There is no question that the idol genre is booming at the moment. We could already watch in the summer season 2019 a wonderful CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) story with "Re: Stage! Dream Days ♪", where our girls gave everything to become successful idols and win the competition. At the end of 2019/beginning of this year we were able to experience a new creative idea with "22/7", how AI can also be used in the idol business. In the warm summer season, we were able to see a wonderful light show from "Lapis Re: LiGHTs". Now at the end of an unusual year, "Love Live! Nijigasaki" and "Ochikobore Fruit Tart" showed us all the beautiful and happy sides of life again.
The dream of becoming a successful idol requires hard work, only a few girls manage to pinch the top. Ino, a first-year high school student had always the dream becoming an idol one day.
For this reason, she travels to Tokyo and moves into a dormitory-style house for entertainers known as "Nezumi House” (rat house). She meets other “dropout” girls there and become friends with them: We have Roko, a formerly popular child actress, Hayu, a musician, and Nina, a model. Later Hemo also joins the "Rat Production" and completes the five-girl idol group. Their manager Hoho never really knew how to handle money correctly, so the house is threatened with being torn down. To prevent this, our new idol unit "Fruit Tart" decides to join the entertainment industry in order to raise funds to protect their home.
What makes this idol anime so special are the characters. While the last names of each character represent Koganei's (a city located in the western portion of Tokyo) districts, the first names each phonetically spell out the Japanese poem "Iroha". The first line of the poem “Iro ha nihoheto” can be found here as well: Ino, Roko, Hayu, Nina, Hoho, Hemo.
Whoever sees Ino for the first time probably had the same thought as me: This is Nadeshiko from Yuru Camp! Based on the date, the manga OchiFuru appeared first in 2014 while Yuru Camp was published in 2015. Either way, both characters look similar and give you a comfy impression. Ino has a fairly level-headed temperament. Although coming from the country side, she was easily able to adapt to the fast-paced life in the city. She has a strong penchant for the MOE aesthetic as well, whenever something cute happens from other girls, she tends to drool and flush red with a certain delight.
Ino always loved Roko for her cute broccoli commercials when Roko was a child. That’s why she is known by many TV viewers as "Brocco”. As an idol, Roko is very much popular among women in their 20's and older, they love her cuteness. Although already being a sixteen-year-old high school student, she is only 140 cm tall. With her experience she tries to make the best possible as the leader of the group.
Whenever Roko is sad or just wants a hug, she finds place between Nina’s breasts. Nina stands out in one thing: her G-Cup size oppai. That is the reason why she is sometimes the biggest draw of Fruit Tart, owing mostly to her physical appearance and not necessarily because of her singing or dancing. Since she had been a fashion model before, she is in charge of the costumes.
Coming from a wealthy family in, Hayu had decided to pursue becoming a musician against her father's wishes. As a result, she was forced to survive on her own at “Nezumi House”. Although she is a terrible singer, Hayu has the motivation about becoming an idol. With her love and understanding for music, especially Rock, she helps to write the group's song compositions.
The last girl joining the group is Hemo. She is intensely devoted to Ino. Like her, Hemo had always dreamed of being an idol since childhood. Before joining the “Rat Productions”, she auditioned at “Cat Productions” and landed in first place. But after some strange encounters, she decided to stay in the “Nezumi House”.
In addition to our main characters, we also see their manager Hoho, who loves beer and money above everything else; the best supporter in the world Tone, who is an excellent singer and could easily outshine each member in singing ability; and the members of the rival group "Cream Anmitsu" around Roko's younger sister Chiko and the twins Nua and Rua. They are much better known and more successful. Least but not last, without fans idols cannot be successful. They are supported by their family, friends, neighbourhood, everyone loves them!
Every character is special and has a certain preference, which is rather unusual. But you can still feel the joy that our idols shine. It’s fun to watch their everyday life.
Fruits are colorful, so is this anime. We experience many bright and happy colors. The girls are shown very cute and adorable as it is often the case in CGDCT idol anime. The "stick figure style" is special here and cannot be seen anywhere else. In a few scenes our girls are shown with only their head and a "triangle line" instead of the body. It's hard to imagine and explain, so you have to experience this for yourself! But this also makes everything seem much funnier and somehow livelier.
The music is of course an important part for an idol anime. Certainly "Fruit Tart" can't keep up with the girls from “Love Live!” when it comes to this part, but there is something humorous about their music. It makes everything happier and a little funnier as well. Both OP and ED are a group performance, it's just fun to listen to their music. They put you in a good mood.
As a huge idol fan, I was really looking forward to this anime. Even the cover picture shines with joy. Anyone who likes the genre CGDCT will feel comfortable here. We experience their everyday life, how they always give their best and of course hope that they will keep improving. This anime simply brings you happiness and joy. (And the fanservice is great, you will discover that point surely.)
Finally, I really recommend this anime to everyone with the preference CGDCT plus idol-music combination. Relax, lay back and simply enjoy!
Let's hope to see more of our “Fruit Idols” in the future!
