July 3rd Famitsu Mirishita article

On June 29th, 2018, the smartphone application by Bandai Namco Entertainment, "The iDOLM@STER Million Live! Theater Days" (henceforth Mirishita) celebrated its one-year anniversary since release.

"The iDOLM@STER Million Live!" (henceforth Million Live!) debuted in Mirishita as an Idol Live and Produce game. A game was natural, considering the radio, CD, Live and real events that have come about due to Million Live, and many Producers (iDOLM@STER series Fans) have been very enthusiastic.

To commemorate the 1st Anniversary, from June 29th, in-game events, as well as collaborations with real stores in Akihabara and a Live Talk Event, and more plans have been going on.

This time, I talked to Mirishita Producer, Wakako Hazama, to review the previous year as well as future prospects.


Profile:
Wakako Hazama

Producer of "The iDOLM@STER Million Live! Theater Days". Termed WakachikoP by fans.


"Mirishita" Which Continued to Evolve Without Rest

- Looking back on 1 year of the release of Mirishita, can you please give us your thoughts?

Hazama: "It's already been a year..." is my honest thoughts. Planning and development was already happening before the release, and while the release was June of last year, I still thought "Have we not released yet?"

- Since the users are on a different time axis, it also feels that there's is a lag in time when time flows.

Hazama: I agree. After release, many things were happening in the "765 Pro Live Theater". Still, I feel I was able to welcome in the 1st Anniversary thanks to the support of all of the Producers. In our review video of the 5th Live, we got to put in the thoughts and emotions of all the members of the development team in the last message.

- And in the past year, due to your "preparations" everywhere, you were able to continuously create successful results.

Hazama: After release, I admit it took us a while before we were able to create a cycle of event. To the Producers who got impatient, I would like to sincerely apologize.

- However, once your cycle started, the game started to evolve at a very high pace, right? With the event implementation, as well as the fine changes made to the UI.

Hazama: With regards to the UI, the development team constantly improves the feeling of speed and adjusting according to the reactions of the Producers. Once we update, everyone gets to see said update 3 days later.

- I understand. After each continuous update, the support of the Producers got it into its current state.

Hazama: Thank you very much. By connecting with real Lives via campaigns, we challenged ourselves to make Mirishita feel more realistic every day you play. Some of these were planned from the beginning, while others were planned suddenly due to good timing, and implemented in a hurry. Though, I wanted to be cool and go "Everything was planned from the beginning!" (laughs) There was definitely some trial and error, but thanks to the support of the Producers, I think we can challenge ourselves even more.

- By the way, how close is the current Mirishita to your roadmap?

Hazama: When service began, we weren't very divergent from our roadmap. However, with everyone's voice, we were able to add campaigns and events at any time, and the volume has seen an increase from the beginning.

- To add to that, with the huge success of 5th Live, and the timing of the 1st Anniversary, how was development progressing on the side of the development team with regards to the celebration events?

Hazama: I wanted to celebrate Mirishita's 1st Anniversary with the Producers inside and out of the theater. Due to this, in the event "BRAND★NEW★PERFORM@NCE!!!" we created a "Joint Anniversary Mission" so that every Producer collecting Event Points during the event would earn some amazing rewards. At the same time, I wanted real life collaborations, so we implemented the Akihabara Stamp Rally and the Open Air Livestream.

- In the Livestream the other day (June 30th), the implementation of the 5th Live audio and the surprise news of Shika's introduction was shared.

Hazama: Correct. The Producers seemed to enjoy it, I'm glad.

- Next, I wanted to talk about the new song "UNION!!" What kind of situation were you trying to create with this song?

Hazama: "UNION!!" is a new song to commemorate Mirishita's 1st Anniversary. About half a year ago, the stakeholders held a meeting to discuss "What kind of development would you do for 1st Anniversary, what song will you make, what costume will you make?"

- So it already began late last year.

Hazama: In the meeting, I decided that I wanted to 'express the 3 types (Princess, Fairy, Angel)' and decided on the theme of 'cute, cool, innocent, let's fly out to the new world!" With that in mind, I decided the direction of the costume design and songs.

- What was your first impression of the song "UNION!!" when you first heard it?

Hazama: I remember thinking "I want to hear this at the end of a Live!!" in a venue with a magnificent presence and a wonderful atmosphere. Conversely, I thought with regards to "Brand New Theater!", 'I want hear this at the start of a Live!'



What Future Does Mirishita Aim For?

- Your collaboration with Mercari has already begun, but what kind of circumstance led to this project to begin with?

Hazama: For the 1st Anniversary, I thought, 'I want to create a place where our Producers can interact more'. Since iM@S has a culture of 'business card exchange', I thought that like business cards, we could create more communication by being able to express one's favorite idol and preparing items to exchange.

- It's nice for Producers to be able to feel iM@S in real life. Is there an item that Hazama-san can go "Have a good day with this"?

Hazama: I like to make accessories, but I'd like to see Shiraishi (Tsumugi) and Kasuga (Mirai) hair accessories in the future. I'm a bit ashamed of the girls' perspective but I want the same things the idols wear.

- In the recent Famitsu issue (Weekly Famitsu issue July 12th, released on 28th June), we interviewed Asakura Momo-san (Serika Hakozaki) and Kouri Arisa-san (Kaori Sakuramori), please talk about that a bit.

Hazama: After the event "Platinum Star Tour ~Hanazakari Weekend~", we've been gaining a steady increase in the number of female Producers. I would like to encourage female Producers to participate in this project too.

- With the release of the 1st Anniversary survey results in Famitsu, how are you observing this?

Hazama: In addition to there being more than 2,000 people who answered, I was surprised by the number of Producers with a PLv higher than 150, and LP higher than 765. From these replies, I can tell the Producers are very passionate, and I have a happy feeling in my chest. Thank you very much!

- Any answers left a distinct impression on you?

Hazama: For my own answers, I'd answer "What song feels best to play" with "Hanazakari Weekend" and "Hardest song" with "IMPRESSION→LOCOMOTION!" From the results of the survey, both were ranked high in their respective question, so I'm happy to say that I'm 'one with the Producers'.

- "IMPRESSION→LOCOMOTION!" was the best one (laughs). Which part of "Hanazakari Weekend" do you like the most?

Hazama: I like the natural, high-spirited dance so when I play, I can dance at the same time. (Actually, she fixes the position of her elbows so she can concentrate on playing.)

- In addition, is there anything else you'd like to talk about?

Hazama: With regards to "What's your favorite costume", Mirishita has a lot of costume variations, so there was a large distribution of responses. Personally, I like the color contrast of the Another version of Julia's "Sparking Music!"

- In Mirishita, there is an emphasis on "interactions" with the idols, but I'd like to ask about "What is your favorite commu?"

Hazama: I expected the answers to be regarding Main and Event commus, so I was very surprised when Memorial commus was the most chosen. However, I'd also recommend Memorial commus the most due to it allowing you and the idol to closely interact. For those who have not tried it yet, please give them a look.

- By the way, please tell me about your recommended Memorial commu.

Hazama: My recommendation is "Kaori Sakuramori Memorial Commu 1". 'The responsibility to take care of me... would you please?'  I think it's cute how much Kaori-san trusts the Producer.

- Thank you for your opinion. To change the subject a bit, you, alongside Eri Inagawa (Tamaki Ogami) act as the lecturers in the video series "Mirishita-juku", which helps explain the game in full detail, but with the introduction of Auto-Live, it gives the impression that this is a game good for those poor at rhythm games. What was your intention of adopting these?

Hazama: Some Producers tend to shy away from events due to them being 'poor at rhythm games'. To these people, I wanted to convey the feeling that Mirishita is a game where 'I can choose a course to experience regardless of skill', and 'I can get event rewards regardless of my selected course'. If you are busy, you can always have 'interaction' and 'jobs'. We want people to enjoy Mirishita in their own style.

- Through these measures, I hope that the number of people enjoying Mirishita keeps increasing. By the way, could you tell me a bit about the future of Mirishita?

Hazama: I agree... Regarding you question, I'm afraid I can't share anything now... However, there is some information I'd like to mention next week, and I'd like to do that on Famitsu media, if you don't mind.

- Oh, please, by all means! I'm looking very much forward to what information you have! To conclude, for Mirishita's 1st Anniversary and Million Live!'s next step forward, please give any comments on what you want to aim for next year.

Hazama: For Mirishita's 1st Anniversary, through the various Lives, songs, and campaigns, we hope to convey Million Live!'s charms 'widely' and 'deeply'. In the coming year, the idols who are cute, cool and innocent will fly out into the new world. We hope that during our 2nd Anniversary, we can all feel us flying out and surpassing what we have achieved this year with the team at full power.