The iDOLM@STER Episode 1 [First Impression]: 13 Idols and a Producer

Welcome to our mass coverage of The Idolm@ster – the aim is for Eva and myself to somehow manage to cover all 25 episodes of the Idolm@ster in time for New Year’s xD So without further ado…let’s begin!

Summary

In a documentary-style format, the cameraman follows the daily lives of the to-be idols and their producer Ritsuko at the 765 Pro studio. After getting to know each of the girls a bit better, President Takagi reveals the cameraman to be none other than their new producer, who will be working with the girls from now on.

Impression

It’s a pretty rag-tag bunch of idols that 765 Pro managed to pick up, but managing to contract 13 girls and 2 producers is pretty impressive for a small company like that. What was pretty clever was the visual novel-like style used to introduce all 13 of the budding idols, so that their views and goals wouldn’t seem like too much of a monologue since they were, after all speaking to the cameraman – later revealed as the new Producer-san. I don’t think I would be able to take another 24 episodes of that format though, so thankfully it will switch back to normalcy next episode.

I’m speaking from hindsight here (unlike Eva, who is blogging eps as she watches them) but all the girls really do have their own personalities and traits, with none of them being left out in particular or as background characters. Each one of them has their own “loveable” factor, especially Miki, since I love Miki more than all the other idols (and Chihaya too) and I’m sure these will be expanded on as the series progresses! There’ s such a wide age range at 765 Pro, ranging from twins Ami and Mami being the youngest all the way to Miura Azusa, who’s already an adult. Then there’s Akizuki Ritsuko, who was a former idol herself but moved to producing since it’s a tough world out there… Kisaragi Chihaya seems to be the most serious and level-headed out of all the idols, with being a proper singer as her goal, while Hoshii Miki cares more about sleeping than anything else xD

Everyone has to start somewhere, and for these girls it’s clear how hard it is to get a footing from the job interviews that Takane, Hibiki, Makoto and Yukiho went to. With the new Producer (yup, he doesn’t have a name xD) on board now, it’ll be fun to see just how far these idols develop!

Possibility of Watching: Yes

Possibility of Blogging: Yes