Shelf Life

Rise and Shine

With Wake Up Girls, it's hard not to think, "These girls are really sweet!" without a second thought careening in, "Dammit, they want me to think that. They want me to buy CDs!" Likewise, thoughts of, "They try so hard! They're so determined!" are inevitably interrupted by a niggling thought that says, "Are they just trying to convince me to go see a show??" Lines between reality and fiction are blurred, and one can't help but wonder whether the girls really are like their on-screen personas, or if it's just an elaborately crafted marketing campaign meant to drum up feelings of moe to boost future sales.

You see, Wake Up Girls corresponds with a real-life Wake Up Girls, which was created concurrently with the anime. The talent side of it was spearheaded by production company Avex and talent agency 81 Produce who combed through thousands of girls to find the lucky several who would not only voice the characters of WUG, but sing the show's theme as well. And, well, be them. (Here's a video of the girls singing and dancing the opening theme.) The names of the characters even correspond to the given names of the girls; some of the anime character designs are even modeled after a few of the girls, even down to facial moles.

Where the show really gets interesting is not so much the Wake Up Girls themselves, but the way they're contrasted with the in-show supergroup I-1, which is kind of the WUG-world equivalent to the AKB48 juggernaut (or rather, the ***48 juggernaut). While WUG is shown as folksy, and kind of slapdash, and pretty down-to-earth, I-1 is shown as a systematic factory for churning out idols, where the girls are cold-heartedly cut for simple mistakes, and are forbidden from external relationships (recall the Minami Minegishi incident). The anime portrayal of I-1—that's the cutthroat reality of the idol industry, one that looks behind the ruffles and the photo books and the dance crazes. WUG, by contrast, is the anti-idol industry idol group. Their lack of refinement is their charm, and their gung-ho, go-get-em attitude is their selling point. Whether that's the case for the real-life Wake Up Girls is another question, and one that can't help but poison the viewing experience a little.

But enough waxing about the idol industry—the anime (kudos to those who can separate their enjoyment of the series from musings about the great Idol Machine) is impossibly charming, for the same reasons I listed above. Never mind that the girls follow the same roadmap that all anime idols follow—the training, the in-group fighting/making up, the regional idol competitions, the rivalries (it would not be unfair to compare WUG to Love Live! School Idol Project)—what sells this show is the Wake Up Girls. They don't quite get the level of character development that would push this into another level—most of them are manufactured idol archetypes like "this one likes to eat!" and "this one is clumsy!"—but they are loveable and easy to like, which makes them effortless to root for. You can't help but wish them well, and every time they hit a stumbling block, you ache to watch the next episode because you just want things to get better.

Of all the girls, the most interesting is Mayu, who also has the most thoroughly developed storyline thus far (although others have plenty of potential, including Kaya, who carries painful memories from her childhood; and Minami, whose volunteer work at a senior center could lead to some tender moments down the line). Formerly the I-1 center, she left the group, leaving behind an uneasy friendship with some current I-1 gals and a messy relationship with her mother. Not only does it give the series a good chance to further contrast life in WUG with life in AKB4—I mean, I-1, but it leads to a tear-jerking moment in episode 10 between Mayu and her mother.

Quality-wise, Wake Up Girls is a mixed bag. The character designs are pleasant, if not entirely memorable, and the animation is… well, it has its moments of both good and bad. There are scenes where the quality control absolutely plummets, leaving behind some questionable frames. The dance sequences get hit the hardest budget-wise, relying on still frames, clunky animation with dead-eyed faces, and a plethora of audience reactions to convey the choreography. It's the most noticeable in episode 10, especially after the series makes such a big deal about how "difficult" the choreography is. Perhaps we'd get a better idea of the choreography if we saw anything besides jazz hands and some arm-waving.

Problems aside, though, Wake Up Girls is largely delightful, and those who like idol entertainment will most certainly enjoy this series. The girls are adorable, and their status as underdogs makes them even more likeable. And, for those who do enjoy scrutinizing the idol industry, the snippets featuring I-1 inject a depth, however planned and marketing-approved, that make WUG worth watching.[TOP]