Lovely Idol
Lovedol ~Lovely Idol~ is the title of a Japanese series which focuses on a group of young girls who are striving to become famous Japanese idols.
The series first began as a set of light novels serialized in Enterbrain's Magi-Cu magazine. The franchise grew to include radio shows, drama CDs, a Japanese bishōjo game by PrincessSoft, and an anime television series which aired between October and December 2006.
Plot
The Lovely Idols are a group of young idol singers who have become very popular. Managed by Tomohiro Fujisawa, there have already been two "generations" of performers, with a third about to debut. However, right before the third generation is cued onstage at a concert, Tomohiro learns that their debut has been delayed by the company president. He isn't told why, but is left to figure out for himself what, exactly, the next generation is lacking. While considering what he should do to remedy the situation, he finds a young street musician singing and playing a guitar. Tomohiro may think he's found the answer to his problem, but recruiting her could turn out to be harder than expected.Characters
The voice actors listed are from the anime adaptation.Third generation idols
;Mizuki Sakaki;Kotoha Kiryū
;Mai Nonomiya
;Miu Nekoya
;Hina Hōjō
;Ruri Fujisawa
Sweetfish Productions staff
;Tomohiro Fujisawa;Mariko
;Miki Fujisawa
First generation idols
;Aya Hiwatari;China Hōjō & Mina Hōjō
;Yui Arisugawa
;Ayumi Shindo
;Sayuki Katagiri
Second generation idols
;Tōko Yuki;Hibiki Asami & Shizuku Oji
;Yukimi Naruse
;Makoto Fujita
;Rei Nagasawa
Media
Lovely Idol was first created as a series of illustrated short stories, and later adapted into radio shows, drama CDs, a video game, and finally a televised anime series.Illustrated short stories
Lovely Idol was first serialized in Enterbrain's Magical Cute Premium magazine, beginning with the inaugural spring 2001 issue, featuring the story by Kohki Kanoh and character designs/illustrations by Aoi Nishimata. It followed the transition from the quarterly Premium to the monthly Magi-Cu magazine on February 27, 2004, where it ran until the 13th volume. Serialization resumed from the 26th issue to the 37th issue with the New Lyrics subtitle, and introduced the "third generation" cast of characters. Story writing was credited to Agobaria, and copyright was shared by Enterbrain and Omegavision.Radio shows
A 16-episode Lovely Idol radio show first premiered on Animate TV's Net Radio in 2003. In 2004, Lovely Idol became part of a Magicue show on Radio Kansai that was transitioned to Lantis Net Radio in 2005. A new radio show based on the anime cast began airing on Animate TV's Net Radio in 2006.Drama CDs
published four Lovely Idol Drama CDs, beginning in 2003, featuring the first two generations of idols, and a drama CD featuring the third generation was released in 2007. Another six-disc drama CD series was also released in 2007, with each disc telling the same story from the perspective of each of the third-generation characters.Video game
The Lovely Idol visual novel video game was released on April 28, 2005 on the PlayStation 2 console, and was developed by video game company PrincessSoft.The player takes the role of Tomohiro, managing the girls' schedules and helping them improve their skills. The player must also talk to the girls about their troubles and go on dates with them. The game could be considered a part of the "raising sim" subgenre of bishōjo games due to its focus on training the Lovedols.