First Impressions / THE IDOLM@STER

OP Sequence

OP: 「READY!!」 by 765PRO ALLSTARS
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼

「”準備”をはじめた少女たち」 (“Junbi” wo Hajimeta Shoujo-tachi)
“The Girls who Began ‘Preparations'”

It turns out I was pretty spot on when I said I can do with less of the Futami twins and Iori last time, as this second episode quickly lumped them together on the more idiotic side of 765 Pro. I was pretty indifferent about Yayoi, so despite her getting caught up in Ami, Mami, and Iori’s pace, I actually took a liking to her this time around. She pretty much won me over with her comment about being poor but not dirty. I got a good chuckle out of that and her sparkling-eyed reaction at the thought of steak. Yayoi’s clearly not the brightest of the bunch, but her child-like innocence makes her a lot of fun to watch. I’m with president Takagi on her original composite shot — it’s money!

So lo and behold, the IM@S girls are a bunch of failures from the get-go, unable to pass any auditions in the past month because of their goofy profile pics. Not the least bit surprising of course, since they’re just starting out as idols and things wouldn’t be very interesting if they made it big right away. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that when we as the viewer have a clear bias toward them, being the heroines of the franchise and everything. However! I was not wrong to take immediate interest in Miki, whose stylish looks and carefree personality stood out right away. She’s definitely my favorite at the moment, which surprises even me since blondes generally aren’t my first pick. When a character can look as good as she does in plaid, it really doesn’t matter what hair color she has. What really sold me on her character is how she carries herself, both in terms of her natural ability to get right into a photo shoot and her third-person speech that’s reminiscent of Mine Riko in last season’s Hidan no Aria. She sure makes the job look easy with her playful and promiscuous personality, much like the aforementioned armed detective did. (Hmm, maybe I like blondes more than I realize.)

None of the other idols that I took an immediate interest stood out too much in this second episode, but Hibiki and Chihaya were probably the next runners up. It’s kind of funny how individuality was being stressed in the show, when the characters themselves were already created with that in mind. They all have distinct nuances in their manner of speech and conduct, which has already been put on full display to help promote them. Much like the game, it’s almost like the anime is trying to help us viewers discover our favorite characters in these early episodes and keep us watching by following their growth as future idols. Well if my earlier blurb on Miki was an indication, it’s probably safe to say that it’s worked on me. This series is a lot more fun to watch when it’s the characters themselves that you’re watching for. The fact that A-1 Pictures looks like they’re going the extra mile on the production side of things makes it all the more appealing. Quite honestly, I’ve been quite impressed with the animation quality thus far, particularly in the opening sequence with the revolving camera. Faces generally get distorted during those type of transitions due to the use of CG, but they look pretty spot on here. Admittedly, one of the main reasons why I want to continue covering IM@S is because of how good it looks from a production standpoint.

Anyway, it looks like our nameless producer will remain nameless — only going by “Producer” — even though he now has a face and voice attached to him. Regardless, I’m glad they decided to make him an actual character who interacts with the girls on the other side of the lens, simply because it’s a lot more natural to watch. If you’re still undecided about watching this series, just know that it progresses very much like your typical slice-of-life anime, except it uses the whole idol bit as the setup for all the lighthearted character interactions. It’s surprisingly enjoyable as well, considering that I went from not even planning to watch this series to pretty set on following it all the way through — all in a mere two episodes. All you need to do is give the girls a chance and find a favorite. Hands off Miki though. She’s mine!

* In case anyone’s wondering, the male idol who bumped into Haruka is Amagase Touma (Terashima Takuma). He’s part of the male idol group Project Jupiter and is affiliated with Studio 961, a rival company.
* Judging from the new ending sequence and theme, I’m guessing they plan to feature new idol combinations every episode. Ugh, more encoding overhead.

 

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「ポジティブ！」 (Positive!) by 釘宮理恵, 仁後真耶子 (Kugimiya Rie, Nigo Mayako)
Watch the 2nd ED!: Streaming ▼

Preview

52 Comments

  8. In my comment in Mayo Chiki episode 2 Divine, I said I am not forcing you on blogging both or even either of these shows in the Thursday mayhem, but if I were to pick a preferred one you’ll watch and blog, I would pick Idolm@ster.

    P.S: Okay then 🙂 DIBBS on Iori-chan—-MINE!!!!

    Kelfistan
    Reply

  12. Odd that the second episode decided to focus on the younger idols so they can do silly stuff.

    I’m still not sold in the whole “We are broke yet we employed 12 aspiring idols” shtick.

    fragb85
    Reply

  13. It’s all about Hibiki and dat ponytail.

    I just rewatch the op over and over again because the animation is fluid and the music goes well with it them singing. op had the impact the kannagi op did first time seeing it.

    All I know is the creator of berserk is shitting his pants right about now.

    exia
    Reply

      3. Your a troper too? Hey!…

        Well I did know before hand that there was such a trope. But I thought it only applies to magical pets or animals and stuff…

        Someone really should make a separate page for the anime. Tropes in the anime are slightly different from the game.

        The M0on DOgg
        Reply

    1. Including Ritsuko (glasses girl/formal idol now turned producer), they number 13 here.

      A quick reference list:

      Dual-ribbons/klutz – Haruka
      Shy girl – Yukiho
      Loli Ojou-chan/holding bunny – Iori
      Orange hair Twintails – Yayoi
      Twin, short right-tail – Ami
      Twin, long left-tail – Mami
      Long dark hair Motherly/tallest – Azusa
      Long dark hair Serious/flat chest – Chihaya
      Tomboy – Makoto
      Sleepy/Voluptuous Blonde – Miki
      Mysterious/white wavy hair – Takane
      Black ponytail/fang girl – Hibiki

      Stranger
      Reply

      2. Well, asides from what I stated above,

        “Orange hair Twintails – Yayoi
        Long dark hair Serious/flat chest – Chihaya”

        There aren’t really any other visual cues. Yayoi has the orange hair and usually wears it in twintails (two ponytails), and Chihaya has the long dark hair (it’s sorta bluish, in contrast to Azusa- who is more plain black).

        Chihaya is very serious about singing, and doesn’t care much for the whole Idol business asides from that. She’s more quite and reserved in social situations than the rest of the girls.

        Yayoi comes from a poor family, and is a very hard worker. She’s quite earnest, but also a bit naive, and gets caught up into the pace of the others’ antics.

        You oughter be able to get them down after a few episodes. You can also check out some videos on youtube. Here’s a fun video introducing most of the girls (It doesn’t have Hibiki and Takane) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3VTIHyl2SA&feature=feedwll&list=WL

        Stranger
        Reply

  19. Alot better than the first episode, felt much less one sided and I really enjoyed it. Takane is still my favourite (White Hair), looking forward to more episodes!

    Also, Miki really stood out, she looked pretty awesome in that plaid shirt-dress

    Kurofaise
    Reply

  22. So lo and behold, the IM@S girls are a bunch of failures from the get-go, unable to pass any auditions in the past month because of their goofy profile pics.

    I think that’s the whole point of the game, for the player as the Producer to work his Midas touch and elevate them from utter unknowns into mega-stardom.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  24. Miki is my favorite too Divine! I’m glad you started to cover this.
    I’m excited to see her get more screen time~

    Running up would be Chihaya, Hibiki, Makoto, and Yayoi… sort of. I’m still debating on her.

    Honestly the only ones I really don’t care for would be Yukiho and Iori, but Iori had her somewhat cute moments this episode.

    Aisu
    Reply

  25. Oh, i was going to say about the Jupiter idol but apparently Divine detailed blog already cover for it. I guess i just say ” Hope they don’t play any major part” . I have way too many male idol from the Uta no Prince already.

    lkaze
    Reply

    1. I completely agree that Makoto is the best. I’m also really surprised that this was voted as the most disappointing anime thus far this season by Biglobe users considering I think A-1 has done it about as well as one could possibly hope (perhaps they were only going off the rather awkward first episode?). I typically dislike “cute girl” series due to weak character development and rather boring plots, but this series seems poised to, if not overturn those problems, at the very least not fall into them as much. I guess we shall see…

      TheEnd
      Reply

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