History Franchise / TheIdolmaster

** 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 the second "main" group.

''THE iDOLM@STER'' is an IdolGenre franchise by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment. Part RaisingSim, part RhythmGame, the series revolves around the player becoming the producer for an {{idol|Singer}} or several, helping them train, preparing them for concerts, and boosting their 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 idols, 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 New '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.

''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 them train, preparing them for concerts, and boosting their 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 idols, 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 New '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.

''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 New '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.

* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM'' - Page for the mobile game as well as ''Live on St@ge!''.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Of the original 765PRO ALLSTARS, Chihaya and Takane. The mobile games have quite a number of exotic hair colours.
%%* ZettaiRyouiki: A few of the costumes.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''Smile So Many Times'']]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Of the original 765PRO ALLSTARS, Chihaya. The mobile games have quite a number of exotic hair colours.

** ''THE [=iDOLM@STER=] Milion Live! Back Stage''

* SuperTitle64Advance: '''D'''early '''S'''tars is for the Nintendo DS, '''P'''latinum '''S'''tars is for the Playstation 4, and Cinderella Girls '''V'''iewing '''R'''evolution is for the Playstation VR.

** From the foundation series: Haruka, Chihaya and Miki. Project Fairy (Hibiki, Miki, and Takaane) as well, in ''1ST VISION''.
** From ''Cinderella Girls'': Uzuki, Rin and Mio
** From ''Million Live'': Mirai, Shizuka and Tsubasa

* VirtualPaperDoll: Many clothing are available for your idols, from fancy dresses to swimwear and children’s clothing (for teenage or older idols).

[[caption-width-right:350:some ''Smile So Many Times'']]

The success of the 765 Production games has spawned four subseries, ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls Cinderella Girls]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterMillionLive Million Live!]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM SideM]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterShinyColors Shiny Colors]]''. First released as Mobile/Browser CardGames, they feature unique idols and have spawned numerous [=CD=] releases and Anime/Manga adaptations of their own. ''[=SideM=]'' is also noteworthy for being the first game of the franchise with females as its main audience: it features solely male idols. ''Cinderella Girls'' spawned a big enough {{fandom}} to gain an [[Anime/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls anime]] that premiered on the Winter2015Anime season. It has also received a RhythmGame for smartphones named ''THE iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage'' (with gameplay similar to fellow rhythm phone games such as ''Franchise/LoveLive School Idol Festival'' but using 3D models), its own ''Gravure 4 You!'' series, and a VR live "game" called ''THE IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls: Viewing Revolution''. ''Million Live!'' has its own Rhythm Game similar to ''Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage'' named ''THE iDOLM@STER Million Live!: Theater Days''. ''[=SideM=]'' followed soon after with the announcement of not only a ''Starlight Stage''-like game of their own (''THE iDOLM@STER [=SideM=]: Live on St@ge!''), but an animated adaptation within the same year during the Fall2017Anime season.

** 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.

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

** Every company president is drawn either in silhouette or without a face, including both Takagis (765), Kuroi (961), Ishikawa (876), and Saitou (315). In ''Asayake wo Koganeiro'', however, Junjirou Takagi and Kuroi's younger selves were given faces.

** Every company president is drawn either in silhouette or without a face, including both Takagis (765), Kuroi (961) Ishikawa (876), and Saitou (315). In ''Asayake wo Koganeiro'', however, Junjirou Takagi and Kuroi's younger selves were given faces.

* TheFaceless: The PlayerCharacter. Also, Mr. Takagi. Actually, aside from Kotori and the Jupiter trio, every other character you come across, including the satellite characters on the girls' routes, are all faceless.

* CatGirl: You can dress up your idols to look like catgirls in the main series games. In ''Cinderella Girls'', Miku Maekawa's stage act is based on this, while Kirio Nekoyanagi in ''[=SideM=]'' puts on a catboy act.

* DownloadableContent: New songs, costumes and accessories are regular fixtures as [=DLC=]. Some games include extra stories or additional rival units as well.

* FirstPersonSnapshooter: The sole premise in ''The iDOLM@STER Gravure for You''.

* 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.]]