Synopsis
This the story of two girls and a beloved song and dance revue troupe named Starlight. When Karen and Hikaru were children, the two made a promise that one day, they’ll stand on the Starlight stage together. However at one point, Hikaru ends up moving away and it is years later when the two are 16 that they reunite.
At this point, Karen is very enthusiastic about the lessons she takes every day, holding her promise close to her heart. However behind the scenes, a mysterious audition process takes place for a chance at joining the revue. By chance, Karen finds herself entangled in this mysterious event and now must compete with the other Stage Girls.
The Good
The first thing to note on with the episode is how it deals with its plot build-up. The way that the episode made use of Karen’s dream of falling to tease her transformation in the later half of the episode was rather clever. On the note of the transformation, it is by far the most unique type of transformation that this writer has seen. The way that it features all of the machinery creating the costume rather than having the hero go through some typical magical transformation is rather refreshing.
The fact that we also get this mysterious Giraffe to explain things and act as a sort of overseer adds to the interesting points for the series. Other than this, the episode gave a strong establishment of the characters and their personalities along with their connection to the plot. The biggest highlight of the episode however and one of the top reasons to continue watching the series however is the action scenes. The way that they moved was so smooth and the way that it blended with the music was a plus.
The Bad
The most prominent issue that the episode has presented is in the characters. Pretty much every one of them is a rather typical female character type for this type of series. From the strict class leader to the top student who is considered a star, there isn’t any character that can really be considered as a unique or different type from usual. Nothing against these characters but everyone of them has appeared one way or the other in a female-oriented series with action or magic.
Outside of the characters, the pacing could have been done a little better. The dream scene helped things along but the beginning half of the episode seemed just a tad slow. It’s a nitpick but other than this, the episode only had the the characters that really stood out as a negative point.
Conclusion
The episode did highly well in terms of introducing the story and concept but the characters were far from surprising. The moment each character was introduced, it was easy to see what kind of set-up the episode is going for. However, there were a number of great scenes to enjoy in the latter half of the episode. From the dream sequence to the fight scene, the episode gave a strong introduction and easily hooked the viewer into the next episode.
Rating: 7.5/10