Selection Project

Selection project: Can I copy your homework? I promise I’ll change it

Idoly pride: Ok, but seriously make sure you change it.

In all seriousness, Selection project and idoly pride have a lot in common. It’s pretty apparent that DG were really influenced by Idoly Pride’s story and wanted to put their own twist on that. Right down to the heart transplant, dead sister that was an idol plot-line. While the story was basically copy and pasted, I still really liked Selection Project and actually think it to be the best idol show this year, yes, including Superstar!.

What made me feel that way? Well simply put, ... I loved Idoly Pride. Since this was basically Idoly Pride season 2, I loved it. The girls all have really cool backstories and were given their time to shine, as well as some great music. Some of the songs from the project are among the best of the year for sure. The animation during performances is really solid and with it being Doga Kobo, the art in general is great. Even though some of the same plot-points from IP were rehashed, I still loved and cared for the girls which is integral to any idol project.

Selection Project may not be completely original, but it’s a must watch for any fan of the idol genre. Loveable characters, emotional story, great performances, what’s not to love?

SelePro gets 10 microphones out of 10.

Selection project. Out of all the seasonals I never expected this one to be my favorite. Comparing this to more known shows including the love live franchise, what really caught my eye is how good the production quality for this anime is. After the series ended I can firmly say that I am keeping my 10 and here’s why,


Firstly, I would like to put out that I find it great when idol MCs show/vent out their frustrations because in reality life isn't always great. Having an MC that isn't always happy can present more humanity towards the anime. I absolutely loved the first few episodes, ... it's clear how they identified what the "challenges" the MC would have to face as the plot progresses, and opening the anime showing the vulnerable side of the MCs life, well you'd just want to cheer for her more. Character dynamic isn't that uncommon when it comes to these types of anime, there is always a "rival" or a "best friend". Well in this one, although Suzu and Rena may have the "rival" aspects, it can just be seen as 2 people who aren't particularly friends but both look up to someone dear to them, namely amasawa akari, and it's great how they addressed that connection later on.

Story- 10
It has the classic rags to riches kind of story where the mc starts out as a singer/dancer aspiring to be an idol. What stood out to me is the fact that our mc was hospitalized in her childhood due to a chronic illness, overcoming such illness would be considered the plot of the anime however as we move on later into the episode at the qualifiers where we can say that "tragedy strikes" I can really see a connection with Shibuya kanon (Love live superstar MC) as they have similar events that occur. The first few episodes were amazing to open the anime as we got to know our MC, her story, and what inspires her to become an idol. I really liked the competition foundation that they laid out in the beginning and I believe this helped further deepen the connections between the “9”.

(Spoilers)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is also worth mentioning that the issue faced in the later episodes where you have to vote 2 people out poses a psychological dilemma to the young group. How they handled their issue was shocking but it was reasonable considering the previous events that originated from Suzu’s reveal before “Naked Blue”. Now just because it’s the most reasonable choice for the group, it doesn’t change the fact that it is a wasted opportunity. We can see this from characters from the previous audition appearing before the first street live. Even if karin ono (one of the eliminated contestants) had some negative thoughts against 9-tie for their decision, the previous contestants still gave their support regardless. I also liked how the CEO and sumipan still acted as the guardian angels of 9-tie even after they left the competition. These interactions and connections just show how impactful 9-tie was on their short time onstage.

Near the end of the anime my theories were confirmed, however I was still shocked by the brilliant execution on Suzu’s inner struggles. The surprise appearance of akari amasawa was honestly shocking, I saw this type of interaction in other anime (siesta is dead the anime as an example) as well, but what was so great about this was that it was short and meaningful. We didn’t see akari carrying Suzu throughout the whole anime, we didn’t see Suzu always asking for help either. This just helped us remember that Suzu was able to do this with her own strength and even in the end when she was unconscious in the hospital, we could see that Akari merely gave her a push to wake up.
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Art- 10
Personally, one of the best CGI I have ever seen for the Idol genre, the quality is superb and I really think this should set the standard for the future idol anime.

Sound- 10

B.B cover by Suzu.Rena was honestly what got me hooked into this the most, symbolisms aren’t that uncommon in songs especially with choreography. But in this particular song we could see moments where Rena looked up to Suzu, we can see that the lyrics accomplish the struggle of being catchy and inspiring at the same time and I loved it, it was a great touch for the overall song and I got goosebumps all the way. I believe the songs really captured aspects of the characters who sung them as the episodes they were molded around made you get to know the idols a bit more and I found this really great especially since the songs are very memorable.

I would also like to highlight the effort they put in to include more variations of “only on yell” throughout the anime. Overall the ost is amazing, the music is able to set the mood as well and I could sit here and listen to them the whole day.

Character- 9

It would seem at the begginning that we would have the generic go-getter idol mc type of character, but as we journeyed through the anime, we were able to uncover what was within this mask that she kept hidden to herself. But even before this we were able to see her character development in the earlier episodes and I loved how they depicted her story to the audience. It was great how they made it so you could sympathize and relate to her story in the beginning about having someone we look up to and one day hoping to be in the same "stage" as them. We could also notice generic types among the other idols but their chemistry and how there is a whole episode devoted to the development of each "sub-group" is really what made me like them more.

I also find it amazing on how the dynamics for each subgroup was determined because we could say that even when there were clashes in personality, almost all of the characters had their redeeming moment and I loved it.

Enjoyment- 10

Could probably rewatch it again and again and again without getting bored. Really love the characters, story and the songs as well.

Overall- 10
I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the idol genre, truly a hidden gem.

So far, in my opinion this is one of the gems of this season!

Its basicly a "sing battle" between all the girls.

Hopefully on the next couple of episodes we get to know them all a little bit more and are able to support every single one of them but MOSTLY the best girls! ;)

Beautiful Art Style with great Music and an amazing protagonist!

Even if you´re not into idols pleaseeeee watch Selection Project!

... I literally cried in the first and third episode, almost in the second, idk it is really adorable and human until now.

THE CGI IS REALLY GOOD! (and til now almost nothing of cgi so if you dislike cgi dont worry please :3)

Its so underated ;-; please watch it :)

Part I Overall

This series has horrible story telling. It has a lot of plot holes that can be extremely confusing in the series. This plot of the series does not really tell its own story but rather a mix of Idoly Pride(75%), Lovelive!(10%) and Zombieland Saga(15%). In my opinion, Selection Project is the worst TV Show that I have ever seen.
However, not all parts are considered bad at all. In Zombieland Saga Rip Off Part, they did really well, such as an interesting idea like "Idol that start from zero and be growing"
For Music
I don't like almost song in this series, especially the OP theme ... song. It doesn't create an Idol op vibe. They also reuse multiple songs at the end. In my opinion, Idol series shouldn't reuse their song strongly because the main selling point of the series are their songs and it doesn't look like they have put in the enough effort to create new songs. On the bright side, it has a few song that I like, B.B. and Only One yell. Only One Yell will be my most favorite ed in Fall2021.
For Studio
Doga Kobo did very well in this position, this series was carried by Doga Kobo a lot. Animation and sound effects are very good. Also, the character design from Hirayama, Kanna, are the character design of series "
Kanojo, Okarishimasu". They are very cute and memorable. Nevertheless, the story isn't given, so in the character part, I can't give much more score.

Part II add some detailed from part (maybe spoiled)

[1] This series has a main moral of "Repay all votes that voted on us", but before that a winner of the zone qualifiers withdraws because the 1st runner sang better than her. W H A T, how about votes that were voted on you. How would they feel?

[2] The competitors in this series all spend most of their summer in camps, but the competitors are only middle school with the youngest being 11 years old. Aren't their parents worried? Your children are going to camp for 3 months. There are also dances in swimsuits which aren't appropriate for middle schoolers if you ask me. At the end, the kids became idols and leave their hometowns to perform in the big cities. Aren't their parents worried at all?

[3] "Selection Project is the most realistic TV competition show". Is that really true? In the story, they do not allow viewers to vote on children's programs as they are working to follow their dream. In the real world, they have to face realities of haters and criticism.

Another reason is that the TV competition show had all the competitors pass, so to be fair, they gave a choice that competitors have to vote and kick out 2 competitors. W H A T, this is contradicts with [1]. After that, the votes are equal and they can't find a competitor to kick out so they are all eliminated. Yes, they are all eliminated. Are you kidding me? How can a show like this can survive for 7 seasons and have viewers all over Japan?

To be an idol.

Selection Project takes an interesting concept on the whole idol franchise, and looks to find the world's next top idol. Taking the idea of holding contests through different regions of Japan. Holding a nation wide singing contest, in order to get the most voted one, and move on to the next round and so on. Making it look like a mix of their own X Factor, or American idol. Quite the spin.

We start through Suzune Miyama, a poor sick girl, who's want to sing, mainly came from watching, and listening to said legendary idol Akari Amasawa. Taking it as her inspiration, and ... part of her drive to sing. A dream and motivation can really push people beyond themselves. In this case, with how it's presented, it's put it to a point, where you want to root for her, and ope that she achieves such a dream.

The characters of course, are a huge part of this show. The large cast can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but that slowly goes down to look a bit more normal, and allows the watcher to follow a certain number, rather than trying to get to like a dozen faces. Along with that these faces each have their own backgrounds, and personality. You pretty much will have a girl that might end up being your favorite, and as the episodes go on, we'll get to know them more and more. Making for a much more interesting set of cast. Not just the main girl we met at the start.

The art is fresh and colourful, just what you would expect from an idol show such as this. Much like the songs, and other sounds. I honestly cannot say anything wrong about it. Idol shows are normally known for these kinds of things the most, and while it won't be super top tier, but it's very good in terms of sounding, and top notch quality. In both ends of the field.

Selection Project so far seems like a mix of Idoly Pride meets Love live. Two idol shows/series that made their own mark, one more so than the other. We'll just have to see, who comes out on top. So let's all enjoy the ride! Give this one a shot, as you won't regret it.

Spoiler Warning.
This show takes the concept of idol shows and gives an interesting take judging by the first episode. It's in the realm of something akin to American idol or Xfactor or well it would be if it decided to continue in an interesting direction. Unfortunately the show does not do this as because these girls develop a sisterly bond with each other whilst knowing each other for almost no amount of time. Not to mention the ENTIRE point is they compete against each other in this cutthroat industry. In episode 10 they give us hope with a plot twist where the girls refuse to ... vote anyone off and they leave to go alone. This idea goes nowhere because by episode 12 they're back in selection project gaming the system. The characters are nothing special each girl has their one unique trait and they only talk about those things and they have no depth. e.g. the food girl is always eating/talking about food. None of the emotional moments are really that impactful because some of the problems are just outrageous overreactions or so obvious that you just want them to get to the point so you can move on. The main issue is that it gave the viewer expectations that it would/could be something different to general idol shows but then completely ignored its most interesting prospect. Finally the last episode in particular felt insulting as the main girl has to be rushed to hospital before the group perform live. As the viewer we know she will return because that's how these things work in stories. But when a girl who had a heart transplant has to be rushed to hospital and has some kind issue relating to her heart that lead to her being in hospital in the first place suddenly wakes up, eats a strawberry sweet and then rushes back to the stage and is able to perform back to back songs like nothing even happened and no doctors clearance was the final straw for me it's such an unfathomable situation that if I wasn't so insulted that I would respect them playing it off as if nothing happened. Anyway at least the adults actually look like adults good work there.

Alright, after seeing the 13th episode, here are my thoughts (and opinion) about this show.

This might contain minor spoilers! (Also, English isn't my first language so there might be errors, please mind them!)

The plot is a lot like Idoly Pride, if not exactly the same, but I won't go into the details of it, you'll just have to watch both of them and find the similarities!

The art is actually pretty good, the 3D feels fluid and it fits the animation, not too stiff and not out of place.

The characters are all likable and have interesting backstories. They all have unique character designs, like Shiori with ... her cat-like features.

The sound and music is really good, the songs are nice and I have them saved on Spotify already (plus the MV's are nice too).

Overall, this show is decent and enjoyable, the only nitpick I have here is that they almost entirely ripped off Idoly Pride. But, if you haven't watched Idoly Pride yet, you'll probably enjoy this more than me.

TLDR: Disappointment. If you're here for the girls and the voice actors, fine. If you're here for the anime and story? Go watch Idoly Pride. Selection Project stole the plot and made it worse lol. If you're here for the music, just listen to the OP and ED on youtube.

I'm going to be pretty critical of the show, but everything is my honest opinion.

Disappointment is all I can say. The show had so much potential, and not only did it not make use of it, it trampled all over it and threw it in the trash. Before I blast you with all the negatives, I'll ... start with a few positives.
+ Great character design.
+ Great outfit design
+ Great synergy between the characters
+ Above average CGI
+ Decent animation for the most part

Okay now that I've told you the good parts about the show, let's dig in.
When you look for an idol show, what do most people expect? Usually it's 2 main things. Cute girls - which they got that down atleast - and good music + dance.

Now let me tell you how absolutely disappointed I am at the quality of the music in this show. Absolute hot garbage. To understand this let me explain without spoiling the show. There are 9 girls in this group, and within this group they are split into 3 subgroups. The problem isn't with the main group. The 9 girls together are actually really cute, have good chemistry, and the songs+dance are awesome. The problem is when you split these 9 girls into subgroups. These subgroups try too hard to be 'unique' and 'quirky' with their songs and choreography, the themes each of these groups have are either cringey, cheesy, or just doesn't work with the characters/talents within it. I know it's a marketing strategy to create subgroups within groups to make it easier for new fans to consume, but just dividing these girls up and giving them lackluster production isn't the play. Not to mention the mixing/production quality for the songs each subgroup respectively has are absolutely terrible.

TLDR; Here is my theory: To put it nicely. Selection Project has like 2 production teams. 1 team is a professional team dedicated to the whole group, they produce good quality songs and choreographs. The other team that produces the subgroup's products is a robot smashing a keyboard over and over again until something 'ok' comes out of the speakers. (The OP and the ED slaps though, but that's because it's not from the subgroups)
Edit: Did some more digging, the subgroups actually have a few decent songs, it's just not the ones in the anime.

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Okay but that wasn't even the worst part of the anime. The story was what made this show unwatchable. The best way I can describe the story in this anime is 'haha b*tch you got scammed'. The show presents itself with a pretty unique take on the competitive aspect of the idol industry. Obviously it's not the first show to do this sort of 'tournament arc but for idols' styled story, but the way it sets up the show allows for a lot of *potential* character development and interactions. But even after around episode 6, the show had done almost absolutely nothing to make use of this potential. Which, to be honest, is okay, it just became a typical idol show. But what happens after is not only blatant theft, but they stole another show's plot, and made it worse. Not only did they make a 'plot twist' that was completely unoriginal, it was so cheesy and cringey, as well as predictable that I think I stood up from my chair multiple times to go wash my eyes and ears out.

TLDR: Started off good for about 6 episodes, then: plagiarism, unoriginal, cheesy, cringey, predictable plot ensues.

(If you're curious about the show they ripped off of, its called "Idoly Pride". It's not god tier, but it's much better than this show, so go watch that instead of this)

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I'll end it on a positive note atleast. The characters. The characters are the saving grace of this show. Th girls' aesthetics and story are both well designed and cute. Voice acting and singing are decent, and they each have their own appeals.

But let me shout out one particular character from this show. And that is SumiPanda. The legend made the most cringey parts of this show bearable, and although this isn't a comedy show, the guy's humor is awesome. Great voice acting, great character, and awesome personality. Whoever put this character in the show was obviously making him a joke character, but who knew he would become the main protagonist?!?!? (He's not but I like to think he is)

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After watching this show I think I'll just follow the girls' voice actors on twitter and youtube, and try to erase my memory of this show's plot. It wasn't the girls' fault, it was the production of the anime and music that sucked. Mako best girl!!!!

I never been big on idol anime but decided to give this one a try... needless to say it is a experience that I will forget :). The show is pretty much about rip off ____ Got Talent and all that. (SPOILER WARNING AHEAD)


For me it started out fine, I was enjoying myself some what... but then they just never had anyone voted off and pulled a FRIENDSHIP IS POWER cliché. I never hated this cliché so much until this show, even after watching my little pony AND not to mention ALL of Fairy Tail. Then after they had no one voted off ... they disqualified everyone and made it a point to say they are trying to grow as a idol group (without any help from big company's like the one that runs the competition). Then about a episode or two of working on their own they just get to GO BACK AND FINISH?!?!

Now for the other point, I have no problem with characters idolizing dead idols... BUT it kinda gets weird near the end, but to explain why I first need to explain the 2 main characters back story. Our 1st main character is Suzuna who had a bad heart condition when she was young, she would watch this one idol Akari Amazawa (she was quite a fan). One day she got a heart from a organ donor, and got to leave the hospital.
The 2nd main character is Rena, who is Akari Amazawa's younger sister trying to follow in the foot steps of her dead sister. Her sister became a organ donor. Now that you know that it will be easy to put the 2 together... Suzuna's heart belongs to her childhood idol. She figured this out along with Rena
At some point near the end of the series Suzuna passes out do to overworking herself, so she gets taken to the hospital and ain't waking up. Rena is also there cause she is concerned for her friend. After a bit the show shows the dream Suzuna is having, where she is being asked stuff by Akari. Also during this conversation our main character looks like their younger self after the heart transplant. Near the end of the conversation Akari says she will always be with our main character well having her hands over the scar from the transplant. If that ain't weird enough she wakes up and says she talked to Akari and that she said she would always be with her right in front of the relative of Akari who is already established to be quite sensitive about her sister due to her sister not spending much time with her after her success.

On another note I think Rena might see too much of her sister in Suzuna after figuring out her deceased older sister's heart is in her. Even to the point that right before their last performance she looks at her and see's (and also hears) her sisters voice saying what Suzuna is saying...

This anime is pretty meh for what it does. Ok, I like the moe/yuri moment there, what’s new? Just the same usuals as seen in different anime’s that You or I watch. I won’t go hate on this anime because they are really on the same level as BanG Dream or Zombieland Saga, but not K-ON.

You can watch those animes I mentioned, because they might interest you the most than this. It’s fine if you want to give this a try because this doesn’t bother me anyways but to yourself nonetheless.

Not a bad anime, its just that same concept with different storyline and ... characters with different personalties.

The content is too same with Idoly Pride (from Winter 2021 line-up) with a really bit of unnecessarily modifications and even Selection Project haven't made a proper SWOT analysis on Idoly Pride so they are still lacking much things from Idoly Pride and even can't properly make more differences from Idoly Pride, so whatever that high quality of the animations from Doga Kobo, whatever the great job from voice actresses here, it's still disappointed because it's disrespecting Idoly Pride's creators and production companies, and also disrespecting the real purposes of Idoly Pride's production although if then Selection Project's production's real purposes has same thing with ... Idoly Pride's.

Although, I can respect only the episode 4 and partly episode 5, the only original thing from Selection Project.

6/10

I have been following Selection Project since it aired but prior to that, have watched some various idol anime including some iM@S anime including the 2011 OG anime and Cinderella Girls, Love Live(Finished Nijigasaki S1 and Superstar) and Idoly Pride.

Now for the review itself after wrapping up yesterday on Christmas Eve, I have been holding up on this for weeks where there were discussions and memes about this being compared to Idoly Pride because of how many similar plot points and the whole plot itself to each other.

So I started on episode 1 where I got introduced to a legendary idol named Amasawa ... Akari and as a Hayamin fan(seen some of her works and heard some of her songs), I want to pay attention to her character but the problem is she only got like around 2 minutes of screentime on that episode then her character is already dead on a car crash similar to Nagase Mana from Idoly Pride. I never have such a feeling like this on an idol anime before why I felt vibes from another idol anime and this is just the beginning.

Later on, 9-Tie(atleast not officially at the early episodes) was introduced where we get introduced to this reality show similar to Big Brother and some other reality shows in idol format where okay this is a bit different. One of the main girls is Miyama Suzune, who is a frail and sickly girl who almost got kicked out of the show but the winner talked to her and decided to withdraw from the competition. The third episode is where things started to get vicious with the Idoly Pride comparisons as we get introduced more to a girl named Rena who guess what, happened to be the sister of the dead idol much like Kotono being the sister of Mana in IP.

So the girls were split into units which okay lets see what they have to offer where SplashSoda and GapsCaps are fine but we will get to other problems later on the review.

Halfway through the anime, the drama started to get really serious with the swimsuit performance where Suzune doesn't want to see her chest scar which Rena saw and covered up for her. This is where people including myself have a feeling that she got a heart transplant from someone and nailed it on episode 8 with a big plot reveal. "Ah shit, here we go again." is my reaction to that scene and even made a meme about it. This is one of the points that escalated the comparisons to Idoly Pride like seriously, why you have to pull out an Idoly Pride plot on who Suzune got an heart transplant from Akari of all people like why go that route instead of another donor that has nothing to do with Akari or a different organ. This gets really worse to the point that I feel like I'm watching a pirated copy of Idoly Pride much like the bootlegs you see around the street markets. I find this really difficult to take the anime seriously because of too much similarities with Idoly Pride and this is absolutely terrible.

Episode 10 and 11 was their chance to redeem itself and breakaway from the Idoly Pride copy label with the girls trying to make name for themselves after an incident in the reality show that disqualified all of them thus the official formation of the group 9-Tie. Unfortunately, this was reversed on episode 12 where we went back to the heart issue drama BS again on Suzune but this time Rena took care of her and the reveal of the staff's true nature including Jun and the Dorm Mother.

Now regarding Akari, she get some appearance like on Rena's dream and later Suzune's when she was fighting for her life but I have to question how she become a legendary idol and to be frank, this a huge plot hole where it's not good enough to say "Amasawa Akari is a legendary idol" after the car crash when we barely know anything about her like what did she achieve as an idol instead of just some story telling from Rena or Dorm Mother especially to Suzune. Its basically impossible at this point to avoid thinking about Mana when it comes to Akari much like Sakura and Kotono to Suzune and Rena which is atrocious writing.

Regarding the other 7 girls, sure they have their own quirks and stuff but they are stuck to their shticks and gimmicks especially Nodoka who mostly put into scenes that have anything to do with food while getting overshadowed by SuzuRena. Speaking of those two, obviously they are so similar to Sakura and Kotono.

On the final episode on the anime, I got lots of "uhh" moments and I was like "what the hell happened to this anime!?" with lots of nonsense going on with Akari talking to Suzune and gives her a hug in the dream then she wakes up and be like "Hurrah! lets go to the stage where everyone's waiting" which doesn't make any sense like what kind of incompetent doctor would clear Suzune that fast unless you sneak her out of the hospital or something? Just after the last performance of other 9-Tie members, Suzune and Rena appeared out of nowhere just like something out of WWE with the hurt wrestler getting back to the fight. 9-Tie so far got half of the votes but how the hell they get the rest of the required votes is way beyond me.

Guess what's the final song for the series? A new song? I wish but nope! Its the OP of the entire anime like seriously why they couldn't make a new song to make the ending special and of course we still get the same ending credits with the same song Only One Yell that's been played since Day 1.

You have the characters that have potential to be unique even Akari only to be overshadowed by Sakura and Kotono 2.0 a.k.a Suzune and Rena and this is really terrible because the other girls didn't have enough room to develop their own characters instead of this whole SuzuRena drama the entire time. I'm going to bring down the hammer on this and I have to give this score. I wish the lessons for other idol anime would be learned from this mistake considering how hard it is to stand out for the genre especially if you are not iM@S or Love Live, even those two giants have to learn the lessons too and I'm looking at you Million Live anime and I have hopes to not commit the same mistakes from Selection Project.

Diet X-factor.

Being spoiled by Love Live! Superstar! this summer has really backfired on my enjoyment of Selection Project. That’s not to say that Selection Project is a bad idol anime, far from it in fact. It’s nicely animated, the CG and music are good and the characters range from very likeable to… kinda there, but overall it’s just very… okay.

If you’ve seen any sort of singing competition like Pop Idol or X-factor then you already know what sort of general premise you’re getting into. Wannabe idols all over Japan compete to take part in the idol TV competition Selection Project to become the next ... top idol. We follow Suzune a former bedridden child who wants nothing more than to sing enter the competition and, thats basically the summary.

Unfortunately if you’re someone with at least ten working brain cells then you’ll be able to guess the big plot reveal the show teases in episode one because it’s really obvious. Not that I really minded all that much. It’s not a tense, drama packed soap opera or anything, but it was still very on the nose. That said, Selection Project not being that tense soap opera might be to the shows biggest disadvantage. It is a competition and though the characters to bicker at times it never really feels like the conflicts matter and they’re resolved too quickly or the story actively bends to make sure on one of the girls is left behind which doesn’t help for long term investment. I get that it’s going for light-hearted, feel good girl power, but the show feels stuck between these two ideas thanks to the nature of singing competitions.

I liked most of the characters. They all stick to their cliches very closely to try and differ from each other (there are 9 of them and one of them literally looks like a cat) but I never really felt attached to any of them as characters… expect Mako Tomo… she can step on me… anyway.
One thing I did notice in one episode was that the show (I think) unintentionally shines a light on the idol industries sexualization of young women and the weird, somewhat creepy persona’s they’re taught to forge in order to appeal to certain audiences. I just thought that was interesting.

Selection Project is not the best moe/idol anime out there, but I watched the whole thing and enjoyed it. It’s very chill if thats what you’re looking for, the characters though they don’t really stand out are entertaining and there are some good tunes in there to boot. It has it’s problems and it’s story probably won’t “wow” you, but you might have a good time with this one.

6/10 It’s Okay *thumbs up*

I will try not to mention the obvious AiPura similarities here…

SelePro is the only idol show that I've watched so far, and boy was I for a surprise. For starters, throw away the notion that this is an idol show upfront – this is really a reality slice-of-life show wearing the clothing of an idol show. When it comes to its plot, SelePro focuses more on the interactions between the characters and how the show binds them together as performers within and without the stage – a rare look into the hostile world of idols and performers (in real life, that is). The characters themselves are ... too cookie-cutter (even the trend of a genki lead and a tsundere co-lead wearing red and blue respectively is used here), but I don't mind it.

Definitely my strongest appeal to this show is how it integrates a shallow-yet-understandable story with amazing visuals (props to Doga Kobo for teaching everyone how 3D animations in anime should be used), nice music (the ED song "Only One Yell" is a wonderful earworm, and so are the insert songs especially "Butterfly Bright"), an assortment of plain yet interesting characters (the "interesting" part here is them working as a group), and a decision to be more realistic than ideal in presenting the "idol" genre here. Originally I thought taht like many seasonal favorites of mine, I'll forget this show anyway, but this show already got into my system now that I have fully embraced the SelePro life. Hiromi-senpai, Nagi-chan, and Uta-sensei Best Girls!

In summary, "Selection Project" uses the least ingredients for maximum enjoyment: when the "Idoly Pride" story is combined with the "drama" of "Big Brother" and the game mechanics of "Wonder Egg Priority" with a cadre of characters that remind me more of my other girl-led SoL favorite "Is The Order A Rabbit?".

Still for now though, I'd let SelePro to be the only idol show that I've watched and I am watching.
But yes, I might end up watching Idoly Pride as well because of the pesky comparisons made.

Welp I mentioned it again, the AiPura similarity… yabai!

A blatant, lazy rip off of Idoly Pride with worse twists and a horrifying looking mascot. The art, like everything else, isn't as good as the show it's copying and that's really the only bit I can potentially compliment. I skip through the rest and spoil the ending and some songs so I wouldn't have to suffer through a repeat of Idoly Pride, which I didn't adore to begin with, and it doesn't do anything unique enough there either to redeem itself despite the very slight variation.

This show is stupid for the sake of drama quite often. My favorite example is how there's an ... entire episode about the protagonist being self conscious involving her chest on the beach, a problem only resolved by a custom made swimsuit, only to later reveal that SIX of the girls actually wear swimsuits that visibly hide their chests and would have resolved the problem entirely. But no, we need to make fake drama and emotional stakes, so custom swimsuit at the last second because they claim nothing else was available. The writers either didn't bother pointing out the obvious problem to the artists, or thought the audience would be too stupid to notice.

This show lacks every hint of the heart and mystery Idoly Pride had. The originality of the ghost and the cute relationship with the manager are gone entirely, replaced by an obnoxious alcoholic narrator/host in a creepy mascot suit. The characters are worse, shallow regurgitations of the same tropes and what few new elements they add are forgettable or detrimental to the show, making it feel even more shallow and copy-paste than it already is. The shallow "twist" at the end is a 15 year old fakeout no one with a single brain cell would fall for, with an otherwise generic conclusion. Idoly Pride wasn't my favorite idol show of the year, but it was decent, whereas this one felt like an aggravating waste of time. If you've seen Idoly Pride, there's no reason to watch this, and if you haven't, go watch that instead.

This show clearly was inspired by Idoly Pride, which is not a bad thing if all it did was get some ideas from it. However, this show is a ripoff and is honestly not that great. The animation loses to that of Idoly Pride and so does the story. The story is just your traditional idol story, with some bad drama added in. The last episode was a copy and paste from the third. Very lazy overall and I expected much better than that. Additionally, the songs are worst as well. Personally, for me the songs are worst than every other Idol show I watched ... so far. Overall, save your time and just watch Idoly Pride, it is much better.

7/10 - Story
The plot seemed very bland and fast at the same time in the first few episodes. But around episode 10 I started to give it a little more interest. Part of the reason it's not a perfect score is because at some points you can just tell what's going to happen next no matter how hard the anime is trying to reel you in and put you at the edge of your seat. In other words, it's predictable. Yet I find that that's what I found charming about this anime, it doesn't give me anxiety of sorts and just wants me to enjoy ... good ole anime lessons without much heartache.

10/10 - Art
The art is good and consistent, animation was pretty smooth. It's your average idol anime animation so I don't really have complaints. Although, if 3d isn't your cup of tea (then why are you watching idol animes /jk) then you would have to endure through the performances (imo it's not bad, great even).

6/10 - Characters
Characters, characters. Each have their own traits but sometimes it all feels plain and not that thought over. Like that one girl (i forgot her name) who's very athletic, I get that she comes from an athletic family but they didn't need to rub it in our faces every time her parents came into the shot. Small things like that are what threw me off a little, and maybe it's just me who feels that way. I would just like to note that the character development of the girls did not come off as smooth though it can be set aside because it doesn't cause any problems in the plot.

10/10 - Sound
The sounds were perfect! The songs got me, my favorite being 'Only One Yell' obviously. The voice actors did a good job with this one. Nothing else to say.

8/10 - Overall Enjoyment
I liked the anime despite it not landing any critical hits in my top lists. It's very enjoyable and light-hearted. If you want an anime that is sprinkled with lots of positivity, this one could be a good pick. Though, if you want something other than the norm then maybe you should keep looking.

Hi so this is my first review ever because I finally learned how to 😅
Its an idol anime and i usually dont like idol anime but it was surprisingly good! It teaches you to not give up on your dreams. All the characters looks special and their own even though they arent even the main characters yet their still made really nicely! Im talking about the first two episodes of the girls trying to be make in the idol audiotions finals :) They dont even look like side characters!
and for the rest episodes i'd say its okay.

Characters:
A lot of stereotype characters but they're designs are ... nice.
a 6/10
Music:
Songs are pretty nice and the dances that they perform are game cgi so its good! A 8/10
Now lets move on to the art style and animation.
I thinks the art style and the animation is very good in my opinion. Very refreshing! If i were to rate the art style and animation i'd definitely give it a 9/10
I believe the genre is idol,music,and slice of life. If you like to watch slice of life genre and "cute girls" i guess this for you 😬
I dont even like SOS and idol/music genre but it was okay! Overall an 7.5
Its a really nice new underatted anime in my opinion <3

!!SPOILERS FROM EPS 1-10 AHEAD!!
...



Feels like a higher quality rip off of idoly pride, with the main characters being pretty much polar opposites, the part where our 2nd main character Rena was the dead famous idol's younger sister, the competition, the dead popular idol, the heart disease, (especially the part where the dead famous idol gave our main character her heart after she died). The sound quality was great, and the production so far is extremely high quality and consistent. Solid 8/10. If you enjoyed this anime I highly reccommend Idoly Pride, though the final outcome is slightly different and the characters have a lot more plot protection.