Lovely Idol

Lovedol ~Lovely Idol~ (らぶドル) is the title of a Japanese series which focuses on a group of young girls who are striving to become famous Japanese idols.

The entire series has a wide range of media, ranging from written prose to a video game and even an anime adaptation. Lovely Idol first began as a set of illustrated short stories serialized in Enterbrain's Magical Cute magazine. The franchise grew to include radio shows, drama CDs, a Japanese bishōjo game by PrincessSoft, and an anime TV series which began airing in Japan on October 2, 2006.

Plot
The Lovely Idols are a group of young idol singers who have become very popular. Managed by Tomohiro Fujisawa, there have already been two "generations" of performers, with a third about to debut. However, right before the third generation is cued onstage at a concert, Tomohiro learns that their debut has been delayed by the company president. He isn't told why, but is left to figure out for himself what, exactly, the next generation is lacking. While considering what he should do to remedy the situation, he finds a young street musician singing and playing a guitar. Tomohiro may think he's found the answer to his problem, but recruiting her could turn out to be harder than expected.

Characters
The seiyū listed are from the anime adaptation.

Third generation idols

 * Mizuki Sakaki (榊 瑞樹)
 * Mizuki is known as "The Princess of Songs" on the streets, as she often plays on the streets with her guitar. Many famous record companies have asked her to officially record some songs but she turned them all down. When Tomohiro first asked her to become an idol, she strongly refused and said that she only sings for revenge. However, this all changed once when she first sings on stage with the other idols of the third generation, as seen in episode 3 of the anime. Ever since then, she officially became one of the idols in training in the third batch.

A shy girl, she and Mai are the only two in the third batch of Lovedols who had debut experience before. Short but mild tempered girl. She often becomes the subject of jokes when compared to the breast sizes of the other members of the third generation. According to her, she was a child actor for 8 years before joining the third generation. She is also very proud of her beauty. Her given name means "dance" in Japanese. Miu is a slow girl. She often says "nyuu~" at the end of her sentences. Miu is fond of dancing and is very energetic. She has problems imitating the sound of dogs. Her given name means "beautiful feather" in Japanese.
 * Kotoha Kiryū (桐生 琴葉)
 * Mai Nonomiya (野々宮 舞)
 * Miu Nekoya (猫谷 海羽)
 * Hina Hōjō (北条 比奈)
 * Hina is the younger sister of the Chocorat Sisters from the first generation of idols. She often admires her older sisters with pride and joy. Whenever Hina brings up her sisters, she goes on and on about it until someone indicates her doing so. Hina also likes to make pastry, however she is very bad at it. Whenever Hina attempts to make them they are bound to explode(thankfully no one gets hurt),during the last episode where she tried to heat up Miu's miso soup, it exploded. It is possibly hinted that she's very bad with oven-ware.


 * Ruri Fujisawa (藤沢 瑠璃)
 * Ruri is Tomohiro's younger sister who personally asked the president of Sweetfish Productions to join the third batch of idols. A very cheerful girl.

Sweetfish Productions staff

 * Tomohiro Fujisawa (藤沢 智弘)
 * Tomohiro is a man who works as one of the managers in Sweetfish Productions. He is the first manager that all of the idols have had in the past and when the story begins he is currently managing the third batch of idols.


 * President Mariko
 * Mariko is the president of Sweetfish Productions, which is the company that all of the Lovely Idols are affiliated with. She was the sole reason why the third batch had a delay on their debut until Tomohiro could figure out what they were lacking. She tends to have a serious, businesslike personality who only wants the best from her employees.


 * Miki Fujisawa (藤沢 美樹)
 * Tomohiro's and Ruri's older sister who is also a manager. It was because of her Tomohiro got his job as a manager. She is somewhat tomboyish, and tends to attack her brother in a playful sibling way causing Tomohiro to fear her a little. Ruri doesn't seem to have a good relationship with her, as shown she speaks rather coldly to her older sister.

First generation idols

 * Aya Hiwatari (日渡 あや)
 * China Hōjō (北条 知奈) & Mina Hōjō (北条 美奈) (Chocorat Sisters)
 * Yui Arisugawa (有栖川 唯)
 * Ayumi Shindo (進藤 あゆみ)
 * Sayuki Katagiri (片桐 沙有紀)

Second generation idols
The Piccolo sisters have been known to be troublemakers. This can be seen in episode 6 when they invade the apartment of the third batch. They used to live in the apartment the third generation lived in and they know all the secret routes within (as shown in the episode where they took out a map indicating possible secret routes)
 * Tōko Yuki (結城 瞳子)
 * Hibiki Asami (浅見 ひびき) & Shizuku Oji (大路 しずく) (Piccolo Sisters)
 * Yukimi Naruse (成瀬 雪見)
 * Makoto Fujita (藤田 真琴)
 * Rei Nagasawa (長澤 玲)

Media
Lovely Idol was first created as a series of illustrated short stories, and later adapated into radio shows, drama CDs, a video game, and finally a televised anime series.

Illustrated short stories
Lovely Idol was first serialized in Enterbrain's Magical Cute Premium magazine, beginning with the inaugural spring 2001 issue (released April 27, 2001), featuring the story by Kohki Kanoh and character designs/illustrations by Aoi Nishimata. It followed the transition from the quarterly Premium to the monthly Magical Cute magazine on February 27, 2004, where it ran until the 13th volume. Serialization resumed from the 26th issue (released April 25, 2006) to the 37th issue (released March 24, 2007) with the New Lyrics subtitle, and introduced the "third generation" cast of characters. Story writing was credited to Agobaria, and copyright was shared by Enterbrain and Omegavision (parent company of Navel).

Radio shows
A 16-episode Lovely Idol radio show first premiered on Animate TV's Net Radio in 2003. In 2004, Lovely Idol became part of a Magicue show on Radio Kansai that was transitioned to Lantis Net Radio in 2005. A new radio show based on the anime cast began airing on Animate TV's Net Radio in 2006.

Drama CDs
Lantis published four Lovely Idol Drama CDs, beginning in 2003, featuring the first two generations of idols, and a drama CD featuring the third generation was released in 2007. Another six-disc drama CD series was also released in 2007, with each disc telling the same story from the perspective of each of the third-generation characters.

Video game
The Lovely Idol visual novel video game was released on April 28, 2005 on the PlayStation 2 console, and was developed by video game company PrincessSoft.

The player takes the role of Tomohiro, managing the girls' schedules and helping them improve their skills. The player must also talk to the girls about their troubles and go on dates with them. The game could be considered a part of the "raising sim" sub-genre of bishōjo games due to its focus on training the Lovedols.

Anime
The anime adaptation of the series first aired in Japan on October 3, 2006. The TV broadcast consists of 12 episodes, where the 12th episode aired on 19 December 2006. The 13th and final episode was made available as a DVD-exclusive OVA released in Japan on 28 March 2007.

Theme songs

 * Opening: "Koi, Hajime Mashita!" by Sakura Nogawa
 * Ending: "LoveLoveLove no Sei na no yo!" by Lovedol (Sakura Nogawa, Mai Nakahara, Haruko Momoi, Yuko Goto, Minori Chihara & Kanako Sakai)

Insert Songs
"Hateshi no Nai Sora" (果てしのない空) by Sakura Nogawa "HAPPY CLOVER" (sung by all of the 3rd generation girls) "Shiawase Kakumei" (episode 1, during the concert) "Kokoro no Yajirushi" (episode 1, during the concert) "KIIPON! KIIPON!" by Yūko Gotō "Candy (bitter & sweet)" by Minori Chihara