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Bandai Namco has announced the full launch date for The Idolmaster Tours: To You Radiant Smile. The new arcade game will be available in amusement centers across Japan on March 26, 2025.

This title will appear as a rhythm game with real card-based idol outfit customization. It will have two main gameplay modes. The Rhythm Live mode will play like other rhythm games, where the player must hit the buttons and sliders at the right time in accordance with the musical notes.

The Idolmaster Tours will distinguish itself with the Create Live mode, which will test the player's creativity as a live stage producer. They can use the sliders to adjust specific spotlights and press the buttons to launch special effects and change the camera view.

The Idolmaster Tours will have a total of 15 idols available at launch. The roster will basically feature the three main highlighted idols from the franchise's first five sub-brands. Characters from the original series, Cinderella Girls, Million Live, and Shiny Colors were playable earlier during a location test at the November 2023 Amusement Expo. Bandai Namco later added the three male idols from SideM's Dramatic Stars unit in the June 2024 location tests.

The rhythm game will also have 7 playable songs with 4 difficulty levels at launch. In the Rhythm Live mode, the hardest Master difficulty will only be available after the player gets a minimum grade of B in Expert level. Access to the songs will also depend on the unit the player has chosen.

1. "The Idolm@ster" from the original series (Female idols only)
2. "Onegai! Cinderella" from Cinderella Girls (Female idols only)
3. "Thank You!" from Million Live (Female idols only)
4. "Drive A Life" from SideM (Male idols only)
5. "Spread the Wings!!" from Shiny Colors (Female idols only)
6. "Nando demo Waraou" (All idols)
7. "Voy@ger" (All idols)

The final launch art for The Idolmaster Tours also features Saki Hanami from Hatsuboshi Gakuen: The Idolmaster, the sixth sub-brand that was revealed and then released for mobile devices while the arcade game was still under development. However, Saki will not immediately appear in the new arcade game. Bandai Namco noted that it will add more characters—including those from Gakuen Idolmaster—to the roster sometime after launch.

The Idolmaster Tours: To You Radiant Smile will be available in Japanese arcades on March 26, 2025.

The post The Idolmaster Tours Launch Date Set in Late March 2025 appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco shared details about the formal debuts of Project Im@s va-liv, the Vtuber group d with The Idolmaster franchise. The three Vtubers in this group are in the process of making their proper debuts as Live Streamer Idols with new songs under production.

Project Im@s va-liv consists of three : Manaka Tomori, Cosmo Kamizuru, and Sara Letora Oliveira Utagawa—the latter of which is depicted as a half-Brazilian. The three Vtubers made their original debuts in early May 2023. They also appeared at Bandai Namco's Tokyo Game Show 2023 streams.

A major turning point was made when Bandai Namco held "The Last Statement" online live concert at the end of March 2024. The company concluded that all three had cleared the final examination to become Live Streamer Idols. The va-liv Vtubers have since been d with 876 Production, the same agency featured in the 2009 DS game The Idolmaster: Dearly Stars.

Bandai Namco also revealed that the idol Vtubers will receive new songs. D.watt, Steaka, and Ohtora & NewK will compose new songs for Manaka, Cosmo, and Letora, respectively. Bandai Namco will publish these songs via its Asobinotes brand, which also handles tracks from Hatsuboshi Gakuen: The Idolmaster.

The Project Im@s va-liv Vtuber idols' formal debuts will culminate with the Producer Meeting event titled "From Now On!!!" Bandai Namco will hold this event physically at the Garden Shin-Kiba Factory in Tokyo, Japan, on September 28, 2024.

The post The Idolmaster va-liv Vtubers Are Making Their Formal Debuts appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco revealed the new Idolmaster game it previously teased in late February 2024. The new game will be titled Hatsuboshi Gakuen: The Idolmaster, and it will be available on iOS and Android mobile devices as a free-to-play app. The game will also be known in Japan with the shortened title Gakuen Idolmaster.

As the title suggests, Gakuen Idolmaster will take place at Hatsuboshi Academy. Its high school will feature a specific Idol major, in addition to the regular study course. The academy will also have a vocational college with a Producer major. After graduating, both Idol and Producer students will a yet-to-be-named talent production agency. Akio Ohtsuka, the veteran voice actor best known for Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake and Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory's Anavel Gato, will voice the academy's heaster Kunio Juo.

The player will become a student in the college's Producer major. They will be able to produce a single idol candidate during a gameplay session. The Producer College's professor Asari Neo, who is voiced by Aoi Koga, will assist the player in a similar way Kotori Otonashi and Hazuki Nanakusa did in other Idolmaster titles.

Gakuen Idolmaster will feature nine characters at launch, but the reveal stream only unveiled the first three. The fourth character will make her debut in a livestream scheduled for March 13, 2024. The remaining characters will also be revealed gradually every following Wednesday.

Bandai Namco has also published individual trailers for the first three announced characters. The first one is Kotone Fujita, who will be voiced by Hikaru Iida. Her songs and performances will be geared towards the "kawaii/cute" genre.

The second character revealed is Temari Tsukimura, who will be voiced by Nao Ojika. She will represent the "blue" line of idols who have superior vocals but stoic personalities. Previous examples in The Idolmaster metaseries include Chihaya Kisaragi, Rin Shibuya, and Hiori Kazano.

The third and last character announced in the new The Idolmaster game stream is Saki Hanami, and Aoi Nagatsuki will provide her voiceover. She will also act as the title's overall poster girl in a similar fashion to Haruka Amami and Shiny Colors' Mano Sakuragi.

The full reveal trailer for Gakuen Idolmaster is available right below:

Hatsuboshi Gakuen: The Idolmaster will be available on iOS and Android mobile devices in Spring 2024.

The post Hatsuboshi Gakuen: The Idolmaster Game Coming to Mobile Devices This Spring appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco published a teaser trailer for a brand-new game in The Idolmaster franchise. The new entry will also mark the addition of a sixth brand to the idol-producing simulation game series. The trailer's Japanese title translates to "Idolmaster Series New Brand App Game Teaser PV," which confirms that the new title will appear as a mobile game on Android and iOS devices.

Despite being a mobile game, the new title will feature full 3D graphics. The teaser trailer shows a schoolgirl—who will also be the new brand's protagonist—running past a school and heading towards a stage set situated outside a stadium. The new franchise brand will feature an all-new cast of characters.

The teaser trailer is available to view via the official Idolmaster channel on YouTube:

The trailer's final part shows a sixth orange star getting added to a five-star image, which symbolizes the number of existing brands in The Idolmaster franchise. The red star marks the first original brand that primarily features the first thirteen 765 Production idols on arcades and consoles, but all subsequent brands appear prominently on mobile devices.

The dark blue star symbolizes the Cinderella Girls brand, while the yellow star represents Million Live. The franchise's latest brand before this reveal was Shiny Colors, which first launched in 2018 and is symbolized by a light blue star. It is also worth noting that the SideM brand, which features the series' male idols with a green star, has no ongoing games as of this reveal, following the closure of Growing Stars in July 2023.

Bandai Namco will formally reveal the new sixth Idolmaster brand, which will be a mobile game for Android and iOS devices, on March 5, 2024. It will make the announcement via a live stream that goes live at 7 PM JST (5 AM ET).

The post New Idolmaster Brand Game Teased for Mobile Devices appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco released The Idolm@ster Shiny Colors: Song for Prism for PCs and mobile devices in Japan. The company also shared an illustration featuring Mano Sakuragi, Hiori Kazano, and Meguru Hachimiya—the three main idols who also form the Illumination Stars unit—to mark the game's launch.

Song for Prism is a free-to-play game that combines idol-raising simulation with rhythm gameplay elements. The player will act as the idol producer of 283 (read: Tsubasa) Production who primarily manages the training and performance schedules for the agency's idols. The rhythm gameplay segment will determine the score and quality of live performances.

Song for Prism features the most recent roster of The Idolm@ster: Shiny Colors, which includes the new units added after the original game's launch in 2018. While the original Shiny Colors shows the characters in Live2D, Song for Prism features their full 3D models. This game will play in a similar fashion to The Idolm@ster Million Live: Theater Days, which features the extended 765 (read: Namco) Production.

Bandai Namco first revealed Song for Prism in late April 2023. It then opened pre-registrations for mobile devices in July 2023 and held an event for the game at Tokyo Game Show 2023. In October 2023, the company confirmed a PC version of the game and opened its pre-registrations via DMM Games. The PC version requires a minimum U of Core i3-4360 / AMD A8-7650K and a minimum GPU of GeForce GTX 750Ti / Radeon RX 250X.

The Idolm@ster Shiny Colors: Song for Prism is available in Japan on iOS and Android mobile devices, as well as PCs via DMM Games.

The post The Idolm@ster Shiny Colors: Song for Prism Has Launched in Japan appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco will set up a location test for The Idolmaster Tours at the Amusement Expo in Tokyo Big Sight on November 25, 2023. The new arcade game will feature physical cards that players can insert to customize the idols' costumes and add ing effects during live performances, and the gameplay section will require players to operate the control in a timely manner to optimize the stage's lighting and effects.

The location test build will feature the following content:

• Available songs: "The Idolmaster" and "Nando demo Waraou"
• The Idolmaster idols: Haruka Amami, Chihaya Kisaragi, Miki Hoshii
• Cinderella Girls idols: Uzuki Shimamura, Rin Shibuya, Mio Honda
• Million Live idols: Mirai Kasuga, Shizuka Mogami, Tsubasa Ibuki
• Shiny Colors idols: Mano Sakuragi, Hiori Kazano, Meguru Hachimiya

This will not be the first location test for The Idolmaster Tours. Bandai Namco first revealed the title at JAEPO 2023 in February 2023. It then held early location tests at five Namco arcade centers across Japan from May to July 2023.

The location test at the Amusement Expo will have a new bonus reward not in prior tests. Everyone who played the demo build at the event will receive a new promotional Card featuring SideM's Teru Tendo and his teammates at Dramatic Stars. The arcade game's full release will add the SideM male idols and the ability to direct feed videos of the live performances.

The Amusement Expo will appear as a new major public event where people can try out arcade games, as the existing annual JAEPO events are more geared towards business-to-business interactions. Other major game publishers besides Bandai Namco have also confirmed their attendance at this event. Taito and Capcom will place playable demos of Street Fighter 6 Type Arcade in the former's booth. Meanwhile, Sega will hold events showcasing its existing titles like Initial D The Arcade and Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown.

The Amusement Expo in Tokyo Big Sight will take place on November 25, 2023. The full release of The Idolmaster Tours will appear later in Japanese arcades.

The post The Idolmaster Tours Location Test Will Take Place at Amusement Expo appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco Filmworks announced the full lineup of idols who will be performing at the Idolmaster and Love Live series collaboration concert. This live event between seven different anime idol groups will take place on December 9-10, 2023 at Tokyo Dome. Tickets are available at the price of 13,000 yen ($89.75) for reserved seats. A two-day is also available for 26,000 yen ($179.51). Advance tickets can be purchased until August 14, 2023. [Thanks, Denfaminicogamer!]

Many voice actresses from both the Idolmaster and Love Live series will be performing. This event is part of the “Ijigen Fes” series of events, which aims to "make the impossible possible" through t collaborations between franchises that produce similar content.

The full list of confirmed performing idols and the days they perform on is as follows:

Idolmaster Cinderella Girls:

• Asami Takano (voice of Frederica Miyamoto) - Day 1
• Aya Suzaki (voice of Minami Nitta) - Day 1
• Hina Tachibana (voice of Nagi Hisakawa) - Day 1
• Hiromi Igarashi (voice of Anzu Futaba) - Day 1
• Honoka Inoue (voice of Nanami Asari) - Day 1
• Kotomi Aihara (voice of Shiki Ichinose) - Day 1
• Lu Ting (voice of Syuko Shiomi) - Day 1
• Miyu Tomita (voice of Akira Sunazuka) - Day 1
• Nanami Yamashita (voice of Yui Ootsuki) - Day 1
• Sumire Uesaka (voice of Anastasia) - Day 1
• Teru Ikuta (voice of Natalia) - Day 1
• Yuki Nakashima (voice of Yuuki Otokura) - Day 1
• Yuuko Iida (voice of Kanade Hayami) - Day 1
• Amina Satō (voice of Arisu Tachibana) - Day 2
• Asaka Imai (voice of Chie Sasaki) - Day 2
• Ayaka Fukuhara (voice of Rin Shibuya) - Day 2
• Ayaka Ohashi (voice of Uzuki Shimamura) - Day 2
• Hana Tamegai (voice of Risa Matoba) - Day 2
• Maki Hanatani (voice of Kozue Yusa) - Day 2
• Makoto Koichi (voice of Haru Yuuki) - Day 2
• Mina Nakazawa (voice of Yukimi Sajo) - Day 2
• Misaki Kuno (voice of Nina Ichihara) - Day 2
• Natsumi Haruse (voice of Kaoru Tatsuzaki) - Day 2
• Sayuri Hara (voice of Mio Honda) - Day 2
• Tomoyo Kurosawa (voice of Miria Akagi) - Day 2
• Yuri Komori (voice of Koharu Koga) - Day 2

The Idolmaster Million Live!:

• Atsuki Nakamura (voice of Roco) - Day 1
• Azusa Tadokoro (voice of Shizuka Mogami) - Day 1
• Emi Hirayama (voice of Reika Kitakami) - Day 1
• Haruka Yamazaki (voice of Mirai Kasuga) - Day 1
• Kotori Koiwai (voice of Tomoka Tenkubashi) - Day 1
• Machico (voice of Tsubasa Ibuki) - Day 1
• Momo Asakura (voice of Serika Hakozaki) - Day 1
• Yui Watanabe (voice of Nao Yokoyama) - Day 1
• Aimi (voice of Julia) - Day 2
• Arisa Kouri (voice of Kaori Sakuramori) - Day 2
• Ibuki Kido (voice of Kana Yabuki) - Day 2
• Miku Itou (voice of Yuriko Nanao) - Day 2
• Rie Suegara (voice of Fuka Toyokawa) - Day 2
• Rikako Yamaguchi (voice of Rio Momose) - Day 2
• Saki Minami (voice of Tsumugi Shiraishi) - Day 2
• Yuri Komagata (voice of Sayoko Takayama) - Day 2

The Idolmaster Shiny Colors:

• Anna Yamaki (voice of Sakuya Shirase) - Day 1
• Aya Yamane (voice of Mikoto Aketa) - Day 1
• Azusa Shizuki (voice of Nichika Nanakusa) - Day 1
• Chisa Suganuma (voice of Mamimi Tanaka) - Day 1
• Honoka Kuroki (voice of Amana Osaki) - Day 1
• Karin Isobe (voice of Kogane Tsukioka) - Day 1
• Miho Okasaki (voice of Hinana Ichikawa) - Day 1
• Mizuki Yuina (voice of Kiriko Yukoku) - Day 1
• Noriko Shibasaki (voice of Chiyuki Kuwayama) - Day 1
• Rio Tsuchiya (voice of Madoka Higuchi) - Day 1
• Ryouko Maekawa (voice of Tenka Osaki) - Day 1
• Saran Tajima (voice of Koito Fukumaru) - Day 1
• Shio Kisui (voice of Yuika Mitsumine) - Day 1
• Yuu Wakui (voice of Toru Asakura) - Day 1
• Akiho Suzumoto (voice of Natsuha Arisugawa) - Day 2
• Ayaka Suwa (voice of Matsuri Tokugawa) - Day 2
• Eri Yukimura (voice of Fuyuko Mayuzumi) - Day 2
• Haruka Shiraishi (voice of Chiyoko Sonoda) - Day 2
• Haruna Miikawa (voice of Hana Suzuki) - Day 2
• Hitomi Sekine (voice of Mano Sakuragi) - Day 2
• Hiyori Kouno (voice of Kaho Komiya) - Day 2
• Kondou Reina (voice of Hiori Kazano) - Day 2
• Mariko Nagai (voice of Juri Saijo) - Day 2
• Mayu Mineda (voice of Meguru Hachiyama) - Day 2
• Rena Ozawa (voice of Haruki Ikuta) - Day 2
• Rina Kawaguchi (voice of Luca Ikaruga) - Day 2
• Wakana Maruoka (voice of Rinze Morino) - Day 2
• Yuki Tanaka (voice of Asahi Serizawa) - Day 2

Love Live Aqours:

• Ai Furihata (voice of Ruby Kurosawa) - Day 1 and 2
• Aika Kobayashi (voice of Yoshiko Tsushima) - Day 1 and 2
• Aina Suzuki (voice of Mari Ohara) - Day 1 and 2
• Anju Inami (voice of Chika Takami) - Day 1 and 2
• Arisa Komiya (voice of Dia Kurosawa) - Day 1 and 2
• Kanako Takatsuki (voice of Hanamaru Kunikida) - Day 1 and 2
• Nanaka Suwa (voice of Kanan Matsuura) - Day 1 and 2
• Rikako Aida (voice of Riko Sakurauchi) - Day 1 and 2
• Shuka Saito (voice of You Watanabe) - Day 1 and 2

Love Live Nijigasaki High School Idol Club:

• Aguri Ōnishi (voice of Ayumu Uehara) - Day 1 and 2
• Akari Kito (voice of Kanata Konoe) - Day 1 and 2
• Akina Homoto (voice of Lanzhu Zhong) - Day 1 and 2
• Chiemi Tanaka (voice of Rina Tennoji) - Day 1 and 2
• Coco Hayashi (voice of Setsuna Yuki) - Day 1 and 2
• Hinaki Yano (voice of Yu Takasaki) - Day 1 and 2
• Kaori Maeda (voice of Shizuku Osaka) - Day 1 and 2
• Maria Sashide (voice of Emma Verde) - Day 1 and 2
• Mayu Sagara (voice of Kasumi Nakasu) - Day 1 and 2
• Miyu Kubota (voice of Karin Asaka) - Day 1 and 2
• Moeka Koizumi (voice of Shioriko Mifune) - Day 1 and 2
• Natsumi Murakami (voice of Ai Miyashita) - Day 1 and 2
• Shu Uchida (voice of Mia Taylor) - Day 1 and 2

Love Live Leilla:

• Aya Emori (voice of Natsumi Onitsuka) - Day 1 and 2
• Liyuu (voice of Keke Tang) - Day 1 and 2
• Nagisa Aoyama (voice of Ren Hazuki) - Day 1 and 2
• Nako Misaki (voice of Chisato Arashi) - Day 1 and 2
• Naomi Payton (voice of Sumire Heanna) - Day 1 and 2
• Nozomi Suzuhara (voice of Kinako Sakurakoji) - Day 1 and 2
• Sakura Sakakura (voice of Tomari Onitsuka) - Day 1 and 2
• Sayuri Date (voice of Kanon Shibuya) - Day 1 and 2
• Wakana Ookuma (voice of Shiki Wakana) - Day 1 and 2
• Yabushima Akane (voice of Mei Yoneme) - Day 1 and 2
• Yuina (voice of Wien Margarete) - Day 1 and 2

Love Live Hasunosora Girls’ High School Idol Club:

• Kanna Kan (voice of Rurino Osawa) - Day 1 and 2
• Kokona Nonaka (voice of Sayaka Murano) - Day 1 and 2
• Kona Tsukine (voice of Megumi Fujishima) - Day 1 and 2
• Kotoko Sasaki (voice of Tsuzuri Yugiri) - Day 1 and 2
• Nina Hanamiya (voice of Kozue Otomune) - Day 1 and 2
• Nozomi Nirei (voice of Kaho Hinoshita) - Day 1 and 2

Official event goods will be sold at the event, including t-shirts, towels, penlights and more. They will be available for presale on the Asobi Store beginning on August 25, 2023.

The Idolmaster and Love Live Ijigen Fes Live will be held at Tokyo Dome on December 9-10, 2023. Reserved tickets are 13,000 yen ($89.75) and a two-day is available for 26,000 yen ($179.51).

The post Over 100 Idols Will Perform The Idolmaster X Love Live Concert appeared first on Siliconera.

A combination Idolmaster and Love Live concert will take place on December 9 and 10, 2023 at Tokyo Dome in Japan. You can now apply to enter the lottery for advance tickets. This is the first part of the “Ijigen Fes,” which will bring surprising collaborations to life to celebrate anime music. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

Tickets cost 13,000 JPY ($91.70) for one day and 26,000 JPY ($183.45) for both. The concert will feature a large number of voice actresses from various Idolmaster and Love Live series. Some examples include Akari Kito from Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (Love Live), Liyuu of Liella (Love Live), and Honoka Kuroki of Idolmaster: Shiny Colors.

The full list of participants will come from:

• Idolmaster Cinderella Girls
• Idolmaster Million Live
• Idolmaster Shiny Colors
• Love Live Aqours
• Love Live Liella
• Love Live Nijigasaki High School Idol Club
• Love Live Hasunosora Girls’ High School Idol Club

As mentioned earlier, this is the first collaboration of Ijigen Fes. Ijigen can mean otherworldly, and as the name suggests, it will organize otherworldly collaborations over a variety of intellectual properties. They will all focus on music, with a specific theme of how songs in IPs such as Love Live have grown past the “anime song” genre.

The Idolmaster and Love Live concert will take place on December 9 and 10, 2023.

The post Love Live and Idolmaster Concert Announced for Late 2023 appeared first on Siliconera.

Yozo Sakagami, or “Gami-P,” has retired from his position as the executive producer for the The Idolmaster franchise. His retirement will go into effect from the end of March 2023. In a letter to his fans on the official The Idolmaster website, he explains his reasoning for his sudden retirement, as well as thanks all of the players who have played and enjoyed the game series. [Thanks, Denfaminico!]

Sakagami has worked on The Idolmaster for 18 years. But he had planned on leaving three years earlier in 2020. This is because if he had retired in 2020, then he could’ve left after working on the series for 15 years, which was a fairly good number. But the COVID-19 pandemic delayed or completely obliterated certain plans and projects that they had been working on.

As he continues in the letter, Executive Producer Sakagami discussed all of his memories with The Idolmaster. He stated that he was impressed when he saw the ion of the players for the arcade version of the game and thanks everyone for their over the years. He concluded his letter with stating that he will watch over everyone—from the fans to the staff for The Idolmaster—as they walk towards their future. For the time being, there will be no executive producer to replace him just yet.

The Idolmaster is a long-running series with several games over multiple platforms. As of the time of writing, its most recent mobage is Shiny Colors. An anime adaptation of Shiny Colors will air some time during Q2 2024.

The post Gami-P, Executive Producer for Idolmaster, Retired appeared first on Siliconera.

The idols are coming for Landosol. A new limited-time event for Princess Connect Re:Dive will debut in early February, according to a post by Crunchyroll Games. The Princess Connect x Idolmaster Cinderella Girls crossover event will add several performers from Bandai Namco's hit series in Princess Connect Re:Dive's playable roster. The event first ran in the Japanese version of the game in 2020.

The Princess Connect x Idolmaster Cinderella Girls event will add three playable characters from the Idolmaster Cinderella Girls unit "New Generations". These characters are Uzuki Shimamura, Rin Shibuya, and Mio Honda. Uzuki and Rin will appear on separate Focus Gacha banners throughout the month of February. Uzuki's banner lasts from February 1 through 14, 2023, with Rin's following on the 14th through the 27th. Uzuki and Rin will be limited characters, meaning they won't be added to the general gacha pool when the event ends. Players can acquire Mio for free by progressing through the story and completing certain missions.

Uzuki Shimamura s the roster as a combination of damage-dealing and party unit. She can fight with her sword, while increasing her allies' damage output and TP charging speed. Rin, meanwhile, is a damage-dealer that also debilitates her foes by binding their movement and reducing their defense. She can also shield herself.

Players interested in Princess Connect Re:Dive's original characters will also have banners to roll on. A Prize Gacha banner (which allows players to choose additional rewards for one of the two featured characters) will focus on the summer versions of Makoto and Maho. Finally, a guaranteed 3-Star gacha banner will let players use purchased Jewels to roll on a banner with a guaranteed 3-Star character. Rin will also be on this banner, so it can be used as a way to get her.

The Princess Connect Re:Dive Idolmaster Cinderella Girls crossover event kicks off on February 1, 2023. The game is available on iOS and Android devices.

The post Princess Connect Idolmaster Crossover Launches in February appeared first on Siliconera.

The Japanese idol-raising game franchise The Idolmaster will have its first-ever physical orchestra concert. Bandai Namco will hold The Idolmaster Orchestra Concert ~Symphony of Five Stars!!!!!~ in Makuhari on November 12-13, 2022. With tickets priced at 11,000 yen (~$77), the audience will be able to watch Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra perform songs from the franchise.

The event will also feature a different list of guest voice actors each day. One half of the list will attend in person, while the other half will voice the idol characters that they represent in the franchise. Regardless of the appearance methods, the guests will also sing their respective characters' songs at the concert.

Day 1, November 12, 2022

1. Asami Imai - The Idolmaster's Chihaya Kisaragi (voice actress)
2. Arisa Kori - Million Live's Kaori Sakuramori (voice actress)
3. Saori Hayami - Cinderella Girls' Kaede Takagaki (character)
4. Honoka Kuroki - Shiny Colors' Amana Osaki (character)
5. Special Guest: Shunsuke Takizawa (composer of numerous Cinderella Girls songs)

Day 2, November 13, 2022

1. Manami Numakura - The Idolmaster's Hibiki Ganaha (voice actress)
2. Yuri Komagata - Million Live's Sayoko Takayama (voice actress)
3. Shunichi Toki - SideM's Kei Tsuzuki (character)
4. Yusuke Nagano - SideM's Rei Kagura (character)
5. Special Guest: Yuriko Kaida (FictionJunction vocalist)

The audience for an orchestra concert has a different set of rules from the live concerts the series' fans have grown accustomed to. The first segment of the two-part concert will focus on the orchestra performance. As such, the organizer reminds the prospective audience to refrain from using lightsticks or clapping in the middle of songs during the segment.

The Idolmaster Orchestra Concert ~Symphony of Five Stars!!!!!~ will take place at Makuhari Event Hall in Makuhari Messe on November 12-13, 2022.

The post The Idolmaster Series Will Have Its First Orchestra Concert in November appeared first on Siliconera.

More pedometers featuring The Idolmaster characters will appear in Japan, and this time it will include over 300 characters from the whole franchise. Tanita has opened pre-orders for the items on its website. Each and every pedometer will have the same price tag of 3,300 yen.

In late 2021, Tanita released pedometers that featured 190 idols from The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls. The title's roster is already larger than all other Idolmaster entries combined, but that still does not stop the company from expanding the product lineup to cover the whole Idolmaster series.

The new pedometer designs will feature 39 idols from Million Live, 25 characters from Shiny Colors, and 49 male idols from SideM. It will also add 19 characters who debuted in the console games, including the original 765 Production , the 876 Production idols from the 2009 DS game Dearly Stars, and the 2021 PS4 and PC title Starlit Season. In total, the lineup will have all 322 idols from the entire franchise represented.

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Tanita will close the pre-order period for The Idolmaster series pedometers on September 5, 2022. It will produce the items based on the number of orders received and ship them from mid-November 2022.

The Idolmaster is a series of Japanese idol-raising simulation games that began as an arcade title in 2005. The latest console entry, The Idolmaster: Starlit Season, is available on PlayStation 4 and PC in Japan and Asia. Bandai Namco has also released four mobile games—Cinderella Girls, Million Live, SideM, and Shiny Colors—and expanded them to form their own sub-series.

The post The Idolmaster Tanita Pedometers Will Feature Over 300 Characters appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco revealed a tourism promotion collaboration with the Takatsuki City Tourist Association that has appointed Yayoi Takatsuki from The Idolmaster as its ambassador. The character will also help promote a restaurant chain named Yayoiken.

Officials from the Osaka Prefecture city will hold an event celebrating the appointment on January 20, 2022. It will take place at Ama Site Park, known for hosting relics from the historical Yayoi period. The city will also hold stamp campaigns and have merchandise shops selling items related to the character.

Takatsuki City is also home to a branch of the Yayoiken restaurant chain. Due to the name coincidence, the branch saw an influx of visitors whenever an event related to the character occurred. Fans of Yayoi Takatsuki would celebrate her birthday at the restaurant every year on March 25. Bandai Namco and Yayoiken will announce more details on the collaboration in early March 2022.

Yayoi Takatsuki is one of the characters that have existed ever since the first Idolmaster game launched on arcades in 2005. However, her name being shared with the Yayoiken restaurant and Takatsuki City was a coincidence. In a 2015 interview, the series producer Yozo Sakagami revealed that Namco named the first Idolmaster characters after Japanese warships.

The latest console title in the series, The Idolmaster: Starlit Season, is immediately available on PlayStation 4 and PC in Japan and Asia. Yayoi Takatsuki is one of the 29 idols available in the base game. Bandai Namco has been releasing DLC sets that add more idols into the game, such as Kaede Takagaki and Kotoha Tanaka.

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Bandai Namco announced that it will change the format of  Idolmaster live concerts originally scheduled for mid-to-late January 2022. The company made the decision in consideration of a new coronavirus variant outbreak in Japan. The concerts will turn into online-exclusive streams that will not have any live audience.

This announcement affected the concerts for The Idolmaster: Million Live and Cinderella Girls. The Million Live concert was originally set to take place at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on January 14-16, 2022. Meanwhile, Cinderella Girls' tenth-anniversary tour was due to visit Okinawa Arena on January 29-30, 2022. Bandai Namco has canceled both concerts and will replace them with live streams recorded elsewhere.

Most recently, Bandai Namco held a live concert for the sixth anniversary of The Idolmaster: SideM in Tokyo on January 8-9, 2022. The company successfully held this event with a physical venue and audience. The new outbreak only affects the format of other concerts that will take place later this month.

Cinderella Girls and Million Live are separate sub-series under The Idolmaster franchise. Each game features a different roster of characters, and both titles originated from mobile games. The latest titles from the respective sub-series, The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls - Starlight Stage and Million Live - Theater Days, are both available for Android and iOS devices in Japan. Bandai Namco has also launched a PC version of Starlight Stage on DMM Games.

The post The Idolmaster January 2022 Concerts Will Have No Audience appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco made good on its promise to provide Idolmaster fans with more of the franchise's latest single "Voyager" (or "VOY@GER").

Though the Idolmaster series' 16th Anniversary stream event teased the song's CD release by August 4, the official Idolmaster Youtube channel ed the full-length animated music video for all to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJKqSYK_z0w

Voyager is the Idolmaster series "Concept Movie" for 2021. It's essentially an animated music video teasing the future of the series from 2021 onward.

It stars fifteen characters from various Idolmaster franchise games, including The Idolmaster, Cinderella Girls, Million Live, Shiny Colors, and male idols from the SideM series. The video was produced by anime studio Cloverworks, which also produced the Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front Babylonia anime series and its Solomon feature film sequel.

The Voyager music video involves the following characters and their respective idol groupings:

The Idolmaster 765 Pro All Stars

• Haruka Amami (voiced by Eriko Nakamura)
• Makoto Kikuchi (voiced by Hiromi Hirata)
• Takane Shijou (voiced by Yumi)

Cinderella Girls

• Syuko Shiomi (voiced by Lu Ting)
• Minami Nitta (voiced by Aya Suzaki)
• Hayate Hisakawa (voiced by Rika Nagae)

Million Stars

• Umi Kosaka (voiced by Reina Ueda)
• Tsumugi Shiraishi (voiced by Saki Minami)
• Anna Mochizuki (voiced by Shiina Natsukawa)

315 Stars

• Kyoji Takashiro (voiced by Yuichiro Umehara)
• Genbu Kurono (voiced by Toshinari Fukamachi)
• Chris Koron (voiced by Wataru Komada)

Shiny Colors

• Natsuha Arisugawa (voiced by Akiho Suzumoto)
• Fuyuko Mayuzumi (voiced by Eri Yukimura)
• Toru Asakura (voiced by Yuu Wakui)

The Idolmaster "Voyager" single is available on CD and went on sale on August 4, 2021. The next mainline title, The Idolmaster Starlit Season, is due on October 14, 2021 in Japan on PlayStation 4 and PC. No plans have been announced regarding an overseas localization.

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