English Dub Review: Kageki Shojo!!”Beneath the Cherry Tree, in a Rain of Petals”

Overview

Based on the manga series by Kumiko Saiki, the story follows our two female leads, Ai Narata and Sarasa Watanabe. Ai swears to never interact with another man ever again after being forced to graduate from her Idol group JPX4848 following a controversial incident with a male fan. Using her talents and strong desire to get away from men, Ai auditions for the exclusive all-female Kouka School of Musical and Theatrical Arts. She tried to travel incognito in order to get to the school without drawing attention, although her cover gets blown. Her fame (and associated controversy that caused her early “graduation”) preceded her upon reaching the school, consequently, this made her an outcast from the get-go.

And just as she is attracted to the “cursed” sakura tree within the campus, a tall girl reached out for her ticket that got blown into one of the tree’s branches, then asked her if she could take a picture of her under the same tree. But Sarasa Watanabe, the tall girl, earned some stares when she declared her intent to become the “top star” someday (some of them include the daughter of a family of stage actors and one who passed on becoming a prima ballerina to enroll in the school). Succeeding in this particular field will involve more than just raw talent for these young girls as jealousy, deceit, and the harsh realities of show business put their mental fortitude to the test. Will Sarasa and Ai be able to rise to the top and stand on the silver bridge?…


Our Take

Much like that “Dungeon Black Company” show, I’m left wondering who the fuck is this particular show made for? The story itself feels like an “Odd Couple” dynamic with extreme opposites in the same room together such as a disillusioned apathetic female ex-celebrity who hates show business and refuses to trust or connect with anyone, yet she’s going to school for show business and working with people? And then you match her with a girl who loves show business and people. In any case, it doesn’t make an effort to make me give a shit about Ai Narata as a character.

At most, this needs to be interesting without feeling contrived. Sure we the audience want to see our characters struggling in compelling ways or even something with a passion for its artistic subject matter. It has contrivance written all over it to have a sullen, brooding, former idol ass being forced to roommate with and team up with a crazy girl for the sake of having a show. It’s clear that despite Ai’s proclamation of hating men tries to make her look vulnerable and strong at the same time which just doesn’t work, especially with her “don’t give a fuck” personality. I don’t think she hates all men, but I do think it would be much more logical and interesting if her trauma somehow at least clarified which men she is okay with, so she would be struggling with male teachers, and Sarasa would cheer her on and help her mind heal.

Overall this first episode feels like it’s 2 very different stories that are mixed into one. Ai explains that she decided to go to Kouka because there are no male students. Ok then, why would Ai go into theater? She casually and openly expresses her disdain towards the celebrity life and she lacks any interest, enthusiasm, or motive to even pursue it again. So why would she leave being an idol to then transition to becoming an actor? Wouldn’t that have a lot of similarities especially being a social figure, which would I don’t know… attract more men?! Or is the theater actually only visited by women who partake in lesbian romances? I’m hoping later episodes further explain Ai’s Misandry in a way we can understand and sympathize with her as a character because, for the first episode, this was a rough mean-spirited mess to get through…