History VideoGame / IdolManager

** One possible event consists of old photos of one of the idols getting posted online, revealing her to be FormerlyFat to an unhealthy extent. The Internet being [[InternetJerk the Internet]], this will have consequences for the idol's mental well-being.

** Due to this being necessary to find out if idols with all other traits are interested in dating the PlayerCharacter, even asexual idols need to be flirted with for the part of their "extras" screen regarding relationships to spell out that they are not interested in dating. For gameplay purposes, the gimmick of asexual idols if that they don't get into romantic relationships, this much being stated in the "Asexual" trait's description from the moment the idol is unveiled in an audition.

** During the "Nation of Idols" boycott scandal, two idols will start an argument over whether your agency should join the boycott. Whichever option you pick will trigger the idol supporting the opposing option to resign.

* MortonsFork: This trope is brought up by the central singer of the player's first single with lyrics about politics. The idol points out that if she's ever interviewed about the song, taking a clear position about its subject matter will risk alienating part of the fanbase, while pretending not know much about it will make her look like an idiot and be just as bad for her public image.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: The price of sending the idols to the spa increases with the money the player has on hand for no clear in-game reason. All other cases of rising costs for running the agency can be explained by non-idol employees getting more pay as they get more qualified, a policy of regular automatic pay increases for the idols and having to pay more rent as the agency is expanded.
* AwesomeButImpractical: In-house TV shows. They may bring in many fans, but remain massive money sinks in circumstances where a radio or Internet show with the same components will be bringing in enough of a profit to pay for the salaries of a bare-bones agency. TV shows also require more physical stamina from the idol(s) running them (90 points once a week, when a single completely rested idol has 100) than radio (30 points) or Internet shows (60 points). Both in terms of finances and the health of the idols, the sole TV show required by the game's objectives is best cancelled as soon as possible.

** One of the factors that can help the submission to have an idol group sing at the closing ceremony of the Summer Athletic Games is submitting a song with a combination of components (music genre, lyric topic and choreography style) that will appeal to as many jury members as possible, with the ideal being one that had good metrics upon its release. The deadline for the submission is enough to produce a new song for that sole purpose, but the jury's combination of preferences is randomly generated. The jury members may like song components that a player who has been focusing on a limited selection of them hasn't even unlocked yet. If the overlap between the player's existing output and the jury's preferences isn't a problem, there is no gurantee the best combination the player can produce will be something able to sell well; the three ways song components evolve as their quality enhances is becoming more appealing, less alienating or ''more'' alienating to various demographics. The only way to completely circumvent this is to have all possible song components maxed out before being asked to submit the application for the closing ceremony, which is a surprise TimedMission for a player going into story mode blind.
** If the PlayerCharacter's group makes it through the application process, the next challenge will boil down to getting no new scandal points until the Summer Athletic Games start. Failure can potentially be caused by having the bad luck of getting one of the random events that are the hardest to solve without creating a scandal during that period.

* ModestyShorts: They come up as a potential choice for the performance outfits of the idols. There are in fact two "short skirt" options: one with shorts and one ''without'' them.
* MoralGuardians: Such people are possible sources of scandals. For instance, a politician might directly name one of the group's songs as the cause of uptake in behavior they don't approve of among young people.

* OrderedApology: A possible reaction to some events is to order the idol involved to apologize. This response is to be used carefully, as apologizing for something too minor will get the idol viewed as an ExtremeDoormat, while deciding that no apology is needed for something major will get the idol percieved as TheUnapologetic. With (in-game) social media being prone to FelonyMisdemeanor, good luck figuring out the right response to each event.

** If the player chooses to participate when other contestants are boycotting it, the idol from the player's group who earlier expressed a desire to go along with the boycott will point out that such a situation applied to the player's choice: boycotting would have given the other would-be constestants more leverage against the show, but being the only one ''not'' boycotting meant getting a lot of spotlight, to the detriment of the idol groups participating in the boycott. She also points out that being the sole betrayer in a one-time event such as the thought experiment is indeed the right move, but real life consists of such dilemmas showing up repeatedly and one round's betrayer might become the next one's betrayed.

* SureLetsGoWithThat: One possible event consists of a fan reporting getting help from one of the idols on social media, but the idol not remembering the incident, to an extent that she suspects MistakenIdentity. Two of the possible reactions are to not communicate at all or have the idol pretend it was, indeed, her.

** Just about any member of the staff who isn't an idol will only have one possible sprite and one possible portrait that is dependent on their job. The sprites representing the idols on the overall view of the agency are entirely dependent of the activity they are doing. Their portraits are more diverse, but it doesn't take many auditions to see them repeat.
** One of the judges of the ''Nation of Idols'' show is a former music producer. He looks just like the generic music producer CharacterPortrait, except that he's wearing different clothes.

** Cases of idols from the group dating each other are much less urgent under the right policies, but are just as subject to this trope in smaller groups. Two idols are simultaneously marked as "dating an an idol from your group" in their "extras" screen as soon as the game alerts the player about the situation. Yet, gossiping until the pair is outright named is still necessary for the names of their respective only possible girlfriends to appear in their "extras" screen.

** Due to this being necessary to find out if idols with all other traits are interested in dating the PlayerCharacter, even asexual idols need to be flirted with for the part of their "extras" screen regarding relationships to spell out that they are not interested in dating. For gameplay purposes, the gimmick of asexual idols if that they don't get into romantic relationships, this much being stated in the "Asexual" trait's description from the moment the idol is uncovered in an audition.

** Staffers with voice, dance or style coaching skills start out with a level beyond which they can't train an idol. That level increases as they teach idols with a level low enough to benefit from their coaching. Players who want to hire poorly skilled coaches for cheap and train them on the job will want to make sure that the idols they hire aren't ''too'' good at signing, dancing or natural looks to be trained by the poorly skilled coaches. This can also cause any business plan that involves packing the agency with the guranteed silver-tier idols from regional auditions and gold-tier idols from national auditions to backfire, as the most skilled coaches for hire only train up to level 80 out of the 100 level cap. Higher-tier idols start out with higher average skill levels, which make them much more likely to have at least one skill just under or over the 80 mark.

** Staffers with voice, dance or style coaching skills start out with a level beyond which they can't train an idol. That level increases as they teach idols with a level low enough to benefit from their coaching. Players who want to hire poorly skilled coaches for cheap and train them on the job will want to make sure that the idols they hire aren't ''too'' good at signing, dancing or natural looks to be trained by the poorly skilled coaches. This can also cause any business plan that involves packing the agency with the guranteed silver-tier idols from regional auditions and gold(tier idols from national auditions to backfire, as the most skilled coaches for hire only train up to level 80 out of the 100 level cap. Higher-tier idols start out with higher average skill levels, which make them much more likely to have at least one skill around the 80 mark.

* BackgroundMusicOverride: The transition from Chapter 3 to Chapter 4 is marked by the release of the first video by the Phantasm Facade group. The scene first scene showing the group has its own theme music that carries onto Chapter 4's title card, then the agency overview screen (which also gets a purple tint) until the player has played through all of Chapeter 4's main story events.

The game has both a "free play" mode and a story mode. The latter's plot consists of the agency getting started in a building formerly occupied by a brothel that was preventatively closed in response to a local crackdown on the industry. Its owner, Fujimoto, is now looking to invest in a more legitimate business. Other major characters include the manager of a rival idol group who is acquainted with Fujimoto and Aya Naya, a newbie journalist who keeps an eye on the player's group. The beginning of the story complements the optional tutorial in terms of easing a new player in and gives clear goals to work towards, at the price of depicting more of the harsh realities of working in the entertainment industry during the Internet era. Whether the agency will become part of those harsh realities itself or one of the better places to work in spite of them in entirely up to the player.

The game has both a "free play" mode and a story mode. The latter's plot consists of the agency getting started in a building formerly occupied by a brothel that was preventatively closed in response to a local crackdown on the industry. Its owner, Fujimoto, is now looking to invest in a more legitimate business. Other major characters include the manager of a rival idol group who is acquainted with Fujimoto and Aya Naya, a newbie journalist who keeps an eye on the player's group. The beginning of the story complements the optional tutorial in terms of easing a new player in and gives clear goals to work towards, at the price of depicting more of the harsh realities of working in the entertainment industry during the Internet era.

* JailbaitTaboo: While it's possible to date idols, the button to flirt with them won't appear in the socialization interface before their eighteenth birthday.

* VirtualPaperDoll: Once the agency has a dressing room and a stylist, the outfit and hairstyle the idols got upon portrait generation can be swapped out for the other options available for their poses. This allows the player to give all their idols the same PaletteSwap and sometimes create a bettr match between clothing and hair accessories.

** Random events pertaining to problems with the most recent physical CD released by the agency will still appear for players who release all their singles as digital-only, the latter being the cheapest means to release a song. On the flip side of this, the requirement to have CD out to be able to particpate in the quizz will accept a digital-only release.

* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: There are a few cases where what the player knows and what the PlayerCharacter is supposed to know differ;

** Due to this being necessary to find out if idols with all other traits are interested in dating the PlayerCharacter, even asexual idols need to be flirted with for the part of their "extras" screen regarding relationships to spell out that they are not interested in dating. For gameplay purposes, the gimmick of asexual idols if that they don't get into romantic relationships, this much being stated in the "Asexual" trait's description from the moment the idol is uncovered in her audition.

** If the right choice are made, it's possible to get to a point where the agency can be sustained without standard performance revenue. This doesn't keep events pertaining to standard performance from showing up. In addition to this, the first event that needs to played through to unlock Aya Naya's ending involves running into her during one of the group's performances.

** One of the objectives of Aya's route is topping the charts with a single of a music genre randomly chosen by the game, which tends to pick genres that the player has yet to unlock. As the objective is given in the fourth chapter of the game, meeting it will require a few "practice" singles just for the the new genre to not be TheMillstone among the song's components.

* NoStatAtrophy: Averted. Stats associated with things that are expected to deteriorate as a person ages, such as appearance and physical fitness, will take a small hit on an idol's birthday. The loss is more consequential for idols with the "Live fast" trait.

* IncompatibleOrientation: This can happen if the PlayerCharacter tries to flirt with idols, via the idol losing a little friendship and stating that she's not interested in people of their gender. For instance, a female PlayerCharacter will have better chances with an idol who has a history of dating fellow idols than one who consistently has off-screen boyfriends. Asexual idols will also make it clear that they aren't interested in dating if the player tries to flirt with them.

** In the story event unlocked by reaching the Top 5 in the sales chart, choosing to not help the zoo or choosing to do so but not going there will result in not getting extra fans from the publicity. There is also an image that requires to go to the zoo to unlock.

** The chapter of the game at the end of which a choice must be made between Aya Naya, the rival and Fujimoto allows the player to follow all three of the routes up to a certain point, but only one of them is stictly necessary to be able to move to the following chapter. However, getting to the last step before the PointOfNoReturn of each of the routes will get Fujimoto the money he needs to sever his less savory connections earlier, while the rival and Aya Naya will have slightly shorter bucket lists. The player can hence follow the routes they don't intend to commit to just for the sake of helping the other characters.

* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready:

** Due to this being necessary to find out if idols with all other traits are interested in the PlayerCharacter, even asexual idols need to be flirted with for the part of their "extras" screen regarding relationships to spell out that they are not interested in dating. For gameplay purposes, the gimmick of asexual idols if that they don't get into romantic relationships on their own volition and rebuff the advances of the PlayerCharacter regardless of sex.