The second half of the show is surprisingly sad. I rarely cry, but I cried three times during those last 5 eps. For background, I cried once for Anohana, Watame's My Song, Porter Robinson & Madeon - Shelter MV, and once during the No Game No Life movie.
The first half of the show basically shouldn't have existed. It introduces the cast, then divides them into two idol groups, and connects them back to the dead idol in the first episode, Mana, who becomes the focal point of the entire show.
The show's main weaknesses are that there's WAY too much dialogue that shouldn't exist, 90% of the named characters have very little personality at all and fewer reasons to care, there was clearly not enough budget for more 3DCG dancing performances, and while they did make at least 5 original songs for the show, half of them are not to my liking (but I don't like slower songs in general). I say this because, like the name implies, this is an Idol show, it's gonna have singing and dancing and cute people (girls, in this case) in it. The costumes for the non main two groups are QUESTIONABLE at best, there's mismatching and clashing colors, weird asymmetrical outlines, different patterns and fabrics, etc. While I like slimmer, bodyshaped costumes best, this was clearly confusingly themed and I didn't like it.
That being said, "Last Chance" (Liz Noir version) on YT is great. I didn't know it came from the show, but Youtube did and I found that song in 2022, before I had heard of the anime, and I started watching this show in 2024 and learned it then.
The ending wraps up all of the loose ends that I could think of, but it's predictable from about episode 8 or earlier. It's not a bad sad ending. 7.5/10, not rounding up because watching this show's first 7 eps is a SLOG even at my 2x speed.
My scoring system is simple - 5/10 if it has a barely passable plot, minimum 12 FPS, and exists. +1 if it has cute girls doing cute things in it (+.5 in this case, not enough cute scenes, JUST LOTS OF UNNECESSARY AND UNFUNNY DIALOGUE). +1 if it has good songs repeatedly in the show (this rarely did, so +.5). +1 if something happens in the plot that surprises me (+.5, plot deviates slightly from the paint by numbers version of this show). +1 for good execution of the theme, and hoo boy it's meaningfully sad in the second half, so full points, hence the 7.5.
