The Idolmaster is a series of raising simulation and rhythm video games created by Namco Bandai Games (formerly Namco). Its first game premiered in Japan in 2005 as an arcade game, and the series has grown to numerous ports, sequels and spin-offs across multiple video game consoles, including three social network games. While the series is largely only available in Japan, the three versions of The Idolmaster Shiny Festa were localized into English and released worldwide on iOS.[1] The Idolmaster series has spawned many works in other media including anime, manga, novels, radio shows and drama CDs.
In addition to the video game series, the stand-alone anime series has its own manga and novel adaptations, and the manga series Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster later inspired an anime series and drama CDs. The music releases in the series include over 100 albums and singles with songs sung by the voice actors from the games. Many of the music releases feature the songs in remix versions in different arrangements. The Idolmaster had earned over 10 billion yen in music CD and concert sales as of 2013.[2] [3] Various companion books for the games and anime adaptations have also been released which include detailed walkthroughs for the games and art collections.
Each game in the main series deals with the training of prospective pop idols on their way to stardom. The main talent agency featured in the series is 765 Production, and other studios introduced in later games include 876 Production featured in The Idolmaster Dearly Stars, and 961 Production originally introduced in The Idolmaster SP, but which later returns in The Idolmaster 2. While the first set of games are set in the same timeline up to and including The Idolmaster SP, a separate timeline is introduced in The Idolmaster Dearly Stars, the first game in the franchise's next stage called "2nd Vision", which was described as The Idolmasters next project that would further expand the series' world.[4] As the series progressed, two social network games were developed: The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls in 2011 and The Idolmaster Million Live! in 2013; both games feature a card battle system and together introduced over 100 additional idols.[5] [6] A third social network game was developed in 2014 titled The Idolmaster SideM, which also features a card battle system and only contains male idols.[7]
Game | Japanese release date | |
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The Idolmaster | July 26, 2005[8] | |
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The Idolmaster Happening Location | 2005[10] | |
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The Idolmaster Live For You! | February 28, 2008[12] | |
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The Idolmaster SP | February 19, 2009[14] [15] [16] | |
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The Idolmaster Dearly Stars | September 17, 2009[17] | |
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The Idolmaster Mobile | December 21, 2010[18] | |
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The Idolmaster 2 | February 24, 2011[20] | |
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The Idolmaster Gravure For You! | October 27, 2011 – June 28, 2012[21] [22] | |
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The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls | November 28, 2011[23] | |
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The Idolmaster Mobile i | March 30, 2012[28] | |
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The Idolmaster Live in Slot | May 23, 2012[29] | |
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The Idolmaster Shiny Festa | October 25, 2012[30] [31] [32] | |
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The Idolmaster Million Live! | February 27, 2013[34] | |
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The Idolmaster SideM | February 28, 2014[38] | |
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The Idolmaster One For All | May 15, 2014[41] | |
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The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Gravure For You! | April 23, 2015 – February 25, 2016[42] | |
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September 3, 2015[43] | ||
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The Idolmaster Must Songs | December 10, 2015[44] | |
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The Idolmaster Platinum Stars | July 28, 2016[45] | |
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October 13, 2016[46] | ||
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The Idolmaster Million Live!: Theater Days | June 29, 2017[47] | |
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The Idolmaster SideM: Live on Stage! | August 29, 2017[48] | |
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See also: List of The Idolmaster episodes, List of Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster episodes and List of The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls episodes.
Title | Release dates | |
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April 4, 2007 – September 24, 2007 | ||
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The Idolmaster Live For You! | February 28, 2008 | |
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| game | |
The Idolmaster | July 8, 2011 – December 23, 2011 | |
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The Idolmaster Shiny Festa | October 25, 2012 | |
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Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster | January 1, 2013 – March 29, 2013 | |
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January 25, 2014[52] | ||
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Puchimas!! Puchi Puchi Idolmaster | April 1, 2014 – June 30, 2014 | |
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The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls | January 10, 2015 – October 16, 2015 | |
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The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Theater | April 4, 2017[56] – June 25, 2019[57] | |
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The Idolmaster SideM | October 7, 2017 – December 30, 2017 | |
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The Idolmaster SideM Wake Atte Mini! | October 9, 2018 – December 25, 2018 | |
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The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls U149 | April 6, 2023 | |
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The Idolmaster Million Live! | October 8, 2023 | |
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The Idolmaster Shiny Colors | 2024 | |
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There have been 15 radio shows for The Idolmaster hosted by the voice actors of the idols from the video games and anime adaptations, five of which are still ongoing. While two of the shows have been broadcast on traditional radio channels, with the advent of the Internet, the remaining 13 have been distributed online. Used primarily to promote the franchise, 12 of the shows are for the video games and the remaining three are for the anime adaptations (2007), The Idolmaster (2011) and Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster (2013). Many of the shows have later been released on CD compilation volumes.
Title | Release dates | |
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The Idolmaster Radio | April 9, 2006 – July 26, 2009 | |
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Radio de Aima Show! | April 27, 2006 – October 25, 2007 | |
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Haruka to Yayoi no Yayoishiki Radio | March 9, 2007 – February 22, 2008 | |
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| and Nifty
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Web Radio Shopping Master | March 23, 2007 – July 27, 2007 | |
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The Idolmaster Radio For You! | November 28, 2007 – September 24, 2008 | |
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The Idolmaster P.S. Producer | October 15, 2008 – September 16, 2009 | |
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Dearly Station | July 11, 2009 – August 31, 2009 | |
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The Idolmaster Station! | August 2, 2009 – March 31, 2013, October 8, 2014 – October 10, 2018 | |
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| +, with Manami Numakura, Yumi Hara and Azumi Asakura as the hosts. | |
Radio de Aima Star | October 8, 2009 – March 31, 2011 | |
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Aima Studio | April 8, 2011 – ongoing | |
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Radio de Aima Chu! | April 21, 2011 – November 27, 2014 | |
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Dere Raji! | August 30, 2012 – ongoing | |
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Puchimas! Zōkangō | December 27, 2012 – March 30, 2013 | |
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| Petit Idolmaster | |
The Idolmaster Station! | + | April 1, 2013 – October 1, 2014 |
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| A&G+
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The Idolmaster Million Radio | April 26, 2013 – ongoing | |
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315PRO Night! | April 3, 2015 – ongoing | |
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The Idolmaster Music On the Radio | October 18, 2018 – ongoing | |
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Title | Release dates | |
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The Idolmaster Masterpiece | September 28, 2005 – May 31, 2006 | |
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The Idolmaster Master Box | July 19, 2006 – February 10, 2013 | |
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The Idolmaster Masterwork | December 20, 2006 – March 22, 2007 | |
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Idolmaster: Xenoglossia Original Soundtrack | June 27, 2007 – September 5, 2007 | |
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The Idolmaster Master Artist | July 18, 2007 – October 24, 2007 | |
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Idolmaster: Xenoglossia Character Album | August 22, 2007 – October 10, 2007 | |
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The Idolmaster Master Live | February 13, 2008 – October 29, 2008 | |
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Famison 8-Bit The Idolmaster | March 25, 2008 – October 19, 2011 | |
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The Idolmaster Master Special | December 10, 2008 – March 17, 2010 | |
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The Idolmaster Dream Symphony | September 9, 2009 – December 2, 2009 | |
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The Idolmaster Vocal Collection | February 24, 2010 – April 21, 2010 | |
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| , The Idolmaster Radio For You!, The Idolmaster P.S. Producer, The Idolmaster Eternal Prism, and Radio de Aima Star
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The Idolmaster Best of 765+876=! | May 12, 2010 – July 4, 2010 | |
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The Idolmaster Master Artist 2 | September 22, 2010 – June 22, 2011 | |
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The Idolmaster Animation Master | August 10, 2011 – September 15, 2013 | |
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The Idolmaster Perfect Idol | October 27, 2011 - April 26, 2012 | |
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The Idolmaster Animation Master Namassuka Special | August 15, 2012 – April 10, 2013 | |
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Petit Idolmaster Twelve Seasons! | January 9, 2013 – March 27, 2013 | |
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| Petit Idolmaster anime series
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The Idolmaster Cinderella Master | April 18, 2012 – ongoing | |
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The Idolmaster Live Theater Performance | April 24, 2013 – April 30, 2014 | |
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The Idolmaster 765 Pro Allstars+ Greatest Best! | September 18, 2013 – December 18, 2013 | |
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The Idolmaster Cinderella Master Jewelres! | September 25, 2013 – ongoing | |
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Petit Idolmaster Twelve Campaigns! | May 28, 2014 – August 6, 2014 | |
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| Petit Petit Idolmaster anime series
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The Idolmaster Live Theater Harmony | July 30, 2014 - March 25, 2015 | |
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The Idolmaster 9th Anniversary We Are Masterpiece! | August 2, 2014 - October 5, 2014 | |
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The Idolmaster Master Artist 3 | August 27, 2014 – February 17, 2016 | |
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Title | Release dates | ||
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The Idolmaster Your Song | January 18, 2007 | ||
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April 25, 2007 | |||
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May 16, 2007 | |||
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August 8, 2007 | |||
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The Idolmaster Christmas for you! | December 19, 2007 | ||
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Idolmaster: Xenoglossia Best Album | February 6, 2008 | ||
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The Idolmaster Vacation for you! | July 23, 2008 | ||
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The Idolmaster Best Album: Master of Master | November 19, 2008 | ||
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The Idolmaster 2 765 Pro Happiness New Year Party! | 2011 | January 10, 2011 | |
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| 2011 live event | ||
"The World is All One! | " | February 9, 2011 | |
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"Smoky Thrill" | February 9, 2011 | ||
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The Idolmaster Jupiter | November 23, 2011 | ||
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November 28, 2012 | |||
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| Petit Idolmaster anime series
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The Idolmaster Masters of Idol World! | 2014 | February 22, 2014 | |
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| 2014 live event | ||
Puchimasu! Kanshsai Special CD | April 18, 2014 | ||
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| Petit Idolmaster anime series
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Puchimasu! | Petit Petit Idolmaster Ending Theme Maxi Single | May 28, 2014 | |
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| Petit Petit Idolmaster anime series
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The Idolmaster Master of Idol World! | 2014 Special Disc Idol Power Rainbow | October 22, 2014 | |
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| 2014 DVD and Blu-ray |
Title | Release dates | |
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The Idolmaster Drama CD | December 22, 2005 – July 21, 2006 | |
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The Idolmaster Drama New Stage | December 22, 2006 – February 25, 2007 | |
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Idolmaster: Xenoglossia Original Drama | June 6, 2007 – November 7, 2007 | |
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The Idolmaster Eternal Prism | December 25, 2008 – May 13, 2009 | |
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Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster | April 27, 2011 – November 9, 2011 | |
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The Idolmaster has been adapted into 26 serialized manga created by one or two authors, as well as several manga anthologies featuring multiple artists. These manga include direct adaptations of the video games and anime adaptations, in addition to spin-offs with original storylines. The various manga have been published since 2005 by ASCII Media Works, Enterbrain, Fox Shuppan, Hakusensha, Ichijinsha, Kadokawa Shoten, Kodansha and Square Enix.