Lapis Re:LiGHTs

This anime is one that I stumbled upon by chance, and it was absolutely incredible. I love idols and idol anime (I've watched anime like Aikatsu, PriPara, etc), and so I was looking to expand the genre that I had gotten used to being so incredibly niche. I saw that this anime was going to be released- I binged it and loved it. Even though the genre itself is a mix of fairly predictable aspects from both sides- the magical girl and the idol- things are taken and intertwined in a way that they mesh. I'm not sure how to explain it, I'm really not, but I will try my best. There is magical training and risk of spells and monsters and things going wrong, but there's also concerts (Orchestras in this anime). The songs are incredibly catchy, and the main cast is absolutely incredible. Not just with the MCs (LightS) but the side idol groups that also get entire episodes dedicated to them. The childhood-friend trope between Tiara and Rosetta is also something that can be overdone in anime, but Rosetta isn't limited to just being a blue-haired girl that follows Tiara around. She gets her own development- and not only that, Rosetta's relationship with Tiara is built upon in a way that it feels authentic.

I hope that there is no limit to this. I've never done a review before, hehe.

Without spoiling much of the anime, I have to repeat it again. I absolutely love it. The worldbuilding is pretty minimal aside from the main locations, including the school that Tiara attends with her friends, but it... actually works? The lens isn't pulled out too wide, trying to introduce huge amount of the lore while overwhelming us as viewers. I found it really easy to slip into the anime and its story. With some anime or manga, the concept is so ridiculously outlandish that I just can't get into it. Something just isn't believable. That isn't true for Lapis Re:Lights. The world is not our own- it's something entirely new and invented- and that really works to the story's advantage so this world can... pretty much be whatever it wants to. The genre of magical realism is pretty attracting in that way, isn't it? Something that we would consider extraordinary in our world is normal. The characters can do literal magic and use it in their concerts!! I've seen that kind of thing before with LoliRock (not an anime, but also Magical Girl so I'm counting it), but the magic effects are definitely less over the top. They don't hurt my eyes in a way that other anime would. Even though Funimation would pixelate at certain points while I was watching, it was a minor inconvenience because the concerts (Orchestras in this anime) were always such a BOP.

Please watch this anime. It's a hidden gem. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.