The comedy actually lands because these girls are too broke and desperate to perform the idol fantasy properly, they're stumbling through it like real people who just need rent money. The character chemistry is effortless, each one distinct enough that the group feels like friends who've known each other for years instead of strangers forced together by a debt notice. Fanservice is woven into every frame, but it never pretends to be anything else, which somehow makes it less creepy than shows that hide it behind plot.

Former child actor Roko Sekino, struggling musician Hayu Nukui and model Nina Maehara, still waiting for her first job, share a dormitory for dropout idols known as the Mouse House. Sakura Ino, who has always dreamed of being an idol, moves in just as the building is slated for demolition. Through a project launched by their manager, Hoho Kajino, the residents become a new idol group called Fruit Tart, which starts out owing one hundred million yen. To save the dorm and keep the group alive, the girls have to climb up from the bottom of the idol world, build a name and write their own songs, joined along the way by Hemo Midori, a seasoned idol and devoted Sakura fan. Told as a comedy with music and ecchi touches, it follows their everyday efforts to become popular while keeping each day fun.