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As a fan of all the music series of Tsukino Talent, this was... not bad, but disappointing.

First of all, I don't think it really works as an introduction to the series. The main attraction of VAZZROCK is clearly the music, but the anime doesn't reflect that. If it wasn't for the last episode (the concert), you would think it's an anime about actors. The way they introduced the characters in the first episode isn't exactly good either.

Let's start with the animation: typical low budget animation that relies on almost static but well drawn images. But that isn't the problem. I'm disappointed at the lack of ... 3D MVs. Tsukipro and Tsukiuta had some really good ones, both from the openings and for the final performance in the concert. Nothing here, all 2D.

About the story and characters: there isn't a main plot, but it isn't really episodic either. I liked the idea of 2-episode arcs focusing on a pairing. My main complaint is that there are too many "rivalry" dynamics, even though each pair has a different twist to it, it still gets repetitive. Other than that, they are overall interesting and the characters are all unique.

Sound-wise: unusually for me, background music did stand out, in a good way. Shou's arc and the AU episodes specially, have amazing soundtrack, the former with classical music and the latter with traditional Japanese music. About OPs and EDs, what can I say? They are the reason VAZZROCK (as a whole, not the anime) is great. The songs are amazing, the voice actors are seriously good and underrated.

Conclusion: I love VAZZROCK but I can't really recommend this anime to someone new. Just start with the music if you want to get into it. It's honestly one of the best out there. The amount of music they release is sometimes overwhelming, but quality isn't lacking. Specially in the bi-color series, which is all about solos and duets.
Alternatively, I recommend Tsukiuta or Tsukipro, those anime, while also not masterpieces, are actually good as introductions.

If you watched the SK8 anime, you need to read this, it's short and funny, you won't regret it.

Each anime episode has a "Trick" and a "Line", which are basically the same except that a "Trick" has 2 or 3 pages, while a "Line" has usually more, the longest is 8. There are a few extra comics that come with the blu-rays, too.

And what are they about? Each page references a different scene from the episode, many of them are just "rewritten" versions of those scenes. All you need to know is that they are freaking hilarious. Obviously, having watched the anime before is a ... must, you will miss half of the fun if you don't understand the references.
And the artstyle is very cute!

I'll reference the first season but without spoilers. (The review has been updated after finishing the last episode)

If you are thinking about starting the first season, do it only if you want to get into the whole series. I think it's a good starting point. If you are planning to just watch the anime and move on, it'll probably not be worth it.

If you watched the first season and liked it, watch this too. It's more of the same but around 4 years later. There are also 3 episodes in a yokai alternate universe or something, I don't know what it was but it was ... good.

About the story and characters: most of the plot comes from long flashbacks which are basically content from drama CDs, but it's pretty good, at least for episodic anime standards. The 4 units take turns, and the last episode is the concert. It does a good job on introducing the units, the dynamics of their characters and their music. With 17 main characters, you can't expect much from each character individually, but the units as a whole have good dynamics. Like QUELL, Eichi and Shu are basically the mum and dad for the twins, I love them. 🤧

Animation-wise, there isn't a lot of movement, but the characters are well drawn. The 3D animation though? I think they blew out all the budget there. There's one for each opening and then another one for the last performance in the concert.

Sound-wise, I can't say much about the background soundtrack. But the insert songs, unlike in the first season or in Tsukiuta, there are a lot of them, and they work really well. Not to mention the new songs, OPs and EDs, they are really good. And so are the voice actors, with a nice mix of popular and experienced VAs and not so popular (but really underrated) ones. It's probably one of my fav casts for an idol series.

Conclusion: quite a mediocre idol anime, but I think it's a good starting point to my personally favourite idol series out there. There's a lot of quality and uniqueness in the music. There isn't anything like Growth or QUELL in other idol series. SOARA and SolidS aren't that unique, but nevertheless, amazing music. And the story in the drama CDs is pretty good too. SOARA even has 2 live action movies.

Let me say one more thing before leaving, in my opinion, there was a big gap in quality in the music between 2015 (the first year) and 2016. Just in case someone starts with the oldest songs and thinks I'm lying when I said the music is great. 👉👈

Thanks for reading! And I hope this caught someone's attention. I think Tsukipro is really underrated, at least outside of Japan.

I'll reference the first season but without spoilers.

If you are thinking about starting the first season, do it only if you plan to get any deeper into the series later. The anime is a good starting point to know a bit about the characters and their music.

If you already watched and liked it, then you will like S2 too. The format is the same, and seeing how our boys changed now that they are 4 years older is nice. :)

About the story and characters: it's episodic, there's barely any plot. But it does the job well, which is showing each idol's personality and their relationships ... with the other idols. They mostly go by pairings, and their dynamics are really nice. (I love Arata and Aoi so much.)

About the animation: overall it's the typical of low budget. But hey, the characters look pretty, that compensates the lack of movement. Just look at the adults in Hajime's episode. And the 3D MVs are really good.

Sound: I can't say much because I don't really pay attention to the background soundtracks, but the ending songs are really good. Then the VAs, expect a really experienced cast (since Tsukiuta started in 2013), they are all seriously good singers and voice actors.

Conclusion: mediocre anime but worth watching if you want to get into Tsukiuta. It's good, I promise. There's no way you won't like any of their songs because each character has a different composer and a completely different style (most of them are popular Vocaloid composers, in case this grabs your attention).

As my first review, I hope this was any helpful. The series of Tsukino Talent need more love. :)