1.Himeka vs Konami **3/4
2.Utami vs Syuri ***
3.5*STAR GP Finals: Utami vs Himeka ***1/2
Thoughts:
The past few episodes of We are STARDOM!! have focused on this year's 5*STAR GP and with this installment we've finally reached the conclusion. The storytelling and match quality have been on par with my high expectations throughout the tournament and I was excited to see the payoff.
The GP is notable for having several COVID related delays, by the way. A reminder that I praise the talent not the dipshits up top that are endangering the workers and fans.
We start the episode with clips of Starlight falling to Saya, Giulia taking down Death, and Mayu defeating Tam in a match that looked great.
With that we moved onto the first match that was aired long enough to consider rating it with Konami against Himeka. The winner was set to take the Red Block. A draw pushes Mayu into the finals instead. The safe choice was to have either Konami win or a draw, but the way they had been booking the series suggested we might see Himeka win instead and that's what we eventually got. I appreciated the submission game here and general pace and note the finish was rather interesting. Truly, a decent way to kick this off but it was only a tad over three minutes aired and certainly not worth seeing on its own.
Over to the Blue Block, we had clips of AZM beating Maika, Saya taking down Nora, and an angle heavy no contest encounter between Jungle and Momo. That last one was bittersweet for many. Bea's back for those that care by the way.
The second match of the night solidified the block winner, with Utami and Syuri going to a draw and which put Haya over in points. I'd argue that considering the points the two held walking in and the circumstances it created that they booked this backwards, but I'd add that it's a relatively small complaint considering how fun it was. Like the first match, they aired only a fraction but it was well done for sure.
The finals remained. I'd note that I think Utami would have been far better off facing either Konami or Mayu here as it would have likely been a better match and a bigger win. Still, it was a great experience and solidifies the fact that both are set to be big parts of the future of the company. The Queen's Quest shero took the victory which was at least the right move and the match itself was certainly worth seeing. They were thrown to the fire and it worked out very well. Props.
The booking of the final night was strange, but the drama and athleticism was superb once again. Check it out if you're looking for a tight thirty minute watch. Hopefully they move back to the two match format moving forward, though.
Overall Rating: 70/100%