English Dub Season Review: Dropout Idol Fruit Tart Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Ino Sakura is a country girl who also happens to be an aspiring idol due to her love for all things celeb. She ends up moving to Tokyo to fulfill her dream of joining the idol world, but it isn’t quite what she expects. Instead of instant stardom and flashy performances, she moves into a rundown dorm known as Mouse House and befriends three other wannabe idols who all have their own red flags.

Hoho-chan, their manager, coerces them into forming a idol group called Fruit Tart together — mainly because their dorm is in danger of being demolished unless they come up with a big payment. But will Fruit Tart be able to come together as one and continue to chase their dreams in the big city of Tokyo?

Our Take:

If you missed out on Dropout Idol Fruit Tart when it first premiered last fall, I wouldn’t be surprised. It bypassed me completely back then, and frankly, I’m glad it did. It’s the kind of show that exists solely to serve as dumb colorful eye candy to idol fans who don’t have anything else to watch. It’s probably one of my least favorite series I’ve had the displeasure of watching, and I would not recommend it to anyone but the most desperate of idol fans.

A show lives or dies by its characters, and there’s literally only one character I liked in the main cast. The lead character, Ino Sakura, is about as bland an anime protagonist as there is — a teenage girl who wants to be an idol because she loves idols and celebrities. She’s totally genki and enthusiastic and very annoying. Then there’s the usual assortment of supporting idols, including the shy one who everyone is always telling to show more skin and the short one who looks like a child. The cast members all feel like they could’ve been drawn out of an anime stereotypes hat at random. The only one I had any inclination to root for was said short girl, Roko Sekino, because at least she gets to display a little bit of gumption throughout the season.

The show itself is very straightforward: it’s a bunch of cute and colorful girls doing mildly funny comedic bits and occasionally singing idol songs as they work to pay off their debts and keep afloat. The only problem is that the character designs aren’t particularly cute and calling what the show does comedy is very generous. A lot of the humor revolves around things like laughing at each other’s physical characteristics — as if Ino Sakura is too plump to be an idol when her character design looks the exact same body type as all the others.

The English dub is serviceable, but it doesn’t make me any more likely to enjoy it. The main cast is all competent enough, but several of the performances definitely approach the whiney, high-pitched category that a lot of dubs have grown out of. The script itself doesn’t add any intelligence either, with lines like, “Idols are amazing! They’re bright and shiny like stars!” Even the animation itself is pretty lifeless and flat.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Dropout Idol Fruit Tart left a really sour taste in my mouth. You might be attracted to its cute and colorful exterior, but there’s literally nothing underneath to pull you into watching more. No deep themes, no serious overarching storylines, and guess what — even the songs aren’t that catchy. What I’m saying is that Dropout Idol Fruit Tart should be avoided by all but the least discerning of idol anime fans because this fruit is mostly rotten.