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The Idol M@ster Cinderella Girls
Episode 13

by Rebecca Silverman,

There's a real sense of things coming full circle in the finale of the first cour of The IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, at least for the three girls we entered the story with. At the Idol Fest, New Generations, composed of Rin, Uzuki, and Mio, finally get to have a concert with a real audience, meaning one that isn't necessarily large (although it grows as they go one), but one that is obviously appreciative. More importantly, it shows Mio's growth as a character, since even when the Producer warns her that because of a rainstorm (complete with random lightning strike) just before they go on, the audience is sparse, she puts on a smile and decides to actually do her job like a big girl. She's finally learned to treat this as a job, not just as a dream, and that, ultimately, is what leads to her success.

Not everything comes up roses, of course. The episode opens with Minami collapsing from stress, having allowed her position as group leader and her anxiety about the upcoming performance to overwhelm her to the point where she makes herself ill. That this is a blow for Love Laika goes without saying; but what could have been a highly melodramatic moment of angst is saved by Ranko stepping into the breach. You remember that she worked with Anya and Minami at the training camp, so she has enough sense of the duo's dynamic to make for the perfect substitute. Not only does this showcase her development as a character, it also gives us an idea of the nature of the performance beast – I can attest to the fact that sometimes last minute substitutes must be made so that the performance can happen. (And I'll never forget the fear of learning a piece ten minutes before being shoved into a costume and pushed on-stage to perform it!) The animation is at its best during Love Laika 2.0's song: Ranko is always just the tiniest bit off in her timing and her gestures look substantially different from Anya's in terms of power and flow, making it clear that she is not the usual performer.

Unfortunately for an episode that is all about a concert, we don't see very much dancing or hear many full songs. The closest we really come are Love Laika's and New Generations' performances, but as you can see from the screencap, those don't always look their best. We do see quite a bit of the group performance at the end, but that shows us snippets of various girls with a focus on easier to depict body parts and moves, such as grasping hands or feet going back and forth. Plus those costumes. I hate those costumes unreasonably.

The character who is arguably the most tense throughout the episode is the Producer. While he never overtly panics, we can see him in the background of most scenes, fretting as he watches former problem girls like Mio or Rin or worrying over Minami's collapse or Ranko's substitution. His brief conversation with Rin in the end, when she tells him that yes, it was worth it, visibly relaxes him, perhaps even more than the fact that the concert is safely over. Rin's affirmation of her enjoyment basically lets him know that he has done the right thing, and even if he still can't quite figure out teenage girls, he's moving in a direction that is working – for everyone.

To be quite honest, this final episode doesn't feel like it needs any follow up. It wraps up the creation and debut of the Cinderella Girls very nicely with a feeling of success for them and satisfaction for us. While not every girl got the sort of character development that New Generations, Ranko, or Minami got (although Asterisk came close), there was a sense of knowing who most of them were by the end, and while it wouldn't be bad to follow their careers further, it also doesn't feel necessary. We'll have to wait until July to see how that's going to go, but in terms of these thirteen episodes, this is a very nice way to wrap things up.

Rating: B

The IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls is currently streaming on Daisuki.

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.


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