The Cambridge Geek

Okay, this is a strange one. I only had a look at it because someone else happened to mention it wasn't quite what I had thought it was, and I find myself still watching it out of a "what the hell?" response, because I'm curious to see what else is going to happen. It also has a couple of other positives.

The spoiler free version of this review is going to be rather limited, since it happens that the big twist happens in the first episode. Going to hide that, just in case you want to go in completely cold.

This is similar in approach to Comic Girls, with a collection of girls at an educational facility, attempting to become the greatest star. This involves training in dance, singing, acting and all the background components such as writing, producing etc.

It's their second year of three, and once again they're putting on "Revue Starlight", a musical which follows the trials of two princess lovers who are separated by fate and must fight to get back together.

The main character is Karen, attending the school with her best friend Mahiru, but her life is thrown into chaos when Hikari, a childhood friend, turns up out of the blue, reminding her of their old promise to star as the two leads in the Starlight Revue together. Around them are a whole class worth of chums, who all have their own troubles, either insecurity, the problems inherent to most yuri tales, a lot of jealousy and having to try harder.

It's a very cheerful tale, with their lives having the usual low tension havoc, and a lot of pulling together to achieve common goals, all of them being determined to try their hardest.

Curiously, it appears to have been a musical before it was an anime (rather than a manga, as is common), and that nature runs heavily through it. The actresses sing the ending credits, and also have a part in the various songs that turn up in each episode as part of the remarkably full soundtrack. Honestly, the music in this is absolutely brilliant. If you want something cheerful, with hapy girls generally working together, maybe have a look at it.

If you want a hint of what's secretly going on, look below.

Okay, it starts out normally enough. It's a performance school, and they're all learning to perform. Except one day, Karen finds herself in a lift with a secret button. She discovers that underneath the school is a whole second building, which holds a series of auditions for "Top Star", an undefined role which comes with some sort of unspecified reward. Those who don't pass the auditions lose...something. We don't know what yet.

Oh, and those auditions? They take the form of dance fights. Literal fights, with bows, axes, swords and club-like twirly batons. In each audition, the schoolgirls must fight to remove a button from their opponents costume, while also singing in perfect tune and making sense. Just to complete the feel of this, the girls get a transformation sequence of sorts, involving rather impressive sewing machines.

Each of these battle auditions are intended to be the highlight of the episode, with exciting fights and catchy tunes. It's one of those annoying problems where not speaking Japanese means you miss a whole segment of the appeal of the show. It's really not the same with subtitles.

That central mystery is also a bit tricky in that exactly what's going on is well hidden. There's not really any solid justification for it (even seven episodes in), and we have no idea what the secret stage's director, a giraffe (no, really), wants. If he's a Kuybey, he's keeping it very well hidden.

Probably not cursed.

There's definitely something spooky going on though, with significant hints of supernatural-ness in the story, his interest in the "Shine" that appears when a Top Star takes the main stage and a rather unusual event in the backstory of the show.

I've spent a lot of time being thrown by each reveal in the show and that's definitely a good thing.

Score:

Tagged: Anime Drama Schooldays Magical girls Friendship Hidive Subbed