First Impressions – Shounen Hollywood
SoL Idol show with more than a tinge of reality.
Here it is, the male version of AKB0048 or Love Live or *name any anime with female idol*. Though really, is it actually the male version? The first episode gave me some pleasant surprises that were out of my expectations.
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My #1 reason for watching this would be that Kakkii (Kakihara Tetsuya) is the seiyuu for one of the idol characters. That’s it, really. I guess the whole male idol thing is a plus too. In this world of AKB0048, and Idolm@ster, it was bound to happen eventually. Though I guess UtaPri (and maybe Bakumatsu Rock) counts for that already.
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On my first look on this show while working on our Summer preview, the character design really did surprise me. They are more gritty compared to the fluffy or sparkly bishie kind mostly seen in this kind of anime. That was the first thing that gave me a start. Now, let’s see how the actual first episode faired with opinions from some fair ladies of Metanorn. :3
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Lots of hard work and rehearsals!
// anaaga: Male Idol is Serious Business // If one watched UtaPri, he would think that being idol is all about pretty faces and passion and nice smexy manly voice and a flat heroine with no personality. In fact, that is what many idol shows (though not all, of course) present to us. Being an idol is not easy, but as long as passion is there, then no problemo! Fate would extend its hand to us, and we will become great idols that are greatly loved by many! That’s basically what many idol shows tell us. There are some shows that also show the harsh side of the idol industry, but somehow, things still don’t look so bad at some of the shows. Is it because of how they carry out the idol problems? Is it because of how the directors always managed to make the problems seem easy to solve, as long as there is friendship and love and passion? I don’t know. But whatever it is, those idol problems seem like a breeze.
Then Shounen Hollywood slap the face of audience with reality. Being a male idol is not that easy. And it truly is a fact. Being an idol means sweating asses off to have a fab body. Being an idol means keeping up with the latest trends. Being an idol means saying unbearable cheesy lines at times. Being an idol means creating a brand new personality and face to be used on the stage. Being an idol means giving the fans what they demand no matter what it is, even when that something is not the idol’s style. This is what it means to be a male idol, and Shounen Hollywood is not holding back when it comes about showing the cruel side of the idol industry. Now that all the tough sides of this industry is already shown, can the boys persist until the end?
On stage Kira-rira-rin comes from lots of sweat and cringes
// Karakuri: Different from Expectations // Well, I didn’t really watch the trailers or anything to this, so my only clue as to what the show was about was the phrase “male idols” (really, I stopped looking into it the minute I saw Kakkii’s name ahaha). Seeing how the only other thing that really has anything close to male idols in it (off the top of my head) are Uta no Prince-sama and Bakumatsu Rock. Both of the shows are waaaaaaay over the top in stupidity fabulousness, and bright, flashy colours. So seeing Shounen Hollywood take the more down to earth approach was kind of surprising. Instead of throwing fanservice or ridiculousness at the viewer, this felt a lot more like Wake Up Girls! or Idolm@ster in terms of how the show went. These guys weren’t already super famous or super talented or anything, they were just average guys (er, probably above average in looks, since they were scouted) who are still trying to get things together in terms of their idol careers. They still have a lot to learn, and hopefully the anime covers their journey into fame or wherever this is going.
The mysterious owner and his past life
// Kyokai: Foreshadowing and the Plot // From the get-go, even when we are doused with some nice animated scenery and life philosophy, the story has some semblance of a plot rather than hot bishies taking their clothes off and simply being awesome on stage. Though, that does work with some anime like UtaPri, I was very surprised with the mellow startup of this episode. We have five youths from different walks of life selected by the mysterious manager, who I am sure is a former member of Shounen Hollywood. I even matched up the proper screenshots to highlight the dude I suspect to be him, fifteen years ago. From whatever we know, the group was quite successful but they broke up and since then, they have tried to gather a talented collective of boys but to no avail. I am still wondering why the owner has hand-picked some random boys to become idols but I have a feeling that there is definitely a plan or a hunch he’s working on. I also think that the previous members of Shounen Hollywood, let’s call them alumni for now, will definitely be showing up as the story progresses because the original novel was based on them. The current idols have definitely a lot to learn but I see them improving with time. The boys definitely have a proper regimen and a trainer to boss them around. Let’s see how they grow.
// Extra Idol Fun
Simple facts are stated and not sugar-coated
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What was definitely different from what I expected from this show. Well, misleading summary and all. I thought I was going to frown at this show, but I ended up being hooked all the way until the end. I love the whole concept of literally starting from the bottom. Seeing an actual progress of the boys will be fun, because then I can see the different side of the idol industry while slowly being attached to the boys through their hard works. The art style is really good too, as the boys turned to be extremely GAR, unlike the bishies in UtaPri. I honestly don’t know how this anime is going to be, but I’m liking everything about its premier, from the unique plot, realistic art, and A DECENT ANIMATION WHOA THAT’S A SURPRISE. I started watching this show with no expectation, but I ended the episode with lots of hope for this show.
I can’t say that this was disappointing, because I rather liked the end result. No, things weren’t quite as fabulous as some other idol shows out there, but I seem to have grown fond of watching the idol shows where the characters start at the bottom and work their way up. …Even if they don’t end up saving anime and sometimes attribute the creation of idol groups to 9/11 (man, Wake Up Girls! seems sillier every time I try to remember it). The characters in Shounen Hollywood seems kind of stereotyped at the moment, but hopefully that will be sorted out as the episodes go on. This was clearly for introduction purposes, so it gets a pass for this episode. The animation was pretty nice to look at too, which was a plus. I guess I’ll be sticking around and seeing where this goes.
Like my tag partners already have stated, I was genuinely surprised by this as well. I was not expecting to like this at all but ended up getting invested in the awkward boys who are on training mode to become idols, which does not seem an easy job. However the cheesy lines and training being tough, this seems to be quite a tough business and I can’t help but get curious about how they will continue their careers and fair in the idol industry. From history we know there have been failures so there might be some ups and downs. Not to mention, they are all novices. But let’s see how the alumni will come into play and story progresses. As a watcher if you are looking for some light SoL fun with real life touch to it, this is definitely for you.
Let’s see how far this stage takes our five new idols.
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: iLurker with 5 comments
This was actually surprisingly good. It reminds me of K-On, except you know less hilarious. But what I mean is that it has a feel of a slice of life, that would have 5 girls as the main focus. But instead it’s 5 guys. I really want this anime to focus on life, being an idol, and I kind of just want to see these guys as friends. We need more just friends kind of guys in anime.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
HEAR HEAR, ANIME GOD
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I think that is the appeal the staff is going with with the addition of some RL pain. Let’s see how this goes.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
So the award for the “Most Ignored FI Post” goes to…..
But wow, it seems like only Love Stage and Free S2 is the only 2 show that aims at female audience that remains popular. I’m surprised that DMMd anime doesn’t seem to be gaining much attention considering the fanbase/popularity behind it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Yep! It’s kinda sad because this wasn’t so bad.
For DMMD, the niche is still there. It’s just fangirls can’t believe the yaoi is out. xD