English Dub Review: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die “I Promise to Make You Number 1”

(Possible Spoilers Below)

Eripiyo and Kusama hear about a big-time sports event involving the Cham Idol group, And to add to the fans playing a role in each of the singers popularity, There’s a voting contest in which Eripiyo declares that she’ll help get the singer in that group she obsesses over “Maina” to a higher place in the proverbial Idol totem-pole with the voting to end later in November.

At the same time this is going on, the Idol Members within Cham (Including Maina) are unsure what to think of this voting-poll thing, while partaking in the sports event, while Eripiyo goes through extremes to make Maina matter to the Idol community…

Our Take

This continues to be a difficult show to sit through… I know some of this rabid fandom drivel is played for laughs, but I can’t sympathize with Eripiyo. There’s a clear-cut difference between love and obsession and while her actions come across as admirable with the extremes she does to make Maina matter, It also got under my skin in various disturbing ways. For example, within an early scene of the episode, she’s getting called out for posting on Maina’s blog as multiple users, and then later partakes in multiple jobs to purchase 80 copies of the same CD just to spike her Idol’s popularity, these are clear signs of mental illness at play here.

The only thing disappointing me right now was that I was hoping this anime would be a bit more realistic than other idol anime and the closest to any sort of friction within the group is how cut-throat this voting poll is and how it can bring out the worst in people if they have a competitive streak about them. I’ll be surprised if these ladies are still together after the proverbial smoke clears from their petty Diva shit, Maybe that’ll come later? The closest thing to anything sentimental within this episode was the “Birthday Wish” scene and a mildly cute scene where Maina managed to thank Eripyo.

Overall, While declaring myself a fan of certain videogames, comics, shows, movies, etc. I’m glad my love for them or even certain people or celebrities have never reached the self-destructive extent of Eripiyo’s love for Maina. It’s an unbalanced teeter-totter at this point when it comes to the quality of this show and characters.