Shine Post is a very tough nut to crack. After the first 2 episodes I rated this show 4/10, which might make my current overall rating very surprising. I'll try my best to keep this as spoiler-free as possible.
STORY (6.5/10):
Here's the thing that makes Shine Post hard to crack. The story is both disappointing and surprisingly pleasant at the same time. Shine Post has an amount of depth I wouldn't expect from an idol show, but it's one of those shows where the depth can easily go unnoticed until you learn more about the past. The story is still predictable, but having depth that connects
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everything together into a sensible and meaningful story is something that many shows do poorly at, therefore Shine Post deserves the praise for doing so.
Most of the story revolves around the characters and their problems with confidence and anxiety with the ultimate goal of becoming stronger together to reach their goals and dreams. That makes the anime interesting to a wider audience, as you do not need to be an idol fan to enjoy a show like that.
The story is also further supported by decent comedy in the form of your everyday funny over the top reactions, screams, noises, characters bouncing of each other, etc. I should also add that this comedy is further supported by brilliant voice acting, but more about that in the characters section of the review. In most cases it's nothing groundbreaking, but there were a few really good moments. The light comedy makes this show pleasantly chill and enjoyable.
So then, what's disappointing about the story? This show has a Supernatural tag and the synopsis talks about Manager-kun's remarkable ability to see the shine of someone who is lying. The first few episodes even give quite a bit of screen time to him and his past and show off his ability. But if you expect a lot from this interesting twist, you'll likely be a bit disappointed. If you look at the Characters list, Manager (Naoki Hinase) isn't even listed as a main character. In short they're making a big deal out of something they then barely utilize.
CHARACTERS (7.5/10):
The characters are decent and likeable. Each of them has some kind of a character trope that serves as a tool for comedy and wholesome moments, but none of their personalities are too outstanding on the spectrum of anime character personalities. They're just very nice, energetic, motivated and entertaining young girls chasing after their dreams while facing their own problems.
What I would like to highlight is the quality of voice acting. In general, voice actors in this show are doing a pretty good job. But there is one absolute highlight that solocarries the VA aspect of this show to another level - and that highlight is Natsuyoshi Yuuko's amazing job at voicing Seibu Rio. Her capabilities as a voice actor are used really really well and fit the character and behaviour of Rio astonishingly. It's not perfect, but even the occasional lows are still voiced pretty well. On the other hand, the highs are really, and i mean really high. There are multiple moments of all kinds, be it wholesome, funny or cute, where Rio's voice takes the slightly wholesome scene and makes it one of the cutest most wholesome things you've ever heard, takes a barely funny scene and makes it very funny, or blesses the show with random cute noises that even sound like the perfect fit for Rio's character. Truly an outstanding performance worthy of high praise.
ART (7.5/10):
Character design is decent. Some of the characters are fairly unique, some a bit more generic, but in general the art looks good.
The quality of animation is usually very good. Dance choreography seems very good too and the dancing is well animated, except for one thing - I do have a problem with CGI. However, that is more of a general rule for me and honestly the CGI in this show is fairly well masked and bearable. Luckily they pretty much only use CGI for background crowds and to assist the dance numbers.
MUSIC (8.5/10):
Let me start with the boring part - OSTs are utilized pretty well to set the mood, although I feel like they were a bit too loud in some scenes.
Now for the performances and theme songs. I'll keep it simple just to give you an idea, as music taste very much differs from person to person anyway:
Opening (Wonder Starter) - Great, banger. Feels like a pretty typical idol song, the instrumental sounds nice and is accompanied by very good singing that fits it well.
Ending 1 (Palette Girls) - Very interesting, sounds pretty nice and unique. It's nice to have variety, especially with an instrumental and singing of such quality.
Ending 2 (Ippo Mae no Sekai) - Great, banger. On par with the opening, this time once again something very different. Gotta say that variety is definitely not gonna be an issue with this show. While slightly lacking in how good the singing is compared to the opening, this song makes up for it with a really well made light eurobeat instrumental. And a good eurobeat is something I'll take any day.
Ending 3 (Yellow Rose) - A beautiful modern ballad once again adding to the variety that this show provides.
Insert 1 (Sweet Surrender) - Honestly don't like this one, but it should be noted that this is NOT a TINGS song. This is the insert that plays at the beginning of EP1. The chorus is decent, but overall a very underwhelming song.
Insert 2 (Be Your Light!!) - Pretty good. Just doesn't feel as rememberable and outstanding as the OP and ED2
To give a little bit of a summary - Shine Post is a surprisingly enjoyable, albeit in some ways slightly disappointing, idol show that provides great music, very good dance choreography, incredibly wholesome, cute and funny moments and a story that doesn't require you to be an idol fan to enjoy it. Overall I rate this show 7.5/10, leaning towards 8. If you're going to try this show out, don't forget to pay attention to how well Rio-sama is voiced. It might not strike you at first, but you should know what I mean once you encounter one of the "highs".
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Sep 14, 2022
Shine Post
(Anime)
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Shine Post is a very tough nut to crack. After the first 2 episodes I rated this show 4/10, which might make my current overall rating very surprising. I'll try my best to keep this as spoiler-free as possible.
STORY (6.5/10): Here's the thing that makes Shine Post hard to crack. The story is both disappointing and surprisingly pleasant at the same time. Shine Post has an amount of depth I wouldn't expect from an idol show, but it's one of those shows where the depth can easily go unnoticed until you learn more about the past. The story is still predictable, but having depth that connects ... |
