2022 TD5th Anniversary Famitsu interview (WakachikoP)

Looking back on Year 5 with the dependable staff!

Once again, we will closing out our special feature with this individual. Nicknamed "WakachikoP" by Producers nationwide, we asked Wakako Hazama about her thoughts on both the past year and the future.


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The Idols' Radiance Brighter, and Closer


- Congratulations on "Mirishita"'s 5th Anniversary.

Hazama: Thank you very much. We're only able to celebrate our 5th Anniversary, without a doubt, because of all the Producers who've supported us, and the development, marketing  and event teams who've worked together with us up until this point. Thus, I'd like to focus mainly on the comments made by our developments team today, who've supported us until the 5th Anniversary.


- Firstly, shall we look back on the past year, which was filled with many challenges?

Hazama: Since we announced the new project "MILLION THEATER SEASON" (below "MTS") and the "Second Hairstyle" last July, we have been able to steadily realize many new challenges. In particular, the event "MILLION THEATER SEASON-@IR!!!!!", which was meant to allow people to experience the game's worldview in a more realistic way, was held very closely to the end of the in-game event, was a large hurdle to overcome. Since they had to work under such a tight schedule, we are extremely grateful to the Live Team, but the cast members who had to take the challenge to learn new songs and dances in such a short time, as well as the development team who livened up the event even more with the drama readings and MR segments. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the Producers who had supported us.


- After 8th Live, you re-opened CD release events, so please tell us some of the good points and challenging points about those.

Hazama: We were only able to re-open these events with the help of everyone at Bandai Namco Music Live. Everyone involved in these events, from ensuring a safe re-opening to schedule adjustments, they solved these issues one by one with the hope that they would once again be able to deliver these Live performances to the Producers. In fact, once the Lives were re-opened, upon seeing the happiness of the Producers, some staff members even shed tears.


- Looking forward to the next one, then! Now, back to the MTS project, please tell us how this project started and what your aims were.

Hazama: This project was proposed by a member of our development team, Kakizawa-san, who is a Development Director at Bandai Namco Studios. Allow me to share Kakizawa-san's comments on the matter.

Kakizawa: In "Mirishita", we place great importance on the feelings that the idols of the Theater are performing and doing activities somewhere in this world. Thus, to make the idols' activities more continuous rather than just isolated events, as well as to create a link with the real world in order to have those feelings felt more strongly, we developed a project that would integrate activities in the application as well as streamed Lives, and to develop both at the same time for the period of the project. By having the idols perform at different regions of Japan for 3 consecutive months, the Producers will be able to feel the themes and stories in the idols' activities, and that they will be able to feel that the idols' activities are being performed in a close proximity to them.


- Alongside MTS, another huge project that was undertaken was the Second Hairstyle, so please share how this project was born and the response after the implementation.

Hazama: The development team had been exploring means to do this for quite some time, and finally were able to successfully implement it. After the implementation, after we release a new card, we get a lot of positive feedback from the Producers who claim that "I feel a new part of the idols' charm". Many Producers have tried predicting the different hairstyles of the idols, and I too share the same enjoyment predicting what kind of hairstyles they would have.

Kakizawa: We had originally planned this in September 2017, right after Mirishita had released, with the intention being to "further convey the charms of the idols". When implementing this project, we wanted to give each Producer's "tantou" idol their Second Hairstyle without having to wait too long, so we decided to adopt the format where each month, there would be 2 gachas with 4 idols per month, along with the Styling Lesson function. These hairstyles are created by our Content Director and our Art Director, who have put in a lot of effort to maximize the charms of the idols.


- What are your intentions regarding the future of Second Hairstyles?

Kakizawa: Once all 52 members get their hairstyle, we have no plans at the moment for a Third Hairstyle, but we are studying and planning future projects for the Producers to enjoy, so please look forward to it.


- In the mean time, many new Event types have been implemented in the game. Please tell us about the response, as well as any challenges you faced.

Hazama: While we were always conscious about how important it was to carefully and thoroughly convey new Event types during livestreams, we were always nervous and excited about how the Producers would react to it. Here, I would like to give a comment from Arai-san, the leader of the "Out-games" part of Bandai Namco Studios, who does his best to pay more attention to the opinions of Producers than anyone else, and reflects that in the new Event.

Arai: Being able to provide a series of new Event types, as well as receiving positive feedback from our survey last September saying how we were willing to take on new challenges, fills me with happiness. On the other hand, since they also needed some time to learn the new rules, as well as the fact that some parts were poorly balanced, we also received many requests for improvement. We take all of these requests into consideration as we continue to adjust the balance, to ensure that the Producers can have a pleasant experience with the Event. Also, we plan to make further improvements to the specifications to make it even better to play, so please look forward to it!


- Apart from Events, the Song Selection UI and other screens' UI have changed quite significantly.

Hazama: For this, I also have a comment from Kakizawa-san.

Kakizawa: As the number of songs increase, the ease of which one would select a song has decreased, which we in the development team saw as a problem. We had received many requests from the Producers, and were considering ways of improving them. However, we were also conflicted on whether changing such a familiar screen would be a good idea. In the end, we created an entirely new screen, and I feel that the Producers have accepted it pretty well.


- We'd like to ask about the 6th year from here. First, please tell us about your feelings and concepts regarding the 5th Anniversary song and costumes.

Hazama: Every time there is a new concept, it is proposed by the Creative Team, which comprises of Art Director Tamiya-san, Content Director Higashi-san and Sound Director Sato-san. I'd like to introduce a comment from Bandai Namco Studios Creative Director, Higashi-san.

Higashi: This time, Tamiya, Sato and I have created a concept message for the 5th Anniversary Content. Basically, "Million Live!" main characteristic is the close friendship and warm atmosphere between the idols, but their radiance as a group is still dependant on how brightly each and every one of them shines individually. As each is a representative idol, the fact that these girls try so hard to be that idol on stage is what we have focused on, and we created the 5th Anniversary song, MV and costumes based on this. It is our hope that with this, you can find a slightly different perspective to see the charms of the idols.


- As for the anime project, there is a goal in sight, a release year of 2023. Would you be able to provide any more comments at this time?

Hazama: During a previous livestream, we read out a message provided by Director (Shinya) Watada. Essentially, with Mirai (Kasuga) in the center, "Million Live!" will depict the process of growth and development of the idols. We thus created the Anime Prologue Image MV "Seven Count", which is meant to act as a forerunner to the anime series. By watching that MV, we hope that you can imagine how Mirai began to yearn to be an idol, and how she came to pursue this path.


- Finally, please share with the Producers your enthusiasm as we head towards the 6th year.

Hazama: As we welcome the 5th Anniversary of "Mirishita", to all the Producers who have supported us thus far, I would like to extend my gratitude. From here on, as "Mirishita" reaches its 5th Anniversary, our aim is to expand the contents of the game but also the Lives and anime as we aim for our next major goal, the 10th Anniversary of "Million Live!" To make the idols closer and more realistic to the Producers already playing the game, as well as to help new Producers fall in love with the idols even further, our team will do its best to work as one to achieve these goals. Please continue to support "The iDOLM@STER Million Live!"!!