giant wish, then you may reap a great reward.

I was wanting to wait till the 4th episode so I have a better understanding of what's happening. 4th Episode just aired and I'm still lost on the purpose. All I know is that It's fucking Magical!

Edit 8/5/18 3: 08:59 AM: My original review was taken down cause the episode count at the time was only two. In the time I've been waiting to repost this and make some minor adjustments. I've started watching another show that has a striking resemblance in a couple regards. I'm talking about "Revolutionary Girl Utena"

It might be just me but the two shows seem alike. Obviously compared to ... the 90's or 80's of when "Revolutionary Gir Utena" Was released, Then this show is better in regards to the story, Animation and doesn't have as many annoying cliches you find. The fight scenes with swords in both shows is what I think really sells it for me that these are kind of similar.

The animation is fluid the characters dance nice and the art style is better then what I'd expect.

The singing is good and the singers tend to match the original voice actor ( I don't know if its the voice actor singing or someone else entirely)

The characters all have nice designs and besides one girl whose name Is like Banana for some reason, The entire cast of girls has their own unique design.

I love the relationship between Karen and her roommate. I even love the relationship between Karen and her childhood friend even more. I really like that the story isn't treating us the audience like adults and not just telling us everything.

It doesn't just go and have a character be like " We were childhood friends" Or " See this entire story is because of X" We the Audience is left guessing in a nice way.

Once the girls get onto the stage. It's really nice watching them fight and dance. I do wish we got long drawn out scenes of them fighting and dancing.

I also like that this isn't some dumb Battle Royal. If the girls were fighting to the death or who got kicked out of the school, Then I would get kind of annoyed.

This will be the 4th time I've rated a show with a 9/10 rating this season. I may even put it higher if the show continues to be great. This is defiantly my favorite of the entire season.

I'll update my review in the future and see if anything's changed about it. It's overall an awesome and fun show. This is defiantly my favorite of this Anime season.

Now I’ll admit, I’m not really into musical anime. While I do appreciate the ideas of music used in any show, most of the time, they felt one-sided and too gimmicky for my personal liking. At least to me, the use of musicals isn’t really executed well due to how they’re portrayed as background themes instead of story purposes. But there’s one anime that caught my attention and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. Of course, I’m referring to arguably KineCi’s best show, Revue Starlight. When I started watching this, I was keeping my expectations in check for the most part solely because again, ... my stances with musical anime. But as soon as I finished the show (and gave it a re-watch because why not?), I have come to appreciate the passion and creativity this show holds.

The story is about two girls named ‘Karen’ and ‘Hikari’ who watched a stage performance of 9 girls in a group called “Starlight” and both were amazed by each of the girl’s performances. As time passed, the two girls were in high school and made friends with 7 other girls. While the 9 girls do their standard school activities, Karen discovers a secret room which is a stage for the Starlight and the other girls are part of it. And with that, the 9 girls are dancing and singing in a battle of who will take the victory. Revue Starlight has a lot of enticing ideas that it explores well. On the surface, the storytelling barely made any sense. Sure, it’s one of the more unique musical anime out there but it’s just a bunch of girls fighting each other on a stage with some cool shit thrown together. And you know what? You’re technically right. From the looks of it, Revstar isn’t really taken literally. The scriptwriting seems odd and the characterization looks pretty funny.

Which is why we have yet to observe this show’s biggest charm, its take on symbolic elements. Think about it, Revstar doesn’t have traditional storytelling, to begin with, regardless of what premise it holds. Instead, it has its figurative meaning about how the girls are driven by their own determination and philosophies. It really shows how the characters are trying very hard to prove that their strengths are way more than average and how they can voice out their very own colors. The show does a fantastic job nailing those aspects. It presents just how human and colorful the cast is no matter the situation. It feels like I’m watching another Ikuhara anime and yes, this show isn’t really directed by Ikuhara himself but this is SO IKUHARA that it’s a CRIME if one says otherwise. The script writing may be complicated but it’s directed brilliantly because it doesn’t take itself seriously alongside creating more room for the cast to show more personality.

Normally, I would consider fight scenes to be superficial but I can’t stress enough how HARD the choreography holds. In most cases, it’s fine if you make fight scenes pieces of popcorn entertainment. After all, you want to keep viewers entertained, even if writing won’t do justice. But you can make them better if you elect to combine them with storytelling. In this respect, Revstar is the best at that. Not only is the action portrayed well with a combination of physical clashing and over-the-top movements but the dialogue is, again, driven by adrenaline and true human emotions. It nails how girls perform on a stage and how they want to be the star of the dance extremely well. In the Starlight auditions, you need a lot of effort in order to prove that you hold enough will and justice, both in your script and your dance performances. The cast is the best at showing those kinds of factors.

Speaking of which, it’s time we talk about the cast. Karen is an excellent protagonist who shows how you can hold any sense of determination. She isn’t your average Shoujo main character by any means, she always has enough physical and emotional strength to present to you how you can be deemed to be a guardian angel. The same goes for Hikari, who even though Karen is fantastic as both an MC and a character, felt like the true protagonist of the show. Other characters also deserve special mention. Mahiru may be a psycho (a harmless one at that) but I absolutely love her relationship with Karen, even though it’s silly. Junna’s kindness towards anyone she mostly interacts with is something I really admire. Claudine and Maya probably have some of the most philosophical chemistry with each other I’ve ever seen when it comes to making a female equivalent of a bromance (I really don’t know what it’s called, please help). Kaoruko’s combination of laziness and surprisingly high knowledge of the stage makes her a fantastic character. Futaba was a little disappointing, though. I do love her princely behavior and her chemistry with Kaoruko but she doesn’t click me as much as the other characters.

But even if some tend to be my least favorite of the bunch, I adore all the girls equally due to their own unique and enjoyable charms. However, if one stands out the most for me in a way that makes the most definitions of what special means, I have to give it to Nana. She isn’t just an honorary shadow figure, she IS THE honorary shadow figure in animanga. The fact that she’s very kind for the most part only to reveal her true colors in the auditions is what really holds my attention. In fact, her selfishness is easily the best part of the show. Nana is a diehard idol who spent all of her effort trying to stand on top of others. What makes her extremely special is how she is very dedicated to the Starlight stages yet doesn’t overstay her welcome. Despite all the hassle she brings when she’s brought into the auditions, she still retains most, if not, all of her kindness.

Talking about the story and characters is fun and all but let’s talk about the art and sound. The production really surprised me. When I saw the words “KineCi” and “animation” put together, I always thought they would do okay. Not the worst but not the greatest either. But with Revstar, the animation is clean and smooth. The physical moments are over-the-top yet balanced at the same time, all while also containing very pleasing visuals. I don’t want to disregard the aesthetics either. In my opinion, Revstar has the best character designs out of any anime. Not only do the characters look distinct and dynamic but they also fit well with each character’s personality and dancing style. The music, most notably the stage ones, is incredible. The amount of energy put into and used with them is just amazing. They also represent the characterizations of every character wonderfully. Same with the voice acting.

STORY - 93%
CHARACTERS - 94%
ART - 90%
SOUND - 100%

There’s more I could talk about but all I can say is that Revue Starlight is just fantastic. I find it sad that it has gotten a reputation as a hit-or-miss and I could totally understand why. It’s not for everyone. Its take on symbolic elements may confuse those who aren’t familiar with its story structures. But personally, this show has a lot of great stuff in one package. It has a non-linear storytelling that indirectly shows human determination well and the characters are super fleshed out. Best of all, this is just at minimum potential. This series has a movie sequel and we will talk about that in another time.

FINAL VERDICT - 9/10

"Let us go, to pluck that star together! Starlight, it's the story of the goddesses drawn by the glow of the heavens, yet they are pulled apart, never to meet again, it is a sorrowful tale."

Thank goodness Revue Starlight isn't an idol anime, nor is it an action anime either, it has elements from both genres, singing and dancing from idol anime, and fighting from an action one, but it's different, unique and original, how it does everything, how it foreshadows things episodes before they actually happen, I just love this anime, I only wrote this review because I believe this is a hidden gem ... and it deserves more appreciation.

Story (8/10) : 2 girls make a promise when they were young to stand together on the same stage and do the "Starlight" performance, with a small twist of having real fantasy-like battles in the underground stage to become the top star and get the center position? Simple enough right? We all could predict how this anime will most likely end, but everything that leads to it is one hell of a ride, this show is about talent, hardwork and most importantly desire, and it is a story inside the same story.


Art (10/10) : The art is top notch, the animation is so fluid and brilliant, the epic scenes are everywhere, every episode will amaze you even more than the one before by how they uses their visuals to sometimes explain and foreshadow a lot of things, so paying attention is really needed to fully enjoy this anime.

Sound (10/10) : The OST is freaking great, the opening and ending are really good, and the insert songs... holy shit insert songs, I can't emphasize on how god tier they are.

Characters (9/10) : Characters are pretty decent, each has their own qualities and they develop throughout the episodes of the anime, they have their desires and their problems and most of it is realistic and not too forced.

Enjoyment (10/10) : If you enjoy great music, top quality animation and symbolic shows then this anime should be up your alley, I remember watching every episode raw then rewatching it again when the subbed version gets released, that just shows how hyped I was for this and how much I enjoyed it.

Overall (10/10) : Of course I'm giving this show a 10/10 just for the amount of enjoyment I had watching this, definitely AOTS for me, heck probably even AOTY too, would recommend everybody to give this a try, the 1st episode might come as a bit weird, but once you get used to it in the second episode the enjoyment would follow right away, you can also check "Nearly on Red"'s youtube channel for detailed explanations of the vast symbolism in this anime.

Note : Subs for this anime are mostly terrible, StarlightSubs / HorribleSubs / FlySubs are shit for the most part, I'd suggest watching ACSS or Chyuu-PAS subs.

First of all, you need to know that this series is about a group of girl that studying in Musical Academy. The girls learn about an opera which called by "Revue", based on RL it is an popular entertainment in 19th century.

And I dunno how, but that's the great part of this anime!

Revue is a theatrical show that combines music, dance, and drama. Different from another music anime which shows an Idol or Band or another Music Performance. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight shows a more superb Stage. An orchestral music with wonderful dancing movement that looks like action anime stuff. That makes an impressive sense.

And ... moreover, the great character personality in this show shapes a wonderful relationship between these girls.

Overall, I highly recommend you to watch this series.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight is an offering from director Furukawa Tomohiro, who worked closely with director Ikuhara Kunihiko on Mawaru Penguindrum and Yuri Kuma Arashi. The aforementioned works are best known for their surrealist style coupled with Yuri/Class S settings, features which are prevalent throughout Ikuhara's work. Having been familiar with these, it would be impossible not to draw comparisons to Revue Starlight's artstyle and tone, and as such I went into the series slightly guarded. While there is a lot of depth to be found in the aforementioned works, they walk a very thin line between "highly artistic and symbolic" and "unnecessarily complicated to ... the point of being pretentious." I believe a great work of surrealism should clearly demonstrate to the casual viewer that there is more to it than meets the eye, even if the concepts cannot be immediately grasped fully.

Thankfully, Revue Starlight seems to have accomplished this, taking the best parts of the weirdness, symbolism, and pure artistic awesome of Yuri Kuma and Penguindrum and balancing them masterfully. The connections between the "real" and the "metaphysical" landscapes are much easier to understand here. Just as importantly, the show is both fun and fascinating to watch, answering old questions while simultaneously deepening the mystery every episode. The artwork and sound are top-notch; very impressive for a TV anime. Particularly the "auditions"... I don't want to spoil what these are exactly, so let's just say I thought I understood what was happening until "the moment she pressed the button", and then I basically lost my mind. And loved it.

Some additional general information:

-Furukawa has included all of Ikuhara's calling cards in spades. Surrealism is here. Yuri is here. Strange ruler of the metaphysical world who you're not sure whether or not you can trust is here (voiced by the same actor, too).

-I said earlier that the symbolism is easier to understand, but I don't mean to say it will be fully understood in one watch. My recommendation to get the most out of this show is to watch it and then read reviews by those who are taking the time to analyze it. I recommend /u/'s thread (if you don't mind or, perhaps, enjoy wading through explicit Yuri content) as well as the For Me in Full Bloom blog.

-No, this is not another idol anime. Whoever truly thought this after watching the first episode, please wear a collared shirt so I can grab it and take your lunch money.

In conclusion, I would call this show the underrated potential sleeper hit of the season. For fans of Furukawa's/Ikuhara's previous works, this is a no-brainer; you absolutely don't want to miss this show. For those a bit more wary of this surrealist style of anime, I would still recommend watching the first 2 episodes to see what you think before dropping. There is much more here than simply visual flair if the viewer chooses to indulge themselves, and I believe Revue Starlight is far easier for the casual viewer to grasp than was Penguindrum or Yuri Kuma.

Note: When I originally wrote this review, I had mistakenly thought that Ikuhara was the director until a couple MAL users pointed out my error. I will use that to reinforce the point that it is very similar in style, sound, and tone. Furukawa has taken many big cues from his colleague here, but perhaps the improvements I noted can be attributed to his influence as well.

Overall - 8/10

Passion, Longing, Pride, Jealousy, Promise, Isolation, Bonds, Fate and Tragedy, everything needed in making a Top Star.

Before LA even starts, Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight is about THEATER stage girls not idols, alot of people make the comparison and THEY are different and it's because of Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight's focus on theater stage girls that initially caught LA interest in this anime, as LA knew even without looking at the staff and studio that this was gonna be unique in the realms of the "entertainment industry" anime, in this case theater girls but it takes a much more thematic look at it in being the ... "Top Star".

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight both dives into the daily grind of intense training into being a theater stage actor both in the scripting and live performances and thematically in being a theater stage actor striving to be the Top Star and it's manifested in it's core cast.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight manages to also instill in it's characters both their own development as characters as well as displaying their drive to wanting to be Top Stars through a rather elaborate "revue" competition run by a talking giraffe (no seriously) voiced by Kenji Tsuda. Our main narrative focus of Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight belongs to Karen Aijo voiced by Momoyo Koyama, the typical genki main female protagonist where she stumbles into the revue and takes part because of a promise. That promise belonging to Hikari Kagura voiced by Suzuko Mimori, the stoic and calm collected type who happened to be childhood friends with Karen, we also have Mahiru Tsuyuzaki a friend of Karen with her own issues involving Karen, Junna Hoshimi voiced buy Hinata Satou, being a passionate theater stage actress and personally one of LA favorite characters as she grew on LA as well as Claudine Saijou voiced by Aina Aiba, the second best stage girl with a rivalry to the best stage girl in their class, Maya Tendou voiced by Maho Tomita we also have childhood friends Futaba Isurugi voiced by Teru Ikuta, the brash active type to Kaoruko Hanayagi voiced by Ayasa Itou and to round off Nana Daiba voiced by Moeka Koizumi who ha spun jokes about banana's to her and well one of the most surprising character reveals form her to say the least making her an interesting character study case to say the least.

With an all girls cast, also adds in that yuri undertones, which is quite prevalent. Examples being Kaoruko and Futaba, Claudine and Maya's obvious rivalry, Junna and Nana's and the most obvious being Hkari and Karen with Mahiru being the third wheel. Hikari and Karen's friendship displays stunning levels of yuri undertones through their friendship that it's intrinsically linked to the main play the main cast are involved in at their school and ohh boy does it show.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight main draw is it's revue, being where it's the most action packed, whilst having some of the more thematic connections to both the trials and tribulations in being a theater stage girl AND the symbolism it has. See the revue's different themes it present to it's core cast reflects many of the characters relationships in the process, something LA picked up round the third revue which was of certain characters fighting had that symbolism of the revue in question in place only making the revue a marvelous spectacle but subtle foreshadowing of what the characters was thinking without needing them to speak, the revue let's that do that for them.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight's episodes does for the most part consist it's structure of having the character in question having their character focus episode, dealing with it before the revue and then once the revue starts, they release all their feelings into their revue, reflecting on the character and developing in much more interesting characters, they became memorable and the fact that the revue's rules doesn't exactly eliminate them permanently from the anime allows the core cast to stay and develop with each revue.

LA is gushing LA knows but Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight is soo multi-faceted, it was one of the rare few LA that kept LA interested all the way through the Summer of 2018 because of it, seriously, Tomohiro Furukawa only learned from the best (for those who are not in the know, he was learning from Kunihiko Ikuhara of Utena fame and you can see where that flourish and that thematic drive of Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight is coming from and LA just loved it.

If there was one little flaws LA found from Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight the it would be it's episodic structure of looking at each of it's characters in it's early episodes but that just a VERY small flaw to what outweighs it as Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight strengths just utterly outweigh many of it's small flaws. Like to the defense of it's early episodes, it's trying to get use used to it's setting and characters and sure some of it's characters are stereotypical at first but even then LA will even say that has a defense as the episodes goes on, we learn more about them and some with hidden depths of their own too so even this small flaw of "stereotypical characters" quickly changes and evolves latter on as well. Seriously with such small flaws LA can think of, LA can easily defend it thus it's a matter of yes, LA sees the flaws of Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight, but Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight backs itself up with great writing and improving immediately, from both it's characters and it's plot and no not even being nonsensical thus is a flaw makes sense due to it's intentional symbolism of being a theater stage girl comes into play thus the manifestation and goal of wanting to be the Top Star and how cohesive the plot and characters are with it's solid thematic symbolism in the process. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight has flaws yes, but it's strengths outright outweighs it's small flaws that might as well be nitpicks by this point.

In terms of animation, done by Kinema Citrus, well besides the reusable "revue intro" animation, the animation was outright superb to say the least, the theatrics, the slick and polished character designs, the FIGHTS scenes along with the beautifully detailed backgrounidng work and LA will say this but the background work especially in the revue ALONG with it's fight scenes inter-layered together only made the animation top notch to say the least. LA really wasn't expecting Kinema Citrus to blow LA's mind with it's animation by man it did just that, the animation is nothing to scoff at and with the level of detail is worthy of praise.

As for voice acting, well for an anime primarily focused on it's character and well theatrics and singing, well for the large majority of it's core cast being all completely new to anime, LA wasn't expecting such great performances from them, besides Suzuko Mimori, Aina Aiba and Ayasa Itou who had some roles previously and all three of them being previously being idol roles before (Love Live and BanG Dream respectively), but nonetheless the entire cast did superb, sure moe along with some of their archetypal character cadences aside, but to add that with their singing and their flair for the dramatics is the reasoning in saying this cast mostly compromised of new actresses into anime...for their first foray did amazingly well and it's veterans did as expected as well.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight by all means was in contention for LA to be LA's favourite anime of Summer 2018 and really it deserved it, sure it had some episodic structure, but look deeper into it's symbolism and philosophy of being a theater stage girl, it's great cast of interesting characters, it's beautifully done animation from it's fluid fighting scenes to just it's set designs of each Revue, Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight by all means stole LA's heart at what it did with vigor that LA would give Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight one of the best animes of Summer 2018 for what it executed and bringing to light theater stage girls and their trials and tribulations to be the Top Stars.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight, being Tomohiro Furukawa's directorial debut made a blast for such a debut, who learned from the best and LA would like to see more from him. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight was multi-faceted, multi-layered from it's plot and characters to it's massive amount of great to subtle symbolism executed amazingly well in tandem, it was just hands down amazing, LA just can't sing Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight praises enough...

YES THE TIME HAS COME, TO REVIEW MY AOTS AND FAV ANIME OF SUMMER 2018, REVUE STARLIGHT! I have never been a fan of music/idol anime(THOUGH REVUE IS NOT IDOL). To be honest, I actually didn't plan to watch Revue Starlight this season, it wasnt on my ptw list. Until someone recommended the anime on discord. And I was quite curious as well, so I thought, well, since I dropped quite a few anime already and this season has been pretty meh or bad, maybe I'll just give this anime a try? And boi, not only do I not regret watching this anime, this anime ... has become my AOTS! 10/10 anime! Idk there's something in this anime which really places it above the rest. The unique story, the excellent choreography with the stage arts, the out of this world music, and the diverse cast of characters just sets this anime apart from others. I also enjoyed Revue so much, I couldn't wait to watch it every Saturday or Sunday. And although it's ended, it has left an undeniably breathtaking impression on me.

Story: The story, or should I say anime itself takes a different approach to the music/idol genre. Instead of the usual idol stage performance in front of packed crowds, we see the characters performing stage arts back stage, in front of a.... giraffe, which is funny, though that giraffe just creeps me out. However, the story focuses on Karen and Hikari, both childhood friends who end up in the same school together(thks to the giraffe's help). Karen then stumbles upon the "top star" performance, and that is where most of the action takes place, with the characters using actual weapons to try and knock off the oppenent's badge, which was surprising but at the same time impressive, since this made the stage art more serious unlike the usual generic, happy-go-lucky idol performance that we see with other shows like Love live, and Idolmaster. The fact that there were weapons involved just raised the stakes even higher, which made the characters fight for the top star position as if their lives were at stake. This is what sets Revue Starlight apart from other generic idol animes, because it takes a more serious angle towards stage performance and stage arts. The story was also impressive, as it shows both SoL moments of the characters everyday lives and the "fights" they perform behind the scene, so every episode is action packed! The MC, Karen wants to change the system of "Starlight" whereby only 1 girl can be the top star, and in the end she does it, and boi what an episode it was! 10/10!!. On a side note, this anime.... wooo... is full of lesbian ships(though it's implied) with only Mahiru being left out(sorry Mahiru). But yea overall the story is a 10/10
Rating: 10/10

Animation: The character and general animation itself is pretty generic, nothing special. But boi the choreography and stage animation, are on a whole different level! This is the 2 things I was impressed the most each and every time the characters fought on the stage. They're just.... amazing!!!
Rating: 9.2/10

Music/Sound: I think I've already said in a few posts that the music in Revue is on a different standard. When I listened to the first insert song in episode 1, I knew that the music in this anime will be lit! And boi was I not wrong. As stated in my post last night, 4/5 of my fav songs this month comes from Revue Starlight, but in reality, it's more like 8 of the songs are my fav this month. Opening, great. ending, amazing. Inserts, the best I've ever listened to! The music in Revue Starlight is just on an entirely new and different level from the generic idol anime music. For once I could sense that the VAs were actually putting in effort when singing the song which captivates the audience who are watching the anime. On the sound level, the stage sounds were very good, but the general sounds are nothing special. Still, gonna be my highest rating for music in an anime review ever!
Rating:12/10

Characters: I will... go through this pretty fast because I've got no space to individually go through all 9 of the main/sub cast in this post. So the main characters of Revue are Karen and Hikari. Karen being the bubbly, naive, happy-go-lucky type of person with Hikari being the more serious and apparently smarter person. Both are childhood friends as already mentioned. And, these 2, the amount of lesbian ships between the 2 of them is.... too many. But my fav ships of the anime :v though it's mainstream. The other characters are Maya, Claudine, Futaba, Kaoruko, Juuna, Banana and Mahiru, though I must say Mahiru is left lonely at the end of the anime(Karen got stolen by Hikari so rip Mahiru). Each of them have very distinct personalities which really complements each ship. Maya X Claudine, Kaoruko X Futaba, Banana X Juuna, and Mahiru being single :v. And each of these ships portray either a very funny relationship like Kaoruko X Futaba or a more serious relationship like Banana X Juuna. Which is pretty damm funny and cute overall xD. But yea, Revue a lesbian anime confirmed! :v

On a more serious note, Revue Starlight brings with it a refreshing set of casts for each character. From the veteran and extremely experienced Mimori Suzuko, who voiced in Love live, Yuki Yuna, Bandori and Milky Holmes opera, to the new VAs Komoya Momoyo, who's more of a singer than anime VA, Haruki Iwata and Ikuta Teru. And I love each and every VA of Revue Starlight!
Rating: 10/10

Overall, my favorite anime this Summer 2018 and perhaps maybe even this year in general. I might hav to watch both Yuru Camp and Revue again to see which is my fav overall. Revue Starlight is definitely the standout anime for me this season, which has been pretty disappointing in general. And is AOTS for me!! The story ended very nicely so there's no need for an S2. However I'd like an ova or backstory into Karen and Hikari's friendship. Because even though the anime shows that they've been friends since childhood, it doesn't really go into depth or details so a backstory explaining their childhood friendship is nice.

Overall rating: 10/10

This is a story of a distant and nearby review site, from long ago, in the faraway future. It is the Fall 2018 Season, celebrated through legions of anime fans in a small world.

{Below the shower of anime that passes through four times a year, I met Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.}

[And I met SanaeK10.]

In a fated encounter.

[{I think we two have always been together. So let us all meet together again in the future. On the next season of the anime shower.}]

... The two of us have been connected through a distant promise. But. On the Season of Fall where I first watched Revue Starlight...

[SanaeK10, we met for the first time this year.]
{Who...are you?}
[SanaeK10?]
{I don't understand! Your impeccable direction, your brilliant soundtrack, the ratings we’ve made...I feel as though they were all important to me. But I can’t remember!}


On my way back from the review site from the previous season, I had an accident and lost my ratings for the show.

[We may be able to get them.]
{What?}
[Today is the review festival held once every season. If we’re able to seize 5 stars from the top of the Star-Plucking Tower, perhaps my ratings will...]
[{Let’s go, to pluck those stars together.}]

If you pluck a small star, you will gain a small happiness. If you pluck a large star, you will obtain a great wealth. If you pluck all five, you will obtain an eternal wish: The coveted Top Anime position.

Star plucking is the absolution of sin. Star plucking is the miracle of the season.

With TBS to help us, we arrive at the Star-Plucking Tower.
However…

‘Who goes there?!’

They were confined to this tower 500 years ago…
Sinful goddesses awaiting their death in slumber.
Safeness, Predictability, Bravery , Corporate Interests, Wasted Potential, Despair.

{I beseech you, Let us pluck the stars! Revue Starlight needs them!}

‘We will not relinquish any star to you!’
‘Why were we confined here?’
‘What sins did we commit?’
‘Amidst the flow of time, we goddesses have forgotten even that.’

The Stars remember all.
When Safeness was Risk-Taking.
When Predictability was Imagination.
When Fear was Bravery.
When Corporate Interests was Director’s Vision.
When Wasted Potential was Expectations Exceeded.
When Despair was Hope.


‘No matter how safe I keep up this project, it could never reach those stars. You who blithely make those stars your aim, how could you not seek risk?’

‘I had it within me to take that star within my grasp. So I believed. But that outcome was naught but expected! ‘

‘In the face of an insurmountable obstacle, ‘tis better to run! Yes! Evasion was the only path left to me.’

‘But I remain frozen in place, bound by upper management and multimedia projects!’

‘This potential, my own wasted potential. O, tell me! What must I sacrifice for my expectations to be exceeded?’

‘Alas, the wheel must turn again. The cycle of despair. Beneath the light of the stars.’

Even as we are torn apart by the black emotions of the goddesses, we two reach the summit. Here, the Stars await.

‘And so it shall be bestowed upon you, the Star you have wished for. ‘

[My eyes ! The light blinds me!
SanaeK10? Where are you SanaeK10? SanaeK10!]

{I remember now…
Your name is…
Forgive me, Revue Starlight (and countless other anime with wasted potential).
Our dream was not meant to be.}

Her eyes burned by the light of the stars, Revue Starlight fell from the tower, forever parting with the coveted Top Anime position.
And in the skies above, the stars continue to shine for eternity.

Revue Starlight. Princess Principal. Psycho-Pass the Movie. No Game No Life 0. Toji no Miko. Umamusume. Usakame...

This is a story of a distant and nearby review site, from long ago, in the faraway future.

6.5/10 (Rounded to 7)

{Author's Note: My thoughts on the show, without the theatrical Starlight filter:

It was an entertaining show with stunning visuals, brilliant direction and an excellent soundtrack. However, it all felt safe and predictable. Ending up being wasted potential despite it all. Interesting plot points get brought up and are instantly resolved with little to no consequence, and the blandest pairing ended being the main focus of it all. Can't help but feel a little bummed out by it, really. I did however, appreciate that the anime didn’t go out of its way to overexplain everything unlike most shows out there, so it earns bonus points for that. Foreshadowing was accomplish quite well. And the Giraffe’s hamminess is always enjoyable especially at the end. Still worth a watch, but don’t get your hopes up. Personal favorite episodes were 1,5,7,8 and 12. }

Theater has been one of my biggest passions for a long time now. I started performing in fundraising cabarets my dad would host for our local theater when I was ten, and when I finally started acting for real in high school, there was no going back. I have a deep and abiding love for the stage that surpasses pretty much every other hobby I indulge in, even writing about anime. I love acting, I love directing, I love playwriting, I love the process of watching a production pull together, I love watching a performance grow from the first tentative rehearsals to opening night, I ... love the struggle, I love the success, I love the chaos and nerves and catharsis, I. Love. Theater. And I’ve been so bummed for the longest time because as much as anime has to offer, I could never find an anime that was really able to explore that feeling. Japan clearly has a very different theater culture than the US; there are so few plays depicted in anime, and those few are rarely more than spectacle performances, broad depictions of broad stories that don’t really intend to dig into the meat of what makes this art so rewarding to explore. Sure, Bloom Into You has a pretty rewarding theater subplot, and Rakugo Shinju captures a lot of what makes performing so fascinating to me, but those are clear outliers. Ever since I started watching anime, I’ve been dying to find that one show that truly captures what it means to love theater, in all its impossibly high highs and unbearably low lows and everything in between.

Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, the wait is finally over, and it was 100% worth it.

Revue Starlight is the celebration of theater that I’ve been longing to get from anime ever since I discovered this medium. It’s a soaring, audacious testament to an art form that’s been near and dear to my heart for over a decade now, a riveting exploration of what drives people to reach for the stage and how the pursuit of the spotlight changes us. This show gets theater more fundamentally than I think I’ve ever seen. It understands the ambition that drives actors to compete for the spotlight, and the ways that ambition can both inspire and destroy us. It understands the importance of performance as a transient art, something that must constantly evolve and re-invent itself in the moment of its inception. It understands the fear of feeling like you don’t measure up, the despair of falling short to the standards you set for yourself, the thrill of building a story with your own hands, the numbness of feeling your passion start to sap away from too many false starts. It understands what makes creating for the stage such an exhilarating, terrifying place, the reason so many egos are drawn to speak their piece under the blinding lights yet struggle and break before the pressures it brings with it. There is so much that can be said about theater and those that pursue it, and Revue Starlight captures every single contradictory, chaotic aspect of it.

The story centers around the girls of Seisho Music Academy, a private all-girl's school dedicated to training its students in the art of the stage. Their ambitions drive them all to seek the spotlight's glare, to prove their merit and become the brightest shining star of them all. But things take a turn for the weird when Karen Aijo, the good-natured spunky protagonist, discovers an unusual elevator hidden in the school walls and rides it down to an underground stage where her classmates battle each other in operatic duets under the watchful eye of a talking giraffe.

No, I don't get why there's a giraffe either, but it's awesome.

See, for those of you non-theater geeks out there, the high school theater scene- especially for musical theater- is one of the most cutthroat organizations you could be a part of outside the mafia. It takes a certain degree of ego to be an actor, a desire to show yourself off to an adoring audience and make them cheer as you command their attention. And when all those egos find themselves in conflict for a limited series of roles, ranging from leads to side characters to little more than glorified chorus members, the competition quickly becomes fierce, ruthless, and unforgiving. Revue Starlight’s genius central hook is taking that naturally competitive atmosphere and blowing it up into a full-on war for theatrical supremacy. The performance IS the battle, both literally and figuratively, and the egos that drive all these girls to want to be the Top Star mean that all their fellow classmates are now enemies to be overcome. Either you sing your heart out and take the center stage, or the curtain falls on you and shuts you off in darkness, forever doomed to lick the soles of the one true champion. There's a lot of commentary here on the Takarazaka Revue, a notoriously cutthroat Japanese theater company which similarly prizes the elevation of the leading role at the expense of everyone else, but the ideas here are universal enough to apply to anyone who's ever run the theater gauntlet. The desire to be The One, to stand in the spotlight and draw the audience's attention all on your own, is something that every theater kid feels deep within their souls, whether they want to or not.

But that's where Karen comes in. Because she’s already learned the most important acting lesson ever, one that I took far too long to internalize: the stage is made to be shared. Unless you’re in a very specific one-man show, you never perform alone; you rely on your scene partners, the rest of the cast, the entire stage crew, and they all rely on you in turn. The show only goes on with everyone working together, and Karen, unlike the rest of the Stage Girls, is determined to be a star not just on her own, but by the side of someone she cares deeply for. That person in question is Hikari Kagura, Karen's childhood friend who's been off in England for years but has just transferred back to Seisho Academy to take part in the Underground Revue. Hikari is desperate to win for Karen's sake, seemingly knowing more about the potential dangers of the Revue than she lets on. But Karen wants to win for BOTH their sakes. They made a promise long ago that they would reach stardom together, and nothing's gonna stand in the way of that promise. After all, aren't the best shows the ones where everyone is doing their best to make the entire stage shine that much brighter?

What truly lingers in my mind now that the curtain has finally dropped is how perfectly this show gets what makes theater not just fascinating, but meaningful. It understands how this art can truly shape the lives of those that pursue it; I see so many of my theater experiences reflected in these characters it’s terrifying. In Mahiru and Futaba, I see my admiration of my peers for all they’re able to accomplish and my desire to do them justice. In Junna and Kaoruko, I see my frustration at feeling outmatched by them no matter where I turn, striving to channel that burning envy into becoming a better actor and a better person. In Maya and Claudine, I see my desire to be more than just a solitary star, to balance my own ambition with the people I care for. In Nana, I see my desire to linger in my most rewarding moments forever, knowing that at some point I have to move on and keep evolving no matter how terrifying it is. In Hikari, I see my terror at losing faith in things I once believed so fully in, striving to find meaning when it seems to be slipping away. And in Karen, I see that spark alight again, that simple, excitable passion that drove me to the stage in the first place, still burning brightly no matter how many times it’s snuffed out. I see my fears, my hopes, my desires, my pains, my triumphs, my failures, writ large against this explosive backdrop of symbolism-drenched duels and literalized metaphors. Revue Starlight isn’t just a show about theater; it’s a show about what makes theater so goddamn important, and why it matters so goddamn much.

And it’s in drawing meaning from those truths that this show doesn’t just excite and delight, but becomes something truly transcendent. By digging into the heart of this incredible art, Revue Starlight weaves a narrative of ambition and despair, change and evolution, love and redemption, and above all else, hope. It’s a story that rushes unflinchingly into the thicket of despair, exploring the inevitable transience of life and the terror that makes us brace against it with clear eyes and a burning soul. It lets us feel every last ounce of the weight of the world as it bears down on us, the terrifying promises of the future awaiting us in the darkness and the fear that it’s already too late to change it. It presents life as the ultimate performance, one where the script is uncertain and the roles are ever-changing, where the stage lights are glaring and every performance rages on with no safety nets and no way to go back. It can be so easy to give in to the pressures of life, to rage against the rolling tides of change and conflict until they drag you under to drown. But Revue Starlight knows that no matter what, the show must go on, because this is the only “now” you’ll ever have, and you deserve to make every moment shine. It’s a stunning portrait of the power of choosing your own destiny, of rejecting the scripts of the past and writing your story anew, of strutting your hour upon the stage alongside the people who make it worth standing there and forging fate with your own hands. And whether you’ve spent countless hours sweating in front of an audience or have never so much sung at karaoke night, the power of that message is sure to make your future feel that much brighter.

Because this show- this incredible, awe-inspiring show- is a soaring triumph of everything that kind of brazen determination is capable of. It’s a riveting, exhilarating, exciting, giddy, spellbinding roller coaster ride, an endlessly entertaining action spectacle and an endlessly profound character drama that achieves every last spark of its own ambition. I marvel at its riveting direction, how flawlessly every scene flows into the next, how perfectly chosen every camera frame is, how spellbinding the action scenes are as they trumpet the show’s themes by way of an explosive musical theater bravura showcase. And I’m truly left speechless at the depths of its character writing, how fully realized and human its expansive cast feels, how quickly and deeply you come to understand and empathize with the stage girls who sweat it out for the honor of being chosen as top star. Every last one of them has more texture, nuance, growth, and personality packed into these twelve episodes than some full protagonists get in their entire run. I could spend ages hanging out with them and never run out of things to discover, or delight in, or marvel over. And the fact that they’re all so astronomically gay for each other is just the icing on the cake. This show really is Symphogear’s nerdier cousin, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Revue Starlight is a goddamn triumph. It sets itself impossibly high goals and achieves them with spectacular fireworks, seizing its own well-deserved spotlight as it weaves together countless threads into a single, astounding testament. I honestly have no major complaints to make; the only real nitpick I have is that a couple action scenes aren’t paced quite as well as they could be, and compared to everything else this show has to offer, that barely even registers. When all is said and done, Revue Starlight is a full-on masterpiece, a soaring tribute to the power and pressure of theater and a truly majestic rallying cry for the importance of forging the future with your own hands. Were it not for A Place Further Than the Universe, this would easily be the best anime of 2018, and it deserves so much more attention than it currently has. So if you’ve read this revue and haven’t yet watched Revue Starlight, now’s the time to fix that. Watch this goddamn show. Tell all your friends to watch it. Let’s give this incredible artistic achievement the attention it’s rightfully earned. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

Revue Starlight
After watching a couple of episodes i already started thinking on how should i review this godly anime yet so underrated, at first the anime is pretty confusing and they already introduced a number of characters that has their very own development the confusing parts will get you excited to watch the next episode the good thing is all of the episodes are all aired and available to watch, you can continue the hype by watching it straight until the ending

I love this anime because its no ordinary anime a unique set of characters filled with enjoyment and a bit of slice of life ... that may be encountered in real life
Revue Starlight is about a stage play / playwright with a mixture of action filled animation and wonderful amazingly soundtracks including different ending singers that sang the same song according to the episode
The drama is quite fast paced yet not rushed and easily understandable
A group of people is aiming to be a Star is put thru to a audition and they are fighting to be the star thru sword fight and hardships of dancing singing and more

Characters all of them are introduced in the first episode and certainly the anime clearly showed us the fact that the two of the main characters promised to one another to aim in becoming a star in their early aged days, they show us the hardships that the characters are put thru to become that one shining star and also become the lead roles of the stage play "Starlight"
Every character has her own development some has slight back story to show us where they are now with mix of drama between them

Animation, including the coloring of the scenes are amazingly beautiful warm thru action scenes and conversation scenes its surprisingly beautiful count the girls animation/design aspect and/or the outfits as beautiful too, you can feel the change in motion when scenes are changing it shows the emotion of a certain character in a magical stage
With a mixture of sword fighting, singing and a colorful stage its animation is flawlessly amazing i have no word

-Minor Spoilers is advised- -You may skip this-
Story/plot , certainly the anime clearly shows us the two of the main characters made a promise to be the one shining star, they are put thru a magical audition where they fight together the 9 of the chosen girls of the school to become the shining stars they dream of, only one will be the Star
They are also required to perform in a school festival thru playwright/stage play they chose to do Starlight they already did their first Starlight when they were first years and decided to make it better, Starlight was also where the MCs made their promise together shown on the first episode
Starlight is a act of a classical stage play in the anime (based on my research it isn't real and is based on originality)

Sounds/Music the charm of the voices of the VAs are warming especially when they are singing with a dramatic scripts when in stages their voices suits their character's personality adding more a sense to the characters and vibes when they are together
They show emotions dramatically thru out the anime the feelings of the characters expresses their situations and emotions clearly
Inserted songs OSTs BGMs Ed Op all of are perfect for the scenarios of the anime after hearing and reading it in english the OP is made to express every character in the anime, the song is not too noisy or too quiet its a perfect harmony with the stageplay they're doing

Personal Opinion / Enjoyment its extremely warming the quotes the drama the hardships of the characters their development with addition of soft music to catch your attention the animation thru out the anime is consistent fighting scenes and more. I enjoyed this so much and after reading, writing this review it makes me wanna see it again for me this is a fun relaxing anime without worrying a single life breaking trouble
(It is mostly focused on character development all of them are main characters with all of them having air time thru out the anime) i recommend this for stageplay lovers music lovers and/or for relaxing anime

Overall: before i say anything i wanna thank you for those who read all the way here this took me awhile to make it
Overall after hearing this anime to be one of the best of 2018 said no more i believe its true hearing it from 3 different youtubers in a video they made last 2018 is true filled with warming colorful animation cheery character's drama beautiful songs and fighting scenes
This anime is the one of the best animes of 2018 i regret not watching this earlier