Gakuen Idolmaster

Gameplay

Gakuen Idolmaster is a roguelike deck-building game. In a round of the raising simulation, the player raises the idol's stats through lessons with a deck of skill cards, such that she can pass the mid-term and final exams, and perform in a live concert at the end of production. Each skill card in the deck has a different effect including increasing status or energy, and costs stamina when the player uses it. The player can also improve the deck, and acquire P-items and drinks through consultation with the teachers, etc.

The game requires the player to repeat the simulation. In the process, the player can raise their affection level with the idols and their account level. They can also obtain new support and skill cards, and strengthen their existing ones.

Story

Setting and characters

The game takes place at the Hatsuboshi Gakuen (初星学園), an idol training school. The player acts as a student in the Producer Department of the school, serving as the producer of individual idol units in the main story, or can choose to produce an individual idol studying in the Idol Department.

The audition for the cast of the idols was held in 2021. On March 5, 2024, three of the initial nine idols and their voice actresses were revealed.

Characters

The game initially was released with ten idols, until the release of rival characters later in the game's service.

Saki Hanami (花海咲季) voiced by Aoi Nagatsuki

A rambunctious, athletic and hyper-competitive first-year with an aloof side. Being the highest scorer in the Hatsuboshi entrance exam, she is a child prodigy who excels at everything. However, her abilities eventually stagnated after a long time at her peak.

Temari Tsukimura (月村手毬) voiced by Nao Ojika

A first-year who was the big-eating former number one idol of her middle school. She was once part of SyngUp! alongside Misuzu Hataya and Rinha Kaya before disbanding. While appearing to be a stoic and sarcastic person, she has a lazy, childish streak. Game director Daichi Sato describes her as a person who "behaves like a wolf but is a Chihuahua inside".

Kotone Fujita (藤田ことね) voiced by Hikaru Iida

A neurotic, money-obsessed first-year who aims to be an idol for a living. Due to her underprivileged background, she tried supporting her family working on numerous part-time jobs, forcing her to tank her grades.

Rinami Himesaki (姫崎莉波) voiced by Yuri Usui

The sisterly secretary of Hatsuboshi Gakuen's student council, who was the former member of an idol unit where she unsuccessfully marketed herself as a younger sister. She is also revealed to be the producer's childhood friend.

Sumika Shiun (紫雲清夏) voiced by Miya Minato

A laid-back and carefree gyaru and former ballerina who is classmates with Saki, Kotone and Temari and is best friends with Lilja. Underneath her lively and cheerful attitude, she struggles with trauma from injuring her right knee which led her to skip dance lessons.

Plot

The plot focuses on a student from the Producer Department in Hatsuboshi Gakuen, who would either choose to produce an individual idol in the game, where he would be assigned to manage a single idol and help them move throughout the New Idol Awards (N.I.A.) and Hatsuboshi Idol Festival (H.I.F.), on their journey to become the Prima Stella, Hatsuboshi's topmost idol, whilst helping them overcome their own problems and reveal their true potential, or in the main storylines, choose to produce idols as group units and move them towards the H.I.F., as mentioned in the routes below.

Hatsuboshi Komyu (初星コミュ)

In this route, the producer is assigned to the main three idols Saki Hanami, Kotone Fujita and Temari Tsukimura. Aspiring idol Ume Hanami arrives late after her sister Saki's entrance ceremony at the Hatsuboshi Gakuen idol academy. Encountering the producer, she introduces them to Saki. Saki agrees to have the student serve as her producer, and he brings Saki to meet Kotone and Temari. The producer and Saki brief them about the HIF, a competition to determine the next Prima Stella.

As the producer encounters other idols, they meet incumbent Prima Stella and student council president Sena Jūō. Overhearing Ume's request to join Sena's idol unit, the producer sets her up as a rival against Saki, Kotone and Temari during the H.I.F. selections, debuting as Re;Iris. Sena pairs Ume with Temari's former unit member Misuzu Hataya, forming Begrazia while also performing as their producer. Although Begrazia defeat Re;Iris in the selections, temporarily upsetting Saki, both groups were tied in the finals. Re;Iris were ultimately declared the champions, and Saki is named the new Prima Stella as the H.I.F. concludes.

Development

On July 25, 2023, during the franchise's 18th anniversary live stream, it was announced The Idolmaster franchise would release a new brand, starting with a mobile game. It was also revealed that Hidefumi Komino was the producer of the new brand, and the project had been started almost five years ago. The then-untitled brand would be the sixth brand of the franchise, following the original brand, Cinderella Girls, Million Live!, SideM and Shiny Colors.

The title of the game, Gakuen Idolmaster, as well as the first promotional video, were revealed in a live stream on March 5, 2024. In the live stream, the staff and cast were revealed as well. The scenario is written by light novel writers Tsukasa Fushimi, Yū Shimizu and Kazuki Amamiya. The character drafts were created by Aki Minamino and Hechima. The game was set to be released in Q2 of the same year.

Music

The music works are released under Asobinotes, a record label owned by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The soundtracks in the singles released are different from those used in the live concert scenes in the game, which was the idea from QualiArts.

"Campus mode!!" is the ending theme song of the game, and the player can first listen to it when the affection level reaches ten for any idol. When the game was launched, it was difficult to raise the affection level to ten, so within the fanbase mentioning the song itself is considered as a spoiler of the story plot.

Graphics

According to Hidefumi Komino, the 3D model of a character consists of 60,000 polygons.

Story

It was the first time The Idolmaster franchise had notable light novel writers joining the production from the beginning of a project. Tsukasa Fushimi, the author of Oreimo and Eromanga Sensei, not only wrote the story but also was involved in the character design. The stories of Saki, Temari, Kotone, China and Hiro are written by Fushimi, while those of the other characters are written by Yū Shimizu and Kazuki Amamiya.

Release

Gakuen Idolmaster was released on May 16, 2024, for iOS and Android devices. In December 2024, Bandai Namco announced an official Windows port of Gakuen Idolmaster which was released on March 18, 2025.

Music

Live event

The first live concert tour "Gakuen Idolmaster: Debut Live Hajime Tour" began in August 2024, and will conclude in February 2025.

Other media

A manga adaptation written by Smile Down the Runway's author Kotoba Inoya and illustrated by Yuu Okino was announced on May 8, 2024. The manga series began its serialization in Weekly Shōnen Champion in the same year. The protagonist is Kotone Fujita.

A radio show titled Hatsuboshi Gakuen Ongaku-bu (初星学園音楽部; lit. 'Hatsuboshi Gakuen Music Club') premiered on Apple Music on May 18, 2024. The host is Akihiro Tomita.

Gakuen Idolmaster: Story of Re;Iris

On January 1, 2026, an 11-episode CGI anime compilation of the game's Hatsuboshi Komyu main story chapter cutscenes aired on Tokyo MX1 as Gakuen Idolmaster: Story of Re;Iris (学園アイドルマスター Story of Re;IRIS, Gakuen Aidorumasutā Story of Re;IRIS) as a New Year's Day special, accompanied by a one-hour special with the cast members for the in-game Re;Iris unit.

Reception

According to Oricon, Gakuen Idolmaster ranked first in the weekly ranking of the number of downloads among free-to-play games on the App Store platform in its first week of release.