A chance meeting and a love of music changes the lives of three teenage girls
"There is a legend, that somewhere in the land of music, there is an angel. And only those whom the angel smiles upon will become stars."
After attending a concert of their favorite pop idol, Reika, three girls from different walks of life decide that they also want to become music stars. Akari sings in her church choir, Nozomi is a rich idol fangirl, and Yuki is a street performer. Their paths cross at the prestigious music school run by Reika's mentor and adoptive mother, Kisaragi Akiba. As they battle the obstacles in the path of becoming stars, the three girls also uncover secrets about their mysterious pasts. These secrets will either tear them apart...or push their group R3 all the way to the top.
Tropes in this anime:
- Abusive Parents: Reika's birth mother beat her, told her she should have never been born, and then abandons her at an orphanage. Luckily, she is Happily Adopted by Kisaragi.
- Alone in a Crowd: There is an entire scene after Yoh dies where Kisaragi is seen walking alone through crowds and streets full of music posters, trying to drag along her three young children. She has lost both her career and her husband, and has been left alone to raise her daughters. It's no wonder that she is Driven to Suicide.
- Broken Bird: Kisaragi and Reika
- Chekhov's Gunman: The old man with the dog sure seems to show up in the background quite a bit during important plot points.
- Contractual Purity: In-universe example: Kisaragi would have been dropped by the record company if they knew she was going out with her Starving Artist Yoh. She quits anyway when she becomes pregnant with Akari.
- Cool Big Sis: Reika takes this role for Akari, Yuki and Nozomi, at one point telling them she sees them as her little sisters. Considering that Reika is Kisaragi's adopted daughter, and the big reveal, she acutally is their big sister.
- Driven to Suicide: Kisaragi tries to kill herself in order to be reunited with her deceased husband. Luckily, it turns out to be a Bungled Suicide.
- Daddy's Girl: His daughters to Yoh and Nozomi to Mr. Kaibara.
- Evil Diva: Jun is the non-magical variation. She is a fantastic singer, but she is the queen of sabotage and will do anything and everything to shove her way to fame.
- Gene Hunting: After Akari, Yuki, and Nozomi discover that they were adopted as well as long-lost sisters, they try to find out who their real parents were. They succeed.
- Happily Adopted: Played straight with Nozomi and Reika. Averted with Yuki, who ran away from her adoptive family because she didn't like them.
- Heartwarming Orphan: All the members of R3 qualify, but Reika gets extra points since adopting her and helping her become a singer gave Kisaragi a reason to live.
- Heroic BSoD: Kisaragi and Akari both experience one after the men they love die. Kisaragi has another one after the suicide attempt that supposedly killed her daughters. They even go through the Thousand-Yard Stare phase.
- I Am Not Your Father: Nozomi's mother confesses this, much to her husband's dismay.
- Idol Singer: Kisaragi was this, and Reika is following in her footsteps, inspiring Akari, Yuki, and Nozomi to do the same.
- The Jeeves: Hikoza.
- Like Father, Like Son: In this case, like mother, like daughter. Not only does Kisargai's adopted daughter become a singing superstar, but her real daughters are on their way to fame as well. A minor like father, like daughter moment appears when we see that Akari has artistic talent.
- Long-Lost Relative: Akari, Yuki, and Nozomi are all sisters. And Kisaragi is their long-lost mother.
- Luke, You Are My Father: In the last episode, Akari, Yuki, and Nozomi reveal to Kisaragi that they are her long-lost children.
- The Mourning After: After her husband Yoh's death, Kisaragi decides that there is no point in living without him. So she tries to kill herself and her three children. She eventually gets better.
- Nice Girl: Akari
- Nice Guy: Shiro. He helps Kisaragi (his maybe love interest) and her husband find a place to live, takes care of Kisaragi after her suicide attempt, helps raise Reika, coaches the S-Class...and still Did Not Get the Girl
- Kaito, which makes his death all the more heartbreaking.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: Akari's necklace, Yuki's earring, and Nozomi's ring.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Shiro and Kisaragi, though Shiro may want more than that
- Plucky Girl: A major Aesop of the series is to not give up on your dreams, no matter how difficult things get. All three main characters end up dealing with issues where they nearly give up, but end up chiding themselves, and vow to keep going. This becomes a major piece of Character Development for Nomozi, who starts off just wanting to meet Reika, to wanting to become a singer so badly she drives herself to exhaustion.
- Romantic Runner-Up: Shiro and Kisaragi both share a love of music and are very close to each other during their time as a singer and songwriter duo. If Yoh hadn't taken the initiative more quickly, then Shiro might have ended up with her.
- Sibling Team: The members of R3 are all siblings.
- Survivor Guilt: Kisaragi believes that she killed her children during a failed suicide attempt. She didn't.
- Together in Death: Kisaragi tries to accomplish this after her husband dies. And tries to take her daughters along too.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: Nozomi suffers from one, thanks to sabotage from Jun.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Episode 11.
