iDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS STARLIGHT STAGE: 10 Years Later

A little over 10 years ago, on September 3rd, 2015, one of my favourite mobile phone games, THE iDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS STARLIGHT STAGE, was first released. I was starting my second year university, and the game was a really nice change of pace from other idol-like rhythm games at the time (like LLSIF). I still remember being awestruck at how cute and cool the 3DCG MVs were (and they still are!). It was also really graphic-intensive: they struggled to run on my budget-friendly Sony Xperia Android phone at the time.

The game has also improved so much throughout these past 10 years. 3DCG lives became more elaborate, effectively showcasing Cygames’ motion capture prowess and storyboarding through their MVs. Additional quality-of-life updates were added, like auto-live mode that allowed players to consume stamina without needing to play, and stacking eigyou so that you didn’t have to come back every 6 or 10 hours to complete and start the next run. I admittedly didn’t read too much of the event stories/commus aside from the main story and SSR stories. I really enjoyed the challenge of playing the MASTER charts with 3D Rich CG MVs playing in the background. I wanted people to see a cute rhythm game showcasing the idols of 346 Production: I played deresute during my commute to and from school, as well as to and from work before I had a car.

AR mode was also added at some point, allowing producers to take photos with their idols in real life places. I took a bunch 6 years ago when I was in Japan; here are some of them below.

But like all things, these times ultimately come to an end :'(. The game will no longer receive new content updates after this month. The last new gacha banner featuring Uzuki, Rin, and Mio just ended. I’m still happy that the game still exists so that I can at least try to catch up on the story. I can only hope that Cygames and/or Bandai Namco will find a way to allow an offline mode to exist if they decide to announce end-of-service, since the 3D MVs are really high quality, and it would be a shame to lose it all.

10th MEMORIAL LIVE

For the last several years (I’ve lost count at this point), iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls have done an anniversary live concert for the game, and this year was no exception. I decided to enter the lottery for the 10th MEMORIAL LIVE at K-Arena in Yokohama well before they announced the updated game information. This was the final live in the Japan tour that started in March, with the general lottery applications starting in July, and results coming out on August 12th. I entered for both days, but only won a pair of tickets for day 1. I quickly planned my trip with three weeks until the live, managing to book my plane tickets still at a reasonable price. I also booked my hotel at the Hilton Yokohama, which is literally right beside K-Arena. I also planned some other things around this live, but I’ll talk about it in a different post, but yeah the Hilton Yokohama was one of the pricier hotels of this trip. It was also one of the best decisions I made this trip, because weather-wise, it was still so hot! Having the option to go back to my hotel room and shower after roaming around was such a luxury I definitely didn’t consider before I booked it, but now I know: it was expensive but worth it.

A week prior to the trip, I also entered the day 2 resale lottery for a single ticket. Fortunately, I was able to win: I was so happy to see tousen/当選 and my credit card charged! I was originally going to buy the streaming ticket for day 2, but I’m so glad I was able to get day 2 to see it in person. Jeff and I actually both won a pair of day 1 tickets, and couldn’t resell the second one, so we had to take on L on that. :'(

Fast forwarding to the live weekend, I checked into the hotel the night prior, and went out with my friend Jeff, who came with me to watch day 1. We ended up visiting the nearby Marui City, where there was the iM@S CGSS popup shop. They were displaying a bunch of SSR card artwork on small canvas boards. They had pretty much every single Cinderella Girl idol on display in one of their SSR outfits. I’m really glad we came though: this was indeed a kawaii parade!

At the end of the exhibit, there was the actual popup shop with various goodies, including clear files, wall scrolls of the various anniversary artwork, and lots of acrylic stands. I ended up buying two Akagi Miria acrylic stands, and a clear file of Totoki Airi in her summer SSR swimsuit (Airi is one of my tantou idols so I had to get something of her).

As day 1 of the live rolled around, I picked up some happis I ordered from ASOBISTORE at proxy forwarding service Blackship. I ordered those immediately after I won tickets to the live in hopes that they would arrive in time, which they thankfully did. Thanks to my friend They were conveniently located near Shin-Koyasu station, which is 2 stops away from Yokohama station on the JR Keihin-Touhoku line. Being a MiriaP myself, I actually wanted to get a Miria happi, but her and all the idols appearing for the first time this live (including Sachiko and Airi) were already sold out so I was a bit disappointed :'( . Instead, I still managed to order happis of my other tantou idols, including Koharu, who really grew on me after her U149 episode, Miku, and Nao. Miku’s VA wasn’t performing over the weekend, but I still wanted one, so alas here we are:

Pre-Live: Event Goods Sale

There were also timed lottery slots for the live goods sale, but I didn’t winning those, so I ended up lining up in the general queue. While the line was long, it did move pretty smoothly: this was thanks to the fact that the order sheets were all digital: you selected everything you wanted, and then presented a QR code when you got to the front, where they scanned it and brought the goods to you. Unfortunately, I didn’t go early enough, as the penlights sold out pretty quickly. I did manage to buy a T-shirt and towel for myself and Jeff, along with some neat plastic tickets of Miria, Koharu, Airi, Nao, Atsumi, Uzuki, and Sachiko. I also got a ticket holder as well, and a few other Karen things for Jeff. I also bought some card gacha: they had the new Card Folio trading cards, so being the gacha addict I am, I bought 5 single packs for fun. This entire batch of goods was around 25.8k JPY! 💸💸💸 😀

The most I got from the packs were rares. I did manage to get a rare card of Miria and Ibuki, both of whom are my tantou idols in deresute.

Pre-Live: Around the Area

Since this was my first live iM@S event in Japan, I didn’t really know what to expect. After obtaining the goods and dropping them off in my hotel room, I roamed around the arena area a few hours before the live. There were so many producers representing their oshis: many were wearing official or custom/doujin happis or otherwise shirts . It was truly a sight to see. On one side outside the area, there was also the official Cygames flower stand, which had many things for Ps to see.

First, there was a photo spot featuring the Cinderella castle, just like the one in the most recent carnival event in-game. They had the 10th anniversary game logo in front, and many Ps, including myself, were able to get photos taken by themselves or with the help of staff. That was pretty nice!

At the photo spot, I also managed to see Pinya! It came out from the doors in the middle of the castle, hopped around while Ps took photos, and then went back in after. That was pretty cool!

On the left side of the photo spot, there is a wide screen showing a short ~10 minute video going through the 10 year history of deresute. There were multiple versions of this video featuring different tantou idols, so many Ps stayed to watch it multiple times to see many/all the variations.

Finally, the last side featured a signboard wall where each VA for the given day signed. As a MiriaP, I was really happy to see Kurosawa Tomoyo’s signature alongside everyone else on the first day. Since I was also a KoharuP for the day, I also found Koharu’s VA (Komori Yuri) signature and note, and had to also take a photo of it. <3

Along the front of the K-Arena entrance were the 10th MEMORIAL LIVE banners showcasing all the idols in deresute, with their SSR outfits.

As the start time lingered closer, it was time to go inside. Within the venue, there were physical flower stands to see! It was a line to walk through and take photos, so I pretty much took photos of them all, but here are Miria and Koharu’s below. Thanks to the many Ps listed that sponsored them!

Live

Jeff and I made our way to our seats on level 7, which was basically the top balcony seating area. We were pretty much in the middle section and almost in the middle row and in the middle of the row. I took one photo before the live, but otherwise I have no other photos of the live itself because those are the rules. Besides, everyone (including myself) was too busy cheering with our penlights! I already knew that the in-person vibes were going to be way different than watching a live stream, but finally being able to experience it first hand was amazing to say the least. While I knew many songs, there were some I didn’t know. Thankfully, I can rely on the surrounding Ps for penlight colour guidance and calls.

There were so many great moments during the live! I got to hear Miria’s VA sing her image song, Romantic Now, which was absolute cinema: so good!!!!! Airi’s VA was also really good: her voice while singing Hitotoki Tokimeki was just really good and on point. Tulip was also the #1 most played MV in all of deresute, and everyone knew the calls, so that was really good and fun to follow and cheer. Okurimono Sunday was cute as always with the Hisakawa twins: finally seeing it live in-person was great! Pretty Liar was also amazing: Hayami Saori wasn’t performing but Touyama Nao was her replacement vocals for the concert, and for me, they’re both top tier VAs and singers, so it was amazing to see her perform alongside Kanade’s VA, Iida Yuuko.

The various MC periods were all pretty fun too. There were lots of idol rankings on various topics, like who would you want to have as your senpai, kouhai, or to be in the same class as you, among others. Miria’s VA also played a nice trick on all the Ps in the audience, saying 「ロリコンってなに？」(TL note: what’s a lolicon?), which was so funny; the entire audience was laughing so hard. There was some technical trouble during one of the MC periods, but the VAs went with the flow, getting the audience to do a wave with their penlights. The entire audience also managed to ad-lib Onegai Cinderella just past the chorus, and that was pretty fun! Eventually, staff intervened, and we got a 15 minute break while they did a hard reset to get everything back up and running, after which everything went smoothly with the Cinderella Band!

At the end, before the encore, we got lots of deresute statistics related to login bonus and number of songs played. Huge kudos to all the producers over the years contributing to these neat stats that Cygames provided.

Day 2 was also really good! Taketatsu Ayana, who is one of my favourite VAs and voices Koshimizu Sachiko, one of my tantou oshis, performed, and my god it showed why she’s a top tier voice actress. She definitely brought out Sachiko’s cuteness, and for that I was so grateful to have been there to see it. Nightwear was also really good, with Kotoka, Tsukasa, and Yui showing off one of the elegant select shop outfits from the game! Riamu and Anzu’s VAs also sung each others’ image song, which was so lit: the crowd was going wild, and the entire arena was orange from all the penlights. I was also so happy to see Nao’s VA, Matsui Eriko, perform Babel in the medley with Karen’s VA. That was one I wasn’t expecting so it was a nice surprise. Given that Rin’s VA was also performing, I was so hyped when Trinity Field came out. They teased us by having others do the intro part first. The crowd cheered super loud when Rin, Karen, and Nao’s VAs eventually came out.

Overall, I’m very glad I decisively planned for the live this year and made it there to experience it all in-person. Even though I was by myself for day 2, it was still very fun. I chatted a little bit with the Ps sitting beside me, and they gave me their meishi/P cards. If I was to do this again next time, I would probably prepare some meishi/name cards to exchange with other Ps, and also check out kaigai Discord servers to meet some others IRL. That will be something to prep for next time!

Anyways, that really all I had on my mind. Most of these thoughts were bullet points during my trip that I finally got around to typing into somewhat coherent sentences lol. I do have some other things I want to touch upon since I did do other things while I was in Japan, but I’ll save it for another post.

Until next time!
~Lui