THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR A3! THE ANIME AND VIDEO GAME!
Ever since I heard that A3! was going to get a split cour run, I had some apprehension about the pacing of the show. Covering all 157 chapters of Acts 1-4 and the prologue seemed like a lot to stuff in twenty-four episodes. However, after the first two episodes, I'm starting to feel better about the pacing.
Below are my predictions for what episodes three to six will cover from the original game. I am also aware that some people have already watched some episodes ahead of the general public because they attended the preview screening, but I have not seen any posts online about the actual episode distribution so far.
For reference, the first episode of the anime covered eight chapters (the prologue and first chapter of Act 1) and the second episode another eight (chapters two to nine). As of now, only two episodes have been released the latest chapter the anime has covered is Act 1 Episode 9: Romeo and Julius with the exception of a few lines which will probably start the next episode.
Episode 3: May cover chapters ten to fifteen or sixteen of Act 1. While that is only five or six chapters, it includes Yuzo's criticism, how the actors deal with it, and the stage sleepover scene. If they include chapter sixteen, then Tetsuro and Yuki will make their appearance too.
Episode 4: May cover chapters sixteen or seventeen to twenty-one of Act 1, depending on if Tetsuro and Yuki make their appearance at the end of the last episode. This would include Citron and Itaru's character arcs and Kazunari will probably make his appearance here.
Episode 5: May cover chapters twenty-two to twenty-nine of Act 1. I am a little skeptical about my prediction here as these eight chapters cover Masumi, Sakuya, and Tsuzuru's character arcs. Sakuya and Tsuzuru will probably make this episode a little sad but it would end with Izumi and Masumi reconciling. It feels a little packed to me, but I honestly can't see Masumi's character arc happening in episode six, which will probably be the last episode that focuses on the spring troupe.
Episode 6: May cover chapters thirty to thirty-five of Act 1. This includes the first day of the RomeJuli, the actual play itself, Itaru's incident, and hints for the summer troupe members. Going through the plot of RomeJuli will take time, and they will probably play Bokura no Kizuna towards the end of the play or the episode as the anime is categorized under music.
These are all my personal predictions, so please don't come at me if they're wrong. For all I know, this could all be completely incorrect, and I'll edit this post as episodes come out to see how they compare. I just wanted to share them to see if anyone else agrees or disagrees. Does anyone else have a different prediction as to how the story will be distributed among the episodes?
As a player, I can say that the predictions are somewhat correct, if they keep this kind of pace, I can guess that each troupe will get at least 6 - 7 episodes of shine.
However, the second cour is something I doubt, seeing a lot of things happened for the Autumn Troop. So, I am curious how they will cram that.
