The characters originating from THE iDOLM@STER: SideM, the third mobile game in the iDOLM@STER franchise, sharing the Mobage platform with Cinderella Girls. SideM focuses on producing male idols, contrasting the series' usual girl-only playable casts. The player joins 315 Pro to recruit handsome young men to take to the top of the idol industry.
Jupiter and Ryo return in this game, so for their tropes in previous franchise installments, see the character sheet for The IDOLM@STER: Allstars. Units are arranged in the official idol unit order given in-game.
Back to the main character index.
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In General
SideM provides examples of:
- Boy Band: The grand majority of the groups are this.
- The Bus Came Back: Jupiter and Ryo make their way back to the series with this installment.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Some of them more Bishounen, some of them more muscular, all of them very handsome.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Some of them take this up to eleven, including the Wholesome Crossdresser.
- Costume Evolution: Growing Stars updates each unit's look, with some changes being subtle and some units having almost entirely new outfits.
- Color-Coded Characters: All of the playable characters have their own image color.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each group has a unifying color motif: DRAMATIC STARS is orange, Jupiter is yellow-green, Beit is sky blue, S.E.M. is pink, HighxJoker is red, W is yellow, FRAME is green, Sai is purple, Mofumofuen is pastel pink, F-LAGS is blue, Altessimo is light yellow, Cafe Parade is violet-red, Shinsoku Ikkon is white, THE Kogadou is black, and Legenders is blue-gray. Growing Stars adds C.FIRST, whose color motif is teal.
- The idols are arranged in either the Physical, Intelligent, or Mental attributes.
- Idol Singer: Naturally.
- Image Song: Each unit starts out with DRIVE A LIVE.
- After 1st Live, the idols get Beyond The Dream.
- The anime adds Reason!! and GLORIOUS RO@D.
- Their 5th Anniversary disc adds PRIDE STAR.
- Live on Stage's WORLD TRE@SURE series adds MEET THE WORLD!
- The NEW ST@GE EPISODE song series adds NEXT STAGE!!
- Growing Stars gives them Growing Smiles!
- Limited Wardrobe: To a degree. Compared to Cinderella Girls or Million Live!, the SideM idols tend to wear a primary outfit in the majority of their cards, with alternative winter clothes, swimsuits and the like if the event calls for it.
- Mr. Fanservice: Some of the idols show shades of this, particularly Seiji and Hokuto.
- Punny Name: In the tradition of the franchise. 315Pro's name is read Saikou Pro, or Ultimate Pro.
- Spear Counterpart: To the rest of the iM@S franchise in general.
- True Companions: Despite all their differences, everyone in 315Pro regards each other, Producer and staff workers included, this. A good chunk of the idols have explicitly stated how joining 315Pro has made their lives worth so much, having found true friendship and a place where they can be themselves.
The Original Units
Jupiter
In General
- Color-Coded Characters: Their group has a green motif color.
- Costume Evolution: Their first unit outfit after moving to 315 was light, sparkly, and overall less uniform compared to the samey blacks they used to wear in 961. When SideM: Live on St@ge! updated their look again, they take a few elements from their original duds but do away with the sparkles and whites. Updated again in Growing Stars, where their outfits are more monochromatic with green and yellow accents.
- Heel–Face Turn: They defect from 961 Productions (which is the closest thing the franchise has to a "Heel") to 315 Productions.
- Image Song: "Brand New Field" and "Planet Scape".
- Their later songs are "GLORIA MOMENT", "Over AGAIN", "Dive to GRAVITATION", "Unmei Kounen", and "Radiant Letter".
- Magnetic Hero: In SideM, they serve as the initial glue that bonded the idols to 315. Whether it was because the Producer took idols to their concerts as an example of what to be going forward, or whether it was because the idols themselves realized their calling from watching them (as it was in S.E.M.'s case), one cannot deny the influence that Jupiter had on all of its juniors in their new production company.
- The Mentor: The advantage of having them in 315 is that they can use their experience to elevate the other, less experienced idols of 315. Episode 8 of the SideM anime is a great example of this.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Although it's more obvious with Touma, all three of them are this to some degree as of their move to SideM.
Touma Amagase
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima
Age: 17
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 57 kg
Shoe Size: 25.5 cm
Birthday: March 3rd
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Soccer, Cooking, Figures
Talents: Making curry from spices
A former 961 Production idol who resigned after realizing Kuroi’s nasty way of handling things. He retains his role as Jupiter’s center and leader, with his eyes still set on becoming a top idol. Touma is passionate when it comes to his idol work, and his ability to get things done has inspired many idols.
- Berserk Button:
- Being told they were only pawns by Kuroi prompts Touma to hit the president in the 2011 anime.
- An executive implying that Jupiter only got famous because of 961 Productions' influence in the SideM anime forces Hokuto and Shouta to hold Touma back before he reaches out to attack them, too.
- The Bet: Growing Stars's Episode Zero reveals that the entire reason Touma's even in the entertainment industry was because his friend dared him to join a singing contest, betting that he couldn't win. Touma does indeed win, earning the right to debut as an idol, but the contest was run by 961 Productions...
- Determinator: Aims to reach the very top of the idol world with everything he's got, and then even further beyond that.
- Fiery Redhead: More brown than red, but the personality suits him to a tee. Excitable, determined, and very passionate.
- Guest Fighter: He and Shiki appear as bosses (and eventually playable characters) in Tales of Asteria for one collaboration event with SideM.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He's about as easy to set off as a firecracker, when it comes down to teasing or hitting a nerve.
- Idiot Hair
- Image Song: HAPPYxHAPPY Meeting.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Touma was a fan of Yusuke and Kyousuke Aoi, who form the unit W, back when they were soccer stars— to the point of having their autograph on hand in Episode 8 of the SideM anime.
- The McCoy: Between Hokuto's Kirk and Shouta's Spock.
- Missing Mom: According to a drama CD, his mother passed away when he was young.
- One-Note Cook: He's a great chef, but his specialty lies solely in curry. When Shouta has to pick which stew belongs to Touma between his and Teru, he picks the wrong one.Shouta: Ehh? But Touma-kun, it's always curry with you.
- Real Men Cook: Loves to cook. He's apparently so good at it that they released his homemade curry recipe as a buyable product.
- Serious Business: Being an idol. And, as some of his quotes seem to show, cooking curry.
- Supreme Chef: He collects spices and tries out lots of different recipes for his curries. He takes it so seriously that Hokuto ushers Jun aside to cook somewhere else while Touma's focusing.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Touma obviously mellows out by the end of Idolm@ster 2 and in the 2011 anime. We see this to full effect in SideM.
- Trademark Favorite Food: According to drama CDs and the D@YS OF JUPITER manga, it's cream soda. However, as time went on his associated food became curry.
- 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.
Shouta Mitarai
Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Age: 14
Height: 163 cm
Weight: 49 kg
Shoe Size: 24.5 cm
Birthday: April 20th
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Sleeping, Filial piety
Talents: Back-flips
A former 961 Production idol who resigned following Touma, realizing Kuroi wasn’t doing the right thing. He joined Jupiter because one of his older sisters, a fan of Hokuto’s, sent in an audition form without his permission, but he stayed on after coming to admire Touma. Lazy yet skilled, he practices with just as much zeal as the others.
- Born Lucky: He always gets good results in fortune pulls and lotteries, and appears to be able to solve his problems with the power of praying.
- Curtains Match the Window: Green.
- The Gadfly: Shouta enjoys deliberately saying things that cause Touma to become flustered.
- Hidden Depths: Despite Shouta loving the attention he gets from people and having the charm to win pretty much anybody over, Shouta's actually somewhat of a loner outside of his idol activities, he considers his classmates "annoying" and rarely mentions his personal life outside of his family. He even wears his hair down whilst at school alongside much darker colours than his usual wardrobe so he stands out less.
- Image Song: "BACK FLIP☆EMOTION"
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The nature of Shouta's 'prayer powers' is this. In a few events, he manages to miraculously solve problems by praying, only for it to then turn out that said problems were solved by someone else whilst Shouta was praying...though that then brings up the question of how something always manages to come along with perfect timing and solve things right as Shouta starts praying. Is it always just coincidence, or does he really have some sort of power?
- Not a Morning Person: He loves taking naps, but that doesn’t mean he misses out on his morning sleep. His ORIGIN@L PIECES magazine has the other idols dress him and get him ready for the day all while he’s still half-asleep.
- Signature Headgear: Almost always has a hairband to keep back his mane of hair. It’s notable enough that his signature item in Poplinks, achieved through unlocking him to level 5, is a headband.
- The Slacker: One of his hobbies is taking naps, and he has tried to worm his way out of doing work he doesn't want to do via this method. Particularly prominent in the anime and Jupiter's Growing Stars 4koma, where he falls asleep on the spot whilst his unitmates discuss things.
- The Spock: Between Hokuto's Kirk and Touma's McCoy.
Hokuto Ijuuin
Voiced by: Daichi Kanbara
Age: 20
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Shoe Size: 26.5 cm
Birthday: February 14th
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Piano, Violin, Going on dates
Talents: Playing "Der Flohwalzer" at high tempo
A former 961 Production idol who saw Touma rejecting Kuroi’s actions and followed suit. Hokuto is a natural princely smooth-talker and often goes on dates. Despite this, he’s responsible and caring, looking out for the other idols and maintaining a good deal of practice to keep up with idol work.
- The Casanova: Still retains his flirtatious idol image.
- The Face: Touma might be Jupiter's leader, but Hokuto's the one who tends to do much of the talking and diplomacy on behalf of the group. This, along with his age, is probably why he handled much of Jupiter's post-961 affairs in Episode of Jupiter.
- Fan Community Nicknames: Hokuto calls Jupiter's fans angel-chan-tachi/little angels fairly often, both in public and in private.
- Gratuitous Italian: "Ciao!" He uses this constantly, nearing Catchphrase levels.
- Hidden Depths: He studied business in college, which is rather handy for handling most of Jupiter's indie affairs.
- Image Song: "ROMANTIC SHAKER"
- The Kirk: Between Shouta's Spock and Touma's McCoy.
- Old Friend: In SideM, he's said to have attended the same college as Rui Maita. This is likely why Rui was able to invite Jupiter to S.E.M.'s old school's cultural festival, and in the anime, Hokuto made a point of attending S.E.M.'s first performance.
- Prince Charming: He is promoted as an "idol prince," and while not an actual prince, has the charming demeanor befitting one.
- Significant Birth Date: He's born on Valentine's Day. Fitting, for a good looking flirt.
- Team Dad: As the oldest of the group and the only fully fledged adult, he's usually the one that handles financial situations and tries to listen to his younger costars from a more mature standpoint. Carries over once the trio comes under the 315 brand.
- Token Adult: But only barely. He's a twenty year old attending college, while his costars are seventeen and fourteen.
Dramatic Stars
In General
- Chromatic Arrangement: In addition to them each representing one of the three idol types in this series, all of them have an RGB color scheme (Teru as Red, Kaoru as Blue, and Tsubasa as Green).
- Fire, Water, Wind: The three elements that each of the trio possess in the Granblue Fantasy crossover , with Teru having fire powers, Kaoru having water powers in addition to ice powers, and Tsubasa having wind powers.
- Guest Fighter: They get to appear as fighters in a Granblue Fantasy crossover, complete with classical elements as their magic powers.
- Image Song: "STARLIGHT CELEBRATE!" and "Dramatic Nonfiction".
- Added later are "MOON NIGHT no Sei ni Shite", "ARRIVE TO STAR", "ASTERISK", and "GOOD NEW MORNING".
- Power Trio: The first new unit from SideM. With Teru and Kaoru being each other's foils, and Tsubasa rounding out the group, they're set on becoming top idols.
Teru Tendo
Voiced by: Shugo Nakamura
Played by: Ryousuke Kato (Stage Play)
Age: 28
Height 170 cm
Weight 68 kg
Shoe Size 26 cm
Birthday: February 23
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Darts, Tokusatsu TV shows
Talents: Cooking
A fiery, passionate lawyer, and the main hero of the Physical category. As a child he dreamt of becoming a superhero, which has influenced both his previous choice of career and his stage performance. His law career came to an abrupt end when he took a case in defense of an innocent young man with nobody on his side. When the law firm he worked for deemed the case too unprofitable, Teru withdrew from the firm to take the case as a freelance lawyer. After going from a prestigious law firm to a freelancer however, work became much more scarce. Unsure what to do, Teru went to a local bar to sulk, where he was approached by a producer from 315 Pro...
- Alliterative Name: T.T.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's been known to perform over-the-top sentai poses without realizing he's doing so. It's also a bit of a coincidence that he's an actual lawyer, making this trope more exact than intended.
- Don't Explain the Joke: Tsubasa sometimes explains the meaning behind his gags after a moment of confusion, prompting Teru to hurriedly ask this.
- Expy: Of Haruka Amami, right down to the red hair and the word "heaven" in his surname.
- Fiery Redhead: Passionate and burning with justice.
- First-Name Basis: With Tsubasa.
- Hot-Blooded: Teru goes full gas in everything he does.
- Idiot Hair: It's one out of many when it comes to SideM.
- Image Song: "THE FIRST STAR".
- Jumped at the Call: Immediately took the opportunity to become an idol after learning what the job means. He's more wary about it in the anime, as he signed on to 315 while drunk and wasn't sure he was in the right mind to take the job until he discussed it with the Producer.
- Large Ham: A habit formed since his youth, inspired by his beloved sentai shows.
- The McCoy: To Tsubasa's Kirk and Kaoru's Spock.
- Meaningful Name: Teru can be "Bright, Promising, Splendid" and his surname can mean "The Sun, Heavenly Path, or Divine Justice". All very fitting for a Lawyer Superhero Idol.
- The Mentor: To his unit partners. Sometimes it is welcome, sometimes not.
- A Minor Kidroduction: Teru's first regular Magazine starts off with him acting as a hero of justice on the playground, when he was a little boy.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A lawyer, sentai hero, and idol? Teru manages to be all that and more.
- Older Than He Looks: He's really insecure about his facial hair, because he feels he looks too young without it on his chin.
- Perma-Stubble: His little hint of chin scruff.
- Playing with Fire: The Granblue Fantasy crossover gives him this power set.
- Pungeon Master: Never misses an opportunity to make small pun topical to the conversation, and many of them are pretty lame.
- Red Is Heroic: He favors the color red precisely because of its heroic qualities.
- Sentai: His childhood role models and his dream career. He gets to be one for one of his Super Rare sets.
- Significant Birth Date: His original birth date was meant to evoke the idol studio (March 15, 315 Productions), but it was later changed to reflect the pre-registration date of the game. This was changed after the game went back online.
- Spirited Competitor: in the Job Change Challenge gacha, where he is tasked to participate in a boxing match as part of a promotional event.
Kaoru Sakuraba
Voiced by: Yūma Uchida
Played by: Ryo Shibuki (Stage Play)
Age: 26
Height 178 cm
Weight 58 kg
Shoe Size 26.5 cm
Birthday: September 24
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Reading Sister's poetry book
Talents: Magic tricks
A stoic, somewhat rude former surgeon, and main hero of the Intelligence category. He speaks very bluntly and can come off as condescending at times, but warms up a bit after he's become comfortable in someone's presence.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After one too many failures during an audition, Teru started to get nervous. Kaoru responded by telling him to quit if he thinks he's not able to handle that kind of pressure, which gave him his resolution back.
- Kaoru seems to love this question. When Teru and Tsubasa have separate anxieties over their careers in the anime (wondering if it was sound to be recruited the way he was in Teru's case and My Greatest Failure flashbacks for Tsubasa), he pulls the same question out both times.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: His New Year wish is dedicated to Dramatic Stars. He doesn't want his unit partners to know about it.
- Cannot Spit It Out: He refuses to directly admit any fondness for the Producer, but it manifests in his frequent medical advice and fussing over the stress of the job. He insists this is just a leftover habit from his medical days.
- Consummate Professional: When he accepts a job, he will get it done to perfection. He also keeps a professional distance from his unit partners, as signified by how he addresses them.
- Cool Big Sis: Had one once, when he was younger. She was a talented singer as well, and taught Kaoru some of the skills he would use years later as an idol.
- Cynicism Catalyst: His older sister's death was what inspired his desire to pursue medicine.
- Defrosting Ice King: He may not like to admit it, but Teru and Tsubasa have slowly chipped away at his cold persona. Compared to earlier scenarios, Kaoru, while still somewhat aloof, is much more closer to his teammates, and even his fights with Teru have mostly devolved from active animosity to almost childish squabbles for the sake of squabbling.
- Dr. Jerk: How he treated his actual patients is unknown, but his general attitude to people except for children is less than friendly.
- Expy: His backstory is rather similar to Chihaya Kisaragi's, right down to similar purposes for becoming an idol.
- Even his character is similar to Chihaya's. They both tend to keep aloof from the rest of the group (although Chihaya doesn't openly voice her displeasure towards anyone).
- Hey, You!: He's grown closer to Teru and Tsubasa over time, but still tends to refer to other idols with a description rather than a name, such as Bassist for Natsuki, or Yankee A and Yankee B for Suzaku and Genbu...
- Image Song: "Because".
- Jerkass: The quote he was introduced with: "There's no value in teaming me up with these guys."
- Making a Splash / An Ice Person: Given this set of abilities during a Granblue Fantasy cross over.
- The Medic: He tends to take this position due to his past career.
- Never Be Hurt Again: Not only did his sister's death drive him into medicine, but he's since taken a perfectionist stance to all of his jobs so he can be good enough not to be hurt the same way he was when she died.
- Not So Above It All: Dramatic Stars' unit CD features Kaoru being mercilessly used as the Butt-Monkey in Teru and Tsubasa's jokes. He also gets flustered when tasked with coming up with a catchphrase on the spot, managing to come up with phrases that out-ham even Teru's.
- In his birthday lines for 2018, he says that he's gotten used to anticipating a surprise on his birthday and sounds rather annoyed by it...but he also adds that he doesn't want you to stop doing it.
- The OVA reveals that he Can't Hold His Liquor, losing his aloof and composed personality and going overboard at a karaoke place, much to the drunken joy of the other adults.
- Not So Stoic: Most of the time, he's hard to approach and cold to others. Teru and Tsubasa sometimes crack through the armor and reveal his hidden soft side, and there are moments when he can express real anger, such as when he was told by the Producer to just focus on the concert when there is also the drama job offer for him.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to unit partner Teru's Red.Kaoru: The two things I dislike most are noise, and fools who emit noise.
- Pet the Dog: Back when Dramatic Stars was newly formed and the three weren't as close as they are now, Kaoru's main signs of kindness under his cold exterior was his nicer treatment of Tsubasa, especially when compared to his Teeth-Clenched Teamwork with Teru. Even after his defrosting, his fondness for Tsubasa is quite obvious.
- When Pierre cuts his hand in episode 2 of the anime, Kaoru immediately asks him to show the wound and helps clean it up, all while speaking in a much gentler tone and speech pattern, like a doctor to a young patient. He even smiles when Pierre calls him kind!
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In the beginning, he did not get along with Teru 9 times out of 10, but as unit partners they had to spend a lot of time together. After much character development, their quarreling is a lot more harmless, and while Kaoru would never admit it there's no doubt that they consider each other True Companions.
- Tragic Keepsake: Keeps his sister's dolphin necklace with him at all times.
- The Spock: To Tsubasa's Kirk and Teru's McCoy.
- Stoic Spectacles: Fits the archetype the best out of all the bespectacled idols featured in the game.
Tsubasa Kashiwagi
Voiced by: Taku Yashiro
Played by: Tappei Miyata (Stage Play)
Age: 24
Height 182 cm
Weight 68 kg
Shoe Size 27 cm
Birthday: June 2
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Tennis, Reading, Traveling the world
Talents: Weather prediction, Big Appetite
The main hero and starter idol of the Mental category, Tsubasa used to be a pilot, but a mistake cost him his job. Not long after, he was scouted by the Producer on the street. He remained skeptical at first, until he was invited to see Jupiter live in concert. When he saw their performance he was dazzled by the stage, and began to dream of being an idol himself.
- Ascended Fanboy: His idol dream was sparked by Jupiter, who he now works at the same agency with. In a Dengeki Online character interview, Tsubasa also expresses a desire to perform onstage together with Jupiter someday.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Although Tsubasa is gentle and usually acts overwhelmed by Teru and Kaoru's forceful personalities, he will be assertive when necessary to stop the bickerings. He also has a mischievous streak.
- Big Eater: As stated in his "Talents" section, he has a huge appetite and can eat an entire meal in five minutes. The anime demonstrates this very well; he orders a ramen with the toppings stacked high, a packed rice bowl as a side dish, a huge plate of gyoza, and a large thing of fried rice, just for himself.
- Blow You Away: For a Granblue Fantasy crossover, he was given wind powers.
- Expy: Very similar in appearance and overall personality to Makoto Tachibana.
- Gentle Giant: He's self-conscious about his large build making him stand out.
- The Heart: Between the abrasive Sakuraba and the energetic Teru butting heads with each other, Tsubasa often acts as the middle man for the both of them, mediating the conflicts and keeping them thinking about what they want to do as idols. They often also put aside their squabbling when it comes to making him happy or the center of attention.
- Image Song: "Yakusoku wa Dreaming Flight".
- The Kirk: To Kaoru's Spock and Teru's McCoy.
- My Greatest Failure: During his virgin flight after becoming a pilot, he froze up completely when he was faced with flying through a tropical storm. His inability to react cost him his pilot's seat, and he was directed to ground control. He gained an unhealthy Phobia of failure after that incident.
- One-Steve Limit: Confusingly enough, he shares a first name with Tsubasa Ibuki, who's the "yellow representative" for her respective game's main trio.
- Meaningful Name: "Wing" referring to both his old job and his dream to reach the summit of the idol world; considering the anime revealed that his father was also a pilot, the meaningfulness In-Universe is most likely intentional. "Oak Tree" referring to his large build.
- Strong Family Resemblance: His younger siblings look like child-sized versions of him, as we see in his Day Off cards.
- Tareme Eyes: Emphasizing his gentle nature.
- Trauma Button: In the anime, Tsubasa was brought back to his memories of the typhoon incident when he was brought up against bright lights.
Altessimo
In General
- Elegant Classical Musician: Both of them are this, and classical music is the overall theme of the unit.
- Image Song: "The 1st Movement ～Mirai no Tame no Nijuusou～" and "Never end "Opus"".
- Later albums add "Tone's Destiny", "mermaid fermata", and "Attacca Scenery".
Kei Tsuzuki
Voiced by: Shun'ichi Toki
Age: ???
Height 182 cm
Weight 54 kg
Shoe Size 27 cm
Birthday: April 2
Blood type: O
Hobbies: None
Talents: Piano
A lethargic pianist drifting idly through his life until one rainy day walk, when a talent scout for 315 Pro invites him to the studio after hearing him singing to himself. Kei initially attends the follow-up interview only because he has nothing better to do, but at the studio he happens to catch Rei Kagura performing. The violinist's performance inspires him so deeply, he bursts into the soundroom to declare that he must be Rei's unit partner.
- An Odd Place to Sleep: Occasionally seen snoozing away on the floor.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: An excellent musician, but he has no passion for anything else.
- But Not Too Foreign: Half German on his mother's side.
- Crippling Overspecialization: His Vocal stat is among the highest in the cast, but it comes at the expense of a mediocre-to-terrible Dance stat.
- The Ditz: He doesn't seem to be even aware of what is going on around him besides interesting sounds or great music. That causes certain problems in the business, as he will blithely ignore cues during filming and basically do whatever strikes his fancy at the moment.
- Does Not Like Spam: Hates cotton candy. He claims it's because cotton candy is loose and hard to get a grasp of... but Rei thinks to himself that said descriptor describes Kei himself.
- Doesn't Know Their Own Birthday: In his special birthday messages, he has to ask Rei the month and day, and when he talks to the Producer, he states that he's forgotten how old he is.
- Forgetful Jones: Sadly a habit of his, being absentminded a lot of the time.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Even he realizes his shortcomings in everything except music, but he says it's because he's useless in any non-music pursuit.
- Image Song: "Sanctuary World".
- Serious Business: Music is about the only thing he has much interest in, so when that interest is piqued he goes all out.
- The Slacker: Too lazy at times to get off his sleeping spot (on the floor) for food, instead asking the Producer to bring him something.
Rei Kagura
Voiced by: Yuusuke Nagano
Age: 16
Height 165 cm
Weight 52 kg
Shoe Size 24.5 cm
Birthday: June 17
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Applying Lotion
Talents: Can play a violin song by ear having heard it once
A sheltered violin prodigy who has been performing onstage from a very young age. Having been exploited by his current employers for money, he is initially reluctant to accept the Producer's offer to join an idol production. Upon hearing Kei's singing, he joined the agency to form a unit with him.
- Child Prodigy: In playing the violin.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: It's usually up to Rei to keep Kei from wandering off or get him to pay attention to any work unrelated to singing.
- Elegant Classical Musician: A violinist since his youth.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Kappa-head from Ren, due to his bob haircut.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Has a friendly golden retriever back at home named Alto.
- Hey, You!: Tends to refer to the producer as "kiden," a more mature and aloof way of saying "you".
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Due to his lonely childhood, he can be overly eager about making friends.
- Image Song: "Echoes My Note".
- Meaningful Name: The kanji for his last name mean "divine" and "music" respectively.
- Not So Stoic: His card illustrations tend to portray him as very dour and serious, but event comics tend to show a very different, goofy side to him whether due to him being the designated Straight Man to Kei's antics or his No Social Skills.
- He also absolutely LOVES horses and dogs, and completely loses his cool when given an opportunity to work with them.
- Only Sane Man: Despite being visibly younger than Kei, Rei is the responsible and mature one in his unit.
- Odd Friendship: Struck up a friendship with the near-polar opposite Shiki Iseya during a White Day event when Shiki decided that since they would be working together they should hang out.
- Photographic Memory: On his card, he mentions that he can play any musical piece that he's heard at least once before.
- Something about a Rose: His main idol outfit has a rose motif.
- Strong Family Resemblance: His older sister, seen in Growing Stars in Altessimo's Episode 0, seems to be an older version of him, just with longer hair.
Beit
In General
- Family of Choice: All three are estranged from their blood family in one way or another, and over time their idol unit formed into a family unit as well.
- Image Song: "Smile Engage" and "Omoi wa ETERNITY".
- Later songs include "Fun! Fun! Festa!", "TOMORROW DIAMOND", "Avenue Illusion!", and "Secret Ornament".
- Meaningful Name: The unit name Beit is short for arbeit, which is German for "working". It's also a play on baito (バイト), the Japanese word for part-time jobs, which is a loanword based on arbeit. All three members were part-timers prior to joining 315 Production.
- Prince Charming: Their group's whole motif is based on fairy tale princes, which you can see in their default outfits.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Pierre (15), Kyoji(20), Minori (31)
- Lonely Together: They all had lonely pasts and didn't have any close friends until they met each other.
Kyoji Takajo
Voiced by: Yuichiro Umehara
Age: 20
Height 182 cm
Weight 62 kg
Shoe Size 27 cm
Birthday: February 2nd
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Laundry
Talents: Mental arithmetic
A young man from a well-to-do family. After failing multiple times at the entrance exam for his desired college, a harsh argument broke out between Kyoji and his father that ended with Kyoji packing his suitcase and leaving home. He had taken up work as a convenience store clerk when he had a chance encounter with a young foreign customer named Pierre...
- Aloof Older Brother: The only person in Kyoji's family that he can stand is his little brother Hotaru, and similarly Hotaru has nothing but love for Kyoji. However, due to separating himself from the rest of his kin, he never makes time to be physically present in Hotaru's life. They still keep in touch, but Hotaru comments on feeling lonely without his older brother around anymore.
- Black Sheep: Of the illustrious Takajo family. His father and brother have always berated his skills and, according to Beit’s 2nd Anniversary event, still do. The only one who doesn't treat him this way is his little brother Hotaru.
- Bland-Name Product: He works as a cashier at a convenience store, with a uniform that bears a suspicious resemblance to the Japanese chain of Lawson stores.
- Calling the Old Man Out: What kicks off his ambition to prove his family wrong.
- Continuity Nod: He first meets the producer while ringing up an idol magazine, with the girls of 765 Pro on the cover.
- Endearingly Dorky: That's why we love him
- Expy: Kyoji's backstory is similar to that of 765Pro's Iori: a rich kid from a well-known family who wants to become an idol on their own merit and prove their disapproving father and brother wrong.
- Image Song: "Flying Hawk".
- Mundane Object Amazement: Likely due to coming from a very rich family, Kyoji has been shown to be very amazed at regular household appliances, including praising rice cookers and saying how they're more talented than him because they can cook rice... with just one press of a button.
- No Social Skills: While more exaggerated in early canon, he struggles with things like showing emotions, especially smiling, and maintaining eye contact. During his time working at the convenience store, his manager apparently received numerous customer complaints about his unfriendly and impolite behavior. However, he never intended to be rude; he simply lacked social skills.
- Parental Neglect: He claims that his mother left the housekeepers to take care of him instead.
- Riches to Rags: It's downplayed (especially since, as an idol, he probably has a decent source of income now) but he left his family's huge mansion and now lives in a small, one-room apartment. Not that he's particularly bothered by it, as it was his own choice in the first place.
- Self-Made Man: He struck out on his own with the intent of becoming this to prove his dad and brother wrong, after being called a failure and disgrace to the family.
- The Stoic: Tends to keep a tight lid on his emotions, more from social awkwardness than anything else, but is shown to loosen up a lot when around Pierre and Minori.
- Successful Sibling Syndrome: The success of his elder brother played a part in the expectations he couldn't live up to in his father's eyes.
- Why Did It Have To Be Rabbits?: His magazine for the BBQ event reveals he's scared of small animals in general and has him screaming at the sight of a rabbit. He also gets spooked by Nyako.
Pierre
Voiced by: Shun Horie
Age: 15
Height 165 cm
Weight 50 kg
Shoe Size 24.5 cm
Birthday: August 1st
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Taking pictures in-costume
Talents: Quickly peeling mandarins
A young man from an unspecified European country working as an amusement park mascot. He loves to entertain and make people smile, and decided a career change to Idol was a natural choice.
- Animal Motifs: Frogs. Is it any wonder?
- Almighty Janitor: He worked as a simple mascot handing out free balloons, despite his royal lineage.
- Companion Cube: He received "Kaerre" as a child, and now treats the plush frog as a real friend, carrying it with him everywhere he goes and speaking to and about it as if it were alive.
- Fairy Tale Motifs: Strongly associated with the story of The Frog Prince.
- The most obvious reference is his frog prince mascot, but his backstory is similar as well; Convenience store cashier Kyoji and Florist Minori, two perfect strangers who helped out a lost foreign boy in need with no expectation of a reward for their kindness end up recruited into an idol group with a prince. note
- Far-Out Foreigner's Favorite Food: He loves konamono, which are Japanese foods that use flour as a main ingredient such as okonomiyaki and takoyaki.
- Funny Foreigner: Due to his occasional misuse of words, atrocious handwriting, and his tendency to misunderstand things due to language and cultural differences.
- Goofy Suit: Kyoji, Minori, and the producer's first-ever meeting with him happens in full-body frog costume.
- Guest Fighter: Appears as a Light-element summon in the Granblue Fantasy collaboration event.
- Homeschooled Kids: Self studies. Had no clue what a "school" was like.
- Image Song: "Mahou no Stair".
- Keet: No matter what he does, he always finds a way to have fun with it.
- Lonely Rich Kid: A sheltered life in the castle was lonely
- King Incognito: In-game, he is secretly a foreign prince, though he has two older brothers ahead of him in the line of succession and is unlikely to become king. He has an entourage of bodyguards that frequently appear in his comic panels, and can also be seen lurking in the backgrounds of his cards. It's subverted in the anime, where his royal status seems to be common knowledge, or at least out in the open.
- Malaproper: Some of his lines have him botch a common phrase in Japanese.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: He's a certified martial artist, who can even go up against the likes of Seiji on equal footing.
- National Stereotypes: A probably-french-guy named Pierre who likes frogs.
- No Full Name Given: Like other foreigners in the franchise, he's not shown with a surname...at least until his sideMemories story, which reveals it as Bichelberger.
- One of the Kids: He is often seen with Mofumofuen, especially Kanon, because his interests, behavior, and personality are similar to those of actual elementary school children.
- Parental Substitute: Minori and Kyoji are there for him while his parents are across the globe.
- Parts Unknown: His resume's listing for his hometown is "Over There".
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Gives this look to his bodyguards in the anime when requesting that they let him join the festival.
- Stock Foreign Name: Unlike Chris, whose last name is Japanese, Pierre's name is completely foreign.
- Willing Suspension of Disbelief: At times Pierre shows a total lack of knowledge even about things not specific to Japan, like what Valentine's Day is or how to play baseball. He didn't know about Santa until he was 15 either.
Minori Watanabe
Voiced by: Tomohito Takatsuka
Age: 31
Height 178 cm
Weight 55 kg
Shoe Size 26.5 cm
Birthday: March 22nd
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Collecting Hand Creams
Talents: Finding loopholes
A former Flower Shop Clerk whose uncle was murdered by a gang. While going through his late uncle's belongings, he found huge amounts of idol memorabilia. Having never known his uncle was even interested in them, Minori began to take an interest in idols out of curiosity of what his uncle saw in them.
- Ascended Fanboy: A longtime fan of idols himself, before Pierre invited him into the Beit unit.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Outwardly calm and friendly, but can scold someone with a Tranquil Fury that gives even Suzaku and Genbu pause.
- Cool Bike: Owns one. It’s seen in his Day Off card, and in his FES card with Seiji.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His parents passed away when he was young, and his uncle who took him in afterward was then murdered by a gang when he was a young adult. Combine that with his teenage delinquency and his childhood probably wasn't very peaceful.
- Delinquent Hair: As seen in his Remember Shot card
◊, he had blond hair with a red streak in his bangs during his youth. - Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: In terms of what he honestly thinks about idols.
- Entertainment Below Their Age: Likes ordering off of the kids menu. Because he likes the cute toys, and there's no age limit after all.
- Fanboy: Of idols, something that he inherited from his uncle; Minori found a stack of male idol CDs and DVDs in his uncle's home while cleaning it up after he passed away and, after lamenting how he never really knew much his uncle, decided to give them a listen to see if that will help Minori learn more about him, and the rest is history. Amusingly enough, despite being an idol himself now (something that others occasionally have to remind him about), he's still not above fanboying his fellow 315 Production coworkers, especially Kyoji and Pierre.
- Gender-Blender Name: Minori is written in the kanji 穣, which can be spelled in numerous readings. However, the reading Minori is a girl's name.
- Flower Motifs: Uses them often as a comparison point when talking about other people.
- Former Teen Rebel: He was a thuggish delinquent as a teen who grew up into a soft-spoken, gentle man.
- I Hate Past Me: Not proud of his past self, referring to him as an "idiot" and "a bad person who went around not considering others". And anybody who looks up to "The Demon God of Ibaraki" is romanticizing the story.
- Image Song: "Cherish BOUQUET".
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: Hair ribbons, flowers, hair and skincare, sewing, flower arrangements...
- Japanese Delinquents: See above.
- Older Than He Looks: He's 31, but he could easily pass for someone in high school or in his early twenties.
- Papa Wolf: One of the Magazines has Minori express his willingness to use some of his old delinquent tactics in the event that Pierre is actually kidnapped.
- Really 17 Years Old: Inverted. Just like Nana Abe, he occasionally likes to claim that he's seventeen or "Forever 17"... at heart.
- Revenge: The Magazines refrain from showing it, but implies that Minori did take action against the gang that murdered his uncle, then gave up on his delinquent lifestyle for good.
- Shout-Out: He was a Ryuugu Komachi fan, and they make a cameo in one of his Magazines.
W
In General
- Affectionate Nickname: They both refer to the Producer as 'Coach'.
- Brains and Brawn: Described as this in their official profiles. Yusuke is the muscle, while Kyosuke is the smarter of the two.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Thankfully, most of the time the twins can be seen wearing yellow (Yusuke) and green (Kyousuke).
- Identical Twin Id Tag: The boys can be told apart by their ahoges. Yusuke's ahoge points to the left, while Kyosuke's points to the right. It's also handy to know that Kyosuke wears glasses sometimes.
- Image Song: "VICTORY BELIEVER" and "Pleasure Forever...".
- The songs they have later are "LEADING YOUR DREAM", "AFTER THE RAIN", "Great Sympathy", and "YELL OF DELIGHT".
- Polar Opposite Twins: A classic example. Yuusuke is excitable and lively, while Kyosuke is more subdued and cautious.
- Tag Team Twins: W is a unit composed of twin brothers. Kyosuke and Yusuke were also a tag team in professional soccer, too, who worked together to pull off sometimes risky plays - which was how Yusuke got his Career-Ending Injury.
- Theme Twin Naming: Kyosuke and Yusuke.
- Tiny Schoolboy: They're both 18 years old and are 161 cm tall.
- Twin Switch: They try pranking the producer from time to time with this, but it never actually works once they've gotten to know the twins well enough.
Yusuke Aoi
Voiced By: Takeru Kikuchi
Age: 18
Height 161 cm
Weight 52 kg
Shoe Size 24 cm
Birthday: July 7th
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Soccer
Talents: Soccer
The older and more carefree of the pair of twins, Yusuke is mischievous and playful, always acting before he thinks. After a knee injury caused by a faulty pass, he was forced to retire from professional soccer. Wanting a way to stay with Kyosuke and continue being the ultimate twin duo, Yusuke found out that being an idol was another path they could choose.
- Big Brother Instinct: Though it’s sometimes hard to notice, Yusuke wants only the best for his little brother. Case in point, he himself was desperate to reassure Kyosuke that the injury wasn’t the latter’s fault, all while clutching his leg as his face was grimacing in pain.
- Career-Ending Injury: He retired from professional soccer due to a knee injury.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish one, with a more devious and fun-loving nature.
- Idiot Hair: It points left, signifying his dominant hand.
- Image Song: "“W”orldwide Ambitions!".
- Keet: He's usually pretty cheerful and energetic, especially when compared to the more cerebral Kyosuke.
- Lovable Jock: A little shorter and thinner than the usual example for a jock, but he's got soccer on the mind from morning to night. He's also peppy, sweet, and has everyone's interests in mind.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Yusuke reveals to Kyosuke that his injury was worse than they thought, his voice loses the usual energy, which makes his brother notice instantly that something's off.
- Still Believes in Santa: Reveals in one of his MyDesk lines that he still believes in Santa, and his friends tease him about it. He's even received replies to the letters he's written to Santa!note
- Trickster Twins: Would be this if he had his way, but Kyosuke refuses to indulge him.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's terrified of ghosts and the like.
Kyosuke Aoi
Voiced By: Yoshitaka Yamaya
Age: 18
Height 161 cm
Weight 52 kg
Shoe Size 24 cm
Birthday: July 7th
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Wire puzzles
Talents: Creating game strategies, Coaching
The younger and more responsible of the pair of twins, Kyosuke is a cool and analytical boy when it comes to his profession. He retired from professional soccer due to his older brother's knee injury despite still being capable in the field. After his twin's injury, he was lost as to how they'd continue being the ultimate duo, until his brother suggested becoming idols together.
- Big Brother Instinct: Inverted; he looks out for Yusuke even though he's the younger brother, and due to Yusuke's injury he became even more protective of him, mostly because he blames himself for the injury happening in the first place, and gets unhappy when Yusuke does something reckless or acts without telling him beforehand.
- Big Brother Worship: Yes, he does get exasperated by Yusuke’s antics, but it’s pretty obvious that he admires his older brother.
- He beat himself up over the injury, thinking It's All My Fault that he put his brother in harm’s way due to his overconfidence, even though there were many other factors to Yusuke getting hurt.
- Kyosuke recognizes that everyone has their own specialties, but he adores how Yusuke freely pursues whatever comes to his mind.
- GROWING STARS reveals that he would get picked on simply because he was younger. Kyosuke admired how Yusuke stood up on his behalf.
- Career-Ending Injury: Although his brother was the injured one, Kyosuke still retired from Professional Soccer and chose to become an idol with Yusuke because what's most important to him is not playing soccer itself, but the fact that he wants to aim for the top together with his brother; to Kyosuke, there's no point in continuing to stay pro by himself.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible one, with a calm and collected approach to soccer, idol work, and life in general.
- Idiot Hair: Points to the right, signifying his dominant hand.
- Image Song: "“W”onderful Tactics!".
- Living Emotional Crutch: Kyosuke still is heavily dependent on his brother, pleased and happy as long as he knows Yusuke is safe.
- My Greatest Failure: Making the pass to Yusuke that caused him to get injured.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Easy way of showing that he's brainier than Yusuke.
- Training from Hell: His "talent" of coaching isn't just for show. The idols who have been put through the wringer with his training menus, specifically geared toward each member, are often suffering by the end of it.
FRAME
In General
- Emergency Services: All three of them were under this umbrella, before pursuing idolhood. When they're seen in Episode 2 of the anime, they act as evacuators during the storm that plagues their area.
- Image Song: "Yuukan Naru Kimi e" and "MISSION is Peaceful!".
- Their following songs are "Swing Your Leaves", "Three Brace", "Living Eyes Hero", "Plus 1 Good Day!", and "SOOTHING PLACE".
- Rated M for Manly: Alongside THE Kogadou, FRAME is the designated male appeal unit both in-universe and out. A lot of their songs cover the will and determination to save others, and they're often put in very masculine roles for in-universe shows.
- Meaningful Name: Their unit name comes from the phrase "Frames Per Second", the acronym of which also applies to their old professions: Fireman, Policeman, and Soldier.
Hideo Akuno
Voiced by: Kentaro Kumagai
Age: 23
Height 171 cm
Weight 67 kg
Shoe Size 25.5 cm
Birthday: March 7
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Trail running
Talents: Training police dogs, raising animals
A police officer unfortunately born with beady, sinister looking eyes and a villainous grin. Despite actually being a pretty nice guy, Hideo's often mistaken for a criminal rather than a cop. He takes up work as an idol hoping to create a friendlier image for himself.
- Animals Hate Him: Inversion. Since animals judge him on his character rather than appearance, he gets along well with them. Would qualify as a Friend to All Living Things if all livings things didn't include people.
- Face of a Thug: The core of his character.
- Fair Cop: Once you get past the thuggish looks (or even if you're into that sort of thing), he's not that bad looking.
- Friend to All Children: He wanted to become an idol to tell children that they are not alone, and while at first they are usually frightened by his appearance, it is shown that after a little bonding, kids can get along with him just fine.
- Heroes Love Dogs: He is a dog trainer for the force, and a big dog lover in general.
- Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Has thin, shifty Tsurime Eyes.
- Kubrick Stare: Does this in combination with a Slasher Smile frequently, which only adds to his problems.
- Meaningful Name: If written differently, Akuno (握野) becomes "of evil" (悪の), which is really just referring to his Face of a Thug, as he's quite the nice guy. In a more accurate sense and a case of Alternate Character Reading, Hideo (英雄) can also be read as "hero" (eiyuu). As a result, his full name can be read as "Hero of Evil."
- Real Men Hate Sugar: Averted. He loves sweets and sugary desserts, and especially loves to drown his favorite pancakes in syrup. He is the appointed head of 315's Sweet Tooth Alliance along with Makio and Haruna.
- Scary Teeth: His White Day magazine reveals this trait and his unfortunate glare runs through his entire family (though they are said to be kind people).
- Strong Family Resemblance: His "Idols' Day Off" card shows his kid brother, who has the exact same face and hairstyle as he does.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Hotcakes.
- Uncatty Resemblance: His beloved dogs are all typically 'scary' breeds that are widely misunderstood as inherently bad, much like Hideo himself.
- The Un-Smile: When he's playing with dogs, Ryu and Seiji note that he has quite a charming, friendly looking smile. When Hideo tries to do it on purpose however...
Seiji Shingen
Voiced by: Takuya Masumoto
Age: 31
Height 185 cm
Weight 78 kg
Shoe Size 27 cm
Birthday: December 24
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Cooking
Talents: Quickly dismantling small firearms
Shingen’s ex-job was a Self-Defense Forces member. Though his past is rather vague, it's clear that he lost a close friend on the job and in his honor, he always wears his friend's dog tags in his casual attire. Shingen quit his job and became an idol in hope to make people smile and possibly have a more cheerful, lighthearted job compared to his old one. He is a bit sensitive whenever the topic is brought up and does not want anyone to worry about it, so he refrains from discussing it.
- Big Brother Instinct: His SR card title is "Reliable Big Brother", and he asks the Producer specifically to think of him as a big brother to depend on.
- The Big Guy: To the point of causing problems, such as his Ballroom S Rare, where the specially fitted shirt the Producer had custom made for his costume no longer fit because he had increased his muscle mass in the time since he was measured. Fortunately, fans were just fine with his shirt being a little too small.
- Comically Missing the Point: During a Paintball War event, he's bothered by the lack of camouflage the provided outfit provides, the lack of serviceable cover, being told not to hide or use stealth tactics or even be allowed so much as a layer of greasepaint... Despite the Producer repeatedly explaining that the purpose of the event is for the viewers to see handsome men frolicking and getting covered in paint.
- Cool Bike: Owns a motorbike. He goes riding with Minori and Amehiko sometimes.
- Declaration of Protection: To the Producer, upon reaching max Affection with them.
- Good-Looking Privates: His military background is part of how 315 promotes him.
- Heroic Build: One of the most well-built in the agency.
- Nephewism: He's shown to take care of his niece Amane, unlike the rest of the group, who are depicted with younger siblings.
- Papa Wolf: Doesn't have a daughter himself, but acts this way toward his niece.
- Serial Escalation: His April Fools event, SideMuscle, has him lift an increasing amount of weights. At first it starts out normally, but it eventually scales to lifting the entire universe.
- So My Kids Can Watch: Not specifically his kid, but Seiji does mention in his basic card that he thought about idolhood as a path to make his niece happy.
- Tragic Keepsake: His dogtags.
- Tranquil Fury: Played for laughs in the changed version of Ryu's Day Off card. It seems he's not that happy seeing Ryu get along with Amane...
- Trick Dialogue: Asks the Producer to help him practice marriage proposals for a commercial in his "Mission Wedding" Rare.
- Workout Fanservice: In his "Idols' Day Off" SR card.
Ryu Kimura
Voiced by: Kento Hama
Age: 20
Height 175 cm
Weight 70 kg
Shoe Size 26 cm
Birthday: May 5
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Napping
Talents: Sewing
A perpetually unlucky former firefighter who seems to attract misfortune in all his endeavors. He left his previous job after accidentally tripping and knocking over a man at a crowded idol appearance. It was mistaken for an intentional assault and Ryu was forced to resign, but his luck turned around when it turned out the guy had been a stalker. The grateful idol headlining the appearance offered her help to Ryu in securing a new job...
- Born Unlucky: His entire deal. His shoelaces snap, it suddenly rains, he spills coffee on himself, his shoelaces snap again, yet he keeps looking on the bright side.
- Cosmic Plaything: Talks very casually in his character quotes about things like accidentally dousing himself with his morning coffee, or falling down the stairs as if these were small, everyday foibles for him.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Male example. He has a habit of clubbing up basic actions, but his earnest heart keeps everyone from getting truly mad at him. He can't even cook properly, let alone bake a cake without somehow burning it.
- Firemen Are Hot: He's partially marketed by his former profession, and in canon he's seen as plenty cute.
- Funny Background Event: A common victim of them in the backgrounds of Frame SRs.
- Good Is Dumb: Fully aware that Fireman may not have been the best career choice for him, but says it's worth the risk to help those in need.
- Image Song: "Happy-Go-Unlucky!"
- The Pollyanna: Keeps his head up despite the misfortune he falls into.Ryu: There's no night that won't dawn!
- Pointless Bandaid: Averted. He's frequently covered in bandages, but knowing his luck every one is there for a reason.
- Precocious Crush: The target of one by Seiji's young niece. Which Seiji is not happy about.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: His "Mission Wedding" Rare depicts him with a wedding bouquet, only seconds away from a bee attack.
- Strong Family Resemblance: His Remember Shot card shows his little brother (who was previously only shown kicking him) chasing after him. They look just like each other, and his brother even has a scrape on his head, implying he's also pretty clumsy.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He's an upbeat guy who tries to look on the bright side despite the constant string of bad hands life deals to him.
Sai
In General
- Cherry Blossoms: A big theme in their imagery.
- Image Song: "Kassai! ～Kachoufuugetsu～" and "Wafuu Doudou! ～WAnderful NIPPON!～".
- The later albums' songs are "Sakurairo", "Shukusai!", and "Sou -So Beautiful-".
- Kimono Is Traditional: All three feature kimonos as their casual wear, and have jobs rooted in Japanese traditions.
Kirio Nekoyanagi
Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita
Age: 18
Height 165 cm
Weight 54 kg
Shoe Size 24.5 cm
Birthday: November 12
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Observing rare animals
Talents: Imitating human and animal characters
The former rakugo storyteller. A flash of inspiration struck him one day, whereupon he tossed himself into the idol business. His wacky antics and energetic attitude seem out of place in the traditional unit, but his keen eye and sharp wit prove indispensable for Sai.
- Ambiguously Human: He calls himself a "cat alien", and his hair should not be as bright and multicolored as it is. That being said, aside from this, he's seen dying his hair for certain events and he acts otherwise normal.
- Animal Motifs: Cats; by his own design. He's rarely seen without some article of cat-related merchandise. His last name even has the Japanese word for cat in it.
- Depending on the Artist: His hair dye can swing to green with pink highlights on one extreme, and green-on-top, pink-on-bottom at its most equal. Slightly justified due to the fact that he dyes it so often, but even his fellow frequent dyer Kyoji doesn't have it as uneven.
- Dye Hard: Is just as bad, if not worse, than Kyoji at dyeing his hair for idol work. He not only does different colors for each role, his default hair color isn't even pink and green either. He's a natural brunet.
- Image Song: "Dive Into New World!".
- Massive Numbered Siblings: He's the youngest of eight, with four brothers and three sisters.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: The Magazine accompanying his Nekomata/Haunted House card. Kirio scares unitmate Kuro witless as they explore a haunted house attraction while Kirio cheerfully recites the legends behind each ghost and creature, including the horrific things they do to victims.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: He plays up a goofy, ditzy character as part of his comedy routine and later his idol performances, but he's actually very well versed in history, folklore and literature, as befitting an idol in the Intelligent category.
- Verbal Tic: Denyansu~
Shoma Hanamura
Voiced by: Yutaka Balletta
Age: 27
Height 174 cm
Weight 55 kg
Shoe Size 25.5 cm
Birthday: August 24
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Visiting maid tea-houses
Talents: Playing taiko drums
A flamboyant ex-kabuki actor. Having performed numerous roles but never in the spotlight, he chanced upon Jupiter’s stage and was enthralled by the brilliance of their performance. Shoma took the chance to become an idol so that he, too, could stand on center stage.
- Affectionate Nickname: Gives one to a good chunk of the cast.
- He's on the receiving end of this by Teru, who calls him Anego.
- Animal Motifs: Butterflies. Kirio’s nickname for him is chouchou-san (often translated as “Madame Butterfly”), he has a hairpin with a butterfly on it, and he owns multiple kimonos with butterflies on them.
- Cuteness Proximity: Falls into it during one of the GREETING TOUR skits, where he swoons over the cuteness of Mofumofuen.
- Hidden Depths: His physical stat is huge, due to his history of performing kabuki involving wearing costumes of up to 20 kilos in weight. You can definitely see this in cards where he wears form-fitting clothes, as he's one of the more toned idols and has well-defined arm muscles.
- Image Song: "Pin to kona ～Cho yo Hana yo～".
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: A natural onnagata, male actors who play the roles of female characters due to women still being uncommon in Kabuki Theatre. He even uses the extremely feminine pronoun "atashi" to refer to himself.
- Large Ham: Comes with being a kabuki actor.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Shown in his Hot Springs S-Rare's accompanying comic. When competing with someone, even in a casual game like ping-pong, his flighty airhead facade gives way to a devious and cunning opponent.
- The Nicknamer: Has one for almost everybody. Though he calls some by their first name plus a "-chan", others are given short descriptions or plays on their names.
- Teru and Tsubasa are Tenteru-chan and Wing-chan, respectively.
- Pierre and Minori are Keron-chan and Minorun.
- Hideo and Ryu are Hero-chan and Dragon-chan.
- Suzaku and Genbu are Bakuen-chan and Hyoujin-chan. Shoma takes these nicknames directly from their catchphrases, so he's basically calling them Explody-chan and Swordy-chan.
- All of Café Parade have nicknames. Yukihiro is Yuki-chan, Soichiro is So-chan, Asselin is Satan-chan, Makio is Makimono-chan, and Saki is Girl-kun.
- Mofumofuen have nicknames based on their Animal Motifs. Nao is Lamb-kun, Shiro is Gaogao-kun, and Kanon is Pyon-chan.
- Jiro is Jironko.
- Michiru is Naruto-chan (due to his association with ramen), and Ren is Kiba-chan.
- Kazuki is Momo-chan, which stands for 100. The "Tsukumo" in his last name means 99, and the "Kazu" in his first means 1. Add them together, and you get...
- Amehiko is Okitsune-chan.
- Pretty Boy: He has very delicate and feminine looks, to the point where Kirio mistook him for a beautiful woman when they first met.
Kuro Kiyosumi
Voiced by: Yuya Nakada
Age: 19
Height 178 cm
Weight 67 kg
Shoe Size 26.5 cm
Birthday: July 3
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Collecting bath salts
Talents: Playing Karuta, Fan-tossing
A former tea ceremony master from the illustrious Kiyosumi family well-known for its tea ceremony practices. Feeling discontent with the stagnating audience to which their tea ceremonies are being performed, Kuro broke free of his family’s traditions to become an idol and spread the way of tea to the younger generation.
- Birds of a Feather: With Sora. They both appreciate the fine arts and enjoy a quiet atmosphere of calm.
- Black Sheep: Treated this way by his grandfather because he tried to go against tradition to spread it to the youths. Downplayed in that it seems only his grandfather is vehemently against his actions, but Kuro intends to continue with the path that he has set for himself, regardless of his grandfather’s wishes.
- Does Not Like Spam: Hates shiitake mushrooms. In Wakeatte Mini!, Kirio uses this to Kuro's advantage in order to make him adlib on stage.
- Formal Characters Use Keigo: Only speaks this way when he's not acting. It shows his polite and formal upbringing.
- Good Old Ways: He grew up in a traditional Japanese household, and as a result is unfamiliar with modern culture.
- Image Song: "Nagaruru Kaze no Gotoku ～Wakeiseijaku～".
- Motor Mouth: When Kirio and Shoma note his surprising flexibility regarding traditions, he launches into a spiel about how tradition is important, but his goal is to spread tea ceremony — to make that happen, he has to let people know exactly what it entails. His speech goes on for so long it spills into another page.
- Not So Above It All: He keeps up a dignified, aloof image, but he’s surprisingly competitive. He also gets carried away enjoying his little game of Tosenkyo and forgets to practice.
- Only Sane Man: When it comes to Sai, yes. He's constantly at wit's end, being caught in between Kirio's pranks and Shoma's playful activities.
- Performance Anxiety: At least on the GREETING TOUR, he had trouble speaking in front of a large audience and was pretty shy if not for Kirio's help.
- Serious Business: Tea and ceremonies. He’s serious about everything in general, really.
- Traditional Japanese Inn: Performed tea ceremonies for one of these in his former job.
- Tranquil Fury: Played for laughs in an event magazine. Kirio nabs some food before it’s meant to be eaten, happily gobbling away until he realizes Kuro’s standing behind him with a glare so demonic that he jumps.
HighxJoker
In General
- Expy: The band is modeled after the Houkago Tea Time, being a Five-Man Band light music club group.
- Five-Man Band
- The Leader: Hayato, the guitarist and de-facto leader who, despite crying from time to time, is still the one they rely on and trust.
- The Lancer: Shiki, the main vocalist who has a similar goal as Hayato in making the most out of his youth.
- The Big Guy: Haruna, the drummer. The oldest and the tallest, his instrument also takes up the most space.
- The Smart Guy: Jun, their keyboardist. Their most serious and diligent member, who constantly chides the previous three to get working, either do homework or practice, and stop goofing around.
- The Heart: Natsuki, the bassist, who gets flustered whenever too much drama is being worked up. As the closest to Jun, he tends to form a bridge between Jun and the others by explaining his actions sometimes, while his presence is calming to others.
- Image Song: "HIGH JUMP NO LIMIT" and "Joker/Almighty".
- Their later songs include "OUR SONG -Sore wa Sekai de Hitotsu Dake-", "Sunset★Colors", "SEASON IN THE FIVE", and "Smiles in Wonderland!"
- Japanese School Club: HighxJoker is a band formed through a high school's light music club.
- Temporal Theme Naming: All of the members' names have a kanji related to the seasons. Haruna Wakazato for spring, Natsuki Sakaki for summer, Hayato Akiyama for fall, Jun Fuyumi for winter, and lastly, the kanji for Shiki literally means "four seasons".
- Three Plus Two: The group interactions roughly split up as such: Shiki, Haruna, and Hayato are their own excitable little group, while Jun and Natsuki are drawn together due to being longtime friends.
- In another sense, HighxJoker's history can be seen as this; Hayato, Jun, and Natsuki were the original members in their first year and have a close bond until Haruna and Shiki joined a year later.
Hayato Akiyama
Voiced by: Shoya Chiba
Played by: Keito Sakurai (Stage Play)
Age: 17
Height 162 cm
Weight 48 kg
Shoe Size 24 cm
Birthday: November 22
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Video games, Guitar
Talents: Imitating famous baseball players
The leader of HighxJoker. He joined the club in his first year to become popular, and after some mishaps on the way, got Jun and Natsuki to join. The next year, Shiki and Haruna joined, forming their current band. He is also their composer and lyricist, and he wants lots of people to listen to HighxJoker’s music on as many stages as possible.
- Beetle Maniac: He's crazy about bug collecting, and gets to show off his skills in one event.
- The Generic Guy: His grades are average. His hobbies are normal. He knows this, so that's why he wants to break out of the normalcy by doing something different.
- Glasses Curiosity: Not because he's suffering from bad eyesight, mind you, but because he wants to try and look popular by taking people by surprise.
- Endearingly Dorky: For all his efforts to become the cool member of the group, he ends up being the quickest to show his actual dorky disposition.
- Image Song: "PRECIOUS TONE".
- I Just Want to Be Special: Desperately wants to be cool and popular after being a regular guy most of his life. He chose to take up guitar specifically because it's the instrument the cool guy in the band is supposed to play.
- Strong Family Resemblance: His Remember Shot card reveals he has an older brother who looks like a straighter-haired version of him.
Jun Fuyumi
Voiced by: Takuma Nagatsuka
Played by: Takuto Ohmi (Stage Play)
Age: 16
Height 158 cm
Weight 49 kg
Shoe Size 23.5 cm
Birthday: January 2
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Reading
Talents: Piano
The stern and serious keyboardist of HighxJoker. A former Child Prodigy in piano, he was convinced to join the light music club by Hayato despite Jun’s initial misgivings. Followed by his childhood friend Natsuki, Jun became a member of the light music club. Although Jun starts off rather distant, he begins to wonder what the pulse he’s feeling in his chest is…
- Big Fancy House: His house is seen outside in episode 7 of the anime and the inside in a few magazines and cards, and it sure is big!
- Childhood Friends: With Natsuki.
- Child Prodigy: Was a piano prodigy in the past, but he's long discarded those days.
- Daddy Issues: Revealed in HighxJoker's debut CD drama to not have a good relationship with his father, though he shuts the conversation down before anything can be elaborated upon.
- Defrosting Ice King: Name reference aside, he started off aloof and disapproving of any and all noise, as Growing Stars shows through HighxJoker's Episode 0. He's slowly grown out of it, becoming accepting of the others' antics, though he still remains the most serious member in the group.
- Elegant Classical Musician: His specialty was actually piano, but he plays the keyboard to fit the band's more rock/pop sound.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: He softens up around cats, even calling them the cutesy nickname "Neko-chan~" if no one else is in earshot.
- Missing Mom: She passed away around the time of his Taking the Bullet for Natsuki, which further exacerbated him closing himself off.
- Serious Business: Do not imply that a Piano and a Keyboard are the same thing while he is in earshot.
- Taking the Bullet: When they were young, Jun was the victim of a kidnapping... or he would have been, if Natsuki weren't mistaken for him. Jun got in the way protecting Natsuki, got injured, and couldn't play piano how he used to before.
- Tiny Schoolboy: He's 158 cm.
- The Smart Guy: He's a top student at the boys' school, considered a prodigy by many. He's also shown to the be only member of the band still thinking of things like exams and college while the rest of the group are hyped up about idol work.
Natsuki Sakaki
Voiced by: Hiroshi Watanabe
Played by: Ginga Shintara (Stage Play)
Age: 17
Height 170 cm
Weight 54 kg
Shoe Size 25.5 cm
Birthday: June 18
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Observing people, Violin
Talents: Having a quiet presence
The high school light music club’s bassist. A quiet boy who’s seemingly emotionless but is good friends with Jun, he joined after realizing he’d get to hear Jun play music in the club. After some time as an idol, he’s slowly come out of his shell, though he’s still most comfortable around his good friends in the club.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Jun was nice enough as a child to make friends with the weird quiet kid who always played by himself. Natsuki's been at his side ever since.
- Comically Missing the Point: His Dengeki magazine interview. When asked who, other than his unit, he would like to one day work with as an idol, Natsuki answers "Jun Fuyumi."
- Covert Pervert: His interpretation of Jun's suggestion that he join the band too.◊
- Ironic Name: Although his name in their team’s Theme Naming is based off of summer, Natsuki can’t deal with the heat at all.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Dotes on his cat often, and he's a very gentle and kind person.
- Mistaken Identity: He admits that he was about to be kidnapped when he was younger, but that only occurred because the man thought Natsuki was Jun.
- MyGreatestFailure: Causing Jun to get hurt and making him unable to play piano as he did before.
- Nobody Loves the Bassist: In-universe he counts on this trope happening, as he doesn't care much for being the center of attention and would prefer simply to support his friends. In fandom terms, it couldn't be further from the truth. He ranked in the top five of an all-cast popularity poll in the first popularity poll, beaten only by Hayato, Jiro and Shiki. The second year shoots him up all the way to second under Shiki.
- Single-Target Sexuality: His attachment to Jun is confirmed romantic in nature by the relationship charts accompanying the second popularity election. Also one of very few idols in the Idolm@ster series as a whole to not express romantic interest in the Producer.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: He speaks for the first time nearly four minutes into one of the Beit/HighxJoker drama segments, startling everyone, only for him to protest that he had been there the whole time.
- The Quiet One: Rarely talks... unless he needs to...
- Those Two Guys: With Jun, who was initially his only friend and was the one to introduce him to the rest of the group.
- Verbal Tic: He tends...to have a lot of ellipses...to represent his speech...
Haruna Wakazato
Voiced by: Yusuke Shirai
Played by: Yuri Takahashi (Stage Play)
Age: 18
Height 173 cm
Weight 56 kg
Shoe Size 25.5 cm
Birthday: March 30
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Going on walks
Talents: Hair and makeup styling
HighxJoker’s drummer. After having flunked two years of high school and being held back, he’s at dire straits. He’s then given the chance to graduate without issues if he manages to make some good results in a club. As it turns out, he was actually a ghost member in the light music club…
- Book Dumb: He's 18 while the rest of HighxJoker range from 16-17 because Haruna has been Held Back in School twice.
- Dumb and Drummer: According to the anime, the reason he joined the light music club was because of exactly how bad his attendance and grades were. Doing well in a club would help his graduation prospects.
- Disappeared Dad: Whenever the subject of family comes up, Haruna always references his mother while his father is noticeably never brought up. His Remember Shot card explicitly reveals that his dad left the family.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite his position as the least mobile member of the group due to being seated at a drum set, his strongest stat is Dance.
- Gets to be the star of the Hip Hop Dance Battle event. His SR+ is the first + card where he's not seated at a drum set.
- Held Back in School: He's been held back twice due to his poor grades.
- Image Song: "Seishun! Satisfaction".
- Informed Poverty: Inverted; Haruna never talks about being or acts like he is particularly poor, but his initial Magazine (which presumably takes place earlier in the timeline) shows the apartment he lives in to be very worn down and old, not to mention the implied reason for all the part-time jobs he works all day and night. His living situation is shown to have improved in his Magazine for the Christmas Live 2016 event, where it looks like he's earned enough money to move into a much nicer-looking place.
- Momma's Boy: Haruna talks about his mother very fondly whenever he mentions her, and the reason for all his multiple part-time jobs is implied to be that he wants to financially support his single, working mother. Reaches very heartwarming levels in his Magazine for HighxJoker's New Year's Live 2016, where he receives his New Year's money packet from the president; after joking with the rest of HighxJoker that he's not sure what to do with the money, when alone he calls his mother and asks if there's anything she wanted to eat that day.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Surprisingly skilled with hair and make-up.
- Signature Hair Decs: Almost always seen with a headband. It gets different designs and colors for special purposes.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Donuts.
- Triple Shifter: He has multiple part-time jobs in the evening, on top of being a student, club member, and idol. It's implied to be the reason why his school performance is so bad.
Shiki Iseya
Voiced by: Shou Nogami
Age: 16
Height 169 cm
Weight 52 kg
Shoe Size 25 cm
Birthday: April 12
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Karaoke, Collecting flashy underwear
Talents: Getting any karaoke score he wants
The center, main vocalist, and only first year of their high school’s light music club. Shiki was inspired to join the club after listening to their performance at the entrance ceremony. His natural skill at singing is honed by years of karaoke, but he earnestly works hard to gain his seniors’ recognition.
- Bilingual Bonus: Not Shiki himself, but his favorite brand. He calls it Kumacchi, owing to its bear-like shape. Growing Stars reveals it’s actually called Kühnheit: bold, daring in German.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: He really enjoys spicy food and can tolerate much spicier sauces than his bandmates.
- Book Dumb: He gets poor test scores, so he has to study with his friends before exams.
- Cheery Pink: Seen with mostly pink glasses, which are his image color. A good deal of his clothes have a hot pink theme or accent to them.
- Color Motif: It's pink, pink, pink with him.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: He's endearing and sweet. Doesn't mean that his noise levels are any less ear-splitting.
- Defeat Equals Friendship: He's the first boss faced in the tutorial by Teru/Kaoru/Tsubasa.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: His haircut and piercings play this straight, and his wardrobe is filled with asymmetrical outfits and accessories he wears on one hand or the other.
- Friendless Background: He didn't really have friends before meeting the others in HighxJoker, which is why he cherishes having them around so much.
- Growing Up Sucks: Part of his motivation for his idol debut; to keep his school friends close as graduation draws near.
- Guest Fighter: Along with Touma, Shiki shows up as a guest character in Tales of Asteria, and can be fought as a boss.
- Image Song: "Saikou COUNT UP!".
- Odd Friendship: He ends up bonding with the haughty Ren Kizaki and the more reserved Rei Kagura, two people who couldn't be any more different from each other and himself.
- Security Blanket: His glasses. In his own words, his glasses make up his identity.
- In the Youth COLORS and Yosakoi events later down the line, he gains enough confidence to act without his glasses, but he admits that he's still uneasy without them.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: In the Beit/HighxJoker CDs' crossover drama segments. He's the goofiest character in both dramas by far, and in both he excuses himself/gets chased out of the room right before the conversation turns serious.
- Verbal Tic: He tends to end his sentences with "-ssu". It's a shortened form of "desu." He also has a tendency to add either hyper, mega, giga, honkii, or maji (serious) or any combination of them to the MAX when describing something.
Shinsoku Ikkon
In General
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Shown most prominently in their ST@RTING LINE art.
- Badass Longcoat: Both for their casual wear and their Idol costumes.
- Bash Brothers: Their dynamic.
- Face of a Thug: Their delinquent pasts and naturally tough looks get them in trouble quite often. A tabloid once threatened to ruin their careers because they were assumed to be picking fights with innocent bystanders (when in reality they were trying to deescalate the situation).
- Fire/Ice Duo: Their color themes and nicknames.
- Image Song: "Burnin' Cool de Kagayaite" and "Ore-tachi no Saikyou Densetsu ～Isseichidai, Paradise!～".
- Their following songs include "RIGHT WAY, SOUL MATE", "Omoi no Uta", and "Kidoairaku Bankokukyoutsuu -Burn it up!-".
- Japanese Delinquents: Both Suzaku and Genbu are delinquents themselves, and the unit is themed around both this and The Four Gods.
- Technician Versus Performer: Suzaku is a performer to the core, balanced out by Genbu's technician.
- Theme Naming: Suzaku and Genbu, as well as Nyakko, are all named after The Four Gods. Suzaku's refers to the Vermillion Sparrow, Genbu references the Black Tortoise, and Nyako is a corruption of Byakko, the White Tiger.
Suzaku Akai
Voiced by: Takeaki Masuyama
Age: 16
Birthday: April 4
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Taking Nyako for walks.
Talents: Suzaku Sky Drop
A delinquent at his school, with a strong distaste for dishonorable punks and a natural inclination toward flash and showmanship. He was initially offered an idol contract by the Producer picking up on his latent talent after a street brawl. He makes use of his tough looks to scare bullies into submission.
- Berserk Button: Messing up his hair or being mean to Nyako.
- Book Dumb: His training regimen for the unit's appearance on a quiz show: work on a variety of fast and flashy ways to hit the buzzer, let Genbu answer the actual questions.
- Catchphrase: A number of his cards have him end his sentences with the exclamation "BURNIN!" "Burn" is also a favorite word of his.
- Cats Are Mean: His kitty's at least as much of a punk as he is.
- Centipede's Dilemma: Suzaku can talk to girls just fine...just as long as he doesn't think about it too much. His skits on THE IDOLM@STER MUSIC ON THE RADIO with Hibiki show that he gets along with her great, up until he remembers she's a girl and panics thirty minutes before sign off.
- Dance Battler: His moves aren't so much dancing as they are needlessly showy and intricate, complete with Calling Your Attacks. Played straight more in Idol Live battles, where Dance is Suzaku's best stat by a wide margin.
- Delinquent Hair: His pride and joy.
- Emotional Bruiser: Although he tries very hard to deny it. Suzaku's clothes and stage costume tend to have a recurring heart pattern all over them, subtly lampshading this aspect of him.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first thing we see of him in his unit comic is Suzaku performing a flying drop kick on some thug while shouting at the top of his lungs.
- Fiery Redhead: Bonus points for being based on fire.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He struck up his friendship with Genbu by running into the fray during 4-against-1 fight, deeming Genbu's attackers unjust lowlives for ganging up on one guy.
- Hot-Blooded: Try to find a quote from him that's not bursting at the seams with fiery, red-hot energy.
- Incoming Ham: Suzaku gets freakishly excited when it’s Christmas time.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Has a pet cat named Nyako that he practically carries with him everywhere (take note— in Live @n Stage! this manifests in Nyako clinging for dear life on Akai's idol garb). It even gets in on the delinquent getup, too!
- Large Ham: His tendency toward this is part of why he was scouted as an idol.
- Letting Her Hair Down: Starting in 2020, Suzaku's gotten a handful of cards depicting him with his bangs relaxed instead of styled. He gives off a totally different impression.
- Lovable Jock: Kind and caring, but also very much willing to beat the crap out of anyone who's treated any of his buddies badly.
- Punny Name: When written in the original order, Akai Suzaku literally means “Vermilion Phoenix”.
- Nyako’s full name (yes, it has one) is “Nyankii” (にゃん喜威). It uses the onomatopoeia for meowing (nyan) added to the ateji readings of the kanji for “joy” and “dignity”. It’s also a portmanteau of that onomatopoeia and “yankee”, which describes the members of Shinsoku Ikkon.
- Red Baron: "Explosive Flame Suzaku".
- Right-Hand Cat: Nyako appears in most of his cards.
- Sand In My Eyes: Suzaku's a natural softie and a crybaby, so whenever he's truly touched he either denies crying like this or acts like he doesn't do it at all.
- Stuff Blowing Up: His nickname, "Explosive Flame Suzaku".
Genbu Kurono
Voiced by: Toshinari Fukamachi
Age: 17
Birthday: July 22
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Collecting glasses, reading medical science books
Talents: Genbu Sword Wave, Getting top scores in national mock exams
An intelligent delinquent whose incredible smarts got him in trouble with an envious kid, getting booted into another school. There, Suzaku came to his rescue when Genbu was getting picked on, and although they lost, became True Companions. He makes use of his intellect and looks to bring peace to all creation.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: The boss of his school Ouken's delinquent group. He's also got a good number of fights won under his belt.
- Blind Without 'Em: He's got a nasty glare when he squints if he doesn't have his glasses.
- Bookworm: He loves reading difficult textbooks.
- Brains and Brawn: Has both in equal measure, but in his partnership with Suzaku he serves as the Brains.
- Character Tics: Summing up his thoughts or beliefs in a four-word idiom.
- Color Motif: Black is his favorite color, featured in almost all of his outfits.
- Genius Bruiser: He may be a high school punk, but he's also a very bright student, frequently at the top of his class rankings.
- Jack of All Stats: Reflecting his perfectionist nature, all of his cards currently available in-game have perfectly even stats in all three categories.
- Lonely at the Top: He had few friends before meeting Suzaku; being both the school thug and the top student serving to alienate many of the people around him.
- Punny Name: In the original order, Kurono Genbu literally means “Black Tortoise”.
- Red Baron: "Ice Sword Genbu".
- Orphanage of Love: Genbu was raised in one. He’s still close to them, as his Remember Shot card shows: the kids are clinging to him like a jungle gym.
- Plot Allergy: Allergic to cats. He sneezes like mad whenever Nyako is around.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Emphasis on tall—he's the second tallest character in the entire IDOLM@STER franchise (after Amehiko), taller than even Kirari.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Shown in Shinsoku Ikkon's manga panels. He was studious and a bit of a nerd in his early school years.
Café Parade
In General:
- Be Yourself: Their message: being appreciative of not only your own individuality, but others’, making sure not to degrade anyone who’s different from the norm.
- Five-Man Band
- The Leader: Yukihiro. Officially the leader and also their café’s manager.
- The Lancer: Soichiro as the Cloudcuckoolander's Minder.
- The Big Guy: Asselin, the oldest and the one with the biggest presence.
- The Smart Guy: Makio and Soichiro both. Makio is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to cakes, and he can study pretty well, while Soichiro is the only member of the Intelligent attribute in their team.
- Sixth Ranger: Satan.
- Image Song: "Café Parade!" and "A La Carte FREEDOM".
- The later songs are "Reversed Masquerade", "Present for you!!!!! ~A day in the café~", "Delicious Delivery", "Pavé Etoiles", and "Teatime Cliché".
- Gratuitous French: Some of their song names.
Yukihiro Kamiya
Voiced by: Shou Karino
Age: 21
Height 181 cm
Weight 64 kg
Shoe Size 27 cm
Birthday: January 17
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Backpacking, Traveling
Talents: Quick changing, various serving techniques using spoons and forks
An ex-café owner. A gentlemanly guy all around, he started up the shop after a kindly stranger saved his life and inspired him to make a place that felt like joy. His wish is to spread happiness throughout the world, and he thinks that their group becoming an idol group is a perfect way to do just that.
- Benevolent Boss: He acts more like a friend than an employer with his staff, and works right out on the floor with them as a waiter.
- The Ditz: The way he keeps getting lost cements him as this. He's a very nice person, true, but he consistently underestimates his lack of direction.
- Emancipated Child: Left his family who disapproved of his traveling the world. He wanted to pursue his dreams.
- Image Song: "A CUP OF HAPPINESS".
- Last-Name Basis: All of Café Parade (and lots of idols besides) call him by his last name. This example stands out as most, if not all, of Café Parade are referred to by their first names instead.
- Meaningful Name: His motive to become an idol is to spread happiness throughout the world. "Yukihiro" is written with the kanji for "happiness" and "spread".
- Nice Guy: He's so nice that his "angry" expression in Growing Stars is a restrained and forced smile.
- No Sense of Direction: To the point where, despite bringing a compass and the amusement park's map, the rest of Cafe Parade have to guide him around so he doesn't get lost.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Reliable and capable at his job.
Soichiro Shinonome
Voiced by: Kōhei Amasaki
Age: 21
Height 177 cm
Weight 65 kg
Shoe Size 26 cm
Birthday: November 8
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Counting tatami meshes, jigsaw puzzles
Talents: Candy sculptures, origami
The café’s ex-pâtissier. Though he was born to a traditional Japanese sweets shop, his inability to deal with a key ingredient made him unable to inherit the shop. Soichiro took a different route instead: baking Western confections and pastries, working at Cafe Parade and eventually becoming part of the idol group.
- Does Not Like Spam: His inability to even look at, much less eat, anko (Japanese red bean paste) makes it impossible to inherit his family's Japanese sweet shop since it's so heavily used in Japanese sweets. At Café Parade, though, he can instead make Western-style sweets.
- Eyes Always Shut: Soichiro's eyes are drawn arced down in such a way that he looks perpetually serene, and he's the Only Sane Man of his unit with an occasional teasing streak.
- Brought up in the Green Parade event. Saki jokes that he looks like his eyes are closed, but he can actually see to the back of the venue.
- His Remember Shot card reveals that his eyes are actually blue.
- The Gadfly: Revealed a mischievous streak in his Test of Courage event with Yukihiro, where he took a lot of delight in teasing and spooking the poor guy.
- The Idiot from Osaka: Played with. He doesn't display any of the clichés, but he does have a penchant for playing both straight and wise man, and he even says a Paper Fan of Doom gets his Osakan blood boiling in the JUST RUNNING!! event.
- Image Song: "Piece Montee".
- One-Note Cook: Pastries and sweets are his area of expertise.
- Only Sane Man: Usually the role he plays. Yukihiro is the next most normal person in the unit, but still has his moments.
- Tranquil Fury: Everyone at Café Parade finds his soft-spoken, serene brand of anger utterly terrifying, which he worries about at times.
Asselin BB II
Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa
Age: 26 (Mortal Years) 5174 (Mayan Calendar Years)
Height 174 cm
Weight 66 kg
Shoe Size 25.5 cm
Birthday: October 9
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Discovering new, forbidden recipes
Talents: Conjuration
The earthly avatar of the son of the Dark Lord Satan himself, posing as a mortal alchemist to learn the ways of humans. At least, that's what Asselin insists. In truth, he is a 26 year old chef with an extremely overactive imagination working at Cafe Parade.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Yukihiro puts up with his chuunibyou antics because he truly is an excellent chef, despite referring to cooking as a form of dark alchemy.
- Chuunibyou: Subverted; he postures himself as a powerful demon who's practicing dark alchemy, wearing an Eyepatch of Power, contacts for mismatched eyes, bandages for accessories and speaking in a very grandiose manner, but it's revealed in the Arabian Nights Live event that all of that is actually just Asselin imitating his mentor who taught him how to cook, as he respected them very much. It helps him (a Shrinking Violet, especially without Satan) be able to interact with others, but since he doesn't drop this on the job this behavior has gotten him fired from multiple employers and Asselin greatly appreciates the fact Yukihiro still keeps him around in spite of his habits.
- Companion Cube: The plushie on his shoulder, Satan, serves as one for him, as he doesn't go anywhere without it and does not like when other people touch it. There's only a few card images where Satan isn't present (as Asselin's actingnote ), and in the un-awakened version of the "BEST GAME" card Asselin is off-set, holding Satan in his hands with an incredibly disheartened expression. The rest of Cafe Parade even treat Satan as their sixth member.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wears one in combination with a single color contact to create mismatched eyes for his chuuni form.
- Given Name Reveal: His SideMemories and Café Parade's Episode Zero in GROWING STARS reveals that his actual name is Tarou.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Asselin's own dedication to his chuuni act is sometimes used against him; for example, Yukihiro keeping him out of a particular room merely by placing an "anti-demon ward" on the doorway.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Shown in the Side: Twinkle event to have come from a very lonely childhood, which makes him very grateful for his friends in Cafe Parade.
- Image Song: "Waga Konton no Sabbath Marriage".
- I Owe You My Life: Asselin's overdramatic, hammy appreciation for Yukihiro, as the only employer he's had that put up with his... eccentricities. He also holds his missing cooking teacher in high regard, and his whole chuuni-ish act is done in respect of them, since they taught him everything he knows.
- Manchild: Has the image due to his usual behaviour, but even without that he acts very much unlike his age, especially when compared to the other 26 year old in 315 Pro, Kaoru.
- One of the Kids: The boys in the Mofumofuen unit get along well with him because of this.
- Meaningful Rename: His original name was Tarou, and the fact that he’s adopted the name Asselin and a newfound gaudy behavior seems to indicate that his new name gave him a new identity.
- Mr. Imagination: Comes with his chuuni act.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Asselin’s attitude in the beginning of Café Parade’s Episode 0 could be nothing further than his common behavior. It’s telling that he’s in low spirits.
- Overlord Jr.: At least, he claims so. (the BB II stands for Beelzebub the Second)
- Shrinking Violet: Around other adults outside of Cafe Parade, and is generally a nervous wreck when separated from Satan. He was, however, able to break out of his shell with Teru due to their shared Large Ham status and shared love of cooking.
Makio Uzuki
Voiced by: Takuya Kodama
Age: 18
Height 163 cm
Weight 52 kg
Shoe Size 24.5 cm
Birthday: December 12
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Cake restaurant hopping
Talents: Unicycling
A high schooler with an intense love of cake. He chanced upon the cafe one day, tried their cake, and he began waxing poetic about how delicious it was, coming to work there not long after. When Yukihiro receives an offer from 315 Production to become idols, Makio eagerly pushes for him to accept, so that he can spread the word about how amazing cakes are.
- Affectionate Nickname: Saki, his best friend, addresses him as "Roll".
- Follow Your Nose: What led him to his original table-waiting job.
- Friend to All Children: During the Green Parade event. He ends up giving out so many free samples to kids that he has no cakes left to actually sell.
- Again during the Side: Twinkle event, this time as a shopping trip to pick out Christmas dinner with Kanon Himeno ends with Makio having bought Kanon a fancy Christmas cake, cookies, a toy, a new winter outfit...
- Hidden Depths: Very skilled at studying. Because he had to move around a lot as a kid, he naturally learned how to study on his own to keep up.
- Image Song: "One-Whole = Wonderland!"
- Missing Mom: His mom passed away when he was a kid.
- Motor Mouth: When he describes cakes, it's with only the most rapid-fire descriptions.
- Pink Boy, Blue Girl: Zig-Zagged; Saki is male but dresses and behaves much like a Blue type girl. Crossdressing aside, Makio is the more effeminate of the two while Saki is tougher and refuses to be the doormat for rude customers.
- Pretty Boy: He's got a pretty girlish appearance, which has made him popular with the girls at the cafe.
- Princely Young Man: Of the nice guy variety. He's mentioned to be like a prince by Saki.
- Serious Business: Considers it nothing less than a crime for a cafe with cake as delicious as Cafe Parade's to be failing.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Cake, naturally. His absolute favorite kind is the roll cake, which is both in his name and gives him the fondest memories because his mother's roll cakes were his favorites.
Saki Mizushima
Voiced by: Daiki Kobayashi
Age: 18
Height 160 cm
Weight 48 kg
Shoe Size 24 cm
Birthday: August 19
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Magic tricks
Talents: Doing handstands
A cheery high schooler with a love for all things cute. After rescuing a piglet but getting caught in the rain, they were rescued by Makio, who led them to his workplace. They were charmed by Café Parade after the gentle hospitality, leading them to take up a job there. Alongside Makio, they urged Café Parade to accept being an idol so that they could wear cute stuff all the time.
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Saki doesn't object whether referred to as male or female, but gets annoyed by people who expect them to stay within strict behavioral lines of one or the other. Hence, they're perfectly willing to sign on with an all-male talent agency so long as they can wear cute outfits.
- Custom Uniform: Saki gets unique outfits compared to the rest of the idols. For Café Parade’s outfits that tend to feature suits, Saki wears dresses or skirts. When wearing production-wide outfits, like the Producer Meeting or PRIDE STAR costumes, Saki gets shorts or skirts.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: They can easily be mistaken for a girl, though they don't object to being referred to as male or female either way.
- Image Song: "Favorite ni Odorasete".
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Subverted; their twintails are actually a wig and they have very short hair underneath that.
- Meido: They were motivated to work as a maid at Café Parade (which was introduced to them by Makio) because they found it cute and the workers were friendly and accepting.
- Nice to the Waiter: They're very defensive of wait staff, and won't stand for rude customers bullying servers who can't fight back.
- Pink Means Feminine: Subverted. Saki may seem the most feminine character, but they don’t wear pink because it’s girlish. It’s just how they express their cuteness, so the pink just comes on the side.
- Silk Hiding Steel: They’re actually an expert karate fighter due to the training their dad made them do, as mentioned in a 1koma. Their mental strength is also formidable.
- Unmanly Secret: Played with. Saki (somehow) keeps their crossdressing and idol activities a complete secret from their family and dresses like an average male high schooler at school, changing into their usual skirts, wig, and make-up elsewhere after, but they aren't ashamed of it at all.
- Verbal Tic: Likes to pepper "papi" into their sentences.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: They like to wear cute outfits, specifically female clothes, because that's what they consider to be their ideal cuteness and true self.
Mofumofuen
In General
- Animal Motifs: Shiro gets wolves, Nao gets sheep, and Kanon gets bunnies. All are meant to invoke their cuteness.
- Custom Uniform: Though not to the extent of Saki's, some of their production-wide outfits like the PRIDE STAR set include berets and the like.
- Image Song: "Welcome Happykira Park!" and "Moffu In the Box♪".
- Later songs include "Tsutaetai no wa Konna Kimochi", "Handmade · Kimi Heart!", and "Wonder×Marching!".
- Kodomomuke: As kids, they're involved with a lot of kid-focused events. Shirou and Kanon starred as the protagonist and antagonist respectively in a card game series, while all three boys became Magical Boys for an event. Shirou and Nao used to work on one together, and as the SideM anime showed, Kanon appeared as a guest star on it.
- Homemade Sweater from Hell: All three sport hideous Christmas sweaters for the Side: Twinkle event.
- Tagalong Kid: It seems that way at first, but it’s actually averted hard. They’re actually some of the most experienced idols when it comes to their time in the spotlight, so they know their way around showbiz better than a good chunk of the idols.
- Token Mini-Moe: The youngest boys in the lineup, and their unit is specifically marketed as the "cute" group of the 315 agency.
Nao Okamura
Voiced by: Shougo Yano
Age: 11
Birthday: March 25
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Shogi
Talents: Knitting
A child star on a children's singalong program with an unfortunate case of stage fright, relieved that he is at last becoming too old for the show and will have to pass the torch to a younger castmate once his contract is up. His woes begin anew when his mother is approached by a talent scout from 315 Pro...
- Alice Allusion: His "Idols in Wonderland" set put him square into the role of a male Alice.
- Enforced Method Acting: In-Universe, this happens to him in his fantasy movie role as a cowardly wizard who must rise to the challenge and help his friends, perfectly mirroring his real life issue of rising to the challenge to act in the movie even though he is utterly terrified by the monster costumes.
- Fan Boy: He and his mom are ones to Jupiter, and he's always dreamed of performing with them.
- Ascended Fanboy: He and his unit end up getting casted alongside Jupiter for a pirate movie.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: He takes them off when performing as an idol.
- Lovable Coward: He's easily scared and often comments that he's nervous about an upcoming job.
- Momma's Boy: Nao struggles to admit his anxiety about performing to his mother, because he wants to make her proud.
- His Remember Shot card pre-change shows him taking a break in a café with his mother, where he shows a more childish expression befitting his age because he's alone with her.
- Nerd Glasses: They're taken off when he's onstage, however.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. Counting all the various mobile entries and Miki's sister, Nao is the fourth Nao in the Idolm@ster franchise.
- Performance Anxiety: The biggest example in the agency. He's always overcome with nervousness whenever in front of big performances.
- Shrinking Violet: He has a soft voice and a meek personality to match, and whenever Shiro and Kanon argue, he gets flustered.
- Sickly Neurotic Geek: The neurotic geek part applies, but he's usually only faking the sickness.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: He knows a lot due to reading up on subjects that he covers for their idol jobs.
Shiro Tachibana
Voiced by: Keisuke Furuhata
Age: 11
Birthday: April 22
Blood type: B
Hobbies:Basketball
Talents: Breakdancing
A young actor on a children's singalong show, Shiro has always played second fiddle to Nao Okamura, the star of the program. When he learns that Nao would be pursuing an idol career, Shiro is quick to follow, eager to take center stage for a change. He excels in dancing and sports, with a lot of confidence to boot.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Loves the attention, hates being treated like a kid.
- Big Brother Worship: He adores his older brother, who’s been mentioned various times. The Fruitful Fruits event explores his admiration for his older brother as seen from the lens of Sora.
- Birds of a Feather: With Ren. They're both very competitive, wanting to have themselves acknowledged, and have a rivalry (which may or may not be reciprocated) with another member in their unit. This is also depicted in their FES pair for LOS, gobbling down each others' meals and taking a nap.
- Amusingly enough, Shiro expresses some Smarter Than You Look moments when around Ren when goading or teasing Ren into doing something that the latter previously deemed a pain to do.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Loud and proud, though he wants to outgrow the "half-pint" part someday.
- Cheerful Child: He’s a rambunctious and lively kid.
- Image Song: "Shin Sedai World Big Star!".
- Meaningful Name: The second letter of his first name which makes up the "ro" syllable means "wolf," a reference to his Animal Motif.
- Mouthy Kid: Tends to mouth off to the older idols.
- Real Men Wear Pink: The only aversion in his unit; his partners Nao and Kanon are happy to prance onstage in cutesy animal costumes, but Shiro finds the whole affair very embarrassing.
- Stuck in Their Shadow: In-Universe, he pursues his idol career hoping to overcome this.
Kanon Himeno
Voiced by: Ayumu Murase
Age: 9
Birthday: February 10
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Taking walks
Talents: Piano
A former model for his father's fashion line, with an affinity for cute things. When he discovers his father's brand only extends to children's wear, he freaks out at the prospect of not being able to wear cute clothes as he gets older. The Producer scouts him, promising that as an idol he'll get to wear all the cute clothes he desires, no matter how big he gets.
- Brutal Honesty: Played for laughs in Shiro's Growing Stars 4koma. Shiro's claim that he wants to become famous worldwide gets cut short when Kanon pipes up that he'd have to get good at English to have a chance.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: This is his whole shtick. He wears a bunny kigurumi in his Normal+ and Rare+ cards. He also has a bunny plushie that appears in a few of his cards.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: Not in exact words, but the way he phrases his request for the Producer to stay with him until he's grown up certainly sounds like this.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Kanon's Visual stat is incredible, but his weak Vocals and Dance make him ill-suited for other unit types.
- The Fashionista: Surprisingly fastidious about his clothes for his age; he can't stand for his outfit to be in disarray.
- Gender-Blender Name: Kanon's name is written in hiragana and thus does not have any special meaning. However, when written in kanji (花音), Kanon is a girl's name.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: His "Idols in Wonderland" set places him in the role of the Queen (or rather King) of Hearts.
- Growing Up Sucks: Absolutely dreads the idea of growing up and becoming an adult, because he won't be able to wear cute clothes anymore. When Mofumofuen and S.E.M. co-star in a drama together, he is amazed at Rui for being cute and an adult at the same time, and his overlying character arc is about realizing that growing up doesn't mean he doesn't have to throw away everything cute.
- Image Song: "Fuwamoko Chiffon na Yume no Naka♪".
- Strong Family Resemblance: His little sister looks just like him, albeit with wavier and longer hair.
- Third-Person Person: Has a habit of talking like this, showcasing he's the youngest of the subfranchise.
- Token Mini-Moe: Special mention for being the youngest in the game at only 9 years old. He's also the shortest in the entirety of the Idolm@ster franchise.
- WTH, Costuming Department?: His In-Universe reaction to some of the less stylish costumes he's been given to work with, usually opting to ignore the provided outfit entirely and wear something else.
S.E.M.
In General
- Hot Teacher: They'd have to be to get scouted for this business.
- Image Song: "∞ Possibilities" and "Study Equal Magic!".
- Their later songs include "Sa-yo-na-ra Summer Holiday", "From Teacher To Future!", "√EVOLUTION", and "Happy's Birthday".
- Pep-Talk Song: Both the unit's songs are about encouraging study, the pursuit of knowledge and overcoming hardship.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: Michio is the snob, with Jiro as the slob. The two often come into conflict both over Jiro's lax attitude toward work, and his general slob-like behavior, such as using the school's lab equipment to brew coffee.
- Space Clothes: The unit's silver-and-neon-pink spandex jumpsuits they wear as idols (plus capes for Rui and Jiro's versions) take more than a few cues from this aesthetic.
Michio Hazama
Voiced by: Kent Itou
Age: 32
Birthday: January 13
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Cleaning, Puzzles
Talents: Reciting Pi
A stern ex-math teacher who takes his job very seriously. He cares a lot for his students and their education, which is his main motivation in becoming an idol. When Jupiter came and performed at his school’s cultural festival, Jiro and Rui pointed out how the students enjoy this way more than actually studying. After hearing that, Michio realized that as an idol, he could reach more students than ever.
- The Comically Serious: His efforts are earnest in trying to get the younger generations invested in learning, but his research often leads to very silly conclusions that he does 100% in, never letting his serious face waver the whole time.
- Didn't Think This Through: Upon realizing that becoming an idol was the path to motivating students, he immediately resigned from his former job. His proposed unit with Rui and Jiro failed 11 different auditions before their impassioned appeal was finally heard by 315 Pro.
- If My Calculations Are Correct: As a former math teacher, he occasionally thinks in percentages, and calculates what should be the optimal solution in a given situation.
- Large Ham: Normally he's extremely straight-laced and serious to the point of being uptight, but because he takes his work as an idol so seriously he puts his all into his roles and becomes this.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue of his unit, with Rui as the red.
- Save Our Students: The main reason he's taken up idol work. He still cites teacher as his true job, while being an idol is just a means to an end.
- Theme Naming: A math teacher, he is the M of the S.E.M. unit.
- The Smart Guy: Comes with the job. He can recite Pi to 46 places offhand, and further with time to study.
Rui Maita
Voiced by: Jun'ya Enoki
Age: 23
Birthday: August 8
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Skiing, Surfing, Snowboarding
Talents: Kendama (Japanese bilboquet)
The bubbly and friendly ex-English teacher who happily jumped on board after Michio proposed his plan to become an idol. He thought it was a fitting job for him, someone who’s used to being in front of people, so he leapt at the chance to go worldwide by making use of his English skills.
-
Dye Hard: It's hard to tell since he's virtually always shown to be blond, but his natural hair color is reddish-brown. - Gratuitous English: Sprinkled liberally throughout his dialogue. He hopes to leverage his English proficiency to
become a star on an international level, and mentions that he'd like to run for politics one day, where English would be very handy. - Image Song: "THIS IS IT!"
- Old Friend: He and Hokuto went to the same college together and were in the same tennis circlenote , and Hokuto is significantly the only person Rui calls by his first name.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Michio is more of a strict, no-nonsense professor compared to Rui's playfulness.
- Sensei-chan: A male example of the trope.
- Theme Naming: His subject in his old job and in the S.E.M. Trio, English.
Jiro Yamashita
Voiced by: Yoshiki Nakajima
Age: 30
Birthday: September 1
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Visiting cat cafes, betting on horse races
Talents: Radio Gymnastics
An ex-science teacher who was dragged into the idol shenanigans after Michio realized that Jupiter was a group of three, and with him and Rui, they needed one more person. Though initially hesitant, he was quickly convinced to join after being told that idols make a good deal of money.
- He Cleans Up Nicely: His first S Rare is about fixing up his scruff and rough edges for a fashion modeling session, which he turns out to excel at. His first SR card's title, "Cinderella Dandy", even references this aspect of himself.
- Image Song: "GOLD ～No.79～".
- Imagine Spot: While Rui and Michio discuss forming an idol unit to motivate and inspire students, Jiro daydreams about buying a pony and bathing in a tub of cash.
- Only in It for the Money: He perks up to the idea of becoming an idol once it was mentioned that they could potentially make a lot of money.
- Pet the Dog: Despite being in his own words only interested in getting rich, in the Ouendan event he makes time in a busy work schedule specifically to attend a young fan's little league game.
- Progressively Prettier: His basic card starts with him hunched over, and combined with the shadows under his eyes and his sleazy smile, it makes him look a bit dumpy. As more and more cards are added, and as one can see in the Super Rare card sets, he straightens up, his hair is a bit straighter and shinier, and overall he looks more handsome. This trope applies more to his casual self rather than his idol persona, given that he's supposed to come off as good-looking when he tries.
- Real Men Wear Pink: His unit's costume is very, very pink, but on a more personal note he's also a lover of kittens, ponies, and dance exercises.
- Theme Naming: His all-teacher unit S.E.M. references the subjects taught by its members, Jiro being the Science S.
- Wardrobe Flaw of Characterization: His tie in street clothes is always worn improperly or pinned to his shirt pocket.
- His Remember Shot shows that a teacher whom he learned from, and is eternally grateful to, wore his tie that way as well. It's implied Jiro wears it that way to honor his mentor.
THE Kogadou
In General
- Chromatic Arrangement: Takeru wears blue, Ren wears red, and Michiru wears yellow.
- Image Song: "Tsuyoku Toutoki Kemono-tachi" and "Jounetsu...FIGHTER".
- Their subsequent songs include "RAY OF LIGHT", "PROOF OF ONESELF", and "Hungry?".
- Rated M for Manly: This group is the "hot-blooded, masculine fighter" group, which also reflects in their songs having more powerful vocals. The three are also all Physical idols, and at least in the live concerts do more stunts than other units.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Michiru is a sensitive guy flanked by manly men Ren and Takeru.
- Tattoo as Character Type: All of their members have tattoos on them representing their individual position with their kanji for their idol outfits.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Downplayed; all three members' idol outfits include vests that expose their well-built abs (with fake tattoos placed on them).
Takeru Taiga
Voiced by: Junta Terashima
Age: 17
Birthday: December 21
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Jogging, Feeding the neighborhood's stray cat
Talents: First Person Shooter games
A boxer scouted by 315 Pro. Initially, he was uninterested until it occurred to him that by becoming a famous idol, appearing on TV, advertising and concerts, he may be able to reunite with the younger brother and sister he was separated from years ago...
- Animal Motifs: Tigers. He makes up the “Ko” part of THE Kogadou.
- Cats in general, too. The tiger that is usually present on his boxing shorts is rendered as a cute kitty in his SideMini sprite. He used to frequent a gym called Nekota Gym.
- Anime Hair: His Idiot Hair is just one chunk of his fiery-looking protagonist hair.
- Book Dumb: He's not very good at academics.
- Boxing Battler: Though he focuses more on dancing as an idol, most of his poses include punches.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Dealt this to Ren when they first met, completely accidentally, which knocked Ren’s confidence down a few pegs. And gained Takeru an Unknown Rival.
- First-Person Shooter: His specialty. His Day Off card shows him breaking into a huge smile when playing a gun shooting game. Takeru’s reasoning for liking these types of games is because he can train his body and motor reflexes alone.
- Hey, You!: Takeru mainly refers to the Producer as “anta,” which is a rather informal way to say “you”.
- Insistent Appellation: He always insists that they call the neighborhood stray cat “Champ” (Because that’s what he calls it). Hayato, who learned of this name from Takeru, gets into an argument with Shiki, who learned to call it “Haou” from Ren.
- I Will Find You: Takeru was separated from his younger siblings under not-yet-explained circumstances. He has dedicated himself to fixing that and becomes an idol thinking that the fame he can get as one might be exactly what he needs.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: He feeds stray cats, and has a nice When He Smiles moment while feeding one in one of his magazines.
- Martial Arts and Crafts: Integrates his boxing skills and fighting stamina into dance, which makes Dance his best stat by a wide margin.
- No Social Skills: One of his beginning card lines has him awkwardly mention that he’s not ill-tempered, he’s just thinking about what to say. Brought up again in a radio with 765Pro’s Hibiki.
- Pointless Band-Aid: In his street clothes.
- Punny Name: Extend the last syllable of his name and you get taigaa, the Japanese pronunciation for “tiger”. Also doubles as Theme Naming, as he represents the Ko (虎) in THE Kogadou.
- Red Boxing Gloves: Wears these.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Ren's red. He's calmer and more rational.
- Spirited Competitor: Always ready for a good challenge.
- Surprise Car Crash: In Struggle Heart, this turns out to be the tragedy that orphaned him and his siblings and was the major cause for them being split up. Takeru was hit so bad he was in a coma.
Ren Kizaki
Voiced by: Shōhei Komatsu
Age: 18
Birthday: ?? (Eventually revealed to be May 14th)
Blood type: Unknown
Hobbies: "What makes you think I'd tell you? Dumbass!"
Talents: "Defeating opponents flawlessly!"
A martial artist who was scouted by 315 Production. An Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy who never lost until (accidentally) getting knocked out by Takeru, he found out that Takeru was going to become an idol and jumped at the chance to one-up his self-proclaimed rival.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Quite literally. He often talks about how he's the strongest and even uses the arrogant "ore-sama" pronoun to boot.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Inverted. In Live on St@ge!, when the Producer asks him where he's from (perfectly reasonable), he replies "Earth, obviously? Don't ask stupid crap."
- Book Dumb: Mocks Takeru for this, but he's no better. They both tied with a score of zero in an academic match.
- Even Michio, the ever-dedicated teacher, tries to teach him, to no avail. His thought process is so outlandish that they question if he's thinking at all. Regardless, Michio refuses to give up, and Ren's 4th Anniversary magazine has him reluctantly attend one of Michio's study sessions.
- Character Tics: He cannot split chopsticks to save his life. In all images depicting him eating with them, one chopstick is notably more splintered and uneven than the other.
- Daddy Issues: Has a sore spot regarding his father, a Martial Pacifist who scolds Ren for his hyper-competitive mindset.
- The Fighting Narcissist: Believes it's only natural that someone like him should be an idol and have legions of adoring fans.
- Hey, You!: Ren’s main method of referring to the producer is a rough “omae,” probably one of the rudest or most casual ways to directly refer to someone.
- Insistent Appellation: He always calls the neighborhood stray cat which he feeds “Haou”, often translated to Overlord or Supreme King.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rude and abrasive he may be, but he'll inspire and encourage others in his own way.
- The Nicknamer: Takeru is Chibi/Shorty, Michiru is Ramen-yanote , and the producer is simply You. The other units aren't exempt from this, either. Ren doesn't bother to remember Café Parade's full name, opting to call them just "Café Whatever".
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Takeru's blue. Loud and brash, always itching for a fight.
- The Rival: Considers Takeru his personal rival and will frequently declare that he'll never lose to him, though Takeru is less invested in it as a rivalry. Ren just gets under his skin.
- Rouge Angles of Satin: Read any of his Growing Stars texts. He either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the disastrous spelling that he messages you with. No one tries to correct him, either, so it’s implied they’re already used to it.note
- Sarashi: Wears one around his chest in his idol outfit.
- Still Believes in Santa: A weird variation in that he started believing in Santa just recently. However, he doesn't like Santa— he finds him weird and won't hesitate to fight him if he ever shows up at his house.
- Theme Naming: Kizaki contains the kanji for fang (牙), and he represents the Ga in THE Kogadou.
- Troll: His birthday was listed as Unknown until May 13th, 2015 when Ren revealed his birthday to be May 14th. Yes, he waited until the day before his birthday to reveal this.
- Tsundere: In addition to being played off as one in the drama described below, he's also this to his teammates.On Michiru's Birthday: Ramen Guy! I bought some canned coffee from the vending machine outside! I'll let ya have one!... It's not like I came here to celebrate your birthday or anything. This was just a coincidence, alright?!
- Unknown Rival: Ren is this to Takeru. While Ren sees Takeru as someone he needs to defeat to move forward, Takeru sees him as more of a nuisance.
- Who Writes This Crap?!: His reaction when given a role in a drama where he must give a heartfelt love confession. Because of his inability to deliver the sappy lines straightforwardly as written, he inadvertently turns his character into a Tsundere, which the director decides to keep in the final cut.
Michiru Enjoji
Voiced by: Daiki Hamano
Age: 24
Birthday: August 8
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Acquiring qualifications
Talents: "Recently, I'm really addicted to making crotchet dolls!"
Formerly a Judo practitioner, Michiru's martial arts career was cut short by an injury. After first receiving the news that he would no longer be allowed to compete, he stopped by a street shop to drown his sorrows in ramen. The owner of the establishment ended up helping him through the rough patch in his life, leading to the job as a noodle shop employee he holds when scouted by the Producer.
- Affectionate Nickname: Shishou, master/teacher, for the Producer.
- Career-Ending Injury: In the first of his three jobs.
- Chef of Iron: He doesn't compete professionally any longer, but his Judo skills are no lesser for it.
- Comfort Food: Always turns to ramen.
- Gender-Blender Name: Although the kanji used for his name is masculine, Michiru is a name that's commonly given to girls. He had a complex about it when he was younger.
- I Owe You My Life: Out of gratitude to the old man from his ramen shop, he often encourages fans to eat there.
- Jack of All Trades: He's licensed in many skills and occupations due to his hobby of acquiring qualifications. He mentions wanting to get a helicopter pilot's license but couldn't find the time in one interview.
- Nephewism: In THE Kogadou's Episode Zero, he thanks his aunt and uncle for taking care of him since middle school. His parents have yet to be mentioned in any medium, although they don't seem to be in the picture.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Because of his muscular build and ramen's reputation in Japan as the dish of choice for manly guys, Michiru is often promoted by the agency with a cool, manly image; which Michiru ruins with his mother-hen personality and love of sewing and plush animals.
- Saving the Orphanage: The building that hosts his ramen shop and a few other businesses is set to be torn down, so Michiru became an idol to secure enough funding to buy back the building and prevent its demolition.
- Signature Headgear: He only has a handful of cards where he isn't wearing a bandana or headband. He was practically Never Bareheaded until his Idol's Day Off card.
- Team Dad: The oldest in the unit, the cook, and usually the one to break up his group's bickering.
- Theme Naming: Michiru's name contains the kanji for road (道), and he represents the Dou in THE Kogadou.
- Through His Stomach: A tasty meal together as a team is his favored method for getting Ren and Takeru to settle down.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Ramen, naturally.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He doesn't let himself get too down about his lost judo career, because it led him to his new passion, ramen, and later to meeting Ren and Takeru.
F-LAGS
In General
- Image Song: "Yumeiro VOYAGER and With...STORY".
- Their following songs are "♡Cupids!", "Waving FLAGS", and "Hope's Journey".
- Magnetic Hero: Differ from the other units in that they aren't thematically linked by their former jobs (Ryo and Daigo in particular didn't even have former jobs—Ryo in particular because he's still an idol but just branded differently). Instead, Daigo and Kazuki were both inspired by Ryo to become idols. Out of group, Saki also took up crossdressing due to being inspired by Ryo.
Ryo Akizuki
Voiced by: Yuko Sanpei
Age: 15
Birthday: September 15
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Cooking, Cleaning
Talents: Dance, Disguise
The very same Ryo of the DS title Dearly Stars, finally making the debut as a man he waited for so long. Tropes listed here apply specifically to Ryo's SideM iteration, so see Dearly Stars on the The IDOLM@STER: Allstars page for his old ones.
- The Artifact: Ryo still wears glasses when outside of his idol performances despite performing as a male idol negating the need for that compared to during his days at 876Pro.
- The Bus Came Back: After an 8 year ride.
- Call-Back: His updated profile for SideM lists his one of his talents as Disguise, and one of his Dislikes as ghosts, referring to an event in Dearly Stars where he believed he was being haunted by one. He can be seen walking by a poster of him during his days as a Dearly Stars member in one of his Super Rare sets.
- Catchphrase: "Gyaoooon!" still carries over from Dearly Stars to here.
- Closet Key: He now performs openly as a male idol... but that hasn't deterred many of his longtime fanboys.
- Cutting Off the Branches: Ryo's route in Dearly Stars had multiple possible endings. SideM follows the one where he revealed his true gender to his fans, and he was accepted by the fans that stayed.
- Effeminate Voice: He's girly-looking enough that he can easily pass as a girl in a dress and is pretty effeminate. He also stands as the only idol in SideM who's voiced by a woman.
- Even the Guys Want Him: He still gets confessions from other guys, even though he's now openly a male idol.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Very subtle. While his hair retains the same basic shape, his SideM style is a little bit shorter and a little less fluffy, masculinizing his look somewhat.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: Still removes his glasses for his idol performances, despite the Clark Kenting no longer being necessary.
- Image Song: "Habataki no My Soul".
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: His hobbies include cleaning, baking and cooking. He even accidentally slips into his feminine speech style from time to time.
- Transplant: From the Nintendo DS title Dearly Stars, marking his first non-cameo appearance in the series since its release!
Daigo Kabuto
Voiced by: Takehiro Urao
Age: 14
Height 160 cm
Weight 52 kg
Shoe Size 24 cm
Birthday: May 20
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Fighting Games
Talents: Iaido, (a style of sword drawing) Katsuramuki (Japanese cooking style)
A young man who had a fateful encounter with Ryo just a day before he broke the news to the world. At the time he just thought a random girl had bumped into him, but later on at school, he overheard his classmates complaining about the reveal (before begrudgingly admitting that Ryo's still so cute). Daigo found himself intrigued by the idea of idols, and signed on with 315 Pro shortly after.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: He's the one being bodyguarded, but he has a lot of knowledge and experience in martial arts.
- Casting Gag: "Barren Flower of Virtue" has him be a mafia boss in his role. As an heir to the position of family head, it's nearly perfect for him.
- Crash-Into Hello: His first meeting with Ryo, who ran away quickly after the abrupt encounter drew the ire of Daigo's bodyguards.
- Genki Guy: Always upbeat and encouraging his unit mates to smile.
- It Amused Me: Became an idol solely because it seemed interesting to him after the controversy Ryo stirred up.
- Japanese Dialects: Speaks with a Hiroshima-ben slant.
- Mafia Prince: A 6th generation Yakuza heir.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: The only fully pink haired boy in the series, and there's no bad bone in his body.
- Unexpected Successor: He was 5th in line for his family, but when his grandfather appointed Daigo, it caused the family to get all out of whack.
Kazuki Tsukumo
Voiced by: Tatsuya Tokutake (2015 - 2019), Shun'ya Hiruma (2020 - present)
Age: 19
Height 178 cm
Weight 64 kg
Shoe Size 26.5 cm
Birthday: October 13
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Camping, listening to the river, reading, writing
Talents: Photographic memory, recognizing edible mushrooms
A former novelist who happened to catch Ryo's announcement on TV. The courage Ryo showed to risk his fame and reputation to follow his dream inspired Kazuki, and he wished for the world to see his true self as well.
- Birds of a Feather: Kazuki and Sora strike up a rapport as fellow book lovers.
- Bookworm: He’s like 315Pro’s walking library. He brings ‘’piles’’ of books to recommend to people when they want one.
- Character Tics: When he can’t decide on something to get, he often mulls between the multiple choices. Then he decides “…Let’s get all/both.”
- Country Mouse: He and cities don't often see eye-to-eye. In particular, he's not a fan of traffic jams and car travel because he gets terrible motion sickness.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Similarly to Kanon, his Visual stat is one of the highest, which means his Vocal and Dance stats suffer as a result.
- Cute Bookworm: Whether it’s in the past or present, he’s always been cute (as shown by his visual stat of 9). He’s also a huge book lover.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Sought to become an idol to break free of the shell that was formed from his constant ghostwriting for his novelist father. Over time, he became trapped into thinking that he was only good for writing, but his many experiences as an idol are helping him out of it.
- Mr. Imagination: Passes free time by people-watching and imagining their backstories. Like the guy checking his phone over there who's secretly from an alternate dimension, or the choreographer who moonlights as a ghost hunter...
- Ghostwriter: When he was a kid, he wrote a number of novels under his novelist father's name. The reason he did this was because his father was in a writing slump, and he asked of Kazuki to help him finish novels. Inevitably, this comes back to haunt him when he is called on performing an adaptation of one of the novels he wrote.
- Nature Lover: He enjoys camping and the outdoors. His Idols' Day Off card even depicts him on a camping trip.
- The Quiet One: He doesn’t say much, nor does he raise his voice.
- The Stoic: Always cool-faced and generally very brief with what he says.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Mushrooms.
- Verbal Tic: ...He always speaks with ellipses before his sentences.
Legenders
In General
- Image Song: "Legacy of Spirit" and "String of Fate".
- Other songs include "Symphonic Brave", "Make New Legend", "FOCUS ON YOUR LIFE", "Time Before Time", and "PERMAFROST".
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: All three of them are based on historical figures.
Amehiko Kuzunoha
Voiced by: Jun Kasama
Age: 30
Height 191 cm
Weight 74 kg
Shoe Size ?? cm
Birthday: October 31
Blood type: O
Hobbies: Astrology
Talents: Origami
A janitor who appears to have spiritual powers, allowing him to see manifestations of negative emotions. In the Kuzunoha family, spiritual matters are the women's domain and the men are servants whose job is cleaning. However, he was upset by the many negative emotions he was able to see when cleaning at entertainment agencies, considering them filth in need of cleaning. This is the reason why he decided to audition to become an idol.
Like all of the idol discovery project candidates, he is based on a historical figure: Abe-no-Seimei, a legendary onmyoji known for performing exorcisms and banishing evil spirits.
- Actor Allusion: His starring role in Onmyouji Wars ~The Two Ordained by Fate~, as Abe-no-Seimei, is a reference to his spiritually inclined heritage.
- Animal Motifs: Kitsune/foxes.
- Cool Bike: He owns a motorbike, seen in his White Day card. He’s gone biking with Minori and Seiji before.
- The Family That Slays Together: His entire family is in the "cleaning" business.
- Hey, You!: He refers to the Producer as "Omae-san", or "You-san", when talking to them.
- Hypocritical Humor: Considers his unitmates "odd people", blithely ignoring that he is far and away the oddest of the three.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Fairly jaded thanks to the negativity he tends to encounter in his line of work, with a dry, sarcastic sense of humor.
- Magic Eye: Despite being male in a family of spiritually inclined females, he is supposedly able to see negative emotions with one of his eyes.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Can sometimes be caught glaring at nothing at all, and paranormal phenomena appear to follow wherever he goes. Or is it just his unit mate's imagination?
- Meaningful Name: His surname Kuzunoha comes from the name of Abe-no-Seimei's mother, who according to myth was actually a kitsune.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: His pecs are on full display whenever he's in his jumpsuit, especially for the "Flower Sign Dance Festival" event.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Deposed Genbu as the game's tallest idol at 191cm after being voted in. His image color is black, which he often dresses in. And his Day Off card shows he's got quite the bod.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Aburaage tofu, a key ingredient of kitsune udon.
Sora Kitamura
Voiced by: Fumiyoshi Shioya
Age: 19
Height 174 cm
Weight 62 kg
Shoe Size
Birthday: November 28
Blood type: B
Hobbies: Traveling alone
Talents: Calligraphy
A quiet young man with an artistic disposition. He is very observant of those around him and composes haikus in his head about his surroundings. As a general store worker, he often wrote haikus for display boards as well. However, seeing his upperclassmen engaged in job hunting and his older brother, an artist, becoming increasingly busy such that he no longer draws, Sora wondered if he could continue his lifestyle. This is when he happened upon the announcement for the 315 Pro idol auditions.
Like all of the idol discovery project candidates, he is based on a historical figure: Matsuo Basho, a poet who became well known for both his works and for his wanderlust that often led him into the wilderness or to dangerous places.
- Animal Motifs: Birds. They appear on his signature and on some of his clothes as the Chun-Chun (onomatopoeia for bird chirping noises) brand.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: A poet whose hair just happens to evoke the look of an inkbrush.
- Birds of a Feather: Bonds with Kazuki over their book loving tendencies. Sora's favorite author is Kazuki's father: in particular, his earlier works that were written before Kazuki took over as Ghostwriter.
- With Kuro, as well. Their mutual love of calm and refined arts make them a similar duo that supports one another in the X’Mas Live 2017 Side:Prelude event.
- Catchphrase: “Totonottayo~” (ととのったよー), often translated to “All in good order~”. It’s a saying used in calligraphy (altered slightly by Sora’s speech style) when a word has been written precisely and cleanly.
- Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally the one snarking about his teammates' eccentricities.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Inverted. Fans in-universe generally see him in conjunction with his two costars, which makes him look much smaller due to their monstrous height. In reality, he's pretty average, so when fans finally meet him in person they're very shocked by how tall he is. He's not fond of this phenomenon himself.
- Humble Goal: In his own words, his reason for pursuing a career as an idol is to express himself in a way he can make a living from.
- Innocently Insensitive: Sora once said something on his mind to a friend, which hurt them. They had a fight and broke up, and Sora never met them again, leading him to regret it for the longest while. He remembered this incident when speaking his thoughts to Kazuki, who seemed hurt by it, with Sora realizing he hasn’t changed.
- Meaningful Name: Sora is usually written as 空, which means sky. However, it can also mean “fake, lie”. The former is a reference to his bird motif and his wish to be “free,” while the latter is a nod to how his internal struggle deals with hiding his true thoughts to not upset anyone. His name itself is written as 想楽, with kanji meaning “thought, idea” and “fun, enjoy” respectively. Sora’s Character Development is all about coming to appreciate the individuality of his own thoughts.
- This development is shown through the lyrics of his solo Flowing Freedom. All throughout the song, he explores the meaning of what freedom truly means to him, and if his true thoughts are what he wants. The final chorus concludes that he enjoys the thoughts he has himself.
Sora: Acting the way I feel is fun, isn’t it? - Nature Lover: Shares his historical inspiration's love of nature walks.
- Only Sane Man: It falls on him to reign in Chris and Amehiko in their stranger moments.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Downplayed. This isn't the case most of the time, but when acting as a villain like Justin Le in Best Game, or Jean Murdoch in Rampage, his eyes are frighteningly scary.
- Verbal Tic: He often speaks by elongating the last syllable of his sentences, rendered with a tilde~
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Both the youngest member of Legenders and the one with the most common sense, whom the other two tend to listen to.
Chris Koron
Voiced by: Wataru Komada
Age: 29
Height 187 cm
Weight 58 kg
Shoe Size 27.5 cm
Birthday: October 11
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Visiting Aquariums
Talents: Skin Diving
An oceanographer and part-time assistant college professor who wishes to spread the joy of the sea he loves so dearly to others. His life's motto: "The oceans are not what divide us, they are what unite us." Deeply troubled by the difficulty he had holding the attention of his students, Chris began to worry that he may not be cut out for the professor position, until he overheard his students excitedly talking about visiting an aquarium they had previously attended solely to see an idol performance...
Like all of the idol discovery project candidates, he is based on a historical figure: Christopher Columbus, the Spanish explorer.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Has an odd streak due to his fascination with the ocean, such as wearing a wetsuit as casual wear, or coming to the office straight after a diving session with seaweed still in his hair (and, when this is pointed out, his first instinct being to identify and explain the biology of the seaweed rather than, say, take it out...)
- But Not Too Foreign: Like the man he's based on he's Spanish, but was born and raised in Japan.
- Call-Back: His origin as an idol traces back to a past ingame event in which Cafe Parade performed at an aquarium.
- Forgotten Birthday: During his 2017 birthday lines, he mentions that he's usually so immersed in research that he forgets the day.
- Image Song: "Undiscovered WORLD".
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Sora and Amehiko both comment on his good looks and nice hair as his secret weapon, and he specializes in the Visual stat.
- Ocean Awe: Wishes for the world to see the ocean the way he does.
- The Smart Guy: Extremely knowledgeable on just about any topic related to the ocean or marine biology, and eager to dispense this knowledge as long and often as someone will listen.
Added in GROWING STARS
C.FIRST
In General:
- Chromatic Arrangement: Much like Dramatic Stars, C.First is a trio color-coded by their idol types - Shu is the blue Intelligence type, Momohito is the yellow Mental type, and Eishin is the red Physical type.
- Image Song: "We're the one" and "Not Alone".
- Student Council President: All of them were high schoolers before they became idols, but they were all the class presidents of their respective schools.
Shu Amamine
Voiced by: Yuri Ise
Played by: Naoya Kitagawa (Stage Play)
Age: 16
Height 170 cm
Weight 55 kg
Birthday: December 1
Blood type: B
Special Skills: Playing games with his left and right hand simultaneously
Likes: Music, Anime, Information Gathering
A first-year high school student, Amamine Shu is an extremely bright and talented young man who managed to become the student council president in his first year of high school. He's determined to change the world through his music - and to do that, he needs partners. He takes up the mantle of idol and recruits two other famous student presidents in order to reach his goals.
- The Ace: Noted to be good at anything he does and even managed to become the student council president at his school despite only being a first year student.
- Breaking Old Trends: As the leader of GROWING STARS' flagship idol group, he still gets the Theme Naming of the "ama/ten" character, but similar to The IDOLM@STER.KR's Suji, he's the first leader with a color motif other than pink or red (his is blue).
- Gratuitous English: In his idol episode, he smoothly turns down two English-speaking girls' flirtation with very competent English of his own.Shu: I'm already booked. Not looking for a relationship. Thanks anyway.
- Idiot Hair: As per SideM tradition of the center having one, despite Shu himself being quite intelligent.
- Insufferable Genius: Shu is a genius, and he knows it, able to collect top marks in studies, sports, gaming, music, and basically anything he puts his mind to, and he will not hesitate to step up and redo someone else's work if he considers it subpar. He is also not shy about informing people of his talents. That said, he's never mean about it, simply very prideful.
- Instant Fan Club: Shu produced music on the internet before debuting, and has quite a fanbase already at the start of the story. He even uses them to find information for him, even such things as where Eishin and Momohito currently are. The students at his school are equally as enamored of him.
- Jack of All Trades: He's talented in a variety of categories, including art, sports, and studies.
- Lonely at the Top: Before his debut, Shu had a good friend that he was working with, to produce music to 'change the world'. Unfortunately, Shu's own talent quickly outshone his friend's, causing him to become depressed and withdraw from Shu since he felt he'd never keep up with him, and leaving Shu feeling lonely and frustrated. Perhaps the reason Shu wanted to form Class First, with its student president gimmick, was to collect equally-talented people and avoid this happening again.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Despite being the student president and confident in his talents to the point of arrogance, Shu doesn't actually have much of a social life, worrying about inviting his classmates to his first event because he's not actually that close with any of them, and spending his weekends at home with games, music, etc. rather than going out. The only friend we have seen so far didn't end well.
Momohito Hanazono
Voiced by: Masaya Miyazaki
Played by: Yuto Nakajima (Stage Play)
Age: 17
Height 177 cm
Weight 58 kg
Birthday: June 30
Blood type: A
Special Skills: Being Liked by Everyone
Likes: None
Second-year Hanazono Momohito looks laid-back and approachable, acting quite sweet and younger than his age, but is the second famous student president in town known as the "Award Killer" due to his reputation for sweeping all sorts of contests and collecting their rewards. He joins 315 Productions and C.First in order to be an idol for the producer's sake.
- Affectionate Nickname: Calls Producer "Pii-chan".
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Momohito will do anything for the producer, since he feels they gave him a reason to live.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: He collected awards in a futile attempt to find something his parents would praise him for, to no avail, leaving him to feel it's all worthless. When the player outright says he has talent as an idol, therefore acknowledging his skills, Momohito is quick to sign on with the agency and devote himself to being an idol.
- Foreshadowing: Momohito's profile states he has no hobbies, which seems to just be him playing up a 'quirky and mysterious' character. In reality, since everything he does is tied to his desperate search for approval and meaning, he doesn't actually enjoy anything he does, so nothing could be considered a hobby.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Despite all the awards he's won, he still considers himself talentless and without purpose. This attitude stems from his parents considering his achievements worthless and effectively disowning him for failing to live up to their expectations. This also makes him quick to dismiss and downplay any compliments he does receive, regardless of if they're deserved or not.
- Meaningful Appearance: He has a mole under his left eye, shaped like a heart. Very fitting, considering his affectionate nature, "momo" being a homophone for "peach", which are also heart-shaped, and the teardrop placement signaling his terrible home life.
- Nice Guy: His natural affability makes him an easy target of admiration and affection, which was especially true in his old school.
- Parental Neglect: The details are not shown, but Momohito's establishing character moment has his mother dismissing him for not having any sort of talent and saying she won't be sending him any more money, implying that Momohito either lives with his father or alone, and that his parents aren't exactly the most supportive people. Judging by Momohito's reaction, this is not a new development.
- Red Baron: "Award Killer", due to the number of awards he's won.
- Skewed Priorities: During their first ever job as an idol unit, Shu and Eishin are rationally thinking and worrying about how to successfully attract kids to an aging toy store. Momohito? 'Pii-chan's voice is really calming. I could listen to it forever.'
- Stepford Smiler: Momohito acts quite cute and endearingly confident with a smile on his face, but inside he's quite motiveless and insecure.
Eishin Mayumi
Voiced by: Takeo Ōtsuka
Played by: Yusei Hiraga (Stage Play)
Age: 18
Height 180 cm
Weight 65 kg
Birthday: January 4
Blood type: O
Special Skills: Jetskiiing
Likes: Movie Appreciation
An incredibly stern and upright young man, Mayumi Eishin is known as the "strongest student president" in town, due to his diligence and adherence to fairness, despite his famous lineage. Though he's received many offers to join the entertainment world all his life, he chooses 315 Productions to prove his talents on his own terms, without any favoritism from his parents.
- Brutal Honesty: Eishin is curt and blunt almost to the point of rudeness - he ends a phone call with 'that's all, I'm hanging up' - and isn't afraid to speak his mind. He's also the first to ask why Momohito repeatedly downplays his own talents.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Eishin refers to his father as "Seiichirou-san", though it seems to simply be from Eishin's extreme straightforwardness rather than any animosity.
- Establishing Character Moment: His first onscreen actions are to warn Momohito away from an area that teens shouldn't be straying into, and then lecturing him for thinking about throwing away a trophy that other people would have been very happy to receive, establishing his diligent and upright personality.
- First-Name Basis: As fitting with his direct nature, he doesn't bother with last names or honorifics for Shu and Momohito at all.
- Follow in My Footsteps: Both of Eishin's parents are famous actors, and he received many offers to break into show business. Eishin chooses to sign with 315 Production, a relatively new and unknown agency, to see if he really can hold his own in this world on his own talent, rather than just from his parents' reputations.
- The Stoic: Eishin takes everything very seriously, from his student president job to his work as an idol, and rarely smiles.
- Token Rich Student: Though he's diligent and hardworking and doesn't show it often, Eishin still came from a household of two famous celebrities. When Momohito asks the group what they do on weekends, Shu answers with the very normal high school boy answer of manga, anime, and games...while Eishin replies that he goes out attending parties and jetskiing. Momohito's reply is a fitting 'one of us is from a different world'.
Others
Staff
Applying to all:
- Image Song: "Aa, Jounetsu ni Hoshi wa Kagayaku 〜315 Production Shaka〜", for all of the staff of 315. The anime's Producer and Ken take lead vocals; Saitou shows up during the bridge.
Ken Yamamura
Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi
Played by: Daiki Miyoshi (Stage Play)
Administrative assistant to the Producer of SideM and serves as the game's tutorial guide and information man. He's essentially a Gender Flip of the "secretary" character in iDOLM@STER games.
- Butt-Monkey: SideM's launch was plagued with server crashes and turned into a several month hiatus for maintenance shortly after the game went live. Fanartists quickly went to work blaming the whole mess on Ken.
- Later went on to become Ascended Fanon; Ken picked up a clumsy streak due to fan portrayals which is sometimes used in-game for things like Ken accidentally obscuring new character profiles by spilling tea on them, losing important paperwork, etc.
- Cute Clumsy Guy: Turned into this after the game's relaunch.
- Ditzy Secretary: Ken is 315 Production's dedicated secretary, and the characterization he's given that makes him distinct from the other secretary characters is that of a clumsy, ditzy Butt-Monkey.
- Exposition Fairy: Explains the game setting and rules.
- Expy: Of Kotori and Chihiro, being a secretary with green as his associated color.
- Fairy Companion: Becomes one for the vanilla game's 2019 April Fools' Day joke, 315 Quest.
- Knowledge Broker: He runs the tutorial.
- Mission Control: Gives out the Producer's mission objectives and game events.
- Sexy Secretary: More on the "cute" side, with a bit of Nerds Are Sexy mixed in.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Most of the time he places them in his hair.
- Terrible Artist: He drew his own card◊ once. It's not the best art the game has to offer, honestly.
The Producer
The producer in charge of 315 Production. Unlike their game predecessors, this producer is notable for having their appearance and personality outright shown to the audience through their cameos in the in-game Magazine publications.
- Ambiguous Gender: Trades the traditionally plain, office worker aesthetic of Producers in the other Im@s games for a ponytailed, flamboyantly clothed look that straddles the line between Bishōnen and Bifauxnen.
- But Now I Must Go: The Producer eventually gets an opportunity to polish their skills in America, and in the original SideM game leaves 315 to pursue this opportunity.
- Dude Magnet: Pretty much a given, since 315 Pro is a male talent agency.
- The Faceless: Rather than hide their face with tricky shadows and camera work, they're just simply drawn without eyes. They still manage to be plenty expressive, though.
- Genki Girl/Keet: Shown to be extremely spirited, willing to help out their idols as much as they can.
- Running Gag: Think the Producer is a pushover? Think again. THE Kogadou and FRAME (the latter especially, thanks to Seiji) have to be cautioned not to work out too much, lest they cause muscle pain or cause the outfits to rip. When that happens…
- Ship Tease: With the various male idols.
- Tranquil Fury: Played for laughs. When Sai is messing around, they see… from the corner of their eye… a Producer slowly creeping in… asking if they’ve gotten practicing yet.
- Weirdness Magnet: The multitude of idols. Each has a unique persona or trait that defines his individuality from the others, many of them being highly unusual.
- Workaholic: The idols constantly have to remind the producer not to overwork themselves.
Producer (Anime Version)
- Voiced By: Kaito Ishikawa
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Unlike the bumbling, but brotherly nature of 765's Producer and the stoic, fatherly personality of 346's Producer, this producer acts more like a business partner that happens to be fond of his clients. He's also much calmer than his game counterpart, who acted more like a family friend to the groups.
- Iconic Outfit: Of course he's a producer, so he wears a suit, but it's what's under the suit—namely, a bright red pair of suspenders over a white dress shirt— that makes him distinct from other producers. Most of his appearances after the first couple of episodes just have him in the suspenders, no jacket included.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Seeing his appearance is just the game's Producer with eyes, it's a given.
- Team Mom: He's gentle with his idols, giving them time to grow on their own and gently pushing them towards their goals. He also has a Motherly Side Plait to emphasize this. This is most likely a shout out to fan perception of the game Producer possibly being female.
- The Reliable One: As a Producer, he's simply a very competent worker even when stuck in the hospital. He doesn't push his idols to unobtainable levels, checks on them when they're ill (and even makes them dinner), and is up-to-date on all of their various requests and needs.
Takashi Saitou
Voiced By: Fumihiko Tachiki
Founder and president of 315 Productions.
- Benevolent Boss: Like most presidents in the series, he would rather promote his idols naturally and he is always looking for new prospects.
- In the anime, this is why Jupiter ends up signing onto 315. Saitou is more than willing to simply give Jupiter the resources to advance their career on their terms rather than use their pre-existing popularity for a quick buck.
- Determinator: In the anime, if he sees a group that catches his eye, he will not stop persuading them until they sign on.
- Gratuitous English: He likes his idols with PASSION.
- Large Ham: Possibly the hammiest executive in the series.
- Stalker without a Crush: His strategy for recruiting Jupiter in the anime? Follow them around at different places they tend to go and keep asking.
Idol Discovery Project
The additional idols who were part of the auditions for what would eventually become the Legenders unit.
In General
- Put on a Bus: Having failed the auditions, none of them were made part of Legenders; however, each of them commented after the voting results were in that they wouldn't give up, and all six remaining candidates are mentioned during Legenders' CD debut drama, possibly meaning they could make a comeback.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: All six, like Legenders, are based on a historical figure.
Goro Sanjo
A worker at a daycare center, auditioning to become an idol to "atone for stealing hearts". Based on the legendary Japanese outlaw Goemon Ishikawa, a thief who stole from the rich to give to the poor.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: It went down to his lower back, judging from his sprite. And he was indeed considered handsome in universe.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: His kind personality and handsome face made him so popular with the daycare children, he ended up having to fend off smitten kids on a constant basis. Eventually the heartbroken kids and playground squabbles for his attention became too much of a problem for him to continue working there.
Shinobu Kazama
A special effects makeup artist with a distinct, ninja-like flair, who wishes to serve the Producer for helping him out in a tight spot... Shinobu is based on a Kotaro Fuma, a name adopted by the leader of the ninja Fuma clan during the Sengoku era.
- I Owe You My Life: Similar to a ninja swearing service to a master, he auditions to become the Producer's idol for this reason.
- Meaningful Name: According to some records, Kazama was the true name of Kotaro Fuma.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The ninja standard, pulled on Kazuki during his initial tour of the office.
Takeshi Mimasaka
A former security guard with an aggressive, competitive nature. Based on Musashi Miyamoto, a swordsman known for his undefeated record over the course of 60 duels.
- Dual Wielding: Wields twin batons, referencing his historical basis, who was famous for his twin bladed style.
- Warrior Poet: The only thing he likes as much as fighting is painting, a trait he shares with Miyamoto.
Mario Ando
Owner of a candy shop called Versailles, he wishes to spread joy to the world through candy and music. Based on Marie Antoinette.
- The Fashionista: Likes sewing and embroidery, and handmakes his clothing. He even earned Kanon's recommendation this way!
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: His outfit and hair are both very effeminate, and his hobbies include sewing, embroidery, dressmaking and making confectioneries, which are generally feminine hobbies. He is, of course, based on/a reincarnation of a French queen...
Reo Igari
A high school baseball star who enjoys mountaineering and stargazing on the side. Based on Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician who played a major role in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century.
- Japanese Ranguage: Igari Reo makes Gali Leo.
Eru Shiraishi
An engineer and toymaker facing massive debt after blowing all of his money creating a bizarre toy that just didn't catch on. Based on the Japanese inventor Hiraga Gennai.
- Genius Ditz: Highly intelligent in terms of engineering and electrical work, but he has questionable-at-best skills in money management and swears to a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants philosophy.
- Noodle Incident: The exact nature of the toy he created isn't known, though Teru at least thought it was impressive.
