IDOLiSH7 Movie: LIVE 4bit - BEYOND THE PERiOD

First of all, the movie is NOT a continuation of the anime and can be enjoyed by itself even if you aren't into the series, as it's pretty much just a 3DCG concert, but if you want to fully enjoy the experience and all the MC segments have to offer, you can check the game story up to part 6 AND the special after story that ties the main plot into the concert. Again, not obligatory by any means since most of the movie is musical, but it certainly adds to the experience. Also, there are actually TWO movies, DAY 1 and DAY 2, that ... act as two days of concerts with different songs in the first half and different MC talks.

This is a concert movie, so while my review has spoilers, I don't think they could possibly ruin your experience. Any regular story spoilers will be properly marked as such to make them easily avoidable.

In short, the story of the movie is a concert with the 4 main cast idol groups, held at a place called Rainbow Arena. The overall theme of the concerts is a "journey", and there are references to the passing of time, nature and planet Earth itself, reppresenting the idol group's growth as the 4 seasons. It sounds simple, but the way it's presented can be pretty touching.

This is all coming from someone who has been into i7 for nearly 8 years, but I'll try to keep my points as objective as I can:

Animation/CG (9/10): I will be honest: it didn't appeal to me that much at first, mostly because some of the characters's appearances felt off somehow (for example, Tenn's hair color). That aside, they were animated incredibly well, their movements felt natural and even their hairs, for the most part, weren't stiff at all. Other than a remarkably few awkward expressions, I was overall pleasantly surprised by how the final result surpassed my initial expectations.

MC segments (10/10): they change a little from day 1 to day 2, mostly in the first half of the concert. Each idol has their little chance to shine -something important for series like this- and their interactions seem natural enough and, at times, comical when somethings goes a little different from what they expected... Which is not surprising since there are 16 whole guys here and they all have different personalities.

Setlist (9/10): first half of the movie has 2 songs for each group (so 8 in total) and it's the part that changes the most from day 1 to day 2. I think their choice of not doing WiSH VOYAGE at least once was one hell of a missed opportunity considering the theme of the live, but that aside, the song choices were solid, although could be better if the movie was a longer and the groups could perform more songs each. I do have however a little complain in the second half when the other 3 groups go on stage with i7 during TOMORROW EViDENCE. [PART 6 SPOILER ALERT] It's a good song and seeing they all singing it together was nice, but knowing how that was the very song that the other groups had to compete with before in an important event and lost to, it feels a bit heartless to make them go all happy with it. But I digress. [SPOILER END]
I liked the setlist for day 2 better, as the performances were more creative, but that's more of a personal and biased opinion (but if your favorites are the Fly Away duo aka Iori and Riku, maybe keek that in mind).

Staging (10/10): props to whoever planned this, like, for real. Even for a fictional concert, the details are stunning and, for the most part, looked fairly real. The videos, projection mapping, lights, lasers, tape, reflection blocks, F*CKING FIRE, everything was on point and had great timing. Things actually make noise, like when big strutures have to move on stage. One detail that left me impressed was the camera angle at the end of TRIGGER's Last Dimension, that made the draps on the stage look like wings on the backs of the idols. Details like this can make a big difference, and in this movie, they absolutely nailed it.

Transitions (7/10): If I had to point one fatal flaw this movie has, it would be this. While it might just work in a regular movie, fade-to-black definitely ISN'T the right way to transition between songs of what is supposed to be a full concert, even if an animated one. That completely breaks the immersion (the entire point of a concert movie), most of all because it doesn't happen only in the stage, but also the audience. Everything just goes completely black suddenly. It doesn't happen on every song, but it sure happens enough to be annoying. The only reason I didn't score this even lower is because there are some great transitions (which makes me wonder why they couldn't keep that level for the entire thing), my favorite being the one from Incomplete Ruler to TOMORROW EViDENCE that not only looks aesthetically pleasing, but also conveys a beautiful message by itself.

Overall, while I'm not the biggest fan of 3DCG, BEYOND THE PERiOD was a great movie for it's kind and I enjoyed both day 1 & 2 a lot, having since rewatched both more than once, and I'm still greatly captivated by all the details. If you're an Idolish7 fan, this is a must watch. If you like j-pop, or 3D animation in general, I recommend it as well.

But if you are looking for a plot-focused watch today, though, maybe go check something else?