- Titles: A3! SEASON SPRING ＆ SUMMER, Act! Addict! Actors!
- Genre: Comedy, theater, cbdct
- Episodes: 12
- Studio: Studio 3Hz, P.A. Works
Oh no! The Mankai Company theatre troupe is in trouble. They were once a popular source of entertainment for young and old alike but in the past few years, all those popular actors have moved on and now they struggle to pay the bills. Unless they can turn things around, they might have to disband permanently. But Sakuya can’t let that happen. It’s his first day! He’s also the only actor and has no experience in the field. You can’t sweat the details when you’re chasing after that spotlight. Especially since they’ve just managed to rope in a new director. Now all they need is to find the rest of their actors, learn the craft, write and put on a popular play that will sell out and enable them to keep the theatre doors open, all within a month. Should be a piece of cake!
I actually played this mobile game. I liked it as far as they go. I thought it had a few fun mechanics. Citron was my favourite character in the game, and guess what? he’s still my favourite! Amazing!
Production
Look, it’s a mobile game tie-in anime. Let’s get those expectations where they should be. It does what it’s supposed to do. The character models are great, they are not consistent but I’ve seen worse. The animation is ok, they resort to stills a lot, however, manage to stay completely away from CG so choose your poison. And the voice actors are doing what they can with the script for a paycheck.
It’s an ok production. P.A. Works certainly has done better but I can’t say that at any point the production values made me want to stop watching or cringe or something. It’s fine.
Story & Characters
How can I put this? If you were to approach the plot assuming that it’s based in our current reality, and really there’s no reason to think jit isn’t, then the plot doesn’t make any sense. It’s full of holes and even a novice could tell you that that’s not how the theatre business works. But that’s o.k. A3! is not a series for thinking, it’s a series for looking! You just have to kind of accept things as they happen and not ask too many questions. Hmmm. ok, so I guess watching A3! is an experience not completely unlike joining the mafia. There you go!
You should know that Spring and Summer season refers to the theater’s production season. So this series in fact is 12 episodes split into 2. For the first half, the spring season is trying to get to know each other, learning the art of acting on stage and putting together a show. Then in the second half, we do the whole thing all over again with a brand new cast for the summer season.
It kind of makes sense in the game and there is reasonable plot justification. However, in practice, it means that you’re really watching two seasons of 6 episodes. That’s fine. Considering each season has a brand new cast and there are at least 4 to 6 main characters per season, well I’m going to let you guess how much development there is. Oh yeah!
I probably should fess up and admit that I was also watching the second season of Starmyu as I was watching this. What can I say, only highly intellectual pass times for me! I randomize my anime watching ok! It just sort of happened. I’m not addicted to these shows!
Anyways, Starmyu is very similar to A3! and it’s better. On pretty much every metric, I just enjoy Starmyu more. There is absolutely no doubt that it tainted my watching experience and will have an effect on this review. Because I was contrasting it against another show that I prefer, A3! ended up just becoming the lesser experience. There’s no way around it.
A3! Spring and Summer Season isn’t offensively bad. I did get a few giggles out of it. If you wanted to see this series, I’m not here to warn you against it. I personally will not be watching another season but one is available. Let me try to sum it up like this: A3 stands for Act! Addict! Actors!, which might seem pertinent but in the end is basically 3 random words. And that is the best way I have to describe 3! Spring and Summer Season.
You might like this anime if:
You just love the cute boys doing cute things genre. You are looking for a series you can watch without the help of your brain. You really liked the game, in which case, this is a very fun tie-in that follows the game’s plot more closely than most.
My favourite character:
Look, it’s Citron. That’s not a surprise. He’s a glorious cuckoo bird. But Yuki is a close second. And again, I really liked him in the game as well.
Suggested drink:
- Every time anyone mentions Yukio – take a sip
- Every time anyone quotes Shakespear – put up your pinkie
- Every time Sakuya is a fluffy bunny – drink
- Every time Masumi hits in the director – take a sip
- Every time the manager freaks out – take a sip
- Every time Citron doesn’t make any sense – raise your glass
- Every time Masumi is cranky – offer him a sip
- Every time someone wants to quit – noooooooooo
- Every time the lead feels the pressure – take a sip
- Every time there’s rehersal – take a practice sip
- Every time Yuki gets annoyed – awwwww
- Every time Miyoshi gets excited – take a sip
- Every time the mean acting coach sows up – take notes
- Every time Misumi wants a triangle – maybe put the drink down, it’s getting weird
- Every time Tenma gets mad – Ok other Masumi…
I save all my screencaps on my Pinterest and you can find more there if you are interested. But I still like to show you a few in the post. If you’re like me, screencaps are something that really helps you decide to watch an anime or not.
I totally missed this show as it aired. I don’t remember why; I have half a hunch it was a weird release schedule? I tend to watch everything PA Works is involved in. That said, it’s not high on my list of priorities.
I remember liking Starmyu, though. Not enough to watch more than one season, but I especially enjoyed the over the top productions with rainbows and dolphins and unicorns, or whatever the theme was. Lots of fun.
Maybe I’ll get around this one day. Lately, I’m hitting a randomise button until find something I’m in the mood for. I usually don’t finish those, though.