First Impression: SI-VIS: The Sound of Heroes

Co-ed pop group SI-VIS has been dominating the Japanese charts for three years now, but that doesn’t mean they can reach even higher heights! Indeed, the Idea reading for tonight’s live event is at a record-breaking 30,000 as over 100K fans gather, which also breaks the record. (Later, these records will be broken with even greater ease and zero fanfare as Idea soars to 70,000…) But they gotta wrap things up in a jiffy tonight cuz the leader’s gotta show his lil bro around town. Well, the kid is actually Yosuke’s second cousin…or is it first cousin once removed? Anyhow, they’re related. But it turns out that Yosuke isn’t actually so happy that lil bro Kyoya is in town because he doesn’t think the kid is ready for the big city. Which is maybe why they don’t actually meet up that night, but instead have a confrontational phone call the next morning; or maybe there was a flashback here and the phone call was this morning? Hard to tell what’s going on with the chronology here. Anyhow, Kyoya is fifteen whole years old and knows that it’s time for the world to see him dance, so he’s not leaving Tokyo until he joins SI-VIS as their newest member. In defiance, he dances in an alley as a small girl with pearlescent hair, flesh-colored eyelashes (which make for a creepy slow blink), mutism, and an awkward clap, watches intently. The two later munch on onigiri in the sun when a mass marketing campaign for SI-VIS hijacks the screens and streets of Shibuya. The girl falls elegantly into one of the digital advertisements, losing hold of her rice triangle, which leaves her hand free for Kyoya to grasp and get sucked into an alternate Shibuya with her, only to find himself staring down a swarm of robotic three-legged insects that shoot light spears and generally commit mayhem. I guess SI-VIS does more than sing pop songs. Yosuke and co. come to the rescue, and it turns out that the little girl is actually Yosuke’s lil sis. Well, there goes that potential love interest. (Or maybe not…this is anime, after all…) Phew, anyway, everyone’s safe, and Shibuya will see another day. But wait, why is that sky-scraper cracking open?!

I don’t really know what to say; just watching and synopsizing this one kinda took it out of me. I was actually mildly interested, initially; my curiosity piqued by the fact that SI-VIS is a co-ed group—such a rare sight in music/idol anime! And even quite rare irl these days, too. I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt when it became clear, within the first few seconds, that this was likely to be more focused on some kind of technological-supernatural battle rather than the music itself, making this a kind of sci-fi musical. *Shivers* Things took a steep nosedive, though, with the introduction of the eminently annoying Kyoya, and the downturn only steepened the moment he started to dance. (Yikes, talk about second-hand embarrassment.) I’m not a fan of leads who force everyone around them to make up for their reckless incompetence simply because they “believe in themselves” or “have a dream,” and Kyoya is the very embodiment of this trope. I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say that it’s clear the entire series is going to center on Kyoya in all his unglory. On the plus side, the animation is decent, with fairly well-integrated 3D assets and acceptable action sequences, with some cool moments of forced perspective. There’s very little musical performance, though, and the music itself, which is only doled out in parsimonious snatches here and there, is infinitely forgettable. I don’t understand how a vocal group of five members would be given a soundtrack of solo-artist compositions. What are the other four doing? Fighting monsters, I guess. Yeah, this one’s not for me.

My thoughts, exactly!

SI-VIS is streaming on Crunchyroll. But go watch Ave Mujica instead.

claire
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