IDOLiSH7 -For those who don't have enough 2-D boybands to follow-

Soon after getting into the Love Live School Idol Festival mobile game I wanted to see if I could find a male idol version of it and there seems to be quite a few. Went with IDOLiSH7 as I was the most familiar with it as the character designs being done by Tanemura Arina has been covered on Anime News Network. Also as it only focuses on two groups (IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER) while some of the other games have more and I knew if I was going to get sucked into a game with media release I would not like to go completely broke with it. Especially since I am not done catching up with Uta no Prince-sama releases as it is.

IDOLiSH7 is a rhythm game not too different from Love Live SIF in that the object is to play rhythm games to collect "cards" that have characters that you can upgrade. Of course the specifics differ quite a bit and I7 is only available for the Japanese versions of the mobile stores and not internationally like LLSIF is. But if you can use iTunes then and are using an Apple device it is as simple as having a iTunes Japan account and just switching back and forth whenever there is an update to download as it will play no matter which account is logged in.

The actual rhythm game is a bit deceptive as it looks like it should be really easy, which on the easy mode it is, but with the speed and special orbs it can be challenging on the higher levels. Especially since the orbs gain speed as they near the rings you are to tap. There are only four ranks for taps, Perfect, Good, Bad and Miss. Both Perfect and Good will count towards your combo score but a Bad or a Miss will break it.

For each play you get experience that goes towards your rank, gold, friend points, sometimes you will get a drop like a common card, and then the members of the team used get their own experience points and bond points that unlock special chats with them.

The story mode is an important part of the game, as there is no anime adaption and the manga only has a single volume out so far. So if you want to learn more about the characters and groups then playing the story is essential. That said there is not much to the story mode than reading/listening to scenes and achieving goals to unlock it at times. Thankfully there are fan translations that can found on the tumblr for the game. (This is actually the best source for game information in English in general.)

Since the game only just launched in July 2015 there is only the one story, which is 20 chapters long. Recently some side stories were added to it and at the end of the first story they have a screen for the second story with two new characters which is set to be released sometime after the current event ends later today.

The cards can be leveled up in several ways. By combining matching cards they go up in rarity from N (Normal) to R (Rare) to SR (Star Rare) then up to SSR (Super Star Rare). Normal though is only for the trainee cards, which are characters that are not featured in the story at all. Rare and above are where the main characters start at, with some starting at the SR level while others are SSR only.

Experience for the cards can be earned two ways, playing the games or by using other cards. The second method costs gold and the higher the level the higher the cost. And each time you rank up a card, like a N to an R, the level of the card goes back to 1. There are no bonuses to leveling up the cards to their max level though so there is little reason to keep trainee cards once you have ranked them up. The main cast cards are worth hanging onto as each has a special attribute that helps you play the rhythm game.

The character gallery not only lets you look at everything you have collected so far but also cards that the support you choose for the game has as their main. The ones you have had are lit up with the ones shadowed are ones that belonged to other players. And each version of the card is displayed so you can see the evolution of them.

One of the options when you are looking at your teams is to view the card in full without any of the added design/text that they usually have. I unfortunately do not have any of the sets to show but there are cards that go together that will create a scene. Like the final card on the right has one that matches one that will show the character Iori is looking annoyed at, Tamaki.


I already have the two CD singles that have been released so far on their way with the next Uta no Prince-sama Shining Theater release and will be adding them to my reviews on one of the off weeks from reviewing another Utapri CD. And I want to see about getting the light novel and manga to see if I cannot get the card codes for those. Or I have fallen for this series and this is how I am going to get through the wait for something new for Utapri. Not like I needed another series to get invested in, but I still got one and I am enjoying the hell out of it.