Hot Singing Anime Boys | An Introduction to Virtual Male Idols Part 1

As with most people, my introduction to the world of Jpop was through anime. While I don’t watch anime as much as I once did, there are a few series I make time for on occasion. I’m also quite into otome games (anime-style romance games for girls). So of course, as a huge male idol fan one of my favourite genres in both of these areas is - you guessed it - male idols. While real male idols are where my heart mostly lies, that doesn’t mean I can’t love 2D ones too! Here’s a little guide I put together of anime and games I enjoy that have a focus on male idols.







Uta no Prince-sama

Love it or hate it, I’m sure most people are familliar with UtaPri. Uta no Prince-sama is a game-turned-anime that’s believed to be largely responsible for the huge boom in male idol-themed anime and games. The story focuses on a girl named Nanami Haruka who becomes the composer of a 7-member group called STRISH. There are 10 UtaPri games to date and the anime series has 4 seasons, all of which are available to watch on Crunchyroll. There is even a mobile rythm game that is set to be released later this year, also with talk of an English version.


Shounen Hollywood

Shounen Hollywood was originally a novel written by Hashiguchi Ikuyo that focuses on a male idol group of the same name. The anime series takes place 15 years after the events of the novel, focusing on a new group who has taken the Shounen Hollywood name. The anime currently has two seasons, a third season was hinted but this seems to have been scrapped. If you’re looking for a series that’s a little bit more realistic to what male idols are actually like rather than the “we can save the world with the power of our music” style of UtaPri and a lot of other idol anime, then you should definitely check out Shounen Hollywood. Shounen Hollywood also has a real life male idol group that performs songs from the series called ZEN THE HOLLYWOOD.


High School Star Musical

From the title of this series, some people mistook this anime for an adaption of the 2006 Disney film, High School Musical but Starmyu is far from it (although that would’ve been awesome and hilarious). Starmyu focuses on a group of 5 boys who struggle to enter the musical department of a school called Ayanagi Academy. Despite being dismissed by everyone else, they are spotted by Otori Itsuki who is one of the members of the Kao Council - the most talented students from the musical department - and he agrees to train them. Starmyu currently has two seasons.


Ensemble Stars!

Ensemble Stars is a card-collecting mobile game with otome game-like elements. You play as a new female student who has transfered to Yumenosaki Academy, a formely all-boys school famous for producing male idol groups. You are put in charge of producing a group who want to rebel against the school’s unit system. The game is currently only available in the Japanese app store, which makes it difficult to play if you aren’t in Japan but it is set to receive an anime adaption this year.


The iDOLM@STER SideM

Similar to Ensemble Stars!, The iDOLM@STER SideM is a card-collecting mobile game. The app focuses on the male idols at the agency 315 Production and the player takes on the role of their producer. You may be familliar with anime and games such as The iDOLM@STER and THE iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls; SideM is the franchise’s first take on an exclusively male idol series. This game is also set to recieve an anime adaption this year.


Are you a fan of any of these series? If so, which one's your favourite? Do you plan to watch the SideM anime series this fall? Let me know in the comments.

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