• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header left navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Home
  • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Banners
    • Spam Liker Hall of Shame
    • Podcast
  • Reviews
  • Guides
    • List of Suggested Manga
  • Kireina Yuri
  • Subscribe
    • RSS Feed
    • Feedburner
    • Anime Blog Tracker
    • Comments Feed
    • Add to Feedly
    • WordPress Reader

Chikorita157's Anime Blog

Anime blog that focuses on Yuri and School Girl Slice of Life Anime and Editorials

  • Tab 1
  • Tab 3
  • Tab 3
  • Home
  • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Banners
    • Spam Liker Hall of Shame
    • Podcast
  • Reviews
  • Guides
    • List of Suggested Manga
  • Kireina Yuri
  • Subscribe
    • RSS Feed
    • Feedburner
    • Anime Blog Tracker
    • Comments Feed
    • Add to Feedly
    • WordPress Reader

comedy

moe

drama

opinion

music

final impressions

kyoani

idol

yuri

first impressions

The Idolmaster turns 10 Years Old – Reflecting back on my Experiences with the Franchise

June 11, 2015 by Chikorita157 2 Comments
Artist: momen-tary
Artist: momen-tary

As mentioned in my summer preview, the Idolmaster franchise will finally have its 10th anniversary on July 26th, the date when the arcade version of the game was first released. Since its inception, the franchise has grown tremendously with Cinderella Girls, Million Live and Side M (which everyone forgot about). With that, I want to celebrate the occasion by reviewing two games from the franchise, movie and share a personal reflection on the franchise as a whole.

To start things off, I want to reflect on my experiences with the franchise and why it’s special to me, especially from a person that has a musical background.

Compared to other idol franchises, Idolmaster is the one that got me interested in idol anime in general. For a while now, I became uninterested with idol groups like AKB48 or even K-POP in general since the music they sing usually sounds shallow and I find the no-dating policy kind of dumb and unhealthy. However, when I started watching the Idolmaster anime that started airing in the summer in 2011, I discovered that the franchise in general has a diverse genre of songs (including cover versions of various anime and video game songs), some that I really liked. In fact, the Idolmaster franchise in general has a lot of songs that it surpasses all the other franchises combined.

So, what is The Idolmaster anyways? It’s basically an idol raising sim game where you pick a girl to produce and help them become the top idol. The reason it was not as popular until the anime came out is because it is a Japan-only exclusive. It started out as an arcade game and eventually, it was released on the Xbox 360, which is region locked. For a westerner to play it, one had to import a Japanese Xbox 360 and the games. In short, it’s not accessible, except for the dedicated hardcore fan base, more so if you want to buy the downloadable content. It was not until the PlayStation Portable port of the first game and Namco deciding to switch to the region free Sony PlayStation platform is when the game became more accessible. Nonetheless, you still need to know Japanese to fully enjoy the game, but at least it is something.

My first entry to the series was Idolmaster 2, which I got in 2011. I didn’t understand much of the story since I just started learning Japanese during that time. Despite that, the gameplay was enjoyable since the main performance gameplay is a rhythm game where you press square, triangle or circle for the appeals, cross for a memory appeal and R1 for the burst appeal when the voltage meter is filled. Although it is simple, it requires a good degree of strategy to earn a high score for a song or to beat the opponent in an idol festival, especially at the later levels. In comparison, the first vision games are simpler where you just press a button to do an appeal while it flashes and try to earn the maximum amount of stars.

While the music, lessons and choosing the outfits is usually the part most players will be excited about, I like the fact that the game focuses on developing the idol through communications. You basically interact with the idol you chose from your unit and pick an event. This allows the player to get to know the idol a bit more. Besides making decisions, you might need to touch them as well. The place where you need to touch is usually obvious from the dialog. Of course, inappropriate touching will ultimately make them angry and leaving you with a bad communication result.

Compared to other idol franchises, I feel that Idolmaster particularly excels in developing each girl individually. This is also true with both the main and the Cinderella Girls anime, although the first or second half is focused on the whole group as a whole. To me, this approach allows the player to grow some sort of attachment towards her while understanding the difficulties they face to reach stardom. This personal touch is something that other franchises usually lack since the main focus is usually on the whole group.

So, what is my favorite aspect of the franchise and which game is my favorite? To me, it’s a bit of everything because I enjoy every aspect of it. I have to admit that most of the music is enjoyable and of course, I like most of the idols in the game along with their character development. As for the games themselves, Shiny Festa is basically a cash-in, but a decent rhythm game while Idolmaster Gravure for You is basically a mini game where you take pictures of your favorite idol, Idolmaster 2 and Idolmaster One for All is tied for being my favorite games from the franchise. Still, Idolmaster SP is also a good game for the fact that you can freely produce idols as well as having a good variety of lesson mini-games. The only flaw is the poorly implemented lip-syncing.

As a whole, it’s clear that Idolmaster left a big impression on me since I’m still a fan of it after four years. Sure, I enjoy other idol shows like Love Live, but it cannot really compare to the amount of impact this franchise left on me since it motivated me to learn Japanese. Even so, I have to admit that the games are more enjoyable now since I can understand the dialog. Hopefully someday, Namco will recognize that there is a sizable fan base in the west and decide to localize one of the main games.

With that, what are your fond memories with The Idolmaster franchise? If you played the games, which one is your favorite? Feel free to share.

If you see this text, this site has stolen my content. If you are affected by content thieves, look this domain up on a Whois Service, look up the IP and send a DMCA takedown with the host provider. STOP STEALING CONTENT AND MAKE YOUR OWN. Also,  MATRIXAT, go fuck yourself you fucking thief!

Share this:

  • Mastodon
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Print
  • Email

Related

What’s your response?
0 responses
Love
Love
0
Like
Like
0
Surprised
Surprised
0
Haha
Haha
0
Thinking
Thinking
0
Sad
Sad
0
Category: Editorials, The iDOLM@STERTag: idol, music, personal experience, relfection

Liked our content?

Feel free to leave a comment, leaving a reaction, share the post on social media, or linking back to this post on your blog post.

Note that there are no ads and this blog is supported by readers like you. You can also support us on Ko-fi or monthly on Patreon.

Support us on Patreon
Support us on Ko-Fi

Also follow us on Mastodon for the latest blog updates and Anime/Manga/Video Games related toots

@chikorita157@sakurajima.moe


Looking to Leave Twitter or an Alternative?

We have a new Twitter-like social network based on Mastodon that caters to Anime and Japanese media fans in addition to content creators (bloggers, video creators, podcasters), who create Anime review content or anything released to Japan called Sakurajima.

Learn More
Join Now
.

This post was handcrafted by…
Chikorita157 – who has written 3,231 posts.

Author and Owner of Chikorita157’s Anime Blog and Kireina Yuri. If you want to learn more about me, see the “About chikorita157” page.

Previous Post:Hibike! Euphonium – Episode 10 – Audition Dissatisfaction
Next Post:Weekly Anime Impressions – Spring 2015 – Week 10 – Nisekoi 2 and DanMachi Episode 10

New Here? Review the Commenting Policy before adding a comment.

Additionally, linking to your blog should only be done in the Website field, not in the comment itself, unless it contibutes to the discussion. If you are using a Wordpress.com account to comment, you can change the website URL in the Account Settings

Reader Interactions

2 Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. omo :
    June 11, 2015 at 4:58 pm • Magical Level: 5

    > which everyone forgot about

    You mean 876 right.

    Reply
    • chikorita157 :
      June 13, 2015 at 11:39 am • Magical Level: 3063

      Yep, it seems that the idols from Dearly Stars are forgotten as well, besides having a small cameo in the main anime and being guest characters in One for All and 2… Kind of wish Namco would remake that game on the 3DS or the Vita, but it’s obvious that they won’t do that.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Sidebar

Categories

Archives

Support Us

Support us on Patreon
Support us on Ko-Fi

Current Season

  • Birdie Wing
  • Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Episodic Blogging Schedule

To be decided.

Anything not covered here will be covered at Kireina Yuri with short impressions.

Non-Episodic Content

  • Editorials
  • Japanese Self-Study Progress
  • Let’s Plays
  • Podcast
  • Project iM@S
  • Reviews

Follow Us

You can subscribe to this blog via WordPress Reader

Follow Chikorita157’s Anime Blog on WordPress.com

Also follow us on Mastodon for the latest blog updates and Anime/Manga/Video Games related toots

Follow @chikorita157 on Mastodon

Get a Mastodon Account

Anime Lists

AniList
MyAnimeList

Recent Posts

Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto Desu! – Episode 10 – The Complicated Feelings of Romance

With Centralized Social Platforms in Turmoil, Another Reason to Leave Twitter and Join Mastodon at Sakurajima

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch – Episode 10 – The Rogue Nobles from the West

World Dai Star – Episode 9 – Kathrina’s Famous Mama Pays a Visit to Japan

Edomae Elf – Episode 9 – Rainy Day Panic and The Betamax Tape

Recent Comments

  • chikorita157 on Creating Sakurajima Social, Another Way to Bring Anime Bloggers/Fans from Twitter to the Fediverse
  • chikorita157 on Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch – Episode 9 – Preparing for a Noble’s Birthday Party
  • Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto Desu! – Episode 10 - The Complicated Feelings of Romance - Chikorita157's Anime Blog on Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto Desu! – Episode 9 – How Kanako Developed a Crush on Hime
  • With Centralized Social Platforms in Turmoil, Another Reason to Leave Twitter and Join Mastodon at Sakurajima - Chikorita157's Anime Blog on PSA: Officially Leaving Twitter as the Situation is Unsafe and There is No Free Speech, and You Should Now Too
  • chikorita157 on Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto Desu! – Episode 9 – How Kanako Developed a Crush on Hime

RSS Kireina Yuri

  • Tokyo Mew Mew New – Episode 20 – Aoyama’s Identity Revealed and Alien’s Final Stage Plans June 3, 2023
  • Tokyo Mew Mew New – Episode 19 – Crossroads in Revealing Ichigo’s True Identity. May 20, 2023
  • Tokyo Mew Mew New – Episode 18 – The Mew Mew Project Origins May 14, 2023
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Subscribe and Follow Us For New Content

If you want to receive the latest posts in your email, you can subscribe to this blog via email.

To follow this blog via Wordpress Reader, click the button on the right.

Follow Chikorita157’s Anime Blog on WordPress.com
Follow Kireina Yuri on WordPress.com

Follow us on Mastodon for the latest blog updates and Anime/Manga/Video Games related toots

Follow us on Mastodon
Get a Mastodon Account

© 2009–2023 James M. All rights reserved. Images are owned by their respective owners.

All text on this page is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. Powered by Mai Theme.

Privacy Policy

  • Mastodon
  • Patreon
  • Tumblr
  • RSS Feed