Selection Project

Due to a weak heart, Suzune Miyama has remained bedridden for most of her childhood. However, despite her illness, she has always dreamed of becoming an idol. Eventually, her opportunity comes in the form of the seventh Selection Project—a brutal series of competitions best known as the starting point of the legendary idol Akari Amasawa.

Anxious but excited, Suzune enters the preliminary round of Selection Project. Though her singing dazzles the judges and her fellow competitors, Suzune is unfortunately overcome by her nerves and freezes up in the middle of her performance. She recovers quickly, but the stumble is great enough that she loses the winning spot and is disqualified.

Or so it seems—until Seira Kurusu, the girl Suzune lost to, announces that she plans to drop out of Selection Project, believing Suzune is a more talented singer and therefore deserves the right to compete. Suzune is caught off guard by the decision, but promises Seira that they will meet again as top idols. She prepares herself for the challenging obstacles that lie ahead.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Miyama, Suzune Main

Yano, Hinaki Japanese

Hananoi, Rena Main

Mizuno, Saku Japanese

Toma, Mako Main

Shimoji, Shino Japanese

Koizumi, Uta Main

Shirakawa, Mizuna Japanese

Imau, Nagisa Main

Arai, Ruri Japanese

Yagi, Nodoka Main

Youmiya, Hina Japanese

Yamaga, Shiori Main

Hanai, Miharu Japanese

Hamaguri, Hiromi Main

Nagumo, Nozomi Japanese

Yodogawa, Ao Main

Iwahashi, Yuka Japanese

Amasawa, Akari Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Nemoto, Yuuka Producer

Kobayashi, Ryou Producer

Reviews

Dec 24, 2021

Marinate1016

Recommended

Selection project: Can I copy your homework? I promise I’ll change it

Idoly pride: Ok, but seriously make sure you change it.

In all seriousness, Selection project and idoly pride have a lot in common. It’s pretty apparent that DG were really influenced by Idoly Pride’s story and wanted to put their own twist on that. Right down to the heart transplant, dead sister that was an idol plot-line. While the story was basically copy and pasted, I still really liked Selection Project and actually think it to be the best idol show this year, yes, including Superstar!.

What made me feel that way? Well simply put, ... I loved Idoly Pride. Since this was basically Idoly Pride season 2, I loved it. The girls all have really cool backstories and were given their time to shine, as well as some great music. Some of the songs from the project are among the best of the year for sure. The animation during performances is really solid and with it being Doga Kobo, the art in general is great. Even though some of the same plot-points from IP were rehashed, I still loved and cared for the girls which is integral to any idol project.

Selection Project may not be completely original, but it’s a must watch for any fan of the idol genre. Loveable characters, emotional story, great performances, what’s not to love?

SelePro gets 10 microphones out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Dec 25, 2021

Porukana

Mixed Feelings

TLDR: Disappointment. If you're here for the girls and the voice actors, fine. If you're here for the anime and story? Go watch Idoly Pride. Selection Project stole the plot and made it worse lol. If you're here for the music, just listen to the OP and ED on youtube.

I'm going to be pretty critical of the show, but everything is my honest opinion.

Disappointment is all I can say. The show had so much potential, and not only did it not make use of it, it trampled all over it and threw it in the trash. Before I blast you with all the negatives, I'll ... start with a few positives.
+ Great character design.
+ Great outfit design
+ Great synergy between the characters
+ Above average CGI
+ Decent animation for the most part

Okay now that I've told you the good parts about the show, let's dig in.
When you look for an idol show, what do most people expect? Usually it's 2 main things. Cute girls - which they got that down atleast - and good music + dance.

Now let me tell you how absolutely disappointed I am at the quality of the music in this show. Absolute hot garbage. To understand this let me explain without spoiling the show. There are 9 girls in this group, and within this group they are split into 3 subgroups. The problem isn't with the main group. The 9 girls together are actually really cute, have good chemistry, and the songs+dance are awesome. The problem is when you split these 9 girls into subgroups. These subgroups try too hard to be 'unique' and 'quirky' with their songs and choreography, the themes each of these groups have are either cringey, cheesy, or just doesn't work with the characters/talents within it. I know it's a marketing strategy to create subgroups within groups to make it easier for new fans to consume, but just dividing these girls up and giving them lackluster production isn't the play. Not to mention the mixing/production quality for the songs each subgroup respectively has are absolutely terrible.

TLDR; Here is my theory: To put it nicely. Selection Project has like 2 production teams. 1 team is a professional team dedicated to the whole group, they produce good quality songs and choreographs. The other team that produces the subgroup's products is a robot smashing a keyboard over and over again until something 'ok' comes out of the speakers. (The OP and the ED slaps though, but that's because it's not from the subgroups)
Edit: Did some more digging, the subgroups actually have a few decent songs, it's just not the ones in the anime.

-

Okay but that wasn't even the worst part of the anime. The story was what made this show unwatchable. The best way I can describe the story in this anime is 'haha b*tch you got scammed'. The show presents itself with a pretty unique take on the competitive aspect of the idol industry. Obviously it's not the first show to do this sort of 'tournament arc but for idols' styled story, but the way it sets up the show allows for a lot of *potential* character development and interactions. But even after around episode 6, the show had done almost absolutely nothing to make use of this potential. Which, to be honest, is okay, it just became a typical idol show. But what happens after is not only blatant theft, but they stole another show's plot, and made it worse. Not only did they make a 'plot twist' that was completely unoriginal, it was so cheesy and cringey, as well as predictable that I think I stood up from my chair multiple times to go wash my eyes and ears out.

TLDR: Started off good for about 6 episodes, then: plagiarism, unoriginal, cheesy, cringey, predictable plot ensues.

(If you're curious about the show they ripped off of, its called "Idoly Pride". It's not god tier, but it's much better than this show, so go watch that instead of this)

-

I'll end it on a positive note atleast. The characters. The characters are the saving grace of this show. Th girls' aesthetics and story are both well designed and cute. Voice acting and singing are decent, and they each have their own appeals.

But let me shout out one particular character from this show. And that is SumiPanda. The legend made the most cringey parts of this show bearable, and although this isn't a comedy show, the guy's humor is awesome. Great voice acting, great character, and awesome personality. Whoever put this character in the show was obviously making him a joke character, but who knew he would become the main protagonist?!?!? (He's not but I like to think he is)

-

After watching this show I think I'll just follow the girls' voice actors on twitter and youtube, and try to erase my memory of this show's plot. It wasn't the girls' fault, it was the production of the anime and music that sucked. Mako best girl!!!!

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 8, 2022

startl3d

Not Recommended

Spoiler Warning.
This show takes the concept of idol shows and gives an interesting take judging by the first episode. It's in the realm of something akin to American idol or Xfactor or well it would be if it decided to continue in an interesting direction. Unfortunately the show does not do this as because these girls develop a sisterly bond with each other whilst knowing each other for almost no amount of time. Not to mention the ENTIRE point is they compete against each other in this cutthroat industry. In episode 10 they give us hope with a plot twist where the girls refuse to ... vote anyone off and they leave to go alone. This idea goes nowhere because by episode 12 they're back in selection project gaming the system. The characters are nothing special each girl has their one unique trait and they only talk about those things and they have no depth. e.g. the food girl is always eating/talking about food. None of the emotional moments are really that impactful because some of the problems are just outrageous overreactions or so obvious that you just want them to get to the point so you can move on. The main issue is that it gave the viewer expectations that it would/could be something different to general idol shows but then completely ignored its most interesting prospect. Finally the last episode in particular felt insulting as the main girl has to be rushed to hospital before the group perform live. As the viewer we know she will return because that's how these things work in stories. But when a girl who had a heart transplant has to be rushed to hospital and has some kind issue relating to her heart that lead to her being in hospital in the first place suddenly wakes up, eats a strawberry sweet and then rushes back to the stage and is able to perform back to back songs like nothing even happened and no doctors clearance was the final straw for me it's such an unfathomable situation that if I wasn't so insulted that I would respect them playing it off as if nothing happened. Anyway at least the adults actually look like adults good work there.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Selection Project Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) KANLen09 - Sep 26, 2021	105 replies	by 28012001 »» Jun 30, 11:29 PM
	Poll: Selection Project Episode 12 Discussion KANLen09 - Dec 17, 2021	35 replies	by 5hadow17 »» May 18, 7:15 AM
	A quick question about the “Mixed Media” description for the “Source” field RudeRedis - Aug 17, 2023	1 replies	by ItsukaShido16 »» Aug 18, 2023 1:04 AM
	Poll: Selection Project Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Oct 8, 2021	53 replies	by KOLDEET »» Jun 2, 2023 7:41 PM
	Poll: Idoly Pride vs Selection Project Kanishq42069 - Dec 24, 2021	12 replies	by Gvendoline »» Mar 8, 2023 4:29 AM