Cute Clumsy Girl — Unless she's focusing really hard on her movements, such as when dancing, she will fall over her own feet. She considers not tripping once in a day an accomplishment.
Dojikko — Established as her most defining trait in the anime. But the middle and end, it's completely forgotten about.
Enforced Method Acting — In universe; Haruka gives a heartbreaking performance in a musical she was auditioning for the main role which she got. But it was caused because she was still traumatized by the Producer's life threatening accident that she blames herself for.
One Note Cook — Can't cook anything edible other than sweets. Averted in the anime where she manages to fix a dish after Chihaya gives her the wrong sauce.
Plucky Girl: Her defining trait. Her optimism is the glue that holds the group up.
A talented and serious 15-year-old who became an idol in order to improve her singing. She isn't really thrilled by the flashier aspects of her career, and is rather fond of classical music.
A-Cup Angst — Flanderized amongst fanworks. It doesn't help that come iM@S2 she's the only idol whose bustline hasn't grown an inch. The anime even lampshades on this comes the Beach Episode.
Adaptation Dye Job — Chihaya's hair started off black with a slight blue tinge. It graduated to full on blue from the 360 port and onward.
Cry Cute — The end of Episode 20, after finishing her song at the end of 765's autumn concert, even as she sees a younger specter of herself and Yuu apparently watching her sing.
Fairytale Motifs — Chihaya's character is built around symbols of the bluebird of happiness (two of her image songs, Aoi Tori and Nemuri Hime, contain direct references), which ties into her desire to handle her life herself and find meaning her own way. The anime abandons this part of her character arc completely.
First Name Basis — In the games, upon the first meeting, she demands Producer to call her "Chihaya". In fact, she doesn't like being called by her family name.
Hopeless With Tech - Wich is kind of weird since she's the one assigned to do the Audio Tech's job during their first stage performance on episode 3 of the anime.
Ill Girl — In iM@S2, she has a fever twice throughout the story. It is a sign of her chronic throat inflammation.
Not So Stoic — She has been known to crack up at the lamest jokes.
Serious Business — Her attitude toward singing. She's not fond of any "extracurricular" activity that entails her career, and spends her free time listening to classical music.
Stepford Smiler — Pretends so hard to be cheerful for the Producer.
Unwinnable — In the original Arcade game, she is notoriously prone to this. She gains only slight improvements to her tension in events, but large losses if you say the wrong thing, or mess up on a lesson minigame. Because you're working on a time limit, her tension going too low results in an inescapable death spiral. Thankfully, the console version can do a Save Scumming to prevent it.
Did The Research — This is entirely realistic for a character with depression and social anxiety.
A painfully shy 16-year-old from a traditional household who's prone to frequently bursting out in tears. She became an idol hoping to shed her fragile persona.
An "ALWAYS200%GENKI!!" 14-year-old from a poor family and the eldest of six children. Making a living for her family was part of the reason she joined 765.
Adaptation Dye Job: In Xenoglossia, her hair is more reddish than orange.
The Scrooge — She doesn't come off as greedy, but she is known to go to great lengths to scrounge up a few bucks, even searching under vending machines for loose change. Even as a hugely successful idol she spends her spare time doing menial chores for cash.
A focused, industrious 18-year-old who originally joined 765 as an intern, but became an idol due to shortage of talents. Even as an idol she still handles the business side of her career.In iM@S2, she becomes the producer of Ryuuguu Komachi.
The oldest of the idols at age 20, Azusa is an easygoing, hopeless romantic. She became an idol hoping to gain more attention and ultimately find her "destined one."In iM@S2, she is a member of Ryuuguu Komachi.
Actor Allusion — In the anime, though not to her seiyuu's previous roles but her previous job as a gravure idol. Azusa was asked to do an audition of gravure idol and was asked to pose. Cue Male Gaze. On boobs.
Adaptation Dye Job — Like Chihaya, her hair started off black. It changed to blue in the 360 port, then a dark purple in the SP games. As of iM@S2 it has gone back to blue.
Catch Phrase — Due to her overall ditzyinnocence, it may as well be "Ara ara..." (or sometimes just one "Ara") (or "Oh my...")
Hello Nurse — Mostly in the anime, there's nearly NO men who'd pass up on asking her out for a date (even if she's clueless and probably refusing). Which leads to...
So Beautiful, It's a Curse — The entire cityscape (and even the zoo animals) end up entranced by her beauty when she runs through the streets in a wedding dress. Eventually it starts a stampede.
The rich, spoiled 14-year-old daughter of a corporation CEO acquainted with 765's president. She is sickeningly sweet towards complete strangers, but incredibly sharp-tongued to everyone else (i.e., the staff, her fellow idols, and even the producer). She became an idol to prove to her father that she could become successful on her own terms.In iM@S2, she is a member of Ryuuguu Komachi.
Lonely Rich Kid — The reason Usa-chan is so precious to Iori is that it was her only friend since childhood, as the only people who ever had much contact with her were maids and butlers. You can catch her talking to Usa-chan from time to time.
Omniglot — Like Takane, she's fluent in a number of languages.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! — Invoked and inverted in the same dialogue during Episode 10, when she blackmails the producer of Shinkan Shoujo Pro, who's planning to force 765 to lose on purpose, into playing by the rules with the fact that her family is the major stockholder for his idol group's parent company.
Spoiled Sweet: Iori has ego in spades, but she's short in arrogance. Her best friend among the other idols is always-short-on-cash Yayoi, and she is not above doing her part on chores and eating commoner's food.
Tsundere — An unusual A/B hybrid for her seiyuu, a Type A specialist: Type B around people she wants to manipulate, type A around everyone else, especially the Producer.
16-year-old Makoto was raised as a boy by her father, who always wanted a son. As such, she uses masculine pronouns and is good at sports and karate, and gets more attention from girls than boys. Ultimately she came to resent it, wishing she could be more feminine and get more attention from boys, so she became an idol to try to reinvent herself.
Action Girl — While modeling for a swimsuit edition of an idol magazine, she proposes a shot of her leaping from the roof into the pool.
Expository Hairstyle Change — It took her four games, but as of iM@S2 and the anime it has occurred to her that letting her hair grow out may be a step towards looking more feminine.
Gackt — Rumor has it he's the inspiration for her new haircut, because apparently Japanese people are entranced by the concept of styling gel.
Jack-of-All-Stats In the game, although she is proud of her dancing skills, her skills are perfectly average. For those unable to play you can check out this video here. You can see her skills at 1:53.
Hobbies Im@s 2: Ecology (Only Ami), Playing Games (Only Mami), Text Messaging (both)
A pair of hyperactive 12-year-old twins who became idols (and the youngest of the bunch) because it sounded fun. They take turns performing under Ami's name.In iM@S2, Ami is a member of Ryuuguu Komachi while Mami is produced separately.
Divergent Character Evolution — If one pays attention in the arcade and first Xbox360 games, Mami turns out to be a little more mature than Ami. In the SP games, Takane figured out that they were two different people when she made eye-contact with Mami and saw that she was more mature. Come iM@S2, the twins get separate careers, Mami changes her hairstyle and Ami leaves, so it's likely that this will continue.
"With our little grey cells and seven-colored faces, the sexy girl detectives Ami and Mami, in the name of our Grandmother and Grandfather, and in the name of the moon, will capture the culprit."
The Nicknamers: They have cutesy nicknames for all the other idols (Iorin for Iori, Miki-Miki for Miki, Yuki-pyon for Yukiho, etc.) and they address the Producer as "nii-chan" instead of "Producer".
Laid-back 14-year-old Miki thinks she can breeze through the idol ladder, given that she already gets good grades without much effort, gets 20 love confessions a day, and manages to stay in shape in spite of sleeping a lot. She debuted in the first game's Xbox360 version, and is the only character to have an alternate story route.
Freak Out — In her alternate route, she absentmindedly walks into traffic, and the Producer pushes her away at the last second. He is hospitalized, and Miki, realizing how her inattention caused a lot of trouble, decides it's high time she stop being lazy.
Friendly Enemy — During SP games, despite being in 961, she showed almost zero hostility towards 765 Pro idols.
The Obi-Wan — How she is cast in Mujin Gattai Kisaragi.
Relationship Sabotage — Played for Laughs at the ending of SP Missing Moon. She said she rejoined 765 because she couldn't stand either Chihaya, Azusa, or Ritsuko*
(this version's playable characters)
being in a relationship with Producer, and wanted to get in their way.
Verbal Tic - "-na no" (a declarative phrase) and "Afu~" (Japanese onomatopoeia for yawning)
Hibiki Ganaha
Voiced by: Manami Numakura
Age: 15 (16)
Height: 152 cm
Weight: 41 kg
Birthday: October 10th
Blood type: A
Three sizes: 86-58-83 (83-56-80)
Hobbies: Knitting, Table tennis, (Walking)
An energetic 15-year-old from Okinawa who loves to dance and sing. She became an idol to make people happy, and has a ridiculous number of pets ranging from the mundane to the bizarrely exotic. Hibiki was introduced in the iM@S SP as a member of Project Fairy, 961's production. In iM@S2, she is a part of 765 Production.
A Dog Named Dog — Played with; A majority of her animals have the name of their species name in them but have a cute like nickname like Hamuzou*
"Hamusutā" being Japanese for hamster
and Inumi*
"Inu" being Japanese for dog
.
Eyes Always Shut — Not during regular conversation, but in the PSP game she spends large portions of her songs with her eyes closed when no other girl does that.
Friend to All Living Things — She has dozens of pets, ranging from the mundane (cat, hamster, dog) to the exotic and outright bizarre (a crocodile!).
An elegant and majestic 17-year-old from an unstated, far-off land, Takane was first introduced as a member of Project Fairy in iM@S SP. Although haughty, she's very polite to everyone, even her rivals. In iM@S2, she is a part of 765 Production.
Big Eater — In one episode of the anime, she ate three large bowls of ramen. In one sitting.
In addition, in her segment of "Are We Live?". Takane's Ramen Expedition, she devours a truly intimidating bowl of ramen singlehandedly. And later proceeds to devour both of the twins' equally intimidating helpings. "Gluttonous Princess", indeed.
Cloudcuckoolander — although Takane usually just comes off as mysterious and elegant, she occasionally has her "uhh... Takane?" moments. For instance, during the Kero Kero cooking show she developed a more than strange attachment to the head of her frog costume. The Producer had remind her that, no, she was not allowed to take it home.
Gentle Giant — Takane is officially the tallest core idol of the franchise; the Cinderella Girls game (which canonicity is uncertain) introduces Kirari Moroboshi, who is a whopping 185 cm tall.
Punny Name — Her first name is phonetically similar to the Japanese phrase "So tall" (if read as 'Taka, ne') or the word for mountain peak.
13-year-old daughter of Mai, herself a once hugely popular idol. Growing up on tales of her mother's glory, little wonder she ended up wanting to become an idol herself. Unfortunately, she fails every audition she tries, until a chance meeting with Haruka, who felt she has potential and introduces her to 876.
Absurdly Youthful Mother — Mai was forced into retirement when she got pregnant at age 15 (and still at the peak of her career) with Ai. Fourteen years later, when now 29-year-old Mai decides to rejoin the business, she's understandably still very hot.
Inelegant Blubbering — Part of her friendship with Yukiho stems from both being prone to cry a lot. The difference is where Yukiho mostly whimpers, Ai sounds the foghorn.
Stage Mom — A subtle case, but the tales of Ai's mother made her desperate for a moment in the spotlight.
Stuck In Their Shadow — In-Universe, Ai fears this when her manager says she could become a big success just by namedropping her famous mother, saying she wants to become an idol based on her own ability. A fear which turns out to be entirely justified.
15-year-old Eri was a hikikimori and an internet celebrity known as "ELLIE". One day, however, she is scouted by a producer from 876 to become a real idol, a prospect Eri is naturally very nervous about.
A soft spoken 15-year-old boy and Ritsuko's cousin. Fed up with his lack of luck with girls and unwanted luck with boys, he asked Ritsuko for help in turning him into the kind of cool, handsome idol that women would love. She introduced him to 876, where he is promptly put into a frilly pink dress and pushed onstage in a desperate attempt to save a show after the actual performer is a no-show.
Several of Ryo's bad endings turn out rather miserably for him as well. Being found out and becoming a laughingstock doesn't seem so bad compared to the ending where he completely loses his mind and actually begins to believe he is a girl.
Clark Kenting — Glasses on: Male. Glasses off: Female!
Dropped a Bridget on Him — Ryo does this to the entire nation of Japan. His popularity determines whether they love him anyway or laugh him off the stage.
Even the Girls Want Her — Yumeko thinks Ryo has this effect on her, before finding out his little secret, to much relief on her part.
Image Song — "Dazzling World" and "Himitsu no Sangoshou"
Ryo's fellow idol and rival in his storyline. Though she maintains an image of being cute and innocent, she uses incredibly dirty tactics to claw her way to the top, such as giving out candies that clog the vocal cords of her rivals, or sabotaging the stage so the other contestants screw up.
Vitriolic Best Buds - Prior to her finding out Ryo's gender, the two develop an odd mixture of mutual hatred and friendship, and hang out together quite often.
Even Evil Has Standards — Or at least "Hypercompetitive Idols with a Penchant for Serious Business": once they learn how low Kuroi would stoop to ruin the innocent idols of 765 Pro, they decide to call it quits.
Graceful Loser — In the game, even after losing to the girls in the Idol Awards, the boys bear no ill will against them and congratulates them. Kuroi on the other hand...
Jerkass — In the anime, as Haruka first witnessed. Or at least that's how they appear to be no thanks to Kuroi manipulating them into thinking that 765's idols are "corrupt".
Recycled Script — Their anime plotline has a lot of elements borrowed from the Project Fairy storyline in the SP games, and Kuroi fueling rivalry between idol groups with over-the-top stories of his own victimhood is one of those.
Unwitting Pawn — To Kuroi, who has been manipulating them into thinking that the idols of 765 are "corrupt" and that they were to do everything to stop them. And in Episode 21, once they wisen up to what's actually happening, they are understandbly pissed off and walk out on Kuroi.
Touma Amagase
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima
Age: 17
Height: 175cm
Weight: 57kg
Birthday: March 3rd
Blood type: B
Three sizes: 81-65-80
Hobbies: Soccer, cooking, collecting figures
17-year-old leader of Project Jupiter. A self-centered idol who takes idol work very seriously and dislikes people who are just in for the fun of it.
Adorkable — The real personality under his grouchy, competitive facade; while this is hinted at in his dere moments, it's especially apparent towards the end of both the game and anime.
Determinator — In your first face-off against him (where the winner is the group who can draw the most spectators to their stage with their performance), Touma utterly destroys your group even after losing one speaker to an electrical surge.
Expy — Shares a lot of resemblances with Kratos Aurion, from another Namco game.
Spanner in the Works — In Episode 19 he discovers Kuroi plotting to destroy Chihaya's career with a picture of her arguing with her mother over Yuu's grave. He angrily calls him out in Episode 20, and come next Episode he, Hokuto and Shouta finally call it quits.
Tsundere — He's not quite the tough guy he thinks he is. He gets flustered and tries to cover it up whenever this shows through. Lampshaded by Shouta.
Hokuto Ijuuin
Voiced by: Daichi Kanbara
Age: 20
Height: 180cm
Weight: 64kg
Birthday: February 14th
Blood type: O
Three sizes: 86-76-87
Hobbies: Piano, violin, dating
An "eternally dangerous idol prince", 20-year-old Hokuto is another idol for Project Jupiter, and his hobbies include piano, violin and going on dates.
Adorkable - His self-introduction consists solely of over-the-top pickup lines and attempts at flirting because he claims he only knows how to appeal to a female audience.
Gratuitous French — In SP, he likes peppering his sentences with French words like "Non", "Oui", etc. Would've been a French Jerk if he wasn't Japanese at all.
Meaningful Name — Kuroi can be broken down into Ku-Ro-I, which corresponds to 9-6-1. Kuroi also means "black".
Pet the Dog — A dishonest manipulator he may be, but one SP radio drama reveals a (somehow) nicer side, when he takes a "family-like" photo of Azusa, Iori and Producer, and gives it to them to keep as a memorial/gift.
Pitiful Worms — One of his ways to insult the people of 765 Productions.
Three sizes: Secret (Not divulged, Undisclosed, etc.)
Hobbies Im@s: Wild fancy, Browsing 2chan
Hobbies Im@s 2: Watching TV, Daydreaming, Forum surfing
Secretary of 765 Production, who serves as the game's announcer and tutorial guide. Famous for daydreaming on the job — sometimes in the middle of conversations.In the anime, it was revealed that she was an ex-idol under the tutelage of Takagi and Kuroi before their falling-out.
A Day in the Limelight — Although not an idol, she sometimes gets a song in the larger album collections. This turns out to be a foreshadowing of her past as an idol.
President of 765 Production. Appears only as a black silhouette from the neck down. In the iM@S SP games, he has a fairly major role in the story... but still appears only as a black silhouette. Everyone refers to him as "President", so it's easy to forget his name.
New president of 765 Production after his cousin Junichiro stepped down. In the anime, his body can now be seen in full, but his face is still obscured. Like Junichiro, he is referred by everyone as "President".
