Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Namco Taiko Blog (2021/04/21): Celebrate Idol Production Around the World! The Idolm@ster Series 15th Anniversary Collab



As teased last week on the official Taiko no Tatsujin blog, Taiko no Tatsujin March 2020/Nijiiro ver. will join the ongoing celebration of the 15th anniversary of The Idolm@ster series with a collaboration event.

Being the first event after the international rollout of the 4th-generation arcade, Donders outside of Japan must have been on the edge of their seat for how the event with pan for them. Good(?) news: better late than never!

Event Period: (Japan) 2021/04/28~06/07; (worldwide) 2021/05/11~06/07

Point 1. Special Outfit Petit-charas
The main attraction this time is a line of five Petit-charas, featuring idols from each of the five lines of Idolm@ster media dressed in the 15th-anniversary Starry Futures (スターリー・フューチャーズ) outfits:
  • original: Haruka Amami (天海春香)
  • Cinderella Girls: Uzuki Shimamura (島村卯月)
  • Million Live: Mirai Kasuga (春日未来)
  • SideM: Teru Tendou (天道輝)
  • Shiny Colors: Mano Sakuragi (櫻木真乃)

During the event period, each play that includes at least one Idolm@ster-related track will net you one event-exclusive ticket. Donders can claim one of the five feature Petit-charas on the Donder Hiroba in exchange of five tickets.
 
Point 2. New Track Addition
Speaking of Idolm@ster-related tracks, of course Taiko no Tatsujin has to introduce the 15th Anniversary commemorative track for the occasion:

Title
Nando Demo Waraou
なんどでも笑おう/THE IDOLM@STER FIVE STARS!!!!!
★? ★? ★? ★?

The track will first be added to only Japanese cabinets on 2021/04/28. While it is also slated for a worldwide addition in the future, it is not right now and currently undated. Fret not, as the addition will be permanent (at least until otherwise announced) and can still be played after the event ended.

Point 3. Revived Petit-charas Free-for-all
For Donders who missed the previous Idolm@ster collaborations (like outside-Japan Donders), this event also gives another chance to get the Petit-charas of the thirteen idols of 765 Production.

Special QR codes for this redemption will be released in two batches on the event's Special Page (linked above). Scan the relevant QR code(s) at a 4th-generation Taiko no Tatsujin cabinet while using a Banapassport card to have the Petit-chara(s) granted to your Donder profile:
  • April 28: Haruko Amami (天海春香), Chihaya Kisaragi (如月千早), Hoshii Miki (星井美希), Makoto Kikuchi (菊地真), Takane Shijou (四条貴音), Yayoi Tatatsuki (高槻やよい)
  • May 12: Ritsuko Akizuki (秋月律子), Hibiki Ganaha (我那覇響), Yukiho Hagiwara (萩原雪歩), Ami Futami (双海亜美), Mami Futami (双海真美), Azusa Miura (三浦あずさ), Iori Minase (水瀬伊織)

Point 4. A Worldwide Party with a Caveat
As the "Event Period" we quoted above shows, Donders outside of Japan can also join in on the fun, albeit beginning 2 weeks later from May 11. All of the above-mentioned Petit-charas can be obtained from any locale with running Nijiiro ver. cabinets during the event. That the Donder Hiroba is still only available in Japanese might pose some inconvenience, but should not prove impossible otherwise.

However, the list of ticket-granting tracks on the event's Special Page has provided valuable insight on how the 4th-generation arcade will be operated in this worldwide setting. In particular, two footnotes are used on 12 out of 36 tracks to indicate that they not being available to all locales:

※1 Only playable in Japan, (South) Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia
 エンジェル ドリーム Angel Dream
 Tulip
 あんずのうた Anzu no Uta
 S(mile)ING!
 Never say never
 華蕾夢ミル狂詩曲~魂ノ導~ Tsubomi Yumemiru Rapsodia ~Alma no Michibiki~
 TOKIMEKIエスカレート TOKIMEKI Escalate
 ミツボシ☆☆★ Mitsuboshi☆☆★
 Brand New Theater!
 DRIVE A LIVE

※2 Only playable in Japan
 なんどでも笑おう Nando Demo Waraou
 Spread the Wings!!
 お願い!シンデレラ Onegai! Cinderella
 READY!!

No footnotes - available in all locales
 THE IDOLM@STER
 アイ MUST GO! Ai MUST GO!
 Star!!
 GOIN'!!!
 Shine!!
 Thank You!
 マジで…!? Maji de...!?
 魔法をかけて! Mahou o Kakete!
 GO MY WAY!!
 キラメキラリ Kirame Kirari
 shiny smile
 The world is all one!!
 SMOKY THRILL
 READY!!
 自分REST@RT Jibun REST@RT
 M@STERPIECE
 待ち受けプリンス Machi-uke Prince
 きゅんっ!ヴァンパイアガール Kyun! Vampire Girl
 七彩ボタン Nanairo Button
 Honey Heartbeat ~10 Stars Mix~
 ONLY MY NOTE
 Reason!!
 GLORIOUS RO@D

This hints that Bandai Namco is putting the locales to which they supply 4th-generation Taiko no Tatsujin cabinets into (at least) three categories: Japan, the Gen-3 "greater Asia", and the rest of the world*. We here at Taiko Time will also make note of this when preparing our track lists in the future.
(* including Macao, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, India, the Philippines, Cambodia, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, which Donders can now choose as their "Country/Region" on the Donder Hiroba starting earlier this week)