Anime Column] Cutting it down with keywords! 100 Anime to Watch No. 7 "Love Live! Sunshine! etc.

Drinking parties among anime fans tend to be a game of association. Whenever someone says, "XXX has XXX scene," someone else replies, "Speaking of XXX scene, don't forget XXX. Anime and animation are connected by invisible threads like this. Let's follow the "anime to watch" using keywords as clues.

Love Live!Sunshine! Sunshine! Needless to say, this is the second installment of the hit series "Love Live! series.

The setting is Uchiura, a seaside town in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, a far cry from Tokyo in the previous episode. The story begins when Chika Takami, a second-year student at Uranosei Jogakuin, sees the school idol group "μ's" in Tokyo, and is shocked by their existence. ...is the introduction to the story.

The previous series, the first season, the second season, and the movie version, each have their own story, but the common thread that runs through all of them is the question, "Why do we want to sing? The setting of "Love Live," the "Koshien" (high school tournament) for school idols, is merely a gimmick to make the school idol device work. Therefore, the competition with rival idols was of little significance. The most important thing is the "spirit" of the school idols.

Then, "Sunshine! What is going to be depicted in the "Sunshine! Although there are few clues at this early stage of the season, there is one point that cannot be overlooked compared to the previous episode. Chika's motive is "longing for μ's." In other words, Chika's motive is first of all "longing for μ's.

In other words, Chika's motivation was first born as a "fan. However, if she wants to gather her friends and create a new school idol group, there will come a moment when she will have to break away from being a "fan of μ's" and become a "school idol that is uniquely her own. That is when the motivation will be renewed, from "admiration" to something else. With this in mind, I would like to wait for the appearance of "Aqours" that will be born in the near future.

So, the keyword this time is "idol fans.

Wake Up, Girls! " is a series about the Sendai-based idol group "Wake Up, Girls! There is the first theater version that depicts the formation of the group, the TV series that challenges the "Festival of Idols," a major event, and the second theater version (two parts, front and back) that depicts the aftermath of the TV series.

The characteristic of this film is that it depicts the contrast between the light and shadow of the weak idols in a more in-depth manner than other idol animations. This is a typical scene in the TV series.

One of the features of this work is that the male fans are depicted, which is rarely seen in idol anime. The character's name is Kuniyoshi Ota. As you can tell by reading his name aloud, he is a strong character with the word "otaku" woven into his name. He single-mindedly supports "Wake Up, Girls! However, he does not get involved in the main character's dramas. However, because he remains a pure fan, he is an absolutely indispensable presence in this work that considers the existence of "idols. In fact, it can be said that Kuniyoshi Ota, as a fan, brings out the existence of "idols" that this film is trying to depict from the other side.

When it comes to characters who are straight-up fans of idols, let ' s not forget Raichi Hoshimiya from " Aikatsu! we should not forget Raichi Hoshimiya of "Aikatsu!

Raichi is the younger brother of the main character Ichigo Hoshimiya. He has always been a fan of the top idol, Mizuki Kanzaki (which led to his sister Ichigo's interest in idols), and he also became a big fan of Ichigo and her classmate, Aoi Kiriya. Although he is the younger brother of the heroine, he is quite well-informed about idols despite his young age, and plays the role of "idol fan" to some extent in the show.

Since Raiichi is an elementary school student (at the start of the show), he is a straight idol fan with no evil intentions. However, it is also true that there are some moments when he is too straight. For example, he was so concerned about who Aoi was going to give Valentine's Day chocolates to that he dressed up as a woman and infiltrated Starlight Academy.

In addition, Raichi has the ability to sense the aura of idols as a "smell. If it were not in the "Aikatsu! world, it would not be surprising if Raichi was portrayed as a rather strong dollar-otaku. The words and actions of Raiichi would have been a hidden flavor of "Aikatsu! was a hidden flavor of "Aikatsu!

However, not all fans in the world are as straightforward as Ota Yaichi.

PERFECT BLUE " is a movie released in 1997. It is a psycho-suspense film about a minor former idol. It is also interesting in that it skillfully incorporates elements that were popular in the late 1990s, such as stalkers and the Internet. This film was made before the major debut of Morning Musume, let alone AKB48, and at a time when the word "idol" had a much more minor ring to it than it does today.

The film begins with the main character leaving the minor idol group Cham to become an actress. The live performance where she announces her withdrawal is after the hero's attraction show. The audience is lined up with camecos (camera kids). Before the live show begins, the fans are discussing the future of Cham from above, a rather poignant point of view.

Furthermore, at the live concert, some men show up to brawl with the onlookers. This character is probably based on the fans depicted in "Idol Babylon: The Kingdom of the Outcasts" (Kanai Satoru), published in 1996. The book's description says, "Sneaking into an idol concert, the graveyard of otaku!　A complete reportage of the world of the "outsider," the final form of idol mania. In this sense, this work can be seen as a "record" of the idol mania of the time.

It is likely that more idol anime will be produced in the future, and it will be interesting to see what kind of idol fans will color these works.


(Text by Ryota Fujitsu)
(C) Project LOVE LIVE! Sunshine!