A Tribute to the Idolm@ster

When looking at the newest premium booster, I can see the girls of 765 Production, the same girls I came to know in my youth as I listened to “Go My Way!!!” on a game on my Nintendo D.S. as I sat in my room playing games over getting sleep for school the next day. I’ve been very impressed by the designs and callbacks that Bushiroad has been giving to many of these premium boosters that support older series.

I think, first and foremost, my favourite part of this booster is the reprint of various old cards. Many of these cards were beloved and used during another time period, and the fact that the art reflects the same retro art used in the first few Idolm@ster games is icing on top of the cake. Being reprints, this gives access to those cards without having the new players having to scramble through stores or old piles looking for these cards.

On that topic of breathing life into these old series, some of the old combos and cards are returning as they synergize with their new counterparts in this new set. Some of them may be slightly supported such as Chihaya above having a dual combo while others have significant support that you can realistically build an entire deck around like that of the new SMOKY THRILL grouping with Iori. Some of the synergies are shown below. I don’t pick favourites (but I really love Chihaya and Miki).

Lastly, I think one cool hidden feature was that many of the old quirks from the original series has been kept and maintained in this set. Little character quirks have been reused such as Azusa checking for level one or higher cards as some of her older cards have done. Hibiki also checks for her sub-trait, Animal (動物), in some of her cards as another example. In addition, characters have kept their general colour combinations such as yellow and green for Azusa while Hibiki’s colours are red and green. The original series’ booster has members in different colours, but the girls eventually settled usually between two or less in future sets for their colour identities.

Personally, I’ve only really been getting into the Idolm@ster series and its fellow productions in the last two years. My chase began with Shiny Colours when I decided on a whim to purchase my L’Antica deck just because the girls looked cute. I eventually went on to listen to the music and then down the rabbit hole I went. Recently, I’ve been getting into Million Live and purchased my most recent Flower Stand deck (you can read about it here). With this first premium booster being the kickstarter for the premium boosters for the other upcoming Idolm@ster productions, I’m very excited and can’t wait to see what nice synergies and cool prints Bushiroad will be giving these series next.

Wait, I just remembered I own this site. I can geek out all I want and you have no choice but to read further. Currently, I own two Shiny Colours decks (L’Antica and Illumination Stars), three CG decks (two yellow and one red), and a single Million Live deck (Flower Stand). Recently, I bought a Tsumugi SP online. I have to say, she’s so cute. Look at her. She’s so pretty. I can’t wait to pick it up in person. It’s getting mailed to me and should be arriving this week. I do regret the purchase (financially), but I don’t regret getting this card. I bet it’s dazzling. Truth be told, I wanted to get a playset of Kaori signs for her level three finisher. I may consider making another deck sometime with Flower Stand again featuring Kaori’s level one combo. But we’ll have to see some other time. I need a new job first.