OK, you should pronounce this show “Vivid Red Operation” and not run it all together to be “Vividred”, (despite how it is presented in the credits).

It is the future and this future works. On the island of Izu Oshima, Kenjiro Isshiki has invented the Manifestation Engine. This structure (which I cannot determine how big it is, but think of Three Mile Island in its design) is a power plant that powers THE WORLD! It pulls energy from the sky (shades of Tesla!) and distributes it around the planet. However, even in paradise, there are always snakes.

In this world, they are these strange creatures called The Alone (and why must they have such odd names? Have you noticed that? The Noise. Them. Harvest Beasts. Sheesh!) Anyway, it appears that the defense force of this island cannot fight against these creatures. Ahh, but Kenjiro, the classic mad scientist, has come up with the Vivid System, which allows people, who have the key and can get into the system, to fight these Alone (I mean, they are fighting the creatures, but they are not fighting alone. Well, initially she is fighting alone, but gets help so she is fighting Alone together. I mean, that is, what I want to say…….ah, forget it!)

The first key is given to his granddaughter, Akani (the red-tressed second-year. Now, could you guess what color she gets? Hmmmmm?) OK, since the program deals with basic colors, and she has three friends, we have our crayon box of heroines.

The rest of the crew is, left to right, Aoi Futaba (blue), Wakaba Saegusa (green) and Himawari Shinomiya (yellow). Now, here’s the ‘fun’ thing. If they ‘combine’ with Akani, they morph into a super character that has a special unlinked power (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts). This is accomplished by them kissing. On the forehead! What kind of perverts do you think we are? Well, they do kiss while in their underwear.

But there is a fly in the ointment, as there is a contact in this world that is aiding The Alone in their vicious attempt to destroy the Engine and plunge the world into chaos and destruction.

Now, it’s bad enough that when they transform into their Vivid outfits, they look like trooperettes. No, what you see up there is their SCHOOL UNIFORM. Did you see how short those shorts are? Don’t worry; you get LOTS of opportunity during the show. And our missy at the far right sports a pair of headlights that would make a Maserati proud.

Although I do not have a problem with shows that empower girls into become more than they believe they can be, it just seems like these are EVERYWHERE. For the most part, the only regular male character in the show is Grumpy Grampy and he gets turned into a plush animal! So, it comes across as another Squealing Girl show. If I was twelve or thirteen or so, I might think this is so really fabulous, but I need a bit more meat into what is going on. Unless it IS designed for me and I can be some kind of window-fogging pervert as I see these from-behind butt shots of their butts.

The plot contends itself with fighting the Alone, assembling the unit and discovering what it means to be a true friend. It’s not a bad show, but it really is a very focused target audience, so a lot of the show may just wash over you, not much different than “Save Me Lollipop!” or “Symphogear”. But if you like girls to save the world for you (in short shorts or looking like the Macys Thanksgiving day Parade), this is what you want.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 7 (Standard art design)
Plot 6 (Seen it before)
Pacing 8 (Keeps a balance well)
Effectiveness 7 (It works for what it is telling)
Conclusion 7 (It reaches a ‘coupler’, but doesn’t really end)
Fan Service 3 (A similar show would be “Wedding Peach”)

Overall 7 (A lot of that ‘sameness’ feel)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. It’s another Alone!