History Franchise / TheIdolmaster

''THE iDOLM@STER'' is an IdolSinger franchise by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment. Part RaisingSim, part RhythmGame, the series revolves around the player becoming the producer for an idol or several, helping her train, preparing her for concerts, and boosting her popularity. It began with a self-titled arcade game which was ported to UsefulNotes/Xbox360, with a group of trainable rookies from the fictional company 765 Production. In between choosing songs and outfits to perform in, scheduling events, and bettering your relationships with the girls, the game became a surprise hit and helped introduce a wider audience to the world of idol management. Several spinoff games would follow until the releases of ''Dearly Stars'' and ''THE iDOLM@STER 2'' started their own ContinuityReboot, titled ''2nd VISION''. An anime based off of the ''2nd VISION'' continuity would later air in the summer and fall of 2011, whose popularity helped to lay much of the groundwork for later idol MusicStories: the day-to-day life of idols, problems with work, emotional moments between group members and their producer/manager, and especially the focus on rivals. Along with other early '10s idol anime like ''Anime/PrettyRhythmAuroraDream'', it would grow to be one of the frontrunners in the budding IdolGenre, and stick around for many of its years.

* SuperTitle64Advance: '''D'''early '''S'''tars is for the Nintendo DS, and '''P'''latinum '''S'''tars is for the Playstation 4.

%%* VirtualPaperDoll

* ''THE [=iDOLM@STER=]: Ayasake no Koganeiro'' - A backstory focused on secretary Kotori Otonashi from the main series, during her teenage years.

** ''THE [=iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls U149''
** ''THE [=iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls [=After20=]''
** ''THE [=iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls Wild Wind Girl''

* AlternateContinuity: Akihiro Ishihara, [[WordOfGod Bandai Namco's director]], said that ''[=iM@S SP=]'' and ''[=iM@S2=]'' are parallel worlds, as in ''[=iM@S2=]'', Hibiki and Takane are 765Pro's idols from the beginning.

%%* BareYourMidriff: Depending on the costume set.
%%** In addition, Yayoi and Ryo's speech dialects become very violent when angered.
%%* BlushSticker

%%* {{Cosplay}}: Containing many a ShoutOut.

%%* FanService

* BareYourMidriff: Depending on the costume set.

* CallAndResponseSong: There are a few of these, most notably "Kouhaku Ouen V", in which the audience responses from Producer Meeting 2017 were incorporated into the official recording.

* {{Cosplay}}: Containing many a ShoutOut.

* FirstPersonSnapshooter: The sole premise in ''The iDOLM@STER Gravure for You''
* GottaCatchEmAll: There's over 150 idols on the mobile game ''THE iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls''.

* TitleDrop: The highest Producer Rank in the original game (as well as in Starlight Stage). Later games added ranks above this such as True Idolmaster. In the true ending of ''SP'' [[spoiler:after the player character proclaims he'll stay a Producer rather than become the new president he says he'd also like to be known as the Idolmaster.]]
* UnlimitedWardrobe
** LimitedWardrobe: A rare case where both apply. With the amount of DLC out there's almost no end to the clothes the girls can wear on stage. But in the in-game communications they are always using the same set, the only difference being that it changes between Summer and Winter.

* PowerTrio: A major selling point of the games is the ability to mix and match any combination of three idols and decide who sings what lines, customizing the track to your liking. In later games, the focus wasn't so much on trios than it was on managing groups, but main trios show up quite a bit:
** [[BlondeBrunetteRedhead Haruka, Miki, and Chihaya]] are frequently put together in non-canonical works, such as drama [=CDs=] and the OVA.
** Miki, Takane, and Hibiki, each specializing in a certain stat. Interestingly, in the PSP games, they form rival company 961Pro's unit "Project Fairy".
** Speaking of 961, their most successful unit starting from ''2ND VISION'', Jupiter, is a trio. Touma, Hokuto, and Shouta would go on to be the second most prominent trio of the ''[=SideM=]'' continuity behind DRAMATIC STARS.

** ''Shiny Colors''' main group is Illumination Stars.

** In general, the game versions of songs that can be inferred to be of a sexual nature are much vaguer about the topic than their extended, album-only full versions.

* FanService

* FreakyFridayFlip: This has happened in two dramas within the franchise. The first was the bonus track from the Masterpiece 05 CD, where all the idols switch with each other just before an interview recording. The second was a DLC scenario for SP where Chihaya switches with the Producer.
* FreudianSlip: From the song "Danketsu 2010":
--> '''YUKIHO''': I'm Hagiwara Yukiho, 17 years old. [[CharacterDevelopment I'm REALLY fond of boys.]] Ah, wait, I meant to say tea!

* HelloInsertNameHere: Your character is always referred to as "Producer" and its variants, except for certain idols who refuse to refer to you as such.

* IntercourseWithYou: "Agent Yoru wo Yuku" was introduced in the arcade version and deals with male prostitution, as was "[[ObligatoryBondageSong I Want]]", the song of a sadist.

* MultipleEndings
* NoDamageRun: Some of the games provide a score bonus or other reward on completing a song with a full combo, though the amount of that bonus depends on the game itself.
* ObligatoryBondageSong: "I Want". The narrator of the song is a sadist, known in how they treat the person the song is directed to in the lyrics.

* PoorCommunicationKills: In this case, kill your chances of getting a Perfect Communication during jobs.

* SoundEffectsBleep: From the song "Danketsu 2010":
--> '''AMI''': I'm a little sister character! So my popularity with [[LoliconAndShotacon lo]][[VideoGame/PacMan *wakawaka*]] [[LampshadeHanging is]] [[TokenMiniMoe guaranteed]]!

* VideoGameCaringPotential
* VirtualPaperDoll
* WhoWritesThisCrap: From the song "Danketsu 2010":
--> '''RITSUKO:''' Eh? You want me to be an idol? I guess... if I could just be your very own idol, then... Wait, why do I have to say such embarrassing lines?!

* {{Beat}}: From the song "Danketsu 2010":
-->'''TAKANE''': My name is Takane Shijou. [Beat] [Beat] [Beat] I'm afraid everything else is a secret.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: "I Want", one of sweet, dorky Haruka's image songs, carries strong dominatrix overtones. Also, have a listen to [[ShrinkingViolet Yukiho]]'s version of "[[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Overmaster]]"!
** Hell, in the anime, sweet, dorky Haruka is the one who landed the BigBad role in the first faux-movie trailer. [[ChewingTheScenery She's apparently having a hell of a time]] [[MeanCharacterNiceActor playing it]].
** In addition, Yayoi and Ryo's speech dialects become very violent when angered.
* BlushSticker

* CastHerd: Each series and spinoff has three characters who are often paired together as their game's [[PowerTrio primary trio]]. Some contain secondary cast herds as well.
** From the foundation series: Haruka, Chihaya and Miki
** From ''Cinderella Girls'': Uzuki, Rin and Mio
** From ''Million Live'': Mirai, Shizuka and Tsubasa
** From ''[=SideM=]'': Teru, Kaoru and [[OneSteveLimit Tsubasa]] (not to be confused with Million Live's), the members of DRAMATIC STARS. Technically Jupiter is also treated this way as well.
** From ''Shiny Colors'': Mano, Hiori and Meguru, members of the Illumination Stars group.
* CatGirl: You can dress up your idols to look like catgirls in the main series games, and in Cinderella Girls, Miku Maekawa's stage act is based on this, while Kirio Nekoyanagi in [=SideM=] puts on a catboy act.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes common across the franchise]]
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the original arcade version, some idols had different hair and eye colors that were changed for the Xbox 360 version and have been kept in all subsequent games. For instance, Haruka and Yayoi originally had brown eyes, and Azusa and Chihaya originally had black hair.

* ComicBookTime: This is more obvious in ''One For All'' and especially ''Platinum Stars'' but universal through the franchise - birthdays might be referred to from time to time, but with the exception of VideoGame/TheIdolmaster2 and other entries set in "Second Vision" nobody gets to age. Even then the idols only aged up one year.

* CostumePorn: A wide range of costumes are available for the idols to wear.
* {{Crossover}}: The cell phone ''Cinderella Girls'' and ''Side:M'' each have their own separate events with the cell phone RPG ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'', while ''Million Live!'' and the two aforementioned games got one with ''VideoGame/TalesOfAsteria''.

* ElegantGothicLolita: A few of the costumes.
* EndlessGame: ''One For All'' and ''Platnium Stars'' still track weeks and seasons, but neither have the 52-week time limit to win that was present in previous games.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Happen often in the main games.
** In the UpdatedRerelease for the Xbox 360, [[spoiler:Miki cuts her hair shorter and stops dying it in her alternate route.]]
** Azusa cut her hair short on The Idolm@ster 2. Going by the anime, it was when she was scouted as part of the Ryugu Komachi. She keeps this hairstyle in future games.
** Makoto grew out her hair slightly in 2 to look more feminine. This has also stuck.
** Ritsuko trades in her braided pigtails for a messy bun in 2 to look more professional as a producer. She keeps this appearance in ''One For All'' but changes her hair again to a side braid in ''Platinum Stars.''

* FunWithAcronyms: The first MASTER ARTIST CD series has one hidden. If you look at the covers of the CD jackets of each album, every girl is saying something, most of them in English. If you put them in the correct order, they spell...
-->'''T'''o be (CD Finale)
-->'''H'''appy and (CD Finale)
-->'''E'''xciting! (CD Finale)
-->'''I''' Love you (Iori CD 8)
-->'''D'''ododo (Makoto CD 4)
-->'''O'''ui! (Chihaya CD 5)
-->'''L'''ucky! (Haruka CD 1)
-->'''M'''usic! (Azusa CD 7)
-->'''@'''! (Ritsuko CD 10)
-->'''S'''urprise (Miki CD 3)
-->'''T'''win! (Ami/Mami CD 6)
-->'''E'''at! (Yayoi CD 2)
-->'''R'''eally!? (Yukiho CD 9)
* FurBikini: A costume or two.
* GirlishPigtails
* GoingThroughTheMotions

* HelloInsertNameHere: Your character is always referred to as "Producer" and its variants, except for Ami and Mami, who always call him "Nii-chan".

* ImageSong: Each girl has at least one song just for her.

* {{Kawaiiko}}: Some characters from the series work hard at being cute or deliberately play up their cuteness, such as Iori Minase from the original games, and Sachiko Koshimizu from ''Cinderella Girls''.

* MoraleMechanic: Tension. At high tension the idol will perform better in auditions, gaining more points per appeal and being more likely to select a Good memory during a memory appeal; the opposite occurs at low tension. In addition, at low tension the idol has a chance to skip a week completely. Tension's equivalent in 2 is the Unit Status.

* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Played straight until [[Videogame/TheIdolmaster2 THE iDOLM@STER 2]], in which everyone is one year older. None of the idols have aged since then, however. This is a side-effect of ComicBookTime being used throughout the series.

* OffModel: In the Live For You! [[OriginalVideoAnimation OVA]], near the beginning when all the idols walk away, there are two Mamis instead of an Ami and a Mami.

* OnlySixFaces: All the girls are distinguishable only through their hair, eyes and body types. The face template for all of them is the same.
* PaletteSwap: Though an UnlimitedWardrobe might be available, many of the items in that wardrobe are the same outfit with a different color scheme. This sometimes gets combined with ColourCodedCharacters, with a singular outfit or accessory having a different color depending on the idol wearing it.
* PimpedOutDress: All the costumes with any kind of skirt would count.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Some of the outfits are pink. Iori's image color is pink, and she is shown to nearly always wear dresses and act very princess-like.

* PrettyInMink: A few of the outfits have fur trim.

* RelationshipValues: The Affection and Intimacy values in 2, which show your relationship with the unit and the unit members' relationship with each other respectively. ''Starlight Stage'' also has an Affection value for each card, and this needs to be maxed in order to [[LevelUpAtIntimacy5 convert it into its + form]]. Memories could also count as this.

* SexySantaDress: In ''Live For You''.

* YouLoseAtZeroTrust: In some games, having a low amount of memories can make the difficulty of lives, auditions and ''especially'' festivals range from simply hard to nigh-{{Unwinnable}}.
* ZettaiRyouiki: A few of the costumes.
[[/folder]]

* KickTheDog: Kuroi in the anime continuity kicked a hard one when he sent {{Paparazzi}} to slander Chihaya with her DarkAndTroubledPast, traumatizing her for life and showing zero regret for it. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even the Jupiter trio do not approve]]. To some (and probably the Jupiter trio), this becomes a MoralEventHorizon, since the previous iterations of Kuroi were at best high-class {{Jerkass}}es and never tried traumatizing people for life.

* PigeonholedVoiceActor: Creator/RieKugimiya as [[{{Tsundere}} Iori]], though since the role dates from 2005 it may be more accurate to say it was one of the roles that led to her being pigeonholed.

* PowerTrio: A major selling point of the game is the ability to mix and match any combination of three idols and decide who sings what lines, customizing the track to your liking.

''THE iDOLM@STER'' is an IdolSinger franchise by Creator/BandaiNamco. Part RaisingSim, part RhythmGame, the series revolves around the player becoming the producer for an idol or several, helping her train, preparing her for concerts, and boosting her popularity. It began with a self-titled arcade game which was ported to UsefulNotes/Xbox360, with a group of trainable rookies from the fictional company 765 Production. In between choosing songs and outfits to perform in, scheduling events, and bettering your relationships with the girls, the game became a surprise hit and helped introduce a wider audience to the world of idol management. Several spinoff games would follow until the releases of ''Dearly Stars'' and ''THE iDOLM@STER 2'' started their own ContinuityReboot, titled ''2nd VISION''. An anime based off of the ''2nd VISION'' continuity would later air in the summer and fall of 2011, whose popularity helped to lay much of the groundwork for later idol MusicStories: the day-to-day life of idols, problems with work, emotional moments between group members and their producer/manager, and especially the focus on rivals. Along with other early '10s idol anime like ''Anime/PrettyRhythmAuroraDream'', it would grow to be one of the frontrunners in the budding IdolGenre, and stick around for many of its years.

** From ''[=SideM=]'': Teru, Kaoru and [[OneSteveLimit Tsubasa]] (not to be confused with Million Live's)

** ''Cinderella Girls'' 346 Production ("mi-shi-ro", meaning "beautiful castle"), ''SideM's'' 315 Production ("sa-i-ko", meaning "ultimate") and ''Shiny Colors'''s 283 Production ("tsu-ba-sa", meaning "wing") apply for this trope as well.

** ''Cinderella Girls''' 346 Production ("mi-shi-ro", meaning "beautiful castle"), ''SideM's'' 315 Production ("sa-i-ko", meaning "ultimate") and ''Shiny Colors'''s 283 Production ("tsu-ba-sa", meaning "wing") apply for this trope as well.

''THE iDOLM@STER'' is an IdolSinger franchise by Creator/BandaiNamco. Part RaisingSim, part RhythmGame, the series revolves around the player becoming the producer for an idol or several, helping her train, preparing her for concerts, and boosting her popularity. It began with a self-titled arcade game which was ported to UsefulNotes/Xbox360, with a group of trainable rookies from the fictional company 765 Production. In between choosing songs and outfits to perform in, scheduling events, and bettering your relationships with the girls, the game became a surprise hit and helped introduce a wider audience to the world of idol management. Several spinoff games would follow until the releases of ''Dearly Stars'' and ''THE iDOLM@STER 2'' started their own ContinuityReboot, titled ''2nd VISION''. An anime based off of the ''2nd VISION'' continuity would later air in the summer and fall of 2011, whose populatiry helped to lay much of the groundwork for later idol MusicStories: the day-to-day life of idols, problems with work, emotional moments between group members and their producer/manager, and especially the focus on rivals. Along with other early '10s idol anime like ''Anime/PrettyRhythmAuroraDream'', it would grow to be one of the frontrunners in the budding IdolGenre, and stick around for many of its years.

* ''Manga/{{Puchimas}}'' - A bizarre manga featuring the 765 girls living with chibi doppelgangers of themselves.

* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster2'' - Despite the name, it's actually part of the ''2ND VISION'' ContinuityReboot.

** ''Anime/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirlsTheater'' - The {{Yonkoma}} series of Cinderella Girls and its animated adaptation.

''THE iDOLM@STER'' is an IdolGenre franchise by Creator/BandaiNamco. Part RaisingSim, part RhythmGame, the series revolves around the player becoming the producer for an idol or several, helping her train, preparing her for concerts, and boosting her popularity. It began with

It also has a [[Characters/TheIdolmaster character sheet]], and a dedicated fansite called [[http://www.project-imas.com/ Project-iMAS]] which includes [[TheWikiRule a wiki too]]. [[http://www.project-imas.com/wiki/Main_Page Click here for the wiki!]]

* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterDearlyStars'' - the first spinoff game to take place in a different agency. Includes tropes from the three manga adaptations as well.
* ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'' - The animated adaptation based off of ''The [=iDOLM@STER=] 2'' game. Also has an interquel manga.
* ''Manga/TheIdolmaster2TheWorldIsAllOne'' - A manga that was also based off the second game, but with more liberties and development for its main characters.
* ''Anime/IdolmasterXenoglossia''

** ''Anime/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls'' - The animated adaptation based on ''Cinderella Girls''.
** ''Anime/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirlsTheater'' - The {{Yonkoma}} series of Cinderella Girls and its animated adaptation.

** ''Anime/TheIdolmasterSideM'' - The animated adaptation based on ''[=SideM=]''.
** ''Manga/TheIdolmasterSideMWakeAtteMini'': The chibi spinoff of ''[=SideM=]'' as well as its anime adaptation.
* ''Series/TheIdolmasterKR'' - A South Korean TV drama series produced under the direction of Bandai Namco and Korean-based Interactive Media Mix (IMX).

It also has a [[Characters/TheIdolmaster character sheet]], and a dedicated fansite called [[http://www.project-imas.com/ Project-iMAS]] which includes [[TheWikiRule a wiki too]]. [[http://www.project-imas.com/wiki/Main_Page Click here for the wiki]]!

Tropes that are common for the franchise as a whole, please, list them on this page. For tropes specific to individual titles, please go to:

* ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'' - The animated adaptation based off of ''The iDOLM@STER 2'' game. Also has an interquel manga.

[[folder:Tropes common across thenfranchise]]

** Also, the DS game's 876 Production is read as "ban-na-mu", with "ban" (8) and then the "na-mu" part as above. "Bannamu" is a portmanteau of "Bandai Namco", and is indeed a common short form for it.
** Applies to the spinoffs' 346 Production ("mi-shi-ro", meaning "beautiful castle"), 315 Production ("sa-i-ko", meaning "ultimate") and 283 Production ("tsu-ba-sa", meaning "wing") as well.

* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster2'' - Despite the name, it's actually a different continuity.

** Prior to these, [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Miku Hatsune]] was DLC for ''Idolmaster 2'' as part of a collaboration (''HatsuneMikuProjectDiva2nd'' received some Idolmaster-based DLC in turn).