The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls Episode 1 [First Impression]

Who is in the pumpkin carriage?

Vantage’s Impression

I… I think I’m in love…

Okay I lied, it’s not love at first sight. I’ve known about Rin for some time – The iDOLM@STER is another media franchise generating a large amount of doujins, which have been a useful source of education. I still know next to nothing about the cast of Cinderella Girls though – aside from one true waifu I recognized the Jougasaki sisters and Sachiko, but that’s it. At any rate, this feels like it will be a very different sort of iDOLM@STER compared to its 765 Pro counterpart – again, we’ll be following a promising group of idols as they make their way to the top, but the format seems to have been shaken up since last time. With 765 Pro, we had a huge group of idols all working under one label and promoting themselves, while here it’s all a bit more detached – from the opening concert to the recruitment that Producer was doing this episode, it seems like the idols in the ‘Cinderella Project’ will be forming groups of three, and working primarily within those groups. I’m not sure whether they’re all part of 346 Pro, or will instead be rivals and competitors, but the sentiment isn’t the same as it was when it was a big group. I haven’t worked out whether that’s a good or bad thing yet – in focusing primarily on Uzuki, Rin and Mio for example, there’s much more scope for great character development. And of course I might just be completely wrong, and they’ll phase in the other groups as we go along. 765 Pro did kind of diverge after they started getting busier, and there were individual teams like Ryuuguu Komachi as well.

So like last time, these idols aren’t starting off successful, but are instead working their way to fame and fortune – actually, we’re a couple of steps behind that here. Most of the girls in 765 Pro were set on becoming idols – they knew that was what they wanted to do, and had various reasons behind it. Right now, in Cinderella Girls we’ve got a Producer who’s struggling to even find three girls, and of the two he’s found, one isn’t even sure that’s what she wants to do. I’m hoping he’s done it before, but I don’t have much faith in this guy at the moment… I mean, beyond not displaying the communication skills that are probably important towards producing idols, he just looks scary! I want Honey back! Apart from that last line he used to hook in Rin, much of what he said was… not very convincing.

The idols we’ve seen so far are much more promising! I’ve heard that in the Cinderella Girls game, the idols were separated into one of three categories: ‘Cute’, ‘Cool’ and ‘Passion’. I don’t know any more than that, nor how that will work in the anime – will the groups consist of one girl from each category? Or will all the members of a group be part of one category? Rin feels like she belongs in ‘Cool’, while Uzuki is ‘Passion’ if I’ve ever seen it – I think I’d start feeling a little apprehensive if, even after being scouted nothing was happening at all. Actually, I’d feel conned. Uzuki’s enthusiasm is really something, to the point that I think it was what encouraged Producer to keep stalking… I mean, asking Rin. I’m looking forward to seeing Rin discover her own reasons for wanting to be an idol – Uzuki’s helped convince her for now, but she has to find something of her own if she wants to succeed. Especially after she initially looked like she wasn’t interested at all – why did Producer literally just decide to pick someone off the street?

…Gasp! It can’t be! Go get your own waifu!

Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of Blogging: Sharing with Eva

Eva’s First Impression

Idolm@ster Cinderella starts off on a magical note, revolving around hopes and dreams. This is certainly different from its previous predecessor, of having a Producer with the best gangster face on the block (yes I am LOVING IT), recruiting girls that may or may not have auditioned in the past. He is persistent when he wants to recruit someone, so much that due to his looks he was eventually reported to the police as a stalker. And his reasons for recruiting the girls is debatable as he never gone into depth of why he wants to recruit them other than their “smile” – which doesn’t help his creditably when he tells that to Rin as she never smiled in front of him before.

Uzuki is the first to be approached and given the opportunity to join the Cinderella Project. Her dreams of finally making it in has finally come true, but since the other two girls have not been recruited yet, she is forced on stand-by for the meantime. She is a charming, optimistic girl who works hard for her dream of becoming an idol. No matter how many times she has failed an audition she will keep trying, she will continue attending her classes despite the fact all the students had long left, and even though she has to wait a bit longer for her dream to finally be put into action, she is more than willing to wait a while longer.

Rin is a girl with a cool demeanor with a warm heart. When she sees someone having trouble she usually would step in to help out- though from time to time it wounds up as a misunderstanding when the opposing party doesn’t hear her out.
She doesn’t have a dream, so I am looking forward to seeing her discover new things about herself and develop a passion in the future. Life isn’t as enjoyable when you lack something passionate to do, that is why the Producer asked her if she is enjoying life, and persuaded her into joining by saying she can dip her toe in the water to see whether or not it the Cinderella Project will interest her.

Overall I loved the premiere, simple and fresh that’s the best way I can sum it up. I especially like the fact the premise is situation (if I understood correctly) where three girls are being added to an already existing group. Hearing that there are three slots open raised my suspicions about the possibility of three members having left the Cinderella Project- I could be wrong though.

Possibility of Blogging: GUARANTEED! Joint coverage with Vantage!