The iDOLM@STER

765 Production Studio manages the unique talents of 13 professional idols as they slowly make their way to the top and become country-wide celebrities. But the girls' journey is far from just fun and games: hard work, sweat, and tears are some of the prerequisites needed to flourish in this industry—and for 765 Pro in particular, a watchful eye out for their rival, the infamous 961 Production.

As the girls' fame grows, however, their time together as a family diminishes, and now the very popularity they sought is threatening to tear them apart. A difficult balance of work and bonding must be achieved, or they risk everyone going their separate ways. The personal and professional ordeals of these idols can not be conquered alone, but with each other's loving support, any obstacle or hardship can be overcome!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kisaragi, Chihaya Main

Imai, Asami Japanese

Hoshii, Miki Main

Hasegawa, Akiko Japanese

Kikuchi, Makoto Main

Hirata, Hiromi Japanese

Shijou, Takane Main

Hara, Yumi Japanese

Amami, Haruka Main

Nakamura, Eriko Japanese

Minase, Iori Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Ganaha, Hibiki Main

Numakura, Manami Japanese

Takatsuki, Yayoi Main

Nigo, Mayako Japanese

Hagiwara, Yukiho Main

Asakura, Azumi Japanese

Miura, Azusa Main

Takahashi, Chiaki Japanese

Toba, Yousuke Producer

Shimizu, Akira Producer

Kunisaki, Hisanori Producer

Uemura, Shunichi Producer

Reviews

Mar 27, 2023

Asasphinx

Recommended

Prior to finally watching this & making this review, I'd been dying to dip my toes into this. Feel like I've seen stuff from every other idol/music franchise except for the one with "iDOL" in the title. This shares various similarities with those other shows I've seen but something about this drew me in.

There isn't really a long term objective at play here. The show is basically a slice of life anime looking at the lives of idols work towards simply gaining exposure and make their mark in the idol world under their studio 765 Production, and as idols they find themselves eventually taking up ... a wide variety of jobs with the help of their Producer. The girls don't have a long term objective they're trying to reach like performing at a popular venue or anything. Some plot points will build up in the background for later episodes to focus on, but most cases here are presented in an episodic fashion. Admittedly they kinda feel rather directionless throughout this until they start to take off later on, but the show seemed more set on looking at 765 as a group and the members individually. The group gets introduced to some rival figures, but aside from a petty producer equivalent to a malicious Pretty Cure villain, they don't have much competition to note. But the world around 765 is balanced. The world of iDOLM@STER is very peachy, but it surprisingly isn't too afraid to get a bit dark at times of and I appreciated seeing it because there are moments that when they happen can hit you.

A general thing I had a problem with is how shows like this tell you a lot but don't always show the processes behind them. In an early episode we're shown the girls taking professional studio shots to help with their promotions, it's a very simple thing but showed a step in them making a transition outside of dancing and singing practice. The show has a lot of things it wants to look at but doesn't always explain or show the steps they took to get to various points. Sure the show could've benefitted from some long-term drama to engross the characters with but I felt like it plays off its slice of life elements well enough.

This show's primary cast consists of 13 main girls as the idols, the Producer who handles all the booking. They have the complicated task of trying to sell the audience on 14 characters and as expected they did an alright job at it. Everyone will find someone they consider their favorite(s), but it's a large group so some feel noticeably more significant in the group than others whose motivations and aspirations as idols aren't presented as strongly or effectively as they could've. A character's focus episode most of the times introduces their backstory or explores their personality quickly, gives them a brief moment of acknowledgement, and then resolves it just as quickly or never really look at it enough ever again going forward. Xenoglossia was my 1st iDOLM@STER experience and while people may hate it, I honestly thought it did a better job at selling some of the characters here, but nevertheless they're still a strongpoint of this.

To me, not every character NEEDS to be intricately written and not every character will be. The majority of the 765 girls have basic fundamental characterization & situations to explore and some have more in-depth arcs with deeper tones and messages, but I wouldn't replace or remove any of them. While individually some characters falter, 765 works pretty well as a group is pretty fun to follow. Everyone gets plenty of moments to just be themselves on screen and play to their strengths enough to leave enough of a solid impression from each of them. As I mentioned earlier about the world being peachy but dark that also applies to the characters. While the characters could've been given more time to simmer on their issues and kinks. there's plenty of layers of emotion to them made known. I wish the Producer and Kotori got some of that time to get some characterization, but you could tell that they're just there to assist in spotlighting the girls.

Touching on the aesthetics, the art is good and remained consistent through the show. The animation when it came time to see dancing isn't exactly Sunrise with Love Live quality, but fairly solid. And if you wanted to venture into the iDOLM@STER games they showcase a LOT of songs through inserts and each episode having separate songs used for the ED sequences. The 2 OPs "Ready" & "Change" are good selections whose lyrical content feel fitting for the 2 halves of the show they accompany. And the VAs have varying ranges they reach given they're all playing characters with varied personalities, so you may pick up on little things about each like how Ami & Mami share a VA and she handles it well, Chihiya's VA having a pretty distinguishably good singing voice, Miki's VA doing well at conveying her exuberant demeanor, etc.

iDOLM@STER in spite of some issues is a nice look at the idol industry in anime form with some elements glossed up but with it's own pool of depth. It was very fun, and I honestly enjoyed the slice of life antics here more than I did other series like this that I've shilled for...

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 22, 2024

Tom13296

Mixed Feelings

Story:
The idolmaster is a story about a group of idols that pursue their dream into stardom. The story is very simple with it written in episodic format, each character has their own spotlight in their respective episodes. The anime shows us the daily lives of the idol group members, with their struggles and how they overcome their flaws. With its being episodic, there's actually no main conflict in the show, I do think that is not a big deal with the anime itself coming with the Slice of Life genre, but sometimes the episode just feels like a filler episode that gives no development to ... the story nor the character. On the other side we never see how the group actually develops through the story, everything feels like it is just flowing like any idol anime should be. The last few episodes with the Haruka character arc are indeed the best part of the story.

Character:
The words that producer said in episode 12 "I don't really understand all of you girls yet" indeed describe how I feel towards the group when I finish watching this anime. Overall, the character feels decent, each idols were unique with their own traits. With the problem of having too many characters, some characters are not really explored through the anime, making them appear to be flat and boring. Miki, Chihaya, and Haruka are indeed the most standout characters in terms of writing, at some point they feel alive with their struggle and motivation to become an idol. On the second cour of the show we finally face the antagonist of the show. Their appearance somehow feels unnecessary and just there to extend the story.

Visual
Thing I like the most from this anime is the animation, especially when it comes to character acting animation, it is just so outstanding. The performance scene is great too, it kinda amazed me for anime at that time, cause nowadays anime tends to use CGI to make this kind of scene. When it comes to character design, Atsushi Nishigori never fails with it. Every character design is very contrasting with each other and so colorful.

Conclusion
The idolm@ster is a good idol anime that mainly focuses on the daily lives of idol group members. If you were looking for an idol anime with a simple story and great visual, you should give it a try.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 15, 2016

Geddon616

Not Recommended

I hate to be that guy but if there was a definition of a bad Idol anime in my opinion this takes the crown and title.

So what did i liked with this anime hmm well the look of it all wasnt bad but everything else was just bad.

Not sure i can say with good conscious that it even had a story. Everything in it was random their work , their manager , the whole thing was something i cant even begin to describe. Whatever i could have said about the character and rest was ruined by the story.

People will say that ... well you watched the whole anime well yeah i did in hope of it getting better but it never did. The risk of watching anime is that you will find one of those that sucks energy out of you and this did. I hate to be one of those guys but some anime deserves it and in my opinion this did.

I write this so that people can realise that if the first episode really crushed your beliefs in it then take a hint and stop yourself from watching it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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