World Dai Star

Just as a small part here: The review was written preliminary after the first 6 episodes, but overall, all I wrote back then still holds true after having watched all episodes. With the addition that I really enjoyed the character moments in the second half even more than I already did in the first half. They really nailed the "show-don't-tell" storytelling aspect in this show.

World Dai Star is a very good combination of your general Cute-Girls-Doing-Cute-Things genre with the profession of acting. The main character Kokona wants to become a world famous actress, but is missing what people call "sense" and is therefore being rejected ... after most auditions. She is encouraged by her friend Shizuka to still try and is finally able to perform well during an audition joining the SIRIUS theater where she learns to improve her acting while also having fun with the other actresses.

I don't want to go into more details of the plot, because there are a lot of potential spoilers here, but there are interesting aspects that keep the story engaging, ranging from understanding the abilities of the different actresses (the "senses") that are all describing different acting styles, but also the understanding of the problems that come with this kind of style. For example, one character is able to read the thoughts of the audience and is therefore able to adjust their acting so the audience enjoys it more. But that also leads to her acting too much for the audience and going against the original plan. All of that is combined with fun moments between the girls that strengthen their friendship.

Where I think the anime is very strong is in its presentation. The animation is some of the strongest of the season when it comes to the acting scenes. The movements are so fluid that most shows can't even compare. This helps to show small details in the acting through which the characters define themselves but more importantly their role. The second part of the presentation is the fact that the show is not afraid to leave things up to the viewers. Episode 1 for example has a big twist at the end that is not put into the forefront too much. It shows that the show trusts their viewers to pay attention and not needing to explain every small detail. Which is also why a lot of people actually missed this twist (as you can see by checking the comments for that episode).

Therefore, I recommend everyone to give the show a shot for at least 1 episode. You can probably gauge if you like the show or not after that first episode and its twist. But I think, the show deserves to at least get this chance, because the passion in this project, especially when it comes to the acting scenes and the fluidity of the movement, can be felt like in no other anime of the season.

We get a lot of idol shows these days, but it’s not often we get an anime that shows the ins and outs of stage acting. Dai star is a somewhat fresh take on the CGDCT formula and offers some of the most fluid animation I’ve ever seen.

While it’s definitely a very anime-y take on stage acting and not the most realistic, Dai star shows us just how competitive the top acting troupes can be and takes us along on a journey to become a professional actor. It was one of the most under appreciated shows of the season as well.

If you’re anything like ... me, you probably know very little about theater. While not an expert after this, I feel like I could at least have a conversation with someone about it now and have a newfound appreciation for the medium thanks to the lengths this series goes to in order to teach you about the business aspect, the hard work that’s required and the pressure of being an actor. It’s no Oshi no Ko, but it is a really fun and cute experience.

The main strength of this show lies with the characters. I think Kokona and the other girls are really interesting. Seeing their various motivations for wanting to succeed was nice, but I particularly liked the multitude of approaches to acting. Everyone’s acting style is an extension of who they are as people. This manifests itself in the form of “senses” which are basically superpowers that the best actors have. Allowing them to fully lose themselves in the scene and script. The different abilities were fascinating to me.

The relationships between characters were satisfying as well, particularly between Kokona and Katharina, the two main rivals in this show. All of their interactions were fun and they pushed each other to new heights as actors. I loved seeing Kokona grow over the course of the show from a timid and mediocre actor to one capable of taking on the biggest roles in the biggest projects. Her emotional development feels natural and rewarding.

This show has some of the same staff who worked on idoly pride involved as well, and if you’re at all familiar with Idoly Pride, you know it had some of the best animation for its idol performances. Same holds true here. The character motions are buttery smooth during the acting scenes and really engrossing.

I think if you’re looking for a new CGDCT to watch or just want to learn more about stage acting, this is a really good option. Story is not going to blow you away, but the animation and characters are great. It’s certainly worth a shot. Sad this is ending, but looking forward to the gacha game.

Dai-Star gets 8, out of 10

I gotta stop watching these. Mixed Media Project Slice of Life shows with too many girls based around some niche hobby/industry always end up the same way. Be it Cue, Extreme Hearts, PuraOre, and now this. The fundamental issue is that, even with a main character at hand, it always ends up pretty mediocre around the middle and my interest in the project just completely fades less than halfway through.

World Dai Star has some interesting things going for it initially at least. You got Takahiro, you got a schizophrenic hallucination that is a product of the main character. The problem is that they never really ... do anything interesting with it. The MC's tulpa manifests physically, then she disappears, then reappears at the end again. Not much is done to explore this, or how inexplicably every theatre actress has superpowers (and I mean real superpowers, not chuuni delusions) that only come to life on stage. Revue Starlight this ain't, nor is this even close to the madness that was Gekidol. Instead, World Dai Star is just pretty boring for the most part with overused character archetypes playing off of each other to some nice animation and music. Though it is nice to see the otherwise super-typecasted Iwami Manaka play a character with a completely different voice than she normally does.

And I really do adore the OST too. The insert songs are fun and the melancholic piano really deserve to be in a more exciting show than this. But otherwise World Dai Star is mainly background noise, albeit pleasant background noise, to be played while doing something more fun. Like filing taxes or ironing.

5/10

This anime is really good, from the visuals to the story and the character development is really on point. This anime gives a good story and interesting music.

This anime gives an interesting impression, even though this anime is only for the promotion of the game, this anime is highly recommended for those of you who want to find anime with a stage show concept.Even here the characters are also shown how their story is and this anime really gives an extraordinary last episode, with the past story of the main character, Otori Kokona,even in the last two episodes it was able to make me cry ... because it was really good.

<Insert Leonardo DiCaprio whistle meme here>
Oh look! It's studio Lerche and director Yuu Kinome back at the helm once again, for another round of Idoly Pride! Except, what's the plan for the ghost story plot this time?

Shows about theatrical tropes are nothing new, if you refer to the chunk of AniManga content about the thematics of performing arts that has come out in the last 5 years. Shows like Summer 2018's Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight (which I still stand by my review that the show is the gold standard, even for its time) and Summer 2021's Kageki Shoujo!!, which focuses heavily on the actual all-female Takarazuka ... Revue references in its own right. World Dai Star on the other hand, created by author Takahiro of Akame ga Kill!, Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru and Mato Seihei no Slave fame, is a mix between both Revue Starlight and Kageki Shoujo!!, embodying the former's extreme attention to detail and everything else about the latter, from the theatrical to the core foundation and presentation aspects.

As is the foundation for all shows, there is a newbie in town to audition for some of the greatest talents there were, and in the case of this show, it's 16-year-old Kokona Otori auditioning for the Sirius theatrical troupe in the hope that she'll become a World Dai Star, representing Japan to reach out to the globe, which has seen countless Dai Star performers burst in popularity and perform wonderous acts to acclaim.

As we all know, auditions for prestigious troupes like Sirius have a high bar to follow from generations past, and the key to becoming a world-famous actress is through this ability called "Sense". In retrospect, "Sense", like a person's DNA, is unique to each and every one of the actresses' abilities, which can range from reading and adjusting the audience's mood, to reeling in others and putting the one using her Sense in control of the play onstage. But in fairness to Kokona, she doesn't have any of that, even though her accompaniment is in the form of Shizuka, a girl whom Kokona met when she was young, and only she can see her. On that note, if you watched Idoly Pride back in Winter 2021, you would immediately know what's up.

Even though Kokona faces a tough road ahead in her acceptance route into Sirius, with Shizuka's backing, she is able to cross that bar, but each and every member and staff team in Sirius are talented and distinguished in their own right: director Shamo Yamabuki, manager-cum-current World Dai Star Noa Hiiragi, and the growing potentials of Yae Niizuma, Chisa Sasuga, and Panda Yanagiba. One look at them, and you can tell that they have experience that gives them an advantage. And along with Kokona, comes foreigner Kathrina Griebel, whose family also stems from the World Dai Star treatment, with Kathrina migrating from Germany to Japan to start her road to stardom in that Sirius branch. It's a competitive world out there, and no less committed is Sirius to fleshing out potential candidates to stand out as the best of the best. Every girl competes for the top position (just like in Revue Starlight) and respects the crafts behind the fictional plays (just like in Kageki Shoujo!!), and it's once again another interesting fiction story for the main girl to stand out and realise her dream to be a top actress, starting from scratch. Other than that, it's akin to the same CGDCT tropes, but in the performing arts aspect.

To be expected, this is Lerche back at it again with the idol themes it once carved from the days of Idoly Pride, and the animation at certain times is stunning. Probably not close to the levels of said show, but when director Yuu Kinome decides to ramp up certain scenes in this show, it really hits you in the feels. The devil is in the details, and World Dai Star has it for the hook and wink of plot twists. Music is rather OK; though grand, I don't find it memorable, sadly. 

If you still have the pension for more Idoly Pride stuff, World Dai Star will fill that gap, until whenever Lerche and director Yuu Kinome want to make more of the same-same-but-different derivative of the one original show that did wonders for them. And I say to them: Let them all try.