I give NAME a 7/10
(May contain minor spoilers) Do you have what it takes to be a school Idol? What is your purpose in doing so? Do you you wish to pursue stardom? or is there another motive towards your goal? School Idol project shows us the the foundation steps of what it's like to become a school Idol.
This anime in not mediocre as some may say it is, but it's not a masterpiece either. This anime has its flaws but also has its strong points in which it makes it standout.
Story:
The story follows three aspiring girls in a mission to save their high school from closing down. These three girls have came up with an solution to save their school and that is to form a school Idol club together as they're the most trendiest thing in Japan right now. They will use this idea in hope to bring a new wave of students who then will hopefully apply to this high school which will then prevent it from closing down. Along the way, they find new talents within their own high school which extenders their talent range, from great dancers to great singers.
The story itself is another "Oh I must do THIS to prevent THIS from happening" and after a while I was contemplating if I should continue on to season 2 or just leave off after season 1 ends. Surprisingly enough, the story isn't half bad. The two main focus of this entire story is that it is essentially a MUSIC genred anime with SLICE OF LIFE. Some may argue that Drama is also a part of this story but I disagree as the anime portrays a happy mood all throughout the anime, even when times go tough. I wasn't dissapointed with the story, infact I found it rather enjoyable.
Art:
The art in this anime reminded me a lot of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso which is a compliment as both animes are music. Back to the topic of Love live, the art was really mind blowing at times. We had scenes where the characters were portrayed beautifully with the surroundings which made them standout a lot. The character design was very well done as well as the scenery for the school.
Apart from the compliments that I'm giving for the art style, there was sometimes really random and unprofessional looking CGI scenes. That made the score the art drop by A LOT. If a show has a great art style that shows scenes with amazement, then it should stay consistent instead of doing a lazy CGI to cover up the 'hard' scenes like the dances.
Sound:
It's a music anime, so you should expect the music to sound good otherwise it just defeats its whole purpose. The music was decent, it wasn't something to be amazed by. After all, some may like it more than I would. Don't get me wrong, I loved some of the songs that were shown in Love Live, and some of the OST's as well. It didn't really create the immersion of pop which is what it's supposed to do. But it didn't give a song that I could be attached to. Even after finishing the anime.
Character:
The strongest point of this anime is the characters. Each character has their own unique traits and personalities which makes them stand out. I really loved this show for the characters they showed as I liked them all. I especially like the characters such as Umi, Niko, Maki, Eri and Hanayo. Some may liked the others more than I did but hey, didn't I say I liked all the characters? This anime is a prime example of how characters should be portrayed. Instead of having same recycled looking characters, have different characters with different personalities. That is what makes a show stand out.
Enjoyment:
I can say I'm somewhat satisfied with this anime. I could have enjoyed it much more than I thought I could but it definitely beat my expectations. I'm usually not the type to watch anime's with strictly 'girls' protagonists only but this anime took me into a whole new side for that. My love for the characters is what amazes me the most, as that's the strongest suit for this anime. I enjoyed most of the animes, but some scenes (especially the CGI and pointless drama scenes can be taken out).
Overall:
My overall opinion of this anime is that it's an anime that is fun, which portays happy looking girls having a fun time at what they're doing. It's essentially not ideal for everyone as some don't like female ONLY animes or pop music animes but you need to take into consideration that the character development for this anime is a job well done.
In my opinion, the things that this anime should focus on improving is the CGI scenes because they just simply look disgusting and unprofessional and also fix up the story so it flows smoothly without these random events occurring. Nevertheless, it's a happy anime to watch.
Story - 8
Art - 7
Sound - 7
Character - 8
Enjoyment - 7
Overall - 7.4
TL;DR - Watch this anime if you're into pop music and girls having fun while doing girly things (because you seriously won't expect a male character).
