It sneaks up on you. You come in expecting a cute-kids idol spinoff and end up genuinely invested in whether Arisu Tachibana will ever be taken seriously as an adult, which is the entire joke and the entire heart of this thing. The character-of-the-week rhythm sounds like filler on paper, and instead each episode picks one girl, finds the small anxiety underneath her energy, and resolves it without ever getting maudlin. CygamesPictures does not coast either: the color work, the loose expressive faces, and the acting in the quiet office scenes are better than this genre usually bothers with. Kaoru's princely flirting derails whole conversations, Miria runs at full volume, and the rookie producer being just as short as his charges stops being a gag and starts being the reason they trust him. It is the show you put on when you need proof that being underestimated is temporary.

A group of pint-sized idols dreams of stardom despite having virtually no experience in the entertainment industry. Each girl stands under 149 centimeters tall, yet their ambitions tower far above their heads. Grade schooler Arisu Tachibana and eight other young girls join the Third Entertainment Section, a new idol project. Their first-time producer turns out to be a childlike adult who is just as short as they are. Disappointed, Arisu wants a different producer, but his sincere love for idols and his wish to see them shine win the girls over. A charming prince in town adds another distraction to their journey. The comedy and drama mix idol ambition with lighthearted slice-of-life moments and music.