Wah!! What a cute ending to the series! Despite my previous frustrations, I’m glad that things ended on a positive note. And I’m thoroughly enthused that this ending really feels more like LIPxLIP and Hiyori are just getting started. There’s so much more for all of them to achieve!
So, before I dive into the feel-good things that happened in this episode, we have to first address the drama that we were left with last week. It was really going to take a lot to recover from everything that happened and I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely okay with the resolution. But if Hiyori’s happy with it, then I guess I’m happy with it too. Despite going through the effort of framing and defaming her friend it turns out that Chizuru actually really cares about Hiyori. But she isn’t willing to admit that to anyone… not Juri and definitely not Hiyori. We just get the hilarious look at her and Juri carrying Hiyori to the nurse’s office while Chizuru is absolutely sobbing. But despite all this, she continues to avoid Hiyori!! Gah! As mad as I am at her, if she feels this much regret…. I feel like she should really just talk to someone about it.
And they give her plenty of opportunities too! At the start of the episode, Juri decides to chat with her and while we learn that Juri used to be a loner, the next development is that Chizuru has decided that she is going to stop being a LIPxLIP fan…. which doesn’t really solve any of the troubles that have arisen. I get that to cause trouble for your idol is a big deal, but on that small of a level, doing so doesn’t really make anyone else feel better aside from feelings of atonement. So once again, I’m praising Hiyori’s tenacity in actually finding a way to resolve the situation.
Do I feel like the resolution is a bit of a cop out? Yeah. But was it satisfying enough? Yeah, in the end it got the job done. Turns out all Hiyori had to do was call out to Chutan-san and explain the whole situation about being a manager in training! (I’ll hold back the rest of my sarcastic comments though). And ultimately, this paid off pretty well. Hiyori gets to be friends with Chizuru again, they both go to the countdown live, and Hiyori gets to reprise her role as their manager-in-training. All in all, a happy ending for everyone.
And truly I do mean that everyone in this series has a pretty happy ending. Hiyori’s senpais get to go on a New Year’s Date, Chizuru gets to go to the show that she’s been dreaming of and has been forgiven, Juri gets to spend time with her boyfriend, LIPxLIP gets to perform at the Countdown live, and Hiyori gets to be the manager-in-training again. And that’s only some of the characters! FT4 seems to be having a good time, Mona and Hiyori meet up again. Pretty much no matter who you look at, everyone is having a good time and at this point, that’s all I wanted from this series.
Like I mentioned above, even though this is the final episode, I really appreciate that they set up this ending to act more like we are entering a new chapter. The countdown live is not the end of LIPxLIP’s journey. They have many more challenges ahead, but they are going to keep striving forward for their Julietas. And even though there was no ultimate love triangle or big romance with our main trio, I’m glad that Aizo and Yujiro were able to give Hiyori (in a panda suit) a kiss. 🙂
Final Impressions:
Are you looking for a feel-good anime with an ambitious and charismatic protagonist? Are you looking for an anime that will help you pass the time that will still leave you smiling at the end? Are you okay with watching an anime that doesn’t leave too much of an impact on you, but has the capacity to throw you down a rabbit hole? Then, I would say Heroine Tarumono! is the perfect anime for you to watch.
Heroine Tarumono! is not the anime you’ll go to if you’re looking for stereotypes to be turned on their heads. It’s not the one you’ll go to for surprise endings or incredible twists. In fact, the series is fairly predictable, but when you’re in the mood for something simple that will satisfy certain urges, this fits the bill just fine. Having a misfit character have to work with characters that don’t fully believe in them is nothing new. Idols trying to make their mark on the world is also very common. Stories of high school troubles are a dime a dozen, but just because they are plentiful does not mean that they are bad. In fact, sometimes that simplicity is just what we need.
While the story isn’t anything spectacular, I do have to give credit to the characters. Without them, this anime would have been incredibly flat and an absolute slog to get through. I love that each of the characters have their own stories to tell. They are all unique from one another and I found myself rooting for each one along the way. Our protagonist Hiyori is an adorable and loveable character. She brings so much light and energy into any room that she enters. Despite all her circumstances, she’s the type to wear her heart on her sleeve making her an easily likeable character. From the very beginning of the series, I wanted to root for her! She has bedhead, thick eyebrows, and no real interest in fashion. All she wants to do is to run track and live a happy high school life. And I loved that for her! Even though there were hiccups along the way, the way she faced all her challenges really kept the show enjoyable. Then we have LIPxLIP. Two very opposite and clashing personalities who make up an up-and-coming idol group. They both have their quirks – Aizo really can’t stand women due to his experiences growing up, but still wants to perform for others and Yujiro has a pretty terrible attitude, but still wants to make it on his own after leaving his family’s school behind to his younger brother. At first these two only care about success. They put on a performance of caring for their fans, but they really weren’t all that interested in them. Which is why their slow growth throughout the series becomes so satisfying.
I really enjoyed how the main trio evolved over the series. While the evolutions were simple ones, it still gave me the satisfaction that everyone was working towards their own goals in a positive way. Hiyori comes to Tokyo only caring about track. She gets a job to work with the agency strictly because she needs money. She’s never cared for idols so it makes her an ideal candidate. But overtime, she starts to see the impact that Aizo and Yujiro have over their fans. She sees the joy that they bring and slowly she starts to understand why people are so excited for them. And of course, she gets to experience that joy when they sing out to her. It was nice to see her turn from an ‘anti-idol’ character into one of their supporters. And against her, LIPxLIP is slowly becoming the best idols they can be by being able to acknowledge their fans in a genuine way. They are no longer just numbers to bring them success. They realize that the love and dedication these fans bring are truly the reason why they are able to keep on going. They realize that it’s not just the two of them that brings their success, but their fans and even Hiyori. She’s more than just a manger, more than just a potato face. There are so many elements that help them get to where they need to be.
In addition to the characters, the music of this series is also a lot of fun! Not only are there great songs in the anime, but Honeyworks was actively releasing new songs as the series. And it’s fun to go through and listen to them! Some of them are about Hiyori and LIPxLIP whereas others are about the friends. Juri and her boyfriend had a couple of cute songs that were released and taking a listen to them and watching the MVs really enhanced my enjoyment of the characters! Sure, they may not have had a lot of screen time, but it’s nice to know that all these characters get to have their story told. And not only that, if you start venture beyond LIPxLIP’s songs, you get acquainted with other groups like FT4 and Mona! Truly a lot of fun to listen to (and honestly, I’d love an anime for FT4!). There’s a whole lot to find!
Looking back on this anime, I might have hyped this series up a little too much before I dived in. Based on the PV and knowing the Honeyworks name, I was expecting this anime to be a slice of life for this history books. And while I don’t think it quite reached that status, I think I’ll always look back on this series and think: “Yeah, I did enjoy watching it.” Because I enjoyed the music, the characters, and the fact that the series was incredibly consistent. It wasn’t the type of series to start off with a bang only to turn into a spark that fizzled out. Every time I pulled up an episode, I felt like I knew what to expect. Even if I didn’t know what the episode was going to have, my expectations were set and they lived up to them each time.
Overall, while this wasn’t a knockout series, I did enjoy my time with it. And the best part about a Honeyworks’ series is that even though the anime is over, the content isn’t! I look forward to what they will produce!
So, with all this said, I am going to give this anime a 7/10, I was going back and forth on whether or not to give it a 6.9 and then I realized that .1 really wouldn’t make a difference! This certainly isn’t the best anime that I’ve seen, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable. It’s definitely not something that I would actively recommend to people, especially not as a first choice., but if you’re at all interested, I’d say go ahead and give a try!
