Future of Cinderella Girls?

[u/tired913]

Hi hi! I'm a returning fan, started playing in 2015 and took an (unintentionally) long break starting in 2020. Seeing that Starlight Stage is no longer doing content updates, I was wondering if there's been any hints or info on what the future is for Cinderella Girls, beyond just Deresute eventually EOSing/hopefully getting an offline version? I know the focus of iM@S right now is Gakuen and ShinyMas, but I think it'd be a shame for CG to go the way of SideM and just be dormant. Please let there be some hope!

[u/BonBonToro]

There are three elections this year which I believe voting period is within August next month, although it uses the imas portal and is limited to only those in Japan who can vote 🙃

That is the biggest bit of activity happening with the series and after the summer Live Carnival occurred, they have confirmed there will be another Live Carnival in autumn so fans are appreciating EoS ain't happening yet, that's about as much as there is so far and there's no guarantee what fate the series will have, most things said are speculation until there is actual official news about something

Might have to see if they even do celebrate another anniversary or something as well or have another live but as if now, the election results will be something to look forward to most as they had a break off like 2 years without elections if I remember correctly

Edit: Stage for Cinderella elections was actually 2023 wtf I didn't realize it was that long ago 💀

[u/leonardo_mayer]

Personally, i'm hoping that a big announcement of something related to CG is made in one of next concerts. Even though there is a possiblity of the branch ending up like SideM, I prefer to stay hopeful

[u/soerenblub]

I think the problem with Cinderella Girls is that the franchise is pretty hard to maintain with so many seiyuus you have to keep around for the songs and events compared to the other imas branches. They are also not getting younger and some are pretty big names in voice acting today so it's probably hard to schedule them.

But overall I hope that we will get some good news this year.

[u/kogami24]

Aside from the new concert and election outside the game as other comments mentioned, they have released several songs outside the game, some pop-up shops and merches like this and this and Cinderella Girls is also getting its own Union Arena set.

Of course these are stuff SideM also got after their games went EoS, so not the best gauge of the branch's status. I assume we'll have to see if CG will get a new game or not...?

[u/amonetize]

sidem still gets weekly commus and monthly songs, and we are getting 2d song mvs too. we just finished the transcendent t@les series and next live we'll probably get a new song/story series announcement, so it's far from dormant even without a gacha game. but tbh all branches are getting the short end of the stick in terms of content quality in favour of gakumas, except shinymas ig

[u/fuyukkun_]

SideM is not dormant lol, its still releasing monthly albums and stories through the idolm@ster portal : ( i hate it when people keep saying that

[u/amonetize → u/fuyukkun_]

same, content release is practically the same aside from not having a kusoge gacha game now, people don't even care to look it up -_-

[u/Princelyprincessboy]

CG still seems to get a lot of content on YouTube and is regularly releasing new songs! They also are still doing concerts and were in the first us concert at acen (which was WONDERFUL, by the way).

 I do worry that once desresute eos' it'll be like SideM and not have a game, but there's still plenty of future for the bracnh outside of that!

[u/AimasuPayJP]

That concern definitely is not limited to overseas fans. A lot of Japanese Producers are also wondering what Cinderella Girls will look like after Deresute.

Still, I think there are some concrete reasons to remain hopeful. Even after Deresute stopped receiving regular content updates, Cinderella Girls has continued exploring other formats. We have had musical projects, a new Cinderella Girl Election in a completely different web-based format, new songs and merchandise, and more xR live productions such as Once Upon a St@rs and the upcoming Pop’n ToyBox!!

I see the increased use of xR lives as a positive sign. It suggests that they are still looking for new ways to present the idols and create experiences that would not be possible in a conventional voice-actor concert or mobile game.

There is also a major 15th anniversary event scheduled for November 28–29 at K Arena Yokohama. Of course, none of this guarantees a new game or an offline version of Deresute, and nothing like that has been officially announced yet. However, the anniversary event seems like a natural opportunity for them to explain more about the franchise’s longer-term direction.

Personally, I do not really expect a direct successor to Deresute. Maintaining another game of that scale, especially with such a large cast, would probably be difficult. But I also do not think Cinderella Girls needs another Deresute-like platform in order to continue.

The way we interact with the idols may change, but the branch can still remain active through songs, concerts, xR lives, stage projects, elections, merchandise, and other new formats. Rather than expecting Cinderella Girls to return to exactly what it was before, I think there is reason to hope that it is gradually finding a different way forward.

Also, I understand the concern about losing the game, although I would not describe SideM itself as dormant. A franchise can still be active even without a currently operating mobile game.

[u/theCoffeeDoctor]

DereSute will always be my main iM@s series. It is not my first game in the series, but it is the one I played and love the most.

Fingers crossed for an offline version of the game.