A3! Season Spring & Summer

Home to countless street acts and performances, Veludo Way attracts those interested in watching professional actors. After receiving a mysterious letter, Izumi Tachibana arrives at the venue where her father directed a once-popular theater group, Mankai Company, but learns that the building is about to be repurposed due to excessive debt. At the last minute, she convinces the debt collector to give the ensemble one more chance. He is willing to accept but on three conditions: their debut show must be successfully produced by the following month, the four all-male sub-troupes must be reinstated, and the debt must be paid off within a year. To top it off, Izumi herself must become the director.

With no time to lose, Izumi quickly gathers five people for the Spring Troupe: Sakuya Sakuma, an enthusiastic high school student; Masumi Usui, a boy infatuated with Izumi; Tsuzuru Minagi, an aspiring playwright; Itaru Chigasaki, a mature office worker; and Citron, a friendly foreigner. Though they have little or no experience in acting, it's up to Izumi to train and prepare them for a performance that will restore Mankai Company to its former glory.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Chigasaki, Itaru Main

Asanuma, Shintaro Japanese

Ikaruga, Misumi Main

Hirose, Daisuke Japanese

Usui, Masumi Main

Shirai, Yuusuke Japanese

Rurikawa, Yuki Main

Toki, Shunichi Japanese

Sumeragi, Tenma Main

Eguchi, Takuya Japanese

Sakisaka, Muku Main

Yamaya, Yoshitaka Japanese

Sakuma, Sakuya Main

Sakai, Koudai Japanese

Miyoshi, Kazunari Main

Ozawa, Ren Japanese

Minagi, Tsuzuru Main

Nishiyama, Koutarou Japanese

Citron Main

Igarashi, Masashi Japanese

Sabat, Christopher Producer, ADR Director

Cook, Justin Producer

Herek, Samantha Assistant Producer

Shinohara, Keisuke Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Sep 21, 2020

Haptism93

Recommended

Let me start by saying that I'm a fan of the original game and that this anime is one of the best game adaptions I’ve seen so far.

A3! is a story about friendship, overcoming hardships and chasing your dreams. Please keep in mind that if you're looking for an idol anime, A3 is not the one for you since this is about a theater group – no singing and dancing involved (unless you count the opening). The first season focuses on the characters of the Spring & Summer troupes and offers some lighthearted slice of life moments. While each of them got their ... own issues and problems, they all grow over time while gaining experience; be it on the stage or in their private life. Thus, one of the biggest strengths A3 has to offer is the dynamic between the troupe members and seeing them interacting with each other.

Don't expect an anime packed with action, because it's a slow-paced show with lots of conversations about the fears and wishes of the cast members, including drama and arguments. However, A3 is nothing short of comedy scenes, so you'll eventually come to love all the characters with all of their quirks and drolleries.

I've been playing the game for a while now and I immediately fell in love with the story, the characters, the music and the art. While the anime is very close to the game story-wise, they added some little easter eggs and bonuses for the fans, which, obviously, you might not spot if you're not familiar with the source material. Not all game scenes are included, but they did a good job picking the ones that bring the story forward. That way, it never feels like as if they're skipping important parts or rushing through the story.

Unfortunately, there is one thing I can't only say good things about. The art of the characters in the game is pretty and I’m always amazed about how much details they add to the costumes and cards. The anime, however, has some issues with the art and animations going on, even after they reworked some of it. Movements are a bit stiff and lacking in flow at times, faces are often kind of deformed. That shouldn't ruin the enjoyment for you, especially since the characters are pretty enough once zoomed on their faces, but it can still be irritating in some scenes.

All in all I can say that A3 Spring & Summer is very well-made and deserves to get a chance. THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 23, 2020

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

Another anime of a game adaptation, but not the usual kind of "idols" that we'd expect. Instead, it's all about theater troupe acting. A simple act of gesture can go a long way...or so it's said.

Based on the game A3!, the player (director) must navigate through the simple plot about saving a theatre company (that's the Mankai Company) from the demolition of its "good ol' days", which specializes in 4 troupes that's named after the 4 seasons. Sounds simple enough? The anime also has that plot, but for the sake of time, the 1st cour here samples the Spring and Summer Troupes, with every troupe ... being unique and of itself that's based on the past experiences of the niche in talents.

Each and every troupe's group has a specialized theme, of which its 5 grandiose bishounen members must venture though high hell and back to cooperate with one another, and going through their hard-felt journeys of cohesive learning makes for one of the show's finest moments. The times where everyone couldn't see eye-to-eye, or have disagreements pertaining to personality or plain characteristics, all these are the hallmark of good and successful group camaraderie, and by the end of it, the groups are able to pull off their success "stories", which are the icing on the cake, and able to save Mankai Theatre from one step closer to shutting down for good. Different characterizations for all, and while generic, is still good.

Needless to say, the production for this series is quite horrid, but overall poor. A Studio 3Hz and P.A. Works collaboration (with 2 directors), the show really doesn't look any gorgeous, but it resembles ugly paintwork jobs all around, even for the character designs, which look at all decent to the honest eye. Originally set to finish in the Winter 2020 season, the production problems suspended the show for a postponed season (that is Spring), so that's that. Despite that, it's bearable to watch though.

Music? Of course. When it comes to "idol" shows (I'm not saying this is one), music helps a lot in gaining traction, and the songs here are fine though. From the OP to the season troupe's EDs, they sound fine really, nothing that will blow you away (that is if you've played the game and enjoyed for what it is).

Overall, a fine taste of what the series will be like for a start, since there's still the 2nd cour (comprising of the Autumn and Winter troupes) coming up this Fall (postponed from Summer 2020). But as for now: "The world is your oyster." To build the stage together and act their hearts out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 28, 2022

Starr_

Not Recommended

I don't really understand the appeal of this show. Throughout my watching of it, the whole thing just felt bland and uninspired in every aspect of it.

Nothing about the animation or artstyle ever grabbed my attention. Even though all of the characters have okay designs that should have felt unique, they just felt soulless because of the specific style.

I could've excused all of that as long as the story made up for it but it really didn't. The show is split up into 4 parts [Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter] that all feel the exact same.

Every part tries to do character drama, but ... there isn't any impact because it always gets sorted out within the next episode or two. They try to make you worry about whether or not the play has the budget or time to be finished, bit it always does. They might mess up in the play, but then the audience says that the mistakes made the play better and more exciting.

I think a lot of this comes from each part only being six episodes and that this is a game adaptation. There's a lot that you can't do with those constraints, but the way the writers went about this show was not the best in my eyes.

The best part was the music as that always added something to the show, but obviously the soundtrack of something can't compensate for the rest of it being mediocre at best.

I would not recommend this show to people unless you're a fan of the original game. It just left me disappointed and bored by the end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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