Selection Project

TL;DR/Spoiler Free: The show is pretty good; Good animation and great visuals during the performances, really good music and a good plot despite being fairly predictable at points. The last episode had a good deal of filler but other than that I loved it. 9.8/10 // 98/100
Despite my high score I complain a lot in this review and also go on tangents so if that annoys you it's best to read a different review

Spoilers Below!!
Like literally the first sentence lol

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Selection Project is a show that is predictable from the beginning, but that doesn't make it bad. At the beginning of the show, we follow Suzune who is part of the titular Selection Project, which I'm gonna refer to as "the competition" for the rest of the review to make it easier for me to process my own thinking.

Suzune is in like, the semifinals or whatever it was and she loses because her heart has a problem during the competition and she collapses. Guess what happens!

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

The girl who won the round drops out for her

I'm not saying it's bad, but Seira, the girl who beat her, could have been a background character and this show could have been 12 episodes and a more concise story. The last episode had like 15 minutes of filler, and I think cutting Seira and letting Suzune win despite her collapse would have been more interesting and saved time.

So that was the first predictable moment for me, and then when the group meets we get two things that were easy to predict back to back. So, the group of nine finalists are having their first meal together, and they do introductions, and Rena says something along the lines of "don't forget we're all rivals here. So, obivously,

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

she warms up to them at the end

Once, again, not bad, Rena is probably the most interesting character next to Suzune, but it's like super obvious that's gonna happen. All the other girls get along super well, so

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

they're all going to last through the competition and debut as idols

Which like, is exactly what I wanted out of the show I love idol groups, so every time Sumipanda hints at the fact that only one of them can win I'm like "ummm no!" and then they all survive the round.

The best plot point is when they're told they have to vote two girls out of the competition since all of them made it to the final round cuz there's like. SO much to unpack.

Firstly, Nagisa has a great breakdown (it's not really a breakdown I don't really know what word to use to describe it) in the episode where this is introduced. Even if it's short, the part where she tells three of the other girls that they need to vote people out and she has a plan and they're like "no that's super sketch we shouldn't coordinate votes" THIS happens:

The other three comfort her cuz they're all close and assure her she's not getting voted out (spoilers she doesn't) but like she was right for this one for real like I would be doing the exact same thing as her

[TANGENT BEGIN]
Speaking of doing the exact same thing as her, I play games like Survivor and Big Brother online and even though I pretty much already knew the outcome of this vote (although there was an unexpected bit I'll get to later), during this arc all I was thinking about was "the obvious vote is Uta and Shiori."

So, at the beginning of the competition the group split up into units based on their best skill between Singing, Dancing and Instruments. Uta, Mako and Shiori chose Instruments and formed GapsCaps. Ao, Nagisa, Hiromi and Nodoka (seen in the above screenshots) chose Dancing and formed Splasoda. And Suzune and Rena, all alone, formed SuzuRena by choosing Singing.

Now, everyone in the competition like each other at this point but if we think about these groups like alliances, we notice that there's a 4-person, a 3-person and a 2-person. Based on what Sumipanda said, we can assume this will be the only vote, so we don't have to think about how this will affect future votes like in Survivor because there won't be any.

From Nagisa's perspective, she has 4 votes on her side and needs 2 more to confirm her safety. So, realistically, she should go to Suzune and Rena. Suzune and Rena are at the bottom of the food chain socially due to them being isolated by the groups and isolating themselves for various plot reasons. Uta and Shiori are both very popular people, one being an actor since she was a small child and the other being from a rich and influential family, it's easy to see why you would want to vote them out in this popularity contest based on the public's opinion.

If they choose not to, simply go to the other group. The two are isolated and also refusing to vote anyone, they'll be disqualified anyway so you should vote them so you can stay!
[TANGENT END]

But no, everyone

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

decides not to vote

I saw that coming from a mile away for reasons stated earlier, and they all get disqualified.

So now comes like, the best part of the show where they all become an idol group and like perform on the street?? idk I thought it was cute but I don't have much to say about it.
There is one thing that caught me off guard where Suzune like goes into a coma?? thankfully it lasts like a few hours and she makes it back in time to perform but that scared me lowkey like dead serious I thought she wasn't gonna wake up and they were gonna give them a sad ending for a bit there.
Also props to Nodoka's improv skills during the part where they have to stall for time because Suzune is still in a coma

Never change Nodoka, never change.

but yeah, last ep they officially debut as idols, roll credits, it's cute, I loved it, 9.8/10 // 98/100