Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight

*Disclaimer* Just personal scratch. Advised, possible spoilers. Opinion & Informal Art: 8/10 The art in this was noticeably much better than the average show. Everything. Everything was so crisp, clean, and detailed. I'm super impressed with some of the art showcases this show did. The transformation sequence machinery was super detailed. The anatomy and proportions checked out. The background scenery and attention to the small things were impressive. The general presentation of how scenery was done and designed were impressive too. Overall, the framing, the art quality, and the choice of presentation were all very impressive and definitely a cut above the rest. Animation: 8/10 Just like the art, everything was very clean and crisp. Motions were believable and especially those wild movements and sequences during the revues were very clean. The eventual BD releases are a very good reason to re-watch this show just to see the absolute quality animation this show was able to put out. Almost zero dropped frames, shortcuts and skimp outs were done. The revues in particular were very well done. I almost can't believe that they managed to do multiple revues each with an impressive extended fight sequence. Characters: 6/10 This is where I may differ in regards to my peers or others. I didn't like the characters, both as is and development-wise. Yes, they did grow. Some of them actually had some pretty meaningful character development, but was it in the right place? I'm leaning towards a slight no, but I'd really have to be convinced through conversation to think otherwise. I just think that I would have liked to see a bit, just a bit, more character development to Hikari and Karen. This could have been alleviated if this was a 13 episode show rather than a 12 episode show. I wouldn't mind another revue-less Karen/Hikari episode just like the one that already was. They're the stars of this play after all; I want to see them shine more brightly lol. Karen felt sort of one-dimensional to me. More than 50% of Karen's general basis for action or speaking was because of Hikari. There was even a period where Karen was pretty much acting like a useless potato because she was depressed about Hikari's disappearance.20% of the overall dialogue seemed like trivial conversations between the other characters which is fine because it added to the SoL atmosphere. It just felt like Karen was useless or uninspiring whenever she was constantly moping about how Hikari wasn't within 5 feet of her. The episode covering their past and promise as well as the impact shot at the playground in front of Tokyo Tower during night was nice development, but I wanted more. Karen's constant moping after this episode just felt lame and detracted a lot from her character for me. The rest of the cast was given a nice amount of individual development to pull them into the foreground so to speak. Despite Karen's newfound last-episode resolution it to me didn't really feel that impactful because I feel that it was sort of an abrupt change in character. I don't feel to satisfied with the way she just changed. I wanted more lead up. Hikari too, I wanted a bit more propellant or fuel for her final form. That is, I wanted the show to go a bit more into developing her essence. I didn't really feel sympathetic or empathy for Hikari during her desert period. Her psyche didn't feel barren...the visuals were there but they didn't really feel justified. The way character development in general though went about was very unique. The play-like asides were very artistic and unique. However, they should have mixed in a bit more "traditional" self realization into the mix because the asides started to feel a little flat later on. In terms of character designs, their regular designs weren't anything to note. They were either casual wear or school uniforms. The revue/stage-girl designs though, those were great. The transformation scene and the design of the stage-girl uniforms were so fitting and were very unique. I might change my opinion when I get around to re-watching this in BD releases, but for now I wasn't super satisfied with the character development. Plot and Development: 8/10 It was never actually about the school's 100th play. The whole show is about the concept of relationships and the dynamics of individuality and the compromises that are the foundation of any relationship. In other words, the starlight play and the auditions are a metaphor for the conflict between two people's degrees of self-centered-ism, individuality, in the journey to form a lasting relationship; namely, the compromises that people have to accept when they are confronted with the personality, beliefs, and aspirations of another person. Give in? Fight it? I think this show focuses on the answer to what makes a relationship and the happiness of having one, in this case that would be friendship and companionship. I'm going to refer to characters by appearance rather than name btw. Two examples I wanted to point out are Banana-nice and the blue-haired, accent-speaking girl + motorcycle girl. Banana-nice couldn't accept change and couldn't accept the idea of conflict. The fact that her whole development centered around wanting to avoid change and the conflict of selecting a brand new cast, and essentially deviating from that shiny and wonderful scene after the 99th festival...it was able to say so much about her personality without having to go through more traditional and expositional avenues. All of this was before the point in which the show does it's best to explain this idea in semi-vague language. I would have preferred it not to actually. I disliked that it had to explain this towards the end of her arc. The audience can think for themselves and I dislike that this show ended up copping out and explaining certain things after the character-specific revue. It felt like it detracted from the unique subliminal aside-heavy character development. It felt like, "We'll explain it in conventional language just in case they didn't get it." The second example I wanted to bring up was accent/motorcycle girls. Their whole thing was an exercise in the conflict of interest. Ignore the premise of auditions or the advancement of stage girls in the acting business, their whole revue was a visualization of the conflict between two different individuals. Give in? No, their arc was a showing that when two individuals don't want to give up their own aspirations they must compromise. That's what their whole resolution at the end to their bit felt like to me. Neither satisfied with giving up their own sense of self-worth in the form of their dreams to become the top star, both had to come to an accepting and resolute agreement. I've got one or two more things to talk about so bear with me lol. During the last episode, when Hikari was doing her whole tower building thing alone the star kept destroying her tower. The tower (Hikari's self-built one that was made out of star blocks) is the step ladder of self-progression, or in another light the idea of uncompromising individuality (being self-centered), and the destruction of Hikari's tower by the one she was trying to reach (the one she was trying to reach being the representation of personal aspirations and worldly goals such as rising to be the top star) represents the futility of pursing that lonely road; in the end the idea was that casting aside others in the name of personal goals or feelings (note that feelings can be anything, in this case Hikari's desire to preserve Karen's shine...nonetheless feelings can either be good or bad natured) eventually leaves one with nothing. My last thing I want to talk about is position zero. Position zero means happiness and completion. Position zero had nothing to do with the stage stuff or being the winner of the audition. It was never about the position itself. Position zero was a confirmation that that particular character got their bit of happine…

My view of this anime is not impressive at all, throughout the episode when I watched this anime there was always a question in my mind, namely "what is this anime about? What is the relationship between martial arts competitions and musical dramas?" I can't understand the concept of this anime story. In this story, 8 girls compete in a musical drama but what is strange is that the competition is done by competing with weapons such as swords, sticks, and arrows while fighting they also lecture each other about their respective egos. This is the first time I have found the meaning of musical drama will shift very far from its original meaning in this anime.., if you think you can find a spectacular and inspiring musical performance in this anime, you should bury that desire deep down because there is no musical performance in this anime so the music genre is wrong if it is attached to this anime. Then about the drama performance, this is also something I didn't find in this story because as I explained earlier, these 8 girls practice singing, dancing, and acting but instead compete in a strange way, namely fighting using swords and other weapons. So about the competition that each character tries to win to become a starlight has nothing to do with musical ability, dancing or cleverness in acting in drama, but rather by being good at using weapons and giving lectures to influence the opponent's mind, then it is certain that you can win the competition. And at the end of this anime episode, all the strange competitions that the characters do along with the polemics of each character are only to determine who the main role is in the drama performance entitled starlight.?! A strange way for a role audition in a drama. Instead of showing a strong story in terms of music and performing arts, it only shows an abstract and ambiguous concept that does not meet any of the criteria for the anime genre. For the animation it is quite good and for the soundtrack, there is nothing memorable about the backsound. So the conclusion for this anime is that I cannot recommend it, it is better to try another anime with a similar story concept but a deeper introduction to performing arts or music. Thank you

2018 was a packed year with a plethora of great shows every season. So a lot of great shows are bound to be buried under the hype of the big name hits. One such case is Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight. It's a great shame since Revue Starlight maybe the most ambitious anime I've seen since Revolutionary Girl Utena, a show that definitely played a huge influence in every turn of Revue Starlight. This leads many people into calling Revue Starlight, The wannabe/ Discount Utena which isn’t a completely unfair judgement but then again is is really a bad thing to get more of Utena? This show has received widespread critical acclaim in Japan but overall has received a mixed reaction outside. It's due to the shows dependence on a labyrinth maze of symbolism, themes, philosophy and a convoluted finale. This show hugely depends on your knowledge of how Japanese theatre works specially the all women theatre troupe known as Takarazuka. The system of Takarazuka is there is the perfect, tall and beautiful character troupe that is knows as Otokoyaku and her equally beautiful and talented Masumeyaku. They are the lead roles in such theatre based play and everyone wants to play them but since it has a huge emphasis on height, most girls can't get these roles. Takarazuka's troupe is also based on this pseudo tragedy/bittersweet stories. The plot of Revue Starlight is about trying to break from this system. The series's main two characters Karen and Hikari tries to break the mold of the system. This show serves as a critique of the hardship that comes with theatre works, the desire to be on top and how it drives them to break themselves, the isolation that one feels when they are on top, the sin one commits when they compete against one another and of course how this theatre troupe is bounded by it’s system. The concept of height plays a major role throughout the show and it's constantly being referenced through metaphors throughout the show. This is also one of the most technically Impressive show I've seen in quite sometime. The visuals are stunning, the musical score is the best I've heard all year, the fights and performances are among the most impressive of 2018, has the best cast of characters out of any 2018 anime with a great afford put into making every character relevant. Episode 6 and 7 are easily among the best episodes I've seen in any anime in 2018. There is a blinder of a twist in episode 7 that I could never see coming! This show also has an ingenues metaphor with a Giraffe that caught me off-guard. When Episode 10 completed I thought this will be my favourite 2018 anime but sadly the convoluted last 2 episodes sort of lets it down a little. They tried to chew more than what they are capable of as they tried to cramp the episode with way too much. Some were great like the Giraffe metaphor and the reference to Sisyphus others not so much. Despite the problems, it still has an emotionally satisfying finale and overall is easily among my favourite of 2018

When I first saw the previews for this show, I was heavily reminded of idol shows, such as Love Live and BanG Dream. Being a franchise of Bushiroad didn't really push the idea away either. I initially came to watch this show to make fun of it, to laugh at all the cliches that come with idol shows, to fill up my time as I waited for other summer seasons' episodes. But as I came to learn while watching the anime and following the franchise, “They are not idols. They are stage girls”. Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is first and foremost about the world of theatre, or more specifically, it is heavily based on Takarazuka Revue, which anime such as Sailor Moon and Utena have been inspired by. While I am not well-versed in how Takarazuka works in great detail, this series is essentially a commentary on the Top Star system that Takarazuka employs. With this in mind, a great deal of the anime's story and design choices have quite an astounding amount of depth that I had not realized before learning about Takarazuka. What initially drew my interest into the anime were the Revues. The dynamic camera work and the animation for the first Revue made me change my mind about my initial impressions. I would even say that this anime has my most favorite transformation scene of all time. Each Revue is heavy with symbolism, focusing on the character's mindset and personality. They did not retract from the story, and in fact, enhanced the plot and characters through the song lyrics and the stage design. What got me to stay for this show, however, was the characters. I came to love the show's characters for all their quirks, failings, and successes. While some of them appear to be idol-esque in character initially, the anime did very well in making them more than just what they seemed. The songs, the roles they played in the story, their interactions with each other--I learned to love every single one of them, not just the main characters (and in fact, there were times where I enjoyed learning about the others more than Hikari and Karen). All in all, this was a wonderfully hidden gem that I am glad to have stumbled on, and I would never forget the experience this anime gave me. Not only did it increase my knowledge of Japanese culture, it was just in all enjoyable to watch every week.

I stumbled around this show, just bored on a Saturday morning. I really just wanted to see a show similar to K-on. But, after the amazing surprise in episode 1, I was hooked. Rushing to the new episodes as soon as I could. Overall, this is a very underrated series, and I wish more people would have seen it. I am giving this a 10/10 rating, not because it is perfect, but it defied expectations and gave me a show that was exactly what a wanted when I saw it. Some of the plot points might confuse you. If you don't get it, I recommend just doing a skim rewatch of the episode. Now time to actually pick apart this series. The story is what it needs to be. This show is strongly character driven, so the main plot is really to help them express themselves. The art is sufficient. I enjoy it and how it can be very unique at times with the design of areas. The sound (music) is amazing. Every episode changes the ending theme, so I am always excited to see what they do with it. All the songs are amazing. The characters are well fleshed out, each given a good story. They interact with each other well, and they are all unique. Overall, Revue Starlight is a show that can help you with many anime cravings. A cute girls doing cute things show, a yuri (sorta) show and an action series. So, I guess in all of this rambling, I am saying that I saw a pretty great show this season. It wasn't perfect, and many people didn't like it, but it me, it was the best anime to happen in this season, or maybe even year. I hope you all give it a chance.

Revue starlight- Not what I expected “Oh boy another 9 girl idol type anime”- that was my first reaction to Revue starlight. Don’t get me wrong, I personally enjoy those band/idol multimedia projects, such as Bang Dream or Love live. However after hearing about Revue starlight’s existence, I was a bit skeptical since the whole premise of the anime didn’t really interest me. However after watching it, I was left with confusion. And not a good type of confusion. This show heavily relies on “Show, don’t tell” story telling and tells the key parts of the story visually which might confuse people into thinking the story telling is bad or trying to make it look “deep” without anything behind it. That was exactly my reaction after watching it. I did enjoy the characters and got into the mobile game and finally convinced myself to rewatch it again. There are so many little visual details that I have missed during the first watch that just pops out to you during the rewatch. Even some of the characters dialogue states their future or past events without directly telling us about it. And while handful of people think this show would’ve worked better as a smaller cast, I disagree. Most of character building in this story relies on the bonds that they have all created and by shortening the cast, you basically take away that aspect of the story. The other aspect is it’s similarity’s between Takarazuka and how the show reflects it. Such as the Stairs showing the gap of the characters, or tall characters being the leads of the stage. Speaking of the characters, I’m genuinely impressed how many of the characters actually feel like “characters”. Sure some characters are more developed than others however, even the ones with short character moments, still feel like they are part of the main cast. And that’s genuinely impressive considering the size of the cast and number of the episodes. Each character has their flaws or weak points that we get to know more of and eventually overcome it. The sound track is one of the best parts of this show. There are a lot of genre of music in this series and each of them are genuinely great. Even the background OST really helps the scene. And due to background issues behind the show, some scenes do look a bit off, however, the beautiful cinematography and the animation during most of this anime completely makes up for some of the wonky scenes in the series. With it’s great soundtrack, stunning visuals, fantastic characters, this series easily gets a solid 9 from me.

I began watching this show because I wanted to get into its mobile game counterpart, which requires completion of this show before beginning. If you know anything about the company responsible for this, you may know of BanG Dream!, another anime-turned-mobage. You also may know that the parent anime wasn't exactly a succulent show. I expected the same going into this one; I was ready to receive a sub-par series shoveled out by Bushiroad for their subgroup BUSHIMO to create a mobile game. And unfortunately, what I got was the opposite of what I expected. This show was absolutely fantastic, and I very much cannot wait to delve into the mobage. Story: 9/10 It's not a novel story by any means, but I loved pretty much every second of it, save a bit here or there. The direction is amazing, right from episode one I felt as if this were a new break from every other shoveled out show I've seen. It felt different, original if I may. The sense of mystery, wonder, exposition, all of it felt so new and fresh to me despite being a story I've heard a thousand times. Art: 8/10 The art is great. Some scenes marvelously blew me away with how detailed they were, others left me amazed with how much detail they could cram in. There were moments where it seemed to degrade a bit, granted, but it in no way left a sour taste in my mouth. I love the character designs, too! Sound: 9/10 I'm a sucker for orchestrated soundtracks. Aside from the amazing opening and ending themes, the insert songs and background songs were filled with lovely orchestra, big band, jazz, you name it. Each insert song was lovely to listen to, and every down moment was accompanied with a piece that always fit the mood. Character: 10/10 I LOVED these characters. With most shows of a large(ish) cast, you have your archetypes. The rich girl, genki girl, the airhead, etc. It didn't really feel that way this time around. There were tropes, granted, but each character had motives, ideals, flaws, and a clear goal in mind that progressed the story seamlessly. At no point did I stop and think how unrealistic these fictional characters were, as their writing was phenomenal and I always found myself rooting for whomever was on the screen at the given time. There was one character who unfortunately got the short end of the stick, but I'm still giving character writing a 10 because she just never got her spotlight.... literally. Banana is best, by the way. Enjoyment: 9/10 Never a dull moment. With such beautiful art and sound, characters that propelled a story from exposition to climax, I loved every step of the journey. So much so, obviously, that I felt compelled to write a revue! Er, review. Overall / Conclusion: This is one show I'm glad to say I've completed. I honestly can't wait to see what BUSHIMO has in store for me in the mobile game; if the stories there are just as decent as they are here, that would be an app I know I'll keep for a while. But as it stands for this show, I loved it. Its mystery continually left me wondering and wanting more, all the way to the climax of the final episode. I didn't always know what was going on, and while I'm still left clueless about some things, that's okay. Show, don't tell, after all. I highly recommend this show. That's the best way to put it.

Wakarimasu. I’m elated to be one of Revue Starlight’s newest audience members, as this anime truly deserves a standing ovation. With its combination of action and music, Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight is probably one of the most ambitious projects of recent memory. Despite production issues that plagued its run, it never dimmed. I’d say this is one of 2018’s most underrated entries. Revue Starlight is rooted in dance and musical theater, evoking its magic and the cruelty that it takes to achieve it. I’ve been engrossed in musical theatre for most of my life, so I found myself catching onto the themes, conflicts, and struggles that were externalized through the series’ often abstract format. Because of my background, I realize that I’m in a privileged position to be able to pick up on all of this, so I understand why those who do not have this background may be confused by what Revue Starlight is trying to say. But trust me - if you dedicate the time to look at what Revue Starlight is trying to tell you, this anime’s message will open up to you if you stick with it until the end. Revue Starlight’s episodes start with slice-of-life sequences surrounding the girls of Seisho Music Academy, before delving into the underground world of Revue battles, where they all battle to be the Top Star. Though the slice-of-life is straightforward, the revue world is disorienting and filled with symbolism. From beginning to the end, the plot and the characters ensure that the props and imagery flying across the stage are carefully chosen to complement what Revue Starlight wants to say to the audience. It’s weird, and hard to explain like this, but let the show run its course to get what I mean. While the plot does seem to wander and feel a bit rushed at some point, it was never bothersome and it was fun to watch. The story is filled with triumph and tragedy, but it has a satisfying and happy ending. The depth of the story can’t be explained without spoilers and long analysis, so I encourage potential watchers to look further beyond the surface to come to understand the depths that Starlight is trying to expose about the nature of theatre. The 9 main players of Revue Starlight are more than just cute girls wielding swords and clubs. Each of the characters has their goals, dreams, and their reasons as to why they choose to be stage girls who devote their lives to the stage. On a personal level, the way the characters get entangled in Starlight’s critique of theater resonated with my own everyday experiences in the performing arts. I especially saw myself in Junna’s struggle to contend with her peers and Nana’s desperation. Overall, all the characters (but especially one) remind us that a lucky few are chosen to shine, and they take away the opportunities for others with the talent to step into the spotlight. However, the characterization does have issues. The girls get very tropey, repetitive, and stagnant in the slice-of-life segments. Additionally, many of the characters didn't get much development due to how large the cast is. Although I still ended up loving all of these characters, the characterization could have been much better. The animation was apparently plagued by production issues, so it’s amazing to see that Revue Starlight kept an insane level of quality throughout its run, so I have to applaud Kinema Citrus for managing to deliver such a polished product all the way through. With the wildness of character and prop movements, it would be easy to completely fold in when there are so many unstable elements during the animation process. The art and animation show very few signs of that. A show about theatre needs to be beautiful and detailed, just like sets that immerse you into a whole new world onstage. And it’s all beautifully done, whether it’s a simple background or a piece of sakuga. I think it gets more impressive by the time you reach the end of the show. But as you make your way there, take a look around each shot to see if you can see the star that the Starlight girls are trying to reach, an orb of purple light. It’s details like these in the artistic composition that make Revue Starlight a piece created with so much love and care, even in the circumstances the staff of Kinema Citrus faced. Of course, Revue Starlight is a musical, so the music has to stand up to its ambition, and it does so majestically. Every track sounds like it could be a part of a Broadway show or Disney musical. These songs play with each Revue, timed to perfectly fit the mood and the energy on screen. All of these songs are somewhere on a playlist, and I often put them on repeat because it’s that good. My favorites have to be Re:Create, The Star Knows, and Fly Me to the Star, but it’s hard to choose the best one because they’re all so good. My only complaint is that it is only a masterpiece instead of something that transcends time and space. Starlight lets its characters talk over the music instead of conveying the meaning solely through the song itself like in a real musical, but it was probably the best decision because it would make the series too overpowered! Despite some flaws in its delivery, Revue Starlight is a 9/10 show that deserves your attention, and I love it so, SO much. It’s hard to explain on paper, beyond that it’s a little weird but beautiful. These 12 episodes have so much to offer, especially on repeat viewings. If you’re a theater kid, you’re going to have a fun time with Revue Starlight. If you’re not a theater kid, take your time and let it take you for the ride. If you still don’t know what’s going on, you don’t have to agree with that damn giraffe that you understand. Just be there to enjoy the show.

to some extent, REVUE STARLIGHT is a breath of fresh air. it feels nice to have a straight-forward magical girl series. it feels great to watch something like this that's really optimistic, even working against some of its own themes just to give people a good show. it felt nice to watch this immediately after finishing utena and evangelion, two shows world famous for their density and darkness, and to be treated to something just as appealing to the senses, albeit a lot breezier. and it felt great to watch something that was so excited about what it was, so INTO itself and PROUD of itself. the sheer amount of creative confidence throughout STARLIGHT is staggering. it's almost infectious. it wears all of its influences on its sleeves (the previously mentioned UTENA is a huge one, but also takarazuka, and even shakespeare), but it weaves them together in a way that's visually gorgeous and. oh my god. oh my god this show has MUSICAL NUMBERS! WHAT!!! oh my GOD YES the use of tragedy as a central theme is really interesting. it has a hard time going anywhere with it, but its very seeped into the final product in a way that's impossible to ignore. even if its written in blood, can it be changed? can there be happy endings, even in the deepest and darkest of places? i kind of love everything about this show. the characters, the art, the music.... no, it's no utena. this won't rewrite a format, or even a genre. but this show understands the value of shining stars.

Revue Starlight wants to be 24 episodes so badly. Starlight is a very interesting case study when it comes to anime. It's 12 episodes. It's a transmedia franchise spanning anime, manga, and stage shows. There's nothing else quite like it. It's an Utena-like. It's a slice of life drama with low stakes. The fate of these girls are on the line. It only succeeds at some of this. I think Starlight could have been truly brilliant if it had been given more time to breathe, but it has a lot it wants to say and not enough time to say it. Episode one bombards us with a cast of unique characters and expects us to keep track of all of them, giving them all just enough screentime for the plot to make sense but not enough screentime for me to care that much about anything that happens to them. It could have been deep, but the characters read more as outlines of characters that *could* exist rather than flesh-and-blood people. Their motivations are all very compelling but they don't delve deep enough into who these characters actually are enough for it to matter. I like to call this Angel Beats syndrome. With 9 main characters, that hardly leaves one episode for each of them. It's clearly taking after Utena, but Utena can balance its 8 main characters across 40 episodes. Revue Starlight could have been a masterpiece, but as it stands, I think there's a reason not even 100k people have watched it (as of July 2025). It has so much it wants to be, do, and say but ultimately doesn't accomplish much of it because the author didn't know how to kill their darlings. With only 12 episodes to go around, I would have cut out Junna and Daiba, and possibly Futaba and Kaoruko as well, and just reassigned their roles in the story. Claudine and Maya could easily have taken over Junna and Daiba, and some of Futaba and Kaoruko is already reflected in Mahiru and Karen. And I understand that obviously these characters won't fuse into a perfect amalgam that can reflect that purpose and story of the devoured character as it was fully and originally intended, but when you write, you have to make sacrifices. I respect ambition, but they really bit off more than they could chew here.

I honestly didn't expect Revue Starlight to be this good, It kinda made me want to start acting aswell. What;s amazing about Revue starlight is that you really feel their emotions and each character is really portraid indv and showed all their weak and best points its rlly good Some people may feel disatified with the ending but for me it's really good on how it was shown because the plot is really there i also loved the flow of the story i thougth Revue was just another friendship thing like Love Live but it's so good overall. I loved how on every episode they still mention starlight and never went away with that concept and whatever happens the flow is always focused on the Plot.

It's a great anime. The story, or rather the settings are quite unique. It's a jumbled sh*ts of everything. Episode 7 was good, but the remaining episodes were... decent. It just didn't captured me as much as I thought. Characters were decent. I didn't like Karen, but I decently enjoyed the rest, with Banana being my favorite character. But the other characters are severely underdeveloped. While I enjoyed them, they aren't as good as I would have hope for. Animation is actually good. Never heard of the studio before (I mean, I saw a lot of their anime but they aren't as rememberable as Ufotable, KyoAni, etch.) so I didn't expect some fluid animation from this. Music is good too. It wasn't Love Live or even BanG Dream level of greatness, but it's still great. My enjoyment throughout this anime is decent. I wasn't laughing out loud for every joke nor I was invested enough in some fights. Though I still find some of the scenes to be great, that's why I rated it 6 instead of being lower. Overall, it's a great series. It had its flaws. But it's not immersion breaking or anything. It's just great. Though I wished it had a better protagonist tbh. (6.6/10)

2018 in my opinion spoiled us with great anime! It had so many greats that you could almost put any of them in your top 10 favorite anime. And among them all, it is a anime called Revue Starlight that is lost in the conversation. A hidden gem among the bunch, one that deserves more praise and talk then it has received. Beautiful drawn, with surprisingly great fight scene. A hidden gem among the mountain of great choices that came out in 2018. For those who watched it, in my personal opinion, I think the overall plot was good, but I thought the subplot was better overall. This is my personal opinion, because I felt the overall plot though nice, it didn't convey the same emotion as the subplot did. Though I love the freaking 4th wall break towards the end though. For those who haven't watched this anime though, I think it deserves at least a watch. It conveys a idea that we can't experience something the same the second time as we did the first time. A moment is gone when that moment is over. So don't miss out on this chance to enjoy this gem. I think the music was outstanding by each of the person who voice their characters. I almost wanted to give it a 10/10.... but not right now, maybe once I think it through first again.

Revue Starlight shares many bounds of relationships, the characterization displayed is wonderful in its own way. The is progressively slow at the start, but in the end shows it’s true colors and worth. The animation has its unique traits, and the emotions that show up discreetly throughout the series. The wholesomeness that comes to realization really fits into the attributes of the story, and that’s why I particularly enjoyed watching it. The show can be viewed as entertaining, but some people may see a different or deeper truth behind the scenes. The protagonists of this story really intrigue how you’ll look at it from the start. The different Revues really summed up the emotion that took place in each episode, and also pushed me to keep watching it.

This is a wonderful take on the Mahou Shoujo concept - plus a tournament arc! The story follows a group of girls who dream of being super stars, their rivalries and friendship as they quite literally fight tooth and nail in order to being choses the Top Star. The show does a good job at showing how each girl feels towards their peers and how these emotions influence how they act and why they fight. Behind the top layer of slice of life the anime brings great fight coreaography with amazing music and stunning visuals. The story has similar beats to Madoka, though it is different enough that you will not feel like you've seen that all already. Giraffes are better than fluffballs sociopaths anyday. It has a lot of energy, nice characters and enough shoujo ai beteween the lines to please anyone without gratuitous fan-service. It's cute, its crazy and a whole lot of fun.

Being one-of-a-kind is tough. You have to fight to exist, and to prove that you're not a mistake. The team behind Starlight must be full of tireless fighters for they have done exactly that. The ambition to grab hold of the stars calls to the sinner and only a burning heart of passion can redeem the sin. Isn't it wonderfully circular? The creation of the show itself is the apotheosis of the central theme of the show. In Starlight, as in musical theatre, production and product merge into one organic whole. So how did this plucky show become so unique and special? Bombastic soundtrack, impressive visuals, heavy symbolism, the fantastical plot, or the endearing characters full of grit and soul? No, all of these things can be found in many other anime. Revue Starlight is not elevated above the rest by conventional means even as it does everything oh so naturally well (especially the music and characters!). The heart and soul of Starlight is the love of theatre. It is a true animated musical theatre experience. Not merely an animated musical, but a full blown musical show in animation as full of theatrical whimsy and flair as the greatest of musicals you can see on Broadway or anywhere else. The stage is a small space that can express the infinite. This is why the theatre in Starlight had to be such an otherworldly place. It has to morph and take us into the inner world of the characters. The trick of immersion here is doubled. Something conventional would only achieve the first level of immersion, and perhaps make the show more accessible, but would sacrifice the soul of the show. Swords? It had to be swords because words cut like a knife and a weapon is an expression of will. Lesbians? Don't say you were expecting theatre to be straight. Takarazuka? Something uniquely Japanese that is part of the show's DNA but not necessary to know about. reducing this to a critique of a particular theatrical structure is a disservice. The themes here are absolutely universal. Flaws? Scarcely worth mentioning but just to prove that I'm not raving mad (I am). The animation is not consistently great. The revue duet in particular irks me with still frames and pans. And there is just not enough of Revue Starlight. I wish it would be forever and everywhere. Gacha. Painful, cruel, mindboggling mobile game. A necessary evil in a world where art serves the market and not the other way around. People can create miracles. I know this because Revue Starlight exists. This is not an anime. It is the precious baby of the unlikely love affair between the world of anime and musical theatre. I will thank my lucky stars until the day I die for having witnessed it.

99th Class. Hidden gem that redefines visual storytelling, and deserves its respected fanbase. Made me appreciate and love theatre arts. At its surface, the show deceives its audience into Cute Girls Doing Things / idol musical / Love Live themes which made Revue Starlight underrated and criminally slept on. In which I assure you, it does not. RS has managed to captivate me with its beginning premise and left me an appetite of wanting more. Revue. A mesmerizing stage of song and dance expressing brilliance. Starlight. A story of the goddess guided by the light of stars. The show immerses viewers in spectacular acts, relatable characters, and hidden symbolism conveyed through each stage of revues. Every Revue title is themed after the focus of the character's arc in the episode. In the Stage of Fate, girls aim to be the #1 Stage Girl or "Top Star" who would shine limitlessly and fulfill their passions. Each of them would personally clash ruthlessly to achieve said goals. Breath-taking, and beautifully animated theatrical performances that hit the hardest when you know their reason of performing. Every girl cultivates their weaknesses to use it as a strength, bringing determination and resolve to conquer their desires. A one of a kind show. Masterclass representation and a very meta critique of revue theatre, and a reflection on the effects of the Top Star system on its performers. Creative and unique revue stages with their own stories to foretell. Visual storytelling is incredible, packed full of symbolism, never failing to be immersive. Revue Starlight manages to deliver what it needs impressively which no other show can. It hooks you into this beginning premise and constantly feeds you stories of these conflicted girls, making you slowly support each one of them. The stage is their story. This is how you present a story. Position Zero.

This series starts off with fun and absurdity that invokes Revolutionary Girl Utena, which seems to be an obvious inspiration. The battles are fun and energetic and the concept is.. well bizarre in the best way possible. Basically girls face off regularly in audition battles to see who will be the ultimate star and grab that glory for themselves. The concept is so over the top and fun, it can't help but be good. Sadly though, as the series progresses, it loses the metaphors and trappings and just because pretty straight forward and tells you all the themes. Once this happens, it loses a lot of the joy of the series, though the message is very important, it's just not as entertaining to watch. It slowly grounds itself more and more in more realism and less abstract and that just brings it down. I'd have vastly preferred it kept the battles and ideas without explaining and showing them so much. It does such a great job early on of setting this all up as metaphors and concepts and then it just buries it all to tell you what they are. There is even a fantastic scene in one of the episodes where the two characters are talking on the phone, to each other, and they're completely out of sync in terms of the story that we get. As it progresses though, they get more in sync and it's a great idea of showing how the characters are on different pages by showing us the conversation chopped up like that. Sadly, as I said, the show becomes more grounded near the end and while it keeps some of the fantasy concepts as backgrounds, it just tells you what everything represents and it becomes so obvious that it loses what it could be. Also, it honestly could have used a few more episodes so maybe they didn't feel they had to tell you everything in the end.

Revue Starlight is a show with ambition. Regardless of how you feel it fulfills its ambitions, you have to respect the sheer audacity. After all, here we have an anime that tries to have 9 major characters who all get their chance to shine, a sense of style and artistry rivaling the Ikuhara works that inspire it, and an exquisite soundtrack to boot. Beyond all this it also attempts to have a layered, gradually revealed plot, an in-depth look at dreams/competition/striving to be the best, and even goes for a big finale. All in a mere one cour. To put it bluntly, Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight wants to be a masterpiece almost as badly as its cast wants to become Top Star. However, much like most of its cast, it misses that mark. As I said, it's ambitious. Far too ambitious for its own good. The comparison I can't help to make (mostly for other reasons, but I'll get back to that later) is Madoka Magica, a tightly paced show that barely manages to squeeze in 4 effective character arcs (You could argue 5, although Mami ends up being mostly plot device) as a one cour show, and significantly fleshes out one additional character. Starlight aims for double the cast, and the result is it predictably stretches itself far too thin on all of them. Many of the characters end up getting maybe an episode's worth of content on them while the show also tries to setup and develop its world and slowly unfold the inner machinations of the duels. Let's take a brief look at the characters; I'll try to avoid meaningful spoilers here. It's also worth noting there's a fair amount of charming group interactions, even though the cast never really develops deep bonds with most other characters (especially Hikari, but I'll also get to that later). Junna feels like they needed someone to introduce the duels, get Karen involved, and show us a basic format. Her reasons for wanting to be the Top Star aren't particularly nuanced or fleshed out, and she's very quickly sidelined for the rest of the show aside from briefly appearing in Nana's arc because someone had to be Nana's roommate/ship, which (unfortunately) leads to the by-far flattest pairing of the cast. You could probably guess her defining personality traits, and her arc doesn't feel like it has any deep revelation or change for her other than warming up to Karen. Mahiru is Karen's friend/roommate/two steps from stalker. She very clearly has a thing for Karen, which very clearly isn't going to go anywhere because Karen's clearly into Hikari and not her. (The childhood friend actually wins for once!) Her other personality traits consist of the typical generic options (friendly, kind, nice). Once her arc is fulfilled, she also fades into the background and her feelings for Karen aren't particularly resolved so much as ignored once some of the reasons for them are addressed in her arc. If you haven't noticed the trend yet between the supporting cast and getting arcs neatly tied off at the end of their episode(s) without further development, it's certainly there. These two could've been easily cut from the show to farther develop the others or merged with existing characters (e.g. the Karen/Hikari/Mahiru love triangle could've been a Karen/Hikari/Nana love triangle, building into the themes and tensions already existing in Nana's arc.) Futaba and Kaoruko are innately linked, even for a show that's very clearly pairing off all its characters into varying degrees of ship fuel to homoerotic tension to obviously girlfriends (even if they don't necessarily realize it). These two are very clearly the latter-most. Their early appearances are mostly comedic, although it does establish their dynamic (Futaba having to take care of/watch out for the privileged and lazy Kaoruko). Eventually, their episode arrives and tensions for both come to a head. There's actually some meaningful development between them, but again it's neatly tied off and they return to the background. These two have probably the least ties to any other characters in the show (Futaba has a bit of a friendly relationship with Maya and that's about it) and therefore would also be acceptable to cut, but there is some genuine substance to them (albeit mostly being the 'Kaoruko goes through cliche rich girl meets real world' type thing). Maya and Claudine are also mostly pretty linked. Their main identifying traits are Maya is the best student, Claudine is the second best student, and Claudine is French. That being said, the relationship between them actually develops nicely (as their climax is rather late into the show). The aforementioned homoerotic tensions are all here in their rivalry, and the relationship feels genuinely nuanced and comes to a gratifying conclusion (although I definitely would've loved more time with it and also more time for each character to come into their own.) There is also something else that somewhat deflates the tensions of dueling against the best students as a faux climax, although I won't spoil what that is. Nana is the hardest character to talk about while avoiding significant spoilers, and also probably the best character in the show for a number of reasons. She's our precious Banana and has a bananice (yes, you read that right), relatable character arc that turns the show on its head for a little while, although it also marks the start of some head-scratching mechanics. She also ends up fading back once her arc ends, but like Maya and Claudine, she hits a gratifying conclusion. There's also a talking giraffe. If you haven't experienced the surrealism of a talking giraffe breaking the fourth wall to you at four in the morning, then let me tell you, it's sure something else. He's the only significant character beyond our nine girls, and mostly plays the part of the observer, rarely doing much more. And yes, you have to just accept the talking giraffe at face value. Karen is our typical plucky, pure of heart and dumb of ass MC. She gets sidelined for a while in the middle of the series when the show is too busy with everyone else, but else-wise serves as the main character throughout. Her arc is deeply intertwined with her childhood friend Hikari, who kickstarts the show by reappearing after moving away as a young child; she rekindles Karen's interest in the two becoming Top Stars together. She's far from the most memorable MC out there, but she does her job well enough and has solid progression throughout the show due to her main character status. Remember when I said I couldn't help but make the Madoka comparison? That's because Hikari is literally Homura, straight down to a similar design. (I can't help but also note anime's general obsession with yuri couples being the more 'mature', 'streetwise' black-haired girl (typically with some hidden emotional baggage) paired with younger, more 'naive' blonde/brunette/redhead/etc; forgive me for being uncultured enough to not know where this actually started.) Hikari spends much of the show being an enigma who mostly tries to distance herself from Karen, despite clearly caring deeply for her. The show struggles to sell their bond for a while because of this, due to relying on a friendship from early childhood that's displayed as "they watched a performance together and gave each other hairclips after" which also seems initially one-sided in the present. Late in the show, we finally get to see into her head and understand her, before switching back to Karen for the finale. Speaking of the finale... well, I'll try to avoid spoilers again. The finale tries to dig into over the top symbolism/surrealism over making any literal sense while mostly existing on a literal level before this, and it's pretty jarring/nonsensical. The logic behind it any of it doesn't really check out and the biggest hole in it can be summed up as follows: Karen: We will all do Starlight together! Hikari: But we can't, Karen. Me: Okay, but why? Starlight: ...because we need a conflict. Essentially, the show…

There were things I both loved and hated about this, but overall it has more good than bad. At first it comes off as a generic idol anime, which was the reason I was hesitant to start. In truth it's the opposite, and has a very distinct plot to it - which is good, but at times...not so good. It felt like certain things were in there just to seem different, and the overall plot was clumsy and confusing at times. I'd compare it to Puella Magi Madoka Magica if anything, but with less cohesion. Still, there were many twists that I didn't expect that I absolutely loved. The characters overall were very well developed, and I was glad that they all had their moments to show what type of person they were. I felt that the characters were very human, and the anime didn't shy away from giving them unlikable traits, but also took the time to explain them. The character design is kind of boring, in my opinion. It also is part of what led me to believe that the anime would be generic, but the animation can be absolutely stunning at times. And as for sound, I thought some of the OST was gorgeous. The reborn scenes are really want make the anime shine and stand out. Overall I enjoyed it a lot. I was torn between an 8 and a 7 because there are certain things that really dragged the anime down for me, but I still think it's highly enjoyable and well worth a watch.