World Dai Star (ワールドダイスター) is a Japanese mixed-media project written by Takahiro and created by Egg Firm and Bandai Namco Filmworks, with original character designs by Mika Pikazo.An anime television series produced by Lerche aired from April to June 2023, and a mobile game titled World Dai Star: Yume no Stellarium was released in July 2023.
Plot
After Dai Star stage performers exploded in worldwide popularity in the 20th century, 16-year-old Kokona Ōtori follows her dream of becoming a World Dai Star by auditioning for the Sirius theatrical troupe.
Characters
Sirius
Kokona Ōtori (鳳 ここな)
Kokona is a 16-year-old second-year high school student. She has been fascinated by the Sirius theater since she was a child and auditioned to join the company to become a World Dai Star. Kokona has a cheerful and friendly personality who can get along with anyone. She lacks confidence in her performance and skills, and often becomes timid. But she admired and strongly trusts her best friend, Shizuka, who is always so confident.
Shizuka (静香)
Shizuka is a winsome, confident person with a calm, analytical mind. She has something that Kokona Otori does not have. Shizuka is always worried about Kokona who tends to be weak, always encouraging her and giving her sound advice. The two of them work hard every day to realize their dream of becoming a World Dai Star.
Kathrina Griebel (カトリナ・グリーベル)
Kathrina is a 16-year-old second-year high school student from Germany whose parents are both World Dai Stars. After an incident, she left her home country and went to Japan alone to pursue a career in theater.
Yae Niizuma (新妻 八恵)
Yae is an 11-year-old fifth grade elementary school student. She is an angel-like girl who treats everyone politely. Despite her age, Yae boasts overwhelming acting ability that allows her to dominate the stage in an instant, and is currently said to be the only Dai Star candidate in Sirius. Going on top of that, she is still a mass of improvement power and stoic when it comes to acting.
Panda Yanagiba (柳場 ぱんだ)
Panda is a 13-year-old second-year junior high school student. She acts friendly, yet a calculating realist. She is a hard-working JK girl who is envious of the natural ability of others when doing anything.
Chisa Sasuga (流石 知冴)
Sasuga is a 13-year-old second-year junior high school student. She has a strong presence with her unique sensibility, styles and good looks, but she herself is very self-paced. Also called a mysterious character who often doesn't think about anything. She wears a green shirt with an alien pattern, because she mostly likes astrology and skateboarding.
Noa Hiiragi (柊 望有)
The vice-president of Sirius, Hiiragi the former #1 of Sirius. After the retirement, she turned down invitations from other theater companies and became a behind-the-scenes and vice-president member of Sirius, where her former teacher is. Noa began mentoring the next generation of performers.
Shamo Yamabuki (山吹 シャモ)
A former World Dai Star, Shamo is a founding member and president of Sirius, leading the company for decades. After discovering Hiiragi as her successor, she retires from active duty and entrusts the future of Sirius to her. Going back to Shiriusu Yu, she serves as both a watchman and a dormitory mother.
Hana Kudo (工藤 花)
Hana is the director of Sirius and was originally one of its members. After leaving the company, she studied directing and returned to Sirius.
Dugong (ジュゴン)
Dugong is an otter kept in Sirius acting as a pet and mascot.
Gingaza
Koyomi Senju (千寿 暦)
Koyomi is a 17-year-old third-year high school student. She is the daughter of the prestigious stage Senju family and Iroha's older sister. Through tireless efforts, her talent blossomed and she climbed to the rank as the young ace of Gingaza.
Ramona Wolf (ラモーナ・ウォルフ)
Ramona is a 17-year-old third-year high school student who came from Germany. She is a serious girl who always wants things to be clear and values ties with people more than anything else. If someone is in trouble, Ramona immediately lends a helping hand, no matter who it is.
Xue Wang (王 雪)
Xue is a 15-year-old first-year high school student from China who passed the international entrance exam and joined Gingaza. Her greatest strengths are her quickness to act and her high hunger spirit. This has led to her own growth and ambition. She lives a thrifty lifestyle in order to send money to her family, and is extremely strict when it comes to money.
Lilja Kurtbay (リリヤ・クルトベイ)
Lilja is a 17-year-old third-year high school student from Finland. She is so beautiful that she was scouted by Gingaza due to her overwhelming presence, and she herself is particular about her beauty. It even seems that she senses life in gathering people's eyes on the stage, and even wears bold costumes to make herself attractive.
Hikari Yonaguni (与那国 緋花里)
Hikari is a 15-year-old first-year high school student from Okinawa. With a positive mindset, Hikari loves training to the point that she doesn't mind the strict training at Gingaza. Although Hikari is troubled by cold interpersonal relationships within the theater company, she relieves stress by chatting through video distribution.
Gekidan Denki
Iroha Senju (千寿 いろは)
Iroha is a 16-year-old second-year high school student who loves collecting anime and manga. She is the daughter of the stage's prestigious Senju family and Koyomi's younger sister.
Mito Shiromaru (白丸 美兎)
Mito is 16-year-old second-year high school student who acts passive and tranquil due to her complicated family environment. She has complete trust in her first friend, Iroha, and her hobbies, including cosplay, anime, and the entrance exam for Gekidan Denki.
Kamira Akiru (阿伎留 カミラ)
Kamira is a 16-year-old second-year high school student who grew up in a downtown area. She has a lot of part-time job experience and grew up in a place with many temples and shrines, so her mental age is quite high. After seeing Iroha's performance, she fell in love with theater and joined the Denki troupe, but in terms of acting, she is still in the growth stage.
Tsubomi Nekoashi (猫足 蕾)
Tsubomi is a 17-year-old third-year high school student. She believes herself to be a person with special powers, and even though she is being targeted by a dark organization, she is performing theater with determination.
Towa Motosu (本巣 叶羽)
Towa is a 11-year-old sixth grade elementary school student. She is genius child actor who has been active on TV since childhood. Towa is not good at hard work, so she came to the relaxed atmosphere of Gekidan Denki to take it easy.
Eden
Hatsumi Renjakuno (連尺野 初魅)
Hatsumi is a 20-year-old actor and screenwriter. She is a self-reliant and strict leader who goes her own way, disapproving acting that relies on their sense, but often takes care of her other people.
Daikoku Karasumori (烏森 大黒)
Daikoku is a 13-year-old second-year junior high school student. Having a dark past, she has used the "Shadow Heart" to make a performance full of emotion. Daikoky is fascinated by the charm of the representative.
Nikako Toneri (舎人 仁花子)
Nikako is a 15-year-old first-year high school student from Aogashima. Thanks to the carefree upbringing on an island rich in nature, she has a rich and sharp sensitivity.
Iruru Yorozu (萬 容)
Iruru is a 17-year-old third-year high school student. She has the ability to pass all roles with a passing score. However, despite her best efforts, Iruru cannot achieve a perfect score. She is very insecure about not being able to perform perfectly, but her potential and talent are regarded and valued. Iruru is seen as a girl with a unique sense of stagecraft, which is essential in creating a solid foundation for any production.
Shigure Fudeshima (筆島 しぐれ)
Shigure is a 10-year-old fifth grade elementary school student. Due to being intelligent and strong-willed, she tends to look down on other members other than Hatsumi as a rival, especially Daikoku.
Media
Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Nanafuji began serialization on Media Factory's Comic Alive+ website on April 2, 2023.[1]
Anime
An anime television series by Lerche aired from April 9 to June 25, 2023, on Tokyo MX and other networks.The series is directed by Yū Kinome and written by Yasuhiro Nakanishi, with Majiro handling animation character designs based on Mika Pikazo's original designs, and Ryo Takahashi, Kenichi Kuroda and Tatsuya Yano composing the music.[2]Crunchyroll streamed the series under the title Stella of the Theater: World Dai Star.[3]
Mobile game
A mobile game titled World Dai Star: Yume no Stellarium was released on July 26, 2023.[8][1]
Web radio
Web radio "World Daistar RADIO☆Waraji will be distributed on Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Corporation's "Super! A&G+" from December 29, 2022. The main personalities are Manaka Iwami and Ikumi Hasegawa[9]
Reception
The anime adaptation, Stella of the Theater: World Dai Star, was positively received by critics. Toni Sun Prickett of Anime Feminist reviewed the first episode, saying it more interested in the "actual process of acting", specifically how characters inhabit the minds of the characters they play, and called it "quite a pleasure", especially for those who enjoy Acting School shows, but criticized the "world-building info dumps" by the characters, and character designs of adults which "feel very little different from those of the children."[10]
Discography
Theme song
"Wannabe Star!" (ワナビスタ！) by Sirius [Manaka Iwami, Ikumi Hasegawa, Sally Amaki, Maria Naganawa, Naomi Ōzora, Rico Sasaki]
"Two of Us" (トゥ・オブ・アス) by Kokona Ōtori [Manaka Iwami], Shizuka [Ikumi Hasegawa]
"Na mo Naki Koibito yo" (名もなき恋人よ; O My Nameless Lover) by Panda Yanagiba [Naomi Ōzora], Chisa Sasuga [Rico Sasaki] (ep 8)
Insert song
"Diamond no Chikai" (ダイヤモンドの誓い; Diamond Oath) by Kokona Ōtori [Manaka Iwami] (ep 7)
"Etoile" by Yae Niizuma [Maria Naganawa] (ep 12)
"Farewell song" by Yae Niizuma [Maria Naganawa] (ep 12)
"Mahou no Last Note" (魔法のラストノート; Magic Last Note) by Yae Niizuma [Maria Naganawa] (ep 7)
