Card game · Romantic comedy

Kirarin Revolution

Japanese manga series

Released: —
Platforms: —
Genres: Card game Romantic comedy
Developers: —
Publishers: Shogakukan
Country: Japan

About

Kirarin Revolution (Japanese: きらりん☆レボリューション, Hepburn: Kirarin Reboryūshon) is a Japanese manga series by An Nakahara. The series ran in the shōjo manga magazine Ciao from March 2004 to June 2009, with side stories running in Pucchigumi in 2006. The manga has sold a cumulative total of over 10 million copies. It was awarded Best Children's Manga at the 2006 Shogakukan Manga Awards.

An anime adaptation premiered on April 7, 2006, in Japan on TV Tokyo and ran for 102 episodes until March 28, 2008. A second season with the subtitle Kirarin Revolution Stage 3 (きらりん☆レボリューションSTAGE3, Kirarin Reboryūshon Stage 3) aired from April 8, 2008, to March 27, 2009, in high-definition and 3D animation. The anime series stars Morning Musume member Koharu Kusumi, and during the show's run, she released music and made crossover appearances at concerts and television shows as the character. Starting with Kirarin Revolution Stage 3, additional cast members joined her in music activities, such as MilkyWay and Ships.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

Kirari Tsukishima, a 14-year-old beauty, does not care about idols and the entertainment world because her mind is occupied by food. One day, after saving a turtle stranded in a tree, Kirari meets a boy named Seiji, who gives her a ticket to a concert to show his gratitude for her saving his pet. However, when Kirari shows up at the concert, another boy named Hiroto, tears up her ticket and warns her to stay away from Seiji, because they both live in different worlds. Kirari learns that Seiji and Hiroto are members of the idol group Ships.

Finally understanding the meaning of "different worlds", Kirari refuses to give up pursuing Seiji and declares that she will also become an idol. However, being an idol requires tons of training and talent. Faced with rivals and scandals, Kirari is determined to come out as a top idol.

Reception

Kirarin Revolution has sold a cumulative total of over 10 million physical copies. It won the 2006 Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga.

Oricon notes that while actors releasing music as their characters have been notable, Kusumi portraying Kirari Tsukishima in voice and in a real-world context pioneered the "idol voice actor" crossover beginning in the late 2000s, along with Aya Hirano from the Haruhi Suzumiya series. Parallels have been drawn between Kusumi and Kirari, citing their similarities in age, career, and process of becoming an idol, which led Kusumi to be closely associated with the character. In the week of December 24–30, 2007, the Kirarin Revolution anime series had an average viewership rating of 2.6%. Kusumi was named #17 in Daitan Map's "Top 50 Voice Actors of Popular Characters" in 2007 for her role as Kirari.