Hmm, I think the debate will be more towards "is CUE an idol anime" ...
Erotaku_ said:The good: the animation looked solid. Can't believe that these are the same people who made the atrocity called Muv-Luv Alternative
The bad: The story feels very similar to the many idol anime we've had recently (except they are seiyuu instead of idols). While I don't hate the concept, this most definitely does not feel original (please no heart transplants of dead legendary sister). With 15 different characters, the character designer went all out with giving each character different types of accessories and footwear, which looks pretty, but makes this show unrealistic. VAs cannot wear accessories or high heels because they make too much noise during recording. If you are going to do a seiyuu anime, I'd hope small details like these are addressed, because otherwise, it just turns into a generic idol show.
The voice acting wasn't terrible, but likely will not be the strength of this show.
It's not really clear how it worked out for auditions of AIRBLUE's seiyuus (because it just appeared in episode 2 and that's to be honest I'm also asking and will be a consideration for lowering the score), but in the first part of episode 1, as an observer of the seiyuu world and someone who understands the recording industry, it's already accurate.
Also, well, let me tell you a story.
Actually 2 years ago, there was a similar project released by Sony Music Artists (this is the agency of Kusunoki Tomori, Yano Hinaki, Payton Naomi, etc) and SACRA Music in collaboration with a partner, namely BATON=RELAY, in the same time as CUE from Pony Canyon and Liber Entertainment, with Shimesaba-sensei (Higehiro's author) as the original drafter. The project was even introduced at the SACRA Music Fes 2019, but when it was released in 2020, it only lasted for less than 6 months (initially there was a game released, then later it was deactivated and pulled from the market). For Kusunoki Tomori, she got a non-newcomer character that time because she was already in Nijigasaki.
(Please note, that the project was introduced at the same time as SELECTION PROJECT and IDOLY PRIDE at the time, but at that time SELECTION PROJECT had not shown the cast list, while IDOLY PRIDE which was MusicRay'n's work, introduced all the main cast from day one of project revealing)
Long story short, BATON=RELAY failed, meanwhile CUE persisted even though they ended up having to close the game too, then 2 former BATON=RELAY main casts became main casts in SELECTION PROJECT, 1 other person auditioned for Love Live Superstar and got a role in Liella, then later Yano Hinaki got a role for insert character of the manager in Love Live Nijigasaki anime following her senpai Kusunoki Tomori there, then the first IDOLY PRIDE concert in November 2020 which announced the anime show schedule and game launch (which has now become legendary), and a few days later Kusunoki Tomori and Hinaki Yano were also announced as casts for Wonder Egg Priority, along with one of MusicRay'n's new voice actors who just had a concert (Aikawa Kanata), which would premiere later, only 2-3 days apart from the premiere of IDOLY PRIDE anime. 6 months later, a few days before the premiere date of IDOLY PRIDE game and Wonder Egg Priority Special OVA, Kusunoki Tomori was also announced as an important cast in IDOLY PRIDE media-mix. Reportedly, there are also voice actors from CUE who also participate in the SELECTION PROJECT and Wonder Egg Priority, even if it only fills in minor characters.
Indeed, there are allegations from some otaku that BATON=RELAY had such fate because it existed at the same time as CUE, but please note that all the modern idol animes appeared when Idolmaster and Love Live were still around, it's not that important after all, but there's at least one thing to know; this genre, including CUE, are incredibly important to Japan's creative community, and sometimes it can be tricky and challenging. It's a bit funny if projects for newcomers voice actors nowadays can become legends or even give birth to new legends in the anime world, but that's the reality that happened and I think we can only enjoy. |