is a Japanese

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

and

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable t ...

series produced in cooperation with

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

, and

Dentsu , simply known as , stylized as dentsu, is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is the largest advertising agency in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in ...

. The series stars

Idoling!!! was a Japanese TV show with an attached female idol group created by Fuji TV. The concept of the group was to watch as the girls grow as idols and experience various things. Idoling's main source of exposure was their TV show, which aired s ...

members , , and

Nao Asahi is a Japanese ''tarento'', actress, idol, and former fashion model. She is represented with Rising Production. Asahi is a member of the idol group Maintenance. She was a former member of the idol group Idoling!!! Asahi also appears regularly on ...

, as well as and Mayu Tomita. The series is centered on the fictional

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

of the same name, who lead a double life as normal middle school students and must hide the fact that they are

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a devotional image of a deity or saint used during puja ...

singers in their daily lives. ''Secret Girls'' ran for a total of two seasons, with 19 episodes released between 2011 and 2013. Each episode was distributed on the ''Ciao Ciao TV!'' DVD discs that were included as a bonus in the monthly

manga magazine 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 an ...

Ciao ( , ) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both " hello" and "goodbye". Originally from the Venetian language, it has entered the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world. Its dual mea ...

'', with the episode later made available on

's online streaming service, , in the same month. ''Secret Girls'' launched a brief singing career for the cast, who performed as their characters at music events. In addition, manga and light novel adaptations were published, along with a merchandise toy line.

Synopsis

Third-year middle school students Rio Shibaski and Maya Aramaki are fans of Secrets, an

whose personal lives and identities remain private. Rio and Maya later find out that the members of Secrets are their classmates, and they are recruited into the group. The five girls begin performing under the name Secret Girls and must continue to keep their double lives separate and a secret from others.

Cast

* as , known under the stage name Liz * as , known under the stage name Bee *

as , known under the stage name Morm * as , known under the stage name Yah * Mayu Tomita as , known under the stage name Eye

Episodes

Each episode of ''Secret Girls'' was released monthly through the ''Ciao Ciao TV!'' DVD discs that were included as a bonus in the

'', with the episode later made available on

's online streaming service, in the same month. Throughout the show's broadcast, ''Secret Girls'' was used in commercials for Curl C Girl, a hairpiece line by

. A second season was serialized monthly beginning with the August 2012 issue of ''Ciao'', which released on July 3, 2012. The digital broadcast of the series was also made available on iTunes.

Season 1 (2011)

Season 2 (2012)

Discography

''Secret Girls'' briefly launched a singing career for the main cast of the show, where they released music under the group name Secret Girls and performed as their characters at live events. They held their first live concert in July 2011. They also performed at the

Tokyo Idol Festival The Tokyo Idol Festival (stylized in all caps; abbreviated as TIF) is an annual music festival featuring live performances by female idol groups and solo idols from all over Japan. History The first edition of the Tokyo Idol Festival was he ...

2011 Eco & Smile event on April 6, 2012. On March 21, 2012, they released the single "Secret Girls." The single contained the songs "Go! My Way!", "A Little Star", and "Change the World", which were featured in the show. The limited edition contained a DVD disc containing footage of their 2011 concert, a choreography lesson, and behind-the-scenes footage for their music videos.

Singles

Other media

Manga

A manga adaptation by Pochi Kashiwa titled was serialized in the monthly magazine ''

'' beginning with the September 2011 issue released on August 3, 2011 to the May 2013 issue released on April 3, 2013. The chapters were later released in 2 bound volumes by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

under the Ciao Comics imprint.

Light novels

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

adaptation of ''Secret Girls'' is written by , the show's screenwriter, with illustrations provided by Pochi Kashiwa, the author of the manga adaptation. The light novel series is published by

under the Shogakukan Junior Bunko imprint.

References

External links

* {{Ciao 2011 web series debuts 2013 web series endings Children's manga Direct-to-video television series Drama web series Fictional musical groups Fuji Television dramas Japanese children's television series Japanese idols in anime and manga Japanese web series