Much to my surprise, the series didn’t just rush into introducing the entire cast right off the bat, instead this first official episode was dedicated to introducing the unit who signed onto 315 Productions before Jupiter: Dramatic Stars. The members are Tendou Teru (the leader), Sakuraba Kaoru, and Kashiwagi Tsubasa. This group is particularly interesting just because we got a set of polar opposites personalities and their men are all in their late twenties (Teru being 28 years old), and the craziest part about this trio though, is how the Producer just straight up approached because he thought they could make people smile.
It should be noted, the events that took place in this episode was before Jupiter signed onto 315 Productions. The group had a chance to see Jupiter (who was being scouted at the time) perform live before choosing whether or not they wanted to sign the contracts. Of all the three, Teru was the only one who we got to see a bit of backstory on today. Teru used to work at a relatively well known law-firm before being taken off the case where he was to represent a child, and fired due to policy issues at the firm. He made a promise to the little boy, that he would protect him, so he became a freelance lawyer, but while he was able to keep his promise, things didn’t go well afterwards. Teru is a man with a big heart, always looking out for others and just wants the best for them.
But there is one thing for certain: Not once, has the freelance Laywer ever considered about becoming an idol. In the end, he since he doesn’t work for any law firms (due to being fired) he decided that if an Idol means to bring happiness and smiles, and signed onto the agency (with the contract he written himself, BWAHAHA!). Talk about a crazy career transition, from a Lawyer to an Idol!
However I must say, it is quite bizarre with how despite him being the first character to be introduced- strangely enough, they didn’t showcase any his vocal or dancing abilities like they had with the other two during their joint practice. So I guess we are left to assume he is probably somewhere in the middle between Kaoru’s and Tsubasa’s vocals, making him ‘average’.
And that of course brings us to Sakuraba Kaoru, and Kashiwagi Tsubasa. First off, Tsubasa is absolutely precious, but more than anything he reminds me of Makoto from Free. Their color pallet, and even their soft personalty matches perfectly! Unlike Teru, have yet to learn why and how Tsubasa was recruited into 315 Productions (besides their ability to make people smile). He has a lot to work on for his vocals and dancing abilities, he struggles to keep up with the tempo, but he enjoys himself so he has the enthusiasm to practice hard.
Sakuraba Kaoru however is on the other side of the spectrum. When it comes to personalities, this guy is a frosty one. He doesn’t seem to like working with others, his comments can be quite savage, and clearly has a difficult time expressing himself (he’s so cute when he subtly cheers). He and Teru (being his opposite) butt heads, a lot. Of the three of them, Kaoru seems the most refined in the vocal department, but is sorely lacking stamina when it comes to dancing. He is also doesn’t like working with people who are there to waste time, or do not share the same objective. When Teru wasn’t sure about whether or not he should try becoming an Idol, Kaoru straight up told him to get lost. All of this makes me extremely curious about his story, and I can’t wait to find out more about him!
Then we have Producer. Goodness, please tell me I was not the only one who had originally thought Producer was a woman (based off the Prologue Episode)! Although we didn’t see his face at the time, I THOUGHT FOR SURE Producer was a woman, but alas I was met with the surprise he is in fact male. (God help me if they reveal he’s a woman, ANIME: making it bloody hard to determine a characters’ gender since FOREVER) I can’t complain though, he’s quite a looker, and he definitely got an interesting personality going for him. Producer was also the one to form the unit and name the trio – I seriously can’t with this guy – Dramatic Stars. (Then the president comes in and starts calling them Dramatic PASSION Stars, AHAHAHAHA!)
By the end of the episode, time passes and Jupiter has by now signed into the agency. Producer, who has been working overtime brings about eleven new recruits – and it looks like each of them look like they have hell of a story to tell, so I absolutely cannot wait to meet them all!
Finally, it was a cool touch to see them continue the tradition with 315 Production boys all preparing to step onto the big stage at the arena, the one which Jupiter had always dreams to perform on! It should also not be forgotten the ED Theme Song, Dramatic Stars: Drive A LIVE is pretty awesome! 😀
