Trapezium

Driven by an unwavering passion for becoming an idol, Yu Azuma, a young, ambitious first-year student at Joshu East High School, embarks on a journey to form an idol group. To make her dream a reality, she recruits one girl from each of her region’s four high schools, located to the north, east, south and west, and soon finds her fellow group members.

Joining Yu is Ranko Kashima, a sophisticated second-year student at Holy Teneritas Southern Girls’ Academy, with a distinctive curly hairstyle and admiration for Madame Butterfly; Kurumi Taiga, a student at West Tech Vocational High School, who wears cute, oversized jackets with long sleeves and dreams of winning the championship at a robotics competition; and, Mika Kamei, a student who also hails from Joshu North High School, known for being a kind-hearted girl and for her dedication to volunteering.

With the help of Shinji Kudo, Yu's "collaborator" and confidante, these four young girls set off on the road to stardom. But the journey hides unexpected trials, rigorous demands, setbacks and pressures, threatening to undo all that Yu has worked so hard for.

(Source: AMC, edited)

Azuma, Yuu Main

Yuikawa, Asaki Japanese

Taiga, Kurumi Main

Youmiya, Hina Japanese

Kamei, Mika Main

Aikawa, Haruka Japanese

Katori, Ranko Main

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Mizuno, Sachi Supporting

Kino, Hina Japanese

Old Man Supporting

Takayama, Kazumi Japanese

Old Man Supporting

Nishino, Nanase Japanese

Itami, Shuuichi Supporting

Uchimura, Teruyoshi Japanese

Kudou, Shinji Supporting

Kimata, Shouya Japanese

Koga, Moka Supporting

Kubo, Yurika Japanese

Shinohara, Masahiro Director

Aketagawa, Jin Sound Director

Ueda, Reina Theme Song Performance

Youmiya, Hina Theme Song Performance

Reviews

May 11, 2024

TCTriangle

Recommended

Informative

Just watched this in the theater today. TL;DR, this was a very well-animated idol anime with great songs for a more mature audience (compared to, for example, Love Live or IdolM@ster). Its small flaws come from the fact that it is adapted from a novel, so its running time feels unsatisfying for getting to know the characters, and the drama ramps up very quickly in the second half of the movie then gets resolved relatively conveniently.

Overall score: 8/10
Animation: 9/10. There was some spotty CGI but for the most part everything was very well done, and certain scenes were downright impressive with the way the characters ... moved.
Sound: 10/10. The songs were very enjoyable and I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be one of those movies where the songs outstay the movie in popular consciousness years from now.
Characters: 8/10. Unlike your typical idol anime where all the girls are happy-go-lucky with their minds set on idoling, the girls in this one each have their motivations and flaws which become apparent in the second half. These girls feel a bit more realistic than your typical idol anime heroines, which some people will like and some will not. I found all 4 of the main girls likeable by the end despite the drama.
Story: 7/10. Similar to my comment about the characters, this is a much more dramatic take on being an idol than your average idol anime where everything is rainbows and sunshine. The girls have conflict and struggles with a few touching scenes that will make you root for them, but not everyone will enjoy that aspect. Pacing also feels very quick in the second half compared to the buildup of the first. Not a huge issue though.

In summary, this was a very solid and satisfying "I'm glad I watched that" movie with more mature drama than your typical idol anime, but I am not sure if I will be rewatching or remembering the details in a few months.

Recommended anime: Wake Up Girls! is another idol anime with a slightly more "realistic" take on the industry and the struggles of being an idol. For a more lighthearted comedy about upstart idols, I highly recommend "Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu."

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 19, 2024

RavarathTV

Mixed Feelings

This review should not contain any spoilers.

Watched the US release on September 18, 2024!

Will preface this review by saying I am a big Hololive fan, and the fact that my Kamioshi Hoshimachi Suisei sang the intro with Sakuma put me onto this film. Well, that, and I generally enjoy watching and supporting anime screenings in my local theatre.

That being said, I have to admit that my high point of the film was the intro song, as I got to witness my idol perform on a new stage being a movie theatre, and as a film major I felt my worlds colliding.

I genuinely think that this ... film had great potential to tell a really interesting story. I was invested enough to want to see where it would go once the tension hit its peak simultaneously showing the girls achieving their "dream" at the time but also exposing the "dark side of the idol industry" (a cliche done very many times). However, it loses all its momentum it had built in the last two acts to hand off the plot to one of the main girls to conveniently exposition her way into the film's resolution.

In the end, after one of the main girls who didn't have much presence conveniently gives up all hope of developing her character and magically convinces Azuma to continue chasing her dream, we are met with a dreaded time skip of doom. I won't speak on how it resolves, but it just felt like suddenly we see a "good end" (if you would like to call it that) without any of the context of the struggle how they got there so many years later. We're left to piece together the past without any show for it, and then it ends showing the word "Trapezium". I had no idea what that meant. It's not fair that we suddenly see an ending where things have at least worked out, but we spent the entire film watching them struggle as girls chasing their youth and their childish ambitions, only to suddenly be adults where everything is working out fine?

I feel like the film would have been better if we got an extra 10 minutes of a montage powerpoint sequence at the end, even, to showcase the trials they went through to become successful, but the sudden handing of a life that "worked out in the end" just felt cheap and left me wanting. However, an extra 10 minutes of this movie would definitely drag it on to be way too much.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Nov 19, 2024

Bourgit

Not Recommended

Spoiler

Just watched the movie and it is bad.

First thing that struck me is the pace. The movie feels very rushed. Each character gets introduced and befriended by the MC way too fast. Plot contrivance is a euphemism at this point. Nothing feels really earned. There are some narrated portions doing ellipses in these girls lives that would have actually been really interesting to see and that's the reason why I think this story would have made more sense as a series. You would have been able to show all these interesting moments of bonding and better develop the characters.

Talking about characters, there's basically only one, ... the MC. All the other characters are paper thin. At one point, the MC voice over has to tell you what the characters are supposed to be like because they never show it. The character development of the MC boils down to: I was mean, selfish and manipulative and I was wrong, now I'm not anymore, I'm a good person. End.

No particular soundtrack struck me as good, they are decent at least not grating on he ear (best I can say). You won't be able to remember any of them after the movie.

The production value/animation something to be expected from a movie over an anime series at least is nothing to write home about. It is average compared to anime series I would even say. The only moment they could have shown their budget would have been the dance sequence but it was shitty 3d instead (like in many series nowadays).

Character design is subpar that ranges from meh to already seen in a 100 anime to plain distateful.

As for the story overall it had potential but due to the pace it ended up pretty uninteresting. Maybe like 45 min on getting all the cast together then some conflict (when you think the movie is finally going to be interesting) but only for like 15 min before wallowing in the aftermath and resolution.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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