My Dive into the Idol Anime World
Who would have thought I’d get into idol anime?!?!
Here’s the thing.. I always saw “Idolish7″ everywhere and wondered what it was about. I first started watching Ensemble Stars and I admit, not that into it, but then... I finally finally finally got into an anime drought where I felt burnt out and couldn’t find anything enjoyable. And by enjoyable, I mean I want to be so swept up in a show I can’t stop watching and can’t focus on anything until I binge it all. That’s my summer mood.
So I started Starmyu! aka High School Star Musical. When I first start any anime show, I look up its tag on Tumblr to see if there is a large fan base, if there are any ships to look forward to, and to overall sense if people seem to enjoy the show. I noticed Starmyu had a lot of ships and fans, and so I felt more inclined to watch it.
I definitely got swept up. I knew I was obsessed when I wasn’t even thinking about Fruits Basket anymore or making any comparisons in my mind.
I binged all three seasons in four days, and am already sad it’s over. I needed to fill my idol anime heart as soon as possible, and started Dream Festival! I am so excited to discover the entire music/idol category on Crunchyroll, and already have an extensive list of idol anime to get through. Who knew there would be so many!! There’s Tsukiuta, B project, Tsukipro, Ichu, Idolish7, etc etc etc.
I can’t really explain what is so intriguing about the genre. It’s not even the music, although Starmyu’s season 1 Opening and Ending song is on my playlist as we speak. It’s not even the visuals, although it is stunning. Everyone os incredibly attractive, of course, and it doesn’t help they are high-key BL vibes among the friends, which I am loving very much.
I think what really gets me with idol anime is the overall atmosphere of perseverance and integrity. It is chock full of life lessons. It is so overwhelmingly full of hope. Despite all they go through as a group or individually, there is this constant push to look for the rainbow after a rainy day. Even through the darkness, they wait for the light. They never lose sight of their goals even when everyone, and I mean literally everyone, tells them to give it up and move on. They still strive to make things work with each other even when someone irrevocably pushes them away and makes it difficult to get through the labyrinth of emotions.
As I soon enter grad school, a probably extremely challenging portion of my life, I am driven to act the way these idol anime cuties act: they never give up, are so motivated and passionate, and they believe in humans so strongly.
I can’t say I always believe in others all the time. I’ve been let down before, as much as the next person, and sometimes I lose faith in humanity and feel like everyone just is the same. It’s difficult to look at someone new and think they won’t hurt me, too. It’s hard not to walk through life looking on the ground for any pitfalls of disappointment. It’s nearly impossible to leap before looking and I can no longer just go through life without the knowledge that heartbreak is crippling and possible at every corner.
But I also can’t deny the allure of seeing the best in others, regardless of what I have been through. It’s tempting for me to just walk into something headfirst and expect different results. I want to clear my mind of hesitation and just trust new people. I feel encouraged to go through life with undying and contagious optimism and hope for the best. It sounds scary, really, to be so hopelessly excited everyday, but I want to try.
And if I fail, I think I’ll feel better than the thought I always stayed in a protective cocoon and never even attempted something new.
The future is uncertain, and it frightens me, but I don’t know why: for some reason, idol animes lead me to believe that everything is going to be beautiful in the end. When they make their final bow altogether with their friends on stage, I find comfort in the fact that they, too, had numerous obstacles and hard days to get through. However, they always triumph in the end due to their resolve and unbreakable spirit.
How about we take a page out of the idol anime playbook and put on the performance of our lives as well?
