iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Idol Master Xenoglossia, Idolmaster Xenoglossia

Japanese: アイドルマスター XENOGLOSSIA（ゼノグラシア）

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 26

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 3, 2007 to Sep 25, 2007

Premiered: Spring 2007

Broadcast: Mondays at 02:30 (JST)

Producers: Bandai Visual

Licensors: Sentai Filmworks

Studios: Sunrise

Source: Game

Genres: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Theme: Mecha

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 6.50¹ (scored by 6,970 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #7040²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #4540

Members: 23,332

Favorites: 32

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Synopsis

107 years ago, the Moon was destroyed in a massive cataclysm that shattered Earth's former satellite into 81 quintillion tons of orbital debris. However, thanks to super-science, the Earth itself was saved and today no one really thinks much about that century-past disaster. Which is why when teenage Haruka Amami auditions for something called the Idolmaster Project, she THINKS she's trying out to be a singing idol. Instead, Haruka finds herself at a secret school run by the Mondenkind Agency, living with a group of other girls who have also been selected as candidates to pilot an iDOL - an advanced robot specifically designed to intercept falling chunks of moon rock. Except, the people who run the Mondenkind Agency aren't exactly knights in shining armor. And then there's the question of whether the iDOLs are really JUST robots. Because from almost the first moment, Haruka starts to feel emotions resonating from within the iDOL called Imber.

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

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Background

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Idolmaster Xenoglossia
Side story:	iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia Specials
Alternative setting:	The iDOLM@STER

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kisaragi, Chihaya

Main

Shimizu, Kaori
Japanese

Kikuchi, Makoto

Main

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

Amami, Haruka

Main

Iguchi, Yuka
Japanese

Minase, Iori

Main

Tamura, Yukari
Japanese

Takatsuki, Yayoi

Main

Koshimizu, Ami
Japanese

Hagiwara, Yukiho

Main

Horie, Yui
Japanese

Miura, Azusa

Main

Sakurai, Tomo
Japanese

Akizuki, Ritsuko

Main

Nakahara, Mai
Japanese

Futami, Mami

Main

Saitou, Momoko
Japanese

Futami, Ami

Main

Nazuka, Kaori
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Nagai, Tatsuyuki

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Tsuruoka, Youta

Sound Director

Ono, Manabu

Episode Director, Storyboard

Takuno, Seiki

Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

	1: "Binetsu S.O.S!! (微熱S.O.S!!)" by Miyuki Hashimoto (eps 2-15)
	2: "Zankoku yo Kibou to Nare (残酷よ希望となれ)" by Aira Yuki (eps 16-25)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Yuukyuu no Tabibito~Dear Boy (悠久の旅人〜Dear Boy)" by Snow* (eps 1-25)
	2: "Zankoku yo Kibou to Nare (残酷よ希望となれ)" by Aira Yuki (eps 26)

Reviews

Aug 14, 2023

_map

Recommended

As many other reviews are quick to point out, Idolmaster: Xenoglossia has quite a lot of stuff working against it. In fact, I think it has a lot *more* going against it than people seem to give it credit for. I would almost call it cursed!

For starters, the show aired on Mondays from April 03, 2007 to September 25, 2007... At 02:30 in the morning JST. Are you joking? We're talking about a timeslot where, if you were already into the whole 'mecha' thing, you would have to wake up at 08:30 AM on Sundays to catch the new Gurren Lagann, then set your alarm ... for 02:30 AM Monday to turn on the DVR so you could see whatever this new Idolmaster-meets-Eva thing was all about. Not to mention that if you were more into the cute girls side of the cute-girls-meets-mecha amalgam, then you were already staying up until midnight to catch the new Lucky Star!

Of course, none of that really matters now in the age of streaming. I just find it funny that, for one, a lot of young mecha fans probably experienced some very sleepy Tuesdays during the first term of their 2007 school year, but secondly, that it seems that this show has been fighting an uphill battle for survival since the moment it debuted — poor timeslot atop strange adaptation atop stranger romantic pretense atop the fact that the writers were pretty unashamedly cribbing off Evangelion's homework for a few of the finer points... and to top it all off, the show has the unfortunate distinction of also being released during the final phase of the transition from analogue to digital animation, giving it a certain style that it seems not many are particularly fond of and certainly didn't help in the all-too-easy Eva comparisons. So if any of the strangeness you've probably already read from other reviews is a turn off for you, then this is probably not a show you're going to care about in the least. There's a lot wrong with this show, and it would certainly be hard to argue that those things are "good, actually" in the way so many re-evaluations of older franchises seem to do. But if what you've seen elsewhere (romance? Eva-iM@S?) has peaked your interest enough to read another review but not enough to just go watch the show, let me be the one to humbily point you in that direction. This show is actually really, shockingly good despite what other people seem to think.

So if you *are* interested, then I do need to make one very important disclaimer. I've never seen an Idolmaster series before this one, nor have I played any of the games. That seems to be where at least a part of animosity toward this show stems from -> people saying that X or Y character "wouldn't act this or that way in this situation". I can't speak to that. I'll probably watch a season of Idolmaster now that I'm done with this, but if anything, that feels like the more appropriate way to do things, considering that the first season of Idolmaster proper didn't air until 2011 (which is another thing this show has going against it — could you imagine being an Idolmaster fan in the mid-2000s and the first time you get to really see these characters shine on screen is while they're piloting giant robots? I can only imagine it would be like if the first Project DIVA game ended up being a first person shooter or something! — hilarious and fascinating in its own way, but probably not in the least what you were hoping for).

My familiarity with the series aside, what I can say is that 1.) there is an unflinching sincerity to the setting which was both hilarious and engaging, and 2.) that whatever the distance between the characters in this show and their alternate selves from other Idolmaster parallel universes, the characters are good and while tropey and occasionally a bit contrived, gave the show that most important quality of a giant robot show: that I cared a lot more about the individual characters than I did about whatever was going on with the moon or the battles or whatever. Which is for the best, because those fight scenes are not good! But that's okay ; it's not really what the show's focusing on.

The setting and set-up to the show are endearing to a fault in my eyes. No spoilers here unless you care particularly deeply about experiencing the first 10 minutes for yourself —> Girl goes to an idol audition, flubs it, ends up getting an offer anyway, moves to Tokyo to join the agency, then lo and behold the audition wasn't for BEING an *idol*, it was for PILOTING an *iDOL* - the exceptionally contrived and silly name that they have given to the giant robots which no one in-universe seems to think is the least bit hokey. If you stopped right here for want of a show less -- well, hokey, then I could forgive that. For me, however, it lends an extremely strange sincerity to the show that endows it with this very disjointed sense of humor that permiates through every episode. It is at times a very profound show, asking questions about love and consciousness and what it means to be alive in the world, at times a very strange and silly show where teenage girls get jealous and angry at each other over very superficial things while trying to maintain a normal life and reach their dreams, and at times it is a bewilderingly written show which occasionally throws its hands up, gets bored with itself, and tries to contrive some reason for a girl to put on a sexy outfit. It all feels very goofy and human when it's not trying to be serious, and for better or for worse the all-over-the-placeness of the tone (and the tone IS all over the place) makes it feel human and interesting. I felt like I was seeing the world through the girls' eyes, not really understanding what the potential consequences and stakes of a given action really are -- things swing wildly between a "fun and games" sense of abandon and then suddenly crash down to reality and recontextualize everything before it. It's weirdly engaging!

I can't say too much about the characters or arcs without giving away more than I'm comfortable with, but I will note that, if you're anything like me, the first thing that caught your eye about this series was probably the mysterious "Romance" tag which seems to accompany this series on some websites but not others. So do be aware: this IS a romance show. The romance element of the show is more important than any of the fights or tragedies, because all those other things just dance around the romance which keeps the rest of the plot orbiting around it with its massive, bizzare gravitational pull. You should watch this show. You should watch it as a romance show -- albeit an unconventional one -- not as a mecha show or an idol show or an idolmaster spinoff. It's a weirdly executed, weirdly human, weirdly directed romance show written by people who were really, really into Evangelion and clearly wanted to make something LIKE Eva while exploring some of the other crevaces and possibilities left unexplored by Eva. And it's really, really good! Don't get me wrong, there's plenty wrong with it, but going into that stuff kind ruins the fun and surprise that the series has.

Ultimately, after watching a lot of other, newer, better animated, more cleanly written, and -- let's be honest -- more forgettable stuff this summer, I came across this weird little show by chance and watched it very hestantly because everyone seemed to hate it. The only positive reviews I could find seem to talk about it like it was a bag of potato chips -> fun in the moment, but ultimately just a cute little snack between heartier meals. I disagree completely! The show is great and completely worth a watch on its own. There's plenty bad stuff in there, but good, bad, in between, none of it is boring and I certainly don't think I'll forget it any time soon barring some unforeseen blunt force trauma.

Go watch it, go talk about the good parts and talk about the bad parts, go have a nice time watching a weird, goofy, inscrutable, and deeply human show. And have a good day while you're at it!

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Feb 1, 2023

Asasphinx

Mixed Feelings

Prior to starting this show, I'd been eager to take that first step towards getting into the iDOLM@STER series one day, so of course I ended up here at the very first iDOLM@STER anime. Seeing the mixed reception this specific take on the series has made me all the more curious to watch it myself and I didn't really have too many expectations for it only wanting it to be decent...and I feel safe to say that that is exactly how I ended up feeling about this: it's really decent.

For the Mondenkind girls (Protagonists) we start with: Haruka, Iori, Makoto, Ritsuko, Azusa, Yukiho, & ... Ami. Yayoi is here too as Haruka's childhood friend, but made unaware of Haruka & her friends being mech pilots.
For the Turiavita girl (Antagonists) we start with: Chihiya.

The first half of this show is for the most part a slice of life. These episodes may be considered slow to most, but they introduce us to the cast and the world so if you're here for the characters as seen in the games & the other version of iDOLM@STER you may appreciate it more. We're guided by the main protagonist Haruka Amami as she gets baited into becoming a mech pilot under the assumption that she was auditioning to become a music idol (kinda like me with this show) and starts to simmer into the idea of piloting a mech to save the world. We see her developing steady relationships with the rest of the girls clashing with them in various ways, becoming better accustomed with her mech Imber, and understanding the roles she and her friends serve in Mondenkind's mission objectives. Every interaction here helps to better serve the 2nd half where the plot starts to become more apparent after meeting everyone and getting a barebones grasp at what they seek to achieve. It does a good job at getting you to like the majority of the cast alongside Haruka by displaying the struggles each face, showcasing their individually view on things around them, and how they choose to act on those areas.

Without spoiling anything, plot is kinda strange. Government operation has a secret base of operations hiding in plain sight in the guise of a school where the objective is to aid mechs in destroying with chunks of the moon that fall at seemingly random intervals of time, which is kinda the general gist of why the mech concept is here and implemented. For some unexplained reason they need middle-high school girls to do pilot the mechs and they all develop these odd relationships with the mechs. The mechs are said to have core of which they derive some semblance of human emotion and feeling to a point where they can have brief conversations with as well as understand what the mechs want and feel through what I can only assume to be some odd spiritual connection, and I can't recall any explanation as to how it's even possible. And going on about lack of explanations, there are a lot of other things that'll happen and never get properly explained from large scale plot details to even some character details and some high-scale level of convenience that you're kinda just left to accept it and take in stride without letting downplay your experience by overthinking.

From a design standpoint of the whole show there's not much to write home about. The animation is good. Character designs are simple but I'd probably go out on a whim and say I kinda like some a bit better than the more polished versions in the main iDOLM@STER adaptation & revamp. I'll even say I appreciate the simplicity of their designs because it makes them feel more natural with the background characters around them. Though I'm dying to say it: Haruka looks A LOT like Cardcaptor Sakura in the show especially when wearing the ribbons & Chihiya is the spitting image of Misato Katsuragi from Evangelion in general so whenever those 2 clashed it was kinda like watching bizarre fan fiction at play.

I'm a bit surprised I don't have much to say about music given the series' name and all. THE OPs & EDs were all good, the 1st OP Binetsu S.O.S! was fire and kinda catchy, the ED Yuukyuu no Tabibito~Dear Boy was beaufiful in its own way, and the 2nd OP Zankoku yo Kibou to Nare felt like it set the mood of the 2nd half of the show pretty well. There's background music AT TIMES and it was simple having fulfilled its purpose while also a lot of moments left to the spoken dialogue of the characters.

I was expecting this to be similar to Macross or something integrating mech battles with idols singing, but this is purely a mecha and scarce acknowledgement of actual idol activity and seemingly minimal resemblance to what the main iDOLM@STER series and story should be like. Xenoglossia only seems like it's an iDOLM@STER show in name only while just using the characters' names and just loosely giving meaning to the term "iDOLM@STER" in it's own way. As flawed, odd, and unexpected this was as my first foray into the iDOLM@STER series I can't say I hated it. Perhaps those accustomed to the standard side of this series may struggle to accept it adjusting to my guess of character deviations and drastic change in setting and tone, but on it's own as a mecha anime it seems pretty decent. As someone who had no set expectations of this to begin with I actually ended up liking this more than I might've thought I would, but if asked if I'd recommend it...I'd say if you've got a good amount of patience and can showcase enough tolerance to let this show tell the tale it wants to in spite of it's clear-as-day issues.

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Aug 21, 2014

otamegane18

Not Recommended

I'm using up my first review for this show...
I am someone who enjoys all sorts of shows with idols involved, and as a fan AND player of IDOLM@STER, I wanted to give Xenolgossia a try. First of all I don't normally watch mecha, so my knowledge about them is minimal, to the point I can count with my hands and still have fingers left of the amount of shows that have them I have seen.
When you jump into XENOGLOSSIA as an IDOLMASTER fan, you are prepared for the consequences. Aside from Haruka (which doesn't saves herself too much either, but it is the most ...

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Poll: iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia Episode 23 Discussion cyruz - Sep 18, 2007	14 replies	by AdityaRizkiS »» Oct 20, 2023 11:36 AM
Poll: iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia Episode 21 Discussion cyruz - Sep 2, 2007	8 replies	by AdityaRizkiS »» Oct 20, 2023 10:34 AM
Poll: iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia Episode 14 Discussion Faust721 - Jul 28, 2007	5 replies	by NOWAA »» Oct 4, 2023 6:09 AM
Poll: iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia Episode 17 Discussion cyruz - Aug 13, 2007	7 replies	by Destroyer31 »» Jun 16, 2023 7:25 AM
Poll: iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia Episode 25 Discussion cyruz - Oct 4, 2007	12 replies	by 28012001 »» May 16, 2022 9:05 PM

iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia

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Characters & Voice Actors

Kisaragi, Chihaya

Kikuchi, Makoto

Amami, Haruka

Minase, Iori

Takatsuki, Yayoi

Hagiwara, Yukiho

Miura, Azusa

Akizuki, Ritsuko

Futami, Mami

Futami, Ami

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iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

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Visit MALxJapan
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