Rural Dr. Goro Amamiya is a big fan of 16 year old idol Ai Hoshino. One day she appears in person at the hospital he works in, pregnant with twins. Undaunted about a possible scandal and ruined career, Ai is determined to give birth secretly believing she is one of the elites who could have both a personal life and successful career.

As Goro helps Ai with her pre-birth preparations, he finds himself killed but "reincarnated" as one of her twins, "Aquamarine" with his memory intact. Not only that, he discovers his twin overly-positive sister "Ruby" has also been reborn with her memories intact, but unaware she was a late patient of his and also a fan of Ai's.

When the two settles down to life with their idol mother the same killer strikes again, murdering their mother Ai. Years later, Aqua is working in the same industry, convinced the killer is within and determined to track down him down by making it big. Meanwhile, Ruby who is also unaware of Aqua's true identity, follows her own agenda of becoming an idol like Ai.

Partly watched this show because of the hype but also the "time leap". Fun comedy from the getgo but seen enough spoilers on TwitterX to know where the show eventually goes. It gets dark as quickly as it is cheerful. It was pretty obvious both twins would be reincarnates.

It started with the 1.5 hour first episode special and had some Erased vibes to it but with a lot more silliness thrown in. Unfortunately the timeleap/reincarnate feels like a gimmick since they do nothing with it since the special. Aqua's deduction scenes feel kind of shoehorned so elements not blending together that well. The show also get quite dull as it repeatedly focused on people failing in showbiz to the point where the pressure brings on self-harm so be warned (they even have a helpline notice for it).

On the bright side it gives you a interesting peek into the workings and harsh reality of the entertainment industry. Every bitter dark scene is always followed by some gag joke which is probably what kept me entertained.

It certainly doesn't feel like a Douga Kubo show since they usually do comedy shows with lolis (but the silliness is still there). Cheery mood and bright colours is a stark contrast to some of the scenes. Theme songs themselves are definitely catchy by Yoasobi and Queen Bee.

Don't know if it was a coincidence or not but Makoto Shinkai's favourite Yoyogi Tower gets a brief feature along with the mineral water brand featured in Your Name and Weathering.

If you're expecting a sci-fi, time-leap show then you're going to be disappointed. It's mainly a number of showbiz is tough scenarios loosely tied together with a time-leaped middle-aged man trying to avenge his idol. Can get very dark at times. Otherwise a fair bit of romcom.

I'd stick with Erased for a wholesome, short time-leap show despite how predictable the direction was.

Season 2

After the first season's look into reality TV and idols, Aqua proceeds to the second stage of tracking down Ai's killer as he "infiltrates" the theatre Ai spent the early days of career. Meanwhile his sister Ruby and co continue to rise higher in stardom.

Overall direction feels better and more wholesome than the first. First felt more like harping on how tough showbiz is character after character whereas here it's more about characters communicating and supporting on another. Romance is a lot heavier.

Theme songs not so great but ED is ok. Nice to see Code Geass, C.C.'s voice actress Yukana still active.

Interesting end to S2. Definitely think it was better directed than the first. Not sure how they'll take it now that they've introduced more supernatural elements in