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---(TL,DR ahead.)
This is an Anime. It cannot be otherwise, not a manga, nor a light novel. If you're here for the story, then head out and watch other products. If you're searching for a fine piece of art, then you are in the correct place. In my opinion, the concept of "anime" in the last years is misunderstood: we all want stories, but not all products are about stories.
Animes about idols are like a pretty soap bubble, very shining but also very fragile. To be very clear, Rinku and the other girls live in a different world from ours. If you accept the narrative pact, ... then we can continue.

SANZIGEN made something artistically great. In the first season they built the overly-used plot of the wannabe idols, and they did it well. Now, they evolved from a well-known development and expanded the situations in a 24-character brawl, each of them with different roles, different ideas and why not, different screentime. The authors knew their characters and made them shine in loads of ways, balancing the overall impact and not wasting time following dead plot-branches. As for the episodes, they set an easy pace to get the viewer used to it and then they tweaked it in an unconventional way (one of the episodes is a masterpiece for that), culminating in a satisfying ending. "D4DJ All Mix" developed all of the good concepts they potentially had in store, instead of focusing on the linear plot of "from rags to riches" girls.

"Shine Post" took a fundamental step in the idol environment, I think no one can easily surpass them, and so other idol projects have to face it. If "Shine Post" reached a solid plot and character building, "D4DJ All Mix" reached the pinnacle of quality. Speaking of idol animes, SANZIGEN are the best out there right now, in all technical content. Directing, visual effects, photography. It's like watching a painting, you don't care so much about having CGDCT plot, instead you focus about style points and great enjoyment given by the audio-video part.

Two honorable mentions: CGI and music.
First of all, CGI models. Fantastic. This is 2023, this is a joint effort directly from artists' brains. There are people behind of that work, very capable and prepared people. Please, anime viewer, don't have prejudices towards CGI. It is different from drawings, yes, I can tell, but nonetheless it is better or worse in principle. Please, we are not in 2006.
And then, the music. Few words about it: there is real music going on in there. The OST is always on time, OP is pretty solid, I'm sure the ED can easily enter in my top 10 of all time, so memorable.

Honestly, for me a 8.75 out of 10, but oh well, here we are with the 9.

---TL,DR: That for me is also an "Anime", an audio-video product that yes, it tells a story, but it gives me vibes at watching and listening. Best anime of the season, probably one of the best this year.

NO spoilers. It's not a masterpiece, but they made a structured and coherent product out of nowhere. Of course, you have to see the first season, because this project is meant to be overall 24 episodes.

For the content department: I greatly appreciate (maybe too much but that's how I am) the change in pace, retaining the solid frame of the story. Two other protagonists for 10 episodes who can bring their potential to the stars and have an outstanding chemistry; the villain wasn't boring or overpredictable, he wasn't even a good person whose toy they stole as a child; they brought back every single character ... who had still something to tell, giving them a little screentime to underline they were secondary character.
In a few words, I love how they balanced everything and how we can see the commitment to reasoning in all the choices of the plot. The story wasn't left off the leash, condemning us to belly choices only generated in order to move deeply the viewer or to exalt him exaggeratedly, and nowadays it's rare.
There's always the card game and its rules, its "twists" in the draws and effects happening when needed, and I tell you: it's ok. I'm not making a fuss because the heroine never loses, there's a whole different context from the first season and here losing may bring death. Instead, love the way they introduced new cards and mechanics to the game without giving them the all the spotlights and without making this product pure advertising. This story maintained integrity and identity, again a rare case today.

For the technical department: little improvement for the drawings, always a good level of photography and directing, but the best is made with the sound. I am honestly touched by the soundtrack and the opening by Egoist is a dream come true. I even enjoyed the endings, which are my favorite type of music, but it's in that moment when I realize they thought well even the ED, that you know they put effort to this project and not only towards the user and his/her much coveted fanservice.

Two downgrades: the recap episode (q.q) and the furious pace in episodes 6-7-8, it can be too much even if I appreciate the philosophy of not wasting time.

Finally, I'm very joyous that Build Divide knew an end, instead of giving us the torture of other five seasons with maybe a mediocre cast and plot. I will remember this anime as the best of the first half of 2022, I'm very grateful that I had the chance to know these amazing characters and this simple but well-written world.

P.S Honestly, the vote would be 8,5, but hey, here I want to reward the effort of this production.

So chaotic, yet so bold.
--> It is NOT a story about idols, just in case someone misinterpreted <--
Gekidol could be more enjoyable. It has many flaws, unpolished and complicated ideas. Narratively, it makes very clumsy errors, but it has a peculiar determination I wasn’t able to ignore.
I must be honest: part of me wanted to drop this anime after the third episode. It didn’t show me what I wanted to see, at that point I was very disappointed. But after seeing that spark of confidence in episode 4 and so on, my hope started to recover. The story wasn’t some generic CGDCT with magical ... powers like Pastel Memories. Here there’s quality, just put in simple ways. But “simple” doesn’t necessarily means “bad”.
The directing seems to go back to 2006, the cuts and the voice timing reminded me Simoun. In a certain way, Gekidol could be seen as a little child of that time.
Characters seem shallow and void, but there are backstories for everyone. They may not be exceptional beings with lots of different qualities, that’s for sure. Actually, I don’t care so much because they do what they were created to do, without the authors’ restraint.
The story, uff. Story is convoluted, to such an extent that I admire they tried to tell something like that in 12 episodes. Of course, that could be a lot better with a full 24-episodes season. Many passages are unclear and rough, too rushed at the end. The viewer can easily miss some crucial information, and I didn’t even understand 100% of what they tried to convey. Well, a reason to see it a second time.

In the end, what counts more is the impact. This was a cryptic, deformed, yet pleasant impact.

Not a masterpiece, but a fine piece of art. Lapis Re:LIGHTs breaks the “Re:” curse and gains a nice position in this season’s chart. Maybe too underestimated, and maybe it’s because that underestimation that I can give a high score.

Although it’s evidently a moe product, the depiction of the story and world is much more deeper than “non-moe” works of this period, giving the impression that those kind of works lack the attention and the perfectionism which we find in Lapis Re:LIGHTs. The technical direction is extremely precise, with cinematographic cuts and meticulous care of context and scenery. Oh, how I like the satisfaction of ... having a character design meant for beauty and not for arousing the viewer. There’s not much to tell: this level of accuracy in details and product construction trespasses every other anime of the season: first place and academic kiss, chapeau!

The story is nonexistent in the beginning, but a good painting doesn’t necessarily need a good story to tell. We have a peak in the late episodes where we discover the harsh meaning of being an idol witch, not just smiling and dancing.

Then, the characters. Everyone has a personality, everyone has a role, everyone is an apparent stereotype. Just what I need in these idol products, perfect. Dialogues and interactions flow naturally through all the scenes, nothing is forced, everything is calculated in the author’s mind, and that’s a simple but good fact. The balance between all the characters is so well created that you cannot recognize a protagonist: the entire group is important and composed by main characters, which strengthen the cohesion between the viewer ant the story.

TL;DR: Real enjoyment, relaxing time.

The evolution of this kind of products is astounding, and I hope for more of this simple but refreshing stories.