YMMV / THE iDOLM@STER: SideM

The iDOLM@STER YMMV index
General | 765 Continuity (2, Million Live!) | Dearly Stars | Cinderella Girls | SideM | Shiny Colors | Xenoglossia

In general:

• Awesome Music: As befitting an im@s series, this franchise does have quite a few fan favorites:
  • Dramatic Stars' "Moon Night no Sei ni Shite" has a catchy beat and a fun premise to go along with its infamous choreography.
  • For S.E.M, you have "Study Equal Magic!" and "Sayonara Summer Holiday". Who knew teachers could be so fun?
  • There's also Asselin BB II's solo song "Waga Konton no Sabbath Marriage", which has very impressive vocals.
• Base-Breaking Character: Kaoru is liked, but he has his critics for his abrasive personality and his overwhelming similarities to the main series' Chihaya.
• Broken Base:
  • Fans are divided over the solidly defined nature of a lot of the series' elements. The fact that the Producer, the Cast Herd nature of most groups, and the idols' lives aside from their backstories and special cards are all pretty much given in the game itself is either a welcome change so adaptations don't have as much guesswork to do, or restricting and leaves a lot less wiggle room for those adaptations to leave their own individual mark. This is especially contentious with the anime and Dramatic Stage manga, which borrow heavily from the game's Magazine stories. Music-wise, a few were disappointed that the music didn't use the Namco composers like the mainline series and Cinderella Girls, but like Million Live the music did eventually grow on people.
  • Much like the case of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc's Chihiro Fujisaki, it's practically impossible within the Western fandom to talk about whether Saki is a cis boy or trans girl without expecting some bickering. It also doesn't help that Saki doesn't mind being referred to as male or female, but gets annoyed by people who expect him to stay within strict behavioral lines of one or the other, and keeps his crossdressing and idol work secret from classmates and family, and that's before considering how Saki's Wholesome Crossdresser schtick ties in to Japanese gender roles and how fans disagree on whether such context translates well to Western ideas of gender.
• Crossover Ship/Theme Pairing: It's not uncommon to see people ship the SideM characters with other idols from the iM@S franchise due to similarities. Unsurprisingly, a lot of this comes from the massive cast of Cinderella Girls:
  • Hideo and Sanae are usually drawn together because they both were policemen before pursuing idolhood, naturally leading people to portray them as working the same unit when showing their past lives. Double the fun since they also share a birthday.
    • Hideo also gets grouped in with sharp-toothed characters very often, such as Akira or Shouko Hoshi. Especially Akira after her debut.
  • Daigo and Tomoe get some fanart due to their implied Yakuza Prince/Princess backgrounds. You will also see Daigo drawn with Ai and Yayoi due to their unrelenting positivity, and the former being mutual friends with Ryo.
  • As a minor gag, Ranko and Kaoru get pictures together due to their voice actors being siblings in real life, and close ones at that. You can also see her with Asselin due to their heavy Chuunibyou themes.
  • Noriko and Haruna for their love of doughnuts.
  • Shingen and Aki Yamato share a military background, so you'll sometimes see them getting along in fanart.
  • Pierre is sometimes paired with Takane due to the latter's frog mascot suit obsession. He's also sometimes paired with Yayoi due to being around the same age, both carrying a frog-themed item, and both being Incorruptible Pure Pureness.
  • Chris Koron and Cinderella Girls Nanami Asari aren't shipped together, but because of their shared interest in ocean life they have a lot of art of them bonding over it.
  • High×Joker draws a lot of comparisons to Shiny Colors' Houkago Climax Girls for also being a 5 man irregularly themed group of teens. A lot of the members also share personality traits as well.
  • The Aoi twins have been paired with Haru Yuuki due to the three both sharing physical features and their love for soccer. This has not gone unnoticed as they were added to THE IDOLM@STER POPLINKS together as new characters, with Haru's voice actress even making art of the trio in celebration.

• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • In the early years, HighxJoker seemed to be the most popular unit among fans, even more popular than the "main" unit Dramatic Stars. In the second fan poll, the whole group even ended up in the top 10! Beit came at a close second and surpassed in the late 2010s.
  • FRAME and S.E.M. are also hugely popular units, especially among guys.
  • As far as individuals go in the SideM cast, Saki is the heavy favorite among doujin circles for his cute looks and personality.
  • Momohito exploded in popularity after GROWING STARS's release due to his sympathetic backstory and his devotion to the Producer.
• Fandom-Specific Plot:
  • While it is canon that Ai and Eri still keep in touch with Ryo, fans like to exaggerate this into both Dearly Stars and F-LAGS being good friends and sometimes performing with each other.
  • Expect to see the Producers of the first im@s anime and Cinderella Girls' anime in leagues with 315 often. And with the anime introducing another male Producer, making an idol group/trio out of all three (original as the "red", CG as the "blue", and SM as the "yellow") comes natural.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Teru is nicknamed "TenTeru" by the Japanese fandom.
  • Kaoru has "Doctor Chihaya" thanks to his standoffish personality and his backstory matching up with hers.
  • Asselin gets the affectionate nickname of "Assmaster" from certain Western fans, particularly on forums.
  • Like the other two Producers before him being named after their seiyuu, the anime's Producer gets dubbed "IshikawaP" due to his seiyuu Kaito Ishikawa voicing him.
  • The in-game Producer is nicknamed "P-chan" thanks to their Ambiguous Gender.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • During the first ST@GE, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka tears up while with fellow Jupiter seiyuu Takuma Terashima and Daichi Kanbara. This had been the first time in a while he'd been on stage as a member of Jupiter, and to be met with so much love and adoration, especially for a role that helped kick off his career, Matsuoka was floored.
  • Ryo finally achieving his dream in becoming a male idol and being loved for who he is, and even inspiring others to become idols. There's also his Candid Shot card where he meets up with Ai and Eri, who showed up to cheer him on. Ryo even being added to the game was also incredibly heartwarming, as he wasn't included at launch and at that point had only been seen as cameos, still crossdressing, making people wonder if his good ending even happened or if he'd ever be producable again. Thankfully, The Bus Came Back.
  • Saki once helps out a shy female idol express her true self when on a photoshoot. Opposite to him, she wants to appear as a cool, princely and masculine idol, but her agency kept marketing her as a cutesy idol. A little after their shoot together, Saki gives her some masculine clothes to encourage her dream— and later, she's able to make a successful debut as a princely idol.
  • Both Yusuke and Kyosuke give the same kind of New Years letters to each other. Very heavy on the twin coordination, but very cute.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Part of SideM's appeal is the idols coming from all different kinds of former jobs, as well as some of the idols being older than expected at late 20s to early 30s—and many of these are the most popular idols, too. In 2022, a male idol franchise, Eternal Boys, pops up focusing on nothing but older than average idols shedding their long-lived former careers...and the youngest of the group is in his 30s.
  • The Nozomira Melody Show Within a Show and its lead being the Ayumu Murase-voiced Kanon is eerily prophetic come the release of Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure and the reveal of Cure Wing, who is also voiced by Murase. He'd also been involved in the franchise too, with him showing up in Go! Princess Pretty Cure some years prior.
  • Teru is often butting heads with the company's resident doctor figure, Kaoru. Six years later, Teru's voice actor Shugo Nakamura would voice a doctor of the opposite temperament in MILGRAM, Shidou Kirisaki.
• Ho Yay: A lot of fans find Natsuki's fixation on Jun to be more than just mere friendship.
• LGBT Fanbase: A hefty amount of gay guys like playing SideM too. They tend to gravitate towards the older characters and units, like S.E.M., as well as muscular characters like Michiru and Seiji. It helps that there's more variety in age and occupation than in other idol games, giving people more options to choose from.
• Moe:
  • Pierre in all media inspires a lot of it with his childlike personality.
  • Hayato has his fans too saying they want to protect him.
  • Shiki due to his optimistic, hyperactive and energetic personality.
  • The Aoi twins from W also counts as well. Their character focus episode in the anime endeared them more to audiences.
  • Ryu's unwavering optimism and cheerfulness in spite of his rotten luck makes him incredibly endearing.
  • Mofumofuen boys have it built into their gimmick.
  • Many Michio fans find his earnestness and more vulnerable moments to be a major point of gap moe when contrasted with his serious personality.
  • The fandom took a real shine to Hideo's kid brother once they saw him in the latter's day off card. His joyous expression and physical resemblance to Hideo made him even more endearing.
• Obvious Beta: Live on St@ge! is usually accused of this, with 3D models that look cheap (especially compared to the more detailed models found in Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage and Million Live! Theater Days) and glitch out occasionally, and a rhythm system that's way less advanced than the other games. There's also a huge lack of voice acting compared to the other mobile games.
• Shipping: Just like its sister series, there is a lot of it. It either goes by the person they're closest to in their group (Teru/Tsubasa, Takeru/Ren), idols with a previous history (Rui/Hokuto), or anything inbetween.
• Testosterone Brigade: Aside from the aforementioned gay audience, almost half the fanbase is male, some coming from the main branch and others coming for the music.
  • Seiji in particular is prime Testosterone Brigade bait, both in universe and out. His fanbase primarily consists of men in both realities, and his very Manly yet approachable image helps make him endearing.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: The rest of the New Idol Discovery Project had candidates that were just as popular as the future members of Legenders, each having their own unique backstories and motivations for becoming idols. They never get elevated to playable, let alone as rival entertainers, and their cameos throughout the franchise remain few and far between.
• Trans Audience Interpretation: A few fans see Saki Mizushima as a closeted trans girl: he was inspired by Ryo Akizuki's gender reveal in THE iDOLM@STER: Dearly Stars to openly start wearing femme clothes, takes on primarily feminine roles while at 315 Production, and is noted to keep his work secret from people he knows. As 315 Pro is shown to accommodate the idols under their care, their attitudes also extend to respecting Saki's identity and choice of style. This, along with the fact that the game never once shows Saki out of costume, leads to the interpretation that Saki is still closeted but on the road to transition.
• Vanilla Protagonist: DRAMATIC STARS has its fans, but compared to the likes of the massively popular FRAME, S.E.M, or even individually as idols instead of a group, they're not many people's number one choices. Their dynamic is quite like other "main" characters as well, giving people incentive to look at the groups who try something different.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Rei and Saki are the biggest offenders of this. Their slender and effeminate appearances make many strangers to the franchise think they're both girls, the latter because he chooses to wear women's clothing as well. Pierre also gets this, but not as much.

The game:

• Accidental Innuendo: Amehiko's day off card set has him shirtless in his SR+, but when he's shown in the game, the UI cuts off just below his waist, making everyone think he's seducing the player in the nude (his expression doesn't help matters). A mere four days later, and the picture is moved up slightly so that people can actually see the underwear underneath.
• Contested Sequel: While the gameplay and full voice acting in GROWING STARS is considered an improvement over LIVE ON ST@GE!!, the lack of 3d models during concerts left a bad impression on some fans.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Live on Stage! officially closed its doors just the day before Jiro Yamashita's birthday in 2021. Two years later, GROWING STARS would announce its End of Service on Suzaku's birthday.
• It's Easy, So It Sucks!: A common complaint about Live on Stage!.
• Fandom Rivalry: With Ensemble Stars! due to the various accusations of the game copying or upstaging SideM.^note The debut of the Stars! unit 2wink and their superficial similarities to W (being a duo unit consisting of orange-haired teenage twin boys with the surname Aoi) caused a stir, as Stars! and 2wink were released after W was, making others think plagarism was at play. Later in 2020, the release of Ensemble Stars!! Music was pushed to March 15, the anniversary of SideM, and they later revealed a shuffle idol unit by the name of Altessimo (similar to SideM's duo unit). When more fan outcry followed, Altessimo was given a slight name change to Artissimo.
• Sailor Earth: Many of the Show Within a Show events get tons of fanart where another 315 member becomes a brand new character in the cast. This happened a lot with the Nozomira Melody event, with many people making their own takes on Magical Boys and their Non Human Sidekicks, because of how popular it was.
• Tainted by the Preview: Initial reception to GROWING STARS was met with a lot of resistance. While LIVE ON ST@GE!! was derided for its extremely simple and laughably easy gameplay, very minimal voice acting, lackluster 3D MVs and models in comparison to the other main branches, GROWING STARS scrapping the 3D models wholesale in favor of the original game's 2D style and Live2D models for game MVs made players skeptical. C.FIRST also met initial backlash, as they return to the more youthful high school aged main groups that main branches had and their designs and theming were derided as closer to Ensemble Stars!! groups than of SideM. Their initial inclusion over members of the New Idol Discovery Project saw some eyebrows raising as well. While 3D music videos for some songs were added, they're all prerendered so you can't customize them to show your hard-earned characters and costumes. Reception of the game and of C.First has warmed up after release, however.
• Ugly Cute: The SideMini chibis have been known as somewhat creepy with their vacant stares and flat coloring. That said, there's still a lot of fanart of them, and fans find them strangely endearing.

The anime:

• Broken Base: Those who watch the series are of two main opinions:
  • One party thinks it's an Even Better Sequel; although more game-centric than other adaptations, Side M is met with positive press due to having a likable and competent Producer, resolving issues that other adaptations reused maturely^note the photoshoot was a non-issue due to rescheduling and the typhoon plot fell back in favor of 315 assisting a Jupiter concert; the drama with the "yellow" character didn't break any bases because of its subject matter and was resolved by the end of the episode, and giving small but noticeable winks to the playerbase. The more playful aspect and toning down of drama elements also make it a more pleasant show to watch.
  • On the other hand, other viewers found the series boring and too safe, since avoiding the dramatic angles of previous series consequently left SideM without much of a plot to go forwards with. Even with the more playful elements, some have said the boys' interactions have less of a punch than the interactions of the girls in other series.
  • And then there were the fans who argued over the inclusion of a female Producer to get the full Distaff Counterpart effect. Those who wanted a female producer argued that the producer-idol dynamic would have a different touch thanks to possible differences in management styles, and finally getting a main producer who fills in the "sisterly" role that fits with the previous producers' "family" roles (Brotherly, Fatherly, and Motherly in the case of this series) while others felt that a female producer might result in the writers putting in a more pronounced romantic angle (similar to the Audience Surrogate-idol dynamics in series like B-Project and Marginal #4) or outright downplaying her involvement to avoid doing so (as in the IDOLiSH7 and Ensemble Stars! adaptations), both styles of which are uncommon in straight iM@S adaptations.
• Continuity Lockout: Even by some game fans' admission, the series seems very much geared towards fans of the original game, having convos and references to it that alienate some newcomers.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In Episode 2, a strong typhoon is approaching Japan, prompting the organization to halt their concert. A few weeks after the initial airing of said episode, a real typhoon approached the aforementioned country with the exact path as the episode predicted.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: All those jokes about wanting this series' Producer to become an idol come back with a CD of all 315 staff getting a song—including the Producer too.