THE IDOLM@STER

And with that, Idolmaster comes to a close, and of course, it would not be an idol anime if it not ended with a concert! After all the struggles, challenges, it is finally time for the girls to put everything they learned into the biggest show they have ever made so far. A brilliant conclusion for an anime that marked a whole generation of fan all around the world.

What happens when the person responsible to bring everyone together simply breaks down? With the accident at the end of the past episode, Idolmaster takes a somber turn and gives us one the most emotional episodes ever, on par and maybe even surpassing Chihaya’s episode in terms of making someone cry.

With the show starting with Haruka, it is really nice to see them coming back to close it with her too, giving us a good full circle moment. And not only with a single episode of focus, but a full arc for these last few episodes of the season. Seeing Haruka does her all to get New Years Concert going, reminds us once again of how much she is hard working, but also, how she is the glue that ties everyone together.

With the Idol Jam concluding in success, even with all the trouble that happened, it is finally time for one of the most anticipated times of the year: Christmas! But with everyone working so hard, and even with a big New Years Concert right around the corner, does the girls have time to celebrate the holiday? A good question that we explore through the eyes of Haruka and allows to have a well deserved cozy episode after all the shenanigans caused by the show’s villain in the past few episodes.

Actions have consequences and hard work always pays off. Those are two well know phrases from our day to day life, but they encapsulates well this episode. Still focusing on Chihaya, we are finally giving a conclusion to her arc in a very satisfying, emotional and rewarding way.

Throughout the past few episodes we had the seeds of this story being planted in the background and finally it pays off, and what a pay off! With the secret out, the anime finally gives us the backstory of Chihaya delivering a truly emotional episode capable to bring even the most seasoned anime watchers to tears.

I don’t know about others, but at least for me, this was the most anticipated episode where we finally see more of the most mysterious girl of the agency: Takane. But sadly, our Princess episode cannot be perfect, with more schemes from President Kuroi taking time from screen, we are sadly left with less time with Takane than she deserves which leaves us with a taste of wanting one more, just one more episode focusing on her.

If there is an character that always have been there, in the background, diligently working and that deserves a bit of extra attention, that was Ritsuko. With her secret, not so secret past as an idol being talked about in past episodes before, it is finally nice to see that coming to the forefront with an episode focused on our pretty producer.

To have your own dreams that you want to fulfill and to be able to fulfill the dreams of others, thus is the life of an idol. A really nice episode that show us a bit of the struggles of the most “different” idol of 765 Pro, Makoto and a nice way to give her some growth not only as an idol but as a person as well.

Sometimes there is evil in anime and other times there is what we see in today’s episode of Idolmaster. Giving us some focus on Hibiki this time around, we have once more to see the schemes and petty plans of the evil chief of a production company. Very few episodes makes me feel like pausing with the cringe, and maybe might be my age, although if the goal of the episode is to make us despise President Kuroi, then the show achieves it with the highest marks.

While Idolmaster has an undeniable formula for their episodes, every once in a while we are greeted with an episode that breaks from that and gives us something truly special. Just like in the first episode, that was framed as a documentary, this us breaks the barriers of the metalinguistics to show us the work of an idol as is. All this fancy talking to say, this truly is an special and in my opinion, one of the best episodes of the entire season.

And what a blessing in disguise that was!! Now that the concert was a success, the girls finally get the recognition that they deserve! But of course, when you shine so brightly there will always be those that will be bothered by it. Showing us once again the ugly side of the idol industry, in the form of one of pettiest characters in the franchisee, the episode reminds us once again that being an idol is not always only sunshine and rainbows.

With Miki’s situation resolved it is finally time for the girls first big concert! But of course, it wouldn’t be an anime if everything worked out without any problems right? And let’s be honest, not even in real life, everything happens without a hitch and this episode does a good job on showing how sometimes, problems arise when you least expected and how some of them, can even turn to become a blessing in disguise.

Looking back, knowing that all the dancing is hand-drawn rather than CGI feels like such a privilege now. I heard the animators for the finale's live concert said they'd collapse gladly if it meant getting the art right, and that love from the production team genuinely comes through on screen. The animation at this level for a cute girl show was something else at that time, and it still looks wonderful over a decade later. And that closing song about growing past hardship to encourage others was a great sendoff. This is an anime where every idol's individual charm gets to shine. Thank you to everyone who made this piece of work.

Little Haruka is adorable, and so were the children. Glad to see her finally work through her feelings, though those scenes did feel a bit surreal. And it was satisfying seeing everyone address how distant they've become. Another really touching episode with a heartwarming ending.

Poor Haruka. You can feel how much she's struggling, even while she keeps trying to hold everything together. It really feels like she's close to breaking. That ending caught me completely off guard too. Really curious how the rest of the show handles this.

Cute, hectic holiday episode. Haruka wanting everyone together for a christmas party despite their packed schedules was sweet. Miki absolutely deserved that award too. Also, there's an absurd amount of cake. Cozy episode all around.

Jupiter boys earned my respect this time now. Chihaya's performance was fantastic, especially once the music kicked in. And the surprise from Otonashi was a nice bonus. Not as powerful as last episode, but still solid.

Amazing episode, and one of the best so far. I knew this would be heavy going in based on the preview and it still got me. I would have never expected a show like this to hit me hard emotionally. Chihaya’s voice is incredible, and that ending song was beautiful.

Takane looked so cool with the fox mask. She's still such a mystery though, which makes her more interesting. That paparazzo guy was insufferable and Kuroi Pro going after best girl is just evil. This definitely feels like setup for something painful next episode.