English Dub Review: Ensemble Stars “Summer Live ~Part 1~”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

When summer arrives, Anzu is asked by the local theme park to run an idol show for them, considering how RYUSEITAI’s concert went so well. As this is being prepared, Eichi invites a competitor school to join them — specifically, the school’s top idol group, called Eden. The group is split into two halves; Eve and Adam. Eve consists of two students: Hiyori and Jun. Eichi explains to Hokuto that Hiyori used to be a student at Yumenosaki, but transferred out for obscure reasons. He also used to be a member of fine.

Makoto, who is also helping, explains who they are to Anzu at an arcade. However, the intimidating Jun hears him and initially scoffs at Makoto, assuming he didn’t do any research on them. When Makoto sits down to play a game that their music is featured in, Jun takes the other seat and they verse each other.

Hiyori flamboyantly arrives at Eichi’s office, where he immediately establishes himself as a diva — making Tsumugi bring his things to a hotel and joking about Eichi’s poor health. He starts berating Hokuto for thinking he and Trickstar can beat Eve in the Summer Live. Meanwhile, Makoto and Jun bond over the game. 2wink and Ra*bits are also to perform at the theme park.

Hiyori designs the routine to accommodate Eve, but not Trickstar. Hiyori says that they’ll never shine if they can’t shine as individuals, and Trickstar sets out to prove they’re each individually talented.

Our Take

So we’re back to Trickstar, now, and it seems the new villain is…Christianity.

Not literally, but it’s weird how literally the most obnoxious, rudest character seems to be representing the “Christ” figure of the group (not a literary Christ figure, mind you.) The shots constantly have him pose in a “T” cross formation, but it’s specifically at his most condescending and conceited moments. Could this have something to do with his mysterious transfer from Yumenosaki Academy? Even so, it’s hard to think of how someone so inconsiderate could represent good ol’ JC. Perhaps this is just be an allusion to how big his ego is (ex: John Lennon saying The Beatles were “bigger than Jesus,” etc.) but it’d be more interesting to see if he actually used to be a good person and then “died”/sacrificed something somehow.

What is his and Eichi’s relationship? They seem amicable, but it appears shallow in nature. Eden seems like it’s going to play a huge role in the rest of the series, based on the fact that the OP was identical to Trickstar’s usual OP, except that it was replaced with Eden’s character models and song. Could Eden be “echoing” Trickstar and their journey in some way, despite being so different? Also, are we not gonna talk about the fact that both Eden and Trickstar are so popular they’re all in a video game!? Their rise to stardom is so…casual. Too casual. That should be a big deal.

Oh, also, that was a big casual lore drop on Hokuto’s dad. Not only is he a known idol, but also happens to be Eden’s teacher at their school. We may discover even more about Hokuto’s family, based on the fact his father is so “close” to the action.

Ensemble Stars would do better to not make its show one big information dump. This is why adding characters to an already large cast can be tricky. From this point on, though, it’s time to start being on the lookout for some really obvious, overdone Christianity storytelling symbols.