Available to view on Crunchyroll
Another star is born and whether the anime movie Trapezium truly explores what goes on in creating an idol singer depends. This tale is allegedly based on a story by Kazumi Takayama, a former member of Nogizaka 46. If true, the insights are not that many. I believe this film is more of a satire than anything else.
When this character drama is atypical, there’s none of that hyper intensity from Pompo the Cinephile (movie review) here. Here, the much slower story focuses on Azuma Yuu (Asaki Yuikawa), whose desire to be famous requires her to be something worse. While she’s almost like Ally Campana from the aforementioned film, her charming attitude isn’t immediate. Ranko (Reina Ueda), Kurumi (Hina Yomiya) and Mika (Haruka Aikawa) are her friends. Together, they are training to be Japan’s next top talent.
And although this film doesn’t explore the in-fighting that often happens, I’m sure there were bits of the real-life story that’s pruned out. Just what Asaki does to her pals isn’t all that surprising.
As fame comes and goes (which is a sad fact of this fast industry), what’s presented is still fascinating. Overall, this film won’t change viewers’ minds about whether each wannabe has got talent. The soundtrack is quite decent, and I can get why the masses like these manufactured talents. And while I appreciate the fact it shows the huge amount of work required to get there, sometimes some starlets just need a reality check. That’s why this film succeeds rather than just being another poke at the industry.
3 Stars out of 5
Trapezium Movie Trailer
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