Gakuen Idolmaster
Gakuen Idolmaster is a free-to-play roguelike deck-building game developed by QualiArts and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment as a spin-off of The Idolmaster franchise. It was released in Japan on May 16, 2024, for both iOS and Android. A version for Windows was released on March 18, 2025 and is available at DMM Games.
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, 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.
The initial nine idols who appear in the game are as follows:
- Saki Hanami 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 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 voiced by Hikaru Iida
- : A 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 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 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.
- Hiro Shinosawa voiced by Reina Kawamura
- : A mysteriously eccentric, yet physically frail first-year. She has slightly masochistic tendencies due to finding pleasure in hardships, but is extremely smart for her age, having graduated from a foreign university at 14 years old, despite receiving zero marks in practical examinations. She often exclaims "Kyu!" upon collapsing from exhaustion.
- Lilja Katsuragi voiced by Kana Hanaiwa
- : A hardworking Swedish exchange student who is best friends with Sumika, having met her during her trip to Sweden, and is also classmates with Saki, Kotone and Temari. She is half-Swedish and half-Japanese and initially possesses a timid and unconfident personality.
- China Kuramoto voiced by Mao Itō
- : A spoiled but well-natured scion of the Kuramoto family, who are the wealthy founders of a zaibatsu known as the Kuramoto Group, of which one of its members is a benefactor of Hatsuboshi's headmaster Kunio Jūō. She starts off untalented, having only been roped into Hatsuboshi Gakuen out of cronyism with Kunio sensing her "hidden potential", but wishes to be a great idol.
- Mao Arimura voiced by Tsumugi Nanase
- : A tomboyish third-year who is the leader of Hatsuboshi Gakuen's idol department dormitory. Commonly referred to as the "Little Prince" by the juniors, she dreams of being an opera star, having served as a child actor while younger.
- Ume Hanami voiced by Ayane Matsuda
- : Saki Hanami's late-blooming younger sister with an energetic disposition. At the beginning of the game, she first arrives late after Hatsuboshi's entrance ceremony, and is the first idol to initially meet the producer, sharing the same school year as Saki due to her birth date overlapping with the minimum intake birthdate. Despite her apparent lack of experience about being an idol as a reserve intake, Ume wishes to surpass her sister, seeing her as her biggest role model.
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 and Hatsuboshi Idol Festival, 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.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 premiered on Apple Music on May 18, 2024. The host is Akihiro Tomita.