Also known as simply "Revue Starlight," this series is a multimedia project from Bushiroad with a musical (possibly with more on the way), a currently airing anime (this is basically what the entire small Western fanbase is currently focusing on, since it's all we've got so far), and a mobile game in the future.

Wikipedia's Plot Summary: At the Seisho Music Academy, the 99th Graduating Class is rehearsing for the annual production of the theatrical play, Starlight. Behind the scenes, however, an underground "Revue Starlight" audition, orchestrated by a talking giraffe, pits the students against each other in stage battles in order to shine as the top star. Karen Aijō, upon being reunited by her childhood friend Hikari Kagura, comes across these auditions and battles to become the top star alongside Hikari.

So: this series focuses on a group of girls who attend an academy that's very clearly based on the real academy associated with the famous all-female Takarazuka Revue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue. This is mostly clearly shown in what has swiftly become the biggest draw of the series: the strange, surreal, beautifully-directed "auditions" that symbolize the girl's ambitions to become the biggest star of the stage, complete with solo ballads that shift to duets as the tides of the fights shift. And yes, it's all apparently machinated by a talking giraffe.

Besides all of THIS, there's a lot of complicated and fun relationships happening here. There's the reunited childhood friends Hikari and Karen, shadowed by the pining country mouse Mahiru. There's Maya and Claudine, the seemingly perfect duo who are in truth torn apart by their competing ambitions. There's Futaba and Kaoruko, the other childhood friends who are always joined at the hip, meaning tragedy is almost certainly in their future. And of course, there's Junna, the girl who's always felt she was in the background and her friend Nana (aka Banana-chan), the warm motherly girl who looks after the other girls... whose sweet exterior seems to be hiding something more complicated.

Revue Starlight offers a unique setting where conflicts and passions often clash without stakes that are too high. There's a light-ish tone about the whole thing, which is fun to watch while allowing for the possibility of darker and more mature fanwork. I think a lot of people would enjoy this unique and ambitious series, especially if you're the sort of person who would sign up for Femslash Exchange.

You can watch Revue Starlight legally on HiDIVE. https://www.hidive.com/tv/revue-starlight

Edited 2018-08-15 03:09 am (UTC)