Heroine Tarumono! – Episode 1 [First Impressions]

Quietcupcake’s Thoughts:

HoneyWorks’ newest anime is finally here! While we’re only just beginning, I think this episode really kicked us off on the right foot.

This series follows a country girl, Suzumi Hiyori, who has made the big move to Tokyo on her own. A brand new, exciting adventure awaits her, but it might take her a little time to get used to everything in the big city. I mean, she’s coming from a school with only two classrooms, to one with multiple stories. That’s a pretty significant change! But she has a great outlook on her new school life so far, so I’m sure this change will be nice and smooth. I hope that by the end of the season she is able to fight the “Japanese lunch time rush” and get her own sandwich. Until then, I’m sure Juri and Chizuru have got her back.

Ah, but the most important development is that she seems to be in a class with two boys, Yuujirou Someya and Aizou Shibasaki, who seem to be gathering all the attention of her fellow classmates. Turns out! They are an idol duo known as LIPxLIP. And of course, like any idol group, they have very charming personas with smiles that can melt away any negative feelings. (And if you ask me, I think Hiyori’s classmates were a little too harsh when she was introducing herself. I get that she’s sitting between the two most popular boys in the class, but they could have at given her a little more than a half-hearted golf clap….).  Too bad Hiyori hasn’t been placed under their spell yet. Aside from seeing Yuujirou get scolded for an unknown interaction with the police, Hiyori genuinely has no idea who these two are and I find that exciting.

It’s always fun to see interactions between characters who expect one form of engagement from their peers but are met with something completely different. Bonus points if the one treating them differently is just treating them… like a normal human. I just hope these two boys treat Hiyori well. She may be a small-town country girl, but she still deserves respect. Hiyori, the next time they call you potato face, I will fight for you.

As of right now, I don’t know how I feel about LIPxLIP. They weren’t exactly painted in the best light for this episode and based on the preview for next week… I’m really not expecting much there either. But that does mean that there’s a potential for growth for them and that has me excited! I can’t wait to see them develop and have the opportunity to understand what drives them! I’m hoping they redeem themselves! And they have the perfect chance!

How convenient is it that the moment Hiyori transfers to a new school, her father throws out his back and is unable to perform his job as a fisherman to provide for his family? Of course, the family offered to keep paying for Hiyori’s schooling, of course she can’t help but feel bad for her family’s monetary situation… especially since it seems like her 4 other siblings are also in school…. that’s expensive! So, she makes the decision to get a job on her own to help alleviate the stress on her family and! because she’s in Tokyo so many places are hiring, she’ll have no trouble getting a job! Haha… ha…. haha…. good one Hiyori. You are a high schooler who is participating in extra curriculars and have no prior job experience. At that point, it doesn’t matter how enthusiastic you are… it’s gonna be a rough time to get a job. Heck! I bet even if she didn’t have track, or even if she did have a job in the past, it would have been just as hard.

Thankfully, everything starts to look up when she finds a job requiring no previous experience. It sounds too good to be true! Heck, when I saw her read the job posting I whispered to myself, “Noooo,,,,,, it’s going to be a scam”. A job that pays that well for no experience, and flexible hours??? That seems fishy. But in theory everything worked out in the end. Sure, it was a little shady, but she got the job which means she doesn’t have to worry about her family pinching too many pennies to help pay for her tuition. Oh, but the job she got? She’s manager in training for the snobby idol boys. Ganbare Hiyori-san.

Honestly, the most fun part about this so far is the fact that she isn’t already an idol fan! It’s one thing to casually stumble in and become the manager for your favorite group and realizing what a mess they are, but she has no loyalty towards this group and that alone is just a funny premise! I know by the end of the season her feelings around the two will probably change and they will all support each other, but I genuinely get a kick out of the fact that she gets to do the dream job of many, while still not being impressed as to who they are!

Overall, this was a fun first episode. I’m looking forward to seeing how they will develop the relationships the characters have with each other. I’m a sucker for a good idol group, so as long as LIPxLIP shapes up and respects their manager in training, we’ll be good. But also, I wanna know more about Chizuru, Juri, and Hina! They all seem like a fun group to get along with too!!

Possibility of Watching: High!

Possibility of Blogging: Moderate!