Pretty much exactly how I felt about it. I quite liked the movie, it showed promise but the show failed to deliver, especially later on visually.
This genre certainly ain't my thing (I'm even more sure of this now), but I do think this show did more to try and break away from the crap than other series, just not enough.
I did like some of the characters (the ones that had a bit of development anyway) and as you say, the drama, while forced at times, works well enough. But the show really is let down by budget problems later on and I personally couldn't stay interested beyond the halfway point. I feel the same about this as I did about Fractale (same director - Yamamoto Yutaka - the "saviour of anime" - some people really don't like him) - something that showed promise but didn't fully deliver.
@ManiacB Yeah, after half of these episodes it's back to "we're all shit at dancing drama" despite being able to so in the movie and then their progression is to quick. I also disliked how passive assistant-manager-san was... at first he is presented as an important character when he is actually not at all.
Looks like some of the QUALITY issues might be fixed in the BD release at least:
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2014/05/20/wake-up-girls-bd-less-awful-now/
(site NSFW)
@ManiacB Sankaku certainly have a thing for titles so I'd have to agree with them.
Review by sp1tiVIP OG 13BlockedParent2014-03-29T20:55:14Z
I belive "Wake Up, Girls!" was intended to be the first full series made by Yutaka Yamamoto's Ordet Studio to put them on the map or at least make some revenue? They certainly were ambitious with forming their own idol group to base their series on and open with a movie premiere a day before the show start... maybe a little too much.
The story follows a newly formed idol group from Sendai which isn't as lively as Tokyo and thus isn't used to something like an idol group. The format is the usual underdog story that ends early enough for them not having their breakthrough, leaving space to whatever they want to follow up with.
Initially we see a certain degree of criticism of the idol industry like the rival idol group being presented as an army under a draconian leadership, a girl being kicked-out of the group for a romantic relationship or the WUGs being pimped out to a concert in skimpy outfits (no shaved heads though). To really be the anti-idol show though it would have needed more of that because as the show progresses it doesn't concern itself with that anymore. (Let's just hope the AKB48 director does not book his own group for the Olympics in 2020 at this point.)
The biggest issue I had with the show is the Studio itself. They're only about 10 guys or so and they do not manage to keep the visual standards they set themselves in the movie. Every episode has plenty of animation outsourced and gradually increases the QUALITY. The dances look absolute shit at times to the point where you often don't recognize certain characters or only by hairstyle and color (ex. http://i.imgur.com/nhAy9jN.gif). The CG effects are also not pretty nor well integrated (ex. http://i.imgur.com/ctqlB8h.jpg). Certainly does not speak for your "animation" studio.
Overlooking all that, the characters were diverse enough and not just a "product" and the drama worked well enough. It's not something I'd recommend though unless you want a little insight on the idol industry and not the girls being super heros like in AKB0048 (http://trakt.tv/show/akb0048) or your typical worship/moe-blobb show like iDOLM@STER (http://trakt.tv/show/the-idolmster) and it's various spin-offs.