Synopsis:
Saori is an aspiring young singer who's the lead vocals of Twinkle, an all-girl pop trio. Saori's mother owns the talent agency that Twinkle is under while Saori's protective stepbrother is the group's manager. Twinkle needs a regular TV spot in order to launch successfully, but a rival pop trio called the Lovely Ladies are vying for the very same spot. However, singing talent is not the deciding factor in this competition... and Saori is about to find that out the hard way.

Review:
Spotlight is a generic, boring story about using sex to get ahead in showbiz. In this case, it's the music industry. The virginal teenager Saori dreams of being a pop idol. Her mother and stepbrother back her up, and the singing group Twinkle is born -- with Saori at the helm as lead vocals.

Unfortunately for Saori, her groupmates don't appreciate the fact that she's the center of attention. They bully her some, until Saori's stepbrother (I've forgotten his name, sorry) steps in and "punishes" the girls by raping and videotaping them while they're at it. But that's not the end of it. It turns out that Saori's mother's talent agency is deep in debt and they need to make sure that they get the much coveted TV spot to help boost Twinkle to stardom and save the company. The answer to all their problems? Why sex, of course. Saori's mother decides to go and offer herself to the industry bigshot in order to secure her company's future. The problem is, she's not enough for him -- he wants to have Saori as well! Their rival the Lovely Ladies are not beyond using sex to get ahead either, they are trained by their manager to master all sorts of sexual acts in order to succeed.

Spotlight's turn of events is so dumb that it's laughable. Not funny mind you, just laughable. Right after Saori's stepbrother rapes her groupmates, he apologizes and they practically beg him to do them again. One silly situation after another arises, until stepbrother becomes the resident stud. He has sex with his stepmother, the Twinkle girls, and even a member of the Lovely Ladies.

The art and animation are above average at best. Character designs are quite good, but everything else is sparsely rendered. Scene backgrounds consist mostly of plain solid colors. Sex is depicted explicitly. There's a bit of bondage but mostly it's just straight out sex, albeit gang bangs characterize most of the action in the second episode.

Despite its theme, Spotlight's overall mood remains light throughout. It's very much unlike the usual dark or blackmail-themed hentai, which is one of its few positive points.

Miscellanies:
Spotlight consists of two half-hour episodes.

Screenshots:

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AnimeNation Spotlight (DVD)
Rightstuf Spotlight (DVD)

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