#come to think of it. in a sense aizo seems to be more of a typical flashy idol than yujiro is…

[deus-ex-mona]

i just think that lxl is incredibly funny, that’s all

[deus-ex-mona]

when you say you’re happy being by yourself

but maybe that’s just what you’re trying to convince yourself of…?

[deus-ex-mona]

my ✨really salty✨ thoughts on the hiyoko anime as a whole

✨spoilers and salty times ahead~! please proceed with caution~!✨

to start off, i will acknowledge that my expectations for the hiyoko anime were waaaaaay too high, especially since i had based all of them off of the preexisting media (pvs, novels, honeypre, etc.). that may be why i’m too objectively harsh on the hiyoko anime aha…

but with that out of the way… let’s jump straight into it👀👀

firstly… the ✨plot✨ (or lack thereof)

to be 10000% honest, i really, really, really liked episodes 1-5. the pace was consistent, the plot flowed pretty well, and the characterisations of the characters were fairly accurate to preexisting content. though that may be because the plot of the first 5 episodes was pretty similar to the nonfantasy novel, so they could’ve used it as a guideline to base their plot off, i guess? either way, episodes 1-5 were really good, and could easily be a 8-9/10 anime on its own.

then came episode 6, the start of the anime-only plot.

the plot turned inconsistent real fast. they retconned tons of established facts at the speed of light, whether it be established character traits, or content from the pv/novels (like the entirety of daikirai na hazu datta. was pretty much retconned, for one). and if the retcons of existing media weren’t enough, they even pretty much chopped out nagisa’s existence as a whole after episode 7, but that’s for later. 

also, i kind of got the feeling that the anime was trying way too hard to tie up all of the loose ends in the novels/pvs in their own weird way? like with their merging of the hiyoko-bullying in the heroine tarumono! pv with the scandal seen in fansa, and the seemingly hastily created excuse for yujiro’s police encounter (from the romeo prologue manga and the nonfantasy novel). like… what sane bouncer would let two obviously underaged kids into a club anyway? were they smuggled in under a trenchcoat?

but there’s really nothing much else to say about the plot, i guess, so let’s move on to my biggest gripe with the hiyoko anime: the handling of the characters.

hiyoko: her characterisation is fine for the most part. she’s just an energetic and hardworking girl who wants to try her best at everything she does, who really loves her friends, and… that’s about it. it’d be pretty hard to butcher her character, especially since we see so much of her. she’s a good bean. ok you know what, scratch most of this. anime-hiyoko victim blames wayyyyy too much for my liking (esp regarding that thing with mona’s near-assault). she even blames herself for causing the chiz’s insane lxl fangirl outburst, despite being the victim of the scenario (read: the bullying that resulted from a certain jealous chiz whiz’s photography escapades). not to mention the minimising of aizo’s girl trauma. yeah, in restrospect, i don’t like her that much anymore. other iterations of hiyoko are much better. plus, they give up less easily than anime-hiyoko does so—

aizo: they sure turned him into a woman-disliking harem master, didn’t they? also, it kinda seemed like he was made to be the male lead, instead of sharing that role with yujiro? the plot involved him way too much (compared to yujiro), in a sense? like, all of the ladies seem to be gunning for him (whether she be kanami from the lipxlip movie, or chizuru after her oshi reveal), and there seemed to be more focus on his friendship with hiyoko, compared to her friendship with yujiro, in a sense? we probably saw more meaningful yujiro-koichiro one-on-one interactions than yujiro-hiyoko interactions in the entirety of the anime. though, come to think of it… have we even seen a single meaningful yujiro-hiyoko interaction that didn’t have aizo lurking in the background? 

either way, aizo was shown to be interacting with hiyoko even when they weren’t together at the same place at the same time, when yujiro wasn’t offered the same courtesy, so it’s clear who the writers’ real oshi is, i guess…

yujiro: poor boy was nerfed to heck and back. he’s hardly ever seen without aizo, and he was pretty much reduced to being just his sidekick. the one(1) time he was alone (at the sports festival), he was accosted by some pretty hostile upperclassmen, though that was lifted from the heroine ikusei keikaku novel (i think)?

but adding to the topic of the novels, he used to be the main male lead in those. keywords: used to be. here in the hiyoko anime, he was mostly turned into a plot device to complement aizo’s best and worst traits, which kinda blows, as i was hoping that they’d turn him into aizo’s boyfriend and not his sidekick. but i digress—

juri: i think her characterisation was pretty good, for what it’s worth? she’s just a really cheerful high school girl who loves her boyfriend and her friends… and chaos, sometimes. she’s just living her best life, and i ✨respect✨ her hustle.

chizuru: yeah… uh… where do i even begin here? the fact that she’s chuutan has been obvious since doutan☆kyohi and oshi☆goto, though it was nice to see it confirmed in the anime, i guess? 

but on the other hand, her character was pretty messily handled. there could’ve been more subtle foreshadowing, i guess? like, they could’ve shown her fiddling with her phone or something in the first few episodes while she was chilling with hiyoko and juri at lunch, instead of turning her into a sudden paparazzo in episode 9. the methods with which they introduced that chuutan/scandal plot made her look way too suspicious from the get-go, and that whole plot was just pretty messy in general, i guess? like, the conflict was resolved way too easily, and the chiz was forgiven way too quick? i can’t really find any more words to describe my feelings on the matter so i’ll end this section, i guess…

nagisa: yes, him. the ✨best✨ part of the anime-only plot. who had his entire existence chopped clean out of the anime the moment he got on that train, without even a passing mention.

for logistical reasons, i can understand why they didn’t physically bring him back after episode 7. dude is vibing in the boonies after all. but they didn’t mention him at all after the episode, even though there were quite a few opportunities for them to do so. for instance, when the jk trio brought up the topic of talking about their love lives during their discussion about a hypothetical sleepover in episode 11, they could’ve dropped in a “so, how’re things going with that childhood friend of yours?” to give nagisa a passing mention that wouldn’t have been out of place in the slightest, especially since she had gone to them for love advice regarding him in the past. and considering how relentlessly aizo and yujiro had teased hiyoko about nagisa before and during his visit, the fact that they just dropped the topic about him like a hot potato seems a little odd. 

also, hiyoko didn’t even consider the thought of calling him about her track meet once it ended, which is pretty sad, actually, considering how much he cares about her. in addition, he had more screentime in an episode 3 childhood flashback than he did in the entirety of episodes 8-12, and, like… why didn’t he get even a single shot during the countdown live audience montage, just to let us viewers know that he’s alive? nagisa?? are you okay?? blink twice if the writers are holding you hostage—

the narumi sisters: i pretty much ranted about them in a separate post, but… their entire existence in the hiyoko anime was pretty much just viewer fanservice. they contributed pretty much nothing to the plot (sena especially), and mona’s contributions could’ve been donated to someone else. like, her first hiyokounselling session about cuteness could’ve been either a jk trio discussion that didn’t revolve around kodai or a hiyokonsultation with hina, and the second session about hiyoko’s fight with the chiz could’ve been a discussion with nagisa over the phone, or something. to be frank, the narumi sisters didn’t need to be there at all. go read the watashi, idol sengen manga instead—

full throttle4: their role in the anime could’ve been better, if they’d stuck to the senior/junior idols dynamic they had with lipxlip back in episode 2 (and the lipxlip movie in general). but they sure turned into a 5-man hivemind unit during the second half of the anime, didn’t they? they moved solely as a group, with pretty much no distinguishable individual traits about them. we didn’t even get to see their countdown live performance!!! also, poor dai got nerfed into a one-note “they’re not as good as me, though.” character :( and they could’ve had rio’s niece make a small cameo in the countdown live crowd, just as some fanservice for the fans (which they obviously love to do, judging from the presence of the narumi sisters). justice for ft4!!!!!!!

the shibasaki family: to give credit where it’s due, ken was amazingly hilarious in the anime. i don’t really have much to say about him, as his character was pretty consistent with his usual trolling self in the existing media. however, what the heck was yuko doing in the countdown live??? who invited you??? go back to france!!!!!!!

the someya family: well. they sure were a lot warmer to each other than they were in the lipxlip movie, especially on koichiro’s end? i guess that the someya men finally realised that yujiro had beauty in him after he became an idol? seeing tamamamamamamagoro attend the countdown live in his full kimono was absolutely hilarious though. best part of the episode tbh—

the rest of the returning gen 2 cast: hina was reduced to the typical good/reliable senpai character. kotaro was the sports guy who liked hina, i guess? arisa was just there to be ken’s girlfriend. and kodai was just juri’s boyfriend who took photos as part of his newspaper club duties. in short, aside from ken, pretty much all of gen 2 were nerfed into side characters. they didn’t even get to have their school trip to kyoto! or that cultural festival at school! or, heck, even a passing mention of kotahina’s gardening club activities! the retconned parts were truly unfortunate…

uchida and tamura: oh boy. uchida got pretty much turned into a joke character who exists to do nothing but to call hiyori “hiyoko”, and to try to scout any random tom, dick, and harry to become an idol. and tamura had pretty much none of her aiyuu shipping tendencies that made her ✨great✨ in the lipxlip movie. :( bring back movie tamura!!!! but to give them credit, they did care lots about hiyoko, which probably made her life as an apprentice manager bearable?

minami: where is he??? (ʘ‿ʘ) he literally attends the same school yo. he could’ve made a 5 second cameo and i’d be satisifed... where is minami????

and that’s it for my (frankly biased and unnecessarily harsh) thoughts on the characters, i guess. 

though, there was something in the hiyoko anime that i really, really, really enjoyed. and that was…

the cover song special ending themes!!!!

the kenkota romeo cover still means everything to me. it is beauty, it is grace, it will make lipxlip fall flat on their face— sure, the special eds didn’t fully get rid of the sour taste that the anime as a whole left in my mouth, but they certainly did lessen the blow!! kenkota romeo my life <3

though i will say that there were really good parts of the anime. like the fact that ken and arisa, along with the someya family, actually went to watch the countdown live. that was pretty great, actually!!! it was a really sweet scene, especially considering how the lipxlip movie ended... though the impact of the scene was quickly squashed by having the entire cast (sans the narumis and nagisa) in the crowd as well. what was the point of having koichiro talk about how hard it was to get tickets, when literally everyone was able to get tickets?? hello?????

with all of that said and done, my final score for the anime as a whole is a 5.5/10 3/10 upon further reflection, though i would rate the first 5 episodes a solid 8.5/10 by themselves. the anime had lots of potential, though it went downhill pretty quickly once an anime-only plot was introduced. if i were to take the special eds into account with my overall score, i guess i’d give it a 6.5/10? but that’d be pretty unfair, right~?

anyway, thanks for reading if you did? please feel free to duke it out with me over our conflicting viewpoints👀i’ll wait👀👀

[deus-ex-mona]

DANCE BATTLE!!: Chapter 5

content warning: dancing

previous part (chapter 4)

next part (chapter 6)

DAI: Dance battles have all kinds of rules, but… let’s have 3 rounds for ours.

DAI: I’m thinking of having it be a 1 on 1 style match, where we’d both take turns to perform our dances.

Aizo: Got it.

DAI: I’ll go first, then.

DAI: You can watch me dance as you stretch.

As DAI spoke those words, he made his way to the middle of the studio in preparation to perform his dance.

DAI: (I’m feeling real good… because there are people watching me. Haha, I’m having so much fun!)

DAI found himself ad-libbing way more dance moves than he had planned.

When he looked up upon finishing his turn, DAI saw Aizo looking at him with a stunned expression on his face.

DAI: (Don’t tell me, he’s lost the will to fight before he even started? It won’t be fun at all if he’s not into it…)

RIO: DAI, your performance was as good as it gets.

RIO: Next up will be Aizo’s turn.

YUI: Good luck!

Aizo: …Yessir!

DAI: (...? What’s this? His expression changed—)

DAI: …!

DAI’s heart started to race as he watched Aizo dance.

DAI: (It’s not often that I get excited while watching others dance, but…)

DAI: (This guy’s… dancing much better than he used to!)

RIO: …I see.

YUI: He’s pretty good.

As though they had also noticed the difference in Aizo’s performance, RIO and YUI happily watched Aizo’s dance.

DAI: (He’s completely different from before… His movements have gotten sharper, and he’s gotten better at moving his limbs.)

DAI: (But more than anything… He’s not hesitating at all!)

DAI: …I may have underestimated him a little.

Aizo: …That’s all for now.

With his performance having come to an end, Aizo bowed politely, all while panting heavily.

RIO: You did well, Aizo.

Aizo: ! You mean it?!

YUI: You’re so much better than before! I wanna battle you too!

RIO: You must’ve worked really hard, haven’t you?

RIO: It’s just that… There's just one guy who seemed to find your performance uninteresting.

The three of them looked at DAI.

DAI: (Uninteresting? Are they stupid, or what? It’s the complete opposite. Aizo’s dance isn’t even close to being on my level in the end.)

DAI: (When it comes to skill, instincts, and experience… I’m way ahead of him. And yet… what’s with this sense of impatience that I feel?)

DAI: (Somehow… I feel just like I do during a live performance! I’m getting so excited!)

DAI: It can’t be helped, I guess.

Aizo: …!

DAI: I’ll show you just what I’m made of. For real, this time.

YUI: …Oh my.

RIO: I guess that means you were just taking it easy earlier… That explains it.

DAI took a deep breath as he made his way to the middle of the studio again.

However, the moment he took a step forward to commence his dance—

MEGU: Yes! We’re just on time!

Yujiro: …I’m pretty sure that we’re late, though.

MEGU arrived at the studio, bringing Yujiro along with him for some inexplicable reason.

DAI: …MEGU?!

Aizo: Yujiro?!

DAI: (Wh-what’s the meaning of this…?)