Hello everyone,
Here we are for yet another review, this time of a series with great potential wasted by a series of personality choice from the scriptwriter.
I'm talking about Idolmaster Xenoglossia, a series based on the same characters from the original Idolmaster in a mecha battle scenario reminiscent of Mai Otome in more than one way.
Let's start with a synopsis :
Haruka Amami isn't the most confident pop singer in Japan, but when she's accepted after an audition, she's sent to Tokyo to start a career in entertainment. Though, little does she know that the agency that's taken her on is actually a front for a task force that uses giant robots to defend the Earth from falling meteors.
Ok, the whole "go to the audition and get scouted for be a mecha pilot" was a little stretch by this series, but well done in terms of execution so I just ignored the fact...
...but then it started with the real creepy stuff. I mean, the mecha that stalk the pilot, take photo and video of her and even get angry at her if she do not care about him?!
Ok, there is a limit to the decency and a girl/mecha relationship is certainly one thing I do NOT want to see in a series like this. (was expecting more from this only-girl harem to be honest)
The story by itself is plain clichè with almost zero twists, the enemy was clear to everything right from the start and the only twist may be considered the Yukiho past even if it is highly hinted during the series that she has something to hide. (Very much like Ersin Ho from Mai Otome to be honest)
My favourite part of this series were the few filler episodes with random mindless fun between the characters.
The characters are quite a lot and remembering all of them is quite a problem especially as most of them is not given much time to develop except for the main 6 girls that is.
There is no growth in this series as these characters are mostly mono-dimensional character binded by their stereotype.
My favourite character is obviously Yayoi Takatsuki, I loved both her personality and her will to keep working even on harsh conditions. (and obviously for the cute penguin costume she wear most of the time she appear in this series)
The most hated character is Iori Minase. I don't like both personality and character design...
The graphical quality of the series is top notch, the design of the girls is mostly very good and detailed and the animation is consistent even in the action-packed battles (probably thanks to 3D CG for the distant shot also to be honest)
The sound quality is pretty high too with many big names working on this series like Yui Horie in Yukiho Hagiwara's role and Ami Koshimizu in Yayoi Takatsuki's role.
Concluding, this is a series with very high production values ruined by clichè content and over-emotional girl/machine relationship, but nevertheless worth a try if you get some spare time.
See you soon,
feal87