50 Fun Facts About The Idolmaster

The 2007 anime Idolmaster: Xenoglossia reimagines the franchise's pop idols as girls who control what?

Giant robots called IDOLs are what the girls control, destroying debris that threatens Earth. The series shares little with the games beyond its characters.

The Idolmaster SideM, a spin-off launched in 2014, broke with series tradition by focusing on what?

Male idols are the stars of SideM, in contrast to the franchise's usual female casts. Its launch drew so many players that the service closed after a day and reopened five months later.

Before reaching home consoles and phones, The Idolmaster franchise debuted in Japan in 2005 as what?

An arcade game was the first release, with touchscreen cabinets that saved each player's progress on rewritable cards. Long queues formed when it was first tested in public.

Which ribbon-wearing 765 Production singer is considered the face of The Idolmaster franchise?

Haruka Amami is the all-round ordinary girl at the centre of the series, known for baking sweets and for tripping at least once a day.

Which trait defines Cinderella Project member Anzu Futaba in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls anime?

Extreme laziness is her signature: she detests the very idea of work and naps whenever she can. She even joins a strike to demand more days off than a week contains.

A Sega rhythm-game crossover with The Idolmaster SP dressed which virtual singer as a 765 idol?

Hatsune Miku received a costume based on the franchise's lead idol in the add-on pack. The pack also had her cover the series song Go My Way!!

Which Japanese game company, also behind the Tales role-playing series, created The Idolmaster franchise?

Bandai Namco, then simply Namco, launched the series in 2005. Its idols have since made cameos in the company's Tales games and in Beautiful Katamari.

Identical twins Ami and Mami Futami of The Idolmaster can only be told apart by which feature?

Their hairstyles are the only giveaway: Ami ties her side ponytail to the left and Mami to the right. Early on they even swap styles to perform as a single idol under Ami's name.

Elegant, mysterious Takane Shijō of The Idolmaster secretly loves which everyday commoner's dish?

Ramen is her weakness: despite a wealthy upbringing, she takes a quiet interest in ordinary life. Her tiny Puchimas! counterpart, Takanya, shares the craving.

Which console got the first home version of The Idolmaster in 2007, earning a Japan Game Awards special prize?

Xbox 360 owners got the port in January 2007, and the game is credited with giving Japan the world's highest ratio of Xbox Live sign-ups to consoles sold.

Which gifted but sleepy 765 Production idol in The Idolmaster adores onigiri and yawns her catchphrase?

Miki Hoshii joined the cast with the first home version of the game. In 2011 Tower Records named her store manager of its Japanese branches.

Minami Nitta's duo partner in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls often slips into which language by accident?

Russian slips out because Anastasia, nicknamed Anya, is half-Russian and less fluent in Japanese, so she often asks Minami whether she has said something correctly.

Which wealthy, sharp-tongued 765 Production idol in The Idolmaster carries a stuffed rabbit around?

Iori Minase calls the rabbit Usa-chan, and her mix of barbed insults and hidden warmth makes her a textbook tsundere.

Uzuki Shimamura, Rin Shibuya and Mio Honda form which trio in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls anime?

New Generations came together after the three danced as backup for an established idol. Their debut mini-concert nearly makes Mio quit over the small crowd.

Which studio animated both the 2011 anime The Idolmaster and the 2015 series The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls?

A-1 Pictures made both series and the 2014 film in between, with Atsushi Nishigori directing the original run and designing its characters.

In Idolmaster: Xenoglossia, a disaster over a century before the story begins destroyed which celestial body?

The Moon shattered 107 years before the story in a disaster called Lost Artemis, and its falling fragments killed about a quarter of humanity. The pieces still in orbit are called Kompeito.

Lessons in The Idolmaster games raise an idol's three core stats: Vocal, Dance and which other?

Visual completes the trio, and auditions score an idol's appeal in the same three categories. Costumes and accessories also shift the numbers.

Hibiki Ganaha's many pets in The Idolmaster include a hamster, a pig and which surprising reptile?

A crocodile shares her home with a parrot, a flying squirrel and a St. Bernard, among others, and she is forever losing track of them.

The family of cool-headed Rin Shibuya in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls runs what kind of business?

A flower shop is the family trade, and Rin had no interest in becoming an idol until the Producer talked her round over several meetings.

The Idolmaster KR, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2017, retold the franchise in which format?

A live-action drama made in South Korea, it ran for 24 episodes, and its cast of aspiring idols performed as the girl group Real Girls Project.

Which serious 765 Production idol in The Idolmaster dislikes the word idol and calls herself a vocalist?

Chihaya Kisaragi has the group's greatest natural talent and sings in memory of a younger brother killed in a car accident, a past that a rival agency boss leaks to the press in the anime.

Which timid 765 Production idol in The Idolmaster fears dogs and vows to dig a hole when embarrassed?

Yukiho Hagiwara became an idol to overcome her cowardice. Raised in a strict, traditional household, she loves green tea and writes haiku she is too shy to share.

Which cheerful 765 Production idol in The Idolmaster does odd jobs to help her poor family of six siblings?

Yayoi Takatsuki keeps cleaning the agency office for extra cash even after her debut. She also cameos in the role-playing game Tales of Hearts with a move called High Touch.

Which idol in The Idolmaster, the oldest of the original 765 Production cast, constantly gets lost on her own?

Azusa Miura wanders into strange, distant places whenever she walks alone, a running gag. She became an idol partly in the hope of meeting her destined true love.

Which tomboyish 765 Production idol in The Idolmaster was raised like a son by her race-car driver father?

Makoto Kikuchi is adored mostly by girls and secretly became an idol to bring out a more feminine side. She is also a skilled mixed martial artist.

Anzu Futaba performs with Chieri Ogata and Kanako Mimura in which unit in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls?

Candy Island teams her with the shy, clover-carrying Chieri and with Kanako, whose hobby is making sweets.

Which towering idol in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls keeps Anzu Futaba in check like an older sister?

Kirari Moroboshi was the tallest female idol in the franchise when she was introduced. Despite their bond the pair land in different units, and she leads Dekoration.

Anzu Futaba of The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls reveals a surprising genius streak during which TV appearance?

A quiz show against a rival idol group brings it out: she rattles off obscure answers and solves a complicated maths problem in her head almost instantly.

The Cinderella Project in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls belongs to which large talent agency?

346 Pro has many talent divisions and a very large headquarters, a far cry from the small office where the original idols started.

Every idol in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls is sorted into one of three types: Cute, Cool and which other?

Passion is the third type, and a new player picks one of the three to receive a first idol of that kind.

The spin-off The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls U149 takes its title from a limit on its young idols' what?

Height is the limit: every member stands under 149 centimetres, and all are 12 or younger. Their short new producer is often mistaken for someone younger too.

Which gothic Idolmaster Cinderella Girls idol talks so cryptically that her producer keeps a translation notebook?

Ranko Kanzaki dresses in gothic lolita style and talks as if she came from the abyss, yet she is easily frightened and hates scary films.

Which rival trio introduced in The Idolmaster 2 quit 961 Production and later resurfaced in The Idolmaster SideM?

Jupiter walked out after its members saw through their president's dirty tactics, and the three later signed with a new agency in the spin-off.

In The Idolmaster SP, Hibiki Ganaha and Takane Shijō debut in which rival unit backed by 961 Production?

Project Fairy was built so its three members' different specialties would harmonise. By the next game in the timeline all three had moved to 765 Production.

Rival agency 961 Production in The Idolmaster takes its number from a pun on which character's name?

Takao Kuroi is the agency's ruthless president, and 9-6-1 can be read ku-ro-i in Japanese. He was once a friend and colleague of the head of 765 Production before the two fell out.

Which trio in The Idolmaster 2 is produced by fellow 765 idol Ritsuko Akizuki rather than by the player?

Ryūgū Komachi serves as a rival unit in the game. In the anime it is the first act at the agency to find fame, and it headlines the big Thank-You concert.

In The Idolmaster Dearly Stars, what secret does debuting idol Ryō Akizuki hide from co-workers at the agency?

Being a boy is the secret: he covered for a girl at an audition, did so well that the agency signed him as one, and now swaps glasses for contact lenses to keep his two personas apart.

Which office clerk has worked at 765 Production since the very first The Idolmaster game?

Kotori Otonashi first appeared on the first game's FAQ web page and won enough fans to become a regular. Her surname means soundless, a nod to her starting out unvoiced.

How do the 765 Production presidents named Takagi usually appear on screen in The Idolmaster games?

As a silhouette is the rule for both Takagi cousins, and the heads of rival agencies get the same treatment. The anime shows more of the president but still hides his face.

At the end of The Idolmaster Movie: Beyond the Brilliant Future!, the Producer leaves Japan to study where?

Hollywood is where he heads to sharpen his skills once the idols' first arena concert is over. A still image after the credits shows him reunited with them.

Before choosing pop idols, The Idolmaster's designer considered basing the game on volleyball or what else?

Pro wrestling was on Akihiro Ishihara's shortlist because he wanted a theme built on competition between players. Some colleagues feared players would feel awkward playing in public.

Which song by 765PRO Allstars is the first opening theme of the 2011 anime The Idolmaster?

Ready!! plays over episodes 2 to 12, sung by the voice actresses of all thirteen idols, before a second theme takes over for the back half.

In episode one of the 2011 anime The Idolmaster, the idols' new producer first appears in what guise?

A cameraman shooting a documentary interviews each idol about her goals, and only at the end does the president reveal that he is the new producer.

Which voice actress from Sapporo plays Anzu Futaba in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls?

Hiromi Igarashi has voiced the character across two seasons of the main anime and four seasons of the Cinderella Girls Theater shorts.

In The Idolmaster Movie: Beyond the Brilliant Future!, which backup dancer nearly quits after falling on stage?

Kana Yabuki trips during a miniconcert, the fall makes a magazine, and she skips rehearsals until a heartfelt speech at the arena wins her back.

Which Idolmaster Million Live! idol joined 765 Production by mistake, taking it for a rock musicians' agency?

Julia wants to be a punk rocker, yet when the producer moved to cancel the contract she asked to keep it. The name is a stage name, and she will not reveal her real one.

Which unit in The Idolmaster Shiny Colors, added for its second anniversary, consists of four childhood friends?

noctchill counts Tōru Asakura and Madoka Higuchi among its four members, and the unit's image colour is light blue.

The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls launched in 2011 as a card-collecting game on which Japanese mobile platform?

Mobage hosted the game from November 2011 until it closed in March 2023. Million Live!, the next spin-off, launched on GREE instead.

The Idolmaster SideM's lead unit DRAMATIC STARS unites a former lawyer, a former doctor and a former what?

Pilot was Tsubasa Kashiwagi's job until he botched his first flight and lost it. The unit's name nods to its three members' dramatic and very different backstories.

Which fighter-jet game series sold aircraft paint schemes featuring The Idolmaster idols as paid extras from 2007?

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation offered the liveries as paid add-ons, putting one idol on a stealth fighter and another on a Tomcat.