Nanao Yuriko (The Idolm@ster: Million Live!)

And now she's confirmed on Volks's twitter:

 

 

It seems like she's the only announcement and no new updates on Kaede.

I don't really know the character, but the wig looks interesting, and the eyes have such a particular shape... can't wait to see the prototype!

This is very very strange but Nanao is getting a very sudden lottery on July 15th - at Doll Point Akihabara and the website (no other stores are mentioned). She's going to be shown on the 14th, literally the day before. I'm confused too. She's a DDS, anyway.

Untitled by torinomh mh, on Flickr

But with this, now 2B/9S are the only DDs left of the previously announced ones that havent been shown yet. (although that doesnt mean they're next of course lol)

 

Were they just trying to get her release over and done with before December so they can (presumably?) focus on some of the Best Selection winners? Makes me wonder if there will only be a small number made.

Thanks for the extra detail! So she’s a DDS after all.

 

What an odd way to release Yuriko.. Only one day to preview her before getting on with the lottery and all. I was hoping that there would be more time before her release. ><" Yuriko’s really been growing on me since I started playing Million Live’s rhythm game but I probably won’t be able to afford her in time if I end up liking how she looks as a DD...

Volks holds an Akihabara DD Festival every July. It's a smaller-scale event that's just at Akiba (now Dollpoint, of course), typically with a discussion with the DD department, gacha machines, and new releases related to the Afterschool Akihabara Girls storyline.

 

Looks like this year the release will be Million Live Yuriko in addition to, or possibly instead of, Akihabara Girls.

Volks holds an Akihabara DD Festival every July. It's a smaller-scale event that's just at Akiba (now Dollpoint, of course), typically with a discussion with the DD department, gacha machines, and new releases related to the Afterschool Akihabara Girls storyline.

 

Looks like this year the release will be Million Live Yuriko in addition to, or possibly instead of, Akihabara Girls.

The Akihabara girls are one-offs lottery dolls in doll point uniforms - there’s a semi white Moe and a brown Natsuki! You can see them in the Volks News 79 thread.

But has there ever been a licensed DD revealed at DD Festa? Or having sales start the day after being revealed in general?

 

Since I also don’t know much about idolm@ster, is this character relatively unpopular? I’m still trying to get my head around this release. I wonder if having a licensed one at DD Festa will be the norm from now if this is indeed a first.

English info on Nanao:

http://www.volks.co.jp/ddfes/2018/item_en/

 

Website release: July 21st .... Clickwar

 

I wonder about popularity as well. She's from Idolm@ster Million Live, a mobile game that has ended its service. She's not, to my knowledge, in any anime (or the original console games?) so I don't know. I had never heard of her before not that I'm that knowledgable about the franchise, but I have heard of many of the other girls.

Good to have more info - I wonder why they didn’t include that in Volks News. At least the web sale is a week later so people have more than 24 hours to decide if they want her or not... it’s still bizarre to know this much about a doll we haven’t seen.

I hope I don’t like her at all lol.

English info on Nanao:

http://www.volks.co.jp/ddfes/2018/item_en/

 

Website release: July 21st .... Clickwar

 

Oof.. that feel when you already bought your designated "birthday present DD" and then you find out a girl you potentially might want will be released literally the day after. I feel bad but I really hope I won’t feel like I absolutely need her once pictures of her do pop up.

 

I wonder about popularity as well. She's from Idolm@ster Million Live, a mobile game that has ended its service. She's not, to my knowledge, in any anime (or the original console games?) so I don't know. I had never heard of her before not that I'm that knowledgable about the franchise, but I have heard of many of the other girls.

 

Since I also don’t know much about idolm@ster, is this character relatively unpopular? I’m still trying to get my head around this release.

 

Within Million Live, Yuriko is one of the more popular girls, or rather she could definitely be considered one of the "front-liners" of the series who tend to get more exposure than the rest of the girls. I remember a year or two after the original Million Live game was released, a special CD with the top 5 winners of a popularity contest was released and Yuriko was among the winners. Since then she and her seiyuu have done a lot of work for Million Live, in terms of in-game events, CDs, merchandise, live events/concerts, etc. She’s an all-around good girl so I understand why she has a lot of Producers supporting her.

 

She has been in some animated material actually. She’s one of the Million Live girls who were featured in the Idolm@ster movie as backup dancers to the original 13 imas girls, and she was also in the anniversary anime PVs that ML has every other year. Here’s one of them:

 

4th Anniversary Anime PV:

^^^ This features a bit of all of the Million Live girls, though the movie PV that starts it off gives Yuriko(and some others) even more attention.

 

The original Million Live game has been retired, though the series lives on through Million Live: Theater Days which is a rhythm game and more. Yuriko’s first solo song, and some of her group/unit songs have been added to the game. Here are some more videos..

 

Yuriko’s solo:

Some group songs:

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Compared to Cinderella Girls, the Million Live fandom as a whole is still kinda small(especially outside Japan) though its been growing a lot since Theater Days replaced the old game.

That is so random that they haven’t released her sculpt preciew either!!

So it is July for Nanao and outfits and August for Kaede and Matoi, right?

English info on Nanao:

http://www.volks.co.jp/ddfes/2018/item_en/

 

Website release: July 21st .... Clickwar

Oof.. that feel when you already bought your designated "birthday present DD" and then you find out a girl you potentially might want will be released literally the day after. I feel bad but I really hope I won’t feel like I absolutely need her once pictures of her do pop up.

That's kind of what I am thinking. While Kaede is pretty she doesn't appeal to me in a way I want to get her, and who knows here, but Nanao's character design is pretty similar to Chihaya and I love that DD so I think there's a real possibility for that to be the case here.

 

Thanks for the links. She's really cute in the videos, and I really like the song Zettai Break!!

 

I wonder if Volks making her means they're going to start a third Idolm@ster series, and have more Million Live girls?

 

I also wonder with how she is being sold and how Luka's lottery was for the two shipping dates, if Volks is just experimenting with various different ways of releasing dolls to see what works or what customers prefer. Maybe it's just to shake things up and make sure we are awake.

 

Well then...if she is decently popular this is a mystery to me. They say its to commemorate a year of the new Doll Point, but... she and idolm@ster in general don't have anything to do with Doll Point so that just feels like a weird excuse to me lol. It does almost feel like they're trying to get her out of the way to be able to move on to other new releases, like they didnt want to use a Dolpa slot on her...but maybe there is some kind of deeper reasoning.

 

With her coming out while they're presumably simultaneously making all the Jeannes/Sabers/Lukas, as well as the Kaedes and Matois, not to mention whoever is coming in December, it really makes me wonder how many of her its possible to make.

 

Still I would have expected some special version of an Akihabara girl to be the doll released for the new Doll Point anniversary - as in an actual doll release and not a one-off (ie the tan Natsuki). (at least, I think tan Natsuki is a one-off. A lottery D'Coord at any rate and theres usually only one each of those.)

The Akihabara girls are one-offs lottery dolls in doll point uniforms - there’s a semi white Moe and a brown Natsuki! You can see them in the Volks News 79 thread.

Oh, there the AGs are! Thanks. It's interesting that the D'Coord system has provided Volks a means to market new Akihabara Girls stuff at this event without needing to make a full run of a new doll. It wouldn't feel like the Akiba DD Fes without at least something from this line, I daresay.

 

I'd hesitate to call the D'Coords one-offs though since there could be additional instances made in the future, even if the doll (like tan-skin Natsuki) is the first instance made so far. That's one of the main differences between one-offs and coordinate models, where the latter aren't guaranteed to be unique, simply low production run.

 

But has there ever been a licensed DD revealed at DD Festa? Or having sales start the day after being revealed in general?

Not that I can remember, to either one. Granted I didn't do research this time to know for sure, but thinking back at least I can say nothing stands out to me as a DD Fes release that wasn't Akihabara Girls. There have been last-minute reveals previously, but usually with at least a few days to a week to go before sales. Wasn't Ruri Revised Edition kinda like that, where there was confusion about what she was going to be until pretty close to sales day? But in any case I think this might be the first time for a day-before showing.

 

Since I also don’t know much about idolm@ster, is this character relatively unpopular?

Elianti had a good summary of who Yuriko is, which I learned some things from also. To add to that, I would say she's unpopular relative to all the other iM@S characters made into DDs, simply due to her being from the least-known branch of iM@S, Million Live. I didn't know Yuriko at all prior to Elianti's post, despite being an iM@S player since the xbox360 release 10 years ago. But that is because I have never played Million Live, as it's cellphone only, and there's no alternate content like anime for ML to serve as an alternate vehicle for introductions.

 

In fact I've been surprised that any Million Live girl was planned when there are still 765 Pro Allstars and Cinderella Girls that could fill the same release slot instead. But perhaps that is the point, to get DD iM@S Producers to take more notice of Million Live.

Idk, I feel like Volks not displaying Yuriko at the Million Live concert held at the beginning of this month was such a wasted opportunity. I assumed that the wait for her would be a lot longer because there were no news when I expected it. Hyping her beforehand at a venue with a lot of her fans would have made a lot more sense than the random announcement we got instead. I really do wonder how many of her will be made considering all of the other releases Volks has on their plate.

 

Thanks for the links. She's really cute in the videos, and I really like the song Zettai Break!!

 

Zettai x Break!! is really fun to play in-game because of all of the hand signs/movement. xD The song is the opening theme for a live action mahou shoujo series in which Yuriko and the other two girls are the main characters.

 

Hmmm if you liked that song, maybe you’ll also like

? It’s a snippet from a CD series where people voted which idols they’d want to fill certain roles to fit a theme, and drama CDs(with accompanying songs ofc) would be released with the winners. Given Yuriko’s popularity(and how she’s known as a gamer among the girls with LilyKnight as her username) it wasn’t a surprise that she ended up with the hero/lead role for the fantasy rpg-themed CD.

Idk, I feel like Volks not displaying Yuriko at the Million Live concert held at the beginning of this month was such a wasted opportunity. I assumed that the wait for her would be a lot longer because there were no news when I expected it. Hyping her beforehand at a venue with a lot of her fans would have made a lot more sense than the random announcement we got instead. I really do wonder how many of her will be made considering all of the other releases Volks has on their plate.

With her being sold how she is I feel like it's a low number too, which makes the idea of a clickwar even more annoying. With lottery at least everyone gets an equal chance. Clickwar means poor ISPs or slower internet users are at a disadvantage plus from things I've read here Volks' website doesn't maybe deal so well with a lot of simultaneous traffic.

 

Thanks for the links. She's really cute in the videos, and I really like the song Zettai Break!!

 

Zettai x Break!! is really fun to play in-game because of all of the hand signs/movement. xD The song is the opening theme for a live action mahou shoujo series in which Yuriko and the other two girls are the main characters.

 

Hmmm if you liked that song, maybe you’ll also like

? It’s a snippet from a CD series where people voted which idols they’d want to fill certain roles to fit a theme, and drama CDs(with accompanying songs ofc) would be released with the winners. Given Yuriko’s popularity(and how she’s known as a gamer among the girls with LilyKnight as her username) it wasn’t a surprise that she ended up with the hero/lead role for the fantasy rpg-themed CD.

That's a good song too and I found a longer version from some link on the side.

 

I really wish the PS4 games Platinum Stars or Stella Stage had been released in English because I'd love to play them, especially since those got the rhythm game stuff in them instead of only the simulation from the earlier console games.

What’s kind of sad now is that Nanao’s release date pretty much rules out my going for outfits in the Miku Expo tomorrow.

No pictures of her yet >.< I mean in dollfie form.

No pictures of her yet >.< I mean in dollfie form.

 

Apparently not until the day before she releases.

Less than a week now until we get to see her.

Less than a week now until we get to see her.

 

Counting the days.

Incredibly delayed because of Million Live's anniversary event shenanigans that I ended up bowing out of because I just can't keep up with hardcore producers...

 

I really wish the PS4 games Platinum Stars or Stella Stage had been released in English because I'd love to play them, especially since those got the rhythm game stuff in them instead of only the simulation from the earlier console games.

I hear online that the older games like Im@s 2(which is what the anime was based on) or Im@s One For All are recommended more often for people who want to start playing the console games. There are also walkthroughs and more English-translated content for those two games out there too. That being said, the update to the visuals that Platinum Stars/Stella Stage brought to the console games is really nice!

 

I'm horribly biased but I wholeheartedly recommend trying out Million Live Theater Days! It doesn't just include the Million Live girls but all of the original 765pro Allstars too. Besides using your stamina to do lives/rhythm game stuff, you can also use it to do jobs instead, which are communication/simulation-based. Being directly produced by Bandai Namco, it also has some tie ins with the console games. For example, some of the Allstar songs are in the game, and the Stella Stage outfits are available for everyone as DLC. Even Shiika, the main rival in Stella Stage, will be added to the game in some capacity very soon. And of course the Million Live girls themselves are pretty charming in their own right.

 

If you start playing asap and get in any points in for the current 1st Anniversary event before it ends(in less than 5 hours), you'll also get 2 free SSR tickets since Million Live Producers are apparently so passionate that we beat Bandai Namco's community goals for the event twice(we reached it so quickly that Bamco even worried about our health in their announcement, lmao).

 

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Going questionably a bit more on-topic..

 

Because of the game's 1st Anniversary, there's been several Million Live promotions in Akihabara since the end of June so perhaps Yuriko being revealed on the 14th at DD Fes isn't that out of place. Atre, the building right across Doll Point, is decked out Million Live-style until the 16th iirc. It's even acknowledged in the background of in-game jobs. xD I managed to catch Miki with it.

 

 

Also regarding character popularity within 765pro, since this event is basically a free-for-all to get points for your preferred idol with the Top 100 and 1000 producers for each idol getting shiny nameplate/title things, it's pretty easy to tell who are the most popular. This twitter bot updates with the rankings every 15 minutes and basically the girls with the highest numbers at the 1000 threshold are the most competitive and popular. Unsurprisingly Chihaya and Miki are way above everyone else among the Allstars, but amazingly Yuriko actually surpasses both of them. Maybe because this is a ML game, but I'd expect AllstarPs to be participating too. The one who with the most competitive border(Anna Mochizuki, who is also Yuriko's gaming buddy) is so far ahead of everyone else its kinda mind-boggling to me.

 

And for another song MV, here’s Yuriko as center in the event song(with Takane included) >>

 

Only a few more days left..!

Thanks!

 

Volks' Dreamy DD Blog has referred to the THE IDOLM@STER 765 MILLIONSTARS HOTCHPOTCH FESTIV@L!! which maybe is an event occurring at the same time as DD Fes, but with my limited understanding of Japanese I'm not really sure what it is.

HotchPotch was a concert held last year that included practically all of the 765pro seiyuu and was apparently amazing from what I heard from people who went.. More importantly, it was where Volks announced that they will be releasing a Yuriko DD. Basically that blog blurb says that the doll they first announced then will finally be displayed at DD Fes 2018. The rest is just the same stuff we already know about her release(displayed at a DD Talkshow on the 14th, lottery in Dollpoint on the 15th, online sales on the 21st).

Any idea what time this DD Talk Show takes place?

Any idea what time this DD Talk Show takes place?

Wish I knew.

 

DD Fes is from 10:00 to 20:00 07/14 (Japan time) so should be going on now; I can't find any reference to a time for the talk show. I've just been checking the volks_dd twitter account for any updates and so far just got the Kaede and Motoi pics from that.