Ever since she first heard him sing, high school freshman Haruka Nanami has dreamt of writing a song for Hayato, a famous pop idol. To make her dream a reality, she enrolls into Saotome Academy, an elite private school designed to teach idol hopefuls and the composers that work with them the ins-and-outs of the business. While there, she gains the attention and friendship of a colorful cast of male idols-in-training, including the cold and aloof Tokiya Ichinose, who claims to be the identical twin brother of pop superstar Hayato.
Oh, did we mention that the principal is voiced by Norio Wakamoto and that romance is absolutely forbidden in the school, and grounds for immediate expulsion?
Uta no Prince-sama (うたの☆プリンスさまっ♪ Uta no Purinsu-sama, lit. "Princes of Song") is an otome Visual Novel released by Broccoli for the PlayStation Portable. Originally a rather low-budget title which mostly relied on its light-hearted atmosphere and a cast of some of the best singing voices in the seiyuu industry, the game became popular quickly, spawning a whole franchise of its own.
An anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures called Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji LOVE 1000% aired on the summer of 2011, and the anime was renewed for a second season subtitled Maji LOVE 2000% that aired in the spring of 2013. There's also a manga adaptation of the first game and Debut, and an additional OVA for the second season that was released in December 2013. A third season of the anime with the name of Maji LOVE Revolutions aired in April 2015. A fourth season premiered in the fall of 2016 under the name Maji LOVE Legend Star. A movie was announced shortly after the fourth season aired.
Besides the game, anime, and manga, the franchise is well-known for the large amount of music and drama CDs it produced. Stage plays based on the music project Uta no Prince-sama Gekidan Shining (Shining Theatrical Troupe) started in 2017.
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Games
- Uta No Prince-sama: The original game, released in 2010. A visual novel with a few rhythm minigames.
- Uta no Prince-sama -Amazing Aria-: A 2010 fandisc, featuring the boys from A Class, the Secret Character and a new character who introduces himself as the director's relative.
- Uta no Prince-sama -Sweet Serenade-: A 2011 fandisc, featuring the boys from S Class and the teachers.
- Uta no Prince-sama Amazing Aria & Sweet Serenade LOVE: The combined Playstation Vita port for -Amazing Aria- and -Sweet Serenade-, to be released in October 2017.
- Uta no Prince-sama Repeat: A 2011 remake of the original game, released almost at the same time as the anime adaptation. Mainly fixed the graphics and added a few more new scenarios.
- Uta no Prince-sama Repeat LOVE: The PlayStation Vita port for Repeat, released in 2017.
- Uta no Prince-sama MUSIC: A series of games that focus only on the Rhythm Game minigames of the series. Two were released for the PSP, while the third is for PS Vita. They feature both songs from the games and the anime while also including mini-stories with the characters.
- Uta no Prince-sama -Debut-: The 2012 sequel, set one year after the beginning of the first game. It features Haruka and the boys working as professional artists under the supervision of four seniors.
- Uta no Prince-sama -All Star-: The 2013 sequel, set a year and a half after the beginning of the first game. Introduces unique routes for the seniors, as well as sequels to the teachers' routes in Sweet Serenade and the Rainbow Route, which includes all the main boys.
- Uta no Prince-sama -All Star After Secret-: A 2015 fandisc to All Star, featuring epilogues to the seniors and the main boys' routes.
- UtaPri Island: A Mobile Phone Game for iOS and Android systems consisting of minigames using the main characters. Shut down on March 31st, 2016.
- Uta no Prince-sama Dolce Vita, which will complete the franchise's transition to Playstation Vita. Its development was announced during the 6th anniversary celebrations in June 2016. In 2019 it was announced to switch to the Nintendo Switch platform.
- Uta no Prince-sama Shining Live: A Rhythm Game released in August 2017 in Japan for iOS and Android systems, developed in cooperation with KLab (makers of Love Live! School idol festival). Localizations in English and Traditional Chinese were released worldwide on January 24, 2018.
Drama CDs
- Uta no Prince-sama Drama CD Vol. 1
- Uta no Prince-sama Character Drama CD
- Uta no Prince-sama Duet Drama CD
- Uta no Prince-sama Unit Drama CD
- Uta no Prince-sama Shuffle Unit CD
- Uta no Prince-sama Gekidan Shining
- Uta no Prince-sama Theater Shining
- Uta no Prince-sama Shining Masterpiece Show
- Uta no Prince-sama "HEAVEN SKY" Episode CD
Anime Series
- Uta No Prince-sama Maji LOVE 1000% : The condensed adaptation of the first game.
- Uta no Prince-sama Maji LOVE 2000% : Introduces the senpais as the unit QUARTET NIGHT, and HE★VENS as an original rival unit.
- Uta no Prince-sama Maji LOVE Revolutions : Follows the characters through their outside-school career, and introduces four more members of HE★VENS.
- Uta no Prince-sama Maji LOVE Legend Star
Gekidan Shining
- Tenka Muteki no Shinobi Michi (The Way of the Invincible Shinobi): The stage play adaptation of the song and drama cd of the same name, starring Otoya, Masato, Syo, and Cecil.
- Masquerade Mirage: The stage play adaptation of the song and drama cd of the same name, starring Reiji, Natsuki, and Ai.
- JOKER TRAP: The stage play adaptation of the song and drama cd of the same name, starring Camus, Ranmaru, Ren, and Tokiya.
- SHINING REVUE: An original story featuring all the members of ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT.
- POLARIS: An stage play adaptation of the song and drama cd of the same name, starring Tokiya, Natsuki, and Cecil.
- Pirates of the Frontier: An stage play adaptation of the song and drama cd of the same name, starring Otoya, Ranmaru, and Camus.
- Every Buddy!: An stage play adaptation of the song and drama cd of the same name, starring Reiji and Syo.
Other
- Uta no Princess-sama: BACK to the IDOL: Yes, you read that right. An all female spinoff of the franchise, first announced on April 1st 2023. The focus is on a set of Saotome Academy idols who make regular time slips throughout their adventure.
This page is for the tropes common to all media in the franchise. The page for the character sheet is here. The tropes found in the anime are here, while the tropes found in the games are here. Tropes in Shining Live are here.
The Uta no Prince-sama franchise provides examples of:
- Affectionate Nickname: Almost every character has one.
- Otoya is called “Otoyan” by Reiji and “Ikki” by Ren.
- Masato is called “Masa” by Otoya, “Hijirin” by Reiji, “Masayan” by Tomochika, and has been referred as Ma-kun and Ma-chan by other characters.
- Natsuki is called “Nattsun” by Reiji and “Shinomi” by Ren.
- Tokiya is called “Icchi” by Ren and “Tokki” by Reiji.
- Cecil is called “Cessi” by Ren and Reiji.
- Ren is called “Ren-Ren” by Reiji.
- Syo is called “Ochibi-chan” by Ren and “Syotan” by Reiji.
- Reiji is called “Rei-chan” by Otoya, “Rei-chan-senpai” by Natsuki, and “Bukki” by Ren.
- Ranmaru is called “Ran-chan” by Ren, “Ran-Ran” by Reiji, and “Maru-chan-senpai” by Natsuki.
- Ai is called “Aimi” by Ren and “Ai-Ai” by Reiji.
- Camus is called “Myu-chan” by Reiji, “Myu-chan-senpai” by Natsuki, and “Baron” by Ren.
- Tomochika is called “Tomo” or “Tomo-chan” by Haruka and their other classmates.
- Haruka is called "Kohitsuji-chan" ("Little Lamb") by Ren and “Ha-chan” by Van. The guys also call her names like “Lady”, “Honey”, “Princess”, and “My girl”.
- Ringo is called "Rin-chan".
- All There in the Manual: For the fans who've seen the anime but not played the games.
- Always Identical Twins: Syo has one, Kaoru, though he only appears in the games. Also Hayato and Tokiya. Well, not really.
- Always Someone Better: Tokiya is this for Otoya.
- And the other way around: Tokiya has an inferiority complex about Otoya. They end up as friends and also rivals, although Otoya still thinks he's got a lot to learn to catch up with Tokiya, and never hesitates to talk at length about how much he respects him. For Tokiya's part, as much as he grouses about Otoya, in the end he wants to sing together with him.
- In the games, Natsuki was this for Syo since early childhood.
- Apparently, this seems to be the source for Yamato's bitterness towards his older brother Ryuya.
- April Fools' Day:
- In 2014, ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT were turned into deformed gods and heroes on bonus stickers enclosed in a make-believe Japanese snack, Odorokiman, which is a parody of Japanese snack Bikkuriman that comes with a collectible sticker sheet with a deformed character:
- Otoya: Happy Soleil
- Masato: Wisdom Mercury
- Natsuki: Cure Jupiter
- Tokiya: Absolute Luna
- Ren: Sexy Venus
- Syo: Brave Earth
- Cecil: Excellent Uranus
- Reiji: Kotobuking
- Ranmaru: Kurosaki Rockman
- Ai: Ai no Mikaze Tenshi (Love’s Angel Ai)
- Camus: Koori no Saint Camus (The Ice Saint Camus)
- 2015 gives us the game “Edo no Otono-sama” (Edo’s Feudal Lord), a visual novel set in a feudal setting where you get to romance the boys.
- 2016 had the announcement of “Gekidan Shining” (Shining Theatrical Troupe) and a merchandise line of couple shirts, which both turned out to be real.
- 2018 gives up "SHINING QUEST
", a fantasy RPG starring Shining Saotome as the main Hero, while the rest of Saotome Productions (excluding Haruka) are his party members. - In 2021, Saotome Productions advertises a makeup brand featuring all of the boys as crossdressing models.
- In 2014, ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT were turned into deformed gods and heroes on bonus stickers enclosed in a make-believe Japanese snack, Odorokiman, which is a parody of Japanese snack Bikkuriman that comes with a collectible sticker sheet with a deformed character:
- Ascended Extra: The teachers (both got routes on the Sweet Serenade fandisc and All Star) and the seniors (who got routes in All Star)
- Apparently seems to be the case with HE☆VENS, starring prominently in the fourth season and getting official game-style art.
- Canon Foreigner: HE★VENS, the rival band that appears in the anime's second season. They've been added to the games' character lineup, so it's to be expected they'll appear in future games.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: As expected of an otome.
- Character Blog: Official Twitter accounts have been set up for each character.
- Colour-Coded Characters:
- Otoya is red, Masato is blue, Natsuki is yellow, Tokiya is violet, Ren is orange, Syo is pink, and Cecil is lime green.
- Reiji is dark green, Ranmaru is carmine, Ai is indigo and Camus is light blue.
- Color coding for the HE★VENS members correspond to their rival/partner in ST☆RISH: Eiichi is red, Kira is blue, Nagi is yellow, Eiji is violet, Van is orange, Yamato is pink, and Shion is lime green. Though the new members are associated with sky blue (Eiji), cobalt blue (Van), yellow-green (Yamato), and periwinkle (Shion).
- Curtains Match the Window: Masato, Tokiya, Nagi and Van in the anime, and Otoya in general.
- Also Natsuki, Reiji and Ryuuya, but their eye colour is changed in the anime.
- Custom Uniform of Sexy: In the first season Ren wears the Saotome Academy average uniform without the blazer and with his shirt open.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: All of the anime's openings and most of the game’s openings are sung by Tokiya's voice actor Mamoru Miyano, and all of the ending songs are sung by either ST☆RISH, QUARTET NIGHT, or HE★VENS.
- Engrish: The catchphrases during the transition screens in the games. Some examples are "Music more beautiful than kiss" and "You will... kiss on him." Additionally, Shining Saotome speaks fluent Super Engrish while Chewing the Scenery... that is, every time he opens his mouth.
- Fake Twin Gambit: Tokiya does this when entering the Academy in order to try and break away from his Hayato persona, and debut as himself.
- Fun with Acronyms: ST☆RISH actually contains one letter of the main guys' names:Shinomiya NatsukiTokiya IchinoseAijima CecilRen JinguujiIttoki OtoyaSyo KurusuHijirikawa Masato
- Now that they've gotten new members, HEAVENS fits as well.
Hyuga YamatoEiji OotoriAmakusa ShionVan KiryuinEiichi OotoriNagi MikadoSumeragi Kira - Gender Bender: Done in-universe with Music Princess Magical Ichiko in which the six guys have to play girls, with Tokiya getting the brunt of the embarrassment as Magical Girl Ichiko. As Masato tells Syo in an aside: "That right there is a real professional... a real man."
- In the first game, the punishment for the loser class in the volleyball game is crossdressing. In All Star, in Ranmaru's route, he, Masato and Ren pull a play where Masato crossdresses as a woman.
- In the anime, Tokiya crossdresses as a woman to help out Masato practice lines.
- Gratuitous English: Many of the songs include English words and phrases in the lyrics, as par the course for the musical genre.
- SING YOUR SONG
- ARE YOU READY?
- Principal Saotome BURIIZUSU this trope to such MARUBEROOZU EKKUSUTENTOH, that knowing Japanese is not nearly enough to understand him when he speaks, one also needs to be fluent in deciphering his thick, hammy INGURISSHHAH.
- BANANA. IS. PERFECT!
- Image Song:
- Each game featured at least one song for each of the guys.
- In the anime, each episode centered on a guy has a song sung by him. Haruka and the seniors also have their own songs, with Haruka's debuting in the first season and the seniors' in Revolutions.
- Lucky Charms Title: Uta no☆Prince-sama♪, with the anime title being Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 1000%. It's arguably even worse in Japanese, where a っ is randomly thrown in at the end. No wonder the series is generally just referred to as UtaPri.
- ST☆RISH and HE★VENS.
- Magical Realism: The games are filled to the brim with this, as Saotome is capable of stealing the Statue of Liberty and Natsuki is able to split the ground and summon lighting whenever Satsuki appears, not to mention Cecil and Camus' magical powers. The anime tones it down a lot more and follows a rather faithful description of the idol business, except some casual highlights to Cecil's magic and the reactions to ST☆RISH's performances.
- The Quiet One: Kira Sumeragi is the most prominent case. Masato and Tokiya are minor examples.
- Rank Inflation: With the classes, even! While the boys are from S and A classes, it's repeatedly mentioned that S class is special and only for the highest achievers. Note that the students who even attend the school are the top 0.5%. of EVERYONE who applied. Just run that math a little bit. And to top it off, the S-class students get to flaunt it on their uniform with little stars peppered everywhere. The lapels of their shirts, an extra one on the patches, etc. etc.
- Series Mascot: Piyo-chan (a yellow chick adored by Natsuki), Onpu-kun (the cute note Otoya uses in his signature), and Penguin (a penguin that Tokiya drew).
- Seven Is Nana: Haruka Nanami has seven guys after her, at first at least. For extra giggles, Nanami can be interpreted as "seven flavours".
- Stellar Name: Obviously, ST☆RISH and HE★VENS, but Natsuki's solo songs seem to follow this theme, with the exception of "The New World" and "Tears in Love" (though these songs make references to the moonlight). There's also "Polaris" (where Natsuki is also included).
- Super-Deformed: Used in MUSIC 's promo art and menus. The anime also seems to like showing SD versions of the characters.
- Testosterone Poisoning: Every movie Hyuga-sensei stars in, it seems. Syo is a big fan of his and his Image Song hints that he's dreaming of starring in such as well.
- Two-Teacher School: Outside of Hyuga and Ringo we don't see any other teachers, though in the first videogame several of them are mentioned.
