Nov 19, 2008
Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to this show. I saw it at a pawn shop for a very cheap price so I went ahead to give a chance. Even after having a friend telling me it pretty much sucks. I must say that it was a whole lot better than I expected. It certainly isn't my favourite but there is something special about it.
The concept of the show is fairly simple, just a band trying to gain fame in the world of music. Of course, there's much more to it than that. There are a couple of side stories which do, in fact, spice
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up the show a little bit. I personally found the show to be a bit dry in some parts because it does have a tendency to drag on. Other than that, it is a fairly good story. It's simple and will be enjoyable for those who are fans of music. Unfortunately, the show did not provide a satisfying ending. The ending felt rushed, far too much happened in the last episode that could've been elaborated. A second season or an OVA would make it feel complete.
The animation really isn't bad, but does have its flaws. It can be choppy and inconsistent with the characters, but the backgrounds can be interesting at times. The style of the show is interesting because it gives us a variety of styles which keep it from looking like the generic anime. No one really does look same which certainly made me happy.
Characters are fairly normal people with their internal struggles. They are not exaggerated and can even be relatable to those carrying a career in music. The relationships between the characters were strong but at certain points we do lose the Koyuki/Maho relationship. I don't know if it was just me, but I felt they kind of left her out for a while. Aside from that, all characters were likeable and realistic. My older brother was in a band, not necessarily to make it big but I did see how relatable it is for a struggling band to at least gain some attention.
I personally didn't love or hate it but its all preference. There is no denying that the music was really catchy, especially the theme and ending songs. Particularly, the ending song was something I could even listen onto an mp3 more than once. Some of the other songs through out the series even reminded me of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and seemed American infulenced.
The English dub was pretty good. All voices suited the characters and the voice actors delivered. You can even tell that there is a lot of love put into the voices because it seemed that they really enjoyed it, especially Justin Cook who performed as Chiba. Greg Ayres finally did a voice that I heard that didn’t sound overly squeaky. I was pleasantly surprised to hear his singing voice too. As for the Japanese dub, I cannot say because I only heard snippets of it.
This show wasn’t the most enjoyable ever, but it did have something I feel that a lot of anime does not have- love. I find that there was a lot of love put into this, it wasn’t half-assed. You can see that there was love put into the creation of the characters and the music. That is why I really enjoyed this anime. It gave me a feeling I hadn’t had from an anime for a while. I hope there's at least an OVA or another season.
Pros- music, developing characters, english dub
Cons-tendacy to drag on, animation can be choppy
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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