Wake Up, Girls!

''Wake Up, Girls!'' is an anime series produced by Ordet and Tatsunoko Production and directed by Yutaka Yamamoto. A film titled opened in Japan on January 11, 2014, and a television series aired in Japan between January and March 2014. The film was streamed online in 108 countries upon its release. A spin-off series, ''Wake Up, Girl ZOO!'', aired between September 2014 and February 2015. Both the series and film are being streamed with English subtitles by Crunchyroll.

A second film, , was released in Japan on September 25, 2015, and another film titled ''Wake Up, Girls! Beyond the Bottom'' was released on December 25, 2015. A new anime series titled aired from October 9, 2017, to January 7, 2018, and was streamed by Crunchyroll.

''Wake Up, Girls!'' was also the name of a voice acting unit composed of the seven main voice actresses from 2014 to 2019.

Plot

Green Leaves Entertainment is a tiny production company in Sendai, the biggest city in Japan's northeastern Tohoku region. The agency once managed the careers of magicians, photo idols, fortune-tellers, and other entertainers, but its last remaining client finally quit. With the company on the verge of going out of business and in danger of having zero talent (literally), the president Tange hatches an idea of producing an idol group. On the brash president's orders, the dissatisfied manager Matsuda heads out to scout raw talent.

Characters

Green Leaves

Wake Up, Girls!

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:A high school freshman who used to be center in the famous idol group I-1 Club. She was one of the earliest members of the group, auditioning at age 12. Her popularity as the I-1 Club's center helped the group became more well known, but tensions between her and the group's manager and president Tōru Shiraki, when Mayu protested about the dismissal of her friend from I-1, led to her being fired after her next single lost to that of Shiho Iwazaki, her rival for the center spot, in sales records. This also led to her parents' divorce and an estranged relationship with her mother. In the movie, she is the last of the seven members to join the Wake Up Girls, her reason being seeking her own happiness by becoming an idol once again. She later makes up with her mother after showing the latter how much she enjoys her job and, with her mother's blessing, becomes properly contracted with WUG and Green Leaves (as she joined the group without auditioning). Much like her time in the I-1 Club, Mayu is the center for Wake Up Girls. Her image color is red, and her nickname is Mayushii.

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:A 15-year-old high school freshman and Mayu's best friend. She's a simple girl with no particular abilities, but with a lot of drive and is a hard worker. Her family owns a sweets store. She was almost fired from WUG when Hayasaka saw her lack of improvement, but Nanase (Yoppi) and Mayu convinced her to stay in the group while the other girls convinced Hayasaka not to fire her. She continues to practice and later becomes just as good as the others during their performances. Her image color is navy blue, and her nickname is Aichan.

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:A 14-year-old girl who enjoys eating various kinds of food and has a big appetite. She is recruited after Junko saw her at a local folk song singing competition, which she won. She is also known to sing at a local home for senior citizens who give her their support during her concerts. She and Miyu are usually the mood makers of the group due to their bubbly and cheerful personalities. Her image color is yellow, and her nickname is Minyami, derived from her catchphrase "Ume nya!" (It's tasty, meow!).

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:16-years-old. She is well-known in Sendai as a former child actress and a model before joining the group. She and Kaya are among the most mature members, often questioning the antics of Kohei and Junko. Because of her having the most experience in the entertainment industry, she's cited as the ''de facto'' leader by the group. She is also a very determined person as shown when sprained her foot during a rehearsal for the Idol Festival finals yet continued to practice and perform properly albeit with a slight mishap caused by her injury. Her image color is light blue, and her nickname is Yoppi.

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:At 13-years-old, Nanami is the youngest member of the group. She constantly practices singing, acting, and playing the piano in hopes of becoming a successful idol. Her dream is to one day perform at a Hikarizuka Theater, a type of Takarazuka play. After an overnight trip to Kesennuma with the group she decides to devote herself to WUG after hearing about Mayu's history. Her image color is purple, and her nickname is Nanamin.

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:At 18-years-old, Kaya is the oldest member of the group. She was originally from Kesennuma, living with her aunt after her parents died when she was young. Kaya then left for Sendai working in various part-time jobs after the fishing vessel "Shotomaru", in which her childhood friend was among the passengers, went missing 3 years prior to the start of the series. She joined the Wake Up Girls on a whim and originally planned to leave when she gets bored, but has since dedicated herself to be with the group. She acts as the group's second-in-command after Yoppi. Her image color is green, and her nickname is Kayatan.

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:A 17-year-old girl with a bubbly personality. She has a job at a maid cafe in Sendai and is self-described as "twin-tailed and incompetent". She is willing to participate in almost anything and enjoys being the center of attention whilst respecting others in the group. Miyu is the first person to be successfully recruited by Matsuda as a member of the Wake Up Girls. She and Minami are often the mood makers of the group. Her image color is orange, and her nickname is Myuu.

Staff

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:The group's manager. While having a good heart, his timid persona and inexperience as an idol manager makes it difficult for him to effectively make decisions that help boost the group's career. He nevertheless cares for the girls and would take action if he sees the girls in an uncomfortable situation. In the movie, it is revealed that he used to play guitar.

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:President of Green Leaves Entertainment and Kohei's superior. A chain-smoker with a brash personality, she often harasses Kohei both physically and verbally on the job. She came up with the name "Wake Up, Girls!" (WUG for short) from a local motel that bears the same name, as well as inspiration from the group Wham!.

I-1 Club

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:17-years-old and at her second year of High School. One of the First Generation members of the I-1 Club. She and Mayu competed for the center spot as part of president Shiraki's stipulation and won the spot after defeating Mayu in sales records. Despite being the center of the I-1 Club and her popularity, she continues to view Mayu as a rival. In Beyond the Bottom, Shiho lost her center position to Moka and ended up joining the I-1 Club's branch unit Next Storm. Nicknamed "Shihocchi".

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:A First Generation member and one of the oldest members of the I-1 Club at 20-years-old. She serves as the group's team captain and is very strict in maintaining their top performances and activities. Nicknamed "Maimai".

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:One of the most popular members of the I-1 Club. 16-years-old. She constantly sends text messages to her friend Mayu on the group's progress. She is also a First Generation member of the group. She openly supports Mayu, and WUG as a whole, despite their two groups being rivals. Nicknamed "Yoshimegu".

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:19-years-old. She is a Second Generation member and one of the most popular members of the group, in part because of her glasses; she is always seen wearing them throughout her performances and promotions. Nicknamed "Nanokasu".

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:13-years-old. She is a Fourth Generation Member of the I-1 Club. Despite sharing a surname with Reina and being advertised along with her as sisters, Moka is not related to her. Moka has had a desire to become the I-1 Club's new center, which she eventually achieved in Beyond the Bottom. Her nickname is "Moka-ga".

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:20-years-old. She is a Second Generation Member of the I-1 Club. Despite sharing a surname with Moka and being advertised along with her as sisters, Reina is not related to her. Her nickname is "Ren-Ren".

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:18-years-old. The only member of the group who is half-Japanese (her mother is English whereas her father is Japanese). Her nickname is "Ti-Na".

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:17-years-old by the time of her introduction in Beyond the Bottom, she is the newest member of the I-1 Club, replacing Shiho.

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:He is the I-1 Club's General Manager, Producer, Company President. His goal is to push the I-1 Club to be the most popular entertainment group in Japan. He shows little to no emotion and does not change his stern expression, even when publicly giving a speech. Because of his ambitions, he imposes strict guidelines towards the group, in which among those guidelines was that members are forbidden to have any personal relationships and would frequently remove any member of the I-1 Club that does not meet his expectations during training drills, citing that it would tarnish the group's reputation. These led to tensions between him and former center idol Mayu Shimada, which led to her firing when rival Shiho beat her in sales records for their singles.

:His belief of forbidding the members to have personal relationships are based on real life instances where idols who are known or even suggested to have such relationships either demoted or removed from their respective groups.

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:Introduced in Episode 6. An A-list music producer of which the I-1 Club is one of his clients. After seeing the Wake Up Girls' dismal performance, he decides to offer his services to Green Leaves Entertainment at no charge in exchange for total control as manager, without intervention from Junko or Kohei. Under Tasuku's control, the girls engage in a series of harsh training and a grueling performance schedule. Tasuku has gone so far as to consider removing Airi from the group or disband the group entirely if they choose to keep Airi as a means of testing the girls' commitment and unity. He is also the composer of the songs both WUG and I-1 perform during the Idol festival. He appears to really care for WUG as he was shown to be happy with their performance during said festival (and the crowd's reaction to it) as well as disappointed when they didn't win.

Other characters

;Twinkle
:A successful singer–songwriter duo composed of Karina (Haruka Tomatsu) and Anna (Kana Hanazawa), whom Junko helped in boosting their careers. They're responsible for writing some of the songs for the Wake Up Girls to sing.

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:A long-time fan of the I-1 Club. He attended the Wake Up Girls' first concert and discovered Mayu as one of the members, reporting it later in social media. He continues to watch the girls' performances as well as comments made in social media. He later assembles a small group to support WUG as their popularity grew and often holds loud meetings in restaurants much to the disturbance of the other customers and waitresses.

Media

Social game

An idol-training simulation social game titled launched in December 2013. In the game, the player takes the role of manager and must train the girls on their way to stardom. The game features unique idols not present in the anime.

The game was discontinued on December 15, 2014.

Anime

The first film, titled , was released in theaters on January 11, 2014. Box office is under ¥10 million(JPY). The television series aired between January 11, 2014, and March 29, 2014. The final volume of the series was released on August 22, 2014, and sold 2,193 copies. The opening theme of the first two episodes is , and from episode 3 onwards is ''7 Girls' War'', both credited by the cast of Wake Up, Girls!. The ending theme is , also performed by Wake Up, Girls!.

An original net animation spin-off produced by Studio Moriken, titled , began streaming on Avex's YouTube channel from September 5, 2014. The main theme is "WUG Zoo Zoo" by Wake Up, Girls!.

A second film, , was released in theaters on October 30, 2015. The box office return was under ¥10 million (JPY). It sold 1,416 copies on DVD and Blu-ray. The third film, ''Wake Up, Girls! Beyond the Bottom'', was released in theaters on January 29, 2016, and had a box office return below ¥10 million (JPY); it sold 1,862 copies on DVD and Blu-ray.

At the "''Wake Up, Girls!'' Festa 2016 Super Live" event on December 11, 2016, a new anime series titled was announced to be in production; the series aired from October 2017 to January 2018, on TV Tokyo.

Episode list

=Original anime series

=

=''Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter''

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The opening theme is "7 Senses" and the ending theme is ; both are performed by the voice acting unit Wake Up, Girls! (made up of the series main cast).

Voice actress unit

Wake Up, Girls!

Wake Up, Girls! was also a voice acting unit formed of the series' main cast; Mayu Yoshioka, Airi Eino, Minami Tanaka, Yoshino Aoyama, Nanami Yamashita, Kaya Okuno, and Miyu Takagi. Their first single outside of the ''Wake Up, Girls!'' anime franchise is the ending theme for the 2016 anime television series, ''Scorching Ping Pong Girls''. On June 15, 2018, it was announced that the unit would disband after their last concert on March 8, 2019.

Run Girls, Run!

Run Girls, Run! is a voice acting unit derived from the unit sharing the same name casting in ''Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter'' started in 2017: Coco Hayashi, Yūka Morishima and Nanami Atsugi. They cast in ''Wake Up, Girls!'' series initially, while their first single has a collaboration with the opening theme of ''Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody''.

References

External links

* ''Wake Up, Girls!''
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''Wake Up, Girls!''
at TV Tokyo
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* Run Girls, Run!
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{{Millepensee

2014 anime films
2014 Japanese television series endings
2014 anime ONAs
2015 anime films
2017 anime television series debuts
Anime with original screenplays
Animated films based on animated series
Japanese animated films
Japanese idols in anime and manga
Music in anime and manga
Ordet (studio)
Sentai Filmworks
Slice of life anime and manga
Tatsunoko Production
TV Tokyo original programming