The iDOLM@STER Shiny Colors

The iDOLM@STER anime franchise has been improving with each series that has come out and I would say Shiny Colors is the best yet. The past series have struggled to properly introduce characters with enough screen time before jumping around constantly. Shiny Colors improved greatly on this by feeling more like a standalone story that can be started and understood without previous knowledge of the series. Each subunit in Shiny Colors was given dedicated time to understand what they are about and how each of the idols relate to each other. By the end of the season you feel like you really understand each of ... the girls and want to cheer them on.

During the first few minutes of watching I was a bit disappointed with them using a CG animation style, but after some time it grew on me and the quality particularly shines during the live music scenes. I was very impressed with how many live MVs this series had, whereas in the previous iDOLM@STER series they seemed to skip over the actual music performances most of the time. The final episode of this season was very impressive with multiple full songs animated like an actual live idol performance. The quality and variety of songs in Shiny Colors has also been my favorite of any iDOLM@STER series. I am very much looking forward to the 2nd season!

Pros:
- Characters and seiyuus
- Many live song performances
- Good pacing and screen time for characters and subunits
- Amazing songs

Cons:
- The story can be slow if you aren't a fan of slice of life
- If you aren't a big idol fan, or dislike the typical "love, hope, and dreams" plot, you probably won't like it

Good:
-The seiyus
-The storyboard/close-ups
-The songs and Most of the MV presentations
- You don't need to play the game to understand it

Good for players
-Game references like sound effects or references to individual stories of each character.
-The designs and wardrobe look good considering Shiny Colors is SS in terms of character designs of the game.

... Mid:
-It's more slice-life than an idol anime. It means can be predictable and not at the same time. Take it as you want.

Bad:
-There are takes where the low details of backgrounds can break the immersion
-The fps (it can be fixed with Ultra-Smoothness but yeah, that's a bother)

Watching Shiny Colors is like eating a sandwich you hastily put together, forgetting to put any substance in it. That's not to say there's nothing here - there definitely is, it's just incredibly bland.

The main problem with this show is it tries to deviate from the tried and tested formula of the IDOLM@STER anime series. The magic of the industry: the drama, perils, laughter, and sorrow, is swapped for a slice-of-life story featuring a new cast preparing for an event. There are no stakes here, as this production agency seems to be rather prosperous (much like Bandai Namco after releasing this).

Now, a slice of ... life has the opportunity to be something new and different, but the staff have managed to fumble it. Instead of focusing on a small group of characters; it showcases multiple units of them at once. Being only 12 episodes long, and having far more than 12 characters, they can't flesh the characters out sufficiently. This results in a lot of flat characters and boring interactions. Each episode consists of jumpcuts to various groups, throwing you out of the immersion. No girl is properly introduced, and the constant need to show their name cards in the corner of the screen hints at how forgettable they are.

A mediocre scenario isn't helped by the studio blatantly insulting you for your time by offering a "climax" in the form of 48 minutes of performances. I hope you enjoy "Tsubasa Gravity", as you'll be hearing that almost enough to make you mute it. If you're at all familiar with the music channels, you'll feel right at home with Shiny Colors. You'd be better off using it as background music while you do something else (perhaps making a better sandwich).

On the topic of background music, the actual soundtrack of the anime is forgettable. I can't even remember it as I'm writing this. There's an opening which sounds quite good, but the studio forgot to animate any endings. In later episodes, they completely forgot to put an ending song in, which results in you getting depressing piano tracks accompanied by low-budget default credit effects. It feels incredibly lazy and that a lot of corners were cut in producing it.

In the animation department, not much was cooked up. The majority of character designs are unappealing and the background environments are generic. It looked incredibly disappointing compared to the previous 3DCG IM@S anime with vibrant movements. A lot of scenes in Shiny Colors were replaced with montages consisting of static shots or reused animation.

This may seem all doom and gloom, but if you note my rating there isn't all bad with this show. After all, an idol anime enjoyer is here for the idols and their music, right? Rest assured you will have your fill of IDOLM@STER idolness. The songs are as good as ever, and if you're a fan of the characters (I sadly only recognised 2-3 of them), you'll be more at home with it. However if you're not a fan, I can't possibly recommend this to you. I believe that, much like myself, you'll be bored to tears.