Idolmaster: Xenoglossia

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Idolmaster: Xenoglossia

XenoglossiaKeyVisual.png

Anime Details
Title: Idolmaster: Xenoglossia
(アイドルマスター XENOGLOSSIA)
Original run: April 2, 2007 -
September 24, 2007
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sunrise
Bandai Visual

Idolmaster: Xenoglossia (アイドルマスター XENOGLOSSIA Aidorumasutaa XENOGLOSSIA) is a spin-off anime television series by Sunrise, loosely based on Bandai Namco's game series THE iDOLM@STER. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 2, 2007 on TV Hokkaido and various other UHF television stations, three months after the release of THE iDOLM@STER (Xbox 360). The series was also broadcast over the internet on the Japanese website @nifty. The series has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America and was released on DVD in late 2012 with English subtitles.[1] Starting from March 2018, Xenoglossia has been available for streaming on Hulu JP.

Storyline

107 years before the beginning of Xenoglossia, the Moon was destroyed in an event known as "Lost Artemis." Remnants of the Moon formed quintillions of debris that floats through Earth's orbit. After over a century, humanity is able to live mostly normally.

Haruka Amami wants to become an idol, and decides to take part in the "Idolmaster Project." She believes this is an audition to become an idol, and is excited to be accepted and goes to Tokyo to start work at the Mondenkind Agency. She is surprised to find that this was not an idol audition, but instead a secret audition to find "Idolmasters," the girls who pilot robots known as iDOLs to destroy the debris threatening Earth.

Haruka is hesitant to become an Idolmaster, but after being rescued by the iDOL known as Imber, she decides to join Mondenkind, working alongside the other girls to protect Earth and find the remaining iDOLs.

A rival to Mondenkind, Turiavita, seek to take the remaining iDOLs from Mondenkind, as well as find the missing iDOLs so that they can destroy humanity. Much of the series focuses on the battle between Mondenkind and Turiavita for control of the iDOLs as well as the shifting bonds and rivalries between the Idolmasters themselves.

Characters

iDOL Robots

Mondenkind

Prometheus–1 Imber
  • Master: Chihaya Kisaragi, Haruka Amami
  • Colors: white and indigo blue (episodes 1–7), white and pink (episodes 8–26)
  • Name origin: Mare Imbrium
Prometheus–2 Nebula
  • Master: Azusa Miura (past), Makoto Kikuchi (episodes 1–13), Iori Minase (episodes 14–26)
  • Colors: yellow and orange
  • Name origin: Palus Nebularum
Prometheus–4 Tempestas
  • Master: Mami Futami
  • Color: red

Turiavita

Prometheus–3 Nubilum
  • Master: Chihaya Kisaragi, Yukiho Hagiwara
  • Colors: black and red
  • Name origin: Mare Nubium
Prometheus–5 Hiems
  • Master: Makoto Kikuchi
  • Colors: white and yellow
  • Name origin: Mare Hiemis
Epimetheus–1 "Epi-chan"
  • Master: R.I.F.F.A
  • Color: blue

Episodes

Bonus Episodes

Included with the DVD releases of the anime were short videos showing more about the characters' pasts and daily lives, as well as an extended version of the final episode. The titles for episodes 2 through 8 were taken from popular idol songs.

Song Appearances

Opening themes

Insert songs

Ending theme

Staff

  • Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai (長井龍雪)
  • Producer(s): Naotake Furusato (古里尚丈), Toyota Todoroki (轟 豊太)
  • Scriptwriter: Jukki Hanada (花田十輝)
  • Character Design: Hiroshi Takeuchi (竹内浩志), Toshiyuki Kubooka (窪岡俊之) (original)
  • Mechanical Design: Junichi Akutsu (Bee-Craft) (阿久津潤一（ビークラフト)) (iDOL design), Hiroyuki Taiga (大河広行) (guest)
  • Art Director: Toshiyuki Tokuda (Studio Easter) (徳田俊之（スタジオ・イースター))
  • Color Design: Sayoko Yokoyama (横山さよ子)
  • Cinematographer: Masaru Oishi (大石英勝)
  • Editing: Kazuhiko Seki (関一彦)
  • Music composer: Tsuneyoshi Saito
  • Music Producer: Shunji Inoue (井上俊次)
  • Sound Director: Youta Tsuruoka (鶴岡陽太)

Production

In 2005, Namco proposed the idea of an anime adaptation of THE iDOLM@STER to Sunrise.

Youzou Sakagami, general producer of the game version, admitted that he did not have any idea of what THE iDOLM@STER would eventually become. Akihiro Ishihara, the director of the game version, said that Sunrise had complete freedom in regards to production of the anime adaptation.

As there was little story information to base the adaptation on, the staff at Sunrise used the title "THE iDOLM@STER" as the main keyword. From the start, it was decided to be a mecha anime. Hanada, the writer of the anime, had imagined something similar to Sentimental Graffiti, a dating simulation that had also received an anime adaptation. When he was told it was a mecha anime, he thought it was a joke. [2]

Xenoglossia was Nagai's first work as a director, and he had difficulty with the project, given little to work with and the complete freedom he had in regards to the story and setting. Xenoglossia was decided to be a "mecha anime" and also a "mecha romance anime." Nagai and Hanada were not sure about the romance element, and were initially only planning to add a side element along the lines of "a girl who likes cars," but that was eventually changed to have Xenoglossia be a story about "the love between a robot and girl."[3]

Though the characters from the arcade game were changed for Xenoglossia, it was not necessarily an intentional change. The Xenoglossia characters were based upon their original designs, and then their personalities and characters were created accordingly based on their roles in the anime. Because Haruka's nickname would be "Baka Ribbon," her hair ribbons were made to be bigger to make them more memorable. Chihaya's and Azusa's designs were changed to help differentiate them.[2]

The game staff was busy developing the game itself, and gave very little supervision toward the anime adaptation. When the first episode of Xenoglossia was complete, Nagai was too scared to look at the game staff in the screening room. After watching the screening, Sakagami complimented the uniqueness of the iDOLs being used for work rather than combat.[3]

Director Nagai admitted that he didn't know much about THE iDOLM@STER until Xenoglossia had finished production.[3]

Gallery

  • Haruka's profile.

  • Yukiho's profile.

  • Iori's profile.

  • Yayoi's profile.

  • Makoto's profile.

  • Ritsuko's profile.

  • Ami's profile.

  • Mami's profile.

  • Azusa's profile.

  • Chihaya's profile.

Trivia

  • Since Idolmaster: Xenoglossia was initially made without Namco's supervision, it features an entirely new line-up of voice actresses.
  • Earlier upon the broadcast, the anime was not well-received, due to its different nature compared to the games. It is also said that the anime, along with various other reasons, caused such an unrest within the fandom, which peaked on Tokyo Game Show 2010.
    • Opinion on the anime has since changed, with several fans nowadays starting to appreciate it as well as some of the voice actresses participating in BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Festival in 2019.
  • Momoko Saitou, the voice of Mami Futami in this anime, would later voice Hikari in episode 10 of the 2011 anime of THE iDOLM@STER, and references to Xenoglossia made its appearance in episode 15 of that same anime. As well, Ryoka Yuzuki, who voiced Hotaru, would later portray Mai Hidaka in the THE iDOLM@STER Splash Red Volume 3 Special Edition Bonus Drama CD.
  • Xenoglossia also marks THE iDOLM@STER's first involvement with the label Lantis.
  • Penguins are heavily featured in the anime. Yayoi likes to wear a giant penguin costume during times.
  • Idolmaster: Xenoglossia was featured in Super Robot Taisen: X-Omega for a limited time Christmas themed event where Haruka and the Imber could be obtained as exclusive event units.
    • The producers of the game wanted to introduce mecha series that were unconventional and not suited for mainline Super Robot Taisen games due to logistical or licensing reasons, and Xenoglossia was easily a top choice for adoption.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-06-30/sentai-filmworks-adds-idolm@ster-xenoglossia-anime
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sweet Memories, pg. 62-63.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dengeki Report

External links

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