D4DJ First Mix

Bushiroad is known for their amazing 3D animated anime, so don't even worry about the models looking bad. D4DJ is a great anime with AMAZING music, honestly. And it's free to watch on YouTube: either Japanese with subtitles, English dub, Mandarin dub or Spanish dub!

D4DJ: First Mix follows Rinku Aimoto, who just moved back to Japan for high school. She hears a song she recognises and checks out where it came from, meeting Maho, who is a DJ. Together these girls form the unit Happy Around! And find 2 other girls to join: Muni and Rei.

This series focuses mainly on 2 units: Happy Around and Peaky P-key, as they go to the same school. It also mentions Photon Maiden, a unit from an idol agency and I believe RONDO are mentioned at some point, too.

Now that the second series is airing, it's the perfect time to watch First Mix. Go for it!

If you have ever enjoyed a music oriented series, do not miss this one! It has a great original music in multiple styles, fine dancing, and creative music visuals. The sound quality is first rate. The animation is high quality motion-tracking with smooth frame rates. It looks like a big budget production.

It is available on most anime channels, and also for free on YouTube. At the moment, only season one is dubbed in English, but I hope more will be dubbed soon.

I did not expect an anime about DJ's to include so much technical detail, nor create original songs and choreography. There is plenty of humor and the characters are lively and interesting.

The setting is a large Tokyo High School with a big music program that holds music mixing and DJ competitions. The story focuses on three groups, Happy Around (initially named DJ Mash), Peaky P-key (the reigning champions), and Photon Maiden (created by a record label).

The new girls in Happy Around develop their group, grow friendships and work hard to build their skills. There are plenty of "slice of life" moments as the girls reflect on themselves and try to understand relationships with each other. Happy Around has a lot of fun performing, and is both surprised and excited to move up the rankings. They become friends with girls in the competing groups Peaky P-key and Photon Maiden. The new girls have a chance to qualify for the big end of year competition. They struggle with how to evolve as a group so they can compete at a higher level.

This show has lots of energy and will leave you smiling.

The daily activities of the core D4DJ unit, "Happy Around!" are the subject of D4DJ: First Mix. Our perpetually joyful daughter Rinku is the one who formed the band. She had a habit of exclaiming "Happy Around!" while joyously spinning around, which gave rise to the name for the song. She never quits up and is constantly upbeat and enthusiastic. Following her initial meeting with Maho, she developed an interest in the entire DJ project.

After witnessing a DJ performance in the past, Maho was deeply impacted and developed an interest in DJing herself. She mixes the tracks and serves as the unit's DJ. Despite her initial lack of enthusiasm, Rinku eventually persuaded her to join her in forming a team. As a result, "DJ Mash"'s abilities have improved even further.

Rinku is a new student at school. She's in love with life. She's irrepressible. When she hears a great song over the PA system (she L😍VES it!) she sprints💨 to the media room to find out who's playing it. At first, her exuberance puts off Maho, an emerging school DJ, but Mahu cannot help but be drawn in by Rinku's light and her de-light.

One thing leads to another and soon they've picked up an artist-VJ (video jockey) and a pianist. These girls form a band and we watch as their bond strengthens. Finally, they plan their first show at school.

Rinku Aimoto is the electrical charge that livens up everything. Maho Akashi is the more stoic DJ who has deep love for the craft; she prefers the background and operating levers and turntables, not microphones. Muni Ohnaruto is the temperamental artist. Rei Togetsu might be the most talented of the bunch. Because of her superlative musical talent, she's been repressed. She's been forcibly wedged into playing classical piano morning, noon & night. Her superlative talent has enslaved her. She gets a chance to be free and happy with her new friends.

Perfect for kids elementary school aged & tweens, D4DJ is kid-d-lite and delight-ful from intro to encore. It is clean, warm, fun, and joyous. The girls are well-mannered and respectful. They problem-solve together and display bravery in meeting challenges. Every step leads to a new one. They tackle one competition after another and improve not only their craft, but also their friendship, and mostly theirselves.

Pretty animation adorns this feature. Everything supports the cute & vibrant feel. The music is mostly teeny bop, as it should be, Rinka's voice is slightly irritating from go, but kids will tolerate her better than an old fogey, like me. There's a swanky version of Angels We Have Heard On High to start off ep7. Later in the episode, there's Christmas piano music that is not unlike the wondrous Vince Guaraldi trio who provided the soundtrack to the Charlie Brown specials.

They generate some conflict among themselves while striving to make the band grow. True to kids show formulas, resolution is easy-breezy. Through it all, they work together. They work individually. They work hard, and it pays off. Afterall, your efforts never betray you.

〰🖍 IMHO

🎬7.5 📝7 🎭7.4 🌞8.5 🎨7.5 🎵/🔊7.5 😅6 😭2 😱0 😯1.5 😖0 🤔2 🔚7.8

Age 6+ This is a kid's show. It should delight school-aged kids (girls, particularly) and older. It's entirely anodyne and contains nothing questionable.

Re-📺? I suspect plenty of girls would want to watch this several times.

I saw this anime after a YouTuber recommended it. It uses 3D animation, so it looks pretty good! One of the best part is whenever there's a performance, they show the entire performance. I've only seen 2 episodes so far, but I'll edit this review if anything changes. I'd say check it out if you like music!