Review of Listeners

Music as the main theme including mecha action and implied cyber or steampunk elements. That sounds like a pretty cool and extravagant mixture. Unfortunately, despite good ambitions and ideas, the series cannot deliver what it promises. Even though there are many allusions to music and stars of the last decades, but that alone does not make wine out of water. Music means a lot to me, the anime is dedicated to it and that's why it's hard for me to write this, but the anime as a whole is just not good. Story: At first glance, simple & predictable, so the great thing about it isunfortunately only explored by music enthusiasts (4/10)
It's such a shame that the script is so banal and far too short for the story. The really cool and well thought-out references to music and contemporary history are unfortunately mostly hidden from viewers who are not so keen about music, a real pity! The story begins in a world where there is no music. No music can be taken literally, and I personally think that's the main reason the anime can never be a success. If there had been a couple of weird and cool guys in the series who just made music that matched the allusions, you'd kill two birds with one stone that way. On the one hand, this would add delightful comedy to the story, and on the other hand, it would give some cool examples of the allusions to the music that might spark some interest in the audience to look up what the music is about. But in the absence of clues or music samples, most viewers see just a simple story about a boy who meets a mysterious girl with amnesia and goes on an adventure with her because of a small mishap.

Characters: Like the story, the main cast is not well staged and therefore not really likeable (4/10)
The MCs are extremely stereotypical, perhaps this was intended so that the allusions to the history of music and the plot are not superimposed. If this is the case, then I just can't understand why the supporting characters were made so much more eye-catching and interesting. However, it is irrelevant, because the more interesting and engaging characters disappear as quickly as they appeared.
Rec, Echo:
A teenager with a shy nature. His hobby is electronic equipment, he wears an orange work suit and of course boys like to tinker with devices. The name "Echo Rec" is an allusion to an effect device by Binson. The "Echo Rec" is a delayed playback of the original sound, so that an echo is created.
Myū (μ):
She is a so-called player, easily recognizable by the cable connection in her body. The players fight against mysterious beings known as earless. Players use large robots that transform themselves from the so-called equipment. Even though Echo is a big fan of the players, they are generally not very popular, because 10 years ago a tragedy happened during a big event of the players. Suffering from amnesia and not knowing her real name, "Echo" gave her the name " Myū (μ)". In my opinion this is a really successful allusion to "Planet Mu (Planet µ)". The label is known as the home of Grime, Dubstep, Breakcore, Acid, Glitchy Shoegaze and Footwork. Even Breakcore and the revival of acid and electronic pop of the 80s were celebrated under the µ-symbol. Label founders Mike Paradinas and Planet Mu have created some hypes and revolutions in music, and I think Myū should embody that.

Let's have a look at the supporting characters.
Nir:
She's also a player and a student at the Freak Scene Academy. She is shunned by her classmates, there is a rumor that she would attract the earless. Her character is pretty cool, it's definitely a reference to Kurt Cobain, the songwriter and founding member of the American rock band "Nirvana" from Aberdeen. The look fits pretty well, Kurt Cobain was a man, but with Nir nobody notices that she is a girl. Anyway, pretty good innuendo with a supporting role and if you don't know the band, I recommend you to listen to "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Denka:
He is the leader of the purple kingdom and at the latest with the allusion to the color "purple" it is clear who was the model here. Denka's attitude and appearance as well as the scene in the bathtub can only be dedicated to Prince Rogers Nelson or simply Prince. An exceptional artist who wrote his own texts, composed and arranged the music. His musical spectrum ranged from R&B to funk, soul to jazz. Here, too, the portrayal of a supporting character is extremely well done. If you don't know Prince, I would like to recommend the track "Purple Rain" or if you want to see the original to the bath scene, "When Doves Cry".
Neubauten “Sisters”:
These three antagonists are a slightly more difficult allusion. It is actually a play on words. You have to put the first names of the three in the right order, then you get "EinStürZende Neubauten” and that is the name of a German experimental band that is active in the genres Industrial, Dark Ambience and Noise. This isn't quite my cup of tea, so I don't really have a recommendation here.
Ritchie & Lyde:
These two perform as a duo, and I liked them immediately. They are residents of Londinium (= Latin for London), the city is a bit on the brink of collapse, it certainly has nothing to do with Brexit, but it hits the nail on the head. Anyway, the two are close friends, even if it doesn't look like that at first glance. Maybe they seem so normal to me, and that's why I like them. Nevertheless, there is also a clear allusion in the two of them. Here again it's the looks and the names. It's about the British band "Sex Pistols". It concerns the members of the punk rock band, John Joseph Lydon (stage name Johnny Rotten) and John Simon Ritchie (stage name Sid Vicious). So Ritchie and Lyde, I really would have liked to see more about them.
There are still many references to the music scene, such as Janis (= Janis Lyn Joplin), an American songwriter and singer known in the rock, soul and blues genres, whose most famous song is "Mercedes Benz". Another reference is the name "Leo Marshall", the name is combined from "Leo" Fender and Jim "Marshall". These two names adorn musical instruments and amplifiers, without them the music world is unimaginable.
Jimi Stonefree:
It is rather a simple allusion to the virtuoso guitarist Jimi Hendrix. This allusion is so clear because there are several references in the series. The name "Stonefree" is a title from the album "Are You Experienced", which was released in 1967. The play in the anime, also has the title of a Hendrix song: "All along the Watchtower" which is from the 1968 album "Electric Ladyland". I'm very excited about this reference because I'm a huge Jimi Hendrix fan, although I don't quite understand why Hendrix was used in the first place. One might ask now, why is my rating for the characters so low, when there are actually good thoughts in it and the allusions are easily recognizable? The answer is the same as for the story (see above). Great ideas are of little use if the meaning is not perceptible. A lot of work has been put into the characters - except for the main characters - but the meaning, why these, why Jimi Hendrix, why Sex Pistols, and so on, remains unclear. The series is too short to convey the premise correctly to the viewer.
Let's leave it at that, I got a little carried away already, and there is still so much that could be described. For example, the record that Janis pulls out of the pile in the basement is "King of the Delta Blues Singers", a scrapbook released by Columbia Records in 1961, which contains songs by US blues musician Robert Johnson. No, no... Here I go again... xD, I'll let myself be carried away again...

Visuals: Overall not well implemented and therefore below average (4/10)
The visual appearance has attractive aspects every now and then, but the shortcomings outweigh the advantages. I enjoyed the world building, the background art. The character design wasn't really my cup of tea, however. The design of the characters corresponds very well to their real-life role models, I have to admit. But I am simply not a fan of the short, thick eyebrows. That's just a small thing, one could object now, but the face is a very important detail and especially the eye area. The character sketches are varied, but that's already results from the real-life models. The design is not great but the characters do not have a generic look either. The colour palette is adjusted to the tonality of the anime, which I think is a plus. Unfortunately, light and shadow effects as well as shading are less well done. The art seems to be a bit blurred overall and therefore details often vanish in the haze of the unrecognized. The topic details builds a bridge to animation and, my transition here is literally more fluid than the animation in the anime. A lot of CG is used, which would not be unusual for a Mecha as it creates clean contours and allows for a detailed and appealing design. Well, let's briefly ignore the fact that it is not quite clear why Mechas are used in this anime in the first place. The idea from above, a few cool and weird guys with instruments, even if it were only the voices of the singers, would have been more than enough. For example, it would have suited the anime to give the "Rat Pack" (Sinatra, Davis Jr., Martin, Bishop, etc.) a revival or, on the other hand, a vocal battle, just think of the movie "8 Mile". Regardless of the criticism of the meaning of using Mechas, the CG elements are sloppy and therefore shadows and shades are incorrect or rather irritating. The CG technique seems often choppy and the robot fights look more like a failed Idol concert, with no music and singing, but dance instead.

Music: All right, but too weak to raise the score for the anime (6/10)
Some details about the music have been mentioned, but this was more about the visual appearance of the characters. In the field of music there is a little more to say. It is known that the episodes are music titles. "Live Forever" is a title by Oasis from the 1994 album Definitely Maybe. "Teen Spirit" Ep. 4, is a reference to Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from the 1991 album Nevermind. In the 10th episode the title is "Cross Road Blues" and refers to the musician Robert Johnson. This works with all titles in the series, just try the others. What is not immediately noticeable is that an attempt was made to represent a certain musical development. This goes well with "Grunge" by Nirvana, with Prince as a bridge over alternative rock to British pop from Oasis. Somewhat anachronistic in this series, however, is the blues in episode 10.
The OP of the series is "Into the blue's" by ACCAMER. The artist also makes her debut in "Listeners". The powerful voice and the rocking guitar sound are a successful start to the series. Unfortunately, the animation promises more than the series as a whole can deliver.
The idea of giving each episode a different ED is cool. I don't like all the titles, but for example "Slip out!" was really cool. I also really enjoyed "Top of Ocean". I'm sure that with twelve titles, everyone will find something to like. By the way, the fact that the titles all sound so different, even though it's always the same singer, is due to the fact that very different musical styles were used to match the episodes. My favourite title, however, is the Love song - side Hello.
With the voice actors I noticed more the supporting roles again. As for the female voices, I especially liked Kugimiya, Rie. She embodied the role of Nir very well. Her interpretation of the emotions and the way of expression struck me positively. I also liked Hanazawa, Kana in the role of Roz.
Among the male voices, Suwabe, Jun'ichi as the voice of Denka should definitely be mentioned. The extravagant and shrillness could be heard clearly in the voice and was interpreted very well. I also found the voice of Yamadera, Kouichi as Kevin Valentine very good. A very beautiful voice and pleasant to hear.
Overall the sound section is the best part of the anime, but too weak to raise the score as a whole.

To be honest, I am very disappointed. It almost hurts to think that a lot of effort and work was put into the series, and in the end all that effort was unfortunately for nothing. The plot fails to convey to the viewer what is really cool about the story. The MCs are unlikable, and cool supporting characters disappear in the blink of an eye. The mecha action is few and not well done. And since there's no music either, the anime just doesn't have anything compelling to offer its genre fans. Some would call this effort "wasted" or simply "wasted", so would I!

As always, thanks for reading, but the anime is not worth the time.