Wake up, Girls! Seven Idols
Sometimes I wonder what counts as a movie I should blog. Most easily, I could say anything feature-length that regularly opened in theaters (in this case, this movie counts). In general, TV movies should count too, and in the past I have blogged TV versions of movies sometimes. Another possible “definition” would be anything that feels like a movie to me, which includes many TV movies but typically no anime (The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a rare exception). In the case of “Wake up, Girls! Seven Idols”, even though it fulfills every definition for a movie, but honestly it looks and feels like a TV show. Considering how expensive movie theater tickets are in Japan, I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want to see this 52 minute movie in theaters.
Apart from the potential lack of budget compared to your average blockbuster, or the lack of quality and insight compared to your average artsy indie or old film, I actually enjoyed the “Wake up, Girls!” movie. It had a consistent storyline (perhaps a little bit too centered on Mayu) and the kind of uplifting spirit I have hoped from this show. (The final concert scene shows them flashing their panties, so “uplifting” is technically a terrible pun.) If this was merely, say, an OVA to preview the show, then it’s absolutely spot-on, setting the mood and the tone of the TV show.
When it comes to that, I cannot stop stressing how much I like the fact that the girls look so realistic. Maybe they are not very flashy and don’t stand out very much so far, but the truth is that idols and generally people don’t stand out as much as your average blue-yellow-green-pink haired anime character. I like that the girls start out being simply normal, and that they are shown as mostly powerless. To some degree, I also like that there is a little bit more realism in their struggle, in comparison to any other idol show which is either a crazy sci-fi genre mix (AKB0048) or features silly, unrealistic school children (Love Live) or appears overly optimistic where game characters have bogus problems at best (The Idolmaster). As much as I love The Idolmaster (still the only really good idol show out there), I think that Wake up, Girls! is a refreshingly down to earth show, and that makes me want to root for its characters and – surprise surprise – also makes me susceptible for their main cause, sympathy for Sendai.
You could make a drinking game out of it – sip whenever they say “Sendai”, drink when they say “Sendai-based idol group”, empty your glass when you see something of Sendai in the background. The movie is not shy to get its message across, and the idol group’s only song is a very open earthquake relief song. As for me, I find it rather cute and perhaps next time I see an episode of the sequel TV show, I’ll actually drink something.