Wake Up, Girls! is an anime series produced by Ordet and Tatsunoko Production and directed by Yutaka Yamamoto. A film titled Wake Up, Girls! – Seven Idols 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, Wake Up!, Girls! Seishun no Kage, 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 Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter! 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, 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.
An idol-training simulation social game titled Wake Up, Girls! Stage no Tenshi launched in January 2014. 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 Wake Up, Girls! – Seven Idols, was released in theaters on January 11, 2014. Box office is under ¥10 million. 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 Stand Up!, and from episode 3 onwards is 7 Girls' War, both credited by the cast of Wake Up, Girls!. The ending theme is Kotonoha Aoba, also performed by Wake Up, Girls!. An original net animation spin-off produced by Studio Moriken, titled Wake Up, Girl ZOO!, 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, Wake Up, Girls! Seishun no Kage, was released in theaters on October 30, 2015. The box office return was under ¥10 million. 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 ; 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 Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter! 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''
The opening theme is "7 Senses" and the ending theme is "Shizuku no Kan"; both are performed by the voice acting 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: Koko Hayashi, Yuka Morishima and Nanami Atsuki. 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.
