Starmyu Hulu HeaderThe music comes alive even if the story doesn’t.
What They Say:
First-year Yuta Hoshitani enters the esteemed Ayanagi Academy with dreams of following in his idol’s footsteps. But competition starts the moment he steps through the doors when some of the best young talent in the industry try out for a spot in the musical department.
Catching the eye of an eccentric member of the academy’s elite Kao Council, Hoshitani and five other misfits are given the chance they were hoping for. With egos as strong as their talent, it’s up to Hoshitani’s shining personality to bring Nayuki, Tengenji, Kuga, and Tsukigami together for the biggest performance of the semester. While the strict authorities of the Kao Council try to put an end to their inventive musicals, these five young stars practice day and night for a show that will shake the school!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language track only in stereo encoded using the Dolby TrueHD lossless codec. As one can imagine with a show like this, the music is a huge part of it and coming across in this lossless form really sells it. It’s like each episode gets a couple of music videos in high quality form and the music just shines through with a real richness for the performances and the instrument side as well. There’s obviously a good bit of dialogue as well, nothing in the action area of course, and that’s generally well done with some necessary placement and depth at times but mostly fairly standard. The show comes through in a very clean and clear way and the end result is the kind of presentation for a music oriented show you want in that it delivers soundly.
Video:
Originally airing in 2015, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The twelve episodes are spread across two discs with nine on the first and three on the second. Animated by C-Station, the series is one that has a very slick and polished look to it that lets it stand out and showcases the design work that will get fans excited about it. The colors have a great amount of pop throughout it and the variations are great in what it presents. There are so many music video style performances with different set designs and locations that the variety is really boosted there and the encoding brings it to life in a lush and very appealing way. There’s a great solidity to it in general while the more fluid sequences of animation are even more striking. There’s a lot to like here and on a big screen this just looks fantastic throughout.
Packaging:
The packaging design for this release has a standard sized Blu-ray case that has the discs on hinges inside for both formats and comes with an o-card. The o-card replicates the case artwork but gives it some better color definition and pop so that it stands out more thanks to the cardstock. The front cover is definitely solid as it uses some of the Japanese artwork with the main group together with the pinstripe background as it gives you a good look at the design and personalities as well as the costuming, which is important in getting behind a group like this. The back cover has some good character artwork along the top that will appeal while the row of shots from the show is decent if a bit too small with more variety than is needed. THe premise is well covered as are what’s included with the episode count and extras. The technical grid breaks down both of them perfectly and while we don’t get any inserts included, the reverse side has two more panels of Japanese cover artwork of the cast in different configurations.
Menu:
The menu design for this release works a fairly basic approach that’s not unexpected as it employs the static design for it. Replicating the cover artwork design with the stripes as the background, the foreground is broken in half where the left has the character artwork, which stands out well with their costume design, while the right side has the logo along the top, far too much clear space, and then the navigation along the bottom just on that right side. It’s bright and colorful overall but the framing of it feels odd with the separation and the placement of the navigation. That strip works well as both the main menu piece functionality wise as well as a pop-up menu during playback.
Extras:
The only extras included with this release are the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences.
An original multimedia series that has some manga material and audio drama works as well as a second season coming, Starmyu is originally known as High School Star Musical and landed in the fall 2015 season. With lots of CD sales and a stage musical as well, the show embraces its musical aspect as you’d expect and the lead-up to the show originally brought out a whole lot of promotional material that really emphasized the music. It worked well but at the same time I’ve found myself really struggling with a lot of these kinds of shows lately because they are all so utterly safe with what they’re doing. We get usually one of these per season and they do tend to be licensed on top of other shows that feature a lot of band or music oriented projects so there’s definitely an abundance of them.
The series focuses on the Ayanagi Academy where music and performance arts at the top of the list. It’s here that we get to meet the group of new hopefuls that are looking to make it big while dealing with all the pressure that comes from such an academy. The core group of five characters are, sadly, pretty predictable with their personalities as it’s practically a sentai team in a way. Yuta, Toru, Kaito, Kakeru, and Shu all have the various emotional elements that define them that would make up a “whole” person in general, making them easy to identify on the fly. While they are a bit more rounded out than just that key piece, it is what kind of defines them. And with most of this taking place in the school or with project related things, well, it’s not like we really get to know who they are beyond their dreams and hopes. Which are important, don’t get me wrong, but people are usually more than that. Even teenagers.
What drives these kids in particular is their desire to be a part of the Star Frame class where it’s run by the Kao Council, the elite young men of the student body that are very hands on in helping what they view as the best and brightest achieve. That doesn’t mean that those who are in are obviously the best and brightest, but they’re ones seen as having the most potential. The class structure is standard in these kinds of things and we do get some decent interaction between the various levels, but the whole Kao Council thing just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Especially since there’s practically no or little actual adult teaching going on. It’s another show where it’s filled with kids and what they do but without the critical actual support structure.
Though the show focuses on the group as a whole, Yuta is ostensibly the lead we sympathize with the most through it and we get a few character stories because of that as it progresses. But frankly, little in the way of the characters or their stories connected with me simply because it does work through familiar beats and patterns. What did work for me with this series the way the music is brought out. While it is similar to a host of other shows, that we get what felt like a couple of music video pieces in each episode, albeit short ones, with some really strong animation production values made it a whole lot of fun to work with. The competitive side is there to be sure but it’s something that really worked some great design work in the blocking and movements and the kinds of background and costume visuals for it. For those that end up invested in the show because of the music the payoff is most definitely there in a very big way.
In Summary:
Starmyu was most definitely a struggle for me in a lot of ways. It’s the kind of show I’m familiar with, too familiar with, and it’s one that doesn’t break any radical new ground. It’s just… manufactured. There’s a lot of appeal in it if the music clicks for you – and there’s a lot online legally to sample thanks to the promotional videos – and the animation and character designs are fantastic throughout in what it brings to the table. But the stories and impact of it all just felt superficial and that kept me from connecting with it. Funimation’s put together a solid release where the visuals definitely make out wonderfully in high definition so any fan of it or the genre will be pleased by their purchase.
Features:
Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Clean Opening, Clean Closing
Content Grade: C
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B-
Extras Grade: B-
Released By: Funimation
Release Date: March 7th, 2017
MSRP: $54.98
Running Time: 300 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
