Ensemble Stars!! Road to Show!!

To be honest, I have been playing EnStars since 2016 but since the !! update, I kinda dropped it because I dislike the new universe and preferred Yumenosaki so when I saw that the movie was focusing on Square, I was a little disapointed.

But, I was really happy to see EnStars come back as an anime and the movie overall was good. The characters apparing in this movie aren't even my favorites but, if it's your case too, know that others characters do appear as cameos. Rei and the others are going to a movie awards show, and during that show, clips from different movies ... that are talked about in the game's events are animated as Midnight Butlers for exemple. I was happy to get to see others boys animated too even if it is short clips.

Instead of a movie focusing on post Yumenosaki, I personally would have preferred a direct sequel to the original anime featuring different events to highlight all the characters, there are tons of events that could be animated and that would allow an equal focus on each characters and groups but I imagine that the choice to focus on Square is also to highlight characters like Aira, Kohaku or Mayoi and also to promote the current EnStars!!, I can see why they did that.

I must it that the choice of New York for a trip seems a bit cliché because it's not the first time that we see characters go to America during a movie but in the end, the choice of the country doesn't have much impact knowing that all the American characters in this film speak perfect Japanese, it's a shame not to have tried to make scenes in English for more realism.

Finally, I find that the villain of the movie was a bit too predictable, as soon as I saw him on screen, I knew it was him and also I it I had trouble understanding his motivations.

I don't have much more to say, the movie is cool and I enjoyed it, I hope that in the future we will get to see more animated EnStars again and this time with different characters.

This isn't the first time we've seen characters traveling to New York for a movie. It's entertaining to see them in a new setting, creating happy memories with their friends as they explore the wonders of this new country.

Unfortunately the way Ensemble Stars: Road to Show does it leaves one feeling unfulfilled and wishing the movie had gone another route.

Having a plot that derives from the main story of enstars can leave fans of the game, and prequel anime, feeling nervous for what's to come. There are brief mentions of event stories from the game, which are honestly not only better written but are also ... the more interesting parts of the movie, so we're off to a rough start already.

Had the rest of the movie been about the characters sightseeing New York, perhaps calling their friends back in Japan to share with them what they're experiencing, thus giving us more cameos to enjoy, the movie could've been more entertaining than it actually is.

Instead we have a parkour chase scene that goes on for too long, New Yorkers that speak perfect Japanese and a predictable antagonist that lacks any understandable motivation.
The last minutes of the movie seemed to drag on as the antagonist is exposed in such a way that isn't realistic or makes any sense and you're just left wondering, "Was this even worth 1 hour of my time?"
The answer is no, it was not.

Had this movie been about more events from the game it could've been a great sequel, considering what the movie teases at the beginning about the new era of Ensemble Stars. A movie about how Crazy:B and ALKALOID came to be would've been far more interesting than what this movie ended up being.

If you haven't seen this yet you're not missing out on anything. If you like the cast of characters it could be worth a watch, there are moments of fanservice sprinkled here and there that at least make the movie watchable, yet the plot itself leaves much to be desired.

To quote a wise man, "My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined"
Rating: 5/10