The Idol Master

I used to not be a big fan of idol anime, I used to view it as a high school musical with cute girls genre. Idolm@ster truly opened my eyes to idol heaven. Idolm@ster gives fans a taste on what goes on behind the scenes with our favorite idol groups in a fictional setting. The show flows like a reality tv show or documentary, you see what the girls do on and off stage. In the beginning, the show acts an important question to all the girls, what does it mean to be an idol to you. That question alone allowed the viewer to understand the personality and goal of the idols that belong to production 765. The beginning is kinda slow, but fitting because you get to see how the girls start off with little to no experience and witness them develop into wonderful idols.Once you get to the halfway point, things really pick up from there.I really liked how certain episodes focused on at least one or two girls but it's very clear at the halfway point who the main characters are.
The music and visuals are phenomenal, I never felt the need to skip the intros. The music and visuals in the opening complimented each other greatly. I really liked how you could learn more about a certain girl just by watching her sequence in the opening.I also enjoyed how every performance highlights the strength of the individual singer and the subunit. Seeing each girl practice and struggle in practice made seeing the final performance that much rewarding.
The story is probably the best I've seen for the idol genre, the girls learn the best methods for being the ideal idol and learn how to work with their other members of their subunits. Even if certain girls didn't get along or act strangely, it revealed more about the group chemistry. The main plot is how 765 productions want to do what's best for their idols and ensure they are in a healthy environment while the opposing production company only carries about efficiency and results over everything else. So towards the halfway point you are watching a big game of playing to your idols' strengths and being transparent vs manipulation & dominating your competition by any means necessary.
The only complaint I had about the series was how the idols treated the producer like he was their boyfriend at times, but for the most part it lead to a lot of funny and heartfelt moments.