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"Although the idol group TiNgS is chasing after big dreams, so far their accomplishments have only been small — and now, suddenly, they're facing a potential break up! Hope seems lost, but when a new manager with a special skillset takes them under his wing, the members of TiNgS find themselves shooting for the stars all over again.

Source: Sentai Filmworks"

Genre(s): Idols, music, drama, supernatural

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This got off on the completely right foot. I liked just about everything this episode did. The characters were cute, distinct, and felt to have more personality than your typical idol piece where each girl gets one character trait or speech tic to differentiate them. The dilemma and goal of 1000 patrons to not break up is tough, but fair given the group's age and the only questionable story element is how they haven't already been assigned a manager when they are clearly struggling so much currently. Naoki has a fun twist that is "shown not told" until the end of the episode that adds to the dramatic tension he brings to the group, and his low key character doesn't clash at all with the exuberant girls. There are rumblings of at least two potential dramas set up here from unclear motivations and past work associations, so the story has material to draw from on the journey. It was a complete package of an introduction.

The story elements resonating with me is all well and good, but the real star of this show is the animation. I don't get to call television anime overanimated often, but here... I just hope this isn't a case of the episode one budget blowout syndrome, because this is beautiful. The cells, the camera work, even the (shudder) CG is used where appropriate and looks as good as it can. The animation isn't just exquisite, but it serves to further characterize the girls. Haru's walk of dancing excitement tells me all I need to know about how stoked she is to be working as an idol. It got me excited to see her succeed. The dancing number at the beginning is worth a watch no matter how interested you are in idols just for the cuts, and even the vastly inferior practice dance (complete with squeaky sneakers) later in the episode has me worried about how they can possibly keep the animation quality up for an entire cour.

This just shot to the top of my watch list. Highly recommended.