“Carole & Tuesday” is an anime Netflix series that depicts the music industry in the futuristic world of Alba City, Mars. Carole Stanley (voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro and vocals sung by Nai Br.XX) is a keyboard player with a fiery personality. Tuesday Simmons (voiced by Kana Ichinose and vocals sung by Celeina Ann) is a guitar player who ran away from home. After Tuesday meets Carole at Carole’s street performance, the girls decide to pursue music together. The show portrays the title characters as determined performers while revealing the uncertainty that comes with living in a world influenced by artificial intelligence.
Although the girls are opposites, they connect over their love of music and feelings of loneliness. Because Carole grew up in an orphanage, she is tough and independent but isolated. Tuesday grew up in a luxurious mansion, but her mother is distant. The girls are interesting to watch together because of how different their lives are.
The first song Carole and Tuesday write together is called “The Loneliest Girl.” The song is soulful and truthful, and the girls sing about how they felt alone in the world until they met each other. Though Tuesday’s speaking voice is slightly annoying, the vocal actors’ singing voices together are beautiful and capture the emotion of the lyrics well. The song’s lyrics about overcoming their loneliness together remain a central theme.
Every episode is inspired by a well-known song. The second episode is inspired by “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen. In this episode, the title characters find themselves running from the police once again after sneaking into a concert hall to perform their song on a grand piano. The subtle tie between the plot and the song title is a creative way of weaving well-known music with the girls’ up-and-coming music.
The animation portrays Alba City as a vibrant metropolis. Tsunenori Saito’s animation for “Carole & Tuesday” is detailed and crisp. For example, the viewer can clearly see the sadness or excitement in the characters’ faces.
The series also conveys how artificial intelligence can give performers in this futuristic era an advantage. For example, Carole and Tuesday’s competitor Angela Carpenter’s (voiced by Sumire Uesaka and vocals sung by Alisa) songs are written through monitoring her heartbeat, words and tone of voice. Though Angela’s subconscious is reflected in the lyrics at times, it doesn’t compare to real human emotions. Carole and Tuesday prove they do not need fancy, artificially created songs to be successful. The role of artificial intelligence in the series makes the story more interesting because there are new obstacles in the music industry for the title characters to overcome.
“Carole & Tuesday” is a series of an unlikely friendship in an innovative world. Their songs are honest, and their originality is monumental in the fictional music industry. The role of artificial intelligence uniquely shapes the narrative of the series in the visually pleasing anime.
