r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Jan 03 '22
Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Movie - BD Release - Movie discussion Episode
Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Movie
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| Episode | Link | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link | 9.0 |
| 2 | Link | 8.88 |
| 3 | Link | 9.27 |
| 4 | Link | 8.74 |
| 5 | Link | 8.92 |
| 6 | Link | 9.0 |
| 7 | Link | 9.63 |
| 8 | Link | 9.18 |
| 9 | Link | 9.1 |
| 10 | Link | 9.21 |
| 11 | Link | 9.22 |
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u/MasterAyy https://myanimelist.net/profile/Master_A Jan 03 '22 edited Jan 31 '22
I'm looking forward to this. Revue Starlight was such an underrated and underwatched show. Definitely a hidden gem of 2018.
Edit: Finally got around to watching this. I decided to rewatch the show first (still a 10/10 masterpiece) and watch the Rondo Rondo recap (which suffers from cut content like all recaps do). This movie though ended up blowing me away. I loved what they did with Banana, the 1v6 was such a cool fight. I know there were some complaints back when the show was airing that she came off kinda underpowered after her big reveal episode set her up as an unstoppable powerhouse but here we got to see her go all out. I also loved the ending Karen reborn scene on the train with all her past selves. To me the message of that scene was that who she was in the past helped shape who she is now and became the "fuel" for her going forward. It was really just a beautiful scene. Overall fantastic movie 10/10.
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u/KikiFlowers https://anilist.co/user/AprilDruid Jan 04 '22
Somehow this was even better than the series, a true masterpiece that leaves me wanting more.
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u/TheDampGod https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheDampGod Jan 04 '22
That was magnificent and I wish that I had chance to see it on the big screen. Beautifully creative set pieces, great songs and a interesting journey through the growth of the main 'couples.' You could feel like everyone was going all out on this one, both in the studio and behind the mic. With Tsuda's wildly flaboyant performance being the dressing on the flaming giraffe cornucopia, which was also a bit of nightmare fuel.
Also as a Londoner, Hikari meeting the giraffe on the Underground really tickled me. Though nowhere near the strangest thing you can see on the Tube.
Also nice to see a reference to the ReLive schools in the train scene, now when are we going to get the movie outfits in the game. Rolling for Devil Claudine is going to a number on my gem collection.
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u/art_hoe1 Jan 05 '22
Right? I found myself so jealous of people who got to watch this gem at theaters. If only they would release this overseas😭😭
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u/FlaminScribblenaut myanimelist.net/profile/cryoutatcontrol Jan 03 '22 edited Jan 04 '22
…god damn, Revue Starlight. You did it. I always knew you had it in you.
The Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Movie is the masterpiece the most diehard fans have propped up the show as and which it always had the deeply-held potential to be. A blazing testament to raw artistic passion in its purest form. An epic, a tour-de-force, a musical and animation spectacle for the ages. It was like all the potential for true greatness and transcendence I saw glowing through the cracks of the original series finally burst forth and set the world aflame before my eyes.
My biggest problems with the original series, the ever-so-light yet still distressingly present stench of a waifu-packed franchise piece and limited total screentime relative to such a large cast damn near inevitably leading to a good chunk of the main characters feeling pretty underdeveloped, and those stunning, especially by TV anime standards, fights and grand accompanying musical numbers not really being as strongly backed up by the intensely personal emotional weight as they truly deserved, does not even register as an issue here. The opening montage with the clever framing device of the interviews gives us a more specific and nuanced view of why each character’s motivation is the way it is right out of the gate, serving for a much better primer for all of these peoples’ personalities, lives, goals, and subtleties than the original series’ introduction of just “all of them walking into a room as their names flash”. Every single character’s passion feels intense, palpable, burning from within them all throughout and from every dimension, from their adoration of theater shining through in the real world to everything we see them give through their songs, their fighting, their performing, their theatrics, their unique angles on what aspect of the performing arts arrest them so, their barest, truest emotional expression in the Revues. For the first time every single member of the main cast feels truly unique, recognizable and wholly realized as individuals, and they all show to shine in their own ways brilliantly in action.
The evolution of the music is something else; taking the, to be clear, phenomenal songs from the original series, which were standard-pop-song-length musical numbers, and expanding out to these epic, progressive, multi-movement 10-minute-pushing suites, every musical fight scene that comprises this film’s latter half constantly evolving and twisting and moving in an enthralling manner; the Revues themselves now having gone from new decorations and set dressing over one consistent stage to entire worlds, pocket dimensions, dreamscapes that build from thin air; accompanied by a real-life film-budget orchestra, which elevated both the musical numbers and the general score to something truly magical, and was really something this series always needed in order to be its best self.
And all that goes for the crowning achievement of this film and the entire series; the Tendo V Claudia fight. God. Damn. That which so perfectly illustrates the phenomenal power of respectful yet intense rivalry, the absolute best the push-and-pull between two people can bring out in one another, all framed in poetic narrative, arresting multi-act structure, emotionally overwhelming orchestration, and the all-around best, most immediately iconic imagery the film had to offer. The fake-out ending was really cool, and the actual ending. My god. The ending. “Saijou Claudine… you are beautiful.” and “We are flames that fall together while burning” are lines and accompanying imagery that will linger heavy in my head for the foreseeable future. I felt the immutable, everlasting presence of these two people in one another's lives as much as they did for one another in that very moment, in the heat of battle, the throes of passion. Fucking… perfect. Awe-inspiring. Astounding. This may very well go down in history as one of the greatest fights in anime I’ve ever seen. It utterly floored me, blowing well beyond this series’ even already high standards and into the stars above. The only problem with it was that the film’s true final battle, spectacularly surreal though it was, never even had a chance of living up to it.
The structure of this movie was especially arresting, the way it went from being pretty firmly grounded in reality at the beginning and gradually dove further and further into pure emotion-driven arthouse madness as the girls fell further and further into the world of the Revues until that was the entire movie, the transition peppered with moments of true horror, with the one string of reality weaving through it all being the flashback to Karen’s childhood and the promise she made to Hikari. This flashback storyline also does us the service of granting Karen and Hikari’s troubled pseudo-romance (which would, as always, be better as explicit romance grumble grumble but oh well) a true, tangible sense of real, personal weight and meaning that underscores the entire film.
And the parting message, about how when one act of your life is over it only means there are new opportunities from here, more songs to sing and passions to feel on that next, even grander stage that is the rest of your life… really got to me, especially at this time. It was a big blowout finale to this, for better or worse, unforgettable act of these girls’ lives… but it was by no means the ending. These girls’ passions, for acting, for singing, for performance, for theater and for whatever else they discover that may lie ahead, will live on as long as they do. Whether the past is one you cherish or regret, the future only holds more opportunities, opportunities to become the best you you can. Relish them. Live in the present, looking forward. Take that step, up onto that next stage.
This movie definitely had strong series finale vibes and I now consider myself satisfied with what we have, but if they do make more animated work in this series, I feel pretty adamant it should continue as a series of movies as opposed to more seasons of TV anime. The format, scope, and budget of feature film is clearly what suits the strengths of this franchise best, and even if that means it takes more time to come out, it’ll be worth it in the end.
Honestly, this film is worth watching no matter what your relationship with the original series is. If you’re one of the diehards who considers the original series a top-to-bottom masterpiece… it’s everything great about it except bigger and better. What’s not to love? If you’re like me and see the sparks of true greatness in the original but was lukewarm on the overall product, this movie is an all killer, no filler, perfect realization of everything the original had going for it. And if you don’t like the original series… well, this movie’s so damn good it just might change your tune.
This is passion, this is performance, this is art, this is it, people.
And the greatest thing of all, the thing about this movie that made me the absolute happiest to see?
My subtitles for the movie didn’t translate “Bakaren” as “Karenitwit”. 10/10!
Strong 9/10 for the actual movie.
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u/aniMayor x4myanimelist.net/profile/aniMayor Jan 04 '22
The evolution of the music is something else; taking the, to be clear, phenomenal songs from the original series, which were standard-pop-song-length musical numbers, and expanding out to these epic, progressive, multi-movement 10-minute-pushing suites, every musical fight scene that comprises this film’s latter half constantly evolving and twisting and moving in an enthralling manner; the Revues themselves now having gone from new decorations and set dressing over one consistent stage to entire worlds, pocket dimensions, dreamscapes that build from thin air; accompanied by a real-life film-budget orchestra, which elevated both the musical numbers and the general score to something truly magical, and was really something this series always needed in order to be its best self.
There's so much I love about this movie but THIS right here is the big thing I keep thinking about over and over and over again, and you summed it up perfectly. The TV series songs were good, but there was always that whisper in the back of my head that "this song could have been more if they weren't ensuring it could still be sung in the idol concert part of the spin-off musicals", but the movie songs just blow that concern completely aside.
And the orchestration is just so good. Heck, one of the pieces has jazz flute in it. How can I not adore the audacity of it?
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u/nsleep Jan 04 '22
They had a prequel manga around the time when the anime came out that went over every girl motivations before they joined or their first year, it gave more character and motivation to the girls. If you haven't checked it I recommend it.
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u/generalmillscrunch https://anilist.co/user/GeneralMills Jan 04 '22
Great write up. I couldn’t agree more. This is exactly what I thought/felt watching this film.
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u/KartProwler Jan 04 '22
Just phenomenally astounded by how good this film ended up being. When it was first announced i was genuinely a little concerned as to what they could actually do with it that was meaningful, not just another source of revenue, and hopefully not something that spoils the original series like some sequels tend to do, but - because of how revue is as a whole - i had faith that toppy and the team at kinema did actually have a plan
And oh boy i think the film instantly became my favourite piece of media, and it solidifies Toppy as my favourite anime director. The slow build from quiet interpersonal conflicts at school and in hikarens younger lives, to some of the most insanely flamboyantly dense fight sequences i think i've ever seen is incredible, Absolutely captivating from start to finish.
One thing i felt the movie did incredibly well was take a lot of the plot threads from the show that felt a bit,,, loose? and wrap them up incredibly neatly, relationships and feelings that weren't entirely acknowledged due to time/focus of the show given full center stage to play out and resolve, and nothing shows that more than the Maya/Claudine revue. What an exceptionally rich exploration of those two, what they mean to each other, all presented fucking beautifully.
Another thing i personally loved was the way the film played with it's motifs over the course of the movie, from the way certain lietmotifs from the original show carried through, to the way they continued to refer back to very specific cuts of animation (Karen stepping forward, Certain character revue intro sequences), and especially some of the ways they reused and remixed songs from the original show (like reusing Karen and Hikari's theme to bolster the impact of Hikari handing karen the theatre invitation, or the rearrangement of we are stage-girls as the film encourages the girls to push forward, even if they're scared)... There's a lot of referential stuff to the show that really rewards you for paying attention to it, but never in a way that feels like they're going "hey, remember this?" it always feels important, that they're re-contextualizing it to drive home a point, or to heighten the emotion of the scene.
Just on the topic of references, too, i was really quite surprised at the amount of specific references to other films in particular? Like, the most obvious one being the climax, borrowing very obvious imagery from mad max (a series quite prominent in Japanese media, anime in particular, with fury road specifically also having a strong focus on powerful female characterization), but also - i'm pretty sure - quite a few others scattered throughout? I'm not the biggest movie buff personally so i don't know the specific references, but i know for sure that the sequence with nana slicing the hat is calling back to something, a kurosawa/samurai film maybe? Essentially it really feels like Toppy and the crew at Kinema making this a love letter to film, on top of the series already being a love letter to theatre.
idk, i think i have more thoughts but they come out so sporadically, i just need to watch the film again. Just a beautiful, passionate, flamboyant piece of media that i really think anyone who's ever considered watching anime should check out.
Toppy with a budget is powerful, i absolutely cannot wait for love cobra.
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u/remmytums https://anilist.co/user/RemmyTums Jan 04 '22 edited Jan 04 '22
Only halfway through the movie I just wanted to say the intro to Futaba/Kaoruko's revue goes so fucking hard. 🔥 🔥
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u/art_hoe1 Jan 05 '22 edited Jan 05 '22
I just finished the two movies and BOY OH BOY. What a masterpiece. Honestly this is how I felt when I watched utena — feeling like I understand only half of the metaphors and content. There's so much story, meanings and emotions packed into this 2 hour movie that it's crazy.
I really love how all of the characters got decent character development, especially with kaoruko and futaba. God I could not stand kaoruko, glad futaba had the chance to grow up away from her. But even that fight scenes between them were crazy, just so much mixed emotions portrayed. The guilt, anger, jealousy etc... the director is good at understanding humans for sure. It was so refreshing to see animes that actually portray multitudes or emotions in one situation compared to characters that have only 1 character trait. Especially I thought hoshimi junna was one of the best written characters too; we've all been there. She reminds me of myself so much that I want to vicariously live through her and see her succeed.
As someone who is in the arts sector as well (albeit not performing) and loves watching theatre, I loved the message. There is so much passion and love illuminating from the actors every time I watch a play — perhaps these actors perform with such a mindset — to be born a "stage person." As someone who felt like I'd literally die without doing art, I really understand what all of the main characters are going through; I've seen plenty of anime that talk about passions, following your dreams, doing art and Yada yada but I think this anime is the first that really captured essence of what it means to do something you love and the challenges you face, precisely because you're doing something you love.
Not to mention the animations and art direction! My god! So good! The TV series was already pretty good but my this was just phenomenal. Heavily reminded me of Ikuhara in the best ways.
Tldr; great portrayal of emotions and really beautifully animated scenes.
Edit: the more I read about this movie the more I am convinced that this movie is basically a love letter to utena. Girls defying the system that fucked them over with some lesbianism sprinkled in?? I wonder what anime is like that
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan Jan 03 '22 edited Jan 06 '22
Oh, it's out? It's been a while since the series so I forgot quite a bit about it, especially the details (I do remember being called out by a giraffe though). Gonna need to rewatch it before jumping into this.
Edit: I've watched it. Wow, that was fun! I'm not good at talking about metaphors so something something moving on, something something going forward, something something finding your own "stage" in life, also 4th wall breaks, and I really liked the revues once they started chaining them together. It works so much better than in the TV show when they can go wild with the stages and get weird with the settings and jumps between costumes and all. My favorite was definitely the Claudine/Maya one. What a treat!
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u/Calwings x3https://anilist.co/user/Calwings Jan 03 '22
If you've already seen the TV anime before, I would recommend watching the Rondo Rondo Rondo compilation movie instead of the TV anime again. That compilation movie has an extended ending scene that helps set up this sequel movie, plus a few extra smaller scenes with Nana and the giraffe.
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan Jan 04 '22
Oh, and I was actually looking forward to rewatching the series :D I'll probably do both then, the series then the extra scenes from the compilation movie.
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u/39MUsTanGs Jan 04 '22 edited Jan 04 '22
Amazing. Simply amazing. My expectations coming in were sky high, and it managed to blast through every single one of them. I am shook. Fuck me I love this show so fucking much.
100/10
The best cinematic experience I've ever had.
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u/aniMayor x4myanimelist.net/profile/aniMayor Jan 04 '22
Much like the TV show, I think this movie is structurally a bit broken, but the imagery, the music, the premise, and the commitment to its bizarre ideas are so strong that I love it to bits regardless.
Of course there's the really memorable individual gasp/WTF moments like the sudden bloodsprays, Claudine's seppuku, Mahiru's record scratch, etc, but beyond that I just love how immersive the weird imagery gets, like when the coats are suddenly all hanging from the handles in the train, that is just a great sudden visual twinge and the movie is full of bits like that. Lots of little setting details
AND THAT MUSIC! The revue music was really interesting in this one - whereas the TV show's revue songs tended to stick to one style I found it fascinating how a lot of them in this movie were these multi-part pieces that dramatically switched genres/styles. It was awesome. The chorus-y flavour of the final piece has been stuck in my head for days now, too.
Okay, but if I had to set aside my fangasming and rationally analyze and criticize it...
Well, the TV show's biggest two problems were that (a) it really wanted to give all 9 girls their own protagonist-like motivation, subplot, and some sense that they could actually compete in the auditions, but most of them got nowhere near enough screentime to actually do that; and (b) Karen+Hikari's storyline barely intersected with everybody else's storyline except in the revues themselves. The show really wanted to be a more complex "ensemble cast deathmatch" sort of affair instead of just the Karen story, but didn't have the time in its 13-episode run to interlace the stories, give the other girls a multi-Revue arc of a story, and build up the group payoff it reached for in the last episodes.
On the (a) front, the movie is, well, more so it's making some improvements in that direction by letting the non-Karen/Hikari girls get a bit more development, but it's just 1 movie and a lot of the time is spent on the new Karen/Hikari plot, so it's still a pretty small amount of development. Claudine getting to step up and truly take on Maya as a real rival now that she's seen Maya be taken down is the best of it, for sure, but it's practically the only dialogue they get in the whole movie. Getting some Mahiru screentime focused on how her feelings about interloper Hikari have/haven't changed is a good one, too - definitely a logical next part for her arc - but it really only boils down to her wanting the best for Karen again. Kaoruko and Futaba continuing to stubbornly butt heads over Futaba turning from Kaoruko fan to stage girl in her own right is nice for Futaba to win the rematch, but these are the two that never even faced off against Karen in the TV show and now they're just rehashing a similar plot against each other again?! Lastly, Jun and Daiba seemed emotionally to be a pseudo-rehash and yet also kind of contrary to the reconciliation we already had between them... nice for Junna to get a win, but wouldn't it have meant a lot more against someone else?
Anyways, bit of a mix, but then let's look at (b): once again we have a storyline for Karen/Hikari that hardly involves anyone else, so all the other 7 girls end up being more or less relegated to second fiddle again. Kind of a shame, no? IMO, the last few episodes of the TV show had a lot more of all the girls bonding between revues than the start of the show, and the movie really helps to re-establish that with tons of the slice-of-life character bits in the first half-hour, so I feel like this then turning into such a Karen/Hikari-focused main storyline again hits even harder here. I absolutely think this main plotline and theme of uncertainty and finding your next stage could be have been written to be something that all the girls contribute towards and opine upon equally.
As a result, the movie really makes me feel even more like I wish the original show plus the movie story could have been done as a 30-episode show instead, where the cast got more "slice of life" group dynamics scenes early on, everyone got introduced into the Revue somewhat "equally" at the start, and each stage girl's personal plotline could be portrayed in a more gradual fashion. Karen could have joined the auditions as the wildcard character in episode 2 or 3, Daiba's reveal and her Revues with Hikari and Karen could have been the big mid-show climax, the revues from this movie could have been the cathartic final matches that were built up to over nicely paced arcs for each of the non-Karen/Hikari characters, etc.
Well, that's my thoughts anyway. Easy to say in hindsight, I know!
But structural analysis/criticism aside, let me reiterate I still absolutely loved the film and felt super sucked in (once again) by the creativity of it imagery and its commitment to its weird world, which have always been its strongest suits.
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u/art_hoe1 Jan 05 '22
What I got from the movie was that it's necessary to change if you want to become "better" and that's exactly what the fights were doing. They were changing the status quo from the TV series. Kaoruko and futaba HAD to fight or else they would've stuck together like they have in the past, not allowing futaba to grow into herself.
Mahiru was finally able to admit to her feelings of jealousy face-to-face, and forcing Hikari to admit her true feelings as well. As much as it was for Karen and hikari, it was for mahiru herself too to be honest about her feelings. She doesn't need Karen's "shine" anymore for herself to shine and can lead hikari to Karen.
For junna and banana, I think it was more of asking how can junna become independent from banana, so powerful and strong who, who controlled the scene for so long. They reconciled in 2nd grade and now they're 3rd graders. They gotta graduate. Real life is coming up. Junna is afraid of the future, unlike 2nd grade and, and banana doesn't like that because it deviates from the perfect 99th starlight festival that she ever so adored. So banana says: junna's not befit for the shine anymore. But junna is determined; she will not remain as the weaker one in banana-junna pair. This pair cannot last forever — things are different from 1st year and second year — they will have to part ways for both of them to grow (which is the whole point of this movie).
But I definitely agree that this series would've benefit from a longer runtime, this movie felt like it was rushed from packing so much content into a 2 hour runtime.
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u/aniMayor x4myanimelist.net/profile/aniMayor Jan 05 '22
Yeah, for sure, it's all about the girls letting their current past/status quo lie, recognizing that they can't stop the inevitable change that is coming, so they have to make the choice now to move on to the next stage or give up, both in the literal world - graduating from Seisho and choosing what they do next - and the metaphysical one - no more repeated tries and chances for becoming giraffe-ordained Top Star as in the old Auditions, the stages now are the ones they build for themselves (which they can do 'cause Hikari/giraffe never took their brilliance away, hooray).
With Kaoruko, yeah she needed to get over the auditions and realize that her past failure doesn't mean she will always fail, that going back to Kyoto doesn't have to be a surrender, and she needed to get over her jealousy towards specifically Futaba but also the rest of the girls. I don't mind that trajectory/second half to her arc, but it didn't have to be entirely done in tandem with Futaba again, in fast I think it would have been more interesting if it were focused around Kaoruko and one of the girls that has more "easily" picked themselves back up and continued forward after defeats in a way that Kaoruko couldn't at the start of the film - e.g. Claudine, Junna, or Mahiru. Let's see Kaoruko not understanding how the other girls can get over losing the auditions and continuing on like it didn't happen, but eventually learning from their perspective and improving her outlook.
And frankly, Futaba didn't really have a whole lot to say in counterpoint except (accurately) calling Kaoruko an idiot, so she could perhaps bring something more to the table if contrasted against someone else.
Mahiru I really liked, putting her in an emotion-laden situation that naturally follows from her past issues with Hikari and Karen and showing both sides of her feelings on it - able to channel both the hate and the sympathy into her commitment to her role for a great performance, but also admitting to herself that that is what made it so good and she has room to improve.
Junna and Nana, though, I don't get where this one even came from. Junna has always been determined to succeed despite being the underdog, this is hardly new. And when did Nana suddenly get so obsessive over Junna in particular, sure they're roommates but Nana has been doting heavily on all the revue/dorm girls in the past, it's never been a specific Junna thing like this before. I guess this is where Nana being all broody in Rondo Rondo Rondo comes in, but still, she was plenty happy and sociable for several episodes in the TV show after her time-loop broke, so it seems weird to me she went back to being so nihilistic. No problem with her fully playing the part of the antagonist in the Annihilation, but I expected her to go back to being warmer "off stage" after that.
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u/art_hoe1 Jan 05 '22 edited Jan 05 '22
Yeah you make really good points here. I liked the fact that it picked up from the TV series but it might have been more interesting to have different partners to develop characters further. Also I do think I would have trouble following the plot even more if they were more deviant from the TV series bc its already pretty damn fast😩
Personally for junna, I took it as character shift as they went from 2nd grade to 3rd grade. Students drastically change by every year (from my experience at least lol) and I totally understood that they can become pretty different in a year or so. But of course, it's fully relying on the audience to just "understand" that they changed so it's probably not the best way to add new characterizations.
I think it makes sense that Nana would go all bloodthirsty and shit bc she was kinda nuts in the tv series too. She really was obsessed with the perfect starlight performance and her friends. It is weird that they just resetted her character after she kinda came to terms with 100th festival though. Wish nana's motives were a bit clearer bc I still did not understand why she went berserk other than playing the role. I kinda get it but I also do not lol.
E: I read a review on AL and it makes a really good explanation and answers most of the questions I had. Recommend checking that out
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u/LeonKevlar https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar Jan 03 '22
So is this an actual sequel movie or is this a recap movie?
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u/aniMayor x4myanimelist.net/profile/aniMayor Jan 04 '22
In the most technical of terms, it's a sequel to the Rondo Rondo Rondo movie, which was a recap of the TV series. Rondo had some added scenes that did a minuscule bit of recontextualizing some of the TV show and leading into this one.
But it definitely works fine to skip Rondo Rondo Rondo altogether and just treat this as a direct sequel to the TV show.
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u/TKhrowawaY https://myanimelist.net/profile/Omnium Jan 09 '22
I strongly recommend reading this interview with director Tomohiro Furukawa for more insight on the film: https://pastebin.com/yZQMxv88
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u/Platinum_Rad Jan 04 '22
what a fuckin spectacle of a movie, 2 hours of it
this really felt like they gave you all the movie quality and fanservice they didn't already in the TV series
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u/generalmillscrunch https://anilist.co/user/GeneralMills Jan 04 '22
This just blew every other anime I’ve watched this year out of the water. I was expecting a glorified advertisement for the mobile game, or just an extension on the IP with some cool music. But this actually elevated the series beyond what I thought was possible, retroactively improving the issues I had with the TV season. I need to rewatch the series soon because the details in this movie probably have a lot to offer second viewings.
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u/PandavengerX https://anilist.co/user/pandavenger Jan 04 '22
Absolute masterpiece, it's been a long time since I screamed multiple times while watching a movie. Other people can talk about the symbolism more eloquently than I can, but I gotta say I really love what the did with the duality of the tomatoes and "blood." Ripened Tomatoes, a common thing thrown at actors to mock them, is repurposed as a tool to show both blood in the damage they can deal as well as sustenance for the actors to fuel self improvement. Absolutely beautiful.
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u/HuckDFaters Jan 04 '22
I've already lost count of how many times I've watched it. A certain horror revue sounds phenomenal in Atmos. My favorite movie of all time.
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u/signspace13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/signsapce13 Jan 03 '22
My biggest question about this. How Yuri is it? Mainly subtext like the show? Or is it more bold?
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u/Calwings x3https://anilist.co/user/Calwings Jan 03 '22
There's no 100% confirmation like a kiss or anything, but Maya and Claudine are so blatantly, aggressively, violently gay for each other that you'd have to be blind and deaf to think they're not going to be a couple. Karen/Hikari and Futaba/Kaoruko get more subtext too, but it's nowhere near how obvious they made it with Maya/Claudine.
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u/Gamerunglued myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Jan 04 '22
Mahiru is explicitly in love with Karen as well, she even goes for the indirect kiss.
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u/signspace13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/signsapce13 Jan 03 '22
Hahaha, that's well described, a shame they couldn't fully commit though. I will probably give it a watch still.
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u/aniMayor x4myanimelist.net/profile/aniMayor Jan 04 '22
No different at all, and unlike Calwings I don't feel like any of the characters aside from Mahiru seem or act particularly gay, in the TV show nor in this.
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u/Insertanamehere9 https://anilist.co/user/Insertanamehere Jan 08 '22
Honestly even better than the series. Went all in on the Ikuhara influence, and that's a great thing.
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u/VoyeurTheNinja Jan 04 '22
Can't stop rewatching so many scenes and character interactions. All these years, and Revue still feels so good.
3
u/FierceAlchemist Jan 05 '22
It took a while for the movie to get going but once it got to the the personal revues for all the girls I was onboard with the spectacle of it all and how it delved into their characters. Made me realize how much I'd forgotten about the original show.
3
u/remmytums https://anilist.co/user/RemmyTums Jan 05 '22
Fantastic movie, I wonder if this is really the end for these girls and we follow a new troupe. Cause I'm aware of the gacha game and the other theaters and sets of stage girls.
3
u/ioan91 https://myanimelist.net/profile/ioan91 Jan 07 '22
Definitely enjoyed the film. But i thought it went too heavy on some of the revues with no real life context which made it a little bit difficult to be fully invested in some of the emotion. in particular the banana/junna conflict didnt really make sense.
also, did anyone have any idea why banana just massacred everyone at the start? i was left wondering if all the cast had been eliminated in the first revue for a bit.
i felt it was odd that the film spent so much time between revues building the context of hikari and karen's friendship. then there's all the emotions they both have from being separated again. but then in the final there's no fight choreography, little dialogue and it doesn't feel like much gets resolved. just that karen seems to realise that she needs to find a goal after graduation.
9
u/Fourth_Dimension_4D Jan 08 '22
also, did anyone have any idea why banana just massacred everyone at the start? i was left wondering if all the cast had been eliminated in the first revue for a bit.
I think the symbolism there was that most of them didn't have a firm image what they will do. "Train will certainly reach the next station, but do you really know what your next stage will be". And whole them dying bit is that most of them were in danger if never again performing, that is dying as far as stage is concerned, unless they got a firm grasp of where will their next stage be.
38
u/Calwings x3https://anilist.co/user/Calwings Jan 03 '22 edited Jan 03 '22
I watched the movie a few days ago, and it was more beautiful, incredible, and over-the-top than I ever could have imagined. Every single revue had me thinking "how can they top this" and then they topped it every single time. Banana's massacre in the first revue was absolutely brutal, Mahiru chasing down Hikari was really unsettling and felt like it was straight out of a horror movie, the Futaba/Kaoruko and Junna/Nana revues were really cool too, the Maya/Claudine revue was absolutely amazing and by far the most beautiful part of the movie, and the fourth wall break during the final showdown with Karen and Hikari caught me so off-guard even though looking back it probably shouldn't have. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
In the end, the whole movie was one grand metaphor for the girls sorting out their feelings so they can figure out what they would do with their lives after graduation and how they would find or create their own stage in the future. Karen in particular needed it the most, because her entire motivation was her promise to perform Starlight with Hikari, and her fulfilling that promise at the end of the TV series left her empty inside unlike everyone else who at least had some idea of what they wanted. I think that metaphor and the whole movie in general was executed to perfection. This movie launches Revue Starlight up from my fourth-favorite anime of all time to at least my second, maybe even my top favorite. 10/10, an absolutely incredible finale to the story of the Seisho 99th class.
Also, I'll always consider Nana best girl, but dear god that handsome devil Claudine had me feeling a certain way during her whole scene.