Dream Festival!

Due to his cheerful personality and ability to smile even through a hard day's work, Kanade Amamiya is suddenly scouted into the idol life by industry legend Haruto Mikami. He joins the agency D-4 Production where he meets fellow high schoolers Shin Oikawa, Junya Sasaki, Itsuki Katagiri, and Chizuru Sawamura, who all aspire to become idols. Inspired by their determination, Kanade embraces this new life.

A perfect chance for his debut appears when they are grouped together to perform at the company's Dream Festival. To rise to the top, they must collect Dorika—cards given by the audience that idols use to form their stage outfits—and gain the audience's attention. However, the road to fame is a rocky one, and the boys must form a bond of friendship and trust before they can reach their goals.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Amamiya, Kanade Main

Ishihara, Souma Japanese

Sawamura, Chizuru Main

Masaki, Kaoru Japanese

Sasaki, Junya Main

Tomita, Kentarou Japanese

Oikawa, Shin Main

Mizoguchi, Takuya Japanese

Katagiri, Itsuki Main

Oota, Masaki Japanese

Kazama, Keigo Supporting

Totani, Kimito Japanese

Kuroishi, Yuuto Supporting

Kabumoto, Hideaki Japanese

Sawamura, Yuzuru Supporting

Yonaga, Tsubasa Japanese

Mikami, Haruto Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Amamiya, Ritsu Supporting

Takahashi, Meguru Japanese

Minegishi, Isao Producer

Murano, Yuuta Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Kikuta, Hiromi Sound Director

Matsui, Hitoyuki Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Aug 30, 2021

RESOLVING_POWER

Recommended

I watched both seasons of Dream Festival. Here are my thoughts:

This is basically male Aikatsu.

Surprisingly good direction. Drama is handled well sometimes. At times there was definitely some 'forced drama' (forgive me for using this phrase), but it's a male idol show so I basically expected that. Forced drama and corniness comes with the territory (keep in mind the target audience demographic of this kind of show). I don't necessarily dislike forced drama but I will acknowledge it when I see it. In any case, the anime did a decent job of achieving the 'emotional rollercoaster' effect that I often enjoy in idol shows such ... as this.

Richer characterization than expected, especially with consideration for cast size. Most episodes had some element of character development within them, which is something I perceive as being a major strong point. The cast is fairly likable as well.

There was occasionally some shounen-ai subtext between characters, but it wasn't prominent. I would have expected more of that kind of thing from an anime like this actually. Not a negative or positive thing, just a neutral observation.

Idol songs themselves are good and the background OST is decent too. I notably enjoyed the voice acting of some of the characters (Yuuto and Chizuru).

Over-the-top tacky idol outfits, just like Aikatsu!

Warning: CGI is used for the dance scenes.
The character designs are very simplistic, probably to make CGI easier. Animation quality is serviceable at best. Art style is quite bland and lacking in detail. Visually, the production seems low budget.


My rating: 7/10
Overall, this anime is surprisingly good for a low-budget low-viewership ONA associated with a video game.

It did everything I'd expect from a male idol show and I felt satisfied with its performance. I wish there were more seasons. I would have rated this higher if the drama was executed a little better or if I liked the characters a little more; that's not to imply that the anime did poorly in either of those regards though.

I'm a huge sucker for idol shows that depict the more realistic/harder/behind-the-scenes aspects of working as an idol. This show does this fairly well, in addition to its other positive qualities. My expectations going into this were admittedly low, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. I really like idol anime though so I might be biased.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by RESOLVING_POWER (100)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Nov 4, 2019

KurokiAyano

Recommended

Dream Festival, in my opinion, is one of my favorite idol animes. Yes, more then Love Live!.

Yes yes, I agree that the anime follows the same story as most idol animes, but it makes up for it with the character development (just the main characters, for now, Kurofune will come later).

Finally, there's the music. An idol or music anime with a bad soundtrack cannot be considered an idol or music anime. Luckily, the soundtrack doesn't disappoint. This anime gives the viewers a new song almost every episode, yeah I said 'almost.'

Overall, I think it's an alright idol anime, giving us a few hours ... of enjoyment.

Also, my personal favorite is "2032."

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by KurokiAyano (7)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Nov 10, 2017

Geddon616

Mixed Feelings

Good enough idol anime but with a couple of things thats hampers it to be any better than an ok one and here is why.

Although the story has a nice beginning thats kinda original and the progress through it is done well in its own way it tend to gets dull as it progress. The reason for this isnt necessarily the story itself but the storys content you can say.

The sound is one of those elements i talked about when it comes to a certain downfall of this anime. I find the songs uinteresting and the op and endings arent any better. I mean ... its not horrible songs and i would grade them as passing idol anime songs but nothing about them makes me want to go back and listen to them again. I would rather watch another idol anime for the songs than to watch this one again for the same reason.

When it comes to characters i actually find them well done in a sence but as we know the main character has alot to say even if its an idol anime. The main character here is a noob in the buisness which can be used as a reason for his slow progress but he problem is that even after that he doesnt progress much in the sence of becomming more interesting or engaging. I find myself remembering many other characters more than i do the main one. His only redeeming quality is one thats with a lot of other mains is that he can do it always but not much more. Even main characters who only seem to have a good attitude also manage to show other abilites that they might not be as much aware of but this main isnt interesting overall.

I enjoyed it to some regards but this anime wont be that anime i go back to if i find myself wanting a good idol anime.

Overall as i see the story combined with the mediocre music and ok characters thats been overshadowed by an uninteresting main character i cant give it more than a 5. I mean if you want to enjoy a great idol anime with good songs to booth this isnt the one but if you just want to go into the idol anime world i think this anime does that well. As long as those who watches this doesnt think this is what idol anime in general are. Since there are alot of better ones out there.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Geddon616 (54)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

✨️Magical Boys✨️

by Skyeturtle22

15 Entries · 13 Restacks

it's been one of those weeks, pass the shipbait 🍷🐟

by yonappi_mal

40 Entries · 45 Restacks

Boys Idol Anime

by Lotte_616

48 Entries · 22 Restacks

'Dream Festival!' Gets Second Season in 2017

The official website for Dream Festival! has announced that the anime will receive a second season in 2017. Dream Festival is a Bandai Namco idol project that recei...read more

Dec 16, 2016 4:25 PM by tsubasalover | Discuss (11 comments)

Fall 2016 Simulcast [Update 11/20]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime acquired for simulcast release during the Fall 2016 season. Anime series licensed for home video relea...read more

Sep 30, 2016 2:12 AM by Snow | Discuss (49 comments)

	Poll: Dream Festival! Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 16, 2016	17 replies	by Serafos »» May 28, 2023 9:17 AM
	Poll: Dream Festival! Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 9, 2016	7 replies	by Serafos »» May 27, 2023 11:18 PM
	Poll: Dream Festival! Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 2, 2016	5 replies	by Serafos »» May 27, 2023 10:47 AM
	Poll: Dream Festival! Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 25, 2016	9 replies	by Serafos »» May 27, 2023 10:47 AM
	Poll: Dream Festival! Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 18, 2016	11 replies	by Serafos »» May 27, 2023 1:51 AM