So, They announced a new iDOLM@STER anime…
…And it’s SideM, which is probably going to make a few Million Live fans a little salty.
Still, from a business expansion point of view, it probably makes sense at this point – it’s not like they particularly struggle to fill large venues for any of the other iM@S properties at this point (heck, there’s a Million Live event at the Budokan in a months time), and there’s competitors in the market like Uta-Pri are still shifting units that show there is an audience there. There’s a market to exploit there with a fairly high ceiling which isn’t going to cannibalise the audience from things this particular franchise are already selling to people. To a degree, Million Live would just be preaching to the choir.
Anyway, more details will be released about it next month. I’ll give the show a fair shake regardless, but obviously the most interesting thing about it will be the staff. The original aniM@S and Cinderella Girls both pulled in a bunch of stellar talent, and it’d be nice to see something of the same level for this. For as much as most of my bubble don’t really pay that much attention to the Guy Idol anime (though I’ve heard from more than one person that the SideM live events are a blast), there’s a surprisingly high bar in terms of doing unusual or interesting things set by shows like Shounen Hollywood in that market. As much as some folks like to look down on things they see as fujoshi-bait, it’s not necessarily a market you can be lazy about.
Also, real curious as to if, or perhaps rather how, they’ll approach the whole Akizuki Ryo thing.
(Although I’ll insert the usual disclaimer here that I don’t really follow Million Live, so I was never personally going to get salty regarding anything what goes on with that…)
2017-02-13
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I hope they cover the Akizuki Ryo thing, and hopefully they do it well. PriPara is the only idol anime I am aware of that covered /the thing/, though it was mostly bypassed as a “who cares” thing rather than being addressed directly. Also, Akizuki did one of my favourite iM@S songs of all time, so I’ve got fingers crossed on the music side too.
2017-02-13
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(saying that though, I’ve not watched any male idol-specific shows, so perhaps I’m just on the wrong side)
2017-02-13
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Wow fuck you for the salt ;_;
My initial reaction was that, hey it’s about time. Then I started reading people’s reactions and how some people laughed about how GamiP was making an excuse for ML anime being not announced before the SideM anime. I hate how you kind of mention it so casually when historically this is the kind of BS that has plagued the franchise LOL. It’s gotten to the point where the thing itself doesn’t bother me, but it does in the meta.
Anyway, I think the real concern is how and which method will the anime be released, and which studio. I’m pretty certain that ML anime will get announced by March (just before the 315 nama in fact, on 3/12) and it’ll most likely be an A-1 Studio work. So what does that mean for SideM both timing and release-wise?
2017-02-13
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Sorry – didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers. I simply don’t have the time to invest in ML (or SideM for that matter) these days, so if I come off as flippant about the whole thing, it’s more that I’m observing this as a curious third party more than someone with any significant investment.
(Then again, I’d have said the same thing about CindyGirls prior to the anime, so *shrug*)
The vehemence of some folks reactions to this being is as if making an anime is the ultimate end-goal of any iM@S project does feel a bit weird, though, particularly when some of these folks seem to mostly engage in the franchise through events and VA-personality led material.
(As for who would be making it, yeah, it’d be real weird for A-1 not to be making Million Live should that be announced at, err, 4th(?) given the background to the franchise, so that is a curious question)