“Gakuen Idolmaster” The genius idol “Hiroshi Shinozawa” was a character that went beyond expectations – yes, she is a “masochist”[Advance play report]

The IDOLM@STER series is a training game where you become a producer and produce unique idols. I had the opportunity to play the latest work “Gakuen Idolmaster” in advance.

This advance play is a little special, producing one out of nine idols in each media. And here are the idols that Inside is in charge of!

This is Hiro Shinozawa, a genius girl with a mysterious atmosphere!

Through her production, we would like to convey the game system, the unique features of this work, and above all, the charm of Hiro-chan.

◆The next IMAS is set in a “school”!A three-person trip begins with Hiroshi Shinozawa, who has a genius brain and weak physical strength.
First, let's introduce the synopsis of “Gakuen Idolmaster”. The story takes place at Hatsusei Gakuen, one of the largest idol training schools in Japan. Players who enter the producer department will scout students from the idol department and aim to help them grow as idols through school life.

The first challenging work in the series, “The Idolmaster set in a school.''

By the way, the idol department is a high school, and the producer department is a vocational university, so even if they are the same students, the players are older. The relationship with the idols was not just between “students” but between “adults and high school students”.

I would also like to introduce Hiroshi Shinozawa's profile. She is a genius girl who graduated from university at the age of 14. However, she is a slightly unusual girl who hates the easy and boring days and decided to challenge her weak point and aim to become an idol at Hatsei Academy.

It's something he's weak at, especially his athletic ability.

I collapsed in the hallway after a lesson, and I got 0 points on my practical exam. Perhaps due to lack of exercise and poor eating habits, his body is very thin. The thinness of his legs in particular made me feel uneasy, and when the character was announced, people on social media were buzzing with comments such as “Eat more food!'' and “I want Hiroshi Shinozawa to eat as much as he can!''

He is also introduced as an eccentric person who takes pleasure in “hard and painful lessons'' and “things that don't go well.'' However, in her PV, you can see her saying things like “I'll do my best to the limit,'' and I got the impression that she is a girl who does her best despite the disadvantages of her physical strength.

–However, the author had no idea before playing the game.

To the extent that these impressions were completely blown away, I didn't expect that Hiro was a quirky idol whose “weirdness'' exceeded all expectations.

◆A quirky idol named Hiroshi Shinozawa who blew away all my pre-play impressions.

Meeting Hiroshi was quite a sensation. While looking at her student information, I was thinking things like, “She has a unique background.The producer in charge must be having a hard time,'' and then I saw Hiro staggering down her hallway! Then, right in front of her, I collapsed and said, “Kyuu.'' what the hell.

Immediately after taking him to the infirmary, he was scouted by a scout who said, “I want you to produce me.''

Although I initially declined the offer, I ended up signing a one-month trial contract. Now that I'm in charge, I even produce! First of all, let me show you what Hiroshi Shinozawa is capable of!

Now the intro begins to play, and the performance begins with Hiro's shout of “I'm going!”…no.

Hiro-chan, I used up all my energy just by listening to the intro. His voice is sparse and his choreography is sluggish, so I wouldn't say he's good at it. The road ahead is tough, but being a producer is the best way to support idols! So, the days of lessons begin.

■A good girl who is very motivated and can do both interesting and exciting things!
It's hard to tell from her appearance, but she's a very motivated girl.

When the lesson begins, she seems somewhat happy and says, “It's a tough but fun time.'' If the child completes the task successfully, he or she will appeal to you by saying, “You didn't fall, praise me.'' cute! I'll give you lots of praise!

He has an honest personality and a good mood. She quickly reflected on her eating habits, which became a hot topic on social media, and prepared a dystopian meal called “Top Idol Training Meal,'' and said, “With this meal and drink, you will become healthy.'' Her eyes lit up. I said this while asking.

When her friend China Kuramoto, who is also not good at exercise, was criticized by a dance trainer for her lack of physical ability, she defended herself with a very serious face, saying, “You can last longer in a handstand than me.'' Even when she used up her physical strength just by doing light stretches, she said with a smug look on her face, “I did my best to the limit,'' and I have the impression that she is a unique and interesting girl rather than mysterious.

In addition to praising and appealing as mentioned above, there is also a side where he directly conveys lines that make the person who says it embarrassing, such as “I and the producer get along well'' and “I like the ○○ side of the producer.'' He says it happily, so I'm starting to like him too.

■And the truth is revealed…Hiro-chan is M
He had just finished his first day's lesson, but when I asked him how he was feeling, he said, “My muscles are sore.'' A normal girl would have scowled at her, but she's smiling. Maybe she feels a sense of accomplishment.

As mentioned earlier, he had almost no physical strength or muscle strength, and even before he was scouted, he would participate in lessons and collapse. But he seemed to be having fun and laughed and said, “Huh, I need to improve.'' Ah…maybe he's happy that he has room to grow, thinking, “I can still grow!”

We are seeking advice from elite idol Tsukimura Temari. It seems that she wants to receive “harder advice'' than she gives to other idols. “No matter what people say, I won't be depressed. In fact, I'm happy,'' Temari said, looking confused. Her face turned pale as she said things like, “I want something even tighter…? Ha! Could this girl be…?'' and “Oh, that's what this girl is like…!?'' …Hmm, the clouds are starting to look suspicious.

There is a lot of talk about her friends “Kuramoto Chinana'' and “Hanaumi Yume'' and the producer in charge. He introduced Player by saying, “For me, I think he's a really good producer. I like him.'' I'm excited. By the way, what do you like?

“Of all the people I've met at this school, you're the one who rates me the least.”

“I like the way he looks at me as if he's about to give up on me (very ecstatic look)”

“It's a one-month trial contract…I might be dumped next month (looks like she's really happy)”

Oh, I see. My friends are also quite confused. Of course I'm confused too. I see…Hiro-chan was a masochist.

After learning about Hiroshi's masochism, episodes like this keep coming up. When I said to her before the exam, “Please don't disappoint me,'' she said, “You always say what I want. It makes my heart feel warm,'' and she said, “What are the chances of me becoming an idol?'' When I replied “1%”, I was even happier.

There is no development in which he feels overwhelmed by his lack of physical strength, and in fact, he happily tackles the pain of not having it. I see, the reason I was always so motivated was because I enjoyed the lessons. At the beginning of the lesson, I said, “It's going to be a tough but fun time,'' but there was nothing false about it.

It's true that he was introduced as “a weirdo who takes pleasure in hard and painful lessons and things that don't go well,'' but he's more of a masochist than I imagined. In terms of nuance, it sounds like “It's fun to do something that can't be achieved easily or to take on challenges,'' but…hmm, that's a difficult line to judge.

The producer was also worried, saying, “There are no other idols who are in a good mood every time someone says something harsh to them.'' You know, in the second half of producing, you start to get used to the options. There were many harsh comments such as, “It's dark ahead.'' But I can't help it because it makes people happy!

However, this is a unique story that can only be seen because of the masochistic idol and the harsh producer! All in all, they have great chemistry (some say the producer is adapting to them), and since they're no good as idols, watching them grow steadily made me feel good.

◆I thought I was training idols, but instead I was playing a card game!

Now let's get into the game system. The main content is “Produce Mode” where you select one of the nine idols and train them.

The goal is to pass the “midterm exam” that will come in a few weeks and the “final exam” that awaits at the end, in order to participate in the school's regular live performance. To achieve this, we must improve the parameters of idols' vocals, dance, and visuals.

Training progresses in a turn-based manner, with a total of 13 turns including the final exam, which is short (play time is about 30 minutes). You can choose a schedule that changes every turn, such as taking on “lessons'' to increase your parameters, or taking a “rest'' or “outing'' to recover your consumed physical strength.

■Lesson is a card game!

The basic “lessons” for increasing parameters can be summed up in one word: a “card game.” If you can raise the target parameters in a limited number of turns using skill cards, you will clear the lesson.

You need physical strength to use cards, for example, the “Basic Appeal” card consumes 4 physical strength and raises your parameters by 9. This is an extreme example, but if there are 8 turns remaining and the target parameter is 15, you can clear the lesson by drawing and using 2 of these cards within 8 turns.

Three cards are dealt from the “deck” per turn, and only one of them can be used. Cards that are not used become the “discard pile”, and when the deck becomes 0 cards, they return to the deck again. Some cards can only be used once, and once used, they are “excluded” and will not return to the deck for the duration of the lesson.

Cards not only increase parameters, but also have various effects, such as ones that acquire “energy” that is consumed in place of physical strength, and ones that give “good condition” that increases the amount of parameter increase by 50%. And each idol has a different style of fighting.

■Hiro's stance was just to protect, and he turned around in the end!

Hiro's strategy is to increase his “motivation'' and “energy'' in the first half, and then use cards that “increase parameters by XX% of energy'' in the second half to increase his parameters at once.

“Motivation'' has the effect of increasing the amount of “Vigor'' obtained for each number accumulated. For example, if you use a card that can give you 4 energy when you have 2 motivation, you can get 6 energy in total.

Hiroshi mainly has cards that can acquire “motivation” and “energy”, so “energy” increases steadily. It is common for your energy to exceed 100, and if you use a card that “increases parameters by 100% of your energy” in that state, you can raise your parameters by over 100 at once.

In addition, each idol has one “P item” that will help them progress through lessons. The effect of Hiro's P item “Michikusa Research Note” is “If there are less than 2 turns remaining from the start of the turn, parameters will increase by 50% of energy.”

It's refreshing to see how the energy you save turns into a large number of parameters in the second half! In the last turn, when you draw a card called “Signal of the Heart” that “halves your energy and increases the parameters by 130% of the energy before reduction”, it's a thrill!

However, it's a matter of luck whether you can draw a card that turns your energy into a parameter, so if you can't draw a card in the last turn, you'll feel like all the energy you've saved up was wasted and you'll be very disappointed.

“P Drink” is also available to help with this. It can be used at any time without consuming a turn, and has useful effects such as “You can use up to 2 cards this turn'' and “Change all cards in your hand.'' You can obtain them in various situations during training, and you can keep up to 3 of them.

■Produce mode is also a “deck-building card game”!

The parameters raised in the lesson are added directly to the idle parameters. You can also select and obtain a “new skill card” as a lesson clear reward.

In addition to this, skill cards can be obtained in various situations during training. Produce mode can be said to be a “deck-building card game” where you select cards that suit the idol in charge. Even though it's an idol training game, I found myself worrying about deck construction, thinking things like “I want this card for my first move'' and “There aren't enough finishers.''

By the way, if you train many times and raise your producer level, the lineup of cards you can obtain will increase. Stronger cards will appear, and the range of battles will expand. You can think of raising your producer level = raising stronger idols.

The “midterm exam” and “final exam” are basically the same as the lessons. Compete with other idols for “score” (parameters in lessons), and if you are in the top 3, you will clear the stage.

Score bonuses will also occur depending on the parameters of “Vocal”, “Dance”, and “Visual”, so if you have raised the parameters properly through training up to that point, it will be easier to clear the exam.

The routine is not that different from lessons. At first, I managed to place in 3rd place, but as I got used to it and as my producer level increased and I started getting more strong cards, I was able to beat 2nd place with a double score.

Well, drawing the card you want is a matter of luck, so sometimes you miss out on first place. In the end, what's important is “how well you built your deck” and “how well you can use (and draw) the cards in lessons and exams.” Please note that you can retake the exam, so don't worry.

■Repeat training to achieve the ideal “memory”!

If you pass the final exam, you will clear one training session. A “memory” is generated based on the parameters you have developed.

Up to 4 memories can be organized during the next training, and they have various effects such as automatically acquiring skill cards at specific timings and increasing initial parameters. Each memory has different effects, so the flow of this work is to repeatedly train in search of the ideal memory.

You can also organize up to 6 “Support Cards”, which will support your development with similar effects.

◆Watch Hiro-chan's growth with a “solo live”!Depending on the training parameters, the stage becomes more and more luxurious.
It's not just that the memory is generated and that's it! At the end of the production, the idol in charge will have a “solo live”. And this live performance is the most distinctive part of this work. Performance changes greatly depending on the parameters you develop!

For my first production, I performed live on a small stage in the courtyard. Perhaps because the parameters are low, the singing voice and dancing are still poor, and it's at the level of a school festival. The audience was sparse, and I wasn't even allowed to sing the chorus.

However, as someone who has seen Hiro-chan's waggishness, just being able to sing and dance to this extent is amazing enough! …Eh, can you still do your best?

So, after raising the parameters and finishing training, it was time to upgrade to the rooftop stage. He even sings the chorus properly.

If you increase the parameters further, you will move to a magnificent outdoor stage! In the first two, I was moving the camera myself, but from here on, special camera work will appear.

Compared to the time in the courtyard, the choreography was more flexible and the facial expressions were more emotional. The quality has greatly improved, with the camera work showing this in a scene where it's perfect.

Let's aim for the next level with this momentum! That's what I want to say, but here's where it gets tough. In order to perform live in a huge arena like the one shown in the official PV, it seems that the “True End Conditions” must be met (*I cannot say for sure if the conditions are accurate).

Some conditions require repeated play, and some can only be attempted once you've progressed through the play, so it takes a lot of time.

Looking back, even during the official live broadcast, he said, “It's not so easy to watch a great live show like the PV.'' Is it impossible to reach this during advance play…?

No, I did it.

The total number of productions is about 14 to 16 times. Including clearing other conditions, it took about 10 hours. Well, it was very difficult.

However, the sense of accomplishment I feel when I watch a live performance is tremendous. Having seen Hiro's progress in the courtyard, on the rooftop, and on the outdoor stage, you can see his progress. Her voice, choreography, and expressiveness are all on a whole other level.

It is deeply moving to see Hibana go from being no good to growing up to this point and captivating a large audience. She likes harsh words, but she wants to praise her without worrying about it for now!

And although I feel bad for Hiro (in fact, he seems to be happy about it), I was caught in the middle of an indescribable feeling like, “Producer, you've done a good job of raising us kids with crazy tendencies…!'' as if all the days of hard work were being rewarded. There is a part of me who is Is this what Hiro is producing…?

That's why we've brought you a preliminary play report of Hiroshi Shinozawa from “Gakuen Idolmaster.'' This work is scheduled to be released for smartphones on Thursday, May 16, 2024. She is a unique girl, but most of the stories mentioned in this article can be seen in the beginning. Please see for yourself what kind of production will follow after the release.

*The images in the article are from the advance play version.
THE IDOLM@STER(TM)& (C)Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.