And The Weirdly Miracle Called “IDOLY PRIDE” (Game) is 1 Year Old Now
Japan, as one of the countries with a fairly large music industry in the world, as well as one of the countries with a high wealth of pop culture, including as the home of established comic, animation, and game industries, commonly known as manga (漫画), anime (アニメ), and game (ゲーム). So far, J-POP music fans have been familiar with the idol genre, and many anime fans are also familiar with the multimedia idol genre or commonly known as 2.5D idols. However, no one knew the true potential of this genre’s quality, until IDOLY PRIDE came along. However, to deliver and maintain this insane “level of craftsmanship”, there are a lot of inspirational stories.
November 27th, 2019, that time, for MusicRay’n fans or ミュージックレインのオタク which grew together with Sphere, TrySail, CHiCO, HoneyWorks, and halca before it, it seemed like just an ordinary live broadcast for just an announcement that there would be a new project that involved casting new talents MusicRay’n which would later be called MusicRay’n Generation 3/ミュージックレイン３期生 (Aikawa Kanata, Tachibana Mirai, Hinata Moka, Natsume Kokona, and Miyazawa Koharu), until they announced also that all TrySail (Asakura Momo, Amamiya Sora, and Natsukawa Shiina) and Sphere (Tomatsu Haruka, Toyosaki Aki, Kotobuki Minako, and Takagaki Ayahi) members along with 5 more talents recruited from various talent agencies, would join this project, along with top names such as Hanada Jukki (K-ON, Love Live series except Nijigasaki School Idol Club), Adachi Kaoru (Love Live School Idol Project’s producer which is part of STRAIGHT EDGE now), Ooishi Masayoshi (Tomodachi Film), Q-MHz (consisting of Hata Aki (Love Live series), Kurosu Katsuhiko, Tabuchi Tomoya (who also oversees DIALOGUE+), and Tashiro Tomokazu). , until they announced that all TrySail and Sphere members along with 5 more talents recruited from various talent agencies, would join this project, along with top names like Hanada Jukki (K-ON, Love Live series except Nijigasaki School Idol Club), Adachi Kaoru (Love Live School Idol Project’s producer which is part of STRAIGHT EDGE now), Ooishi Masayoshi (Tomodachi Film), Q-MHz (consisting of Hata Aki (Love Live series), Kurosu Katsuhiko, Tabuchi Tomoya (who also oversees DIALOGUE+), and Tashiro Tomokazu), Kitagawa Katsutoshi (ROUND TABLE, NHK ni Youkoso, Aria the Series), kz (livetune) which has often been a music producer for ClariS, including at SHAFT’s Nisekoi, Tonegawa Takayuki and Saka Kazuya (Wicky.Recordings, which oversaw Moso Calibration, which has brought you Sakurairo Diary of Saekano Season 2 anime, before), and others. A few months later, they announced another one of the most jarring cast names: Kanda Sayaka (Disney’s Frozen Japanese dub, Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale).
At the same time, the anime officially launched on January 10, 2021, on ABEMA, Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, and BS Nippon TV, and left a heartwarming imprint on the genre, and finally, on June 24, 2021, the game version is released fully for Android and iOS. And the anime has also been rebroadcast on BS Nippon TV from Spring 2021 until now, except on the TV Tokyo network in Summer 2021. In addition, the anime is also distributed online internationally through Funimation (which is now part of Crunchyroll).
This is IDOLY PRIDE, which has now reached 1 year of game operation.
However, that is not what makes them legends. Then what? This is a story about humans, struggle, family, and of course the miracles that accompany it, “something that makes IDOLY PRIDE difficult to be replicated and repeated in the future.”
The Struggle of MusicRay’n Generation 3 (ミュージックレイン３期生)
The story of IDOLY PRIDE cannot be separated from the story of MusicRay’n, and the story of MusicRay’n cannot be separated from the story of all the talents in it. MusicRay’n is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan that focuses “uniquely, in its own way,” on a presence in voice actor-artists, vocaloid, and anisong industries. MusicRay’n is also responsible for Sphere (Tomatsu Haruka, Toyosaki Aki, Kotobuki Minako, and Takagaki Ayahi), along with all the members.
and TrySail (Asakura Momo, Amamiya Sora, and Natsukawa Shiina), along with all the members.
All members of Sphere and TrySail bonded with MusicRay’n through the Super Seiyuu Audition (For TrySail, 2011 edition, and for Sphere, 2005 edition).
However, IDOLY PRIDE is very specific to be really attached with MusicRay’n Generation 3, the talents recruited by MusicRay’n Super Seiyuu Audition 2017 (and it’s said officially by staff on Sony Music Japan’s official magazine). They are also debuted in the first programme of IDOLY PRIDE or the launching of the project, December 9th, 2019).
And here’s an inspirational story for everyone who works in the creative world, wherever you are. This is a story that might make you, especially TrySail and Sphere fans, irritated, but at the same time, fall in love with MusicRay’n and try to come to cheer on the team.
But before that, we have to get to know the patterns in MusicRay’n first, patterns that have been going on for more than 15 years. At MusicRay’n, contrary to the general understanding of fans in Japan and internationally, the tendency for aces does exist, without having to be confirmed by the staff, it’s just that unlike the concept of center in the idol industry, aces in MusicRay’n do not create injustice. in the development and promotion of talents, but “purely talking about positioning as well as other subjective reasons that are considered relevant, solely for the benefit of all people in one generation level.” In Sphere, we see how the dynamics of internal push, partners, and Aniplex give the image of Tomatsu Haruka and Toyosaki Aki as aces, while in TrySail, although Aniplex gives a total push to all such as for example, through High School Fleet, etc (because after all, TrySail at the beginning of their group debut as part of the Aniplex label), internal push dynamics, partners, and Aniplex, pushed Asakura Momo and Amamiya Sora into a “slightly ahead” position. However, there is a special note for members of TrySail (Generation 2) and Sphere (Generation 1), where the “voice acting career development process” of all talents is smooth and complete, and this is absent in Generation 3, at least for the real “planned aces”, Aikawa Kanata, Tachibana Mirai, and Hinata Moka, 3 talents who have iconic characters in IDOLY PRIDE at once, of course, consider the “traditional dynamics of MusicRay’n,” at least for the real “planned aces”, Aikawa Kanata, Tachibana Mirai, and Hinata Moka, 3 talents who have iconic characters (Narumiya Suzu, Nagase Kotono, and Hayasaka Mei) in IDOLY PRIDE at once, of course, consider the “traditional dynamics of MusicRay’n” (for example, Tachibana Mirai in Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun, etc, or Aikawa Kanata in Wonder Egg Priority).
(Even to this day, Hinata Moka’s work situation is “mysteriously” still below average for an ace, something that will form the basis of this discussion of why Tachibana Mirai and Aikawa Kanata’s fate is only as good as the lucky ones).
And the italics are not “nonsense.” Tachibana Mirai for example was more influenced by MusicRay’n’s relationship with Studio Hibari/Lerche (who would later work on the anime for IDOLY PRIDE) in Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun (actually MusicRay’n also did this in many ways, such as with TBS, Nippon TV Holdings, or Kyoto Animation), or because of her very strong relationship with Toyosaki Aki (who plays the main role for Yuru Camp).
The actual and widely-opened Pandora’s box of this case that is most noticeable occurs precisely in the part of Aikawa Kanata (Nippon TV-Aniplex’s Wonder Egg Priority) and Hinata Moka. Now, let’s discuss, one by one.
First, Aikawa Kanata, Wonder Egg Priority, and “what international anime fans don’t tell you.”
Wonder Egg Priority is the only anime work besides IDOLY PRIDE that is quite popular in the context of Generation 3, even in an international context, WEP is more popular because of its “international animator network” and its content that is liked by international fans (except Special Episode).
However, WEP is also a “silent witness” to the true fate of MusicRay’n, as well as its construction illustrates how “dangerous” this industry really is (to put it roughly, “something suffers more than the suffering that is popular in the media, and it is caused by the people who suffer it”), at least as the only Aniplex anime which is casting MusicRay’n Generation 3 members since 2017 Super Seiyuu Audition until now!
First, those who are directly related to the original owner of the story or Wonder Egg Priority’s gensaku, Nojima Shinji, in this case, Nippon TV Holdings and D.N. Dream Partners “turn out to have a history of more connected business relationships with MusicRay’n than with Aniplex and CloverWorks, the studio.” At least, they have already produced another show before Wonder Egg Priority, called “SPHERE Club” for Sphere (MusicRay’n Generation 1). That does not include the fact that TrySail was also debuted through a show co-produced by Sony Music Japan and Nippon TV Holdings and the indisputable fact that Mito (Clammbon) is still part of Toyosaki Aki’s music team, and was the key actor to the presence of DE DE MOUSE which then holds the majority of the official soundtrack. In fact, in fact, the 2 main animators of Wonder Egg Priority, Wakabayashi Shin and Takahashi Saki are “intellectual products of STRAIGHT EDGE, which today also produces IDOLY PRIDE as well,” through their work in Episode 8 of Eromanga-sensei in Spring 2017, long before Darling In The FRANXX and 22/7 which became the most popular work before entering the production of Wonder Egg Priority, as well as witnessing the first single TrySail (MusicRay’n Generation 2) after moving from Aniplex to SACRA Music. However, the facts on the ground, MusicRay’n and partners actually achieved a smaller number of roles in this project, both in the animator and cast lists (something that became very fatal, especially for Generation 3 who was actually leading IDOLY PRIDE who had to fight with rivals and also Aikawa Kanata itself in this series, was met a senpai from Aqours of Love Live Sunshine who has a fan network that is so fanatical that it even buried μ’s, like Saito Shuka, with only Kusunoki Tomori (which is then becoming Hashimoto Satomi’s VA in IDOLY PRIDE and also part of MusicRay’n’s circle since her debut in Eromanga-sensei) besides her), and what happens was the majority of the parties in Wonder Egg Priority then play roles in the emergence of works that appear to be imitating IDOLY PRIDE.
Second, many implied and explicit aspects attached to the content and production notes of Wonder Egg Priority, including those described in the first number, are actually easier to understand for IDOLY PRIDE fans or at least people who have watched the anime version of IDOLY PRIDE or Hoshimi- hen in the IDOLY PRIDE game,“ something that makes Wonder Egg Priority look very heavy and weird, at least by the mainstream anime community.” The intrinsic and extrinsic elements are clearly identified between the stories brought by Wonder Egg Priority and Idoly Pride, especially in the position of the main protagonists, Ooto Ai (CV: Aikawa Kanata) and Nagase Kotono (CV: Tachibana Mirai), and how their stories become the central point in the story in both franchises, especially in relation to Nagase Mana (CV: Kanda Sayaka) and Nagase Koito (CV: Tadokoro Azusa).
(I’m actually a bit sad to explain again over this after the tragedy of December 18, 2021 that befell Kanda Sayaka. After all, Rest in Peace, Kanda Sayaka-san)
The third and the last, there is a strange tendency from Nippon TV, especially BS Nippon TV after Winter 2021, where they have rerun “compulsively suspected” from Spring 2021 until now (except Summer 2021, and even then because of the IDOLY PRIDE broadcasting rights factor being temporarily handed over to TV Tokyo’s network).
Second, Hinata Moka and what’s going on with her.
Hinata Moka’s career condition since passing the 2017 Super Seiyuu Audition until now is completely unexpected and mysterious, not comparable to her talent which is considered competitive in this industry, at least for me watching her play the role of Hayasaka Mei and following her other contents …
Just see Hinata Moka's biography on Anime News Network: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=201771
You can judge for yourself …
Despite all that, this shows that behind the progress of IDOLY PRIDE today, there is an inspiring story of struggle, even “from zero to heroine, then back to zero again, then becomes doubtful heroines because it has something to do with the progress of their main project.” And frankly, it makes the bonding in MusicRay’n Generation 3 sometimes warmer and “honest” than TrySail and Sphere …
However, out of all of life’s trials, there is one positive, which I have only experienced from MusicRay’n and had never seen in the TrySail and halca era (where I hung out a lot) or the HoneyWorks era, namely “toughness.” I see that the staff are not just professionals, but also understand the values of life in this community, which actually naturally emerges from the hearts of all talents and fans, especially in the context of Generation 3 who have been together for about 5 years, let alone a few in the community. Some of them have joined since they were in middle and high school, and that seems to have influenced Sunny Peace, which is more dominated by talents from outside MusicRay’n such as Kanno Mai, Takao Kanon, Shuto Yukina, Sasaki Nao, and Moeko Yuki.
That’s not including how the character design of Ooto Ai looks similar and even identical to Shiraishi Chisa (CV: Takao Kanon) in IDOLY PRIDE, who is the youngest voice actor for Sunny Peace and “one of frontrunners from Sunny Peace even technically and de-facto is vice captain of Sunny Peace.”
Talking about “becoming doubtful heroines because it has something to do with the progress of their main project,” then we will immediately continue the conversation.
The Struggle of QualiArts and Project IDOLY PRIDE/Hoshimi Production (As Production Committee)
The story of QualiArts, as the main partner in the trio of main producers of IDOLY PRIDE together with MusicRay’n and STRAIGHT EDGE, is also “no less interesting and thrilling” than MusicRay’n, in this case Generation 3.
I’ve loved anime and anime-themed games from Japan since 5 years ago, and my first anime was idol anime (Love Live School Idol Project), it’s natural because 2–3 years before, I was a fan of Japanese idols, even after Sunrise-Lantis -Kadokawa disbanded ‘s and build Aqours for Love Live Sunshine, I started to get acquainted with MusicRay’n through “TrySail — adrenaline” around 2018, but only at IDOLY PRIDE, I just experienced a sense of tension and emotion as well as high love and appreciation within this genre. This is inseparable from the business spirit of QualiArts (part of CyberAgent Group) as the main producer of IDOLY PRIDE. However, the story of QualiArts in CyberAgent Group is no less “suspenseful” but inspiring.
QualiArts, Inc. was established on October 3, 2016, as a split of CyberAgent’s Ameba Game Business Headquarters, which was part of CyberAgent’s popular blogging service Ameba, and was established as a subsidiary as part of proposing and resolving new businesses and problem-solving plans for CyberAgent (Wikipedia), which was not really in the fully positive background, and it made sense; QualiArts had just only “Girlfriend Beta” and “Alternative Girls 2” before IDOLY PRIDE, where many people in the gaming community saw how up and down the popularity and balance of transactions resulted from the 2 games.
With such a history, QualiArts has no other way but to work hard to prove themselves good at doing business in the industry, and silence its critics, and that’s not without challenges …
The COVID-19 pandemic that came in Japan around mid-March 2020 which disrupted public activities until at least November 2020, including for IDOLY PRIDE as well, information on the loss of balance sheets for 2 related companies, QualiArts and MusicRay’n, especially around December 2021 and March 2022, as well as the tragedy of Kanda Sayaka on December 18, 2021, completed the “difficult challenge” that QualiArts had to meet (though, actually, it reminded me of Project Love Live, where Adachi Kaoru was still a producer and at that time Hanada Jukki had not been recruited as a series composer and had just finished K-ON in Summer 2010, when suddenly March 3, 2011 came and there was a great earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, especially in Fukushima, but another fact was that none of the crews or casts of Love Live School Idol Project were injured or died) …
But the most basic point is, this is the first time for QualiArts, MusicRay’n, and STRAIGHT EDGE (except Adachi Kaoru) to do a multimedia idol business, even for Studio Hibari/Lerche, which produces IDOLY PRIDE anime, this is also “first time” in producing anime on this genre, with the additional information that the QualiArts and MusicRay’n staff who executed this project tend to be young people, just as young as the casts.
(So technically, IDOLY PRIDE is indeed the Wonder Egg Priority of the idol/music genre, and that is fulfilled by the “deep” story content that IDOLY PRIDE has, especially on Hoshimi-hen, Tokyo-hen, and newcomer BIG 4-hen with new group, IIIX, just like Wonder Egg Priority (on the contrary, according to historical records, IDOLY PRIDE tends to give birth to Wonder Egg Priority))
Running Between Fiction and Reality: A Conclusion
You all already know how the story of IDOLY PRIDE is, especially Hoshimi-hen who is part of the anime story, and how this song flows …
In addition, you now also know how IDOLY PRIDE’s production notes are, where “they have to face many challenges,”
For me, it made me actually wonder, even confused this earlier, “why do they have to suffer so much just to work and be economical in this industry, with a portfolio and personnels that can be said to be legendary-classed with each portfolio classified as luxurious, like K-ON for Toyosaki Aki and Kotobuki Minako, Love Live series for original creators, even Magia Records such as TrySail/MusicRay’n Generation 2 and Wonder Egg Priority which was controversial but managed to win the Seiyuu Award 2022 Best New Seiyuu for Aikawa Kanata of MusicRay’n Generation 3?” But on the other hand, I have another perspective, and I only realized that in the story in IDOLY PRIDE itself (Hoshimi-hen, Tokyo-hen, and most recently, BIG 4-hen), and also by watching the world once again.
Remember, studying this cannot be done if you do not have experience reading IDOLY PRIDE stories, at least watch the IDOLY PRIDE anime, and have more interest in monitoring the progress of this project from the perspective of staffs and casts.
First, Ukraine’s President Zelensky’s “Servant of The People”
“It was a case of life imitating art,” wrote Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (BBC, 2020) on her article in January 21st, 2020 about President Zelensky of Ukraine and his TV show before his Ukrainian presidency (long, long before Russian Invasion of Ukraine or President Putin’s Special Military Operation on Ukraine since February 24th, 2022), and I can agree on her, because I have watched some episodes of “Sluga Narodu” or “Servant of The People” (which was actually published in Russian language, originally).
Second, The Simpson
And, that’s the story of intellectualism (Garry Lu, 2022),
Intellectualism is the mental perspective that emphasizes the use, the development, and the exercise of the intellect; and also identifies the life of the mind of the intellectual person (Merriam Webster, Wikipedia).
or something like “The Simpson is deserved to be classified as literary fiction,” as what I get from the intellectualist perspective of Garry Lu (2022) in his article about The Simpson’s “predictive programming” issues.
Literary fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are character-driven rather than plot-driven, examine the human condition, use language in an experimental or poetic fashion, or are simply considered “serious” art (New York Book Editors, Wikipedia).
Of course, even though IDOLY PRIDE isn’t the only one in the anime industry (even Wonder Egg Priority has made the idea that IDOLY PRIDE is the only one doing this fall, let alone talking about Perfect Blue, Welcome to the N.H.K., where one musicians are also involved in IDOLY PRIDE at this time, even Hige wo Soru, Soshite Joshi-Kosei wo Hirou are also included), including in idol/music genres (such as Wake Up Girls and Zombieland Saga which is owned by CyGames, sister company of QualiArts itself)) or the game industry (there are many examples, such as Grand Thief Auto, etc), who can be considered doing literary fiction, the destiny bring the impression that only IDOLY PRIDE who does this and get that so coincidentally weird, without knowing why they are destined to happen on this weird situation.
In fact, until the latest development, throughout the half of 2022, MusicRay’n Generation 3’s members haven’t gotten any more anime roles with Aniplex, which is supposed to be the “parent of all Sony Music Japan’s seiyuu,” no matter Sony Music Artists, moreover MusicRay’n, let alone getting a job with another anime production company, but instead getting jobs from Bilibili from China who collaborated with TBS and MBS (Tachibana Mirai and Natsume Kokona who got role mobs for 2 friends from Futaba and Atsushi), something that feels quite upsetting It hurts a little when at the same time, PM Kishida Fumio of Japan’s foreign policy tendencies seem to be in opposition to China even more, something that threatens its own people, Japanese people, especially the voice actors who still have little credit like Natsume Kokona.
But again, GOD knows, IDOLY PRIDE has the widest network and creators with the greatest accumulated value, so maybe this is fate, so that Japanese people also “have a voice,” something that has been difficult to get to grips with among young people (and that makes sense, when the demographic of J-drama, which actually already has a literary fiction culture, especially based on established social empiricism (something that is actually felt in IDOLY PRIDE), especially thanks to Nojima Shinji as a veteran of this genre, is mostly dominated by people adults, as the authors get information from many sources in Japan), and maybe this is the “miracle”, the true miracle, at least this is what I started to feel, when IDOLY PRIDE always promotes itself as 奇跡 (kiseki, miracle), something natural with such a luxurious portfolio, and at the same time “forced to suffer by circumstances” but keep themselves also grounded to Japanese society.
Sometimes, an idol multimedia project can also be a “voice for the voiceless” based on their history of experience …
Anyway, Happy 1st Anniversary of IDOLY PRIDE game, 一周年記念日のアイドリープライドのゲームをおめでとうございます。
