CloverWorks recently unveiled the opening minutes of its upcoming anime movie, Trapezium, which features a song performed by the Vtuber Suisei Hoshimachi. While the inclusion of these digital entertainers seems like a promotional stunt, it may also be a clever decision showing the staff’s dedication to embody the movie’s elements in all respects. Given it’s about a girl seeking idol stardom, Suisei’s own storied rise to recognition is a perfect mirror.
Rather than focusing on song and dance, Trapezium (styled in lowercase) focuses on the challenges of entering the idol industry. Suisei’s collaboration is a perfect match, as she achieved the exact sort of rags-to-riches dream the movie’s lead chases.
This could be seen as a deliberate artistic choice that shows CloverWorks’ staff are taking this project very seriously, something that should be a relief to fans of the idol genre.
The movie’s latest trailer, which was uploaded to Aniplex’s YouTube Channel, shows both its upcoming premiere date, May 10, 2024, and the first four minutes of the feature. Much ado was made of the new song it incorporates for the opening credits, Nanmonai, which features the voices of both Suisei Hoshimachi and a performer named “sakuma”, though Suisei’s voice is more prominent in the video. Suisei’s collaboration happens to be second in a trend of getting Vtubers singing for anime, with Suicide Squad: Isekai making waves when popular Vtuber Mori Calliope was revealed to be performing the closing song Go-Getters.
While both online entertainers are established vocalists, and streamers working under the same parent brand, Hololive, Suisei’s inclusion into Trapezium is a far more appropriate choice. If Yu Higashi in the movie aspires to become an idol, then Suisei is that story manifest in reality. While today, she has fully produced music videos and works with famed producers like Taku Inoue despite presenting only an anime avatar to the world, the vocalist famously struggled to gain traction, starting with self-produced animation and getting trapped in vestigial music projects until she was finally folded into Hololive.
Trapezium will not be like other idol anime, cliché as the phrase is. Between it being penned by Kazumi Takayama and now Suisei’s presence in the creative process, the movie clearly has an intimate interest in the nature of the business, rather than the glitz and glamor of the stage. CloverWorks seems to have a full understanding of its project, if it can extend this theme to even its choice of singer. With Trapezeium only weeks away, fans may have a gem on their hands, which will be framed only more beautifully with this surprise team-up.