It’s time to find out what makes Kikuko tick.
What They Say:
In this short animated series, Miss Monochrome is an android who decides to try and become a top idol singer in the ever growing competitive market.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Monochrome having tackled the world of publicity the last time around in a big way, it’s time for her to move on to her next conquest in an effort to be the world’s biggest idol. This one makes a lot of sense compared to some of the other thins she’s done as she’s decided to really figure out what it is that makes Kikuko tick as a super popular idol. That has her going all detective mode in a cute costume change way while also getting Maneo all done up in a really fun Watson look that works well. Even Ru-chan gets in on the game with all of this as the one they use to try and get close and blend in with things in a more general way. There’s some fun in getting a look at their detective skills early on, especially with the hyper-accurate skills that Monochrome has in determining things about people due to her computer side.
While that makes for a fun little diversion at first, she’s a lot more obvious in a sense with what she really does by getting jobs on Kikuko’s gigs, from handshake events to filming and music videos. It works well to again showing more of how Kikuko operates and that she’s definitely a solid professional, but it also gets into that kind of weird territory where she discovers what really makes her who she is comes down to the fact that she’s “forever seventeen” thanks to the wishes of her fans. It’s another piece of the generally creepy idol culture that comes up from time to time and reminds me why I’m glad I’m pretty disconnected from it in a lot of ways.
In Summary:
Miss Monochrome works through a familiar piece here overall where she goes into investigative mode and comes away with sort of the wrong conclusion overall. But that’s part of the overall charm in that she gets it but doesn’t quite get it, so we root for her and cheer her on with her quest to be the best. Her investigation into Kikuko certainly makes sense and she has some fun with it with the costume change and Maneo, but there’s a kind of lightness to it that keeps it from really getting anywhere even here. Add in the creepy idol culture stuff that permeates aspects of it as well and I just kind of cringe at parts of it.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.