#see y'all later for the ft4 event tl... maybe. ahahahaha...
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my â¨really salty⨠thoughts on the hiyoko anime as a whole
â¨spoilers and salty times ahead~! please proceed with caution~!â¨
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 iâm too objectively harsh on the hiyoko anime ahaâŚ
but with that out of the way⌠letâs jump straight into itđđ
firstly⌠the â¨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 couldâve 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 werenât enough, they even pretty much chopped out nagisaâs existence as a whole after episode 7, but thatâs for later.Â
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 yujiroâs 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 thereâs really nothing much else to say about the plot, i guess, so letâs move on to my biggest gripe with the hiyoko anime: the handling of the characters.
hiyoko: her characterisation is fine for the most part. sheâs just an energetic and hardworking girl who wants to try her best at everything she does, who really loves her friends, and⌠thatâs about it. itâd be pretty hard to butcher her character, especially since we see so much of her. sheâs 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 monaâs near-assault). she even blames herself for causing the chizâs insane lxl fangirl outburst, despite being the victim of the scenario (read: the bullying that resulted from a certain jealous chiz whizâs photography escapades). not to mention the minimising of aizoâs girl trauma. yeah, in restrospect, i donât like her that much anymore. other iterations of hiyoko are much better. plus, they give up less easily than anime-hiyoko does soâ
aizo: they sure turned him into a woman-disliking harem master, didnât 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 didnât have aizo lurking in the background?Â
either way, aizo was shown to be interacting with hiyoko even when they werenât together at the same place at the same time, when yujiro wasnât offered the same courtesy, so itâs clear who the writersâ real oshi is, i guessâŚ
yujiro: poor boy was nerfed to heck and back. heâs 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 aizoâs best and worst traits, which kinda blows, as i was hoping that theyâd turn him into aizoâs boyfriend and not his sidekick. but i digressâ
juri: i think her characterisation was pretty good, for what itâs worth? sheâs just a really cheerful high school girl who loves her boyfriend and her friends⌠and chaos, sometimes. sheâs just living her best life, and i â¨respect⨠her hustle.
chizuru: yeah⌠uh⌠where do i even begin here? the fact that sheâs chuutan has been obvious since doutanâkyohi and oshiâgoto, though it was nice to see it confirmed in the anime, i guess?Â
but on the other hand, her character was pretty messily handled. there couldâve been more subtle foreshadowing, i guess? like, they couldâve 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 canât really find any more words to describe my feelings on the matter so iâll end this section, i guessâŚ
nagisa: yes, him. the â¨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 didnât physically bring him back after episode 7. dude is vibing in the boonies after all. but they didnât 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 couldâve dropped in a âso, howâre things going with that childhood friend of yours?â to give nagisa a passing mention that wouldnât 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.Â
also, hiyoko didnât 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 didnât he get even a single shot during the countdown live audience montage, just to let us viewers know that heâs alive? nagisa?? are you okay?? blink twice if the writers are holding you hostageâ
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 monaâs contributions couldâve been donated to someone else. like, her first hiyokounselling session about cuteness couldâve been either a jk trio discussion that didnât revolve around kodai or a hiyokonsultation with hina, and the second session about hiyokoâs fight with the chiz couldâve been a discussion with nagisa over the phone, or something. to be frank, the narumi sisters didnât need to be there at all. go read the watashi, idol sengen manga insteadâ
full throttle4: their role in the anime couldâve been better, if theyâd 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, didnât they? they moved solely as a group, with pretty much no distinguishable individual traits about them. we didnât even get to see their countdown live performance!!! also, poor dai got nerfed into a one-note âtheyâre not as good as me, though.â character :( and they couldâve had rioâs 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 itâs due, ken was amazingly hilarious in the anime. i donât 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 koichiroâs 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 tbhâ
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 kenâs girlfriend. and kodai was just juriâs 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 didnât even get to have their school trip to kyoto! or that cultural festival at school! or, heck, even a passing mention of kotahinaâs gardening club activities! the retconned parts were truly unfortunateâŚ
uchida and tamura: oh boy. uchida got pretty much turned into a joke character who exists to do nothing but to call hiyori âhiyokoâ, 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 â¨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??? (ĘâżĘ) he literally attends the same school yo. he couldâve made a 5 second cameo and iâd be satisifed... where is minami????
and thatâs it for my (frankly biased and unnecessarily harsh) thoughts on the characters, i guess.Â
though, there was something in the hiyoko anime that i really, really, really enjoyed. and that wasâŚ
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 faceâ sure, the special eds didnât 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 iâd give it a 6.5/10? but thatâd be pretty unfair, right~?
anyway, thanks for reading if you did? please feel free to duke it out with me over our conflicting viewpointsđiâll waitđđ
#[posts this and runs away into the abyss; never to talk about the hiyoko anime again]#yeah... i have a lot of â¨thoughts⨠about the hiyoko anime lmao#and where. is. nagisa??????????#inedible blubbering#hiyoko anime? hiyoko anime!!!#see y'all later for the ft4 event tl... maybe. ahahahaha...
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