Idoly Pride
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''Idoly Pride'' (stylized in all-caps) is a
Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idol ...
-themed multimedia project created by
CyberAgent is a Japanese digital advertising company, which was founded in 1998 by Susumu Fujita and headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is owned by Susumu Fujita with 20.50% interest; Fujita is the representative director, while Yusuke Hidaka is the execut ...
subsidiary QualiArts, Straight Edge, and
Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...
subsidiary MusicRay'n, with character designs by QP:flapper. The series has been adapted into two manga series. An
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series by CAAnimation and Lerche aired from January to March 2021.


Plot

A small
entertainment company Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
, Hoshimi Production, based in Hoshimi City, produced one of the rising stars of the idol industry: Mana Nagase. One day, she died in a road accident on her way to the Venus Grand Prix finals, devastating the people around her, but also inspiring some of them to become idol. A few years later, Hoshimi Production holds an audition to find a new idol. Kotono Nagase, the younger sister of Mana, appears on stage along with Sakura Kawasaki, a girl with a voice just like Mana's. Starting with just Kotono and Sakura, and later totaling to a group of ten girls which are divided into two groups: Moon Tempest and Sunny Peace, they all gather and start living together in a dormitory. The series also features Trinity Aile wanting to surpass Mana, apart from LizNoir that harbors an extraordinary rivalry with her. Standing up to each other and competing with the pride in their hearts, they aim for their best as the emotions surrounding Mana and the rivalry become entangled.


Characters


Hoshimi Production

is a small talent agency focused on idols, located in the suburbs of Kanto, headed by Shinji Saegusa. ; : :Mana was a high school student who instantly became popular the moment she debuted as a solo idol. She personally asked her high school classmate, Kōhei Makino, to be her manager at Hoshimi Production because he sat next to her. She was to appear in the Venus Grand Prix finals, only to be killed in a traffic accident while on her way there. She later appears in front of Kōhei as a ghost. It is implied that she had feelings for Kōhei, which are confirmed in the last episode as she kisses him before returning to the afterlife. ; : :Kōhei is Mana's classmate at high school and later manager at Hoshimi Production. A kind of person who cannot refuse when asked, he is looking after the girls at Hoshimi Production, along with Mana's spirit, whom he can see. Kōhei also serves as the protagonist in the game version, albeit as a self-insert character, and is simply referred as "Manager". It is implied that he had feelings for Mana. ; : :Shinji is Hoshimi Production's President. He used to work for a Van Production, a bigger entertainment company, but decided to quit as he desires to have his own company. He was the one who first scouted Mana, and later employed Kōhei as her manager at her request.


Idols

The ten girls associated with Hoshimi Production are later divided into two groups: and Sunny Peace. Together, they are collectively referred to as Hoshimi Production. ; : :Kotono is Mana's younger sister who decided to become an idol to live her sister's dream. A stoic and serious person, she serves as leader of the group Moon Tempest. Kotono was initially against the idea of Mana becoming an idol, as the two had much less time together once Mana started her career. Kotono is a sophomore at Hoshimi Private High School. ; : :Sakura is a bright sophomore at Mitsugasaki Public High School, who decided to participate in an audition by Hoshimi Production because her heart guides her. Serving as leader of the group Sunny Peace, Sakura's singing voice is said to be similar to Mana's, even surprising Mana herself. It is revealed that Sakura had a heart condition, and that Mana had donated her heart to her. Later in the series, Sakura decides to sing with her own voice, which eventually leads Mana to pass on. ; : :Rei is a third-year student at Reiba Girls' Private High School who is good at dancing, even winning a place in a Japanese dance championship. Raised in a strict family, her parents do not want her to be a dancer. She is a member of Sunny Peace. ; : :Nagisa is a sophomore at Hoshimi Private High School, Kotono's classmate, and member of Moon Tempest. She decided to become an idol because "Kotono seems to have fun talking about it". ; : :The oldest of the group at 20 years old, Haruko already had a solo idol career even before Mana. She graduated from Hoshimi Private High School and is currently attending Seiyō Gakuen Private University. She is a member of Sunny Peace. She initially lied about her age to the other members of Hoshimi Production because she was conscious of being older than the others. ; : :Saki is a third-year student at Mitsugasaki Public High School and its student council president; at school, she is considered an honor student. She always admires idols and decided to become one herself. She is the older sister of Chisa Shiraishi. She is a member of Moon Tempest. ; : :The younger sister of Saki Shiraishi, Chisa is a freshman at Mitsugasaki Public High School. She became an idol because she wants to be together with her sister. However, upon being separated from Saki and becoming a member of Sunny Peace, Chisa begins learning to stop relying too much on her sister. ; : :A third year student at Reiba Girls' Private Middle School who greatly admires Mana, referring to her as "Mana-'' sama''". Suzu comes from a wealthy family, a fact she often brings up during her introductions, and came to Hoshimi Production to escape from a certain trouble. She is a member of Moon Tempest. ; : :A freshman at Hoshimi Private High School and member of Moon Tempest. Mei is a girl who is personally scouted by Kōhei to change the tension between the members. She has an athletic personality and is the only person besides Kōhei who can see Mana. ; : :An idol otaku and member of Sunny Peace, Shizuku is a freshman at Mitsugasaki Public High School. She is generally quiet and prefers to keep her mouth shut, but starts to talk much whenever there is a talk about idols.


Van Production

The entertainment company with a particular specialty in idols, and Saegusa's former employers. ; : (anime) :Asakura serves as president of Van Production. Despite being calm and emotionless, he always has the back of the idol groups he created. Asakura is Rui's biological father, but unaware of this. ; : (anime) :Kiriko is LizNoir's manager in Van Production.


Trinity Aile

The voice actresses of Trinity Aile are the members of group unit
TrySail A trysail (also known as a spencer) is a small triangular or gaff rigged sail hoisted in place of a larger mainsail when winds are very high. The trysail provides enough thrust to maintain control of the ship, e.g. to avoid ship damage, and to ...
. ; : :Rui is Trinity Aile's center. ; : :Yū is a bright girl who speaks in a
Kyoto dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), o ...
. ; : :Sumire is former child actress who turned into a singer.


LizNoir

The voice actresses of LizNoir are the members of group unit
Sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...
. In the anime, only Rio and Aoi appear as members of the group at first, while Ai and Kokoro join the group in the last episode. ; : ; : ; : ; :


Media


Manga

A
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series by Hiroki Haruse, titled ''Idoly Pride Stage of Asterism'', was serialized on
Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...
's ''Comic Newtype'' website from June 10, 2020, to November 30, 2021. A second manga series by Yuriko Asami, titled ''Idoly Pride Beginning of Lodestar'', was serialized through the ''ComicWalker'' and ''Niconico Seiga'' websites from October 30, 2020, to June 24, 2021. The series focuses on Mana Nagase and serves as a prequel to the main series.


Volume list


=''Idoly Pride Stage of Asterism''

=


=''Idoly Pride Beginning of Lodestar''

=


Anime

An
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series was first announced in December 2019. It is the first anime produced by CAAnimation, a label created by
CyberAgent is a Japanese digital advertising company, which was founded in 1998 by Susumu Fujita and headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is owned by Susumu Fujita with 20.50% interest; Fujita is the representative director, while Yusuke Hidaka is the execut ...
to produce original anime. Lerche is also credited for production. The series was directed by Yū Kinome and written by Tatsuya Takahashi, with character designs by Sumie Kinoshita. It aired from January 10 to March 28, 2021, on
Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
and other channels. The opening theme song is "Idoly Pride" while the ending theme song is "The Sun, Moon and Stars", both performed by Hoshimi Production.
Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
licensed the series and streamed it on its website in North America, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland; mainland Europe through
Wakanim Wakanim was a French subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service specialized in online streaming and simulcasting of Japanese anime series. It was also the first platform to offer videos for download without digita ...
; Australia and New Zealand through
AnimeLab Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll Store Australia, and previously known as Madman Anime, is an Australian video publisher and distribution company focused on Asian entertainment. The company handles licensing and distribution of anim ...
.


Game

A mobile game for
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
and
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
developed by QualiArts was released on June 24, 2021. A year after its initial Japanese release, an English version was later stealthily revealed to be published by Boltrend Games. It had a closed beta test on September 14, 2022, with the end date previously being September 21, before being extended for two days. After said beta, Boltrend Games would start pre-registrations with an official release date to be announced. Following months of silence, Boltrend Games announced in February 2023 that they were no longer publishing the game. A global release by Neowiz was announced in March 2023. Pre-registrations began the following month. The game was released on June 1, 2023, and would follow the content schedule of the Korean version.


Similarities

''Idoly Pride'' is an example of the
twin films Twin films are films with the same or similar plots produced and released within a close proximity of time by two different film studios. The phenomenon can result from two or more production companies investing in similar scripts at the same time ...
phenomena alongside '' Selection Project''. Reviewers have compared both anime to each other and have described the two as sharing certain storylines and similar characters. Both franchises were greenlit days apart in December 2019, and aired within months of each other.


Notes


References


External links

* * * * {{Studio Hibari 2021 anime television series debuts 2021 video games Crunchyroll anime Cygames franchises Funimation Japanese idols in anime and manga Japanese webcomics Kadokawa Corporation franchises Kadokawa Shoten manga Lerche (studio) Mass media franchises Shōnen manga Tokyo MX original programming