Kami Kuzu☆Idol

Kazuki Yoshino and Yuuya Niyodo are idols who make up the duo ZINGS. While Kazuki gives his all in every performance, Yuuya views the job as just another means of making money. Yuuya's apathetic attitude toward the fans and inability to take his job seriously causes his manager to give him an ultimatum: unless he starts putting in more effort, he will be fired.

Backstage, Yuuya meets Asahi Mogami, an idol dressed in a colorful costume. Asahi would have had a bright future ahead of her—had she not died a year prior. Even as a ghost, Asahi wants nothing more than to perform for fans again. When she finds out that Yuuya does not hold the same passion for the idol life that she once did, she is overcome by a fit of rage and demands that he let her take his place. In a strange twist, Yuuya wakes up to find that Asahi has possessed him and can do what he is too lazy to do himself.

With Asahi performing for him, Yuuya thinks he has a ticket to an easy idol life. However, Asahi has other plans. Though she is no longer alive, she wishes for Yuuya to find the ambition that she still has. Together, she wants them to become the best idol the world has ever seen. But can an unmotivated man like Yuuya ever care about anything besides money?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Niyodo, Yuuya Main

Imai, Fumiya Japanese

Mogami, Asahi Main

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Yoshino, Kazuki Main

Horie, Shun Japanese

Setouchi, Hikaru Supporting

Terashima, Takuma Japanese

Kasenjiki Supporting

Ueda, Hitomi Japanese

Maririka Supporting

Mori, Nanako Japanese

Yayoi Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Tsugiko Supporting

Taichi, You Japanese

Yuno Supporting

Iwami, Manaka Japanese

Miharu Supporting

Taichi, You Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Muramatsu, Sayako Producer

Shibata, Tomonori Producer, Planning

Reviews

Dec 28, 2025

orangesodasky

Recommended

Disclaimer: I've been an idol fan for over 15 years now, and adore the manga.

Additionally, I will say that I don't necessarily recommend this show if you don't already have a connection to fandom (especially the high octane, mouth-foaming, fanwork-producing community part of fandom). Unlike a lot of special interest anime (especially sports anime), the show isn't trying to convince you to be curious about or even like the special interest (here, idols/fan culture), and a lot of things will just feel needlessly over the top or heavy handed. Still not a bad show, certainly, but you're not the true/precise target audience.

BGM Energy: Mostly Fansa ... (Honeyworks) with some Sarishinohara (MikitoP)

--- For Idol Fans ---

That aside, as a long time idol fan (and in particular, one of several late idols), this show hits hard, fast, and close to home. The comedy hits the bull's eye every single time, and the tragedy is taken seriously when it must. It's 95% lighthearted, but when it hurts, it _hurts_.

Superficially, the story is about a scummy idol getting a boost from the ghost of the perfect idol, but of course, there's so much more to it than that. Even though there's no romance, it's clearly a story about love in many of its other colors. It's about gratitude and devotion and grief and second chances (and not just for Mogami). It's about meeting someone who makes you want to become a better person, to become someone you're not — not yet.

Setouchi's episode... All I can say is that the manga version had me crying until I was nearly dry heaving*, and while the anime didn't quite do that for me (the bad CG definitely hurt this, but wasn't the only factor), it was still well done, and they treated the experience with respect (while maintaining its lighter overall tone) rather than squeezing it dry. (*resurfaced personal trauma)

As for fan-directed content, it's got fan meetings, otaku/ita gear, working, adult fans (!!) and their feverish hangouts, a sports festival/idol olympics, baby's first time at an arena, a couple influential senior groups, a "scandal"/controversy (lighthearted), and a whole lot more of stan culture. Seriously, the Niyodo fanclub is full of heart and so, so funny.

--- Technical ---
The pacing feels good for the most part, despite some changes to the order of events from the manga. The voice acting is also incredibly fun (Kasenjiki being a freak like Gold Ship really adds to the performance if you're an Umamusume fan), and while it's not like, peak studio quality in terms of animation/rendering, the art director still made a lot of favorable choices that I think are easy to forgo for the sake of budget/time constraints (an obvious one being the choice to fully animate side view mouth movement).

The performance CG is... pretty bad. That said, depending on how much weight you give to CG, it may be practically a non-issue, especially in the face of other good choices by the art and voice direction, but uh... oof.

--- Personal ---

Before starting the show, I saw that the rating sat at a pitiful 6.74, and I was pretty gutted to see that this show did so poorly in the public eye (though it's not terribly accessible non-Japanese-speaking audiences, anyway) because I adore the manga. While the anime is weaker in some regards (though primarily because the writing in the manga is just so strong and has more time to develop/goof off), it's certainly worth a shot if you're already a part of the ecosystem.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 4, 2024

Mr_Socialite

Mixed Feelings

Like, it wasn't bad or anything. The show was super cute and all, but at the same time, it flew under the radar for me. I think a little of it may be a result of the story, and maybe this is also an issue with the development of the anime, but some things were so heavily focused, whereas other aspects that could have used more time did not receive the attention they needed. After episode 4, I wondered if I wanted to continue watching. I am never one to give up on an anime, so I went in to see if there was something ... I was missing, but there wasn't and I watched 10 episodes of a sub-par anime where I can't remember anything that happened besides idol fans being idol fans. The show ended like there may be room for a season two, but at the same time, it ended abruptly. I don't know.... if you want an anime to watch while doing dishes or household chores, I would say that this is a good one to do.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Oct 23, 2022

grr_mal

Not Recommended

A very interesting premise that got my hopes up in the first few episodes, but unfortunately it's not developed and leads to nothing as you watch more. Explains why there were just 10 episodes - even that was probably hard to squeeze out of a "story" with no story. Even when we get moments with hints of possible development, like the risk of the ghost girl being recognized by a die-hard fan of hers, the authors chose to not shake things up. Disappointing.

Well, I guess most people aren't in it so much for the story but for the music. Those will be happy with the ... final concert episode. It's a very subjective thing so check out if you like this kind of music from the trailers or something. Personally, I didn't like most of the songs, nor the CGI dancing that felt like repeating the same moves over and over every 5 seconds for almost 20 minutes straight. There was one song that had a part I liked in the middle and that's about it. I've not found a good music anime since Nana years ago, so I've mostly given up nowadays.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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