First, I would like to thank Arturo, Scotty, and Lemon for sharing their discussion with us. You guys are pretty good at talking, which is a great skill to have. (I’m not a very good talker as you seen in our gaming sessions).
Most of the information presented I already knew except for some facts about Yukiho’s old VA. (They discuss how she quit due to various events such as car accidents/death threats/involved in real life gravure works, etc.) It was enlightening to hear everyone’s view point. I agree with most of the opinions, and you guys are pretty knowledgeable about the idolm@ster franchise. That being said, there are two points I would like to give my input on.
I apologize if I misunderstood some of you guys’ viewpoints.
1. Jupiter
Compared to the audience in TGS 2010, this group didn’t hate them completely. I guess to simplify it they felt Jupiter came at the wrong place and time (especially since Ryuuguu Komachi was separated from the main cast).
My opinion on Jupiter is very positive due to personal preferences (their bullying towards 765pro was due to Kuroi's lies, so actually they're nice guys). I developed a preference for cool male characters. While I like the visual novel appeal in these gal games, I‘m not a big fan on how the main protagonist is usually kind of lame. It’s common in games like idolm@ster and other visual novels where the male protagonist stands in the sidelines while the girls do all the action.
That’s why I appreciated Jupiter. They were males that took part in the action (in this case performing idol training and activities). It made them cool, and I often wish the anonymous protagonist had those qualities (I would be more open to Chihaya x Producer relationship if the producer was talented like Jupiter). (For example, like what if the producer was secretly an idol in-training? It sounds stupid, but you get the point).
2. Idolm@ster 2 story
I never played the previous games like Idolm@ster 1, Live for You, or SP (but I played Im@s 2 and OFA). I only played Chihaya’s route in Im@s 2 (my twin played Miki’s route). So, I’m not familiar with the other characters’ route. I also don’t know Japanese, but I read some translations for Chihaya’s route.
The group mentioned the Im@s 2 story was boring and weird at some points. I can’t comment about this for the other idols since I never played their routes. However, I did play Chihaya’s route, and I don’t think it was that boring. (Of course, there are things I would like to change about it like having a producer that was cool like Jupiter and adding more scenes to make the story more complete). But, I felt Chihaya losing her voice and having a difficult past made it an interesting story especially when the producers single-handily helps her overcome it. Not only that, there’s one choice where the producer answers “I love her” which basically illustrates his happiness is Chihaya’s happiness. (It would be interesting to see Chihaya helping the producer with his past but that’s another stupid idea I came up with).
Another point the group made was they thought it was weird at the end of Chihaya’s route to see a blue bird which was understood that her little brother literally was reincarnated into a bird. I guess I could agree on that point that it was a little weird. But, I think the scene could be interpreted differently as the bird represents Chihaya past that was caged and not free. And her little brother’s voice was all in the producer’s/Chihaya’s head. I mean it’s common for dead people to talk in anime. That interpretation (which is what I thought of when playing the game) seems a little less weird, but the point is that the routes could have been worked on some more to make them better.
@Scotty
I love your passion for Kuroi and your sense of humor with him. Please, keep it up and live up to his name. It was nice having an older fan who played the games.
@Lemon
Thanks for coming. It was nice having an additional person besides Scotty who played the games. (Arturo is forgiven since he doesn’t have much money).
