In fact, while playing I kept thinking of other ways the game could have added even more mechanics, but it’s hard to say how that could work without the game becoming impossible to keep straight. It’s often overwhelming but feels like the only way to do something like this right. You have to manage your group’s fame, their number of fans, the money you bring in and your idols’ wellbeing. Throughout you are managing music releases, entertainment programs for your members, concerts, popularity contests (reminiscent of AKB48’s elections), and business deals, while all the idols have relationships with you and their fellow members. For example, in a mechanic I haven’t touched, you can pursue romantic relationships with the idols under your care, which brings to mind the history of idol producer Akimoto Yasushi marrying one of the members of his first group, Onyanko Club, as well as the grooming/exploitation accusations against Johnny Kitagawa, the late creator of massive boy band empire Johnny’s Entertainment. It can get dark at times, but all in justified, honest ways. Of course I don’t have behind the scenes experience of working on the idol industry, but this truly seems to showcase the depth of the industry. It doesn’t sugarcoat the industry or overemphasize the darker side to be edgy, but does a great job of striking a balance of showing the joys of the industry while also showing the struggles. It’s easy to focus on either the fantasy that idol groups are often trying to promote or to focus only on negatives of the industry, but Idol Manager does both right. Idol Manager gets this industry right, which is really refreshing. I’ve spent a lot of time in that world, following indie performers and the biggest stars of the industry, so this is something I am very comfortable with. The fine folks over at Super GG Radio thought of me for writing this review because I’ve been invested in Japanese idol culture for about the past 15 years or so.
It’s a balancing act and it’s a tough one – while playing this game I feel like I’m constantly just trying to survive. But if you don’t have that push for an income, then you can easily go in the red and creep ever closer to bankruptcy. Do that enough and hey, you have no income. If you choose to do everything to optimize your income, for example, it’s easy for the idols under your care to become worn out (quantified in physical and mental stamina) which can lead to injuries that require a hiatus. It’s a lot to keep in track, and it’s easy to let something go to the wayside while focusing on something else. Once a short tutorial is over, you are let loose – you need to build popularity, release singles, plan concerts, and balance your checkbook while also looking after the wellbeing of the idols in your care. At the start of the game you hire some basic staff, audition some members, and get started on your path to producing an all-female idol group. He’s investing in you to form an idol group from nothing. In Idol Manager you are the titular idol manager, given basic funding and a small office space from a businessman who is implied to have some shady connections and businesses.
This is a stressful industry, and one that is well represented within Idol Manager. Hundreds of idol groups perform at events like the Tokyo Idol Festival every year, and groups come and go. It’s a subculture that has existed since the 60s/70s and since then multiple media empires have formed, with many many idol acts formed and fighting for a place at the top. Idol Manager takes place in the world of Japanese pop idol music, a subgenre all its own within JPop that focuses on manufactured idol singers performing music written for them. It’s that behind the scenes role you take in Idol Manager, the business sim developed by Glitch Pitch and published by PLAYISM, now on Nintendo Switch. However, behind all of that is a lot of work, a lot of planning, and a lot of money.
IDOL MANAGER SWITCH FULL
The world of idol music can be addicting – full of catchy music, intense performances, and performers who seem to be born for the role of idol.
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