History VideoGame / EnsembleStars

* {{Bishounen}}: All of them, including the first years, are this. Even those who are actually cute-looking.

* MeaningfulName: Most of the cast has these; their pages on the [[TheWikiRule wikia]] have more insight to each.

** The player/Anzu is canonically this by one of the game's main scenario writer's, Akira, of ''LightNovel/SasamisanAtGanbaranai'' fame. [[spoiler: In part of having a gloomy school life in her previous school which was expanded in the game's novelization currently only available in the AGF event and now up and available through pre-orders, she gets better over the course of the story. This also confirms the fact that Anzu is Angie, who had been mentioned in ''Ensemble Girls!'', see more in ContinuityNod]].

* FashionModel / FanserviceModel: As the idols take on various jobs, one of the types of jobs they take on are this. They also take on gravure modeling shoots. Izumi and Makoto are notable examples of characters who focus on modeling work.
** There are several gacha stories that focus on modeling shoots such as ''Bridal '', ''Beasts'' and ''Runaway''.

Initially a [[SpearCounterpart josei genre]] (with shounen elements) spin-off story to its now-defunct sister game ''Ensemble Girls!!'', ''Ensemble Stars!'' sky-rocketed in popularity and received a number of notable adaptations, as listed under installments. It is currently one of the most popular male-centric idol franchises of TheNewTens.

** In August 2022, it was announced that the famous Virtual Idol Hatsune Miku would appear in ''Ensemble Stars'' as a part of the third installment of the games COVER SONG SERIES. Kagamine Rin and Len also accompany her, and while they have no songs in the collaboration, they do appear as limited-time Office characters in ''Music!!''

* DarkerAndEdgier[=/=]LighterAndSofter: The stories in the events and gacha tend to switch between this, in order to balance out the story's tone. Usually, when there is a filler event, the gacha story will have a more serious tone, and vice versa for more serious events and light hearted gacha stories. As of December 2016, the darkest story had been Starlight Festival due to it having a WhamLine right at the very first chapter.

* IllBoy: Eichi. So bad that he can't completely perform in activities together with the rest of fine. [[spoiler: Even worse, the Quarrel Festival event reveals that it's a hereditary trait to the males in his family]].
** The Sakuma brothers are apparently this as well. Ritsu suffers from low blood pressure, and since the "[[NoodleIncident War]]" is constantly tired and has on occasion been found unconscious by Leo.

** UpToEleven with Natsume, who was Anzu's ''classmate'' during the time before he was introduced, but apparently she never met him because [[{{Handwaved}} he skips a lot of classes]].

** In 2020, ''Ensemble Stars!!'' April Fools event features Kunugi and Sagami doing a [[TastesLikeDiabetes cutesy live]] with Kohaku Oukawa and Jun Sazanami, with a very short event story to go along with it. More info for the event can be found [[https://ensemble-stars.fandom.com/wiki/Ojisan_to_Issho on the wiki]]. Interestingly, according to WordOfGod, the event was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally planned to be Madara Mikejima focused with the theme being "Together With Mama!",]] however due to unexplained issues that this eventually lead to, this was changed to focus on the teachers instead.

* DifficultySpike: Starting from the 2016 Tanabata event, a new encore function is added and event points had become harder to achieve. The encore function provided additional points, but relied on [[LuckBasedMission RNG]]. And the previous point awards have been lowered for this system to work.
** This is now averted that from the many complaints, Happy Elements had {{Nerf}} it down.

''[[http://stars.happyelements.co.jp/ Ensemble Stars!]]'' is a touch-and-go, CCG game created by Creator/HappyElements of ''VideoGame/MercStoria'' fame, and the younger brother series to Happy Elements' earlier mobile game, ''Ensemble Girls!''. Its main attraction is a CastFullOfPrettyBoys performing various {{idol|Singer}} activities, with a story involved as background to many of the cast. Despite its [[ArtStyleDissonance colorful art style]] and setting, the story is much darker than one would initially assume.

Initially a [[SpearCounterpart josei genre]] with shounen elements, spin-off story to its now defunct sister game ''Ensemble Girls!!'', ''Ensemble Stars!'' sky-rocketed in popularity and received a number of notable adaptations, as listed under installments. It is currently one of the most popular male-centric idol franchises of TheNewTens.

In 2019, Happy Elements announced a new direction for the mobile portion of the franchise: it would be retitled to ''Ensemble Stars!!'' and consist of two coexisting games. Along with the classic training game (retitled ''Ensemble Stars!! Basic'' in 2020), an additional rhythm spinoff/sequel titled ''Ensemble Stars!! Music'' launched, featuring the boys signed to different talent agencies. Both apps have the same new events, gacha, stories and characters, but different requirements for obtaining cards.

'''IMPORTANT NOTE''': As the game is currently unavailable outside of Japan sans Android users with the help of the Qoo App, please mark spoilers accordingly.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters And there are oh so many stars.]]]]

* CastHerd: Due to the games LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, outside of the characters being split up into their standard unit(s)[[note]]taking Adam, Eve and Double Face into account[[/note]], the game has also taken to assign characters to different sub-groups such as school clubs, the 3/5 Oddballs, as well as sub-units. These characters will sometimes appear together in themed events or gacha based on their units.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters:
** Over thirty characters, what do you expect? And they may add more characters in the future...
** To illustrate the cast's growth in quantity: this page's image is the opening screen for the game when it was launched (the teachers Sagami and Akiomi being the only characters absent, despite being in the cast from the start). ''[[http://i.imgur.com/b6SqUzw.jpg This]]'' is the opening screen used as of September 2017, added in celebration of Ensemble Stars' 2nd Anniversary, after the inclusion of at least three new units, and at least one (Eden) isn't pictured. That's also not counting the 8 characters introduced in ''Ensemble Stars!!''. By 2020, the franchise is currently ''49 idols'' strong. With the inclusion of the teachers, that makes ''51'' characters overall.

* OutOfFocus: Thanks to having [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters many, many characters]], a few characters got hit by this. As of Ensemble Stars!!, they seemed to have attempted to rectify this by creating unit song events which focus on a particular unit and tours, which focus on two or more units at a time, with unit appearances moving in rotation, meaning that every unit will have a chance to receive spotlight within a given year.

* TechnicolorEyes: Going along with the YouGottaHaveBlueHair trope for most of the cast, a lot of characters have unnatural eye colors such as red, gold, purple or even ''chartreuse'' in Leo and Kanata's case. The most common InUniverse eye colors seem to be purple and blue while the rarest eye colors, not being shared with anyone else in the cast, such as Madara's blue-green eyes, Nazuna's pinkish red eyes, and Yuzuru's reddish-purple eyes.

The player, a [[PlayerCharacter new female student]] (called Anzu as default, [[HelloInsertNameHere but the player can input their own name as well]]) in the second year transfers to Yumenosaki academy, which used to be an all-boys school famous for creating popular performing units, until her transfer to start studying in the producer course. Facing the fact that the school is not what it seems to be, she decides to help a group unit who wanted to rebel against the school's Unit system.

Initially a [[SpearCounterpart Josei genre]] with shounen elements, spin-off story to its now defunct sister game ''Ensemble Girls!!'', ''Ensemble Stars!'' sky-rocketed in popularity and received a number of notable adaptations, as listed under installments. It is currently one of the most popular male-centric idol franchises of TheNewTens.

* Ensemble Stars! (2015-2019): The original game touch-and-go card collector game. Largely focused on the idols in a competitive high-school setting. The game winded down in late 2019 through early 2020 as the developers prepared for the Ensemble Stars!! rebrand.
** Ensemble Stars!!: The official rebranding of the franchise which shifted the franchise focus from being largely high-school centric to the idols being assigned to different offices of their choosing and navigating their way through the competitive industry. All of the idol units from the original game return. With this update, two new units were introduced: ALKALOID (the new main story protagonist unit) and Crazy:B respectively. A third unit consisting of [=MaM=]'s Madara Mikejima and Crazy:B's Kohaku Oukawa debuted in July 2020. months after being teased in 2019.
*** Ensemble Stars!! Basic (2020-): UpdatedRerelease of the Ensemble Stars! app that remains relatively faithful to the originals touch-and-go gameplay with some cosmetic changes. "Ensemble Stars!" mode exists within in the app which can be freely switched to. The mode retains the old game's interface, mechanics, cards and stories. Revivals in this mode can still be started and played through in-between events, though cards from Stars!! mode cannot be used there, unlike Stars! cards that are able to used in Stars!! mode. Old scouts move in rotation weekly, by unit.
*** Ensemble Stars!! Music (2020-): RhythmGame spin-off of the original game. Follows the same storyline as Basic, with the same scouts and events, but has a different method for obtaining cards and higher event point requirements. Unlike Basic, it does not have a Stars! mode, meaning that old stories are not viewable within the app and old cards cannot be obtained or ported over from Basic. Chibi motions are not viewable within Music. New features such as the AnimatedMusicVideo, SPP function and MV outfits are introduced within this app. The game also introduces an office function similar to VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls, a Work mini-game and four new attributes that are exclusive to Music; Glitter, Sparkle, Flash and Brilliant.
* Ensemble Stars! The Animation: The AnimeOfTheGame adaptation of Ensemble Stars!. After a two year delay with no updates, the project was finally revealed to be premiering in 2019, spearheaded by Creator/DavidProduction.
* Ensemble Stars! On Stage: A series of stage play adaptations for Ensemble Stars! produced by Marvelous!. It is separated into main story installments with Extra stages focusing on event stories.

*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage
*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Take Your Marks!~
*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~To the Shining Future~

*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Judge of Knights~
*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Memory of Marionette~
*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Destruction x Road~
*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Night of Blossoming Stars~
*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Meteor Lights~
* Ensemble Stars!: The first manga adaptation for Ensemble Stars! that focuses on the main story. Anzu does not appear in this adaptation.
* Ensemble Stars! Ready For Star: The second manga adaptation for Ensemble Stars! that focuses on various event and side stories. Treated as a more faithful adaptation.
* Ensemble Stars! Novel (2015-2016): The novel adaptation for Ensemble Stars! written by the games' main scenario writer Akira. The novel is currently complete.
* Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE: A series of concerts featuring holographic performances from the game's various units. Initially starting out with just the "main units", sans fine, more units from the game were introduced as the tours continued. In 2021, fine and [=MaM=] were be the last units from the original game to make their DREAM LIVE debuts, with Eden appearing as guest performers.
** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - 1st Tour "Morning Star!"
** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - 2nd Tour "Bright Star!"
** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - 3rd Tour "Double Star!"
** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - 4th Tour "Prism Star!"
** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - 5th Tour - "Stargazer"
** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - "BRAND NEW STARS!!"
** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - 6th Tour "Synchronic Spheres"
* Ensemble Stars! Starry Stage: A series of concerts for various units from the game performed by the characters' seiyuu.

*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Night of Blossoming Stars
*** Ensemble Stars! On Stage ~Meteor Lights

** Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE - 5th Tour - TBA

* Ensemble Stars! Novel (2015-2016): The novel adaptation for Ensemble Stars! written by the games main scenario writer Akira. The novel is currently complete.

* Ensemble Stars! On Stage: A series of stage play adaptations for Ensemble Stars! produced by Marvelous! It is separated into main story installments with Extra stages focusing on event stories.

* Ensemble Stars!: The first Manga adaptation for Ensemble Stars! that focuses on the main story. Anzu does not appear in this adaptation.
* Ensemble Stars! Ready For Star: The second manga adaptation for Ensemble Stars that focuses on various event and side stories. Treated as a more faithful adaptation.

* Ensemble Stars! The Animation: The AnimeOfTheGame adaptation of Ensemble Stars! after a two year delay with no updates the project was finally revealed to be premiering in 2019, spearheaded by Creator/DavidProduction.

''[[http://stars.happyelements.co.jp/ Ensemble Stars!]]'' is a touch-and-go, CCG game created by Creator/HappyElements of ''VideoGame/MercStoria'' fame, and the younger brother series to Happy Elements' earlier mobile game, ''Ensemble Girls!''. Its main attraction is a CastFullOfPrettyBoys performing various {{idol|Singer}} activities and also a story involved as background to many of the cast. Despite its [[ArtStyleDissonance colorful art style]] and setting, the story is much darker than one would initially assume.

The player, a [[PlayerCharacter new female student]] (called Anzu as default, [[HelloInsertNameHere but the player can input their own name as well]]) in the second year transfers to Yumenosaki academy which used to be an all-boys school famous for creating popular performing units until her transfer to start studying in the producer course. Facing the fact that the school is not what it seems to be, she decided to help a group unit who wanted to rebel against the school's Unit system.

Initially a [[SpearCounterpart Josei genre]] with shounen elements SpinOff story to it's now defunct sister game ''Ensemble Girls!!'', ''Ensemble Stars!'' sky-rocketed in popularity and received a number of notable adaptations, as listed under installments. It is currently one of the most popular male-centric idol franchises of TheNewTens.

In 2019, Happy Elements announced a new direction for the mobile portion of the franchise: it would be retitled to ''Ensemble Stars!!'' and consist of two coincentric games. Along with the classic training game (retitled ''Ensemble Stars!! Basic'' in 2020), an additional rhythm spinoff/sequel titled ''Ensemble Stars!! Music'' launched, featuring the boys signed to different talent agencies. Both apps have the same new events, gacha, stories and characters, but different requirements for obtaining cards.

** Ensemble Stars!!: The official rebranding of the franchise which shifted the franchise focus from being largely high-school centric to the idols being assigned to different offices of their choosing and navigating their way through the competitive industry. All of the idol units from the original game return. With this update, two new units were introduced, those being ALKALOID, the new main story protagonist unit, and Crazy:B respectively. A third unit consisting of [=MaM=]'s Madara Mikejima and Crazy:B's Kohaku Oukawa debuted in July 2020. months after being teased in 2019.
*** Ensemble Stars!! Basic (2020-): UpdatedRerelease of the Ensemble Stars! app that remains relatively faithful to the originals touch-and-go gameplay with some cosmetic changes. "Ensemble Stars!" mode exists within in the app which can be freely switched to. The mode retains the old games interface, mechanics, cards and stories. Revivals in this mode can still be started and played through in-between events, though cards from Stars!! mode cannot be used there, unlike Stars! cards that are able to used in Stars!! mode. Old scouts move in rotation by unit weekly.
*** Ensemble Stars!! Music (2020-): RhythmGame spin-off of the original game. Follows the same story-line as the Basic, with the same scouts but has a different method for obtaining cards and higher event point requirements. Unlike Basic, it does not have an Ensemble Stars! mode, meaning that old stories are not viewable within the app and old cards cannot be obtained or ported over from Basic. Chibi motions are not viewable within music. New features such as the AnimatedMusicVideo, SPP function and MV outfits are introduced within this app. The game also introduces an office function similar to VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls, a Work mini-game and four new attributes that are exclusive to Music; Glitter, Sparkle, Flash and Brilliant.

* Ensemble Stars! On Stage: A series of stage play adaptations for Ensemble Stars! produced by Marvelous! It is separated into main story installed with Extra stages focusing on event stories.

* Ensemble Stars! DREAM LIVE: A series of concerts featuring holographic performances from the games various units. Initially starting out with just the "main units" san fine, more units from the game were introduced as the tours continued. In 2021, fine and [=MaM=] will be the last units from the original game to make their DREAM LIVE debuts with Eden appearing as guest performers.

* Ensemble Stars! Starry Stage: A series of concerts for various units from the game performed by the characters seiyuu.

* AbsurdlyDividedSchool: Enforced by the AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil during the war, as they scapegoated any other students they were unable to control (especially the 'five oddballs') and rewarded those who helped them. This created a massive power disparity as it was basically impossible for any idol unit not favoured by the student council to achieve top ranks in competitions, impacting not only their popularity at school but their later career prospects. Those who were attacked by the student council banded together, and ultimately with their help Trickstar was able to disrupt the system and massively curtail the student council's power. While during the War the atmosphere at school had been very hostile between different groups, this eased that tension hugely, and afterwards most characters are happy to make friends across old enemy lines.

* AdamAndOrEve: The rival schools introduce Eden, a unit divided into two groups to pit against Yumenosaki; Eve, made of Hiyori Tomoe and Jun Sazanami, and Adam, consisting of Nagisa Ran and Ibara Saegusa. Both of them came from Reimei and Shuetsu respectively.

** The Anime itself is this along with AdaptationDistillation, while it does not include every single event story in the game, it does, however, elaborate a few scenes in the game.
* AdaptedOut: Anzu doesn't appear in the manga to fulfill the InTheHood rule that Happy Elements had set up for her appearance. Hence making the Manga running differently from the game in terms of story line. The anime and the new manga adaptation ''Ready for Star'', however, follows the game and included Anzu, averting the InTheHood trope.

** At the same note, events and gacha will also focus on a certain character and/or unit.

* AllegedlyFreeGame: Sure, it is a free game, but unless you actually buy diamonds, good luck [[LuckBasedMission getting the cards you actually want from the gacha]]. Getting event cards that are gained by ranking is also nearly impossible if you aren't willing to pay for more diamonds, especially when the ranking card's character is from one of the more popular units like Knights or UNDEAD. Event cards that are point rewarded are obtainable for free... but only if one has strong enough teams, which might take a long time if you don't scout in the gatcha, making this come full circle.
** ''Ensemble Stars!!'' seems to rectify this some way, as they remove the ability to get cards through ranking in both versions of the games apps. Now, the player can get all cards in the newly introduced event types through points, but that comes with its own set of issues as some cards are far higher than in points others.
* AlwaysInClassOne: Roughly half of the cast are in Class A of their respective years, while the other half resides in Class B. There are no exceptions.

* AmbiguouslyBi: With how close and flirty the characters are toward each other, every member of the cast has this implication around them with the sole exception being Anzu, [[TheSmurfettePrinciple most probably because she’s the only important female character in the cast.]] Even [[DidIMentionIAmHeterosexualToday Kaoru]] doesn’t escape this.
* AmbiguousSituation: The exact circumstances of the fate the “evil producer” suffered in A Dark Nights Passing after [[spoiler: Madara threw him into a crowd of his angry victims. The event following confirmed that GFK had successfully been wiped from the industry and all those involved in his attack had been arrested except Madara and Kohaku [[PlotArmor of course]] however, it’s unknown if GFK had simply suffered serious injuries or was outright killed by his victims.]]
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: You can unlock special costumes of a character as you collect the cards. You can also unlock voice clips of characters if you continue rising the "Affection rank". Low rarity Gacha cards do not come with outfits.
** In Ensemble Stars!!, 5 star cards now come with SCR versions of the unlockable bloomed outfit, which are just [[PaletteSwap palette swapped]] versions of the base bloomed outfit.
* TheAnimeOfTheGame: One was originally planned for 2017 but was postponed until it’s release in mid-2019.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The course's events in the event producer course in the Marionette's memories event aren't from Anzu's point of view (As she has yet to transfer to Yumenosaki). Instead, they are from the point of view of different characters involved in that reminiscence event. This has become a recurring pattern starting from the Marionette's memories event. Events where Anzu is not completely involved of in producing or helping will have it from the point of view from the participating characters while those that had Anzu involved will have the courses played in Anzu's point of view.
* AnotherSideAnotherStory: Starting after the 2016 White day event, comes the loop events featuring the back story of the characters involving the one year before Anzu moved to Yumenosaki and the mostly mentioned [[NoodleIncident "War" between Eichi and the five oddballs]]. Like the events before, they took place after the main story, as hinted in the Marionette's memories events's story epilogue where Nazuna calls Anzu "Transfer student" and regards her experience as still being a newbie in being a producer.

** In 2016, Kunugi and Sagami temporarily replaced the game by showing their days as teenage Yumenosaki students. The gag was later repeated in 2017, only this time showing their idol years.
** In 2018, the game brought up a Ryuusetai ShootEmUp sentai arcade game complete with fully voice acted cutscenes.

** In 2020, ''Ensemble Stars!!'' April Fools event features Kunugi and Sagami doing a [[TastesLikeDiabetes cutesy live]] with Kohaku Oukawa and Jun Sazanami with a very short event story to go along with it. More info for the event can be found [[https://ensemble-stars.fandom.com/wiki/Ojisan_to_Issho on the wiki]]. Interestingly, according to WordOfGod, the event was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally planned to be Madara Mikejima focused with the theme being "Together With Mama!",]] however due to unexplained issues that this eventually lead to, this was changed to focus on the teachers instead.
** In 2021, ''Ensemble Stars!!'' April Fools event has an event story staring Hokuto, Eichi, Rinne, Tsukasa, Rei, and Shu, [[RecycledInSpace where ES has been transferred to a space colony]] and Dream-Fes matches are held as mecha robot matches. The event story is fully voiced and includes related outfits & locations from the event.

* ArtEvolution: Despite the games simplistic way of drawing the characters, the art style used has become more rounded. Anatomy and more complex poses have improved. The way colors are utilized, how things are colored, backgrounds, lighting and even the way water is drawn in certain cards have also improved significantly over the years.
* ArtStyleDissonance: For a game that touches on serious topics such as [[spoiler: child abuse and alcoholism]], the games art style sure is bright and colorful.

** Subaru is attracted to money, not for wealth, but the metal used for the coins because he likes things that shines bright. [[spoiler: So when Eichi revealed the idea of bribing Subaru with money, not metal, but actual money in his plan to bring Trickstar to disband, it became a BerserkButton]].

* AudienceSurrogate: Anzu, the player character, though she’s this in spades, as she has a backstory as well as characterization that progresses with the story regardless of the situational dialogue the player chooses for her. She even performs some actions without the players involvement, such as making special clothes for the idols. As of ''Ensemble Stars!!'', she seems to be more involved in the lives of all the idols associated with Ensemble Square, regardless of if the player personally has any interest in producing them outside of their own personal favorites.

* BlitheSpirit: Anzu. At first most of the boys in Yumenosaki don't like or care about her but over time she eventually gains the respect and affection of each of them one by one, with her hard work and constant reaching. Even with all the boys she encounters, she treats them equally, seeing herself as only their producer.
* BribingYourWayToVictory : Diamonds are one of the currencies in the game, and you can use it to refill LP used to participate in lives, to refill AP used to do lessons, to enter revival events, or to be used to roll the gacha boxes. You can get it for free as rewards from the event and from completing lesson objectives, daily logins, and reading the stories from event rewards and gacha cards, but like it or not, you have to eventually buy some if you want to do well in ranking or getting the gacha cards you want if you're unlucky enough to not get them from rolling with the free diamonds you saved. Moreover,like mentioned above, getting the 1.1 million points card is manageable without buying diamonds only if you have strong teams...which requires you to scout a lot in the gacha.

** Midori. He just entered the school because it's close to home, only to accidentally enter the wrong course. And before he could even get to say no, he was recruited into Ryuuseitai, and immediately after, the basketball club because of his height. [[BecomingTheMask Even when he starts to enjoy being an idol and being friends with fellow first years Tetora and Shinobu]], he'll always be roped in by Chiaki's antics. Ouch.

** The event courses will have things that will be mentioned as trivial but will be called back. It also doubles as CallForward sometimes. In Ritsu's Band Ensemble course for example, Ritsu's special course event has the choice of having Anzu sing a lullaby to him. This same choice was first brought up in Ritsu's Halloween course's special event (Which, event wise, chronologically occurred before Band Ensemble) where he ask Anzu to sing a lullaby for him.

* CastHerd: Due to the games LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, outside of the characters being split up into their standard unit(s)[[note]]Adam, Eve and Double Face into account[[/note]], the game has also taken to assigned characters to different sub-groups such as school clubs, the 3/5 oddballs, as well as sub-units. These characters will sometimes appear together in themed events or gacha based on their units.
** Ensemble Stars!! introduces more ways to hoard the cast into groups, those being offices that the units are assigned to, dorm rooms which don't consist of characters from the same unit, and circles which are essentially the same as school clubs.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In cases of the {{Jerkass}} characters and those who didn't have much to say in the main story. For example, Koga who soon becomes JerkWithAHeartOfGold over the course of the main story and Tori, [[CharacterDevelopment who begins to mellow to the rest of the students over time]]. This adds up the courses, events, and gacha's.

** Eichi and Keito have known each other due to close relationships with their family.
** Yuzuru and Tori is a bit of an odd example that they have a "Master and Slave" relationship (in Tori's point of view). Yuzuru's actually his butler. Tori also knew Tsukasa when they were children, though they weren't friends.

** The "Three oddballs" (Rei, Kanata, and Wataru), all third years, are basically an acknowledged group of these. [[spoiler: Later events reveals that they used to be five. Shu is confirmed to be inactive from Idol activities at least until now. Natsume created a new unit, switch that soon debuted after the main story]].

** Trickstar is based on, naturally, stars - their outfits often feature star shapes, and one of its members has a strong love for anything that glitters.

* CostumePorn: Every event introduces new outfits for whichever unit is featured to wear.

** They also have frequent crossovers with ''Yume 100: 100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams'', and received one with fellow Happy Elements game ''VideoGame/MercStoria''.
** 2017 also saw to a crossover with fictional comedian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blouson_Chiemi Blouson Chiemi]], with both the game and the ''On Stage'' cast.
** In 2018, they have a crossover with ''Last Period'', a fellow Happy Elements game.

** In 2019, TRICKSTAR and fine collaborated with ''VideoGame/UtaNoPrincesamaShiningLive'''s STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT.

** In 2019, the game has a crossover with ''Anime/KingOfPrism Shiny Seven Stars''.
* DarkIsNotEvil: UNDEAD may have a dark theme, but none of them are bad people. In fact, in the main story, they are on the protagonist side.
* DarkerAndEdgier[=/=]LighterAndSofter: The stories in the events and gacha tend to switch between this lines in order to balance out the tones. Usually when there is a filler event, the gacha story will have a more serious tone, and vice versa for more serious events and light hearted gacha. As of December 2016, the darkest story had been Starlight Festival due to it having a WhamLine right at the very first chapter.

** Anzu's personality depends on which of the two scenario writer's, Yuki and Akira, wrote the Event/Gacha story. Anzu is akin to a [[ShrinkingViolet gentle girl]] if the story is written by Yuki (This gets downplayed in future events/gacha story), while if written by Akira, she will have a stronger personality. [[spoiler: It's later explained that Anzu is genuinely snarky, but she became more quiet and meek as a result of the trauma of the failed rebellion at her old school.]]
** Similarly, Akira's written Event/Gacha stories have more drama and stronger plots, while the ones written by Yuki are LighterAndSofter. Though Yuki is also shown to be capable of writing a stronger plot as evident in the recent "Flutter! Chick and Emperor's triumphant return" event.
** Now that ''Ensemble Stars!!'' has more writers, the characterization is more divided, but overall tries to stay consistent. Usually. Though some conflicting writing has lead to very confusing {{Retcon}}s.
* DeconstructedTrope: Implied in the story, but this is more apparent in the novels where Anzu, who had been completely new and had no knowledge or skill of singing and dancing, is forced to perform like an idol, having her realize that being an idol isn't all sunshine and rainbows and you don't become one overnight. This is also coincidentally TruthInTelevision as several idol industries in Japan had a strict regiment for idol trainees before they can get to officially debut in the entertainment world.

* DialogueTree: The player sometimes has the option to choose what the protagonist will say to the boys, with there usually being up to 3 options. This feature is especially prevalent in mini-talks and D.L.F.S. courses, and the options often lead to two different types of responses from the boys depending on what you choose. However, it doesn’t actually affect the overall flow of the story and in the original game, was mainly used as a means to raise affection points for more dialogue. As the updated game lacks affection point ranks, however, it’s just another means of maybe learning something new about protagonist or the boy she’s speaking to. Usually the latter.
* DifficultySpike: Starting from the 2016 Tanabata event, a new encore function is added and event points had become harder to achieve. To explain, the encore function provides additional points but relies on [[LuckBasedMission RNG]]. And the previous point awards are now lowered for the system to work.
** This is now averted that from the many complaints, Happy Elements had {{Nerf}} it down.
* DontCallMeSir: Narukami uses the feminine pronoun " atashi " and feminine sentences while talking as well as talks about having the 'heart of a woman', all while wanting the player/Anzu and the members of Knights (Especially the younger ones) to refer to Arashi as a sister instead of a brother. Despite this,he still refers to himself as a boy at times and his gender is canonly stated to be " male ". Arashi also is said to become irritated if treated too much like a girl, leaving much up in the air on what he identifies as.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Initial cards of Nazuna's mostly feature him looking angry, presumably because it was expected that his irritation at being treated like a kid would be a major part of his personality. However, even in his first appearance in the main story he establishes himself as a genuinely capable older brother figure to Ra*bits, and it's this reliability which ended up becoming his most notable trait (both in terms of his how he cares for his juniors and in his common role as an OnlySaneMan) so very few of his later cards have him looking so hostile, instead favouring happy and calm expressions.

* EnsembleCast: In ''Ensemble Stars!'', the main story followed Trickstar, the main character unit. However, events gave focus to other members of the cast, [[SpotlightStealingSquad some more often than others]], allowing all the characters to have their day in the limelight for a time, particularly if they were the events highest rarity character. ''Ensemble Stars!!'' also brings back this formula, though it makes it more fair as events move in rotation and no unit receives a second event before every other unit gets one first. Through this, it's also ensured that every character will receive an equal amount of cards and focus outside of the main story.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The player/Anzu is called "Transfer Student" by many of the students at first until the fourth event where most of them started to call her by name. The only exception had been Tori who calls the player/Anzu by their first name sometime after their first official meeting in his side-story, Leo, who joined to the game months after the game's release, Tsumugi who immediately called her by name, and Mika who is introduced much later but calls Anzu by her name mainly out of being comfortable with girls. Though other characters are noted to call the player/Anzu by a nickname. Tsukasa calls her Onee-sama, Kuro calls her Little miss, Shu calls her Little girl and Natsume calls her Little kitten (Koneko-chan in game). By ''Ensemble Stars!!'', most of the cast refer to her as "Producer".
* FailedASpotCheck: [[spoiler: When Eichi plans to disband Trickstar to keep the unit system hierarchy intact, he failed to account Anzu/The Player who had been in the producer course, helping Trickstar to get into shape and made them capable of standing at the same level as Akatsuki, and later, fine in the main story. All of these brought him fine's defeat at the hands of Trickstar]].

** There are several gacha stories that focus on modeling shoots such as ''Bridal '', ''Beasts'' and ''Runway''.

** Those playing the events centering the past of Yumenosaki academy one year before Anzu's transfer will also know [[spoiler: that the five oddballs lost the "War" with Eichi, turning the unit system of Yumenosaki academy to the way it is today. And Leo leaves tired of the "War".]]
** The third years graduating is also always an inevitability, as some stories even focus on them already having graduated. However, this ends up not being as big a deal as the Repayment Festival events made them out to be, as they're all still in their respective units with ''Ensemble Stars!!'' update.

** During the 2015 Christmas event, it was mentioned that the Christmas stage was originally a stage for two but the original performers cancelled performing due to the bad weather and one of them complaining about the crowd, making Ryuuseitai with addition of 2Wink to perform instead. The description fits the recently announced unit Valkyrie who happened to be a duo.
** Kanata mentions the oddballs at the Supernova event, and includes a 'Magician-san' along with the other oddballs' name. Months later, the game reveals Switch, and their leader is Natsume, the last oddball who does sorcery.

** Eichi, despite the rule he placed at the academy's unit system (possibly, see ALighterShadeOfGray), is quite friendly.

** In the Office part of Music, each character starts with unique base stats reflecting their personalities - e.g., [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy Tomoya]] has medium stats in everything, while [[CloudCuckooLander Souma]] has an extremely high Unique stat. [[TheAce Madara]] who is stated to be good at just about about everything is a JackOfAllStats.

* HairStyleInertia: The characters rarely, if ever, change their hair styles and this generally carries on to the younger versions of the characters shown in the Reminisce sequences.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: The new main scenario in ''Ensemble Stars!!'' heavily focuses on ALKALOID and Crazy B's story and struggles as the original ''Ensemble Stars!'' cast are delegated as SupportingProtagonist. The event stories and gacha still give different units focus, including the old games main story protagonists, Trickstar.

* HiddenDepths: Quite a lot, since everything about a character's background aren't completely revealed in the main story. One would need to depend on playing the events, courses, or getting gacha cards to find out more about the characters.
* IllBoy: Eichi. So bad that he can't completely perform in activities together with the rest of fine. [[spoiler: Even worse, the quarrel festival event reveals that it's a hereditary trait to the males in his family]].

* IdolSinger: Is a game about these, though [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys all the idols in this game are male]] and female idols are not mentioned. As well, not all the units fit into the traditional “idol” mold, with Valkyrie being the most prominent example of a deviation, as all units seem to cover a different genre or style of music that fits their respective unit theme. There have been some experimentation and cross-overs with music styles used by the units, however.
* InTheBlood: Hokuto's father is an idol with his mother being an actress. A 4-koma also reveals that Subaru's father had also been an idol in the past. A fact later confirmed in the April Fool's content that [[TheGhost both Hokuto and Subaru's father]] attended Yumenosaki academy with Sagami and Kunugi.
* InTheHood: The player/Anzu's face and hair color is always hidden, [[TheUnreveal even if one CG has her drawn in]], as seen [[http://41.media.tumblr.com/83be9138798ff698b00cb9de004e3877/tumblr_nuref3Eic51uorm7do3_1280.jpg here]]. Happy Elements had made it a rule to only have the player/Anzu's visual to be shown at least until her shoulder's though hints of her canon appearance can be found in some of the cg's and a little bit of ContinuityNod. As of the Anime's airing, this has been [[AvertedTrope averted]].
* InNameOnly: In-universe example with Wataru's (and surprisingly Anzu's) play adaptation of ''{{Literature/Cinderella}}'', which is more like a reimagination of the tale than an adaptation at all. It features two princes who are supposed to fight for Cinderella (interpreted by [[CrosscastRole Tomoya]]), the not-so-evil stepmom being [[CompositeCharacter also the spirit helper]], who doesn't do much other than deliver a dress so Cinderella can go to the ball (which Cinderella forgets on her way there anyway), and the sisters being actually supportive of Cinderella. Before you ask, no, ''there isn't even any shoe''. In the end one of the princes (played by Hokuto) gets so shy upon the prospect of meeting Cinderella he runs away, pursued by her while she's being cheered on by the rest of cast (including the other prince played by Kuro, who was supposed to be in love with her as well). Despite all of this and of the... peculiar acting of everyone involved as well as the fact that Wataru changed the script ''without telling Tomoya'', [[SpringtimeForHitler the play ends up being a success]].
* InSeriesNickname: Very prominent as the cast has several [[TheNicknamer nicknamers]], but the most obvious one is the Five/Three Oddballs,[[note]]Rei, Kanata, and Wataru, are currently known as the three oddballs while Shu and Natsume aren't considered one anymore.[[/note]] and it's revealed in the Magicians Assemble story that [[spoiler: Eichi]] was the one who gave them this nickname. [[spoiler: He also purposely made the "five oddballs" (gokijin) sound like cockroach, (gokiburi), to give off the image of them being inhuman, and have them lose respect in the school.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Over the events (Which are said to be set after the main story), the initially {{Jerkass}} characters shows this light.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the ''Ensemble Stars!!'' main story, Natsume, Madara and Leo, who were frequent OutOfFocus characters that didn’t have much of a role in the original main story due to being introduced far later in the series than the original cast, discuss their original out of focus status with each other and pretty much state that it feels like they have a bigger role in this new story.

** The units themselves had a motif for their unit's image. UNDEAD, for example, is based on the myths of demons and beast like Vampires and werewolves, Knights's have a [[ChessMotifs Chess Motif]], Ryuuseitai are based on tokusatsu's, etc.

** While the student council seems to be the set up antagonist, at first, as most of the members are part of the top unit fine, when the player meet the members of fine in person through the story, you find that they are [[HiddenDepths ''completely'' different from what their reputation suggest them to be]]: Wataru is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} with no sense of animosity towards anyone, but loyal to Eichi, Tori is a SpoiledBrat who admires Eichi, [[CharacterDevelopment but is starting to mellow to other students in time]], Yuzuru is polite and kind to anyone and a bit pushed over by Tori (although he does push Tori back quite a bit), since he's his butler. And the president of the student council, Eichi, who happens to be fine's leader, is actually quite friendly, interacting with the protagonist in FriendlyEnemy levels, despite the rule he might have placed at the school's unit system.
** With this now common knowledge to those way ahead in the game, many are starting to think that there may not be an actual antagonist in the story in the first place.
* LimitedWardrobe: While this was justified in Ensemble Stars! where a good portion of the time, the characters were seen in their uniforms due to still being in school, it’s not so much in Ensemble Stars!! where characters have set of casual outfits that they’re constantly seen in when not in unit or gacha themed outfits, the latter of which don’t reflect on reality due to being based solely on the theme of the gacha. The casual outfits usually only change by the season, as well.

** Played straight with Ryuuseitai's Tetora. He thinks that he cooks good food, but it's actually pretty bad.

* LuckBasedMission : Almost everything in the game is luck based, from getting the cards you actually want from the gacha (which is very hard if luck is not on your side, especially if you want the 5* card, which have ''1.25%'' chance of appearing), getting a specific jewel to drop even with equipping cards that has the ability to boost it, to the bouquet that randomly appears when playing the roulette minigame (which also appears randomly as well).

** The guaranteed 5-star scout, which can only be used once, costs 350 paid dia.

* NeverTrustATrailer: Happy Elements uploaded some video's of the cast confessing to the player/Anzu at [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnGsO8vRLlw4L87fUQlTwMg/ their youtube]], making it seem that the game would have DatingSim elements, but when the game was finally out, the DatingSim elements were non-existent (asides the ShipTease between the Player/Anzu with the cast and the game's interface, at least). The only exception had been Leo who joined halfway after the game's release. Members of the unit, Valkyrie, Switch and [=MaM=] are also excluded due to being newer units.

** Subaru nicknames all those whom he is close to (Sarii for Mao, Hokke for Hokuto, Shinonon for Shino) except for the player/Anzu. Ironically, he seems to dislike the one nickname he has ("Baru-kun", from Natsume).
** Ritsu also nicknames those he knew of. (Suchan for Tsukasa, Secchan for Izumi, Nakkun [[spoiler: (Now Nacchan)]] for Narukami), but like Subaru, the exception is the player/Anzu.

** Apparently Leo, Madara and Keito used to cause trouble together back in the day but it has yet to be explained what that implies. Also, Madara had helped Keito out in the past, leaving Keito to feel obligated to return the favor which he does by allowing Madara to form the solo unit ' [=MaM=] '. [[spoiler: Its explained in the Monochrome Checkmate event that in return of delinquents breaking Leo's arm in a scrap over a cat that'd been hurting, Madara and Keito played RobinHood, running wild in the academy and " purging " it of evil with Leo watching over them to make sure they wouldn't take things too far.]]
** Madara being a former member a Ryuuseitai also counts as subtle hints as to why the original Ryuuseitai broke up are dropped but never fully explained. This was eventually further elaborated on in Meteor Bonfire.
** In addition to the above, there's a lot about Madara that has yet to be explained, the darker aspects and all though hints are dropped in nearly every event he's in, implying that there will be tie-in event(s?) that explain all eventually. ''The Revolutionary Live Which Heralds The Dawn'' does give a bit of insight on his character and motivations, however.

** Despite the game having a CastFullOfPrettyBoys, Kaoru is the only character known for having girlfriends with most characters either not displaying an interest in dating girls (outside of teasing the protagonist) or not having a history with being romantically involved with anyone at all. Of course this is likely to avoid pissing off players who want the boys to themselves, but it is quite unrealistic, especially since the game makes no mention of the usual idol singer ContractualPurity trope that would justify the lack of the characters dating around.

* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Not as extreme as most cases, however, almost every character is seemingly connected to another character in the cast, including the new characters introduced in Ensemble Stars!! These connections run through the ChildhoodFriend trope, being a relative, or having met some time in the past that was not mentioned anywhere before.

* PowerEqualsRarity : The cards in the game has levels according to their strength, numbered from 1-stars (weakest) to 5-stars (strongest). Naturally, while the 1 to 3 star cards are rather weak and [[ComMons very easy to find in the gacha]], the 4-star and 5-star cards are strong, but very rare and requires a lot of luck to find, especially the 5-star cards, with 1.25% chance of appearing from the gacha.
* PowerOfFriendship: A huge motif in the main story as well as the story overall. Units become TrueCompanions over the course of the story no matter how dysfunctional they started out as, working through their many hardships whilst supporting each other inspite of their issues. The only character that started out alone, Madara Mikejima of the solo unit [=MaM=], is shown to be unhappy ([[IronWoobie though stoically so]]) and lonely because he lacks the connections other characters have made through their units, [[LonelyAmongPeople despite being surrounded by friends himself]]. He finally officially "ensembles" (fanspeak for joining a unit with someone) in a way when he forms Double Face with Kohaku Oukawa in ''Ensemble Stars!!'', and the [[WordOfGod writers]] have gone on the record to say that they want to give Madara a friend who could also stand as his equal on stage.[[note]]He's been in units with other characters before, originally being in Ryuseitai with unseen character, then Ryuseitai with Chiaki and Kanata. He's also been in several temporary units such as Traumerei. That said, these were either temporary or in the past.[[/note]] Though it's clear from this point in the current story that Double Face will have it's own issues as a unit they will need to overcome together.

* ProxyWar: In the second game where Eichi from Starmarker Studios and Ibara from Cosmic Productions use Alkaloid and Crazy:B respectively (even making using of the Amagi brothers connection)
* {{Retcon}}: Happens very often in the story, to the point where it has been noted by the wiki. Even more so now that the game has shifted over to the Ensemble Stars!! Story, introducing new information for some old characters, while altering the past lore we already knew about them to fit a new story direction.

** UpToEleven with Natsume, who was Anzu's ''classmate'' all during the time before he was introduced, but apparently she never met him because [[{{Handwaved}} he skips a lot of classes]].

* {{Sentai}}: The unit, Ryuuseitai.

* TechnicolorEyes: Going along with the YouGottaHaveBlueHair trope for most of the cast, a lot of characters have unnatural eye colors such as red, gold, purple or even ''chartreuse'' in Leo and Kanata's case. The most common InUniverse eye colors seem to be purple and blue while the rarest eye colors not being shared with anyone else in the cast such as Madara's blue-green eyes, Nazuna's pinkish red eyes, and Yuzuru's reddish-purple eyes.

** Shinobu from Ryuuseitai speaks in an older form of Japanese.

* VocalDissonance: The vocals of the original song will not change even if you set a different characters on the team. This is only averted in the song “Walk With Your Smile”, as every character has their own rendition of the lyrics.
* WallCrawl: If the novel is to be believed, Rei is..apparently capable of this, and does it when Koga tries to chase him around the music room.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Chiaki and Eichi were friends as children, but totally forgot about this until it came up again in ''Saga pt. 2''. However, though Chiaki disapproves of Eichi's actions during the war, allying himself with Kanata, he is still something of a fan of fine, and in Saga refers to Eichi as a friend. (Eichi himself defers.)
* WhiteAndGreyMorality: While many of the characters have done questionable things in the past, and some even do over the course of the story, all are ultimately treated as sympathetic, helped by the RotatingProtagonist structure ensuring that everyone gets to give their point of view eventually. Even the main story, which does focus on a specific four protagonists and has a more typical protagonists vs antagonists story structure, exudes this: while the destruction of the student council's grip over the other students is treated as straightforwardly good, it's made clear that Eichi truly believed that he was doing the right thing at first, and genuinely underestimated how badly his actions would affect others (particularly the Oddballs), and after he is defeated admits that [[DefeatMeansFriendship he's starting to feel genuine friendship for the protagonists]].

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Like ''Basic'', most cards come with Live 2D outfits. In ''Music'', however, unit song event cards and 5-star scout cards come with music video outfits. 5-star cards also come with SCR versions of the music video outfits. Work will also have office outfits drop, and they're obtainable from playing events, though the methods for earning them have changed over time. Tour events don’t come with [=MV=] outfits, likely because the cards are potentially obtainable for free, but they do come with the standard [=Live2D=] costumes and SCR versions.

** The threshold to clear a song is considerably lower than most games, meaning the player can mess up several times and potentially still manage to clear to a song.

** Each event, there is a log-in bonus that extends for the entire duration of the event in which materials needed to progress (whistles and song passes) are sent out. The amount of materials given depends on the event.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Along with the original attributes, which are divided into three: Performance (yellow), Dance (red), and Vocal (blue), there are the ''Music'' exclusive attributes which are Glitter (green), Brilliant (blue), Flash (yellow) and sparkle (red).

* CostumePorn: While they’re the same outfits as in ''Basic'', the MV outfits are much more detailed than the flatter looking Live 2D models.

* DevelopersForesight: For the music video segments, the developers accounted for the differing heights of the characters meaning that poses will change slightly to make up for differences should a tall character be placed in the role a shorter character had and vice versa. HilarityEnsues in most cases.

* FictionalCurrency: L$’s, which are obtained by completing lives and jobs. They’re used to buy office furniture, level up work perks and to buy limited time items such as personalized birthday cakes for the characters. They’re otherwise useless to the player outside of the office, but are treated as important currency in story.

* {{Microtransactions}}: In ''Ensemble Stars!! Music'', The Ensemble Taishou MV costumes, which were from the April Fools event, were added to the dia shop and cost 300 paid dia per office. The outfits also come with a 5-star 10-scout ticket. Kohaku Oukawa and Jun Sazanami’s outfits can be purchased for 500 ES coins due to their participation in the event.

** The Anniversary event introduced a voting system that allowed the player to vote on old unit event outfits from ''Ensemble Stars!'' to be ported over and turned into MV outfits for their respective unit. The winning outfits would be added to the Dia Item shop, to be bought with paid dia similarly to the April Fools event MV outfits. As well, they come with a premium 10-scout ticket.

* VocalDissonance: The vocals of the original song will not change even if you set a different characters on the team. This is only averted in the song “Walk With Your Smile”, as every character has their own rendition of the lyrics.

* RealityEnsues: Implied in the story, but this is more apparent in the novels where Anzu, who had been completely new and had no knowledge or skill of singing and dancing, is forced to perform like an idol, having her realize that being an idol isn't all sunshine and rainbows and you don't become one overnight. This is also coincidentally TruthInTelevision as several idol industries in Japan had a strict regiment for idol trainees before they can get to officially debut in the entertainment world.
--> '''Anzu''': That said, my dancing is unpresentable if compared to all the professional idols in here. Of course, it’s impossible for me to sing while I dance. I can’t catch the breath for that. How do idols manage that like it’s normal? — I know it must be because they take lessons and work hard, but still. I realize anew how amazing they actually are. Aah, being an idol is… Making people smile and happy is such a hard work. I feel my body getting smashed as I dance and my singing voice refusing to come out of my throat. I can slice my soul and smash the life in me and it won’t be enough. Idols aren’t toys that move when you stream electricity to them. They’re human beings with flesh; children who are the same age as me. And they’re doing this very harsh job. While I spend my mediocre daily life in indifference, they’re straining their desperate effort and fighting in the same world, same reality as I am. I’ve just been forced to realize that. I’m ashamed of myself, for not noticing such simple truth. All the people in this Yumenosaki Academy are superhuman doing things you can’t even normally think of — they’re all heroes, chosen, or perhaps ones who have fought and emerged victorious to attain that title — like characters from a shounen manga. Romance and other fun, happy things that people their age abide by so naturally… they’ve cast, shaken them away, sold them off as they all now offer the entirety of their youth to hard work. They shed and exhaust their blood and sweat and tears until those all crystalize into sparkling jewels.

* DifficultySpike: Compared to ''Basic'', which retains the same gameplay and point requirements for 5-stars as the original game, ''Music!!'' is this. Event 5-stars have a much higher point requirement, and more often than not require the player to spend dia and/or [[AllegedlyFreeGame money]] in order to get the 5-star before the event is over, regardless of their teams strength. This mostly applies to unit song events as Tour events are much more forgiving. With strong teams and some effort, players can potentially net a free copy of the event 4 and 5-star of their choosing.

''[[http://stars.happyelements.co.jp/ Ensemble Stars!]]'' is a touch-and-go, CCG game created by Creator/HappyElements of ''VideoGame/MercStoria'' fame, and the younger brother series to Happy Elements' earlier idol mobile game, ''Ensemble Girls!''. Its main attraction is a CastFullOfPrettyBoys performing various {{idol|Singer}} activities and also a story involved as background to many of the cast. Despite its [[ArtStyleDissonance colorful art style]] and setting, the story is much darker than one would initially assume.