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The Idolm@ster Game Guide
For the Xbox 360
Version 1.13
Last updated: 6th October 2009
By: kyo_kusanagi83
Email: azure_blue83[at]hotmail[dot]com
(replace the [at] with '@' and [dot] with '.')
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site altered or unaltered or
otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this
guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly
prohibited, and a violation of copyright. This guide may not be sold for
profit and you may not claim ownership of this guide.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
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i) Preface (PRF)
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Thank you for taking a look at my guide. I've noticed that many people have
become enamored with Idolm@ster, Namco-Bandai's idol-raising game, after
looking at the many, many videos of the singing performances on Youtube. I got
into the game from looking at the videos too, and I bought the game and its
spin-off, Live for You!
I've also heard the same fans lament that they've bought the game too, but
can't enjoy or play it since they don't speak or understand Japanese. Being a
fan of the game, I've decided to help these people out by writing a guide for
it. It's my first time writing a guide, and I had a lot of fun doing so.
This guide is meant to introduce new Idolm@ster players (as well of people
contemplating on buying the game) to the game system and characters, but I hope
it can be of use to existing players as well. There's an already excellent
guide by alexsifu on GameFAQs (I used it myself when I was just starting out),
but I still want to write this since it's an opportunity to write about one of
my favorite games.
For those who wish to contact me by email, do take note of the following:
-Please put 'Idolm@ster' in the subject title so I'll know it's not spam.
-While we're talking about that, don't send me spam, please (chain letters,
etc).
-Flames, sarcastic comments and other rude, nonconstructive criticism will be
deleted. If you need to point out a mistake, please do so in a sensible or
professional manner, and I'll extend you the same courtesy.
-Please don't ask to add me on Instant Messaging.
-I don't check my mail that often, so I apologize in advance if my reply takes
a little while.
The only website(s) allowed to host this guide:
www.gamefaqs.com
www.neoseeker.com
www.supercheats.com
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(i-1) Revision History
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-Version 1.13 (6th October 2009)
Long overdue update. Made some minor adjustments to the audition listings to
more accurately reflect Image Level requirements (thanks to ps guy for telling
me about it).
Also updated the web address of the English Idolmaster forum,
which recently got nova'd and had to start from scratch. Next, the address
for the English Idolmaster Wiki has been added. Feel free to browse and
contribute to it.
Finally, a new entry has been added to the Terminology section: Dearly Stars,
the latest Idolmaster game for the Nintendo DS.
Unfortunately, I'm busy with my new job so this will probably be the last
update for a while unless major changes are needed.
-Version 1.12 (6th March 2009)
Corrected some minor errors and made some new points brought up by other IM@S
players about Miki's secret route.
-Version 1.11 (23rd February 2009)
Corrected some translation errors, as well as rewrote some various text to
clear up some misconceptions. I've managed to get a hold of the SP games,
Perfect Sun, Missing Moon and Wandering Star. If time permits, I may write a
guide for them in the future.
-Version 1.1 (11th February 2009)
Corrected some major errors in the guide, such as the Character stat, parameter
decay, and the significance of the starting month. A huge thanks to AWJ from
the Project-IM@S forums.
-Version 1.02 (12th December 2008)
Fixed some of the internal section links that were left over from the draft
version of the guide. Sorry if I cause any confusion.
-Version 1.01 (26th November 2008)
Updated list of authorized websites, clarified information about the Double and
Triple appeals.
-Version 1.0 (24th November 2008)
First online version. Some work needs to be done here and there, mostly on Duo
and Trio units.
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To quickly jump to a section, use the Find tool (CTRL+F) to search for the
section codes/numbers in the brackets.
Table of Contents
i) Preface (PRF)
(i-1) Revision History
I) Introduction (INTRO)
(1-1) Plot/Story
(1-2) Basic controls
II) The basics of Idolm@ster (BSC)
(2-1) The Main Menu
(2-2) Flow of the game
(2-3) A typical day in Idolm@ster
(2-4) On-screen indicators
(2-5) Statistics: Vocal, Dance and Visual
(2-6) Image levels
(2-7) Mail boosts, Reporter boosts, Miracle boosts
(2-8) Tension levels
(2-9) Memories
(2-10) Idol Ranks
(2-11) Producer Rank
(2-12) Songs/Costumes/Accessories
III) Lessons (LSN)
(3-1) Introduction to lessons
(3-2) Voice lessons
(3-3) Pose lessons
(3-4) Lyrics lessons
(3-5) Dance lessons
(3-6) Performance lessons
IV) Promotions (PRM)
(4-1) Introduction to promotions
(4-2) Types of promotions/communications
(4-3) Answering the questions
V) Auditions (ADN)
(5-1) Introduction to auditions
(5-2) Audition categories
(5-3) Audition process
(5-4) TV performances
(5-5) Strategies
(5-6) Special auditions
VI) Duo/Trio units (DT)
VII) Character Introduction (CHR)
(7-1) Haruka Amami
(7-2) Chihaya Kisaragi
(7-3) Yukiho Hagiwara
(7-4) Yayoi Takatsuki
(7-5) Ritsuko Akizuki
(7-6) Azusa Miura
(7-7) Iori Minase
(7-8) Makoto Kikuchi
(7-9) Ami and Mami Futami
(7-10) Miki Hoshii
(7-11) Other characters
VIII) Walkthrough (WLK)
(8-1) First playthrough/The first three weeks
(8-2) The last concert
(8-3) Second playthrough onwards/Differences
IX) Miscellaneous stuff (MISC)
(9-1) Achievements
(9-2) Terminology/Glossary
(9-3) Secrets
(9-4) Data tables
X) Credits/References (CDT)
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I) Introduction (INTRO)
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(1-1) The Plot/Story
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In Japan, some girls and young women rise above their peers to become media
celebrities, called idols. They work as singers, actors, models for photo
shoots and advertisements, and so on. First appearing in the seventies,
Japanese idols are incredibly popular with both male and female fans alike.
Idolm@ster casts you as a rookie producer who has just joined 765 Productions,
a public entertainment company that is in the business of taking girls and
grooming them into idols. Your job is to choose and manage a girl throughout
her career as an idol. Will she blaze a trail to become the top idol in the
country, or will she fade into obscurity at the end of it all? That's up to
you.
As your rank increases, you'll be able to produce idol units with two or even
three girls in them. Your life as a producer will be more difficult should you
choose to manage a unit, but the performances on-stage by a duo or trio unit is
nothing short of spectacular.
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(1-2) Basic controls
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Left Analog stick/D-pad : Move the on-screen cursor.
A button : Confirm choice/Skip to next line of text/Use a memory appeal
B button : Cancel choice/Used as a choice in communications/Use a Vocal appeal.
X Button : Used as a choice in communications/Use a Dance appeal.
Y Button : Used as a choice in communications/Use a Visual appeal.
Left bumper, Right bumper : Flip through the pages in menus.
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II) The basics of Idolm@ster (BSC)
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(2-1) The Main Menu
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After starting the game on your Xbox 360, you'll reach the main menu screen.
The following options are available, from the top option to the bottom option:
-Produce
Starts a new game or loads a previously saved game. From the sub-menu, you can
load a saved game, start a new game, or delete a saved game.
-Album
Here, you can browse through the pictures that you've taken during the TV
performances, as well as watch videos of the performances you've chosen to
save. Well, it should be 'a video' actually, since you can only save one video
to the hard disk, which royally sucks. Choosing to save a new video will
overwrite the existing video here (more on this later).
-Mail
If you've purchased the girls' email addresses from the Idolm@ster shop, they
will periodically send you messages during the course of the game. You can look
at them again here.
-765 Shop
Purchases new costumes, accessories, dashboard themes and other stuff from the
Xbox Live Marketplace. To buy these, you need a Japanese Xbox Live account as
well as some way of purchasing and using Microsoft points for the Japanese
marketplace (either by using a Japanese credit card or buying stored-value
Point cards from Japan).
-Ranking
Only available if you're online. You can check how you rank against other
players here.
-Options
You can adjust and setup the visual and sound settings here to suit your
TV/monitor. You also have the option to turn off the TV performances that occur
after each successful audition. Good if you want to quickly play through the
game.
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(2-2) Flow of the game
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The objective of Idolm@ster is to try and get your idol to reach the highest
rank, achieving the goal of being the top idol in the country. You do this by
scheduling lessons for her to raise her statistics and entering her in
auditions to increase the number of fans through TV performances.
Idolm@ster measures time in terms of weeks, even though you'll meet up with
your idol for only one day each week (the girls need to have their own lives
too). Each day consists of a morning portion, an afternoon portion (what
happens depends on your choices in the morning), and a night portion; this
makes up a single week. You have 52 weeks, or one year, to manage your idol,
and a total of 5 hit singles to produce.
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(2-3) A typical day in Idolm@ster
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This section aims to give a quick overview on what happens during the flow of
the game. More details of each aspect (lessons, auditions and so on) can be
found in the corresponding section in this guide.
1. Morning part
Each workday begins with your idol greeting you in the morning. You can choose
to reply to her greeting by making a choice. There can be three possible
outcomes: she responds favorably and her mood increases, she responds normally
and her mood remains the same, or she gets freaked out by your answer and her
mood worsens. As to which is the "best" answer, it changes every morning, so
what made her happy this morning may turn her off the following week.
The two of you will then have a quick chat with each other. Sometimes, the girl
will have a special request that she has for you. She may request a new song to
produce if she feels that the current one is getting old. She may also ask for
lessons in a particular area (Vocal, Dance or Visual) if she thinks she needs
improvement in that area. Not giving her what she wants may result in a drop in
mood.
You'll then be presented with a Idol Report that tells you your idol's
statistics, as well as which is currently the most popular genre, with the most
popular at the top and the least popular at the bottom (see section 2-5 for
more details).
After that, you have a choice of what to do:
-Change your idol's costume
-Change the song being produced
-Do nothing
After making the appropriate choice, you'll then be presented with the morning
menu. This is the menu where you'll choose the activity you want your idol to
do for the day.
-Promotions
-Lessons
-Auditions
-Day off
2. Afternoon part
You'll carry out the activity that you've chosen during the morning.
3. Night part
After the day's activity, you and your idol will meet back at the office to get
the results from your activities, in the form of an Idol Rank report, detailing
the current rank you are at now, how many fans you currently have, how many
fans you gained as a result of the afternoon activity, and how many fans you
need to win over to move up to the next higher rank. Your idol will then bid
you goodbye before leaving. You'll finally check to see if her fans have sent
her any presents or fan mail, before the day ends.
You'll do the same thing again the next week, until the 52 week time limit is
up.
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(2-4) On-screen indicators
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During most of the game, there will be several displays at the top right corner
of the screen, which contains the information about your unit.
The long rectangular box displays the stage name that you've entered for your
idol. The number next to it shoes the current Image Level your idol has (see
section 2-6).
Below it are the members making up the unit you're managing. There will be one
to three names depending on whether you're managing a solo, a duo or a trio
unit (section VI). Above each girl's name is a colored tension bar (section
2-8) and a heart, showing the number of memories you have with the girl
(section 2-9).
The large pie chart is the most important indicator, and this graph shows you
the current strength of your idol(s) in the three different areas (Vocal, Dance
and Visual). Each area has a light and dark colored portion, and your idol's
strongest stat is highlighted with a bold font (section 2-5).
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(2-5) Statistics: Vocal, Dance and Visual
------------------------------------------
Besides being good in singing, an idol has to dance well to songs and look good
while doing so. Each of these traits are represented in the game by the Vocal,
Dance and Visual statistics, and is visually shown in the pie chart on-screen.
The statistics are important because they play a large part in determining your
Image Level. The higher your stats, the higher the Image Level, and the more
high-level auditions you can access on your quest for the highest rank.
As previously mentioned, each area has a light and dark colored portion. The
dark areas represent the basic strength that your idol/unit has in that area
(which you can improve by going for lessons), while the light areas are bonuses
that are granted by your choices in the song, costumes and accessories, and
winning auditions. The sum of all your stats (both basic and bonuses)
determines the Image Level you have.
Each costume, accessory and song can give bonuses to two of the three areas
when you equip/choose them. Typically, one area will get a large bonus while
another area will get a smaller boost. As for the third area, it usually
suffers a penalty instead, but the demerit will not go below your idol's base
strength for that area. Which areas get boosted or penalized depends on the
costume/accessory/song (more can be found in the data tables at the end of this
guide).
During the course of the game, one of the statistics will be more popular than
the others for several weeks, and this will be pointed out in the Idol Report
presented to you in the morning. The most popular genre will change over time,
and this is based on the internal clock of the Xbox 360. Loading the game
after a period of inactivity (usually a day or so) will cause the popular
stat to change.
It's not a must to have your idol's strongest statistic match the most popular
one, but it will help immensely in winning auditions (section 5-2).
A fourth statistic that each idol has is Character. This is shown in the
character select screen, but you have no control over it and it stays the same
throughout the game. This statistic represents the rate of decay of each
idol's Image Level in the second half of the game (see below).
Your idol's parameters can decrease too, in instances such as:
-Each area falls by a very small amount every morning.
-When you fail to change the song produced after a certain period of time.
--------------------
AWJ from the Project-IM@S forums emailed me with more clarification on the
above point:
Also, here are the exact timings of the penalties for not switching songs in
the console version (again, they're different from the arcade version,
presumably because you get only 3 songs in the arcade but 5 on the console):
one penalty (small) after 8 weeks, another penalty (larger) after another 4
weeks (12 total), another penalty after another 2 weeks (14 total), and then
every single week after that. So the best time to pick your second song is
Week 9 (just missing the first penalty) or Week 13 (eating the first penalty
and just missing the second) You can't entirely avoid the small 8-week
penalties (since there are 53 weeks in a game and you only get to pick 5
songs), but you definitely want to avoid the large 12-week penalty.
Thanks, AWJ.
--------------------
To further complicate matters, during the second half of your idol's career
(week 25 onwards), your idol will feel that she's learned all that she's
capable of, and she becomes slightly tired about becoming an idol (people do
get bored with their jobs sometimes). Her parameters will start to fall with
each week, unless boosted through winning auditions or lessons. The period that
this happens depends on the character in question, and can be divided into
three categories:
Precocious type/Fast learner(decreases from week 25): Chihaya, Ritsuko, Iori
Normal type/Average learner(decreases from week 30): Haruka, Azusa, Miki, Makoto
Late bloomer type/Slow learner(decreases from week 40): Yukiho, Yayoi, Ami/Mami
The girl's learning rate also affects how easy it is to develop a parameter
during lessons (section 3). Fast learners like Chihaya develop their skills
very quickly early on in the game but reach their peak quite early as well. The
reverse is true for slow learners.
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(2-6) Image Levels
-------------------
Image is everything for an idol. Her talents and skills are always under close
watch by her friends and rivals, and it's no surprise that the more popular
idols are those who can sing powerfully, dance beautifully, and look fantastic
all the time.
As mentioned previously, Image Levels are important because they play a large
part in determining the auditions you can access. The high-level auditions that
garner a larger amount of fans (if successful) require high Image Levels (as
well as certain requirements, depending on the audition). Your Image Level also
determines the percentage of success during the last concert of the game.
Image Levels can rise or drop over time, depending on your actions.
Image Level goes up when:
-Increasing base stats through lessons
-Equipping costumes and accessories to raise your stats
-Taking part and winning auditions
-Bonuses from the Mail, Reporter or Miracle boost
Image Level goes down when:
-Failing auditions
-Fail to change a song after 10 straight weeks
-Goes down naturally by itself over time. A high Producer Rank will slow down
the rate of decrease.
-Penalty from the gossip reporter
-When you're changing songs, you suffer a penalty if you switch to a song of
the same genre to your previous song. E.g. switching from Taiyou no Jealousy
to Mahou wo Kakete (both Vocal songs) incurs a penalty to your Vocal stat.This
could possbily affect your Image Level.
There are 16 Image Levels in all, from Level 1 (Amateur) being the lowest and
Level 16 (Idol God) being the highest.
AWJ contributed the following information:
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Your unit's abilities (the circular graph) and its Image Level are one and the
same thing. If the average of your unit's three abilities is less than 1/16 of
the maximum possible value (i.e. the graph being filled right to its border),
you're at IL1. If the average is between 1/16 and 2/16 of the maximum, you're
at IL2. And so on, up to IL16 if your abilities are more than 15/16 of the
maximum.
There's an upper limit to how much of a boost you can gain from winning
auditions (and, obviously, from costumes and accessories--if you've already
got five Rank A items equipped, you can't do any better than that) There's
also an upper limit to how much you can gain from lessons. As a rule of thumb,
the dark part of the graph (gained from lessons) and the light part (mainly
gained from audition wins) are each limited to about 1/2 the overall radius
of the graph. The correlation between CPU-controlled units' Rank and Level
bears this out--Rank E and F CPU-controlled units are almost never higher than
IL7 or IL8.
----------------------------------------
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(2-7) Mail, Reporter and Miracle boosts
----------------------------------------
An important aspect of Image Levels and your idol's Vocal, Dance and Visual
strengths is that they can be increased temporarily through certain events in
the game. During this time, the pie chart in the upper right corner will be
glowing, showing that the boost is in effect. Your idol will be much stronger
than she usually is, but her stats and image level will go back to normal after
the boost period ends. When the boost is in effect, take the chance to try for
auditions you wouldn't normally be able to enter.
-Mail boost
Gained when your idol sends you an email message at the end of the day. This
can randomly occur after an audition (whether you passed or failed), a
promotion (either a Perfect or a Bad communication) and if her tension is high
enough. She will also send you certain messages regardless of her tension.
Gives the smallest bonuses, and lasts for 1 week. As mentioned earlier
(section 2-1), you need to buy the email addresses from the 765 Shop in order
to access these.
-Reporter boost
During auditions, you will randomly come across a blue-silhouetted figure when
your opponents' names are being displayed. This is a reporter from an
entertainment magazine, and if you win first place in the audition she'll write
a story about your idol, which gives a boost that lasts for 3 weeks with
medium-level bonuses.
-Miracle boost
During the morning portion of each workday, you can choose to give your idol a
day off instead of doing an activity for the day. Besides gaining back tension,
you'll randomly see an event where you'll spend the day with your idol. Every
idol has 5 or 6 such events, and which one you'll see is determined mostly by
your Idol Rank and which part of the year you're in. These events are mostly
fun side stories, but each idol has a certain off day event that, when seen,
grants an incredible bonus to your idol's Image Level and stats, and it lasts
for 6 weeks. Probably the hardest to get, but is well worth it.
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(2-8) Tension Levels
---------------------
Like real people, the girls in the game have moods that change from time to
time. Sometimes she's raring to go and will tackle her assignments with all her
strength. At other times, she feels lousy and doesn't feel like doing anything
at all, resulting in lackluster performances. In the game, mood is referred to
as 'tension', and your actions towards her play a part in determining it. It's
quite possibly one of the most important factors in determining your idol's
chances of success in her career.
The tension bar is located above your idol's name in the top right corner of
the screen. It appears as a colored bar, and has three levels. What color is
shown will tell you how your idol is feeling:
Red : The highest tension level. She feels fantastic.
Yellow: Normal tension. So-so.
Blue/Black: The lowest tension level. Down in the dumps.
When your idol's tension drops to the next lower level, you can only go back up
to the higher level through winning an audition.
So what are the benefits of having a high tension level?
-High percentage of "Good" slots in the memory roulette during auditions
(section 5-3).
-Get more points than normal for each appeal you make during the auditions
(section 5-3).
If your idol has a low tension level, the opposite happens:
-Low percentage of "Good" slots in the memory roulette.
-Get less points than normal for each appeal during auditions.
-If your idol really feels terrible, she might not even turn up in the morning,
leading to a loss in fans, Image Level, and trust between the both of you.
So it seems that it's beneficial to keep your idol happy and at high tension
all the time, right? Not exactly. Having a high tension does have its demerits
as well:
-When conducting lessons, your idol can choose to end the lesson early. She
probably feels so confident that she doesn't feel the need for extra training.
-The lesson venues can "take a break", i.e., become inaccessible when you're
choosing which lesson you want to do. Frustrating at times, especially when
multiple venues are closed.
-The chance of receiving presents from her fans at the end of each day is low.
Conversely, there are good things that come from having a low tension too:
-She may request an extra lesson during training, giving you a chance to
increase her stats further.
-You have a high chance of having a Bonus lesson (section 3-1) after the normal
training session ends. A Bonus lesson is basically another training session,
but it doesn't cost you any time to use it. 2 for the price of 1.
-The lesson venues don't take a break as often.
-Fans are more likely to send mail, accessories and costumes at the end of the
day.
The benefits of high tension far outweigh the demerits, though.
There are several methods to gain tension for your idol and to keep her happy,
the most effective method being to answer her questions correctly during the
promotions (4-1), morning portion and the auditions.
Other methods also include:
-winning auditions
-changing costumes and songs (not all characters are affected by this)
-getting a Good or better result during lessons
-choosing her to do promotions with when you're managing a duo or trio unit
You lose tension by giving incorrect answers, losing auditions, getting a Bad
lesson, and ignoring her when it's time to do promotions (when she's part of a
unit). An idol's tension drops naturally over time as well.
While we're on that point, it's important to note that a girl's personality
influences the rate at which she gains or loses tension (i.e. the Character
stat). Happy-go-lucky and excitable girls gain tension very quickly if you're
nice to them, and are less likely to be bothered much when you give incorrect
answers or get an average result during lessons. Girls with serious and/or
hardworking characters view anything less than an above-average result as
disastrous, and are more likely to get mad at you should you answer them
incorrectly. Their tension gains are also often less than their cheerful
counterparts.
---------------
(2-9) Memories
---------------
Over the course of your career as a Producer, it's important to build up a good
relationship with the girl you're managing and gain her trust. If she trusts
you explicitly, she can use her full power during the auditions to do her best
for you.
Memories are gained only during promotions, and are used only during auditions.
The number of Memories is shown in the heart on the upper-right corner of the
screen. Memories will be covered in more detail in the Promotions and Auditions
sections.
------------------
(2-10) Idol Ranks
------------------
In the game, idols are classified into 7 ranks depending on how popular and in
demand they are, from F (lowest) to S (highest).
Idol Ranks are not the same as Image Levels, although they also play a part in
determining which auditions you can access. The Idol Rank is solely determined
based on the number of fans your idol has, whereas the Image Level is
determined by a number of factors.
Every girl begins the game at the lowest possible rank. If you're playing
through the game for the first time, your idol will begin at a special rank
that is even below Rank F (section 8-1). People playing through the game for
the second time will start the game with their idols already at Rank F.
The Idol Ranks, and the requirements to reach them, are as follows:
Rank F: Clear the tutorial weeks (first playthrough only) or start with it
Rank E: Have 10000 fans
Rank D: Have 100000 fans
Rank C: Have 300000 fans
Rank B: Have 700000 fans and win all 3 of the special Dojo auditions
Rank A: Have 1000000 fans and win all 3 of the special Master auditions
Rank S: Have 1500000 fans and win the Super Idol audition
Getting a Rank A or higher by the end of the game will give you the girl's best
ending, as well as bonus points to your overall score.
---------------------
(2-11) Producer Rank
---------------------
Your idol isn't the only one who is being judged. You are working under the
watchful eyes of your employer, and your current standing as a producer is
given a rank as well, similar to how your idol is ranked.
When you first start the game, you will be at the lowest level, Level 1. Unlike
Idol Ranks, your Producer Rank will only be assessed at the end of each game,
after your idol has had her last concert. As you increase in rank, the number
of girls that you can simultaneously manage (save games, if you will) will
increase, and you'll be able to produce duo units comprising of two girls, and
finally trio units with three girls.
Your Producer Rank is a result of a tabulation of several factors; more will be
discussed in section 8-2.
-----------------------------------
(2-12) Songs/Costumes/Accessories
-----------------------------------
An idol wouldn't be an idol if she didn't have songs to sing or great looking
costumes to wear. In Idolm@ster, your idol can choose from a collection of 16
songs to sing, 36 costumes and over a hundred different accessories to wear on
stage.
As mentioned in section 2-5, each song, costume and accessory affects your
idol's statistics in three ways. In addition, several accessories are grouped
together in sets, consisting of a Head accessory, a Body accessory, a Hand
accessory and a Leg accessory. Wearing two or more of the items from each set
provides bigger bonuses than one would get from wearing only one.
When it comes to songs, your idol has to produce 5 songs during her year-long
career. Since you can't change songs as often as you can change costumes and
accessories, you have to make each one count. The songs you choose also affect
which songs are available to her during her last concert.
Many people in real life have their own favorite songs, and it's no exception
here. Each girl has two favorite songs out of the 16 available. Choosing an
idol's favorite song doesn't affect her statistics any differently, but it will
be of help during the last concert, as choosing her favorite song there will
increase the trust between the both of you and add points to your final score.
The idols' preferred songs are listed in their character introductions (VII).
The 16 songs and the genres that they belong to (from left to right, up to down
on the song select screen):
Taiyou no Jealousy : Vocal
Positive! : Visual
Here we go!! : Visual
Mahou wo Kakete! : Vocal
Ohayou! Asagohan : Visual
First Stage : Dance
9.02 p.m. : Vocal
Aoi Tori : Vocal
The Idolm@ster : Dance
Agent yoru wo Yuku : Dance
Massugu : Vocal
My Best Friend : Visual
Relations : Dance
GO MY WAY!! : Dance
Omoide wo arigatou : Vocal
Watashi wa Idol : Visual
The costume and accessories will be listed in the tables at the end of this
guide, since there are too many to list here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III) Lessons (LSN)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lessons are a must if your idol is aiming to become the top idol, since they're
the only way to increase your base strengths, allowing your idol to go up
against the stronger opponents in the higher-level auditions.
------------------------------
(3-1) Introduction to lessons
------------------------------
A lesson is essentially a mini-game, where your aim is to fill a progress bar
through playing the game:
|<---BAD--->|<--------NORMAL-------->|<----GOOD---->|<---PERFECT--->|
Each lesson has 6 difficulty levels to it, and which level you start at depends
on your Idol Rank and tension. Each time you clear a difficulty level, you'll
receive a ranking based on how you did for that level and fill up the progress
bar by the corresponding amount, before moving on to the next level. There are
6 possible results for each level, from lowest to highest: Bad, E, D, C, B and
A. The better the result, the more the bar will be filled.
The difficulty of the lesson will increase as you go along, and after 6
attempts (5, if your idol chooses to end the lesson early), the lesson finally
ends, and you receive an overall grade depending on how much the bar is filled:
Bad, Normal, Good or Perfect.
At the end of a lesson, your idol may request additional lessons for herself,
and there is a chance that a Bonus lesson may happen after you leave the lesson
venue. The chances of these events happening increases greatly if your idol is
at low tension. On the other hand, at high tension, the lesson venues may
choose to make themselves unavailable, and your idol can request to end the
lesson early.
There are 5 types of lessons, and each of them increases one or two areas
(Vocal, Dance or Visual) when you complete them successfully. From the top to
bottom of the lesson select screen:
Voice lessons : Increase both Dance and Vocal stats by a little
Pose lessons : Increase both Dance and Visual stats by a little
Lyrics lessons : Increase Vocal stat by a lot
Dance lessons : Increase Dance stat by a lot
Performance lessons : Increase Visual stat by a lot
--------------------
(3-2) Voice lessons
--------------------
Voice lessons involve a reflex/timing mini-game. For each level, a horizontal
music bar will appear on the screen, with several musical notes arranged on it.
Each of these notes is colored either blue, green, yellow or red, which
corresponds to the color of the appropriate buttons on the Xbox 360 controller.
A vertical bar will then move horizontally across the length of the bar, from
left to right. Your job is to press the button for each note when the vertical
bar gets as close to the center of the note as possible. The game helpfully
places the layout of the controller buttons on-screen so you don't have to
glance down at the one in your hands.
-At lower difficulty levels, there are less notes (around 4 to 5) and the
vertical bar moves slower.
-At the higher levels, there are more notes and the bar moves much quicker.
It can be tricky to get a good score for the higher levels. What I usually do
is to press the button a split-second after the bar has moved past the left
edge of each musical note. That usually gets me close to the center.
For the higher difficulty levels, it helps if you remember the first 4 or 5
notes before the vertical bar reaches the start of the melody. If you get the
first few notes wrong, you tend to panic and subconsciously try to correct
yourself, but your whole rhythm would have already been thrown into disarray.
-------------------
(3-3) Pose lessons
-------------------
Pose lessons are about memorization. At the left side of the screen is a
vertical bar containing up to five boxes, representing the cameras. At the
bottom of the screen will be another box that has the four Xbox 360 controller
buttons in it. Each of these buttons is assigned a direction:
Up : Yellow (Y)
Right : Red (B)
Down: Green (A)
Left: Blue (X)
For each difficulty level, you'll see a series of directions flash within the
lower box, such as Up, Left, Right. A camera box will also flash at the same
time as the directions, from the 1st camera to the last camera.
Using the previous example,
Camera box Direction
1st camera : Up (Y)
2nd camera : Left (X)
3rd camera : Right (B)
After that, you will need to enter the correct direction for the appropriate
camera box when the game prompts you to. Using the above example, if the game
asked you to press the button for the 1st camera, you would press the Y button,
since it was assigned to the 1st camera.
The 1st and 3rd difficulty levels presents the camera boxes to you in numerical
order when you're entering your answers (from top to bottom), but the rest of
the levels (2, 4-6) are presented in a random fashion. So the game could ask
you to enter the button for the 3rd camera before moving onto the 1st. In this
case, you would press the B button for the first answer, not Y.
The most foolproof way to succeed if you have a poor memory (like myself) would
be to have a pencil and piece of paper on hand to quickly write down the
directions as they're displayed on the screen. Otherwise, this is purely brain
work.
---------------------
(3-4) Lyrics lessons
---------------------
This mini-game tests your knowledge of the lyrics to the songs in the game. At
the bottom of the screen are several boxes. Certain parts of the lyrics to the
song you're currently producing will appear there, with one Japanese or English
letter in one box. However, two letters have been switched with each other and
are currently in the wrong boxes.
Your goal is to find the mistakes in the lyrics and correct them by switching
the incorrect letters with each other. To select a box, move the left analog
stick to the box and press A. Then, move the cursor to the box where you think
the letter in the first box should actually be, and press A again to switch the
letters.
At the higher difficulty levels, there will be two pairs of letters that have
been switched.
This game is probably the hardest if the player has no knowledge of the
Japanese language. The game helps you by placing the correct version of the
lyrics above the jumbled version, but it doesn't help much if you can't
recognize the letters. There is a way around this though, if you're stuck.
When the lyrics appear on the screen, press Start to pause the game and go to
the information screens. Press the Right bumper 3 times, and you'll come to a
page where you can just make out the words through the screen. Now you can take
your time to see which are the letters that need fixing. It's a killjoy tactic,
but it's there if you need it.
--------------------
(3-5) Dance lessons
--------------------
Dance lessons are another test of reflexes and timing. At the bottom of the
screen are two boxes, each with four buttons arranged according to the Xbox 360
controller button layout. Inside the box on the left are several circles, each
with a pair of footprints facing in a particular direction (up, down, left or
right). The positions of these circles are repeated in the box on the right,
but these circles are rotating about in place.
The goal of this lesson is to press the appropriate button to stop the rotation
of the circle in the right-hand box, and match it to the same direction as the
corresponding circle in the left-hand box. The right-hand circles will light up
when it's the cue to press the button; it's alright if the directions don't
exactly match up, since the game only wants you to get the circles facing in
the general direction.
When there are two or more circles, stumbling on one circle (by pressing the
button when the button isn't lit) resets all the circles in the box, forcing
you to start from scratch.
I find this to be the easiest lesson out of the five. With enough practice, you
should be consistently getting an A or a B for each level, since the game is
very generous with the allocated time limit for each part.
A method that works great for me is to use two hands to press the buttons. The
index and middle fingers of your left hand on the X and Y buttons, and the
index and middle fingers of your right hand on the A and B buttons. This way,
you can press two or even three buttons at a time, if you can focus your eyes
on two or more circles at the same time. I always get a Good lesson this way,
and even a Perfect lesson in one instance.
--------------------------
(3-6) Performance lessons
--------------------------
Getting a good result on a Performance lesson takes both skill and luck. The
game presents you with a grid on the screen. Your cursor on-screen is
represented by a large green circle, and you can only move this circle along
the grid lines, and not in between them.
The game will then display a colored circle with a face on it (happy, sad, etc)
at the bottom of the screen. At the same time, the featured circle will begin
moving about on the grid, along with several other circles with different
colors and faces. The objective of the mini-game is to move your green cursor
along the grid lines, catch up with and touch the target circle while avoiding
the other colored circles. Touching a circle which is not the correct one
resets the entire grid and gives you a new facial circle to chase.
At the higher difficulties, there will be more of the obstructing circles, and
everything moves at a much faster speed. This game is really about luck, since
everything, including the placement of the circles and the direction they're
heading in, is random. A little tip would be to anticipate where the target
circle will be heading and move to cut him off, but again it depends on the
starting configuration the game gives to you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV) Promotions (PRM)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since idols are media celebrities, it only makes sense for them to go about
promoting themselves, appearing in commercials, autograph sessions, modeling
assignments, and TV and radio programs, as well as publishing photograph
collections of themselves for their fans. In the game, these are called
Promotions, and are also known as Communications.
---------------------------------
(4-1) Introduction to Promotions
---------------------------------
Promotions, although not directly affecting your Idol Rank or your Image
Levels, are also an important part of the game. They're the only way to gather
Memories, which are of immense help during auditions, and promotions are also
useful for letting your idol gain back some tension if she's feeling down.
In addition, the number of promotion results will determine the number of
Memories you have at the final concert (these Memories are different from the
ones gathered during promotions). Lastly, the better you do at promotions, the
better the trust will be between you and your idol, and the higher your final
score will be.
When you access the Promotion menu from the morning menu, you're given a choice
of four assignments to do. Which promotion events are available mainly depends
on your idol's Rank and which time of the year it is.
During the promotion, you have several chances to talk to your idol through a
multiple-choice answer format. When the answers appear on the screen, press the
appropriate button (X, Y or B) to make your choice.
The choices are presented in boxes and are laid out such a way that it
corresponds to the layout and colors of the buttons on your Xbox 360 controller
(X is blue and is the left choice, Y is yellow and the top choice, and B is red
and on the right).
However, although the layout of the choices is the same each time, the answer
within the boxes can move around between the boxes. In other words, one answer
that appeared as the 'X' choice may become the 'Y' choice the next time the
same question is presented. Therefore, it's no use trying to memorize where the
answers appear because chances are they'll just change position the next time.
If you choose not to give an answer, just let the time run out (usually 5
seconds) without pressing any button.
At other times, there will be a 'Touch event' where you need to move a finger
cursor on the screen to interact with your idol, such as pointing to or
touching a location on her body, or wiping sweat off her forehead. To touch a
location, move the cursor to the appropriate location and press A. For more
complex actions such as wiping or rubbing, you need to hold down the A button
while moving the cursor. The touch event will automatically end by itself if
you did it correctly. Yes, you can touch her chest if you want, but 90% of the
time your idol will probably blow her top and scold you for it.
How you answer her will determine how the rest of the event plays out. At the
end of the promotion, you'll receive one of four results depending on how well
you treated her. You'll also gain a number of Memories at the same time:
Perfect Communication (while having high tension) : +5 Memories
Perfect Communication (while having low tension) : +3 Memories
Good Communication : +2 Memories
Normal Communication : +1 Memory
Bad Communication : None
If you got a Perfect or a Good communication, your idol will gain back some
tension as well. If you got a Bad communication however, your idol will lose a
lot of tension.
-----------------------------------------
(4-2) Types or promotions/communications
-----------------------------------------
Every idol has approximately 90 communication events, and these consists of:
-Normal events
Assignments such as photo shoots, live concerts, promoting commercial products
and so on. The events are randomly chosen each time you enter the promotions
menu, and which ones are available depends on your Idol Rank. The events are
the same for Rank B, A and S.
-Rank Up
If your idol increases in Rank (F to E, for example), there will be a special
communication event available the following week. This event is unique is that
it will be the only promotion choice available, and will be gone the week
after, giving you only one chance to view this event.
-Monthly work
For the first two weeks of every month, there will be a special promotion
available which is specific to that month (going to the Video Game Show in
September, for example). Unlike most events these promotions are not Rank
specific, so any idol will be able to go for these.
-Seasonal work
Similar to monthly work, it differs in that it is also rank specific:
Summer work: 4th week of July (7th month), C rank and above
Autumn work 1: 4th week of September (9th month), D rank and above
Autumn work 2: 4th week of October (10th month), D rank and above
Winter work: 4th week of December (12th month), E rank and above
-Seasonal festivals
If you've entered and won the seasonal auditions (section 5-6) in March, June,
September and December, the actual TV performance for the audition in question
will happen on the 5th and last week of these months. To access it, you have to
go through the promotions menu instead of the auditions.
-Off days
Off days are also communication events, but they're accessed from the morning
menu, there's no interaction involved and the event is randomly chosen for you
depending on your Idol Rank.
-Office expansion
As you play more of the game and progress through your career, you should
notice that the 765 Productions office will become bigger and better over time.
If you move into a bigger office (there are 3 instances when you upgrade the
office), there will be a special communication event on the morning when you
move in. There's only one choice involved during the event, and you can only
see this event once, unless you're willing to keep starting a new producer file
to see all of these events.
------------------------------
(4-3) Answering the questions
------------------------------
This is the most prominent problem facing non-Japanese speaking gamers when
they play Idolm@ster: how do I answer the questions? Can I enjoy the game even
though I don't know Japanese?
To answer that, yes you can, but it's not going to be very fun if you don't
know what you or your idol is saying. It's going to be difficult to choose the
correct answers too.
Currently, I'm working with some friends on a translation project for
Idolm@ster, and we're attempting to translate all the promotion events in the
game. These translations also show the correct choices to make if you want to
get a Perfect Communication with your idol. The translation project is located
here:
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Sugio/
The page is in both English and Japanese, so non-Japanese users needn't worry.
Users who know Japanese may want to get a condensed strategy guide in PDF
format here:
http://www.icomu-master.info/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V) Auditions (ADN)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before your idol can make an appearance on TV and garner more fans, you have to
compete with other idols for that right to appear on TV. There are many other
producers and idols who also aspire to be the top idol. Some of them are just
starting out like you, while others have been around in the business for a long
time.
--------------------------------
(5-1) Introduction to auditions
--------------------------------
Auditions are the fastest way to gain fans to increase your Idol Rank, as well
as being able to view the performances that made Idolm@ster insanely popular.
However, your idol will lose both tension and fans should you fail, so be
absolutely sure you can win an audition before entering it. You'll be competing
against 5 other producers and their idols in each audition.
After choosing the auditions option from the morning menu, you'll be brought to
the auditions screen, where you can choose which auditions you want to enter.
Each audition will be colored red, blue or yellow, depending what is the most
popular genre at the time (Vocal, Dance or Visual, respectively). The number of
fans won if you win an audition is displayed as well. The number is displayed
in terms of 1000, and the Japanese character "man" represents 10000. So if an
audition shows 3"man"0000 , you get 30000 fans if you win the audition.
There will also be a small crown with a number next to it. This represents how
many winning places are there for that audition. A number 3 means that there
will be 3 winners, the 1st to 3rd place idols. A number 1 means only the 1st
place idol will win.
Each audition has a requirement to sign up for it, and this is usually based on
your Idol Rank and your image level. The requirements may be as simple as being
of a certain Rank, to being undefeated in all previous auditions.
Lastly, the special auditions have special rules to them, and you'll be
notified of this in the information box, and also during the audition. Special
rules include not being able to see the judges' interests, no intermission
round, and so on.
Note that you do have a time limit for which to sign up for an audition. Once
the time limit passes, the audition disappears from the list.
The auditions that you win will be counted up and added to your score at the
end of the game.
--------------------------
(5-2) Audition categories
--------------------------
There are 6 categories of auditions available. You can press the Left and Right
bumpers on the audition select screen to flip through the pages. Note that the
auditions available for each category changes each time you enter that page, so
if there is a particular audition that you want to enter but can't find it in
the category, you can keep refreshing the page until you get it.
From left to right on the audition select screen:
-Rookie auditions
Low level auditions, reserved for Rank F and E idols. Very easy to sign up and
win, but it doesn't give you many fans as a reward. The tutorial audition, 'The
Debut', only appears for the first playthrough, and disappears after that (see
section 8-1).
-Local auditions
Low to medium level auditions mostly for Rank F and E idols, and gathering a
greater number of fans than the Rookie auditions. Image Level restrictions now
come into play, as you need to be above or below a certain level to sign up for
some auditions. Of note is the 'New Be@t' audition. This audition actually has
four versions, each giving a different number of fans.
-National auditions
Medium to High level auditions, only for Rank D to A idols. This is where the
competition starts to get tough, but the rewards are worth it, the rarest
audition giving you 70000 fans if you win. Like 'New Be@t', 'Idol Vision' has 4
versions, each giving a differing number of fans.
-Special auditions 1
Auditions with special rules. The entry requirements are very strict, but the
number of fans you can win here are just as good, if not greater, than the
Nationals. Of note are the Vocal, Dance and Visual Master auditions; you must
win these auditions to attain an Idol Rank of A.
-Special auditions 2
More auditions with special rules and strict entry requirements. The seasonal
auditions are located here (only for the first four weeks in March, June,
September and December), as well as the Dojo auditions (needed for Rank B) and
the Super Idol audition (needed for Rank S and the Super Idol achievement).
-Special auditions 3
You can only access these auditions if you're playing online. Gives you a good
number of fans if you win, but most of them have strange special rules and
entry requirements, such as only allowing trio units to enter.
-----------------------
(5-3) Audition process
-----------------------
The aim of an audition is to impress the judges for each genre enough for them
to reward you with stars. You do this by getting your idol to "appeal" to each
of the judges in turn. The judge will give you a number of points, based on how
strong your idol is in that area (Vocal, Dance or Visual). At the end of each
round (more details below), if your idol is among the top 3 in terms of points
for that particular area, you get rewarded with a number of stars. If you're
last in that category, you get a star taken away from your total instead.
Each judge is capable of giving 5, 3 or 2 stars each, and the idol with the
highest number of stars at the end of 3 rounds wins.
After choosing which audition you would like to do (and the entry timer reaches
zero), you'll be brought to the TV station for the audition. Each audition
follows a set process:
---------------------
1) Contestant listing
---------------------
The game will show you a list of the 6 producers (including yourself) who are
participating in this audition, as well as other information like their Idol
Rank, Image Level and the idols they're managing. You're also assigned a number
from 1 to 6. This number is important, so remember it.
Occasionally, you might see a blue or red-silhouetted figure accompanying one
or more of the rival producers. These are the entertainment reporters, and each
one has a different role:
-Blue reporter
If you win the audition (1st place), she'll write a favorable report about you
that increases your idol's stats and Image Level for 3 weeks.
-Red reporter
If you get 4th place and below for an audition, he'll write a critical report
about you, causing your idol's stats and Image Level to fall. Unlike the blue
reporter, this happens randomly instead of all the time.
After the contestant listing, the main judge will ask your idol to give a
little speech, on behalf of all the contestants. This is similar to answering
during a promotion. You can choose to play it safe and not answer (keeping her
tension, but Yukiho gains tension by not answering and Iori loses tension
instead), or take a gamble and answer. Answering with the good answer will
increase your idol's tension, while replying wrongly will lower her tension.
The best answer is random and changes each audition.
It will then be your turn to give a pep talk to your idol before she takes to
the stage. Again, answering correctly makes her more confident and vice-versa,
and the best answer is random each time. If there are any special rules, you'll
be reminded of them again here.
-----------
2) Audition
-----------
At the start of the audition, you'll be presented with the panel of 3 judges.
Below each judge is a number representing how many stars they'll give if you
get enough points with them in their area. The most popular genre for the week
(mentioned in the Idol Report given to you in the morning) is worth 5 stars,
the second most popular 3 stars, and the least popular 2 stars.
The audition itself uses the song that your idol is currently producing. At the
bottom of the screen are 27 small counters, divided into 3 groups of 9 and each
group representing one round. To the left of the screen are the silhouettes of
the three judges, colored red, blue and yellow. On the right side of the screen
is the current rankings of the participants in terms of total number of stars.
The current leaders will have a small crown next to their name.
As the song plays, each counter will flicker on and off, representing the beat
and speed of the song. Your job is to get your idol to make appeals to a judge
when the counter is flashing. To make an appeal to the Vocal judge, press B.
For the Visual judge, press Y. For the Dance judge, press X.
The judge will then give you points based on your stats, and the song will move
on to the next counter. Note that if you're too late in making the appeal, the
song will move on to the next counter regardless, causing you to miss your
appeal chance.
You can a little more points than usual if you time your appeal to the beat of
the song. This is known as the 'Nice Appeal', also nicknamed 'Just Appeal'.
There will be a split second when the counter will be fully lit in terms of
brightness. Pressing the desired button during this instant will cause a 'Just
Appeal', and you know you've did it right if there's a flash when the camera
gives a close-up of your idol, and you'll get more points than usual than if
you made the appeal normally.
There is another way to score points, and this is through the Memories that
you've built up during the Promotions. To make a Memory appeal, press A when
the counter is lit up. A fast spinning roulette will appear, filled with green
and red slots.
This is called the Memory Roulette, and represents all the memories that the
idol has of you. By pressing A to stop the roulette, you can have one of two
results:
-Land on a green 'Good' slot: Get more points than normal
-Land on a red 'Bad' slot: Lose more points than normal
Note that you can only use 3 Memory appeals during an audition.
You can divide how many times you want to appeal to each of the genres in one
round in any way you choose.
At the end of one round (9 counters), the total points you've gained for that
round will be compared to the other idols, and if you're in 3rd place and above
(this changes in some auditions), you gain a number of stars based on the
genre. Remember that the most popular genre is worth 5 stars and the least 2
stars. If you're in 4th or 5th place, you don't earn any stars. If you're in
the last place, you lose a star from the area, taken away from any stars earned
in the previous rounds.
Tension affects how many points you gain from each appeal (both normal and
Memory appeals). Idols at high tension earn more points than normal, idols at
low tension earn less points than normal. Tension also affects how many Good
and Bad slots are there in the Memory Roulette:
High Tension : 9 Good/3 Bad
Normal Tension : 6 Good/6 Bad
Low Tension: 3 Good/9 Bad
However, you mustn't forget that the other idols are making appeals too, and
sometimes a judge loses interest if he/she is swamped with too many appeals.
This interest is represented by his/her silhouette. As you continue to appeal
to a judge, the amount of color in the silhouette will start to deplete, and
will empty faster if the other idols appeal to him/her as well. If a judge's
interest reaches zero, he or she will pack up and leave, and you'll lose any
stars that he or she has awarded you in the previous rounds.
Once the audition is over, the total number of stars earned are tallied, and
the idol with the highest number of stars wins the audition and gets to move on
to the TV appearance.
-----------------
3) TV Appearance
-----------------
Before your idol finally appears on TV, there is one last thing to decide, and
that is whether you'll let your idol decide for herself when to appeal during
the TV appearance, or you decide when to appeal for her. This appeal is used to
slightly increase the number of fans gained after the performance, but
otherwise it's not very important.
----------------------
(5-4) TV Performances
----------------------
Now that your idol has finally appeared on TV, there's nothing much to do
except to sit back and watch the show, letting your idol display the results of
her hard work and training. You can take photos of her by moving the photo
frame around (press B to toggle it on and off, Y to switch between portrait and
landscape, and Right bumper to take a photo). At the end of the performance,
you can choose whether you'd like to save a video of this performance. The left
option is yes while the right one is no.
During the performance, you might notice that your idol may get into several
accidents, such as forgetting the lyrics, tripping and falling to the ground,
or displaying poor positioning for the camera. All these probably means that
your idol needs more training in that area.
-----------------
(5-5) Strategies
-----------------
There are several main strategies that one can use to win at the auditions,
ranging from the simple to the downright dastardly. Of course, sometimes these
strategies may need to be modified on-the-fly during the auditions, especially
if your opponents are unexpectedly strong.
An important tool during the audition is the comments bar, which is above the
row of counters. Here, the judges will make comments about how they feel about
the idols, which is very useful if you can read Japanese. If they say that your
idol's (which you can tell by the contestant number) Vocals are perfect, it
means that you're 1st among the contestants in that area. If you see another
contestant number being praised, it means that someone has beaten you to 1st
place, and there is a very real danger that you're being pushed out of 3rd as
well, since the comment bar can only show one comment at a time.
1. The balanced approach
This strategy basically has you making appeals in all three genres, in an
attempt to get all 10 stars for a round. This strategy can pay off handsomely,
allowing you to sweep the field with a full 30 stars. It works best if your
idol's stats and Image Level are high, and the opponents are relatively weaker
compared to you.
It's up to you to decide on how to split the 9 appeals between the three
genres, but you should generally focus more on appealing to the most popular
genre (the one with 5 stars), since that's the one that largely determines
whether you'll win. An example would be this, if the genre rankings were Vocal
(5 stars), Dance (3 stars) and Visual (2 stars):
4 Vocal appeals, 3 Dance appeals, 2 Visual appeals (4-3-2)
You can swap one or more of the appeals with a Memory appeal. If you're feeling
lucky, substitute one of the Vocal appeals above with the memory appeal(3-3-2
+Memory). If not, substitute a Dance appeal instead (to become 4-2-2+Memory).
I always use the 3-3-2+Memory for each round, and this works splendidly for me.
If I see that I've lost 1st place in the 5-star and 3-star genre, I'll usually
sacrifice one or both of the 2-star genre appeals and allocate them to the
other two genres, which brings us to the next strategy.
2. The Brace approach
Since the 2-star genre doesn't contribute much to your overall score, it's
usually safe if you want to appeal only to the 5-star and the 3-star genre,
since they have more weight in your total score. This strategy is mostly for
the idols who have lower stats and Image Levels, and are up against opposition
stronger than them.
Some possible combinations are (using the above example):
5 Vocal appeals, 4 Dance appeals
5 Vocal appeals, 3 Dance appeals, 1 Memory appeal
4 Vocal appeals, 3 Dance appeals, 2 Memory appeals
And so on.
When using this method, you must keep a close eye on the judges' interest,
since appealing too much to one judge causes his/her interest to decrease,
especially if the other idols are appealing to him/her too. Remember that if a
judge's interest reaches zero, they'll leave and take away any stars that they
have awarded in the previous rounds. This can actually become a strategy if you
want it to....
3. The Genocide
This involves getting a judge's interest to zero on purpose, making him or her
leave. Not only will he or she take your stars, but the computer's stars as
well. This can be useful if you're at a low level and want to sabotage the
other idols, preventing them from getting too far ahead of you while you try to
overcome them with the Brace approach to the other two genres. The computer
loves to use this approach against you when you're much stronger than them.
------------------------
(5-6) Special auditions
------------------------
There are several auditions that are important enough for a producer to watch
out for:
---------------
Dojo Auditions
---------------
Found in Special Auditions 2 in Vocal, Dance and Visual flavors. You must
complete all three of them if you want to get to Rank B. Note that you do NOT
need to complete them if you wish, if you're shooting for Rank A. Once you've
won the three Master auditions (see below), you'll jump from Rank C to Rank A
once you've hit the required number of fans (1,000,000). Still, taking some
time off to complete them on your way to Rank A will give a boost to your
score.
These auditions are fixed in the genre they represent (regardless of what's the
popular genre), and the stars that they give out are fixed too. For the Vocal
edition, for example, the 5-star genre is always Vocal, the 3-star genre is
always Dance, and the 2-star genre is always Visual.
-----------------
Master Auditions
-----------------
Part of the Special Auditions 1, they're similar to the Dojo auditions in that
the genre rankings and the stars they award are fixed. You must complete these
if you're aiming for Rank A.
Like the Dojo auditions, you don't need to complete these if you're aiming for
Rank S. Winning the Super Idol audition let's you jump from Rank B to S
(you still need to clear the three Dojo auditions, since it's an entry
requirement for the Super Idol) once you've reached 1,500,000 fans.
-------------------
Seasonal Auditions
-------------------
Located in Special Auditions 2 during the first four weeks of March, June,
September and December. It works slightly differently in that after the
successful audition, you won't go to the TV performance straight away. Instead,
the actual performance will be on the 5th week of that month. To go to the
performance, select the Promotions option on the 5th week.
The seasonal auditions work in a way different to a normal TV performance, and
this is outlined below:
----------------
The Performance
----------------
During the performance, there will be several indicators on the screen. At the
bottom of the screen is a bar that is similar to the lesson bar. This is called
the voltage bar:
|<----------------------Normal----------------------->|<-----High----->|
The bar already starts around 50% to 60% full.
Above that bar is a row of counters similar to what you see during an audition.
The circles will also flash on and off as the song plays, just like in an
audition.
And finally, above that is the number of Memories appeals you have for this
performance. You are given 30 to start with. This is different from the
Memories you gained from your Promotions (you can't use those here).
The aim of this performance is to appeal to the audience using Memory
Roulettes, the only type of appeal available here. For each successful Memory
appeal, you increase the voltage bar by a little bit towards the High portion.
If you failed the appeal, the voltage bar will shrink back towards the Normal
portion.
If you manage to get the voltage bar all the way to the High portion, you'll
win a lot more fans than the usual number stated in the audition sign-ups. If
the voltage bar is in the Normal portion when the performance ends, you'll win
the normal number of fans.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI) Duo/Trio units (DT)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you gain more experience in managing idols, you'll gain the ability to
manage more than one idol in a unit. Duo units consist of two idols, while
three idols make up a trio unit. Producers who take on the challenge of
managing a unit should be prepared to work harder than usual at managing them,
but as mentioned previously, duo and trio stage performances are amazing,and
help to bring in more fans than a solo idol.
------------------------------
Vocal, Dance and Visual Stats
------------------------------
For a unit, the Vocal, Dance and Visual statistics of the whole unit are made
up of the sum of the individual idols' strengths in that area. For a unit made
up of Haruka, Chihaya and Yayoi, their Vocal stat would be:
Unit Vocal Stat
6 (Haruka) + 10 (Chihaya) + 2 (Yayoi) = 18/30 (Whole unit)
For this reason, it is preferable to group together idols who complement each
other, by helping each other in their weaknesses.
-------------
Image Levels
-------------
Since a unit's stats is made up of the strengths of all the idols in the unit,
it becomes much easier to attain the higher Image Levels.
---------
Memories
---------
Memories gained from promotions are only given to the idol whom you did the
communication with, not to all the members.
--------
Lessons
--------
When attending lessons, you can now split the 6 levels within a lesson among
your idols in anyway you choose (3-3 for a duo unit, for example, or 3-2-1 for
a trio unit), and each of them will contribute to the lesson bar.
-----------
Promotions
-----------
You can only take one idol at a time on promotions.
----------
Auditions
----------
New to the auditions is the Double Appeal (for duo units) or the Triple Appeal
(for trio units).
Double Appeals and Triple Appeals let you appeal to more than one genre at the
same time in a single appeal (Vocal and Dance, for example). To perform it,
press both or all of the desired buttons during an appeal, one after the other.
However, the points gained for each genre are cut to half (Double Appeals) or
one-third (Triple Appeals):
Double Appeals
If you normally get 100 points for a Vocal Appeal and 80 points for a Dance
Appeal, making a Double Appeal to both genres will only get you 50 points for
Vocal and 40 points for Dance.
Triple Appeals
If you normally get 90 points for Vocal, 100 points for Dance and 90 points
for Visual, those values will be cut to 30, 33 and 30 respectively upon a
Triple Appeal to all three genres.
---------------
Tension Levels
---------------
Managing your idols' tension is the most difficult thing to do when you're in
charge of a unit. A girl can feel left out if you don't choose them when going
out on promotions, and not giving them enough lessons during lessons can cause
their mood to worsen too. At the same time, the natural tension drop is still
occurring each week, and you have to juggle between lessons, promotions and
auditions, as well as trying to keep all your idols happy.
Characters like Yayoi and Makoto really help if they're inside a unit,
since they don't lose tension as easily as the other idols. This can give you
some breathing room to pacify the other idols.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII) Character Introduction (CHR)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
765 Productions has a total of 10 girls available for you to manage and groom
into idols. Some of them are easy-going while others treat their careers as
idols with the utmost respect. Nevertheless, they represent a wide range of
personalities, and each girl demands a different style when it comes to
managing them.
This section will introduce all the 10 playable idols in the game, as well as
listing out their personalities as well as their in-game statistics. I've also
taken the step of fleshing out their details with some trivia; hopefully this
might make you appreciate them more. I will also attempt to list out their
stats according to the gauges shown on the screen.
From left to right on the character select screen, with names in the Western
order:
--------------------------------------------------
(7-1) Haruka Amami
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 16
Height : 158 cm
Weight : Around 45 kg
Birthday : 3rd April
Blood type : O
B-W-H : 83-56-80
Interests : Making cakes and sweets, karaoke
Preferred songs : Taiyou no Jelaousy, Watashi wa Idol
Image Color : Red
Family : Father/Mother
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 6/10
Dance : 2/10
Visual: 3/10
An extremely bright and cheerful girl of 16, Haruka Amami is a very easy person
to befriend. Having learned how to sing when she was young, she works hard in
whatever she does, always looking towards the future. Even so, she seems
naturally prone to making silly mistakes, like wearing bedroom slippers outside
without even realizing it. She's also exceedingly clumsy, tripping and falling
to the ground a lot. Haruka loves to make sweets, cakes and other pastries, and
is always thinking up new recipes to try.
Haruka, considered by many to be the main heroine of Idolm@ster, is a good
choice for beginners playing through the game for the first time (besides
Yayoi), because her mood is easy to take care of. She's one of the few idols
who gains lots of tension whenever she gains new fans. Her beginning stats,
although needing some work, is balanced enough to start you on your way.
When managing Haruka, the first thing she should do is to brush up on her weak
Dance and Visual areas. Dance lessons (the 4th lesson) are helpful here, but if
it is too difficult, Pose lessons will do just fine.
Haruka's promotion events are rather straightforward. Just being nice to her
should be more than enough to get a Good or a Perfect Communication.
Haruka works well in a group, giving a good boost in Vocal stats for characters
like Yayoi, Ami and Makoto. At the same time, these characters can help Haruka
with her weak Dance statistic.
Haruka's trivia facts:
-Haruka prefers to practice her singing in the park, because an incident there
that happened in her childhood kicked off her love for singing.
-Haruka has an alternate personality, called "Dark Haruka". Whenever she's in
this state, she becomes sadistic and violent. This personality is popular in
fan art.
-She has a chibi (small) version of herself called Nonowa, which is named after
the "Nowano" Japanese kana (the face Haruka often makes in the game whenever
she's thinking about something). It greatly resembles Chieko from the obscure
manga series Pugyuru, except that it has a smaller version of Haruka's head.
--------------------------------------------------
(7-2) Chihaya Kisaragi
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 15
Height : 162 cm
Weight : 41 kg
Birthday : 25th February
Blood type : A
B-W-H : 72-55-78
Interests : Listening to classical music
Preferred songs : Aoi Tori, Omoide wo arigatou
Image Color : Blue/Turquoise
Family : Father/Mother
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 10/10
Dance : 5/10
Visual: 4/10
Singing is everything. For Chihaya Kisaragi, that is her motto in life. A cool
and stoic beauty, her quietness, seriousness and maturity belies the fact that
she's only 15. Chihaya doesn't have any interests or hobbies besides singing,
and she spends all her free time on it to the point of shunning relationships
with other people, pushing herself to go beyond her limits. The reason for her
behavior stems from a single, tragic event that happened 8 years ago. For her,
singing is the only way to escape from the painful memories and the constant
arguments between her parents.
The undisputed queen of vocal ability, Chihaya's Dance and Visual stats are
good too, making Chihaya a great idol to choose if you can manage her tension
properly. Her tension gains are small (with the exceptions of getting a Perfect
Communication and choosing a new song for her), and her mood drops faster than
the other idols. Giving the wrong answers to her questions, changing costumes
and getting anything less than a Good lesson will cause her to lose alarming
amounts of tension, so watch out.
Chihaya hates wasting time, so giving her excuses or vague/roundabout answers
will probably backfire on you. She's more adept to warm up to someone who
gives her a straightforward answer, without flip-flopping here and there.
In a unit, Chihaya should be used to shore up any Vocal (and Dance, to a lesser
extent) deficiencies with her group members. A boost to her Visual stat would
be helpful as well. Azusa, Yayoi, Ami and Miki are good choices. Iori can be a
powerful partner for her since their stats complement each other, but their
moods must be carefully taken care of.
If properly taken care of, Chihaya can become a force to be reckoned with,
since she gains strength through lessons very quickly early in the game.
Definitely an idol for the intermediate/advanced players.
Chihaya's trivia facts:
-Chihaya is very fond of dogs, but her current situation prevents her from
getting any pets.
-Chihaya has the smallest bust size out of all the idols, and hence is the
subject of many bust-related jokes in fan material.
-Chihaya's mood is so unstable that Japanese Idolm@ster gamers have come up
with a new term to describe it: the "Chihaya Spiral". Since her tension gains
are small and her tension losses are large, Chihaya's mood can spiral down and
down into the low levels and stay there.
--------------------------------------------------
(7-3) Yukiho Hagiwara
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 16
Height : 154 cm
Weight : 40 kg
Birthday : 24th December
Blood type : A
B-W-H : 80-55-81
Interests : Composing poetry, making Japanese tea
Preferred songs : First Stage, My Best Friend
Image Color : White/Light blue
Family : Father/Mother
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 2/10
Dance : 1/10
Visual: 5/10
Coming from a strict, traditional household, Yukiho Hagiwara was certainly
raised to believe that women should be seen and not heard. Cute looking but
timid and easily frightened, Yukiho has a habit of wanting to "dig a hole and
bury herself in it" whenever she's depressed. In a rare show of determination,
Yukiho applied to be an idol so that she could be reborn as a stronger, more
confident person. But she has several obstacles that she still needs to
overcome, such as her fear of dogs and men, and her father who is vehemently
opposed to her work as an idol.
Yukiho's tension is a little difficult to manage because it drops very quickly
if you give her the wrong answers to her communications, reflecting her timid
nature. However, her tension doesn't drop when changing costumes or if you get
a Normal lesson instead of a Good lesson. Yukiho's base values are extremely
low, most prominently in Vocal and Dance abilities. Voice, Lyrics and Dance
lessons are all very effective in quickly bring her up to speed.
Yukiho's promotions usually involve her trying to overcome her confidence
problems, so don't give up on her or be sarcastic to her and you should do
fine.
She needs friends who are strong in both Vocal and Dance to help her when she's
in a unit. Chihaya and Ritsuko would be good choices, but the unit's tension
management may be difficult since all of them lose tension quite easily.
Yukiho's best partner is probably Makoto: the latter adds a lot to the unit's
Dance stat, gives reasonable boosts to Vocal and Visual stats, and balances out
Yukiho's low confidence rather nicely.
Yukiho's trivia facts:
-No one has any idea what her father is working as, but Yukiho's father has
many disciples/workers who are living on the same premises with the Hagiwara
family.
-Her friend sent a photo of her to 765 Productions, and Yukiho was accepted in
the first selection round. She picked up the courage to go to the second round,
and she passed.
-Yukiho thinks of herself as being flat-chested, which isn't really being fair
to Chihaya or Yayoi when you think about it.
-During the planning phase of the original arcade game, Yukiho was known as
Megumi before the producers decided to change her name.
--------------------------------------------------
(7-4) Yayoi Takatsuki
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 13
Height : 145 cm
Weight : 37 kg
Birthday : 25th March
Blood type : O
B-W-H : 72-54-77
Interests : Playing othello (also known as Reversi)
Preferred songs : Ohayou! Asagohan, GO MY WAY!!
Image Color : Orange
Family : Father/Mother/3 younger brothers/younger sister
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 2/10
Dance : 4/10
Visual: 3/10
With outstanding amounts of cheerfulness and boundless optimism, Yayoi
Takatsuki makes up for her unpolished skills and below average academic results
through sheer hard work and determination. The eldest of 5 children in a not so
well-off family, Yayoi has to juggle between looking after her younger siblings
as well as supporting her family by doing odd jobs to supplement the family
income. She's particularly close to her younger sister Kasumi, and Yayoi's
hobbies include playing othello and baseball with her siblings.
She's one of the most suitable girls, next to Haruka and Ami, for a beginner
producer to play through the game with. The reason for this is that she's the
easiest idol to keep happy, with large gains and small losses (especially
during the morning parts and the auditions) in her mood.
Yayoi even gains tension during a lesson if you perform reasonably well, easing
the pressure on a rookie producer who is just starting to get used to the game
mechanics. This frees up time and effort to concentrate on increasing her base
stats which are, unfortunately, extremely low all-around. It's best to avoid
the higher-level auditions with Yayoi until she's been trained extensively,
preferably with the Lyrics, Dance and Performance lessons.
Yayoi is famous for her 'Hai, touch!' move during promotions, which is a high
five gesture. To perform it, touch the open palm of her hand when prompted.
She makes a good partner for girls who have difficult to manage tension, such
as Ritsuko and Chihaya. Iori, her most popular partner among Idolm@ster fans,
works well with her too, although you need to put a bit more effort in Vocal
training if you pair the two of them together.
Yayoi's trivia facts:
-Yayoi is terrified of heights to the point of being almost paralyzed whenever
she looks at the ground.
-If she feels that she wasted money on something, she gets so affected by it
that she can stay in bed for days.
--------------------------------------------------
(7-5) Ritsuko Akizuki
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 18
Height : 156 cm
Weight : 43 kg
Birthday : 23rd June
Blood type : A
B-W-H : 85-57-85
Interests : Managing
Preferred songs : Mahou wo kakete!, My Best Friend
Image Color : Green
Family : Father/Mother
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 9/10
Dance : 8/10
Visual: 5/10
Ritsuko Akizuki, at first glance, doesn't look and act like idol material, a
fact which she readily admits to. What she lacks in the visual department,
she makes it up with incredible smarts and a powerful voice. Level-headed and
a bit of a perfectionist, she's quick to chide anyone who she feels isn't
pulling his or her weight. She loves working and keeping herself busy, and can
be more than stubborn whenever someone challenges her viewpoints.
Ritsuko is a more polished version of Chihaya, with a slightly lower Vocal stat
but better at dancing and presenting herself. She's also similar to Chihaya
when it comes to tension. She considers a Normal lesson to be a bad result, and
her mood can take a beating if you answer the random questions during the
morning part and the auditions incorrectly.
Since her stats are already quite high, she only needs a little more training
before she can take on the auditions. Pose lessons are great for increasing
both her Dance and Visual areas.
Like Chihaya, Ritsuko wants somebody who can give her straightforward answers
during promotions, and she dislikes people who show weaknesses in the face of
challenges.
Suitable partners include Yayoi, Azusa and Ami; all of them can help to counter
Ritsuko's mood. Or if you want a challenge, she can be paired with Chihaya
and/or Iori to form a powerful but hard-to-control unit with great stats in all
areas.
Ritsuko's trivia facts:
-She actually holds two jobs at 765 Productions. When she's not working as an
idol, she's in the office helping out with the paperwork. The reason for her
current employment status is that she got forcibly recruited into becoming an
idol when she was working as a part-time secretary at 765, since the company
couldn't find enough idols to fill its ranks.
-Ritsuko loves managing, and wants to become a manager one day.
-Her parents own a shop in the city, and share Ritsuko's hardworking attitude.
--------------------------------------------------
(7-6) Azusa Miura
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 20
Height : 168 cm
Weight : 48 kg
Birthday : 19th July
Blood type : O
B-W-H : 91-59-86
Interests : Taking her dog for a walk, fortune-telling
Preferred songs : 9.02 pm, Massugu
Image Color : Violet/Purple
Family : Father/Mother/Grandparents
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 4/10
Dance : 2/10
Visual: 6/10
Azusa Miura is the eldest among 765's idols at the age of 20. A pleasant, easy
going but somewhat spacey young woman, many of the younger girls (especially
Ami and Mami) look up to her as an older sister. Having just graduated from a
junior college, she became an idol in order to increase her chances of meeting
with her romantic soul mate who she believes exists somewhere in this world, as
well as to let her destined one see her at her best. Azusa prefers to go
through life at her own pace instead of rushing through things, which is both a
plus and a minus point.
Azusa is a relatively easy person to look after, since her tension doesn't
decrease a lot while she gains tension quite easily. On the other hand,
treating her poorly during promotions will cause her to lose a great deal of
mood, even more than Chihaya.
With her "older sister" image and a great figure (much to the delight of her
predominately male fan base), it's no surprise that her Visual stat is high
compared to many of the other girls. Lessons in that area can be put off for a
while until she has finished improving her vocal and dance techniques. Voice
lessons work well here, although Lyrics and Dance lessons are recommended.
Makoto is a good partner for Azusa, with Makoto's strong Dance stat helping to
make up for Azusa's weakness in that area. Azusa can also help Ami and Mami
with their Visual stats.
Azusa's trivia facts:
-Azusa strongly believes in fortune-telling, and is always performing
divinations for the other idols.
-She has a huge propensity to become lost while walking within an area, even if
she has a map and a compass with her. To quote Tomomi, Azusa's best friend
since middle school, "Your sense of direction isn't terrible at all, Azusa.
There was never any sense to begin with".
-Besides being directionally-challenged, Azusa gets carsick very easily, which
doesn't help when she's being brought to other locations for her assignments.
-Despite her charm, which she remains oblivious to, Azusa is very
self-conscious about her body, working out and following a strict diet to keep
her shape.
-------------------------------------------------
(7-7) Iori Minase
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 14
Height : 150 cm
Weight : 39 kg
Birthday : 5th May
Blood type : AB
B-W-H : 77-54-79
Interests : Going for overseas holidays, shopping
Preferred songs : Here we go!!, Watashi wa Idol
Image Color : Pink
Family : Father/Mother/2 elder brothers
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 4/10
Dance : 7/10
Visual: 8/10
The only daughter of the wealthy Minase family, Iori Minase got herself into
765 Productions through her father, who is a friend of the owner of 765
Productions. Iori is usually self-centered and rude to other people she sees as
bothers, but beneath her selfish exterior is a girl who wants friends of her
age she can talk to, being surrounded by butlers and maids who can't relate to
her at all. She suffers from an inferiority complex with her elder brothers
(one of whom is a CEO), and has developed a "win-at-all-costs" attitude, in a
bid to prove to herself and others that she can be just as good as them.
Iori, the tsundere character, is the opposite of Ritsuko when it comes to her
statistics. She's visually appealing, but her singing is nothing to write home
about.
As one might expect from a tsundere type character, Iori can be a handful to
manage. Her mood can fluctuate wildly, and she gains tension as easily as she
loses it. She gets angry if she gets a Normal result for her lessons, but is
happy upon gaining new fans. Early on, it's usually best for a producer to go
along with Iori's demands during promotions, avoiding the risk of upsetting
her. She also likes being flattered with sweet words.
Iori can be difficult to work with in a unit because she constantly wants to be
the center of attention. She loses lots of tension if you don't pay attention
to her during lessons or promotions. Chihaya and Ritsuko can help Iori with her
weak Vocals but, as mentioned earlier, the unit's tension can get a little
difficult to handle. Haruka's stats go together well with Iori's, so you can
try her if Chihaya or Ritsuko are proving to be difficult partners. Yayoi and
Ami also make good partners, forming the famous 'loli' trio of Idolm@ster.
Iori ranks up there with Chihaya and Ritsuko as one of the top idols in terms
of statistics but like Chihaya and Ritsuko, a producer needs to manage her
tension properly before she can show her strengths.
Iori's trivia facts:
-The stuffed rabbit that she's always carrying around has been with her since
she was a little girl, and she named it 'Usa-chan' (Usagi is the Japanese word
for rabbit).
-Iori doesn't get along very well with Miki, sometimes referring to her with
'anta' (a rude form of 'you' in Japanese) or 'that thing'. Miki is more than
happy to return the favor, calling Iori 'Deko-chan' (Deko = Forehead, a
reference to Iori's large exposed forehead).
-Iori is multilingual, and she really lets you know it if you touch her
inappropriately during the promotions. She knows Spanish, German, Chinese,
French and English.
-Her voice actress is Rie Kugimiya, who usually voices tsundere characters in
anime, such as Shana from Shakugan no Shana, Louise from Zero no Tsukaima, Nagi
from Hayate no Gotoku and, more recently, Taiga from Toradora!.
--------------------------------------------------
(7-8) Makoto Kikuchi
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 16
Height : 157 cm
Weight : 42 kg
Birthday : 29th August
Blood type : O
B-W-H : 73-56-76
Interests : All kinds of sports, reading shoujo (girl's) manga
Preferred songs : Agent Yoru wo Yuku, Massugu
Image Color : Black/Grey
Family : Father/Mother
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 4/10
Dance : 8/10
Visual: 6/10
Did you think that Makoto Kikuchi was a boy when you first laid eyes on her? If
you did, you're not alone. Makoto is always being mistaken for a young man, no
thanks to her manly name, her boyish exterior, hobbies and interests, and her
habit of referring to herself using 'boku', which is traditionally used by
young males. Active, athletic and a great self-taught dancer, Makoto has to
contend with being the object of attraction for many of her female schoolmates.
Thus, she signed up to be an idol to try and get in touch with her feminine
side deep inside of her, and hopefully become attractive to males as well.
The best dancer in the game, Makoto is probably the most versatile and
well-rounded idol as well, capable of performing and sounding good in all three
genres without much training, although her vocals could use a little
improvement with Voice or Lyrics lessons.
Makoto's mood is quite similar to Haruka's, which means that it's easy to take
care of Makoto. The only difference is that Makoto loses tension if you get a
Normal lesson or below while training her. Her tension also doesn't decrease
much if you answer her wrongly in the mornings and the auditions.
Makoto's promotions are somewhat tricky, since one has to strike a balance
between treating her as a guy and viewing her as a girl. When in doubt, go for
the latter option, since Makoto's main aim for becoming an idol is to be seen
as a girl. Also, she frequently wants to beat her fist against yours
as a motivational action. To do this, touch her closed fist when prompted.
As mentioned previously, Makoto is a very good partner for Yukiho for the
tension management and stats. In terms of stats, Makoto works well with Haruka,
Azusa and Miki.
Makoto's trivia facts:
-The reason for her current plight can be traced back to her father, Shinichi
Kikuchi. Shinichi badly wanted a son when his wife was expecting, so when
Makoto was born, she was given the masculine name 'Makoto'. He made her keep
her hair short, use 'boku' to refer to herself, and take up activities like
karate. Even though Makoto found out later that girls don't normally behave
like that, she's too used to her current lifestyle to change back instantly.
-Makoto is terrified of insects and bugs, and apparently suffers from mild
claustrophobia as well, having being trapped in an elevator when she was
younger.
-Her father is a professional race car driver, although he isn't really popular
or any good to become noticed.
-In my opinion, Makoto sounds great no matter what song she's singing. She can
do easy-going songs like Ohayou! Asagohan and pull off the more demanding songs
like Aoi Tori and Relations with equal ease.
--------------------------------------------------
(7-9) Ami and Mami Futami
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 12
Height : 149 cm
Weight : 39 kg
Birthday : 22nd May
Blood type : B
B-W-H : 74-53-77
Interests : Sending email
Preferred songs : Positive!, GO MY WAY!!
Image Color : Yellow
Family : Father/Mother
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 1/10
Dance : 6/10
Visual: 3/10
Ami Futami is the youngest idol at 765 Productions, and is a fun-loving,
excitable prankster. What not many people know is that her twin sister, Mami,
works together with her on her idol activities, and the two of them take turns
at performing under Ami's name. The reason for this is to divide the workload
between the two of them so they can concentrate on their studies which, sad to
say, isn't exactly stellar. Despite that, they have a unique view of the world
and are more than capable of thinking outside the box.
Like Yukiho and Yayoi, Ami's starting stats are rather low, which is rather
understandable given the fact that she's only 12. She makes up for this by
being easy to take care of, similar to Yayoi. She's perfectly happy with a
Normal lesson.
Ami's promotions have many instances when you're supposed to point the cursor
to either Ami or her sister Mami. The only way of telling them apart is through
their hairpieces: Ami ties her hair to her right. Mami, on the other hand, ties
her hair to her left. As for the promotion itself, Ami and Mami prefer a
producer who can play along with their games instead of nagging at them to work
hard or to be more serious, although sometimes the twins do need a reality
check to remind them that they have careers to think about.
Ami and Mami, because of their easy to manage moods, contribute a lot to the
overall stability of a unit. However, they also need partners who can help them
with their very weak stats. Haruka, Chihaya and Iori are good choices.
Ami and Mami's trivia facts:
-Depending on the version of the game, the relationship between Ami and Mami is
different. In the original arcade game, Ami is the older twin while Mami is the
younger one. In the Xbox 360 version, the relationship is reversed: Mami is the
elder sister while Ami is the younger twin.
-In the arcade version, Ami and Mami's interests includes playing with their
Game Boy Advance handhelds. This was removed when the game was ported over to
the 360.
-Ami and Mami give pet names to their closest friends. Here's what they call
the other idols and people at 765 Productions:
Haruka -> Harurun
Iori -> Iorin
Azusa -> Azusa onee-chan (Big sister)
Chihaya -> Chihaya onee-chan
Yayoi -> Yayoicchi
Makoto -> Makochin
Yukiho -> Yukipyon
Ritsuko -> Ricchan
Miki -> Miki-miki
Kotori -> Piyo-chan
--------------------------------------------------
(7-10) Miki Hoshii
--------------------------------------------------
Age : 14
Height : 159 cm
Weight : 44 kg
Birthday : 23rd November
Blood type : B
B-W-H : 84-55-82
Interests : Bird-watching, chatting with friends
Preferred songs : Relations, Omoide wo Arigatou
Image Color : Green
Family : Father/Mother/Elder sister
Default Vocal/Dance/Visual stats:
Vocal : 4/10
Dance : 3/10
Visual: 9/10
The newest idol at 765 Productions. A 14 year old with stunning looks (she gets
around 20 confessions of feelings from boys every day), Miki Hoshii leads a
carefree life with a well-to-do and supportive family, and has good academic
grades as well as lots of friends. As a result of her sheltered life, Miki
believes that she can get most things without having to work very hard,
preferring to do things at her own pace instead of rushing through them. A side
effect of this is that Miki is somewhat naive about the world, and she usually
feels sleepy most of the time as she prefers to nap her time away.
Miki is a new addition to the cast in the Xbox 360 version of the game. As it
can be deduced from her profile, her Visual stat is the best among all the
idols, but her other skills are lacking since she doesn't believe in working
hard. She doesn't lose a lot of tension for wrong answers during the morning
part and the auditions (probably reflecting her 'whatever' nature), and it's
easy to gain tension with her.
During promotions in the early part of her career, Miki needs to be pushed and
prodded into doing things. However, her character develops as she moves up the
Idol Rank ladder, and at the higher Ranks she should be happy with
straightforward answers when she realizes how far she's come at being an idol.
In a unit, Miki goes well together with idols such as Makoto, Chihaya and
Ritsuko. Ami is another good choice, since Ami needs the Visual boost while she
can also help Miki with her Dance stat.
Miki's trivia facts:
-Miki loves onigiri (a Japanese rice snack), especially the ones her mother
makes.
-In the PSP version of the Idolm@ster, Idolm@ster SP, Miki leaves 765
Productions to sign up with the new rival company, 961 Productions. The
circumstances that made her leave is as yet unknown.
-Miki has an incredibly big secret; see the last section of this guide for
details.
------------------------
(7-11) Other characters
------------------------
-Producer
That's you.
-Takagi
The president of 765 Productions, he's a jovial but easily flustered man in his
50s who can be somewhat mean to the idols despite not having bad intentions
whatsoever. Iori's father is a friend of his, allowing Iori to be recruited
into 765 Productions through the back door route.
-Kotori Otonashi
One of the two secretaries at 765 Productions (Ritsuko being the other). She's
a much-loved character among fans but she only appears on the Idolm@ster
webpage and the L4U spin-off game. Slightly older than Azusa, she's bright and
cheerful but is very serious about work. She respects hardworking people, and
thus Ritsuko is the one she looks up to the most. She's a huge fan of
collectible card games, especially 'Hanamaru Kaizer', which insanely popular
among the younger generation in the game.
-Hibiki Ganaha
An idol who was in the very first version of Idolm@ster called 'Idol Game',
even older than the original arcade game. Looking and acting like a cheerful
version of Chihaya (Hibiki is also the same age as Chihaya, by the way), she
was sadly dropped from the game when the final production version was
finalized. Hibiki makes a return in the PSP game Idolm@ster SP, as one of 961
Production's idols along with Miki and Takane. She hails from Okinawa, the
islands south of the Japanese mainland, and she also seems to have several
pets that are always escaping from her.
-Takane Shijou
Like Hibiki, Takane was in the pre-production version of Idolm@ster before
being left out of the final roster. Blessed with exotic looks (she's apparently
a quarter-European), she's the daughter of a company CEO, much like Iori. She
becomes one of 765's rivals in Idolm@ster SP.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIII) Walkthrough (WLK)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since Idolm@ster is such an open-ended game with so many random factors, it
will be difficult to write a step-by-step walkthrough. In spite of this, this
guide will attempt to guide you through the tutorial portion of the game,
since it is the same for all characters.
The tutorial lasts for three weeks and is outside the official calender of the
game, meaning that you have an extra three weeks with your idol before her
career officially starts. The tutorial is only available upon starting a game
for the very first time and/or with a brand-new producer.
----------------------------------------------
(8-1) First playthrough/The first three weeks
----------------------------------------------
-First week
After you start the game for the first time, you'll need to enter your name.
Use the following controls to enter a name:
Left bumper, Right bumper: Move the cursor left or right in the entry bar
Left trigger, Right trigger: Switch between Hiragana, Katakana, and English
Left Stick: Switch between upper and lowercase/Move cursor on keyboard
A button: Enter letter/choose an option
Start: Finish input
Then, you'll need to choose a month to start in. The reason to choose a
different starting month is mostly for seasonal auditions. AWJ has this to
say:
------------------------
No matter which month you start in, you start from scratch and produce your
unit for a full year (e.g. if you start in December you'll finish in November)
The significance of the starting month is in the timing of the seasonal
auditions (and not quite so importantly, the monthly and seasonal promotions)
The reason advanced players like you see on Niconico often start in January is
because they're aiming to do all four seasonal auditions in one game, and the
seasonal audition with the lowest entry requirement is the Spring one in
March. Starting in January gives you up to 10 weeks to reach Image Level 9
via lessons, which is quite doable even with slow-growing idols like Yayoi
if you're good at the lesson minigames.
Starting in January also means that all four seasonal promotions (which only
appear in one week out of the whole year and each have an Idol Rank
requirement) come in the second half of the game, by which time you should be
at a high enough rank to see them.
------------------------
When the game starts, you'll make your way towards the 765 Productions office
building, which is presently a small building with three floors and in rather
poor condition. Don't worry, you'll move into bigger and bigger offices later.
On your way to meet Takagi, you'll bump into Haruka. You can choose any reply
to say to her, since she'll just smile and leave you without saying anything.
You'll then meet Takagi, president of 765 Productions. After telling you what
he expects you to do as a Producer (within a year), he'll finally let you
choose your first idol to manage. Since you're a rookie producer, you can only
manage one idol for now, and have only one save file. Choose who you want to
manage, and Takagi will send you on your way to meet her.
Depending on who you chose, you'll meet the girl inside or outside of the
office. You'll introduce yourself, and you'll say something to her. First
impressions count, so try and get this one right.
After the two of you become acquainted, you need to decide on a stage name for
her. Use the controls previously mentioned to do so.
The first item on the tutorial menu will be to let your idol have a lesson.
You'll be presented with the Idol Report to show which is currently the most
popular genre, but you can choose any lesson to begin with, if you like.
At the end of the day, you'll still have some time left. The game then asks you
to have a meeting with the girl, your first promotion event. Select the meeting
when prompted, and try your best to make a good impression. Getting the
Memories from a Good or Perfect Communication will help in your first audition.
Later at night, your idol will talk to you some more before heading for home,
ending your first day as a producer.
-Second week
For your second week, you'll be deciding on the costume that your idol will
wear on stage. There are two ways to go about this: you can choose costumes and
accessories that help to bolster the girl's weak areas, or you can go with
what's popular and choose the appropriate costumes and accessories, making your
idol's statistics match with the order of genre popularity.
After choosing her costume, you and your idol will go for another lesson,
before making a trip down to the recording company, to meet up with the
recording artist and record your idol's songs. This is another promotion event,
so proceed as per normal and try to get a Good or Perfect Communication.
When night falls, your idol will talk to you again. Choose a reply to say to
her, before ending the day.
-Third week
This is the week where your idol will officially have her debut. All that's
left in this tutorial is to choose your idol's debut song and go for the
tutorial audition.
After choosing which song you want your idol to debut with (this will also be
your first song when you officially kick start your career), you'll be prompted
to choose the Audition option from the morning menu.
For this tutorial, there is a special audition in the Rookie category, called
'The Debut', specially designed for new idols who are just starting out. Choose
that audition to continue.
-------------------
The debut audition
-------------------
For this audition, you'll be guided by the game on what to do, but I've written
it here so non-Japanese speaking people will know what to do.
The first round will ask you to keep doing appeals in the same area for all 9
instances. At the end, you'll get 5 stars in one area but lose a star for each
of the other two areas. This is meant to teach you about points and placing.
For the second round, the game will ask you to do a more balanced approach,
appealing in all three areas. The game will then point out to you that the
judge in the 5-star genre is quickly losing interest, teaching you not to
appeal too much to one judge lest he/she leaves and takes any rewarded stars
with him/her.
Lastly, the game will teach you about Memory appeals, showing you the
consequences of getting a Good or Bad Memory appeal before letting you try one
out for yourself.
With that, you're finally ready to begin the actual audition. Just relax and do
your best, and don't feel pressured because the judges will be nice enough to
let you pass the audition anyway even if you failed in the end.
At the end of the audition, you'll move on to the TV performance, before
heading back to the office. You'll gain new fans from the audition you just
did, and your idol will be promoted to Rank F, officially beginning her career
as an idol. Congratulations!
-----------------------
(8-2) The last concert
-----------------------
All good things must come to an end and after 52 weeks, your idol's career will
be over. However, there is still one thing left to do, and that is to stage a
farewell concert to thank her supporters and fans for everything.
When you idol comes into the office, it's always good to be honest and give the
bad news to her straight instead of lying to her. This is critical if you want
a good ending. After breaking the bad news to her, the two of you decide to
start planning for the final concert.
If you've played through the seasonal auditions during your girl's career, the
final concert will look and play extremely familiar. You begin with a voltage
bar, and your task is to fill it up to the required level by making appeals
throughout the song. Unlike the seasonal auditions, a Normal result results in
a Bad ending; you have to bring the voltage bar up to 80% to win the game.
You have several things to do before the final concert:
1. Choosing the concert venue.
The first task will be to choose the venue for the last concert. You have a
choice of up to five locations, depending on your Idol Rank. The venue you
choose affects which ending you'll get, and going to the Dome (last choice) at
Rank A or S gets you the best ending.
Livehouse: Rank F & E
Hall: Rank E & D
Arena: Rank D & C
Stadium: Rank C, B, A & S
Dome: Rank B, A & S
When choosing the location, you'll notice a percentage number written in the
location box. This tells you how much the voltage bar will be initially filled,
and is dependent on your Image Level. The higher your Image Level, the more the
bar will be filled from the start and making it easier to hit 80%.
2. Choosing your final costume and song
Next is to choose what your idol will wear to the concert, as well as the last
song she'll sing for her fans.
Choosing your costume is up to you, but be careful not to let your idol's Image
Level drop as a result of changing costumes and accessories, since this will
affect the percentage mentioned in Step 1. Your Image Level also affects your
final score, so it's best to keep this as high as possible.
As for the song, you can only choose from one of the 5 songs that your idol has
produced throughout her career. With the exception of Haruka, choosing your
idol's favorite song will increase the trust between the both of you and
increase your score, as well as letting her retire doing what she loves the
most. As mentioned, chosing Haruka's favourite song makes her even more
unhappy at leaving the idol business, lowering your score.
Then, trouble starts to brew. The reason is different for each idol: Ami and
Mami argue over who should take to the final stage while Yukiho can't stop
crying over her forced retirement, for example.
-------------------
Before the concert
-------------------
Before the concert, your idol will run away from the concert venue, her
troubles finally causing her to break down. It's up to you to cheer her up and
get her into shape for the last performance. Choosing the right answer will
further increase your final score, as well as setting you on the right path
towards the good (or best) ending.
------------
The concert
------------
Unlike the seasonal auditions, the number of Memory appeals you have depends on
the results of the promotions that your idol did in her career. The initial
number of Memories is made up of the sum of this formula:
1. 4 x (number of Perfect Communications)
2. 2 x (number of Good Communications)
3. 1 x (number of Normal Communications)
4. -1 x (number of Bad Communications)
During the concert, the voltage will increase by itself at a very slow pace,
but not enough to reach 80% by the end of the song.
The number of Good and Bad slots in the Roulette can be known through this
formula:
(Number of Memories left)/4 >= (Number of appeals left) : 12 Good/0 Bad
(Number of Memories left)/3 >= (Number of appeals left) : 9 Good/3 Bad
(Number of Memories left)/2 >= (Number of appeals left) : 6 Good/6 Bad
(Number of Memories left)/2 > (Number of appeals left) : 3 Good/9 Bad
Therefore, the more Memories you have at the end of the song, the more Good
slots you have. You can use your Memories sparingly in the beginning, saving
them for the end when you can go all out, or try to reach 80% as soon as
possible (it's possible, but difficult) before putting your controller down and
watching the rest of the performance.
After the concert is finished, you've finally finished the game. You and your
idol will leave the venue, having a talk on the way while you're sending her
back home for the last time. The choices for the very last multiple-choice
question will be different, depending on the ending (choice of venue, and
whether you've succeeded or failed the final concert).
When it's all finished (and hopefully you've made the girl happy), your final
score will be added up and be given an overall grade, and consists of the
following areas:
1. Your unit's stats and Image Level
2. Number of auditions won
3. Idol Rank
4. Number of fans
5. Number of special auditions won
6. Your relationship with your idol
Depending on your performance, you'll go up in Producer Rank, or your rank will
fall.
After the credits, you can save your game, before starting a new career with a
new idol. But there are some slight differences.
---------------------------------------------
(8-3) Second playthrough onwards/Differences
---------------------------------------------
You'll continue using the same Producer data for your second playthrough
onwards. The important thing to note is that the tutorial weeks are gone, and
you start at Month 1 Week 1. Thus, your new idol is already at a disadvantage
compared to your first one who had a head start in lessons and Memories. You
need to work slightly harder to make up for this lost time. On the bright side,
your new idol will automatically start out at Rank F.
You should have increased at least a level in Producer Rank from your last game
to Level 2, so you should be able to manage duo units now. I recommend holding
off until you've managed most of the other idols to find out their behaviors
and quirks before putting them together in a unit.
With that, that's the end of this guide. In due time, you'll get more
experience to formulate your own strategies to play though the game and get the
best endings.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IX) Miscellaneous stuff (MISC)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
(9-1) Achievements
-------------------
10 Idols: Successfully manage all 10 idols
16 Songs: Produce all 16 songs
4 Seasons: Win all off the seasonal auditions
Super Idol: Win the Super Idol special auditions
Best Ending: Get an Idol Rank of A and achieve the best ending at the Dome
100 Auditions: Win 100 auditions
100 Communications: Get 100 Good or Perfect Communications
100 lessons: Get 100 Good or Perfect lessons
100 Memories: Get over 100 Memories during play
Secret achievement/True Idolmaster: Achieve the Producer Rank of Level 10
---------------------------
(9-2) Terminology/Glossary
---------------------------
Here is a glossary of the more notable things in Idolm@ster. Also here are some
of the terminology made up by Japanese gamers to explain some of the idols'
habits, or certain events during the game. Original source for the terms and
credit goes to http://imas-wiki.com
-70000 loop
Refers to doing the Idol Vision audition (70000 fans version) over and over
again. This is the only audition with the highest number of fans that you can
enter repeatedly if you have an off-line account, unlike the special auditions.
Most-used strategy to reach Rank A ASAP.
-ACM
The trio of Azusa, Chihaya and Makoto. Also called MP2, since they were the
trio who appeared on the Idolm@ster Master Piece 2 soundtrack CD.
-Afu
Miki's trademark yawn, which happens nearly all the time during her promotions.
-B72
Chihaya's bust size and a frequently quoted number on NicoNicoDouga videos.
Her duo pairing with Yayoi is often called the '72 Combination', for obvious
reasons.
-Chihaya Spiral
The term for Chihaya's tension, which can remain perpetually stuck at low
levels. One example would be this:
Start: High tension
Answer incorrectly in the morning: Tension down, becomes Normal tension
Off day: Go back to High tension
Next morning, answer incorrect again: goes back to Normal tension
or this, which actually occurs rather frequently with Chihaya:
Start: High tension
Answer incorrectly in the morning: Tension down, becomes Normal tension
Change costumes: Tension down
Go for an audition, answer the judge's question incorrectly: Tension down
Say the wrong thing to her before the audition, Tension down, Low tension.
-Dark Haruka
Haruka's alternate personality. Sadistic and violent. Very popular in fan art.
-F91
Azusa's bust size. Not to be confused with the F91 Gundam.
-Gomae~
A corruption of 'GO MY WAY!!', one of the more popular songs in Idolm@ster.
-Goshipuri
The shortened Japanese term for 'Gothic Princess', one of the costumes of the
idols. A very popular costume among fans for its chic design and look.
-Hai, touch!
Yayoi's high-five motion, which she loves to do as a motivational action with
others. Often abused by unscrupulous producers to become the 'Pai (chest),
touch!'.
-Hikikomori withdrawal
In the arcade version, when your idol goes for more than 4 weeks without going
for an audition, her stats and Image Level starts to fall. Hikikomori are
people in Japan who are content with staying at home and not looking for a
job, preferring to spend their days relaxing away.
-HYR
Haruka, Yukiho and Ritsuko, the trio from Idolm@ster Master Piece 1. Also known
as MP1.
-Idolm@ster Dearly Stars
The newest addition to the Idolm@ster series, released in September 2009 for
the Nintendo DS. It is the first game in the new '2nd Vision' subseries of
Idolm@ster, and it has you playing as the idols instead of taking on the role
of a producer.
Dearly Stars continues the story from Idolm@ster SP (see below), where 765
Productions has become a successful company with several new idols in its
ranks. However, the game centers around a new idol company, 876 Productions.
It has three fledgling idols: Ai Hidaka, the daughter of a former idol, Eri
Mizutani, a net idol and former hikikomori, and Ryo Akizuki, cousin of Ritsuko
Akizuki.
The player will take on the role of their idol and go through a story unique to
each character. The idols from previous titles appear as non-playable
characters in their stories.
Dearly Stars has the ability to download costumes and accessories when it is
played on a DSi, but due to region-locking a non-Japanese DSi will not be able
to run the game.
-Idolm@ster SP
The Sony PlayStation Portable version of Idolm@ster, released in February 2009.
Features a new rival production company, 961 Productions, who goes up against
765's idols in a new story mode. There are three different versions of the
game, each with three idols and a corresponding rival:
Perfect Sun: Haruka, Yayoi, Makoto. Rival: Hibiki
Missing Moon: Chihaya, Azusa, Ritsuko. Rival: Miki
Wandering Star: Yukiho, Iori, Ami/Mami. Rival: Takane
-Invincible Armada
The trio of Chihaya, Iori and Ritsuko. Although the unit is hard to manage,
their combined stats are so powerful that they can blow any opposition out of
the water, especially during the early parts of the game.
-IYAM
Iori, Yayoi, and Ami/Mami, the group from Idolm@ster Master Piece 3. More
affectionately known as the Loli Trio. Also known as MP3.
-Just Appeal
The act of timing your appeals to match the beat of the song. The term 'Just'
is probably taken from SNK's Mark of the Wolves fighting game for the Neo Geo.
In that game, a Just Defense means blocking an attack at the very possible last
second, nullifying the attack and give you a little bit of your health back.
Likewise, getting a Just Appeal requires equally good timing and gives you more
points than usual.
-Ku!
Chihaya often utters this annoyed grunt whenever she's in a jam. It's become
so ingrained in her image that it's now analogous to Homer Simpson's 'D'oh!'.
Used liberally in NicoNicoDouga Idolm@ster videos, especially whenever the
subject of bust size comes up.
-L4U!
Live for You!, the spin-off game featuring the Idolm@ster characters. The game
skips straight to the TV performances without going through the auditions and
the rest of the game, and allows you to edit audio parts, camera angles, etc.
-Master Artist
A soundtrack CD series arranged by characters, first released in 2007. Each
one has a special image song as well as their regular image songs from the
game.
If you take a look at the covers of the CD jackets of each album, you'll see
that each character is saying something in English; Haruka is saying 'Lucky!',
for instance. If you arrange the CD jackets in a certain order and read the
first letter of each word, you'll get a surprise:
To be
Happy and
Exciting! (Finale)
I Love you (Iori)
Dododo (Makoto)
Oui! (Chihaya)
Lucky! (Haruka)
Music! (Azusa)
@! (Ritsuko)
Surprise (Miki)
Twin! (Ami/Mami)
Eat! (Yayoi)
Really!? (Yukiho)
-Master Box
A CD collection of all the songs as sung by the idols, also known as MB. First
released in 2007.
Master Box 1: Arcade version songs.
Master Box 2: Xbox360 version songs.
Master Box 1 & 2 Encore: Compilation of Box 1 and 2.
Master Box 3: Remix A versions from L4U!
Master Box 4: Remix B versions from L4U!
-Master Live
A series of CDs containing songs from L4U!.
-Master Piece
Also called MP. A collection of songs as sung by the original arcade idols.
Series consists of Master Piece 1 to 5, released from 2005 to 2006.
-Master Version
Songs in the Master Pieces, Master Works, Master Live and Master Artists that
contain the full chorus instead of the cut down versions.
-Masterwork
Shortened to MW. CDs containing songs from the Xbox360 version, with Miki
singing for the first time. Released in 2006.
-Mecha Gohan/Mecha Chihaya
Fans who listened to Chihaya singing Ohayou! Asagohan for the very first time
would probably have never expected the song to sound so mechanical. Also known
as Robo Gohan, Robo Chihaya, and so on.
-Mis mis mister dori driller-!
Mysterious words said by Yukiho during her promotions to psyche herself up.
It's actually a reference to the Mr.Driller game series by Namco. It's rather
fitting since they both love to dig holes in the ground.
-NicoNicoDouga
A Japanese video site much like Youtube. The biggest draw of it is that it
allows comments to float across the video playback screen while the video is
playing, leading to some genuinely funny moments. Lots of professional looking
Idolm@ster videos are here, ranging from performances to fan-made videos.
-Ni hi hi
Iori's (in)famous giggle. Makes her sound suspicious.
-Nonowa
A nickname for Haruka, and also the name of her chibi version.
-Piyo-chan
Ami and Mami's nickname for Kotori Otonashi. Kotori's name translates to
"Little Bird", and "Piyo" is Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound a little bird
makes.
-Scissor-door greeting
When Yayoi is in a very good mood, she often flings and extends her arms to the
back of her while bowing to people. Some people call this the 'scissor-door'
motion since it resembles the action of opening the scissor-wing doors on
certain sports cars such as Lamborghinis.
-Sekuhara P
Sekuhara P is a producer who is guilty of sexual harassment, which is exactly
what you're doing if you touch the girls' chests during promotions (unless it's
the right answer to a Perfect Communication. However, those are rare). Still,
videos of the said act involving most of the girls are everywhere on
NicoNicoDouga, and are proving to be very popular.
-Sinking Fleet
The trio of Yukiho, Yayoi and Ami. The opposite of the Invincible Armada, the
Sinking Fleet have the worst combined starting stats in the game, but have the
advantage that they're easy to take care of.
-That person
What Miki calls you, before she gets used to calling you 'Producer'.
-Tokachitsukushite
The lyrics for 'Agent Yoru wo Yuku' has a line which goes 'Tokashitsukushite'.
Ami and Mami have difficulties pronouncing it correctly since they're still so
young, and they pronounce it as 'TokaCHItsukushite'. For some reason, it's
become a popular Japanese meme.
-U-u-!
Yayoi's signature phrase. Roughly equivalent to 'Yay!'.
-Ura Miki
'Reverse Miki', the awakened version of Miki (see the next section). Madly in
love with the Producer.
-Xenoglossia
A 26-episode anime series based on Idolm@ster, with the full title being
Idolm@ster:Xenoglossia. It takes place in an alternate universe where the
original idols (without Miki) are mecha pilots, fighting against
Earth-destroying meteors as well as evil organizations, using robots called
IDOLs. An action-packed and drama-filled series, and many of the characters'
personalities have been changed.
-Yayoi Tori
The fans' nickname for Yayoi's version of Aoi Tori.
-Yayoipittan
Yayoi's version of the theme song to Mojipittan, Namco's puzzle game. Chihaya
has a version called Chihapittan.
-Yellow caterpillar
What some gamers call Miki. Most likely derived from Miki's single lock of hair
sticking out from the top of her head (also known as an ahoge, common in the
hairstyles of air-headed people in anime/manga/video games. Azusa has one too).
It's also probably a reference to her habit of sleeping too much.
-Yukipo
What most of Yukiho's fans call her. Not that she seems to mind.
--------------
(9-3) Secrets
--------------
Idolm@ster only has one secret, but it's a big one: a secret playable version
of Miki, often called Reverse or Awakened Miki. Early on in the game, you and
Miki run into an unfortunate turn of events. The two of you survive, but the
shock of the incident jolts Miki into dispensing with her nonchalant behaviour
and work hard for your sake. She also cuts her hair short and changes it to
brown, if you choose.
To embark on this route, there is a certain order of events and requirements
that you need to see and do:
1. The first thing is that you must finish the game with Miki at least once
first. The results of the ending doesn't matter (Good, Bad), and it doesn't
matter if you're managing Miki by herself or as part of a unit (it's okay if
Miki isn't the main member).
2. Upon starting a new game with Miki, you need to see an off day event with
Miki when she's at Idol Rank F or E (before reaching Rank D). Any one of the
events will do.
3. You need to see the Rank Up promotion event for Rank D. If you've done it
right, you should see the event where you and Miki get into a car accident.
4. See the Rank Up promotion event when you reach Rank C.
5. Some time after the Rank Up event, Miki will ask you one morning if you like
short-haired girls. Say yes, and Miki will appear with short brown hair the
following week. Note that you're still on her alternate route even if you don't
change her appearance. Some members of the Project-IM@S forum have pointed out
that this event will only occur once your relationship with Miki reaches a
pre-determined, secret value. You can meet this value by doing more promotions
with her (and getting more Good/Perfect Communications), getting Good/Perfect
Lessons and winning more auditions.
------------------
(9-4) Data tables
------------------
Legend:
Vo = Vocal
Da = Dance
Vi = Visual
*** = Large stat increase
** = Small stat increase
* = Minimal stat increase
x = Small stat down
xx = Large stat down
------
Songs
------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title | Genre | Vo | Da | Vi |Most associated with|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taiyou no Jealousy | Vocal | *** | ** | x | Haruka |
Positive! | Visual | x | ** | *** | Ami/Mami |
Here we go!! | Visual | ** | x | *** | Iori |
Mahou wo Kakete! | Vocal | *** | x | ** | Ritsuko |
Ohayou! Asagohan | Visual | x | ** | *** | Yayoi |
First Stage | Dance | ** | *** | x | Yukiho |
9.02 p.m. | Vocal | *** | ** | x | Azusa |
Aoi Tori | Vocal | *** | x | ** | Chihaya |
The Idolm@ster | Dance | x | *** | ** | None |
Agent Yoru wo Yuku | Dance | x | *** | ** | Makoto |
Relations | Dance | x | *** | ** | Miki |
Massugu | Vocal | *** | x | ** | Azusa/Makoto |
My Best Friend | Visual | x | ** | *** | Yukiho/Ritsuko |
GO MY WAY!! | Dance | ** | *** | x | Yayoi/Ami/Mami |
Omoide wo Arigatou | Vocal | *** | ** | x | Chihaya/Miki |
Watashi wa Idol | Visual | x | ** | *** | Haruka/Iori |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------
Costumes
---------
Each costumes has a Rank attached to it, affecting how big a boost it gives to
a stat. Rank A costumes tend to provide bigger boosts but also larger demerits.
Cute and Girly
Increases Vocal Image
-------------------------------------------------------
Name | Rank | Vo | Da | Vi |
-------------------------------------------------------
Snow Strawberry | C | ** | * | x |
Pastel Marine | C | ** | * | x |
Gothic Princess | B | ** | * | x |
Noel Angelique | B | ** | * | x |
Sunflower | C | ** | x | * |
Floral Checker | A | *** | * | x |
Rouge Noir | B | ** | x | * |
Perpetual Check | C | ** | x | * |
Cherry Gingham | A | *** | x | * |
Emerald Bloom | A | *** | * | x |
Mini Morning | A | *** | x | * |
September Violet | B | ** | x | * |
-------------------------------------------------------
Cool and Sexy
Increases Dance Image
-------------------------------------------------------
Name | Rank | Vo | Da | Vi |
-------------------------------------------------------
Green Forest | C | x | ** | * |
Pink Military | B | * | ** | x |
Blue Camouflage | A | * | *** | x |
Yellow Jungle | C | x | ** | * |
Red Sequin | B | * | ** | x |
Indigo Spangle | A | * | *** | x |
Sunshine Yellow | B | x | ** | * |
Twinkle Black | C | * | ** | x |
Glitter Ingot | A | x | *** | * |
Brilliant Pearl | C | * | ** | x |
Silver Zebra | B | x | ** | * |
Tiger Maiden | A | x | *** | * |
-------------------------------------------------------
Cosmic and Funny
Increases Visual Image
-------------------------------------------------------
Name | Rank | Vo | Da | Vi |
-------------------------------------------------------
Pink Apollo | B | x | * | ** |
Little Aquarius | C | x | * | ** |
Mandarin Venus | A | x | * | *** |
Scorpio | C | x | * | ** |
Tetra-colored Comet | C | * | x | ** |
Muscat Planet | B | x | * | ** |
Dark Zodiac | C | * | x | ** |
Rose Etoile | A | * | x | *** |
Sunny side of the Moon | A | x | * | *** |
Metallic Cosmos | B | * | x | ** |
Platinum Mesh | A | * | x | *** |
Beehive Nova | B | * | x | ** |
-------------------------------------------------------
Accessories
Each accessory has a Rank attached to it, affecting how big a boost it gives to
a stat. Rank A accessories tend to provide bigger boosts but also larger
demerits.
---------
Headgear
---------
---------------------------------------------------------------
No. Name | Rank | Vo | Da | Vi |
---------------------------------------------------------------
001 Cat Ears | C | ** | * | x |
002 Angel Ring | A | * | xx | *** |
003 Sunflower | B | ** | * | x |
004 Flower Ribbon | B | * | x | ** |
005 Devil Horns | C | x | ** | * |
006 Santa's Hat | A | *** | * | xx |
007 Nurse's Cap | C | x | * | ** |
008 Don earring | B | x | ** | * |
009 Mecha-ears | B | * | x | ** |
010 Pink Ribbon | B | ** | * | x |
011 Sepia Sunglasses | A | xx | *** | * |
012 Cool Sunglasses | C | x | * | ** |
013 Ten-gallon hat | C | * | x | ** |
014 Alien Antenna | B | ** | x | * |
015 Ant Antenna | B | x | * | ** |
016 Indian Hat | C | x | ** | * |
017 Exploration Helmet | A | * | xx | *** |
018 Princess Tiara | C | ** | * | * |
019 Mexican Hat | A | *** | xx | * |
020 Ninja Mask | A | * | *** | xx |
021 Towel Hairband | B | x | ** | * |
022 Bandanna | B | ** | x | * |
023 Mustache | A | xx | *** | * |
024 Silk Hat | A | * | *** | xx |
025 H.M.D | A | *** | * | xx |
026 Star Earrings | A | xx | * | *** |
027 Son Goku's Headband | C | ** | x | * |
028 Crescent Moon Hairband | A | * | xx | *** |
029 Shell hair ornament | B | * | ** | x |
030 Thief's Eye Mask | C | * | x | ** |
031 Nightcap | A | xx | *** | * |
032 Sports Goggles | C | x | ** | * |
033 Chef's Hat | C | * | ** | x |
034 Demon Horns | C | ** | x | * |
035 Policeman's Hat | A | xx | * | *** |
036 Star Antenna | B | x | * | ** |
037 Magician's Hat | A | *** | xx | * |
038 Rabbit Ears | B | * | ** | x |
039 Duck bill | B | x | * | ** |
040 Hibiscus | C | ** | * | x |
041 Blue Crown | A | xx | * | *** |
042 Chinese Hairpin | C | * | x | ** |
043 Fancy Eye Mask | A | * | *** | xx |
044 Cow Ears | B | ** | x | * |
045 Japanese Ribbon | A | *** | xx | * |
046 Sheep Horns | C | * | ** | x |
047 Japanese Hairpin | A | *** | * | xx |
048 Katsu Earrings | B | ** | * | x |
---------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Body Gear
----------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No. Name | Rank | Vo | Da | Vi |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
049 Cat Tail | B | ** | * | x |
050 Bell | C | x | ** | * |
051 Angel Wings | C | * | x | ** |
052 Demon Wings | B | * | x | ** |
053 Demon's Tail | C | x | ** | * |
054 Star Brooch | A | * | xx | *** |
055 Rabbit's Tail | A | xx | *** | * |
056 Cowbell | B | ** | * | x |
057 Red Necktie | C | ** | * | x |
058 Don Pendant | B | x | ** | * |
059 Loudhailer | C | * | ** | x |
060 Sunflower Brooch | C | ** | * | x |
061 Flower Ribbon Brooch | C | * | x | ** |
062 Katsu Pendant | A | *** | * | xx |
063 Pearl Necklace | A | xx | * | *** |
064 Spiked Collar | A | xx | * | *** |
065 Katana | B | * | ** | x |
066 Cross Brooch | A | *** | xx | * |
067 Caveman Necklace | A | * | *** | xx |
068 Jewel Choker | C | ** | x | * |
069 Fairy Wings | A | *** | * | xx |
070 Crystal Necklace | C | x | * | ** |
071 Jade Pendant | A | *** | xx | * |
072 Whistle | B | * | ** | x |
073 Kindergarten Name-tag | C | x | * | ** |
074 Rank Badge | A | * | *** | xx |
075 Silver Pendant | B | * | x | ** |
076 Crescent Moon Choker | B | * | x | ** |
077 Don Necklace | A | xx | *** | * |
078 Katsu Necklace | C | ** | x | * |
079 Magic Rod | B | ** | x | * |
080 Gold Necklace | B | ** | x | * |
081 Magatama Necklace | B | x | * | ** |
082 Butterfly Wings | A | * | xx | *** |
083 Wool Choker | C | * | ** | x |
084 Butterfly Brooch | B | x | * | ** |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Hand Gear
----------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No. Name | Rank | Vo | Da | Vi |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
085 Hero Glove | C | x | ** | * |
086 Cat Paws | B | ** | * | x |
087 Angel Bracelet | C | * | x | ** |
088 Sunflower Bracelet | B | ** | * | x |
089 Star Gloves | B | x | * | ** |
090 Flower Ribbon Bracelet | A | xx | * | *** |
091 Don Watch | B | x | ** | * |
092 Gold Bracelet | A | *** | xx | * |
093 Mecha Gloves | C | * | x | ** |
094 Fighter's Bracelet | B | x | * | ** |
095 Katsu Watch | C | ** | x | * |
096 Wristband | B | x | ** | * |
097 Butterfly Bracelet | A | * | xx | *** |
098 Boxing Glove | C | x | ** | * |
099 Flashy Jewel | A | *** | xx | * |
100 Potholder | C | ** | x | * |
101 Magician's Gloves | C | ** | x | * |
102 Kappa Doll | B | ** | x | * |
103 Pearl Bracelet | C | x | * | ** |
104 Idolm@ster Bracelet | C | * | ** | x |
105 Bird Muppet | B | ** | x | * |
106 Devil's Hands | A | xx | *** | * |
107 Power Glove | A | *** | xx | * |
108 Ski Gloves | C | * | ** | x |
109 Jewel Bracelet | A | xx | * | *** |
110 Ruby Bracelet | A | *** | * | xx |
111 AMCG Band | C | ** | * | x |
112 Silver Bracelet | B | * | ** | x |
113 Feather Bracelet | B | * | x | ** |
114 Bon-bon Bracelet | C | ** | * | x |
115 Wool Bracelet | B | * | ** | x |
116 Royal Bracelet | B | * | x | ** |
117 Ninja Bracelet | A | * | *** | xx |
118 Jade Bracelet | A | *** | * | xx |
119 Diver's Watch | A | xx | *** | * |
120 Devil's Bracelets | A | xx | *** | * |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Foot Gear
----------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No. Name | Rank | Vo | Da | Vi |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
121 Hero Boots | A | xx | *** | * |
122 Cat Feet | C | ** | x | * |
123 Santa Boots | B | ** | * | x |
124 Ribbon Ankle | B | ** | * | x |
125 Ski Boots | C | x | ** | * |
126 Angel Ankle | C | * | x | ** |
127 Sunflower Ankle | A | *** | xx | * |
128 Flower Ribbon Ankle | B | ** | x | * |
129 Basketball Shoes | C | x | * | ** |
130 Rabbit Ankle | B | x | ** | * |
131 Devil's Feet | B | x | ** | * |
132 Magician's Shoes | C | ** | * | x |
133 Mecha Boots | B | * | ** | x |
134 Dinosaur Slippers | A | xx | * | *** |
135 Orange Sandals | B | ** | x | * |
136 Pig Doll | A | *** | * | xx |
137 Rainbow Ankle | A | * | xx | *** |
138 Devil's Ankle | A | xx | *** | * |
139 Don Doll | C | * | ** | x |
140 Katsu Doll | B | ** | * | x |
141 Butterfly Ankle | B | * | x | ** |
142 Misanga Ankle | A | * | *** | xx |
143 Pearl Ankle | A | * | xx | *** |
144 Jade Ankle | A | *** | * | xx |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
Accessories Sets
-----------------
These are the accessories that compose a particular set, giving bigger bonuses.
1. Cat Set
001 Cat Ears
049 Cat Tail
086 Cat Paws
122 Cat Feet
2. Angel Set
002 Angel Ring
051 Angel Wings
087 Angel Bracelet
126 Angel Ankle
3. Sunflower Set
003 Sunflower
081 Sunflower Brooch
088 Sunflower Bracelet
128 Sunflower Ankle
4. Flower Ribbon Set
004 Flower Ribbon
061 Flower Ribbon Brooch
090 Flower Ribbon Bracelet
128 Flower Ribbon Ankle
5. Demon/Devil Set
005 Devil Horns
052 Demon Wings or 053 Demon's Tail
106 Devil's Hands or 120 Devil's Bracelets
131 Devil's Feet or 138 Devil's Ankle
6. Santa set
006 Santa's Hat
123 Santa's Boots
7. Don set
008 Don earring
058 Don Pendant or 077 Don Necklace
091 Don Watch
139 Don Doll
8. Mecha set
009 Mecha Ears
093 Mecha Gloves
133 Mecha Boots
9. Ninja Set
020 Ninja Mask
065 Katana
117 Ninja Bracelet
10. Star set
026 Star Earrings or 036 Star Antenna
054 Star Brooch
089 Star Gloves
11. Journey to the West set
027 Son Goku's Headband
079 Magic Rod
102 Kappa Doll
136 Pig Doll
12. Rabbit set
038 Rabbit Ears
055 Rabbit Tail
130 Rabbit Ankle
13. Cow set
044 Cow Ears
056 Cow Bell
14. Sheep set
046 Sheep Horns
083 Wool Choker
115 Wool Bracelet
15. Katsu set
048 Katsu earring
062 Katsu Pendant or 078 Katsu Necklace
095 Katsu Watch
140 Katsu Doll
16. Butterfly set
082 Butterfly Wings or 084 Butterfly Brooch
097 Butterfly Bracelet
141 Butterfly Ankle
17. Sentai Hero set
085 Hero Gloves
121 Hero Boots
----------
Auditions
----------
Legend:
IL: Image Level
<=: Less than or equal to
>=: Greater than or equal to
-------------
Rookie Level
-------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name |Winners|Entry Requirements|Fans won|Special Rules
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Idol X | 4 |Rank F | 4000 |
If you may sing? | 3 |Rank F | 5000 |
Hop Jam | 3 |Rank F-E | 6000 |
Star of rookies | 1* |Rank F-E | 7000 |Interest doesn't decrease
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*: An idol will win as long as she gets above 13 stars. Multiple winners are
possible.
------------
Local Level
------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name |Winners|Entry Requirements|Fans won|Special Rules
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Idol's Desire | 2 |Rank F-E, IL<=6 | 10000 |
Idol Onsen | 3 |Rank F-E | 20000 |
Song Unja Town | 2 |Rank F-E, IL>=7 | 30000 |
New Be@t* | * |* | * |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*: Multiple versions of this audition exists
Version 1: 3 winners, Rank F-E, IL<=4, 7500 fans
Version 2: 3 winners, Rank F-E, IL<=5, 12500 fans
Version 3: 3 winners, Rank F-E, IL<=6, 25000 fans
Version 4: 1 winner, Rank F-E, 40000 fans
---------------
National Level
---------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name |Winners|Entry Requirements|Fans won|Special Rules
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
RHYTHMIX | 3 |Rank D-A, IL<=6 | 20000 |
Idol Excavation | 3 |Rank D-A | 25000 |
Dancing Bomb | 2 |Rank D-A | 30000 |
LOVE LOVE LIVE! | 3 |Rank D-A | 50000 |
Idol Vision* | * |* | * |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*: Multiple versions of this audition exists
Version 1: 3 winners, Rank D-A, IL<=9, 25000 fans
Version 2: 2 winners, Rank D-A, 30000 fans
Version 3: 2 winners, Rank D-A, 50000 fans
Version 4: 1 winner, Rank D-A, 70000 fans
--------------------
Special Auditions 1
--------------------
Once you've cleared a Special audition, you cannot sign up for it again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name |Winners|Entry Requirements|Fans won|Special Rules
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rookies | 1 |Before Week 13 | 30000 |No break between rounds
Top x Top! | 1 |Unbeaten in aud. | 50000 |Ranking cannot be seen
Diva Paradise | 1 |IL>=7 | 50000 |-3 stars for last place
Vocal Master | 1 |IL>=8 | 50000 |Vocalx5,Dancex3,Visualx2
Dance Master | 1 |IL>=8 | 50000 |Dancex5,Visualx3,Vocalx2
Visual Master | 1 |IL>=8 | 50000 |Visualx5,Vocalx3,Dancex2
Hit-TV | 1 |IL=>10, 70% wins | 50000 |*
Colorful Memories| 1 |Over 15 Memories | 50000 |Interest starts at half
Long Time | 1 |After Week 25 | 100000 |Judge's Interest unknown
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Diva Paradise, there are different entry requirements, and only those
characters who meet them can sign up.
Middle School students and below: Yayoi, Iori, Ami/Mami, Miki
High School students and above: Haruka, Chihaya, Yukiho, Makoto, Ritsuko, Azusa
Quiet personalities: Chihaya, Azusa, Yukiho
Cheerful personalities: Haruka, Yayoi, Ami/Mami, Miki
Bold personalities: Makoto, Ritsuko, Iori
*: Only the idol who gets first place in a genre between rounds (Vocal, Dance
and Visual) will get the stars. Idols who get second place and below get
nothing.
--------------------
Special Auditions 2
--------------------
Once you've cleared a Special audition, you cannot sign up for it again.
All of the seasonal auditions have no breaks between rounds, and the judges'
interest is invisible.
The Idolm@ster GP is the name for the Winter Festival.
You need to have cleared all 3 Dojo auditions in the Special Auditions 2 to
sign up for the Super Idol audition.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name |Winners|Entry Requirements|Fans won|Special Rules
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song Dojo | 1 |IL>=7 | 20000 |Vocalx5,Dancex3,Visualx2
Dance Dojo | 1 |IL>=7 | 20000 |Dancex5,Visualx3,Vocalx2
Visual Dojo | 1 |IL>=7 | 20000 |Visualx5,Vocalx3,Dancex2
Spring Festival | 1 |IL>=9 | 70000 |
Summer Festival | 1 |IL>=11 | 80000 |
Autumn Festival | 1 |IL>=10 | 50000 |
Idolm@ster GP | 1 |IL>=12 | 90000 |
Super Idol | 1 |IL>=13, 3 x Dojo | 120000 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------
Special Auditions 3
--------------------
Online-only auditions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name |Winners|Entry Requirements|Fans won|Special Rules
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victory Story | 1* | | 25000 |Interest doesn't decrease
Not going home | 3 | | 30000 |Interest decreases faster
Futaridake | 1 |Duo units | 50000 |Ranking cannot be seen
Trioshika | 1 |Trio units | 50000 |Ranking cannot be seen
No Memories | 1 | | 50000 |Cannot do Memory appeals
Make Dog | 1 |Below 20% wins | 55000 |
Not going home | 1 | | 55000 |Interest doesn't decrease
Only Memories | 1 |Above 20 Memories | 60000 |Only Memory appeals
Kyaragen! | 1 |Character specific| 60000 |Genres can change midway
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Victory Story, an idol will qualify and win as long as she gets above 15
stars.
For Kyaragen, only solo units can sign up, and only units with a specific idol
is allowed in. The name of the idol who can enter changes every three days
within a month, according to your local time in Xbox Live.
Day of the Month
1st-3rd: Haruka
4th-6th: Yayoi
7th-9th: Azusa
10-12th: Chihaya
13th-15th: Iori
16th-18th: Ritsuko
19th-21st: Yukiho
22nd-24th: Makoto
25th-27th: Ami/Mami
28th-30th: Miki
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X) Credits/References (CDT)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to say thanks to:
-The members of the Project-IM@S forums, especially Ryuukikun, Sugio, Yunabeco,
Nowano, Benpc91, Magis and the others.
-AWJ for pointing out several critical errors in my guide.
-Namco Bandai for creating such a great series.
-alexsifu, whose FAQ was the inspiration for me to write this guide.
-You, for reading this (an overused phrase, but I really appreciate it)
-An honorary mention goes to the people at Legend of the Emblem, whom I've
known for a long, long time. Hi guys.
------------------------
References/Useful Links
------------------------
Title: The Idolm@ster Precious Album
Publisher: Enterbrain!, 2007
ISBN: 978-4-7577-3533-0
Title: The Idolm@ster Master Book
Publisher: SoftBank Creative, 2008
ISBN: 978-4-7973-4685-5
Title: The Idolm@ster Character Master
Publisher: Studio DNA, 2005
ISBN: 4-7580-1046-3
Site: IDOLM@STER 360@WIKI
http://imas-wiki.com/index.php
Site: Idolm@ster Xbox 360 Edition Game Capture
http://yokohama.cool.ne.jp/shisnap/game/IDOLMASTER/IDOL.htm
Site: Xbox 360 THE IDOLM@STER Communications Movie Collection
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Sugio/
Site: The iTEM M@STER
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mirui/
Site: Project-iM@S Community
http://forum.project-imas.com/
Site: The Idolm@ster Official Web
http://namco-ch.net/idolmaster_portal/index.php
Site: IM@S-Wiki (English)
http://project-imas.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
-----------------------------------
Copyright 2008, 2009 Eugene Tan
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