OVERALL RATING: 9.8/10

plot: 10/10 -- i greatly enjoyed the story from beginning to end. the story is very unique, there are plenty of idol anime out there, but this is very different from the rest of them. instead of the typically happy, wholesomeness that idol anime usually have, this season really portrayed what life as an idol can be like, all the positives & negatives. we get to see a whole different side of the idol world & it's truly worth seeing. there was never anything that felt out of place to me. there were many challenges & difficulties that were presented & each one had a deep meaning to reach the purpose of the story. everything that happened happened for a reason. there is nothing i would change.

world/setting: 9/10 -- i believe a lot of effort was put into the creation of this world. the overall setting is japan which is pretty normal, but there was also the creation of a country as one of the main characters' homeland which is very interesting. it's a pretty normal setting, but for this idol anime & its purpose, i wouldn't want anywhere else to be the setting. something in particular that i found amazing is that there are several settings in this anime. for example, we get to see inside different agencies, idol dorms, & even the homes of some idols. however, there is one thing i would change: the aging of the characters. in some anime, time does not pass. there are no birthdays, no anniversaries, & that is fine. because time does not pass. however, in this anime time canonically passes. there are annual events & anniversaries that happen, but there are no birthdays & characters do not age. we have high schoolers who have been stuck in their final year of high school for almost 2 years. that is the one thing i would change.

purpose: 10/10 -- there is a clear goal for all of the characters in this season & everything they do is meant to help them reach their goals. i don't believe there were any significant detours, rather there were obstacles to stop some characters from reaching their goals which i feel are very important.

characters: 10/10 -- if characters were meant to be liked/disliked, i perfectly liked/disliked them. anyone i disliked had given me perfect reasons to dislike them as they were written. for the characters i truly liked, i was able to grow an emotional attachment to them. all the characters were truly written with great thought behind them, with intricate personalities & backstories. the character development was clear in this season for all of them, as well, which is impressive because there are many characters. i would not change any of the characters.

storytelling: 10/10 -- there are very few monologues, if any at all. the viewers are not spoiled regarding anything. we see what happens when it happens, meaning we find out things when the characters find out or when it finally gets brought to light. however, there is a lot of subtle foreshadowing which i love. the timeline is constructed chronologically so everything is well organised.

enjoyment: 10/10 -- i watched this while it was airing. i usually hate watching airing anime because i prefer to watch it all at once with no cliffhangers, but i just had to watch this weekly. i had to keep watching every week because i HAD to know what was happening next. i truly enjoyed every second of this from start to finish.

animation/visuals: 9/10 -- i loved the animation for the entire season EXCEPT for the cgi dancing. if not for the occasional 3d cgi, this would have been a 10/10. we get to see how beautiful the idols can look as well as how cute they can be. i love the art style of the anime as well as the character designs & how they are animated. the only thing that ruins the animation is the cgi. that is the one thing i would change.

pace: 10/10 -- i believe the story for every episode was perfect. nothing seemed too fast or slow. while the anime was airing, i was frustrated with any kind of cliffhanger, but i do believe they were fine the way they were. i was simply impatient and deeply immersed in the story.

soundtrack: 10/10 -- as an idol anime, i loved the soundtrack. all of the openings, endings, insert songs, & background music were perfect. this anime does start with the typical jpop idol music, but it expands into different genres which is amazing. also, a detail i love is that a lot of the background music is the piano or instrumental version of previous songs from past seasons & they are chosen based on the mood of the anime. i loved that the music followed the emotions of the characters as well as what was going on in the story.

gut feeling: 10/10 -- one of my favorite anime & season. just a solid 10/10.