The first trailer for Trapezium caught my eye when it came out all the way back in April. Besides the obviously beautiful visuals from cloverworks, it was another story about a high school girl chasing her dreams and discovering herself, the exact kind of story I tend to gobble up. Oh and Hoshimachi Suisei sings the OP too? Sign me up!

Unfortunately...after walking out of the theater today, I can't help but feel like the film has left a lot to be desired.

Our story centers around Yu Azuma, a young, ambitious first-year student at Joshu East High School, who then recruits three other girls from the "West", "North" and "South," of the region, which would later form their idol group called "NEWS." At the beginning of the film, Yu goes out of her way to their schools to find these girls, initially under the guise of just wanting to make friends, even though her actual plan is to form an idol group with them. Nonetheless, fast friends they become, and soon enough they're hanging out as a group together. We see some regular cute slice of moments, okay, so far so good.

Then the jump from this friend group just being a friend group to actually BECOMING an idol group is handled...poorly, in my opinion. A lot of this probably comes down to the constrained run time, but you can really feel the film rushing through so many events, and as a result their first big debut doesn't feel 'earned'. It doesn't feel like they struggled through any hardship or overcame any challenges, so you see their first performance and just kinda go 'oh that's cool i guess.' Not satisfying at all for what is basically the climax of the second act of the film.

Then we move into the actual conflicts and third act which is...also handled pretty messily. The idea and message they are trying to portray here is one I agree with. The group starts falling out because they realize that idol life might not all be for them, and this disconnect in passion and ambition between Yu and the others starts to form cracks as their idol career steams forward. While somewhat predictable, this is a decent enough third act conflict to go through. It's an experience myself and many will probably relate to - starting a passion project with your friends then realizing one of you is much more passionate about it than the other. But again, these plot developments aren't given enough room to breathe, as we've just zoomed through them gaining rapid success. There is some minimal set up throughout, for example, we can see Kurumi looking uncomfortable before going on stage, but this is brushed off so quickly that you could assume she just got over her fear already. On one hand, the fall out is predictable, but on the other hand, it doesn't feel set up enough to be justified.

The ending ties up all the plot lines well enough, but is once again a bit half baked, as the reconciliation of the four girls is also somewhat rushed through. We see them go their separate ways, live their happy lives, everyone 'achieves' their dream, and then it just ends with this lukewarm happy time skip forward.

I can't say I outright dislike Trapezium, since again, I can feel the message it wants to portray - that you and your friends should each pursue your own passions and chase your dreams - and just because they are different, doesn't mean you can't be friends and support each other! This is a message that could truly have resonated with me if the film had enough time to develop its story and characters properly. Unfortunately, in its current state, all I can say is that it's pretty forgettable, and any plot points you enjoy in it are executed far better in other similar anime about 'chasing your dreams.'