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Last edited by Tony K. on Mon Feb 01, 2021 3:19 pm; edited 4 times in total

Main Series - Gekidol (TV)
Spinoff - Alice in Deadly School (OAV)

Genres: drama, romance, science fiction
Themes: acting, idols, school, yuri

Plot Summary: Five years after a mystifying disaster decimates cities across the globe, Seria Morino receives an invitation from a mysterious woman to join Alice in Theater, a small stage troupe that takes it upon themselves to brighten the world through their performances using 3D hologram technology. As Seria settles in, she begins to uncover unexpected truths about herself and the world around her.
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Gonna' try to stay atop these new anime discussion threads, so I have less work to do, later.

Not much about the staff caught my eye for this one. Although, it is animated by Hoods Entertainment, who also did Drifters. I'm sure this won't be a super stylized seinen action series, but we'll see where it goes.

The attached OAV entry is for the play portrayed in the main series.

Episode 1?

Okay, this series is weird. Unless I see a good reason in the Alice in Deadly School topic I will probably just discus that there, I am a little unclear if both or either series are even continuing, because they feel like a strange part of a whole.

I read the reviewers reactions to see if I could go through my thoughts, and I think I that I got some good analogies. The first episode, especially the second half with zombies, feels kind of hard to be immersed, the reality just feels weird. The Alice in Deadly School is super glaring with it, since we are kind of told that it is just a play, and that is kind of how everything in it feels like.

The way characters monologue, the character exposition, the dialogue, the set pieces, the characters themselves, and maybe how the story goes. It feels a whole lot like we are watching a bunch of young girls on stage performing a play. They suddenly jump into a flashback with vague scenery and character movement like these girls were on stage and the set provider change the lights and maybe the backdrop to imply it was such a flashback. There is even a military helicopter that comes, and the soldier herself is a teenage girl, like these are the actresses they have. Although this is a semi creative idea, it also conflicts totally with being invested with parts that do feel like an actual anime, such as camera angles, up against the somewhat wooden performances. It neither feels fully like a play, nor an anime that's reality is this zombie apocalypse.

All of that so far is about the second half, but to explain more I want to now explain the first half, that is Gekidol. Alice in Deadly School is extra hard to feel invested because the reality of Gekidol also feels weird. Apparently this anime setting is a weird mash of what feels like a familiar Japanese school, high tech holograms that can allow really immersive plays, and some sort of disaster that apparently has an apocalyptical like hole somewhere with said disaster disrupting every day life. Apparently these things exist together, but it is this reality that feels weird.

School Live was mentioned by a reviewer, and indeed not because of the school girls stuck in such a world as that setting, but that this show really wants to drop hints that we really cannot trust at face value what we are seeing. Especially in a scene where the main character is noticing what clearly appears to be an inhuman android that no one explains, and something happens to her like her perception of reality just crashed and had to reboot (she fell unconscious). This could be like something done in School Live, but it does not feel as masterfully done there, where it feels like this show is both showing too little and too much. I might even be wrong about this theory, reading too much into it at this point. What was great about School Live was that it straight played the setting, but played on inconsistencies and small details that an eagle eyed viewer would notice, which did not feel like what happened here, thus I don't want to put too much stock in things yet.

But going on from the idea that this reality might indeed be not quite accurate, it would put that second half as a play done by some people, who are in a false/altered reality, that is of course in an anime. I could perhaps come up with explanations like Seria was not really on the phone to her grandmother, it does seem a little weird of an idea that her grandmother is a primary caretaker, and has to look after a sick grandfather in France. But looking for these kind of explanations do also feel like trying too hard to explain things that by themselves feel like a problem, like expecting that every problem might be there for a purpose. Although the wooden Alice in Deadly school not seeming to have something that felt like a point in that episode, makes me not super expectant that everything is done for a purpose.

But, hey, the girl that gave her tickets to the play, Mako, seems to have a crush on Seria. Also, my crazy fan right now, feels like a while since I voiced me putting these forwards, not counting my theories in Akudama Dance that totally failed, or what I theorised so far that will probably totally be in the wrong direction. My theory could be that maybe more than just holograms, there could be some element of reality control done in the plays, and that caused the mysterious hole.

Welp, between the time I made the threads and now, the Encyclopedia entry for Alice in Deadly School turned from TV to OAV, so I guess that settles that. I'll trash the other thread and spruce up the opener for this one.

Episode 01: Acting

I've always been hesitant about the concept of idols. I think a large part of it comes from not liking all the crapily made reality shows about singing, talent, etc. I feel they're exploitative and are generally bad in taste (especially American ones). It's cool that people can achieve their dreams of becoming an icon, entertainer, or whatever, but it feels so inorganic and scripted compared to a regular narrative where people are who they are, naturally progress as characters, or actually present admirable personality traits.

After one episode, I'm gonna' reserve a detailed analysis till I see where another 2, maybe 3 episodes, go with developing Seria. I will say, however, the whole "mystery event" and hologram technology can present some potentially interesting twists if the show wants to get a little more edgy down the road.

Alice in Deadly School was a little jarring in terms of how contrastingly violent it presented itself in comparison to the rest of the show. I'm hoping if the writing does take a dark turn or shows the happenings of that "mystery event" that it's full of shock value. I think that would at least be enough to keep me interested past the idol stuff.

Episode 3

I was not expecting this show to suddenly throw in something like some jr idol doing topless shoots, and I am not even exactly sure what it was trying to say. Like it started with Ai being disgusted that she was pretty young in did photoshoots that exploited her body including taking off her bikini top in front of a bunch of men, but I am not sure if it was actually talked about, rather than her hang-up of her mentor moving onto a different group.

The confusion about the message is probably greater if you've seen the ending animation. The Funimation stream doesn't show it (that's why they have the clip show ending), but it's basically a slow-pan leer over her half-naked body. The idea that the guy who was doing her bikini shoots but concluded that topless was a step too far is now a positive person in her life is certainly a take.

I would be open if there was some element of being disgusted because it would be something society might think, while she had some confidence as she appeared to in that particular scene and she should not have to feel shame. But she had to be pretty young in that scene, I am pretty sure that there was something about her being a jr idol, which just makes me think of the skeevy parts of Japan's idol industry where even kids can be put into sexually exploitive situations.

Episode 02: A Theater Named Desire

This episode removed some of the glitz and glam of the first, bringing the show a little more down to earth. At first, I thought it was gonna' be just this bright-eyed approach to a girl pursuing her dream to act. But I feel like all the real-world problems of being poor, not being able to afford rent, and shoddy utilities management is just making things more difficult for the sake of difficulty. As in, I don't see how this is gonna' help anybody or better convey whatever theme it's trying to communicate.

The decision to act out an idol group also put me off a bit. I like acting, but not idols. And, of course, they had to act like idols, which just totally negates the experience for me. I wanna' see these characters display their passion for acting; to tap into something that transforms them into completely different people, not be dime-a-dozen tropes.

I'm hoping once they get all the other hoopla out of the way, the show can, at least, get a little more creative in actually building some of these characters. As it is now, it's just world-building. And frankly, their world kinda' sucks.
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Episode 03: Waiting for Airi

Okay, so more of the real-world problems, but now I'm starting to view their actions as a means to get by. "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs," so to speak. They're a little poor, but need money to actually maintain the place, and since (I'm assuming) Japan is so naturally engrossed by idol culture, it makes sense to mix a little idol with their acting to pull in audiences, and thus make money for the whole thing to work out.

Meanwhile, we get a glimpse of Airi's past and the fact that she did some topless photoshoots. I see this, and their whole idol schpiel, as a display of the lengths they're willing to go to for achieving their dreams. I recently watched the movie La La Land, and I dunno why this particular episode reminded me a little of Ryan Gosling's character, in that he had this dream to open and run his own jazz club, but he subjugated himself to playing jazz he didn't like in order to make the money to finally open that club at the end. But in the process, he spoiler[ had fallen in love with Emma Stone's character, but they were both so driven to achieve their goals (him the jazz club, her an actress, and ironically, Stone won an Oscar for her role), they eventually couldn't be together because of how hard they pursued said dreams. Actually a very bittersweet ending.]

Not saying this will be anything on the level of that movie, but that's the vibe I got. I would be pleasantly surprised if they were to get even a fraction of that sentiment, though.

Episode 4

Okay, what the heck happened in this episode. I just have to express how surprised at it. I know that I started the series thinking that I would be surprised, but in saying that I was kind of expecting to be surprised, or at least not like this.

To separate two elements, the somewhat lesser surprise was that this would be more than just theatre idols, this coming up by showing that indeed Seria has some trauma, her thinking that she is responsible for the death of her parents and twin sister. That she apparently mimicked her twin sister, who she thought got all the love.

The actual surprise for me was how sapphic things got. It started out in the episode being that girl from Seria's class who clearly has some interest in her, very likely a crush and actually brought flowers, not too much of a surprise. And the Airi started to take the stage in the episode, she is interested in finding out Seria's birthday, it being the same day as the calamity like event has her seeming to understand that she might be lonely on it and could do with some company. Airi calls their outing a date, a little more forward than I might be expecting, but still fits into the plausible deniability angle. They hold hands during a fireworks, a bit more than I was expecting, but the show could just still say they are good friends. Then Airi does not want Seria to just leave on the bus (for some reasons), Airi pulls her and in a blink and you miss it moment it looks like their mouths might have accidentally touched, maybe embarrassing but this show could still write this off. And then Airi goes from longingly looking at Seria, at her lips, and then goes into an intended longer kiss, and this show actually did it.

This is weird, I am well watched in anime, but for a show not set up as yuri/yaoi to just gung go into confirmed queer characters. It was kind of what made something like Stars Align so surprising that just did away with subtext and said one of its characters were queer. I am thinking back to I think 2012's Black Rock Shooter, which I am kind of leaning as an apt comparison as a dramatic series where as not a yuri series it could only push so far to the hints that these girls like each other. Assault Lily last season could only do so much, going with subtext. And yet this season also has Otherside Picnic being pretty forward with lesbian leads, and my suspicions with Wonder Egg, neither shows I would also call "yuri". I am just really feeling spoiled, having just binged a Disney animated series that is pretty open about setting up a lesbian and bisexual character up together. I am just going to be disappointed at the shows that can only use subtext.

Also, there is this kind of creepy scene where Seria thinks Doll is her sister, Alice, which is probably a reason Seria is attached to the theatre. And Airi looks like she is a bit yandere because she thinks that Seria will be choosing a robot over her, not understanding that Seria is getting over one of her lasting trauma. Is this show now going to pivot away from what actually could be a healthy same sex couple into something else? Pretty sure Seria could tell that the kiss from Airi was intended and if there are some returning feelings they could do something. Although Seria's classmate that even bought flowers apparently missed her chance.

I find it amusing that this show is like "oh yeah this one city area is just gone, but no one cares"

the real plot is a "save the theater" thing and I just find that so funny. A huge chunk of a city is gone, but that apparently has had no real impact on anyone. They treat it like they just got gum on their shoe.

I was surprised when the yuri dial suddenly got cranked, too. This is a deeply weird show. You have so many different strands going on. You have the "light" strand of a bunch of cute girls putting on shows and the trials and tribulations around that. Then you have this SF element of unexplained urban disappearance and a cyborg Doll. You have an MC who is traumatized by the death of her parents and twin. Then there is that dodgey guy we got introduced to who is the SMT producer. And yuri. You've got yuri. I'd say this is a "kitchen sink" show in that they're tossing in everything except the kitchen sink.

It's sort of a "blink and you miss it" thing that dodgy guy has a camera in the girls' changing room. The things the show chooses to linger on and the things it breezes over as unimportant is bizarre

Episode 04: Birthday Party

As was mentioned by everyone else, there are quite a few new elements introduced in this episode. I honestly didn't think it would address the sci-fi aspect till halfway through, or maybe even the last third of the series, but I'm glad they started something.

I haven't really seen a whole lot of same-sex relationships represented in anime. I can't even think of any titles that show it, off the top of my head, so this is basically brand new to me. It actually didn't shock me or anything. I just saw it as someone being romantically infatuated with another person, and it didn't bug me one bit. I think part of that is due to having some friends and knowing some other acquaintances that are in that crowd (and even since high school a couple of decades ago), so I see it as perfectly normal.

Of all the new elements, though, I was most looking forward to the sci-fi stuff. Will it turn out to be aliens or some kind of weird future technology that somehow made its way to their time? Is Doll in any way related to the disturbance that occurred on the 5-year anniversary of The Event. Maybe Seria and Doll are even linked together in some kind of resonating effect.

I'm actually thinking a little bit of Haruhi and Madoka, right now. Maybe Seria is like Haruhi in that wishing or intending something becomes reality. Or like Madoka, maybe it's some kind of twisted approximation of a wish she made that's created some weird cataclysmic series of events. And then you have SMT producer, Tamezaki, spying on the AiT, who just so happened to start SMT five years ago on the day of The Event. So many relevant questions in just four episodes!

Episode 5

This show is lowkey becoming terrifying, and a part of that is trying to understand what things mean, like what they represent. The centre of this is building itself around Doll, or as named in this episode, Alice. The obvious answer everyone thinks is that Seria is just giving her the name of the theatre, but we all know that she is actually giving the android the name of her dead sister, and the way that Seria is projecting things onto Alice is super unsettling.

It is creating a weird dichotomy where we are maybe predisposed to giving android or AI personhood, so we really should be on the side of recognising Alice for her individuality, especially since she is being forthright about owning the name. But it is also kind of super unsettling Alice is getting a bit Child's Play 2019, the glowing red eyes is one thing, but she is also starting to get a bit possessive. It actually looks like it is no mere accident, Alice actually looks to be manipulating Seria, it is invoking her feelings to get Seria attached and driving a wedge with her to, stopping a connection with a real person. The biggest part of the episode being that Alice seemingly starts to pull the exact same thing with Airi, preying on her issues, before apparently throwing her down the stairs, evidently leaving some damage further sabotaging her.

The android, and hologram theatre, have always been two elements that feel weirdly out of nowhere, like they don't quite belong. And some of that goes into what they might actually mean, like at the moment I am kind of stuck between a person that is created and treated like a tool of entertainment, or actually the system of entertainment itself. Rather than Alice being a victim of a performer used as a tool, she is actually a part of it, preying on the emotions of humans for reasons of maybe not just commercial success, but to monopolise on those feelings to keep them invested and make them think they are fixing their problems. Seria thinks that she has fixed some of her problems, or gotten over them, but it is kind of clear that Seria just traded them for a dependence on something that might not actually have the best intentions, if it is even human.

This on display when Airi confronts Seria about the kiss they had, calling her cruel for avoiding her over it. Seria at first calls her mean, thinking that the kiss was easy for Seria with being experienced with doing so, but when confronted that it is not the case, Seria almost seems set to ignore the the whole thing, to not try to understand what it mean. It would have been one thing if Seria tossed the whole thing away with a Hitomi "girls can't love girls" bit, but it doesn't seem to be the case in Seria more of infantilised. A part of a hold that the android has over her and calls Airi mean for trying to separate them or something.

So, this show is getting rather interesting for what people might have thought would just be another idol show.

Also, with the next episode being "Doll House" or something, the idea came to mind with how the word idol kind of has the word "doll" in it. With the android previously called Doll, and you could maybe see idols and actors being treated as dolls by people or systems higher up. I am not quite sure what to make of that though.

@ DP - interestingly, the titles of episode 4 (The Cherry Orchard) and episode 5 (The Doll House) are titles of very famous plays. God, this show is weird. And for me in an interesting way, but still unsettling. It's not clear to me whether this weirdness is entirely intentional or just the result of the creatives not really having a handle on what they are doing.

Is Alice/Doll acting on her violation or is she being controlled by her owner, Mino (the same chap who rents the Alice in Theater space) to sort of sabotage the group? Unclear right now. I would have suspected that slimy Producer Bastard Guy of being behind her actions, but he seems to want to steal her away from the group.

She clearly seems to have some sort of hypnotic ability to convince people she is somebody important to them and is using this power to bad purposes.

One thing I gotta say about this show: I certainly can't predict where it's going!

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