Hah~ I'm so happy it's already imas 20th! I'll update this entry after the stream :) I have high hopes for it considering how they've been hyping this for an entire year, 19th anni kinda just being a transition for 20th.
In any case. For this anniversary I've participated in "YE@RBOOK", an iDOLM@STER FanZine for the 20th anniversary, featuring ALL of the idols, drawn by a BUNCH of people. If you're interested, go take a look here!
I drew Ken (SideM) and Letora (VA-LIV):)
You know, in 2023, when Saisuta's shutdown was announced I was very angry. I redirected that anger towards va-liv, because I thought they were part of the reason why sideM was getting their games killed. But now, being "blessed" with being in 2025, I can tell they were obviously just killing sideM games to focus on gakumas's launch and moving the team that was working on saisuta on shinysong instead. lol. But I can't help but see them not wanting to do games for sideM anymore as Bandai Namco giving up competing in that sphere; which feels terrible. I mean, sure, sideM is doing alright, but it's going in a direction which imas was never meant for originally! (It's to me, part of the reason why gamiP left just before they announced saisuta's shutdown!)
But I guess that's why "I" must continue. and why imas TOURS even exists! The fact this is, to my knowledge, the only co-ed idol arcade game to ever exist just says a lot. Bandai Namco didn't expect the game to do as well as it did, either! I just hope it shows bamco that they should do that more often ;') I miss poplinks, seriously...
Let's not be gloomy anymore, though! ...But let me just do it, one last time. (in this log atleast lol)
It'll almost be one year since I left Twitter fully. Nowadays I'm just going there to check on some oomfs on priv, and to see the latest imas tweets, but nothing else. I really have enjoyed the transition to Bluesky, even if it comes with the fact 95% of my oomfs aren't active on there. I do miss the talk, but it comes at the perfect time as we didn't talk much (positively) anyway since Saisuta's shutdown. A LOT of the eng fanbase split into different communities, and I can't blame them!
We talk about this often with meri and other oomfs because it's truly saddening to see how less active we all are, only talking whenever live shows/livestreams occur or similar big things. I do miss the constant chatter; even our complaints about Starlit Season lol.
I have posters, keychains, books, physical games, consoles bought solely for it, stickers, drawings solely around iDOLM@STER. It is so much part of my life.
I even wanted to get a sideM tattoo when saisuta was active, but thought "But what if something bad happens to sideM?"
fully blaming this on oomf going "they should just make sideM a live-focused branch tbh" years ago /j
ending the sad thingz for real here. I'm sorry I had to rant in the anni blog post but it just is a bunch of frustration I couldn't release due to being so outcast from the fandom but also in general, knowing no one wants to hear constant complaints. WE ALL AGREE THAT SIDEM SHOULD HAVE A GAME!!! WE KNOW!!!!!
Though, I can't wait for what they're cooking in general. It really feels like the ones managing the crossbranch projects nowadays do atleast consider all of the Producers' feelings. I'll be waiting for more crossbranch things :) (NO, IM NOT TALKING ABOUT YOU SHINYSONG x 765AS COLLAB. YOU WERE MADE BECAUSE SHINYSONG IS FLOPPINGGGGGG)