Idolmaster Cinderella Girls

[RisingStar]

On the topic of idols being skipped over for their Master CD: I wonder what's the deal with Clarice. It's pretty obvious what style her image song would be like/about, given her central concept, and much of her personality is set.

If Clarice's image song, would she to get one, was not about God, that's be a little strange to me. Didn't she become an idol to spread the word?

I don't think Clarice is popular enough to get a CD.

Or I would have thought that, but Sae was 49th in the popularity poll.

I think Passion gets all the surprising and random picks, Cute gets a few (who anticipated Sae getting a CD, really), and Cool gets the most obvious ones- there's never been a time where I was like "whoa, they really picked HER for a CD over *insert character*".

Cool tends to dominate in terms of popularity though.

Clarice has a decent following. And are you referring to the first popularity poll? Because Sae didn't place in the top 50 in the 2nd poll.

[Maka]

My bad, I got her confused with Yuko.

Looking at the popularity poll again is really surprising. Like Kyouko beating out Rika, Kako getting in the top 20, and Airi falling from #1 to #14. I wonder if there's a third Cinderella Girl election coming up soon? A lot can change in a fandom over a year or so.

EDIT: Kako is actually incredibly popular, as a quick google search of her name in Japanese reveals. Huh.

[RisingStar]

My bad, I got her confused with Yuko.

Looking at the popularity poll again is really surprising. Like Kyouko beating out Rika, Kako getting in the top 20, and Airi falling from #1 to #14. I wonder if there's a third Cinderella Girl election coming up soon? A lot can change in a fandom over a year or so.

EDIT: Kako is actually incredibly popular, as a quick google search of her name in Japanese reveals. Huh.

I never paid much attention to Kako, but it seems you're right.

I've been wishing for Kyoko to get a CD since Miho got one. I want the Rock-Paper-Scissors trio to be our second unit CD, after Triad Primus.

[MetalPredat0r]

I think Passion gets all the surprising and random picks, Cute gets a few (who anticipated Sae getting a CD, really), and Cool gets the most obvious ones- there's never been a time where I was like "whoa, they really picked HER for a CD over *insert character*".

Cool tends to dominate in terms of popularity though.

I think by this point, we already got pretty much all of the major Cool idols down. There are still a few, but not too many come to my mind besides very recent ones like Fumika.

Looking at the popularity poll again is really surprising. Like Kyouko beating out Rika, Kako getting in the top 20, and Airi falling from #1 to #14. I wonder if there's a third Cinderella Girl election coming up soon? A lot can change in a fandom over a year or so.

It always did surprise me that Airi has schizophrenic popularity. It also baffles me that Airi, despite being the most popular of 2012, got little to no attention whatsoever, and yet Ranko, the most popular of 2013, got four CD appearances, New Cards up the wazoo, an appearance (via seiyuu) at the upcoming live event, and two figures. No love for Totokin, I suppose, which makes me sad.

[Nargrakhan]

I think Passion gets all the surprising and random picks...

Agreed. The Passion choices don't make much sense to me. IMHO: Ayame, Natalia, Nina (don't underestimate the power of the lolicons), Shizuku, and Takumi are long overdue for their debut.

If Clarice's image song, would she to get one, was not about God, that's be a little strange to me. Didn't she become an idol to spread the word?

Pretty much. She's the "anime Catholic nun" character for iM@S. I'd imagine her image song would involve an organ and Latin choir. Her drama skit would probably be her quoting scripture and whatnot. Perhaps more details about that broach she wears and her eyesight (or lack therefore of). For some odd reason, Paladin Alexander Anderson (from Hellsing) keeps popping in my head when thinking that last part though. 

I think by this point, we already got pretty much all of the major Cool idols down. There are still a few, but not too many come to my mind besides very recent ones like Fumika.

Yea. I don't wanna say they're scraping the bottom of the barrel with the Cool category, because there's a few more of them I like (Fumika, Nono, Noa, Shino, Makino)... but they're gonna run out of top picks pretty soon.

It always did surprise me that Airi has schizophrenic popularity. It also baffles me that Airi, despite being the most popular of 2012, got little to no attention whatsoever, and yet Ranko, the most popular of 2013, got four CD appearances, New Cards up the wazoo, an appearance (via seiyuu) at the upcoming live event, and two figures. No love for Totokin, I suppose, which makes me sad.

I think it's a bit of bad timing really. CG still hadn't built up full steam back then, so they didn't have the resources to really push her as much as they did Ranko. Also the whole "chuunibyou character" is really popular right now, so they're exploiting that part of her to draw more people in.

[MetalPredat0r]

Agreed. The Passion choices don't make much sense to me. IMHO: Ayame, Natalia, Nina (don't underestimate the power of the lolicons), Shizuku, and Takumi are long overdue for their debut.

Well, given that Nina appeared in the Onegai Cinderella PV back in November, it's safe to say that they're saving her and Momoka for the next batch or two. It caught me completely off-guard that they were scrapped for the 6th batch in favor of Sae and Yuko.

I do agree that the others are long overdue. A Ninja, a Brazilian, a Busty Cow Girl, and a Biker seem like awesome choices that must unfortunately wait another day.

[Maka]

Regarding Airi vs. Ranko, I know that Ranko was less... "moe" in 2012? Like she was simply chuunibyou. Her character wasn't fleshed out as much, and by 2013 she and other characters like Sachiko- who went from sadistic to a sort of stuck up in-series chew toy- had gotten more character development. Plus around last year the chuunibyou craze really started going into full swing (chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai aired in the fall of 2012).

I find Airi kind of boring but to each their own, I guess.

I think it's a little early to pick the girls for 31-35, but I was talking to a friend about it and we agreed that Shiki will get a CD eventually- she's had the same popularity boom that Anastasia had. Takumi is pretty popular, and I agree that a song of hers would be pretty interesting. Kako will definitely get one since the top 15 characters in the poll have received cds and she was 17 iirc, and it'd be cool to hear a more Japanese-themed song.

[Daverost]

(who anticipated Sae getting a CD, really)

I'm honestly surprised she ranks as low as she does given that at least half the Cute players use her as their leader.

[Nargrakhan]

Regarding Airi vs. Ranko, I know that Ranko was less... "moe" in 2012? Like she was simply chuunibyou. Her character wasn't fleshed out as much, and by 2013 she and other characters like Sachiko- who went from sadistic to a sort of stuck up in-series chew toy- had gotten more character development. Plus around last year the chuunibyou craze really started going into full swing (chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai aired in the fall of 2012).

The thing about Ranko, is that her character is still the same as it was during her first card release: a chuunibyou with an excessively elaborate way of speaking, but shy girl inner monologue. There really wasn't that much "deep character development" involved with her refinement IMHO. That she got Maaya Uchida for a voice was just pure icing on the cake. The Fairy Yui singing style was a nice touch, but par the course for her overall concept. I don't wanna say that she's an "unimaginative" character design, as I love Ranko to death, but she's an idol I think very little work was needed... because she was already what she needed to be.

Like Mayu for example (a yandere is a yandere)...

In that respect, I don't compare her to Sachiko, who underwent some modification from her original design (alpha bitch to chew toy)... or Kaede, who's still being modified beyond her original mold (started as a hot spring loving pun maker... and now has a dangerous machiavelli mentality when drunk).

[MetalPredat0r]

I want to ask this one question: What makes a Cinderella Girls character popular? Unlike the idols from the main series, CG doesn't have too many characters that develop over time (meaning can't have too much room for characters like Miki, Ryo, and Touma due to the massive number of characters). Is it personality? Character design? Maybe even a character's gimmick? Because characters like Miku and Anzu are very popular character, even though they both run on a gimmick and not much else (The former is a cat person and the latter is mega lazy). I'm just really curious about this.

[Nargrakhan]

Is it personality? Character design? Maybe even a character's gimmick?

I think it's just the moé. The vast majority of CG's are one dimensional and run off a personality gimmick or two. Let's take Shizuku Oikawa for example. Vastly popular CG character. Take away her huge boobs and cow craze. What is there left?

Sometimes a CG becomes popular, not because she's has a cool concept, but because she's been unpopular for months or has the worst cards in the game. She just earns love for being the underdog. Mayu is popular because yandere are. Ranko is a chuunibyou. Nina is the loli-est of the loli. Etc, etc, etc.

Not to say they don't have interesting personalities... but for me it's purely the moé factor, rather than a deep introspection of character construction. And honestly, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't need massive character depth to like a CG... just enjoy her personality and antics. I'm not exposed to enough Ranko or Mayu, to become tired of their concept. Because they're so shallow (relatively speaking), I'm sure I could get tired of them if oversaturated... but in the controlled small doses that I get out of the CG franchise, it hasn't happened yet.

I never got into CG for an engaging intricate plotline… just cute idols, catchy songs, and adorable antics. I'm getting that... but there's certain types of these factors I'm wanting more than others, thus my bias for certain idols over others... and how I cast my vote during the elections. 


EDIT: On a side note... is Cinderella Girls the largest potential harem ever? Producer-san has almost 200 after him.

[SakuraMaxX]

I think it's just the moé. The vast majority of CG's are one dimensional and run off a personality gimmick or two. Let's take Shizuku Oikawa for example. Vastly popular CG character. Take away her huge boobs and cow craze. What is there left?

Take away Makoto's tomboyish personality and appearance

Take away Yukiho being shy and androphobic

Take away Chihaya's devotion to singing and her chest complex

Take away Iori being a tsundere

Take away Yayoi being a poor girl

The difference is that the Cinderella Girls don't get multiple full-blown production sims with dedicated stories focused on them for development.  There are some CG manga that go a little deeper into some of the characters, though they're still a bit limited.  I also think Kaede has pretty good room for development.  She's somewhat of a complex character.

[RisingStar]

I think it's just the moé. The vast majority of CG's are one dimensional and run off a personality gimmick or two. Let's take Shizuku Oikawa for example. Vastly popular CG character. Take away her huge boobs and cow craze. What is there left?

That's not exactly it. The philosophy behind CG is "Here's is a new idol, make her a star." Like SakuraMaxX said, the only real difference is that there's isn't much character development being applied to the CG idols. No detailed past or story routes dedicated to them.

This is largely to the amount of CG idols and the platform. Writing character arcs for 200+ CG idols is extensive and not the sort of work you'd put into a mobile game. Right now it's just idols interacting with other idols. Nothing too extensive.

Hopefully Namco reaches a set number of idols and continues with them, leaving the rest of the CGs in the vault until the time comes to bring them back.

[Maka]

yeah, I don't think it's just about the moe.

Popularity in fandoms is a tricky thing... Some characters, in all series, are just complete popularity bait, like they have everything fans love. Like it would be more surprising if they weren't popular. The best examples I can think of are all guys, but there are probably some in CG.

Sometimes fan jokes, and theories can make a character more popular as well. For example, take Cirno from Touhou, who has gotten immensely popular at least in part to the ⑨ joke. Mizuki owes a lot of her popularity to... uh... this stuff. Sachiko also got much more popular after canon started integrating the "Sachiko stumbling into various misfortunes" thing fanon had going on.

[MetalPredat0r]

Sometimes fan jokes, and theories can make a character more popular as well. For example, take Cirno from Touhou, who has gotten immensely popular at least in part to the ⑨ joke. Mizuki owes a lot of her popularity to... uh... this stuff. Sachiko also got much more popular after canon started integrating the "Sachiko stumbling into various misfortunes" thing fanon had going on.

So, I guess the fanbase just taking a factor about that character and just screwing around with it is a good way of showing popularity. Makes sense, Touhou fandom does this all the time. I do see examples like Minami's innuendos, Clarice's blindness, and Shizuku's....er..."twins".

There are some CG manga that go a little deeper into some of the characters, though they're still a bit limited.  I also think Kaede has pretty good room for development.  She's somewhat of a complex character.

I do remember recently reading the New Generation manga and it has especially made me like Rin, Uzuki, and Mio a lot more due to how well their characters were written. (As well as Veteran and Rookie Trainer. Rookie is just too dang cute!)

Sometimes a CG becomes popular, not because she's has a cool concept, but because she's been unpopular for months or has the worst cards in the game. She just earns love for being the underdog. Mayu is popular because yandere are. Ranko is a chuunibyou. Nina is the loli-est of the loli. Etc, etc, etc.

I am aware of the Underdog effect and how it worked wonders for Uzuki. She went from generic Haruka clone to a girl with lots of fans of her own....but is still a Haruka clone. I like Uzuki, but admittedly, 17-year old girl with an 83cm bust that wants to aim for top idol and is excited about it isn't exactly....original.

EDIT: On a side note... is Cinderella Girls the largest potential harem ever? Producer-san has almost 200 after him.

Well, every single idol in the game will end up falling in love with you if their affection is maxed out, (if I remember correctly. Never played the game, only read the scripts and supplementary material) so.............. Producer be straight pimpin'!