I want you to think about what you know about iDOLM@STER and then I want you to forget all that because Xenoglossia doesn't just tip the concept on its head, it pushes it down a hill, because honestly I don't even know if the show writers had any idea what the concept of iDOLM@STER is. However, despite all that, the end result is much better than it sounds, well certainly for those who are correct and fans of Haruka. For fans of others I'm afraid you may not be so keen on how things turn out, but sacrifices have to be made and every little thing to make Haruka look better is a good thing in my book. OK, Iori fans don't suffer too badly either.
I'm reviewing this as someone watching the show in the year 2014 where we've already had a true to the game anime and two series of the adorable Puchimas spinoff. Basically iM@S fans have plenty to see in terms of animation. Now I can understand that back in 2007 when Xenoglossia originally came out it may have been a bit of a blow to have a show that had hardly anything to do with the games apart from the characters but today I feel we can forgive that and should just enjoy it for what it is. Now as a 2007 show this was before Takane and Hibiki were on the scene so I'm afraid fans of them may feel a little disappointed, but, oddly, despite Miki making her debut before this show she is nowhere to be seen. Likely due to the show actually being in the planning stages when she was first revealed. But whatever the reason may be it really doesn't matter. I'm sure we can all agree that no Miki is a good thing.
Now before I get too ahead of myself, what is this show about? Well as this is a review and not a plot summery I don't want to give away the whole story so I'll just give a basic outline of the overall plot. Far in the future under a new calendar system so we don't know what year it really is set in (well apart from the bit when Haruka says she is born in 1991 meaning it clearly takes place in 2007, but we'll just ignore that shall we) we learn that 107 years ago the moon was destroyed somehow and as a result bits of moon fell to Earth and caused massive damage killing a quarter of the Earth's population. These bits of moon, known as Drops, have been falling to Earth ever since. To avoid further damage the nations of the Earth found solutions to destroy them, almost all of which involve missiles. However, always having to be the special exception, Japan's solution is to send up mechs to punch them into little bits that will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. These mechs are known as iDOLs and their pilots are known as Masters and thus they are iDOLMASTERs! Yes, the whole concept of the show is based on a pun of the title. Thank you Sunrise!
So yes, this is iDOLM@STER meets mechs, but like I've said before and hopefully you've understood, this show really doesn't focus too much on the iDOLM@STER concept. So much so you wonder if this show was written without the iDOLM@STERs in mind and they were later kind of forced into the plot. OK, not quite true, Haruka initially got involved in this because she thought she was auditioning for an idol role rather than an iDOL role (and this is why letter case is important) so the aspect of wanting to be an idol is kept. Also one of the iM@S gals is amazingly an actual idol in this show, and surprisingly it is Yayoi, though even here the show writers couldn't help but fiddle with things (see the Through the Looking-Glossia for more details). But that is still very much all in episode one and they could have easily stuck that on to the beginning of a previously written story when they decided to stick the iDOLM@STER name on this.
But let us stop with these negatives because we're just going to forget this isn't really an iM@S show because if we want that we can just watch the iDOLM@STER anime. This is a mech show with idols and we love it. But there is something important I must tell you. Firstly, let me just explain that iDOLs and their Master have to develop a bond to work which is why not just anyone can pilot them hence the audition I mentioned earlier. Now lets say this deep bond goes a bit further, like say romantic feelings... yes... what I'm implying here is mech x girl romance ladies and gentlemen. Xenoglossia asks the deep question of whether a girl can truly love a robot. Now I don't really want to say anymore since I feel even that was a bit too much to reveal, after all I want you to see this show as spoiler free as possible, but you have to admit your average mech show doesn't deal with story lines quite like that. I know I'm right in thinking that you really want answers now after that little tease so now you have no choice but to watch it!
NUDITY! Just making sure you're still with us. Yes, one of the odd things about this show is the nudity. Now we joke about idols and purity, but this show is about giving a new side to idols, and as I warned at the beginning of this review, it'll likely be a side you don't want to see since pretty much all the purity is thrown out the window. So I have a hunch the writers were inserting all this nudity to kind of emphasise that this isn't quite the iM@S you know and love. There's lots of it, in fact the OP literally starts with it and the ED almost solely consists of it. (Thought I should add that the first OP song is actually very good) OK, it's not full frontal nudity, mostly "tastefully" done back shots and whatnot with the naughty parts carefully covered up, but considering the other iM@S show doesn't even go as far as pantie shots it's certainly quite a contrast.
But since we're on the subject of looks, lets me discuss briefly the look of the show. Animation wise it's pretty good, solid with no obvious cases of dodgy animation. While I would find it hard to say whether I prefer the art style to A1's take on series, since the tone is very different, I will say I do appreciate that Haruka's forehead does stay more consistent than in The iDOLM@STER. But if push came to shove I'd lean towards A1 because of a certain set of characters looking rather more derpy compared to their A1 designs (which, of course, are closer to the originals I should add). There is CG in the shows as I know that's a major concern for some, but it's used for the mechs, and even then it's not used all the time, mostly depending on how much action there is, which is understandable. Basically, it's not gonna kill you to see it. However the mechs themselves are rather plain. There's nothing really that memorable about them. Also the pilot outfits are a bit odd. It's the sleeves really, they have this odd twisted look to them and they also wrap around the middle finger in an odd way. But that's just a little niggle that's easy to overlook in the grand scope of things.
So overall I get that back in 2007 this may have been seen as a travesty but like a fine wine it has improved with age. So don't let those old hangups you've heard put you off watching this show. Tune in and enjoy the iM@S in a unique setting with a nonsensical story. Wait, ignore what I just said about the story!
