Going into Trapezium, I expected a fairly typical idol anime with some fun misadventures, a few catchy songs, and a heartful message about friendship. What I did not expect was one of the most manipulative main characters I’ve seen in a while and an underdeveloped critique. The movie honestly left me confused after watching it as I tried to balance the charming visuals with the troubling story at its core.

Based on former idol Kazumi Takayama’s novel, Trapezium is directed by Masahiro Shinohara and produced by Coloverworks. The film focuses on Yu Azuma, a first-year high school student with an unwavering passion for becoming an idol. She aims to recruit one girl from four high schools in her region located in the four cardinal directions to form an idol group. Ultimately, she meets Ranko Katori, a rich girl from an all-girls academy; Kurumi Taiga, a shy loner passionate about robotics; and Mika Kamei, a kind-hearted girl dedicated to volunteering and community service. Together, the group finds stardom but learns the demands of fame may not be for them.

Azuma is the film’s central figure, as it’s her dedication and drive to become an idol that brings this group together. But that is where I have some problems with her characterization. She ultimately manipulates the other girls into meeting under the guise of friendship and essentially tricks them into stardom while pretending that all of it is a happy circumstance. It never feels like the film takes the time to acknowledge her manipulation and lies appropriately. There could be something incredibly interesting about her if she were forced to examine her own character honestly, but the movie falls short of doing so, leaving her lacking any substantial development.

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While lacking in some areas, the film utilized impressive animation and character design. Rio handled character design for the movie and served as chief animation director. Each girl’s design worked well to express their personality without feeling overexaggerated. Given that this is an animated film, the characters’ physical performance is dependent on the animators, and thankfully, they were able to do so effectively for each of them. Beyond that, the animation, in general, felt smooth and was paired with some calming color palettes that were juxtaposed with the, at times, uncomfortable nature of the story.

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With the main objective of the film focused on the girls gaining fame and becoming idols, it feels like there isn’t much to focus on in the film’s endgame. Trapezium lacks any actual resolution to discuss in that the characters’ endings feel rushed and incomplete, but any attempts at development feel shoehorned in. There isn’t any lesson to walk away from the film with, no strong message that legitimizes Azuma’s manipulation of her friends. Given all that, you’d think the movie felt rushed, but quite the opposite, as the pacing feels relatively slow and drags at several points.

Ultimately, while it sets itself apart from typical idol anime, Trapezium falls short of being truly interesting due to underdeveloped characters and the overall manipulative nature of the story. It’s able to redeem some goodwill thanks to its lively animation, but beyond that, there isn’t much else working for it. Somewhere deep down, there is an interesting commentary and criticism of the idol industry and the stress and trauma that comes with it, but I’m afraid Trapezium is too surface-level to reach it.– Jacob Campbell

Rating: 5/10
Trapezium comes to theaters for one night only on September 18.