Winter 2023 Anime: D4DJ All Mix

Synopsis

Having the spirit of service as its founding philosophy, Arisugawa Academy is a traditional school that Miyu Sakurada, Haruna Kasuga, Miiko Takeshita and Kurumi Shiratori attend.

With putting smiles on everyone’s faces considered as community service, they’ve been allowed to continue their activities as the DJ unit, Lyrical Lily.

One day, Haruna is called by the Chamber of Commerce, to take on a request for a year-long town revitalization event starting with the New Year.

While having doubts about whether they could pull it off by themselves, what came to mind were the people who helped put together their successful first performance, along with the smiles of their audience then.

The spirit of service and Lyrical Lily’s feelings connected them, to each and every one of the units which had received commendations at the DJ festival, D4 FES.

At last, the curtains raise on a new stage fitting for the New Year…

(Source: D4DJ Official Website)

Comments

Keinda D. Adilia (The Indonesian Anime Times)

Unlike the first season, D4DJ All Mix focused on another unit from the franchise, Lyrical Lily. The members of Lyrical Lily already know each other, something that’s different compared to the first season. Here, each of the members has a specific connection to another D4DJ unit. We can see this when the members of Lyrical Lily invite the members from other units. So, the first episode also serves as a look at each unit’s relationship over the course of D4DJ Groovy Mix’s in-game story.

Unfortunately from the first episode, we can see the story of D4DJ All Mix is actually a continuation of Lyrical Lily’s in-game story. This may inhibit the fans who only watch the anime, especially because there’s a major storyline that hinted at the end of the first season. On the other side, D4DJ All Mix really tried their best to fill the gap with hints, mentions, and character connections. It seemed the story of each episode will tell the event that happened each month of the year. This also means that there will be many gaps needed to be filled and I wish that they handle this obstacle well.

Visually speaking, Sanzigen’s 3DCG animation technique has improved compared to the first season. We can see this from character models and smoother animation, especially for characters with hyperactive expressions like Happy Around!’s Rinku Aimoto or Merm4id’s Rika Seto. Not only that, the integration of 3D models with 2D art is much better compared to the first season. I would say that Sanzigen really step up their game higher and higher for 3DCG animation.

Lastly, the major highlight of this anime is, of course, its music. Starting the episode, the series is already graced by Maihime, a song produced by TAKU INOUE and sung by Lyrical Lily. It’s an impactful song to start the anime. It begins with much softer beats in the beginning that gradually get stronger as the song rolled to the end of the opening sequence like a perfect opening to a hyped setlist. To end the episode, they pulled out a much more hyped electro-swing song produced by Ryouhei Sataka and sung by all of the unit’s main vocalists, Around and Around. The first time I listened to this song, I was reminded to a song by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP, We No Speak Americano, or its remix by Pitbull, Bon, Bon. Nostalgic and catchy, both the opening and ending songs are major proofs that D4DJ already improved their music production over these past two years. I would love to replay the opening and ending songs over and over again.

Overall, D4DJ All Mix is a great addition for those who already got into the D4DJ franchise. It adds a new story to the existing universe featuring characters who haven’t been featured in the first season. The music is already better-produced than the first season’s. However, newcomers and anime-only audiences may need to watch the D4DJ First Mix and the OVA, D4DJ Double Mix, as those will give you a picture of what already happened and introduce you to other characters and units who will be going to feature in the anime.

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailers

The Indonesian Anime Times