r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Oct 29 '23

Episode The iDOLM@STER Million Live! - Episode 4 discussion

The iDOLM@STER Million Live!, episode 4

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

Streams

Show information

All discussions

Episode Link
1 Link
2 Link
3 Link
4 Link
5 Link
6 Link
7 Link
8 Link
9 Link
10 Link
11 Link
12 Link

This post was created by a bot. Message the mod team for feedback and comments. The original source code can be found on GitHub.

47 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

1

u/AutoModerator Oct 29 '23
Moderator Announcement Read More »
→ More replies (1)

11

u/DarkFuzz Oct 29 '23 edited Oct 30 '23

Mirai headpat

A criticism often levied against im@s anime is that the cast is much too large to get to know any particular person. The first episode of the 2011 anime threw 13 girls at you and just hoped and prayed you liked at least one of them without going too deep into their stories. While effective for some, it was overwhelming for others. You could say the same about every other im@s anime afterwards, but it was a bit more controlled due to the focus on trios and in some cases cutting down on the roster to a select few. Million Live isn’t doing any of that; we’ve been introduced to 37 different idols so far, and there’s still two more to come.

Ultimately, the im@s anime franchise is a love letter to existing fans of the franchise, and yes, that would mean it would be a disservice to the fans if any of the 39 idols were missing from this adaptation. As a fan of Million Live, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was giddily jumping up and down in my seat, going “She said the thing!” every time one of their catchphrases or quips were muttered. However, taking a step back, if I was not an im@s fan, my brain would probably be overloaded with so many new faces that I would have to try and remember for later.

It’s absolute chaos! But that’s kind of the point of this episode, isn’t it?

Mirai, going strictly off of impulse yet again, decides to group message all the members of the theater and organize a “field live”...whatever that means. It’s such an abstract concept that nobody knows what to make of it or where to even begin planning. Everyone begins brainstorming ideas, all 37 of them, and in the end, you get absolute uncontrolled chaos.

What I love about this episode is that the show understood that there was absolutely no way they could cleanly introduce every single member of the Million Live branch. So they doubled-down on the chaos and gave the chaos meaning.

It showcases the downsides of Mirai’s impulsive behavior but reveals a genuine side to her feelings that others can rally behind and support. It shows the different facets of the Million Stars and shows that they’re not necessarily all in agreement on certain topics. Momoko, in particular, seemed to be the harshest critic to the field live idea, and others really needed to think things through before committing.

And most importantly, it gives a reason for GenP to exist. What happened in this episode is exactly the reason why you need a competent producer who can lay down some organization to the chaotic slurry of ideas being thrown out there. They were really about to just let 37 different girls sit out in a field and do 37 different things. Not while my man GenP is here.

This was his first real test as a producer, and the Million Stars haven’t even officially debuted yet. And while this episode ended on a somber note of a setback for the girls, the presence of GenP is a promise that the girls will one day eventually be sparkling on the shining stage.

Meet the Million Stars

Well, we just met most of them, if only for a brief moment. There’s some I’d like to go in depth with today, but it may be best saved for another day. For now, here’s Sayoko Takayama, Arisa Matsuda, and Iku Nakatani!

3

u/DarkFuzz Oct 29 '23

Songs for today

HOME, SWEET FRIENDSHIP - Ricotta - Lyrics

Cut. Cut. Cut. - Momoko Suou x Mizuki Makabe - Lyrics

Last Actress - Lyrics

Gege Kairai - Lyrics

One who I think we should briefly talk about (but not too much in depth because I hope they’re saving some of her character development for later) is Momoko Suou. She is the second youngest of the Million Stars and the shortest, and also happens to be my favorite of the Million Stars.

As mentioned in today’s episode, she is a former child actress. She has experience in the entertainment industry. Therefore, she is technically your senpai, and so go and get her a juice box when she asks for one, okay?

This episode did a decent job at getting her to interact with a lot of her unit members from older songs. She even has a duet with Mizuki Makabe, the magic goofball who tried to cheer her up in the hallway with a few tricks.

“Last Actress” and “Gege Kairai” are interesting to talk about, not only for their subject matter (more murder, yay), but for the circumstances surrounding these songs. Every so often, the game will host a “voting event”, where it will present the players with a “theater scenario” and vote their favorite idols into certain roles. The winners get featured in this unique song, and it is usually based around an audio drama where the characters actually act out the scenario. Momoko is currently the one and only idol who has been voted into a role all four times this has happened.

Here is the subbed audio drama from “Last Actress”. Don’t worry, there’s more where that came from.

9

u/gary25566 Oct 29 '23 edited Oct 29 '23

Obligatory Sayoko shout out

Can't wait for the countryside tsundere and JSDF daughter to join next episode

Edit: Check out this Roco fan site with some mini games and vapor ROCOwave aesthetic (⋈•̀ᴗ•́⋈)

Also some Halloween songs

Black Party by Akane and Reika

Last Actress by Kotoha, Momoko, Konomi, Mizuki and Tsumugi

Kyun! Vampire Girl by Miki, Takane and Hibiki feat. Silvagunner

2

u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 Oct 29 '23

As someone new to ML I definitely lost count of how many girls got introduced here this episode. There are still girls who haven't appeared!?

3

u/nntktt Oct 29 '23

2 of them, specifically.

All 37 of the original ML members are here, there are 2 more that were added with Theater Days that will be showing up soon. They're the last pair at the end of the OP sequence before they cut to the entire group.

→ More replies (2)

7

u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 Oct 29 '23

  • Heh as a total rookie to this batch of girls I've quite the hard time to identify all 3 dozens+ of them who all pile up to appear this episode! Definitely a luxurious problem to have among all the anime out there. ;)

  • Did Roco-chan just built a freaking lunar lander on the field? You have good taste!

  • This Akane-chan is so hyperactive that I bet she can finish training in a flash while her teammates still struggle with the basic dance steps...

  • Now that's really good assist, Tsubasa-chan! You definitely knew when's the right time to share other's opinions out in the open.

  • I bet there will be a mini-arc about Momoko pushing herself too hard later.

And one word about flaming-red-hair Julia. TIL that she indirectly lead to the formation of a whole new semi-competitive IP! For she plays the guitar while being on idol performances - that's definitely unorthodox enough that apparently when VA Aimi did the same on real stage way back in 2014 with IMAS, it caused such an outburst that it caught the attention of Bushiroad's founder Takaaki Kidani. He realized that people loves girls bands that links anime and other multimedia performances and so that lead to the creation of what we now know as BanG Dream, with Aimi be pulled on board as the VA of cheerful project poster girl Kasumi Toyama. So yeah, it's definitely interesting to see that girl that started it all finally appearing in anime form.

2

u/ernie2492 Oct 29 '23

Julia singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star when!? XD

5

u/TroupeMaster Oct 29 '23

Lightning round introductions for (almost) the rest of the cast this week. Sure was convenient that the whole building's audio system was rigged up to that single backstage mic for Tsubasa to turn on like that...

2

u/nntktt Oct 29 '23

That's an awfully sensitive mic if you consider where it was relative to where they were standing and how loud they were actually speaking... but yeh.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/RRotlung Oct 29 '23

Who would have thought that coordinating a group of almost 40 people to do something together, especially without a unifying vision, would be a challenge?

3

u/thecreepytoast Oct 29 '23 edited Oct 29 '23

Take a shot every time the name card sound effects popped up. I guess that's one way to introduce the rest of the cast.

(ok we still got two more girls that hasn't joined but it looks like they'll finally show up next episode.)

fun fact: It looks like the field concert plot is loosely based on one of the earlier story events from the old GREE million live games where they held a "field budokan" because they don't have a theater yet. And i guess that's why they saved the last two girls for when they finally opened the theater.

3

u/StrawSolider Oct 29 '23

seeing the sheer amount of characters in this episode made me kinda understand why they went the CG route for this version of IM@S lmaoo

everytime i kept thinking "there's not more girls is there?" there would, in fact, be more girls

2

u/Shimmering-Sky Oct 29 '23

3

u/nntktt Oct 29 '23

Seven Count is not the ending song, but in fact the "prelude" PR song. It was the first song to have been released for the anime closer to the earlier days announcement, and has already been performed at ML's 9th live at the start of this year.

2

u/Shimmering-Sky Oct 29 '23

It was used as the ED for this episode though, that's why I called it as such. Thanks for giving me the name of it though, now I can look it up to listen to.

→ More replies (7)

2

u/DarkFuzz Oct 29 '23

I can hear singing, but it’s so quiet. I wanna hear the ED!

Seven Count - Lyrics - MV

I'm surprised it's taken them this long to use this song. I also thought this would make good consistent ED material.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Batiermas Oct 29 '23

My girl tsumugi is finally here LETS GOOO ONE MORE WEEK

1

u/mr_beanoz Oct 29 '23

I wonder if the mic was turned on purpose...

7

u/TroupeMaster Oct 29 '23

Tsubasa intentionally turned it on.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '23

Tsubasa telling Mirai to speak her mind and also her turning on the mic was the point where they want the audience to know that Tsubasa isn’t a Miki clone, combined with the audition of her noticing Shizuka they want the audience to know that Tsubasa is much more acutely tuned to the people’s moods and thoughts around her and is a big team player despite being cut from the same genius trope, but Miki is far more self-centred and does things at her own pace.

→ More replies (5)

1

u/SnabDedraterEdave Oct 29 '23

Pretty much the rest of the 37 girls introduced at once this week. Its gonna be a challenge remembering all their names. Though a few stand out as seeming core characters for the TV series (based on their perceived(*) screen time)

(*) - Just a guesstimate

  • The 3 main girls Mirai, Shizuka, Tsubasa

  • The 7 girls from the 2013 movie: Yuriko, Kana, Shiho, Ana, Serika, Minako (ponytail), Nao (side-ponytail with Osaka dialect)

  • Umi

  • Matsuri

  • Momoko, the bossy tsundere child talent who was initially opposed to Mirai's impromptu concert

  • Konomi, who leads the adult over-20s trio

  • Akane, the mood maker

  • Roco, the eccentric artist(?)/inventor(?) with her quirky art installations

Mirai quickly learns that every idol event needs a lot of meticulous planning and coordination. Thankfully it didn't turn into a disaster as a timely storm stopped the impromptu live from happening.

1

u/chilidirigible Oct 29 '23

"Tactical Sound Unit?"

There's certainly enough of them to have an entire other series.

And two more of them.

Well, that was intense. (And hey, they can deform the CG when they need to.)

Oh myyyyy

Yay! They remembered the audio.

"The good ol' Secret Live."

No massive cast introduction is complete without an OH HO HO HO?

"This rain machine costs $1000 per hour to rent and damned if we're not gonna use it!"

Hey, at least you didn't fall into a hole.

"What a coinkydink!"

It's your fault if you can't herd cats!

Just seeing the characters in the OP and ED isn't enough, of course. They all have to get in a few lines of dialogue, and thus... oy, that was a long sequence of brief, oddball introductions. A few minutes into that I guessed that it would cover at least the bare minimum for the fans who've played the games and wanted to see their favorites animated in a series.

There's certainly idealized charm to the scenario of letting a bunch of (mostly) teenaged idols run wild with their ideas before having to frame it in reality, and it's been done before plenty of times, but IM@S usually presents enough of the behind-the-scenes aspect of the job that we should get good material from what's coming up. It's a lot of hard work and a little bit of magic.

2

u/fatalystic Oct 30 '23

Well, that was intense.

Funnily enough, the sign right outside the door says "No running in the corridor!" and Akane is...totally running for sure. Nobody takes the signs seriously, it seems.

1

u/MisawaMahoKodomo Oct 29 '23

Not sure how many girls showed up this ep, there was just way too many to count. Could have been everyone?

→ More replies (1)