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So first, let me address a couple inaccuracies in MAL's summary of the anime. One, Ryuu is not an idol, but rather another otaku. Two, it makes it sound like Suuko has magical powers (at least that's how I read it), but she's just a particularly popular blogger.

Anyway, if you're here, chances are you got here because this has the voices of two Love Live! seiyuu, Kusuda Aina (Nozomi) in the lead role as Suuko, and Aya Uchida (Kotori) in a minor role as one of Suuko's favorite idols, Hinami, who has already made it big. With the exception of a line here and there, ... Kussun is literally unrecognisable as Suuko compared to either Nozomi or her natural voice, which gives me even more respect for her talent - but it does come as a bit of a disappointment since I was hoping to hear Nozomi running the idol world. Ucchi, on the other hand, sounds exactly like Kotori, and we even get to hear her sing a tiny bit!

In terms of the anime itself - many of the criticisms leveled at it are valid: the art is perfectly fine, but not great, and there isn't much character development. Character development is rough when you have about 40 minutes of material, all told, but it does seem like something more could have been done with it. It's implied at one point that Suuko has been bullied at school for being socially awkward, but then the moment doesn't go anywhere.

But I think a lot of people dislike the anime because it's not what they were expecting. Sure, it's technically an idol anime, but unlike Love Live! or iM@S, it's not about the idols themselves, actually. Instead, it's about idol fan culture, implicitly critiquing fans like Ryuu who aren't actually interested in the music, but rather in what being an idol fan can do for their egos, by garnering attention from the idols. It also shows the would-be rivals pondering whether or not they really want fame despite its drawbacks. It's still an interesting concept imo, just not the same sort of story most idol anime tell.

Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be much spark in the anime, as if the people involved (from the writers to animators to seiyuu) knew what they wanted to do, but didn't really have their hearts in it. Moreover, it doesn't end, but rather halts suddenly, leaving the one and only problem/conflict of the show unresolved. I assume it was meant to lead into a sequel series, but at this point, I think it's pretty definite one isn't coming, so we just get no resolution for the plot.

It's a mildly cute, mildly interesting way to pass just under an hour, but not one I think I'll come back to.

(copied from my Goodreads review)
Coming in to this, my expectation was essentially "I'll like it, but it won't live up to the hype." Which turned out to be spot on. Even as a lesbian with depression and anxiety - and despite the title, the book deals with mental illness even more heavily than it does queerness - I didn't personally connect to the highly personal, specific story. I recognise, though, that it would be all the more powerful for someone who did have those connections. But it's odd because I've gone through a lot of the things Nagata talks about, like friendlessness and singleness and ... shame over both, but for whatever reason I just didn't feel connected to her. I think I would have liked a little more on how she felt, as opposed to what she felt? Not sure.

I rarely enjoy "special" shorts, but these were pretty charming - the first four, anyway. (The last two weren't bad, but were a definite drop-off in quality; otherwise, I'd have scored an 8.) It's six shorts of the characters being silly and playing off each other, just as they did in the comedic scenes from the show. Plus, for those of us in it for the queer content, these go a long way toward repairing the overwhelming no-homo of the second half of season 2. We get Natsuki trying to kiss Riko, Midori obsessing over Reina's chest (because they look like fermata!), and Reina straight-up ... leaving her class's school festival preparations because she wants to see Kumiko in a maid outfit. The one thing I didn't like was the relative dearth of Asuka, Nozomi, and Mizore. Not groundbreaking, but definitely among the better anime shorts I've seen.

Obviously shorts series like this usually aren't up to much since their very nature means they don't have any time for a real plot or much characterization, but they usually manage to get a few jokes in and be somewhat enjoyable. Not so with this series. Part of the problem is that the episodes are even shorter than usual, at about 2:30 once you take out the OP and ED, and they're then divided into three shorter segments! So you're looking at segments of under a minute each, which isn't much time to do anything. But even at that, the stories (such as they are) ... just don't offer anything of value at all. No jokes, no nothing. Worse, they're apparently based on the game, rather than the anime, which does mean that we get to see some of the characters who didn't make it into the anime, but also means that rather than our buddy P-kun, we have these teenage girls trying to seduce the producer character, which is just gross.

I will say the first episode isn't bad - it covers Miku bribing Anzu to work using candy, and Takumi (my girl!) crushing on Chieri - but the rest are pretty hopeless. Just dull.

Honestly there's not much point to watching this, even for IMCG stans. It's mostly a rather dry recap of the first eight (iirc) episodes hosted by New Generations' seiyuu, who also present their favorite scene (the concert with Mika). They don't talk much about making the show or anything. The one bright spot is when Producer's seiyuu joins them, and they do talk a bit with him about making the show. (His favorite scene, incidentally, is Uzuki's first meeting with Producer.) Moreover, he was a high schooler at the time and is pretty adorable actually. So, if you feel a desire to have a little ... behind-the-scenes knowledge of IMCG (and I do mean a little), go ahead and watch, just skip ahead to when Producer's seiyuu appears. Otherwise, you can safely skip it.

This is an interesting adaptation of one of my favorite children's book series. It takes the first quadrilogy (the Mystery of the Tree House arc), but replaces Mummies in the Morning with a loose adaptation of Vacation Under the Volcano, which is unfortunate as Mummies was always one of my favorites. It also includes a really needless B-plot about a classmate of Jack's who has a crush on him and wants him to star opposite her in Romeo and Juliet (totally a play every third grade class puts on).

It also takes several other elements of the series and weaves them in - Peanut from the ... second quadrilogy, Teddy from Tonight on the Titanic, Merlin from much of the later series - which was enjoyable to see. It's not a precise adaptation of the books, but aside from the B-plot, it made perfect sense, and was a really charming throwback to my childhood. I'd like to see it dubbed and released here in the US for the children's movie market, but that'll never happen, given the level of violence in the Pirates Past Noon section (the pirates frequently aim guns at Jack and Annie, and at one point try to shoot them). Still and all, it's a nice throwback for American weebs like me who want to relive their childhoods.