Let the Idol Fandom Wars Begin?

[Daverost]

I can see how LL would be a slow pick-up for some people. I had the good fortune of getting in on the ground floor and being excited with the concept when they showed the first music video, so I was super hype by the time the anime started airing.

[Hideyoshi]

Well, it is just the start for WUG anyway. For IM@S and Lovelive, they did not receive good comments too. I remembered that there was a period that nearly no fans of IM@S after the arcade IM@S game introduced. It is quite unfair to compare WUG and the other three directly nowadays.

The negative comments aobut WUG is mainly due to the anime director Yutaka Yamamoto. Generally, anime directed by him are generally receive negative comments more than positive. The one received most was Fractale in 2011. To me, WUG is not a bad one, but I cannot say I really love it up to now. I hoped it will be a good anime in the final episode.

[Daverost]

Wait, Fractale was his best-received work? Wow, poor guy. I remember that show getting hammered by everyone. And I watched it and it wasn't really that great anyway.

[MetalPredat0r]

A Yodobashi store asks the question: iDOLM@STER Girls or Love Live Girls? 765Pro or Mu's? I have to automatically go for iM@S, by virtue of, at the time of this post, not having seen Love Live yet. What do you guys think?

http://sgcafe.com/2014/05/yodobashi-store-asks-love-live-idolmster/

[fredex]

A Yodobashi store asks the question: iDOLM@STER Girls or Love Live Girls? 765Pro or Mu's? I have to automatically go for iM@S, by virtue of, at the time of this post, not having seen Love Live yet. What do you guys think?

http://sgcafe.com/2014/05/yodobashi-store-asks-love-live-idolmster/

i got into love live first but i have to say i think idolm@ster is abit better, love live's characters are great and i think theyre abit funnier but their music never really stuck out to me, idolm@sters music with just the short clips from the series made more of an impression, i also think the idolm@ster girls designs are just a touch better, some of love lives girls look too similar(umi and nozomi, hanayo and rin) it was hard getting all their names at first but i remembered the idolm@ster girls names almost instantly. overall theyre but great and id love to see a cross over! nico and iori on the same screen together would make my heart melt <3 lmaoo

[Maka]

Idolmaster has time going for it... It also was built from the ground up, from an arcade game to a console release to a game series to an anime and movie. Love live and aikatsu, and even cinderella girls were the same way... Meanwhile WUG was basically expected to transform into a huge franchise overnight. And it didn't.

Plus (and this is my opinion) WUG made me feel unclean... It goes so far to show how the idol business is screwed up beyond belief, yet it still wants you to buy into said idol culture. It blasts fanservice as skeevy and gross but doesn't hesitate to show you shots of the girls' panties or them in swimsuits, though it does get better. Plus watching a show that kind of hates you isn't fun.

Plus I feel like all of them are for different demographics. Love Live is for the K-On crowd (I feel a lot of similarities, especially with the school vs. office setting); aikatsu is for young girls and the precure crowd with the idealized and fluffy setting, idolmaster is idolmaster, and WUG is sort of... Out doing its own thing.

Although in terms of music...

WUG (I have every I-1 song on my iPod) = idolmaster > aikatsu >>>>> Love Live

In terms of cast personalities:

idolmaster > love live > WUG > aikatsu

In animation and character designs:

love live = idolmaster (I like im@s' designs the most, but I don't like the anime's art style, it's the opposite for love live) > aikatsu (kind of generic animation-wise but with cute designs) = WUG (the animation is legendarily bad but it boasts my favorite art style out of the group)

In terms of how much I enjoyed them:

idolmaster > love live = aikatsu > WUG

[Cien Laguoire]

I can't really say much about other idol animes, as I've never seen them, but I did notice there has been a growing interest in them, particularly with Love Live. It'll be interesting how these franchises will co-exist in the near future. Hopefully it won't actually break down into a fandom war.

[Daverost]

There's been more than a "growing interest" in Love Live. Sales are absolutely curbstomping just about everything. S1 re-released and is outselling most new series. S2's initial sales are just at silly levels. CDs are topping the Oricon charts. Campaigns are being run everywhere, it has a Vita game series and a mobile rhythm game, and the usual slew of figures, posters, and card game sets is out in full force. Love Live is pretty big.

I'll go with "growing interest" in the others, though.

A Yodobashi store asks the question: iDOLM@STER Girls or Love Live Girls? 765Pro or Mu's? I have to automatically go for iM@S, by virtue of, at the time of this post, not having seen Love Live yet. What do you guys think?

I think you should watch Love Live.

I don't know which I like more, though. I like both a lot. Like, a lot lot.

[MetalPredat0r]

I think you should watch Love Live.

I don't know which I like more, though. I like both a lot. Like, a lot lot.

I've been considering it for the longest time now. I'll definitely get to it this Summer when I have the free time.

[Naryoril]

it has a Vita game series

Not yet, they will be released in the end of July. And "series" is a bit misleading, it's the same as Shiny Festa: one game you have to buy 3 times for the whole content. In terms of games, Im@s definitely has the upper hand over Love Live.

That said, i like Love Live, but i definitely prefer im@s.

[Virgofall]

I haven't seen Love Live nor the others so I'd have to default to iM@S.
I don't really latch onto anime easily (my mind tends to wander and in general I have a bad habit of almost never finishing things when it comes to television, movies, etc.), and it does seem more that (at least when comparing Love Live/iM@S) Love Live is an anime series which happens to have games, and Idolmaster is a game series which happens to have an anime. I think that it's definitely worth keeping those points in mind, since I'd imagine anime is a more accessible medium than video games are (in how far of an audience that they can reach).

[Daverost]

Not yet, they will be released in the end of July. And "series" is a bit misleading, it's the same as Shiny Festa: one game you have to buy 3 times for the whole content. In terms of games, Im@s definitely has the upper hand over Love Live.

That said, i like Love Live, but i definitely prefer im@s.

Something like Shiny Festa, maybe, or maybe more like iM@S SP. But yes, that's the idea. And regardless of whether or not it's out yet, they have one, which was my point. The merchandise is there in various media. It's a huge deal.

[vaeldi]

well, got a pic from the frontline



i don't really understand about what is written there, but i got the gist

about the Love Live game, it's a rhythm game; more or less like shiny festa
the game also available in android and Ios smartphone. it's called Love Love School idol festival.

@virgofall
Love Live started not as an Anime series. they've released 5 singles before the anime aired.

[Daverost]

The Vita games and the mobile game are different. The Vita games are School Idol Paradise and the mobile one is School Idol Festival. They're both rhythm games, but they're completely different.

But yeah, context of that picture is that customers vote for their favorite character between the two series using a sticker.

To be fair, while I probably like the iM@S cast more overall, my sticker would be right there under Nico.

[ninjamitsuki]

Poor Ami and Azusa.