Reviews for Heroines Run the Show: The Unpopular Girl and the Secret Task

While a 9 might be a little high I chose to score it as such because I was genuinely surprised by my own enjoyment of it. I am so used to trashy romances where some protagonist has a harem of horned-up women so this was a severe change of pace for me and I enjoyed it very much. The protagonist is bubbly and very likable and the two male leads are also likable characters in their own ways. What really sold me was the way the two male leads actually come together and a realistic fashion, it's not your usual anime with a lazy "andthey lived happily ever after" ending but instead these two characters both grow to become better people in a realistic way. People have mentioned that this show should have mentioned how obsessed people really are with idols but I do think that it was addressed in a good way and I personally have no issues with this story. Even with the betrayal as some people are more forgiving than others and I believe that Hiyori is the type of person who would forgive someone like that. The show is a good watch and I stand by my high rating

Ah… it happened again. Yet another good anime ruined by its last episodes. What can I even say? It is a shame indeed. Heroine Tarumono! is about a boyish, straightforward girl that goes to the city to pursue her dream, track and field. It just so happens that two of her classmates are actually a very popular idol group, LIPXLIP. She doesn't even know them, as she isn't interested in idols; but she needs money, so when she sees some agency's hiring announcement, she immediately applies for the post. Turns out, it was a recruitment for the manager-in-training for LIPXLIP! And, surprisingly, she was hired, dueto her ability to supervise them as their classmate. That marks the beginning of a tiresome, frustrating, but fun journey, during which new friendships blossom and new experiences are gained.

Heroine Tarumono! showed potential in the beginning. It doesn't have the best characters nor the greatest story, but it has its own charm that makes everything else work. It feels innocent, relaxing, and warm. Well, that goes away quickly, starting from episode 10, when utterly unnecessary drama unfolds, and it is a pretty damn shitty one as well. It got slightly better in the last episode, but… it wasn't enough, at all. The conclusion to the events that took place in episodes 10 & 11 felt very rushed and shallow, just like the rest of episode 12, honestly.

:spoilers start:

Of course, we really needed some obsessed fangirl being a psychopath, harassing people just "for her bias", right? Because it seems like the writers wanted drama and an entertaining plot, but they couldn't think of another way. Well, spoiler incoming, they ridiculously failed. Ah, and the characters all act like some broken toys without a brain in those episodes as well. One of them gives some real shitty advice, like?? "Oh, well you have to think about the harasser's feelings, it doesn't matter what fucked up things they did they surely have a reason, you have to understand them". Oh my god… and the protagonist actually listened to that stupid advice, are you for real…

Yeah, it is just that awful.

:spoilers end:

Well, aside from those atrocious episodes, I do have another bone to pick with this series: its misogyny. Specifically, the way it portrays women. They just had to draw the heroine's brows in a really weird manner just to show how "ugly" she is, didn't they? The idol main characters are also fine with her being their manager-in-training because they "can't see her as a girl" (because she is "ugly", energetic, and doesn't really care about her appearance). Like… oh my god it's 2022 do we really have to go through this? They don't seem to regard her as a girl for the whole anime (except for one episode). Aizou is openly misogynistic as well (and doesn't really have any character development when it comes to that).. The show does try to make him a backstory for it, basically to gain the sympathy of viewers and make them overlook this fact, but it just falls flat anyway.

The characters work pretty well together. We have the competitive, hard-working, and sassy duo, paired up with the equally hard-working, righteous, and straightforward girl manager. Aizou looks like a playboy, yet hates girls; Yuujirou has the appearance of a gentle, timid teenager, yet has a very sharp tongue and doesn't really care about anyone. And the most important thing, they don't even like each other. This makes them always compete with each other, and scowl when they accidentally see each other in their free time. The saving grace in this situation is the heroine, Hiyori, who makes them closer thanks to her becoming their friend (though they are too stubborn to admit it). The girl's perseverance, energetic self, and kind nature manage to make them warm up to her, and that's pretty heart-warming to see.

Though, the best character is Hiyori herself.

Very average art. Not bad, though. As for the voice acting, I personally loved Hiyori's voice. The songs were pretty nice as well.

For the most part, this anime is quite enjoyable. If we ignore the last 3 episodes, at least. If we don't, well... enjoyable until that point, and a big "why?" after. I recommend the first 9 episodes, especially if you are into idol anime (obviously).

(Ratings: story: 6; art: 5.5; sound: 7; character: 6; enjoyment: 6.5; overall: 5.7)

In the AniManga scene, there have been many musical labels and groups that have built their reputation on the musical repertoires which hardcore fans in Japan have crazed for them: popular franchises like Love Live!, BanG Dream! and the like. But if there's one group that stands out for the endless features that they can expand to that makes their repertoire so versatile, it's the Vocaloid music group HoneyWorks that has their famed song project that puts them on the worldwide map: the Kokuhaku Jikkou Iinkai: Ren'ai a.k.a Confession Executive Committee: Love Series that spans films, songs and now anime adaptations like this show. So first,to give you an idea of how this show came about: this is based off of the song of the same name (Heroine Tarumono! / 1% no Koibito) that was released on August 26, 2020 as a single from Inori Minase (which also is the VA for the central Heroine in this show: Hiyori Suzumi) and Toshiyuki Toyonaga (which his character is also friends with the central male idol group duo LIP×LIP), that tells the story of the New First Year student group that's separate from the 2 anime films produced by Qualia Animation in 2016 that features the Third Year students (Zutto Mae Kara Suki Deshita a.k.a I've Always Liked You and Suki ni Naru Sono Shunkan o a.k.a The Moment You Fall in Love), and the TV series produced by Lay-duce in 2017 featuring the First Year students in Itsu Datte Bokura no Koi wa 10 Senchi Datta. a.k.a Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart. The whole HoneyWorks ordeal is that everything and everyone is linked in one way or another, yet can be taken in its own universe altogether. Looks and sounds confusing? Because it is meant to be taken that way as part of an eclipsed project.

However, if you're just talking about Heroine Tarumono! alone, this is much easier to digest and understand it as its very own source material (just as is with any other HoneyWorks project), with the only thing linking to it being the main song and the songs released on YouTube that come in at certain points thereafter explaining the background details portrayed in the once again Lay-duce produced anime. And as someone whom have watched the entire series (and yes, that includes the 2020 project film Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata: Secret Story Film that features LIP×LIP's Yujiro Someya (VA Koki Uchiyama) and Aizo Shibasaki (VA Nobunaga Shimazaki) that's made to commemorate HoneyWorks's 10th Anniversary), I can safely say that the HoneyWorks's "Love Confession" series is still going strong with its new generation of the character cast being able to make its own splash to appeal to existing fans and some whom are new to the large universe.

In Heroine Tarumono!, it's the case with the central Heroine Hiyori "Hiyoko" Suzumi who's a countryside girl, who then moves to Tokyo to pursue her dream of being an athlete in track and field despite her lackluster familial circumstances of being a well-knitted but poor family. And just to survive another day by taking odd jobs that would help her family to live better days ahead, one offer came up as the most lucrative: a manager-in-training job that pays handsomely, but the role is dealing with up-and-coming male idol duo LIP×LIP. So being a nobody in school that's surrounded by the idol duo Yujiro and Aizo to the extent of hatred for their nonchalant behaviour and not knowing anything about the life of idols, what's there to lose for Hiyori while supporting her athletic dream? And so, together with her friends of Juri Hattori and Chizuru Nakamura, picking up this apprentice manager will start to change Hiyori's life of her perception of idols, what it means to be one and how far the extent will she go to be treated like an actual Heroine in their lives.

If you know anything about the life of idols, they're not a smooth-sailing bed of roses, harbingering from concerts to private lives (say, in school) that even their presence will cause hype-levels of commotion just by being physically "close" to them. And especially for the staff of people managing these high-profile idols, they have it bad when there's bad press ranging from publicity issues to the worst of the bunch: extreme cases of stalking. And being a manager-in-training, Hiyori has to master all of these while keeping this work as a secret, lest that people find out and start to publish propaganda about her converging with popular idols and make this the stereotypical overblown drama that is so prevalent in Japan. The steadfast Hiyori being frenemies with the LIP×LIP duo Yujiro and Aizo, while juggling between the athletic dream she's been chasing, and being the unpopular girl running the secret task, it's a great fit for Hiyori's character being the Heroine of this story that Runs the Show all by herself, that no matter the endless melodrama adversaries beating her down like strong currents of rain and thunder, she would always find a way to press on through and turn the situations around, even when it seems tough. A hardcore girl that can be air-headed and clumsy, but protects her friends and does her best what she can do, that to me, is the mark of a Heroine.

Having staff members like producer Shunsuke Saito, scriptwriter-cum-series composer Yoshimi Narita and music composer Moe Hyuuga on this since they have the expertise on the HoneyWorks song project franchise is almost a given if the source needs to stay true to its origins, and for the most part, Heroine Tarumono! did what it was advertised to be: the HoneyWorks song project tie-in series that in all honesty, was not great, but good as the adaptations come in delivering the romantic youth aspect of things. And it should be said that Lay-duce is often the representative studio that most idol-related shows nowadays reside in to get produced by, that the presentation is certainly as good as it looks for being an idol show that focuses on the glitz and glamour of its premise. Even the songs ranging from the OST, insert and special ED songs are what you would expect of a HoneyWorks Vocaloid project that's good and memorable for the most hardcore of fans.

It's this aspect that helps keep HoneyWorks relevant to the masses, no matter what it may come up in this huge musical project in the future. Sure enough, I'd doubt that this show would be the last of the HoneyWorks universe, but if it is, it definitely went out with a good bang.

Wow. Two anime based off of music videos this season. Both of terrible quality. Plus, both adaptations are from creators that create Vocaloid songs. Which is also the only reason I watched them both. Honeyworks is pretty good at creating songs, but that doesn't really translate into making good anime. Everything is half baked in this show. Think to yourself for a moment here: what exactly was the focus here? Characters? Barely enough. Maybe a deep social commentary on stalkers? Not really, more like a passing theme and shallow plot point entice the viewers. Maybe the struggles of the idols? Yeah...not really that too. This show doesexactly what I hate about showbiz shows. First of all, despite being still emerging in the scene, there's basically no focus at all on the two idols roadblocks in the showbiz industry. I guess you sometimes will see training montages of them, but other than that, the only problem the idol duo face are external. Oh no, the manger messed up so I have to cover for her. Oh no, I'm pissed at having to go to the school my CEO forced me to go. Oh no, I'm being bullied by industry experts :(.

Despite showbiz being only trait about Aizou and Yuujirou that makes them different from a generic high schooler, the show really doesn't do a good job at honing in on that attribute. Despite the entire premise of the show being about idols and being in showbiz industry, with even the female lead, Hiyori, being their manager, you get basically no info on the projects that they're working on or the struggles they could be potentially going on. This is a recurring theme.

Hiyori's personality and character profile fits a comedy more than a more serious melodramatic show. Like wow, I'm used to high voices in anime, but Hiyori has an annoyingly high voice. And I just looked through Inori Minase's VA roles, and while I don't really have any recollection or care for any of the characters she voices, the producers of this show deliberately made her voice as annoying as possible. Plus, Hiyori just fits the personality of someone from a comedy like Ika Musume. She's naïve to the point of being a child sometimes. When Yuujirou and Hiyori first meet, his complaint of her is very valid. Why the hell would you say out loud in a classroom that he's been involved with the police? Or like, Hiyori will cry at the slightest thing. Can't find first year classroom? Cry, and act like she's just been saved from a fire when someone randomly gives her directions. Haha, isn't it so funny when she's screaming "NO FIGHTING," and she trips? haha wow, I'm definitely not going to get tired of that shit.

Oh, but let's also give this character with the personality of a 12 year old kid straight out of a comedy show sad circumstances. She's like, so tough, having to work her living expenses. Damn, it's so endearing when the idols take pity on her since she's struggling with school. Except that too, isn't a recurring theme. It just passes and goes, the problems of her living circumstances getting less and less important as the show goes on.

Don't forget Hiyori loves running! Since that's half her personality, we're totally going to be seeing her run a lot, practice with her teammates, and all that jazz, right? It's totally not going to be tucked in a forgotten corner in favor of melodramatic stuff, right?

Lastly, the whole stalker situation. Do people think that this is how accurately a stalker is shown? It reminds me of someone like Sarutobi Ayame from Gintama, or Sanae from Ika Musume for how trivial it actually is. There's no confrontation from the actual idols themselves, which is interesting. There's no consequences. There's no actual creepy atmosphere about the stalker. There's nothing crazy. It's as if the only reason a stalker was introduced to the story was to make yet another forced melodramatic situation on Hiyori. For the lack of consequences and the easy wrap-up of the entire stalker situation, I imagine that this encourages stalker behavior more than anything. Well, since the only thing that happens to a stalker is a slap on a wrist, then why don't I do it too? Like haha, what the hell, do people actually think this does anything? It doesn't make the viewer uncomfortable, it's not creepy or disgusting nearly to the degree that it should be.

There's a load of passing themes, plot points, and character development that it's no surprise most of the things mentioned in this show are shallow and lack any substance.

This final impression will spoilers. I'm hiding the name of someone on purpose. The last 3 episodes of “Heroines Run the Show: The Unpopular Girl and the Secret Task” completely ruined the show for me. I used to have the show at a 7/10, I enjoyed it for the most part. I loved seeing Hiyori slowly develop with Aizo and Someya. However, in the last 3 episodes, they introduced the whole stalker arc which isn’t bad on its own, but the way it’s handled is absolutely abysmal. Essentially they victim-blame Hiyori for getting stalked, having her privacy invaded and reward the stalker. The stalker has shown nosympathy towards Hiyori, even when they seemingly felt bad, they felt bad for harming their precious idol group, not their friend. The whole speech about trusting your fans and not finding the culprit was also incredibly stupid. Stalking is a crime and the way they handled the issue is inherently messed up.

A stalker is genuinely a horrible person and the treatment of her sends the message that this type of behavior is okay when it’s absolutely not.

Honestly I am shocked how much a series with a fun character dynamic can take such a quick nose dive in quality. Spoilers but the last handful of episodes basically introduces a stalker problem that gets resolved in a terrible way. Theres a big message of being able to appreciate your fans because they have your best interest at heart but that doesn't really work when that appreciation ends up malicious. The whole situation does get resolved but not without any damage... that gets heavily sweeped under the rug. The main character who was the most heavily affected by the situation's outcome seemingly doesn't feel verybitter at all towards what happened and the stalker themselves never say they feel bad for the MC but instead for hurting the idol group. The MC also gets physically hurt by the stalker as well among other things and somehow the viewers are meant to not completely despise this character that gets off extremely easily.

TLDR, a fun little series with some really nice character dynamics that ended on a poor execution.

Relaxing slice of life story about a girl who moves from the country to a city to become a student-athlete all while becoming a manager of a teenage boy idol group. Plot: Nothing too special, the main character learns what it's like to live alone and how to manage school alongside her manager job which includes dealing with idols, fans, and school. They talk about the struggles teenagers and idols face. Characters: Likeable characters who have their own backstories and aren't overly dramatic. One of the characters in a later arc could have been handled better because her characterization was inconsistent. Art: Nothing Special, opening and ending had somecute animations. CGI is used for idol dance performances but does not take away from the viewing experience.

Sound: The anime is based on a Vocaloid song and the idols perform various songs. The opening and ending had catchy songs.

Enjoyment: Chill slice of life anime that has an optimistic take on school life. Type of anime that can be played in the background while doing something else.

Genuinely underrated. Fluid, 2D, dance/idol scenes, TWO D . 5 ending songs, FIVE. An interesting cast and universe, that doesn't rely on ridiculous quirks or tropes. Overall: 8/10 Heroine Tarumono is a fun SOL anime with some drama sprinkled in between. There isn't an extremely serious story. The drama isn't deep, in fact it's fairly cheap. What works are the characters and the universe. All the chars feel genuine and have great chemistry! And most have their own story and lore as they've acted as main chars of their own anime or honeyworks MV's. It's almost like a giant collab work or a bunch of cameo's, which iswhat makes this anime as enjoyable as it is!

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Art/Animation: 6-8/10

The quality has it's ups and downs and there are scenes that are noticeable worse than others. The backgrounds are fairly average, but the style, colors, and char designs fit well. Most importantly, the idol live scenes are fully 2d and surprisingly really fluid and have varying angles, rather than a still front facing shot!

Sound: 9/10

Honeyworks make great music. Five endings. Multiple insert songs. All of which are fairly popular songs.

The voice acting is great, as expected of the cast. But the ost's on the otherhand are lackluster, or completely forgettable tbh. That being said, they do their jobs of setting the scene, and the honeyworks songs usually follow right after, which more than makes up for it.

Characters: 8/10

Interesting enough to browse their wiki pages. They all have great chemistry, interesting backstories, and don't rely on tropes or gimmicks to work.

Story: 7/10

The biggest issue with this anime is the pacing. There's barely enough foreshadowing for any of the drama that happens and the resolution to these events are short and lack any genuine consequences. Although the mc is Hiyori, the focus shifts to the idol duo often, which adds to their idol-manager relationship, which is a large part of why this anime works. Except, Hiyori and lipxlip act separately for the most part. All the drama focuses around Hiyori, while lipxlip usually has a straightforward practice/idol routine before appearing for a resolution and "climax" live.

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Final Thoughts:

Ultimately, the first episode feels unnecessarily long for an introduction and I only truly began enjoying the series through the second episode. Conversely, the final "arc" or event feels a bit rushed despite being the most important event of the series.

The anime definitely would have benefitted from skipping a few ops (despite being a honeyworks anime) and having another ep to make it a 13 ep cour. That being said, the series was a fun watch and I'd definitely want to see an anime of some of the other characters, especially Sena and Mona!

Well One of the Hidden gems of this season. Haven't seen a lot of people talk about this so hope my review can get more people to watch this series. Heroine Tarumono is a Series which was made by Honeyworks a vocaloid group from thier MVs. They already had some of thier MVs turned into anime which are somewhat crucial for this series as some characters from that appear in this series. I will recommend checking out Itsudatte Bokura no Koi wa 10 cm Datta a 6 episodes anime series and The Moment You Fall in Love and I have always loved you movies beforethis. Now that that is done here is the review for this series.

Heroine Tarumono follows the story of Hiyori who moves to Tokyo for her dream to join a great track and field team to become a great runner but since living in Tokyo is costly she has to get a part time job which pays well and she gets this offer to become the trainee manager of the idol duo LipxLip despite not really knowing about idols.

The music production for this is really and and the art and animation is good too. The character chemistry is what sells this show at first but the later half becomes a great story about their struggles.

I hope you liked my review. My score is 9/10 so far

My first review on MAL :D Hiyori Suzumi is a high school girl who becomes a manager-in-training for the high school idol unit LIP×LIP. Hiyori left her hometown to pursue her passion, track and field, by enrolling in Tokyo's Sakuragaoka High School. Looking for a part-time job in Tokyo, she ended up working as an apprentice manager for her classmates (and LIP×LIP members) I was looking forward to this one. Not because I'm familiar with the HoneyWorks songs it's inspired by, or because I knew all that much about the premise or staff going in, though. No, what had me excited was just our main heroine's face.One look at those big, honkin' sausage eyebrows and I was ready to die for this girl. And now that I've watched the first episode, I'm also ready to kill for her, should the need arise.

Pretty much this whole episode is just about getting to know Hiyori as she ventures into the unfamiliar worlds of Tokyo and High School. We do eventually get to the hook – Hiyori gets a job as the manager-in-training for a duo of idol boys who are also in her class at school – but only in the final moments of this premiere. Everything before that is just about gradually showing us who our titular heroine is – what she loves, what she's bad at, how she makes (or doesn't make) friends, and just getting a strong dose of her lovable personality. It's super sweet, and a good chunk of that is down to just how expressive she is. Between her eyebrows, her high energy movement, and her body language it's hard not to be charmed as she bumbles her way through the ups and downs of high school life. Watching her slog through the endless cycle of job applications and interviews hit especially hard, and declaring her reason for applying is because “I need it to live!” had me ready to stan this doofus full-throttle.

These disparate elements all inform each other: she moved because of the track team, needs a job because her parents have to support her siblings, and ended up with this one because of the hours she needs to devote to track practice—but it's hard to know exactly how the show will manage to interweave them. For a person, having so much going on sounds like a recipe for burnout, and for a story, it risks feeling disjointed or compressed. Even so, I like that Hiyori has so much going on. Too often in shojo melodramas, the heroine has no friends or real hobbies outside of her abusive boyfriend, sorry, I mean primary love interest. Hiyori being a well-rounded person means having support structures and people to turn to when the boys act like buttheads and buttheads they are.

There are a lot of ways for Heroines Run the Show to trip and fall, but I want so badly to see it succeed. I'm rooting for Hiyori and everyone around her.

The one downside here is that we don't yet have a good idea of the side characters, or what the dynamic of the show will be going forward. We know the main idols boys are far less gracious than their public personas and seem to hate each other's guts behind the scenes, but we have no clue why. We meet several other characters who are presumably part of our extended cast, but most of them never interact with Hiyori, so how they're connected to anything going on with our central trio is largely a mystery. All those question marks don't need to be a problem, but in a show as character-driven as this one, it's a little uneasy to not know what our main characters' dynamic will be like going forward. Hiyori may be a wonderful bundle of chipmunk energy, but if everyone around her is a jerk, I don't know how entertaining that will be.

But for now, at least, this is a super charming beginning. It's well-paced, features lots of lovely and expressive animation, and more than made me want to see Hiyori clear the hurdles in front of her. That's plenty of motivation to keep following this one.

These disparate elements all inform each other: she moved because of the track team, needs a job because her parents have to support her siblings, and ended up with this one because of the hours she needs to devote to track practice—but it's hard to know exactly how the show will manage to interweave them. For a person, having so much going on sounds like a recipe for burnout, and for a story, it risks feeling disjointed or compressed. Even so, I like that Hiyori has so much going on. Too often in shojo melodramas, the heroine has no friends or real hobbies outside of her abusive boyfriend, sorry, I mean primary love interest. Hiyori being a well-rounded person means having support structures and people to turn to when the boys act like buttheads and buttheads they are.

There are a lot of ways for Heroines Run the Show to trip and fall, but I want so badly to see it succeed. I'm rooting for Hiyori and everyone around her.

After writing itself into a thematic briar patch, Heroines Run the Show makes a dash towards a happy conclusion, but it can't help stumbling over the nettles. On the surface, this is a pleasant ending that wraps up a confrontational final arc on a high note that leaves everyone in a better place than where they started. Good, right? And it does kinda work as a way of tying a bow on what has been, for the most part, a breezy series about a pair of dysfunctional idols and the friends they made along the way. However, the complications, caveats, and consternation brought on byChizuru's role in the scandal don't lend themselves to such a tidy resolution.

I think the most egregious mistake of this last arc isn't a matter of how it talks about fandom; it's that it focuses on fandom in the first place. Heroines, up to this point, wasn't really a show about idols. It was a character piece about Hiyori wrangling her new large teenage sons and the issues that inevitably arose from this weird under the table gig. The idol stuff was colorful texture, and it made for some eye-popping musical scenes, but it was ancillary to the personal dramas and the intrigue of finding out what made them tick. Even if these weren't especially rich characters, they each had stuff going on behind the scenes, and their rapport together was a lot of fun.

This scandal arc, then, worked as far as putting pressure on the relationship foundation that Hiyori, Yujiro, and Aizo had forged. Once the cast started making sweeping statements about fans and fan feelings, however, they became mouthpieces, not characters. I don't think it's necessarily wrong either for Heroines to branch into more ambitious and more contentious territory, but the writing and direction have to rise up to meet that level of abstraction. I already talked about the confused framing in last week's episode, and while this week is more consistently bubbly, it can't help but feel too treacly given the degree of harm done and trust betrayed.

I've also been pretty laissez-faire about the whole top secret idol manager thing, because improbability aside, it was just a vehicle for getting these characters to butt heads in fun ways. That leniency flies out the window when Hiyori's confession ends up being the thing that finally convinces Chizuru to reconcile with her friend and forgive herself. If that's all it took, it undercuts the drama of the entire situation, and it makes the arc look more frustrating than compelling. This season took pains to highlight all the work both idols and their managers have to put in, yet this disaster boils down to gross managerial negligence that unwittingly allowed resentment to stew for the sake of pointless secrecy. And rather than address this in any way, the characters instead spew platitudes about being good idols and being good fans.

This episode feels rushed on top of everything else too. I really thought we'd get at least a morsel of additional context for Chizuru's behavior, but there's nothing here that even attempts to explain her stalking. Instead, she and Hiyori make up with minimal friction so the cast can rush to the big concert and watch the boys strut their stuff on stage. The epilogue is also full of stuff that really should have been in the show proper, not the least of which is Hiyori discovering that Mona was an idol this whole time. We could have gotten an episode or two out of that, and I guarantee it would have been more fun than this dour stalking business.

I honestly didn't intend to spend so much of this review complaining, so I do want to highlight the parts I did like. Aizo and Yujiro's performance, while not as flashy as the midseason one, still impresses if only for the show's refusal to use CG animation. Their scenes with their respective brothers are both also nice to see, even if I wish the show had spent more time developing these relationships and their points of friction. Hiyori busting a move in a panda costume is a very cute note to end on too. I am glad, in the end, that while the boys know how to weaponize their charm, a Hiyori romance was never the main thrust of the series. That might've helped focus a rather scattershot season, to be fair, but I think the lack of rigidity was a net positive for Heroines.

It's always a shame when an otherwise good show decides to end on its worst arc. I wish they'd done almost anything else with Chizuru's character, or if the creators where that gung-ho about it, I wish they'd devoted more consideration to both her psyche and the surfeit of thorny real life issues surrounding fandom. But overall, I definitely enjoyed Hiyori's misadventures. While this sour taste in my mouth will fade with time, my affection for her formidable spirit and equally formidable eyebrows should stick around for a long time.

Tldr; It was okay! Nothing spectacular but still enjoyable. There are other better idol, slice of life, romance shows out there. This one had a pretty steady pace until the end. But it was still enjoyable. A good mediocre/filler watch. Now a breakdown: Art- It was pleasant. The art was okay and they had some good animation. I wish for more detailed moments or fluidity to really help capture visuals but there was nothing bad nor stellar. Music- I'm not really into idol music anime. But I actually liked the endings songs quite a lot. They were cute! There actually isn't a lot of singing in this despitethem being idols.

Story line- The plot felt a little disconnected. There weren't clear enough goals and obstacles in the over arcbing narrative. Minor episodic ones but I thought the big Countdown Live would be a larger goal. It just felt...empty? There was nothing there that drove to further their growth as characters and what growth was had felt minute. There could have been more challenges within their work as idols, battling the other boy group, their family drama and drama amongst theirselves. There could have been further plot points for their relationship with school mates, girls and our FL.

Characters- Kinda flat? There are too many side characters that hardly get used. Which is a shame, because many of them have the potential to be rather interesting! Same with our 3 leads. There is minor growth in the way the 3 interact with each other and our FL but not enough development. If they don't want a romance then that's fine, but I need something deeper. We get shallow resolutions to "conflict" of family drama and girl issues. And the whole stalker situation was poorly handled.

I can kinda get why they want to keep her job position seceret but so many people know??? And they don't hide it well??? Plus it would avoid scandal if they *were* open about it!

It just felt...disappointing. The FL is actually pretty refreshing with wanting to fight back instead of being pushed around. The characters around her have potential. But we get only a taste of track dreams, her friends, the boys' idol work, and their relationship/friendship. All of it is just a peek with nothing more. Which is a shame!

Not a bad watch if you're in between shows. But you won't be satisfied.

I have watched many MV's that HoneyWorks made (even other youtube channels that uses their characters), read some of the manga /and light novel, played their mobile game, and I would say, I am a fan of their work. I also have bought several merch they sold. I am saying this so you know what I'm about to say are pretty biased. While the story is pretty cliched, but what I like about it is the character has a lot of nuance to them. they have their own story in the MVs and in this anime they show only a glimpse of other characters story. Thischaracters have their own stories create a larger world they live-in seems more alive. I don't know how other people see the stories but I like they way they focused their story on Hiyori, Aizo and Yuujiro, and give fanservices with other character.

The animation on the dancing is pretty good, usually this animation used out of place CG with wrong FPS or character shading. But in here, Lay Duce manage to create a balance of CG and their drawing animation to make it not as hard to look at. Accompany with songs that I listened and liked really make it for me.

Overall I enjoyed watching this anime and the execution for the story and character that I like from MVs / other media in HoneyWorks.

Heroines Run the Show is an interesting look at idol culture through the lens of the companies responsible for it. Throughout the series, we get to see how the management team handles LIPxLIP while trying to bridge the gap between the boys and their high school peers. The relationship that develops between Hiyori and her charges is mostly wholesome, even going so far as to subvert expectations a few times, particularly regarding Hiyori's more "tomboy" appearance. Aizo and Yujiro start out antagonistic toward her and each other, but even they can't remain immune to the power of the enthusiastic protagonist forever. Their dynamic is funto watch, but unfortunately Hiyori's background is the only one that feels most fleshed out. Every other character that gets introduced in the show has their one story to explain their presence or motivation and they're sticking to it, whether they get development or not. That being said, it works for the episodic nature of the anime.

Since this is an idol show, of course there are plenty of fun performances to enjoy. Not only do the episodes have their own sequences within the story, but the show as a whole showcases a handful of different EDs that feature the characters performing. Still, it's the stage shows that truly take the cake. The moment the idols take the stage to perform a song, the animation shift becomes just noticeable enough that it's weirdly uncanny. It isn't bad in the least, but it doesn't blend so seamlessly into the rest of the animation that it escapes the watchful eye either. It's so fluid that it's either rotoscope (most likely) or some very convincing CGI.

Unfortunately, what really leaves the biggest impression is the show's stance on idol culture and the fans who participate in it. It's nothing new for media about idols to focus on how the idols themselves need to work hard to impress their fans because anything that upsets the fans (and negatively impacts their popularity) is somehow considered to be directly their fault, but this show goes another step further by trying to encourage obsessive behavior via the parasocial relationship these managerial teams try so hard to cultivate. Clearly, the stance it has taken on matters such as stalking and fan jealousy is a cop out so as to not upset the status quo. There is a small plea in the last episode for fans to think about who they're hurting before they act on their feelings, but it is largely overshadowed by affirmations that idols love and appreciate their fans and understand that these behaviors are signs that the fans love and support the idols back.

Overall, it's a fun show with entertaining characters and music. Definitely worth a watch if the idol genre is your thing.

I actually really enjoyed this. As cliché and shoujo as this was, the relationships and character developments were not bad. And some parts weren't even that expected in my opinion. Usually in these tropes, both the idols will fall for the girl and you know maybe some argument happens but there isn't that here. Both guys are equally tsundere-types and joke and mess around with her every so often while being caring at the same time. They even helped her clarify her doubts when her childhood friend confessed to her. They were supportive of her decision regardless of whether she got together with him or notand they even had a talk with the childhood friend to affirm his feelings for her.

That said, what was up with that last ep lmaooo. Both of them kissed her mascot costume and I was screaming along with her hahahaha. It was a really sweet moment but I don't know what that was for. Maybe to show their appreciation for her or maybe it was just fan-service I don't even know.

I have one MAJOR issue with this show though. And it is the way they justify, that friend, Chizuru's behaviour. I get that she's a big fan of LIPXLIP but that was honestly too much and everyone just forgives her just because she's a fan LIKE NO. BIG RED FLAG. NO. She got so obsessed with Aizou and then starts working part-time to earn money to buy their merch and concert tickets and send them gifts like you know what, even that is fine. Teen girls do things like that. But the fact that she said she'd dedicate her whole life to them was just downright weird as hell bruh. And after that stunt of her exposing Hiyori and the guys, she didn't even get that much backlash. Like yeah sure everyone got mad but she was forgiven so easily and even punched Hiyori in the face like what in the ever loving- Even she herself said she shouldn't be a fan of them anymore but oh no Hiyori has to be the heroine and forgive her and let everything go like BRUH. If she can stir shit like this once and not even get into that much trouble, she may just do it again. And they try to justify this by saying oh she didn't know Hiyori was their manager-in-training. LIKE WHAT?? NO!!! So what if she was or was not their manager??? Does that mean she can go around spreading shit and causing trouble like that??? You're telling me the guys can't have normal girl friends or even be in a relationship??? Nothing justifies her behaviour. I don't care how much she say's she's poured money into them or worked hard for them or whatever, you don't do that. And the final ep with the boys saying they're not in a relationship because they have their fans/Julietas or whatever is just... I don't know if this is Japanese culture where idols dedicate their lives to something and because of that they aren't allowed to have normal lives or whatnot but let me just say, no. They both deserve to have normal relationships and not give everything up just because of their fans. It's not like all their fans are gonna stay single forever either like come on.

Okay with that out of the way, I really liked that one cliché ep of them going on a shopping spree for Hiyori's makeover. She looked really cute and I wondered if they were just going to keep her dressed-up self throughout the rest of the season but they surprisingly didn't which I appreciated. It maintains her image from the beginning and I liked that. And I'm sorry but I have to say this, Hiyori's screaming voice really grates on me and I want to stab my ears every time she does that. I'm sorry sweetie but you need to stop.

A 7/10 of me.

Honestly, there was nothing majorly wrong with this - it was just fairly mediocre and honestly wasn't really my vibes. I don't really care for fiction surrounding idols as they all tend to follow the same story beats, and it wasn't that different here - we had some obsessive fans causing trouble with rumours about dating, and the girl caught in the middle (this time their secret manager in training) gets abused because of it. Having long sequences of singing within anime also just isn't really for me - fair enough it makes sense given the context, but I wasn't a huge fan of themusic and the whole fan culture with the Julietta's was more cringy than anything else for me.

This was a very refreshing show! I loved our main character Hiyori and how she interacted with the others throughout the series. Also want to emphasize the great decision to not make the idols the love interests, I adore their dynamic and friendship. All of this would have made it a 10/10 since the story was so enjoyable, but the last few episodes weren't my favorite. When they made her friend the crazy fan, I definitely started liking the show less. Instant backtrack of character development for Hiyori since she forgave and encouraged her despite her friend's actions. I try to view this from afreshman high school perspective in the sense that these characters are basically kids; they're going to make some dumb decisions. But this is an anime that sends a message, and I don't enjoy the way Hiyori thought she was guilty of everything when she did absolutely nothing wrong and certainly was not obligated to have to go the extra mile for that girl in the last episode.

(I watched as this came out, but obviously didn't have an account then. So review time is now! Wheee!) I gave Heroine Tarumono an 8. That is how much I enjoyed it. Is that how much you'll enjoy it? If you are a Honeyworks fan, very probably! If not? Who can say! This story is pretty straightforward: shojo, school, friendship, idols, a female lead who is just freaking trying her best, ok??? If it doesn't hook you, then it doesn't hook you. I wouldn't say you're 'missing out' by skipping it. (you should watch "Itsu Datte Bokura no Koi wa 10 centi Datta"! long ass titleI know. it's good Haniwa content)

Story: It was so fun to see my beloved MVs become actual connecting plot. I enjoy how LipxLip becoming friendly with Hiyori is a real slow burn.

Art: I lovelovelove Yamako's designs and artwork, and I don't really think they were done justice here. The animation isn't great, but it isn't like jarringly bad or anything. The makeup on characters looks pretty tragic and FT4 is especially unsightly. Not Juri though you will never catch her slipping.

Sound: All-star cast. Everyone is incredible. I'm never not stunned by how good Zakki and Ucchi's vocals are. Was so happy when we got special EDs too!! I love Honeyworks' music so of course I liked the songs. (I miss Honeyworks Premium Live...)

Characters: Obviously the highlight for me. It was just fun to see all the characters. 1-1 has always been my fav class and when Kodai and Juri became a thing... girl... I lost my mind (in a good way. Love them) Hiyori and Hina being buddies is so awesome. I was bummed at the introduction of Nagisa. Because I am a HiyoMona truther!!! Haniwa give us a gl plotline that isn't unrequited love urrrrh.

Will we ever get a Sota x Akari animation project? Is it too late to hope for that? (yeah...) Fingers crossed for FT4 eventually.

Now I am not usually a fan of idol anime but like Ya Boy Kongming this anime genuinely surprised me with how good it was! It followed our MC Hiyori who is the last person you would think would manage an idol group but girl got to eat and she gives it 110%! The dynamic between her and the two male idols is refreshing because there is no romance whatsoever. Just her desire to be the best manager she can be. In an anime like this you would expect the romance triangle but I am glad they didn't go that route and instead focusedon the craft of being an idol and Hiyori's dreams of being a track star. If you are looking for something a bit more lighthearted with a good story and character development then I recommend you check out Heroines Run the Show!

Heroine Tarumono or else Heroines run the show. Where should I start and where to end? I have to say one thing: it's an underrated anime! At first I didn't know a thing about Honeyworks, but thanks to Heroine Tarumono, I fell in love with the music so I started slowly learning more about Honeyworks and watched other series based on them like I've always liked you, The moment you fall in love, Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart and of course LIPXLIP secret movie. Yes,Honeyworks made their charm again. Let's see it more analytically. SPOILER ALERT FROM THERE ⚠️ Plot:9/10 A girl coming froma village moving to Tokyo to become a professional at running. That sounds cliche,but then it becomes a bit more interesting when she ends up becoming manager in training for two idols who didn't even hear about before. Yes,many people will find cliche the fact that LIPXLIP became idols so they could follow their dreams and go against their families,but still, the anime manages to make the cliche interesting. Yume Fanfare tells the story of the two idols in a creative way and of course it connects the movie I mentioned before, which talks about Aizo's and Yuujiro's past and what led them to become idols while Heroine Tarumono shows more about the two boys life as idols and that makes it a good slice of life. Also,Hiyori also plays an important role to the series since she is the one who managed to tame Aizo and Yuujiro, and even made them to be more friendly to each other and of course their fans. In other words, Heroine tarumono has a slightly cliche yet sweet and domestic plot

Art:10/10

I really loved the artstyle of the series. It's so smooth and sweet,like if it's a normal shoujo anime:well designed characters,cute girls with big sparkling eyes and shining hair,attractive, handsome boys with charming looks,everything is amazing! You can easily fall in love with all the characters just by looking at their art style. In fact,it's almost like the music videos of Honeyworks. I don't have anything else to say about the art style is amazing!

Music:10/10

I wish I could give more than 10 just for music. The main opening "Julieta " made me want to give a chance to this series. It sounds so charming and princely. That represents LIPXLIP:their the princes or else Romeos, that's why their fans,who are mostly girls are called Julietas. But the ending "Tokyo Sunny Party " was also great! Hiyori, Juri and Chizuru VA made a masterpiece party like Song that makes you want to dance. As for the songs in the series,all of them are amazing:Romeo,Yume Fanfare, Yappa Saikyu, all those songs can make anyone fall in love with LIPXLIP. But let's not forget about other idols like Mona or Full Throttle4. I'll talk more about them later,but what I want to say about them is that Full throttle4 most famous song that appears in the series which is called "GOODBYE" ,along with other songs which anyone can find on YouTube (LOVE ANTHEM, DEAR LAYLA,WELCOME SICKS etc),can tell everything about the group's pasts and trust me,I loved FT4 more than LIPXLIP just because of the theme of their songs . On summary, the music is just a masterpiece. Congratulations, Honeyworks!

Characters:10/10

All the characters are amazing in their own way! From main characters to minor characters ,everyone has his/her charm. What I mean with that? Let's analyze it:

Hiyori Suzumi is the cliché boyish character who wants to follow her dreams and make money to help her family. She has a strong will and confidence and is always there to support LIPXLIP, even if it means she has to sacrifice herself (Sprain her ankle to save their performance for example). And of course I can't ignore the fact that even if she hated them at first,Hiyori ended up attaching on them too much that she regretted herself for having to leave(and then return lol),but she knows it is for their good. In general, she is a bit kawaiii.

Aizo Shibasaki is one of my most favorite characters of the series for many reasons. Is it because he went against his mother by becoming an idol? Is it because he has a bubbly personality despite of his fear around women? Is it his love for cats? He is a real star! In fact,he is the real prince charming who's there for the princess,even if he's slightly a Tsundere lol. What I love about him is the way he "flirts" with Yuujiro on stage hehe.

Yuujiro Someya is different. If Aizo is the handsome flirty prince, Yuujiro is the mysterious adorable prince who's a true gentleman . Like Aizo,he went against his parents and didn't follow the path of Someya family and become a kabuki performer and instead he became an idol. He is a big Tsundere who loves dogs,but he is such a sweetheart!

As for the other characters, as I said, I'm a big fan of Full Throttle4, FT4 for short. All of them are fun and underrated. Especially IV-San,the DJ and manager of the group. Come on,he is the one who connects Full Throttle4. Give him more attention!

What is more interesting is the mix of the generations. Kodai,Koutarou, Ken,Arisa,Hina and Sena are all second years so they're all in second generation. Kodai dates Juri so that's a very good example to explain the connection of generations. And finally, in the last episode, the third generation (Natsuki ,Yuu,Mochita,Akari and Miou) appear in the background, cheering for LIPXLIP. That's a symbolically movement to show how close the characters are and that's really nice!

Overall , Heroine Tarumono is a great anime series with many messages about life and friendship. This show tells you indirectly:"Don't do things you don't like. Follow your dreams and have fun". If you like music/idol series or if you're fan of Honeyworks, this anime is suitable for you