English Dub Review: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die “I Can Only Wait”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

With the popularity contest still ongoing within the Cham Idol Group, Eripiyo has managed through her obsessive rabid attitude to put Maina in the Number 3 Spot, despite Eripiyo being at a total disadvantage due to a leg injury, but almost fall into trouble when going to a Maid cafe where the Cham member Aya belittles them for not spending money on supporting their respective Idols, while a decent subplot happens between Yume & Maki.

Our Take

I honestly don’t know what to think of this show. Part of me wants to enjoy it, but I don’t understand what it’s trying to say. Like, what’s the thought process that the creators have that they’re trying to get across? Cause it seems to make fun of and disapprove of rabid fandoms, but then attempts to hypocritically justify this behavior sometimes within the same scene.

Also, in response to the ongoing sub-plot of the Idol Popularity contest since the last episode, It kinda rubs me the wrong way of having merch sales be tied to a popularity contest that is within the same group. If it were an intergroup competition I’d understand it, but all these sales are for the same idol group. I don’t know, maybe I just don’t understand how the music industry works in Japan. At its core, it feels manipulative. But that’s more of a problem I have with reality than this show.

Overall, nothing too special about this episode as it’s still the usual idol gags, performances, personalities, etc. I’m not sure if this show wants to be a satire of the industry and fandom or a fantasy about an idol and her obsessive fan falling in love. Eripiyo’s obsession with Maina is not “healthy”. And it feels like we only want to see her succeed because we the audience don’t want to see Eripiyo keep destroying herself. And all this time Maina is completely oblivious to whatever extremes Eri has done to support Maina. If there are any redeeming qualities would be the Animation within the dance-sequences as well as the backgrounds & scenery which were also really nice (especially a scene involving a bridge at the end). At the beginning of the dance, it was pretty good, but towards the end, the story just keeps finding new ways to shoot itself in the foot with the show’s inconsistent message.