Let me be clear - I'm not really a fan of idols and idol music, but this isn't about idols or idol music, even though it's, well, about idols and idol music. This story is about seven girls thrown together into an idol group who had never known each other before joining the group, a capricious and irresponsible president that somehow manages to pull the group together and is there when it counts, and a feckless manager that, well, somehow manages to be feckful by the end. Is that a word? I have no idea.
Anyway, taken at face value, there's nothing really special about this anime. It's much like Hibike! Euphonium in that it's kind of a sports anime for idols, but where Hibike! Euphonium is like a sports anime for concert band. Unlike Love! Live or Idolmaster, Cinderella girls, this anime is not really focused on the music, and it is not (at least primarily) a venue for selling CDs (though I'm sure they couldn't resist the call of that sweet, sweet yen and did some of that). Underneath, It's a story, primarily a story, and a damn good one as well.
And that's what makes this special.
Believe it or not, I'm going to say this: there was fanservice, and I didn't mind. I didn't mind because it wasn't gratuitous - it was absolutely necessary to the story and no more than was absolutely necessary. So I understand why they did it, and I don't mind. I've been very hard on anime for fanservice, but that's because it was gratuitous or prurient. the story could not have proceeded properly without it, so it is what it is.
Now here's where I was actually impressed - I think for I-1 they took real idol groups for inspiration, specially the AKB group, and didn't hold back on saying exactly what they thought of them. The general manager of I-1, who may or may not have been a loose analogue of Akimoto Yasushi, was a completely heartless jerk, who from the very beginning was treating his group as basically a bunch of slaves to be tossed away at will. I have no idea if AKB48 or Akimoto are actually like that, but there's clearly a message being sent there, and I picked up on it. Green Leaves was clearly designed to be the exact opposite of that group in every way, and I get the feeling that this story was a stinging indictment of corporate idols and idol culture. I haven't yet watched season 2, so I don't know if that will hold out, but it's a strong impression I got.
The story was excellent. I definitely got "Hibike!" vibes, though I can't really compare one on one - there were similarities, there were differences, but I enjoyed this anime almost as much as Hibike!, and for much the same reason, and therefore I really have no choice to rank this a 10. I honestly have no idea why it's rated so low, I mean, there are definitely some technical criticisms to be leveled against it, but the story makes up for all that and more besides.
The ED is really pretty, by the way.
Strong recommend from me, and I wish I knew why people seem to hate it, at least based on the scores. Is it because it looks like a basic idol anime that just wants to sell a lot of music? It's not. It's anything but. I liked love! live and cinderella girls, but story wise, this is so much better it's not even funny.
In short, don't let this being an "idol anime" turn you off. It's more than that, and if you like thoughtful stories and well-done drama, you'll love this.
