Here we are with another anime with Re: in its title following the tradition of titles such as Re:Zero, Re:Life, Re:Creators, The Repo Man etc. This time it is another idol show but do not underestimate this little underrated powerhouse. Find out what I mean as we take a look at Re:Stage! Dream Days♪.
Genres: Comedy, Idols, Music, School Life, Slice of Life, Yuri
Number of episodes: 12
G-Rating: 9/10
Plot Summary: Mana Shikimiya enters a new school looking for a fresh start after an uncomfortable past event. There she meets Sayu Tsukisaka and the leader of what can be best described as a cultural dance club Mizuha Ichikishima. They put on a demonstration of what they do and it reminded her of idols, something she wanted to forget. However, thanks to Sayu’s charming wiles she is convinced to try again. Together they find other girls and form a group to compete and win the Prism Stage idol tournament.
Before we get to the main draw of the show let us briefly go over the setup. One the surface it sounds like yet another idol anime, which it is. Fortunately there is no school being threatened of shutting down this time. That should be Love Live’s thing. Bad idea when other idol anime use that as a setup. It is all basic idol stuff, girls come together, some are more difficult to recruit than others, they form a group with a name and stuff, work together to be the best, meet rivals, grow closer, etc. Cool. Having said all that what makes Re:Stage special is the strong focus on the relationships between the three established couples. The humor revolves around their personalities and interactions with other equally amusing groups, besides the super elite group to beat. Like every comedy in existence the enjoyment highly depends on the viewers’ sense of humor and i a cute girl centered idol anime how much the viewer enjoys Girls’ Club (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) comedies. Each girl has their own personal obstacles to overcome and with the help of their friends, especially their soul mates, they pull through.
The neat thing is that unlike other shows where it takes time before some of the tougher to recruit members join, here they are one and done. No 2-3 Parters here because the writers know that is not what the people came to see. Having said that each girl have familiar yet interesting enough obstacles to overcome.
The presentation and soundtrack are extra colorful. I like cute and colorful anime like this one. The Insert Songs are cute too.
Mana X Sayu.
Now let us go over the main reason readers of this blog might consider checking this show out, the fluffy gay couples, starting with the main duo of Mana X Sayu. Mana is the heart of the group and an adorably calm girl. After meeting Sayu her admiration and love for her grows stronger with each passing day. Sayu is serious but has some small tsundere traits (toward people other than Mana) and a has the token cutie fang. She has an interesting hobby that provides some of the show’s best moments. It can be argued her love for Mana is even greater. Think of these two as idol Saki X Nodoka.
Kae X Kasumi.
Next up we have Kae and Kasumi. Kae is a quiet super genius with the token cute monotone face and voice. She is a distant cousin of Tony Stark’s. Kasumi is the athletic/cool chick member of the group. The Kasumi recruitment episode is one of my favorites. They both have nicknames among their inner circles, Dark Shadow Princess and Thousand Kill Angel respectively, which they use to lovingly address each other.
Mizuha X Minori (Mii).
Mizuha and Minori are the oldest members of the group and hardest to recruit (Still only requires one episode to get them on board). Mizuha is the chill member of the group. Despite her calm demeanor she has many ways of getting what she needs. Midori (Mii) is basically blonde Nico Yazawa who ends most of her sentences with “Mii”. Her voice is delightfully scrunchy, Mii.
There are other side-couples but these three are the main draw. What I like most about this is that unlike other idol anime who favor a “ship war” setup (Many girls can be shipped with each other) this one establishes the couples and they stick together to till the end. There is no “cheating” to be found here. I know many yuri fans enjoy going ham shipping girls like crazy but I personally prefer when there are couples of 2 (sometimes 3) and they never change.
Overall I consider Re:Stage! Dream Days♪ the second hidden gem of 2019. Let me put it this way, while I personally enjoyed the Ongaku Shoujo TV anime adaptation I know others were not as impressed. I truly believe this one is more fun and easier to enjoy so if anyone found this review convincing then by all means give it a try, so long as readers are cool with fluffy idol x Girls’ Club style comedies and fluffy gayness.
The Yuri Empire 
Another fantastic show this season~
This was part of my “big three” that never let me down the entire season. It’s hard for me to choose between the three of them…they all put out such amazing performances
Anyway, enough of the war for the top spot in my heart this season, it’s time to talk about this show. I could probalby go on and on and on, but I am getting really drained from all the crying I’ve been doing since yesterday’s finale of Machikado started things off XD So my energy is dropping fast.
I just gotta say, to anyone who might be on the fence, this really is something special among idol anime. There are many things that could be said to try and describe it, but it just has something special, and something different. Part of it is definitely the lack of ship wars. While I’m sure people enjoy that, it does detract from things. But there’s so much more than that. A part of it is definitely that episodes were so efficient with their time and nothing was drawn out, while nothing felt too short either.
It just…was such an experience. I am super sad to see it over, but I’m also fine. The story told all it needed to. All that would be left is maybe room for a shorts series with fun interactions between the cast. But nothing like a full on season.
I am more than satisfied with what we got (well, can’t lie that I want to see a more concrete vision of what that “beyond the Nationals” talk was that Mayu was speaking about >.>….but I can do without, and with imagination.), and am just happy that I was able to experience such a show.
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The more set relationships played a huge role in my enjoyment of this one along with the very nice pacing. Show never felt like it dragged.
Would be great if we got to see more KiRaRe but if this is it then I won’t complain because what we got was glorious.
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This is truly another hidden yuri gem of 2019.
I liked all three couples and the rest of the cast very much.
Episode 9 was the confession episode of M x S and after that, they showed and repeated it to everyone until the end and beyond.
Sayu´s parents immediately excepted Mana as girlfriend and future daughter-in-law. The mother dominated the father in a funny way and because of her fight with Sayu, Sayu went to Mana and we got the above mentioned confession.
Kae x Kasumi had their cute moments together, too. Especially, when they made the music and went crazy with the VR headsets and all sparkled like they were DJs in a disco.
M x M were kawaii, too. Sometimes a little bit too much mii for me, but it was ok.
I wished that they had shown the whole competition in the last episode and who won, but I think that was very clear: SM.
S2 would be nice, because the club wasn´t disbanded and they just started their career and relationships.
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I love how they didn’t shy away from the couples like so many before have. And the couples just got so much screen time together it was fantastic. It definitely became one of my top idol anime and I really hope we get another season.
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More idol anime like this one or Locodol would be appreciated.
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10/10 I love this show. Cute characters, cute music and have some squee moments too. When that happened I can’t stop smiling. The creators know what they’re doing. First couple is set from the first episode like Saki x Nodoka (falling flower petals included). No need for ship war, we can watch the show in peace. All 3 couples are cute but my favorite is ManaSayu. Princess x Angel comes second because I like how they call each other. Mizuha x Mii is a typical tsundere x laidback couple. Always nice to see that. Overall it’s a great idol show. I’m gonna miss it. Another season would be amazing.
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The show was absolutely precious.
Mana X Sayu were the best of the three couples but of course they were all fantastic.
Wouldn’t mind seeing more but if this is all we get then no problem.
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I loved this one! Such cute, loyal couples. Mana x Sayu are my number one, but they’re all lovely. Including Haruka and Yukari. I love how there was no big looming catastrophe or any other contrived “plot”, just cute girls doing things they love.
The Mana x Sayu cuddle confession scene was one of my favourites this year.
I still say Kae and Kasumi ended their music session with something passionate ^^
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Great stuff all around, yes.
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Wonderful show, and the clear couples were a great bonus. I’m impatiently waiting for a show like this to take it to explicit levels.
Angel x Princess was always cute. While Sayu x Mana had the best moments, Angel x Princess was my favorite.
Mii: You need to take responsibility, Mii.
Mizuha: Of course, I will stand with you and our child.
Mii: I meant for getting me into the competition, Mii. But I will hold you to that last part someday.
I desire more of this.
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One day.
They were the “cooliest” duo, yes.
Mii was fun, Mii.
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I have to admit that Restage is a very enjoyable show despite being similar to other idol anime. But yes, the pairings are very good, especially Mana and Sayu. They are a match made in heaven. Also, I can relate to Kae for her love for technology.
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Kae has the Iron Man cartoon theme playing in her head every day I imagine.
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cute idol series with great yuri pairings! Needs a “kissing cousins” spin-off staring Haruka x Yukari 😀
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Yes please! ^^
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More like auntie X niece but I get what you mean.
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Kissing practically-cousins!
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This show was a nice easy going relief from Granbelm and HibiMiku.
I agree with the pairing sticking together from the start and somehow I liked Kae and Kasumi the most.
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They were the “cooliest” couple.
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Have to love Kae whispering “Angel…” in her breathy voice ^^
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Kae living the dream.
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catchy as hell songs, cuties member to the point my sugar level exploded, and marvelous yuri and character development. only recently discovered this and watch it. it was truly worth it
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I liked how the couples stuck with each other. Better than Love Live where the producers couldn’t make up their mind who to pair up with.
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I ordered the DVD from amazon, It contained interviews with the voice actresses that confirmed their characters are lesbian.
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the show doesn’t show any remote sign of yuri, i guess everything marked as low in the yuri anime list is just lying
like:
Kandagawa Jet Girls
The Island of Giant Insects
BNA (Brand New Animal)
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