One of the many ways used by the massive media mix franchise that is The iDOLM@STER to announce news is through the use of radio shows with the voice actresses as their personalities. Started with the iDOLM@STER Radio with Imai Asami and Takahashi Chiaki as the personalities in the year 2006, the radio side of this behemoth hasn’t stopped growing. With 5 weekly radios covering the three different franchises (765 Pro, Cinderella Girls & Million Live) and a monthly radio focusing on the crane game and Ichiban Kuji, following the radios is a great way to get up to date with The iDOLM@STER.
In addition to these official radio programs, the various voice actors are also involved in other radio shows, sometimes solo (Imai Asami’s Singer Song Gamer, Uesaka Sumire & Takamori Natsumi’s Lady Go), sometimes in a mixed group (Numakura Manami & Taketatsu Ayana’s Hatsuraji) and other times with girls from the same group but not directly related to iDOLM@STER (Asakura Momo, Amamiya Sora & Natsukawa Shiina’s TRYangle harmony).
【初心者のためのアイマスラジオ】どんなラジオ？編 アイステ!!!:ノーガード殴りあい ラジオdeアイマChu:比較的ほんわか+ζ*'ヮ')ζ アイマスタジオ:マシンガントーク撃ち合い デレラジ:女子会 ミリラジ:打ち上げ ※個人によって感じ方の差があります
— M.W.Night (@Night_I4th) September 23, 2014
Although the official iDOLM@STER radios are all related to the franchise, the atmosphere and feel of each radio depends on the main personalities. Some of them feel like old friends talking to each other nonstop (iM@STUDIO), others have the main personality make up nicknames for the iDOLM@STER related songwriters and composers (The iDOLM@STER Station).
The Radios:
iM@STUDIO
Personalities: Nakamura Eriko (Amami Haruka) & Imai Asami (Kisaragi Chihaya)
Airing Time: Latest episodes are updated every Friday from 22:00 JST
Started as a show for The iDOLM@STER anime related promotions, iM@STUDIO has since transformed into a radio where Eririn and Mingosu talk about the general aspect of The iDOLM@STER, with guests ranging from the Cinderella Girls & Million Live girls to Nishigori Atsushi. Like most of the radio shows, iM@STUDIO is recorded.
The iDOLM@STER STATION!!!
Personalities: Numakura Manami (Ganaha Hibiki), Hara Yumi (Shijou Takane) & Asakura Azumi (Hagiwara Yukiho)
Airing Time: Live (recorded) on Nicovideo on Wednesdays from 22:30 JST.
The successor of the original iDOLM@STER Radio, The iDOLM@STER STATION (Aisute) is spearheaded by Nu, Harami and Azumin. It has a corner that has been around since the iDOLM@STER Radio days known as Utahime Rakuen (歌姫楽園) where the personalities cover songs that may or may not be related to the iM@S. Currently, each personality has their own corners that is alternated weekly, with Harami’s corner being about her trying to explain various IT terms. Previously, they’ve gotten composers and songwriters to guest on this show, having them talk about the songs they wrote while also making up new nicknames for them. A premium subscription is available at 540 yen a month, and subscribers can access the special blog post and bonus episode that accompany the main radio show each week.
An event is coming up next weekend (1 March) and HPT is planning to send flowers for it! This is the second major Aisute event. The first one can now be had at a (relatively) amazing price.
The iDOLM@STER web Radio ~Ichiban Kuji & Crane King Special~
Personalities: Numakura Manami (Ganaha Hibiki)
Airing Time: Once a month.
Focusing on baseball the prizes from Banpresto’s Ichiban Kuji & Craneking crane games, this show has Nunu as the main personality, with different girls guesting each month. Next month will be its final episode.
Dereraji A’s
Personalities: Ohashi Ayaka (Uzuki Shimamura), Fukuhara Ayaka (Shibuya Rin), Yoshimura Haruka (Jougasaki Mika)
Airing Time: Live on Nicovideo every Mondays at 21:30 JST with the Hibiki Radio archive getting updated every Tuesday.
Previously, Dereraji aired live every Wednesday, but since the Cinderella Girls anime aired, they’ve repackaged the anime and the radio on Nicovideo every Monday, with the anime (with complete next episode PV) starting at 21:00 followed immediately by the radio. Notable for actually airing live instead of being recorded like most of the other radio shows. The Nicovideo stream is region locked as its linked to the anime, but the Hibiki station one can be freely listened to from anywhere.
Cinderella Party
Personalities: Hara Sayuri (Honda Mio), Aoki Ruriko (Tada Riina)
Airing Time: Live (recorded) on Nicovideo on Wednesdays from 22:00 JST.
Airs right before Aisute, Cinderella Party (Derepa) can be said to be the Aisute of Cinderella Girls. Putting a bit of extra focus on the music side, Derepa introduces a relevant Cinderella Girls song every week. This show also features Cinderella Girls’ Utahime Rakuen with Meshiya and Ruuri covering random songs. Like its current airmate Aisute, Derepa also has a premium membership, that, among other things, features Meshiya’s comic.
Million Radio
Personalities: Yamazaki Haruka (Kasuga Mirai), Tadokoro Azusa (Mogami Shizuka), Asakura Momo (Hakozaki Serika)
Airing Time: Live on Nicovideo on Thursdays from 21:00 JST
ﾓﾁｮｶﾜｲｲﾈｰ
Million Radio (Miliradi) is the main radio show for Million Live, featuring Pyonkichi, Koroazu and Mocho live every week. Each episode features a drama session while also usually introducing a new Million Live song or two. Starting from the Live The@ter Harmony series, they’ve also been using this show as a teaser for the next in-game story chapter. Notable for featuring a miracle of the universe as one of the main personalities. Similar to Dereraji A’s this show is region locked.
Last year, they packaged live footages from the public recording of this radio on their radio theme song single, with each variation of the single covering a different session of the public recording. Like Aisute and Derepa, a premium subscription is available.
If by now you are dizzy with radio shows and yet still want to check them out, you can keep track of all the air dates from the official iDOLM@STER schedule, as it lists and links to all the active radio shows and streams.
And if you are not dizzy and any of these shows interest you, do check them out! They’re great for killing half an hour or so, and Mocho is amazing. We may do articles related to the non-iDOLM@STER radios with iM@S girls as their personalities in the future, so do come back and check that out!
Do these broadcasts have to be caught live, or do they stay up for a while after airing?
To add on what Basu is saying, most of the radios can be listened to for free within 2 weeks of airing. Some of them are kept longer, others gets re-uploaded officially and you have to be a subscriber. But typically fans will upload the radio episodes and you can probably find them if you look around the usual places.
The ones that airs on Niconama (miliradi, aisute, derepa) can be time shifted while others can be listened to at anytime.
How can I go about paying for a subscription if I live outside of Japan? I assume they won’t take foreign credit cards.
Great question.
In my experience the only cards that work on Nico for radio subscriptions are American Express or a card that supports their Secure 3D implementation with PINs. It used to work with more cards but not lately.