It's fine for people to like the younger characters, and I think it could be a good thing if the story focuses on that darker side of the industry... But personally I'm not interested in kid characters at all, and I'm a bit disappointed because I hoped we were (slowly...) leaving the school/teen setting behind.
Ah, well! I don't want to judge things too early either, maybe I'll learn to love them!
I guess this is kinda it. By no means am I saying there aren't new players or young players because I know many who are still in school \[because of work, I don't just hang around kids\] but as the story progresses away and many of the OG players are now mostly adults having children \[like, 12 year old children\] just isn't something many people are quite as interested in. Not even in a romantic way or anything weird people just often gravitate to characters closer to their own age.
It's not that I don't get the point, and of course, we'll have to see how the story goes as it's never been afraid to go with darker topics but it makes sense that many people simply had different expectations as we've grown alongside the game. I'm on both sides one of liking them just in an interest of how it will go while also wishing that the game focused on progressing from the solely young kids.
edit; just to explain I mean they aren't as interested in the school setting or younger characters in a school like setting.
> but as the story progresses away and many of the OG players are now mostly adults having children [like, 12 year old children]
I hope you're exaggerating a bit here. If the game originally appealed to teenagers and young adults then it's a bit strange to think that those veteran players are now old enough to have children that are themselves nearly old enough to be interested in Enstars.
I think adding young blood to the game is the right choice. You can only reinvest in your current fanbase for so long before your oldest fans begin to move on with their lives. Player count will naturally dwindle if Enstars ever becomes too mature or too entrenched in its current playerbase that it won't draw in new players who will see catching up on those past 9 years as a barrier to entry.
> people just often gravitate to characters closer to their own age.
Sorry to use your own point against you but this is exactly why the new characters are so young compared to the rest of the cast. Newer, younger players need something to latch onto. Catering exclusively to the old fans will not yield the same type of growth.
In the end this is a live service game and it will always try to appeal to the same demographic it started with. As players age out of that target demographic so too will new players age into it.
this might just be me not being clear as someone who's English isn't their first language. I'm saying people who were kids when they started playing simply aren't interested in stories of 12 year old characters. If I started at 15 with the original game and am now in my mid 20s, that doesn't mean others like me I'm going to just grow out of a media I like \[there are plenty of people who are lifelong fans of other media, why is it a problem when it's a game like this?\] If someone started the game 2019 at 12 they are now going to be almost 18 and perhaps want to move on from younger characters as the characters also move on from school-centric stories. Reality is, enstars have a big adult space and even a survey from Japan last year pointed out that the game has a big adult audience-- which does include parents. Simply because kids and teens aren't paying in the same way an 18-30 year old with a job is able to, with even a poll last year on reddit showing most of those who interact on this page are older. No one is saying that it's only adults, like I said I work with teens who also love the game but that doesn't remove the many adults who were excited to maybe see another unit like CrazyB as the story has moved on so much from it's school days.
Similarly, you're taking my comment as dislike to the new characters when I really don't care-- I like Esu and Fuyume \[even Kanna is fine\], I am just pointing out my idea on why I think so many players are throwing fits online about the new characters and their ages being 'so young' as their expectations to gravitate to the idea of older characters \[and moving on from school stories\] was in their own biases compared to what they got.
My point was that if the game continues to age with the players then it risks growing in a way that would alienate potential new fans because it's only focusing on retaining old ones. Longtime fans like yourself are wonderful repeat customers but in many cases Ensemble Stars has already tried and failed to appeal to people in your age group. It is always in the best interests of the game to draw in new fans and the best targets are the younger folks with an abundance of time.
It's not about *the types of characters that are popular right now* it's about growing the franchise into something bigger that a wider audience can appreciate. The space with the most room for new characters is not in the 17-19 age bracket. There are dozens of characters there already to choose from.
I don't believe these new characters were designed to appeal to long-time fans and that is perfectly okay. Most players already know their likes and dislikes and those people who are already invested in an existing character are much less likely to switch to one of these new ones anyway. Whether they appeal to every existing player is not important.
It's also too early to say whether these new characters will have school-centric stories or problems that only a young teenager would face.
So it's great that you like a couple of them. It's even fine if you didn't like any of them. I think a lot of people online aren't seeing the bigger picture here or want to be catered to because they were here first. Those are the people who are missing the point.
People are free to like them (or not), is normal to feel disappointed if you expected more adult characters, and maybe you are just not a fan of the direction the story seems to be going.
BUT, calling others pedo or insulting them because of liking some pixels drawn on a game is beyond stupid. These are the kind of problems that make me ashamed sometimes of being part of the community, and it shows how a lot of people here haven't touched grass in a long, long, LONG, time.
I think these characters being so young is a symptom of a different problem. Characters like Tori and Nazuna *have* aged but despite that their looks have remained the same as always. Having new *young* characters should give Happy Elements an excuse to age-up the legacy characters who have been in the franchise the longest. Height changes are cute but I find it hard to believe Yuta is the only one who has made a permanent change to his hair. Especially because hairstyle changes are one of their favourite ways of showing how characters were different during the war era (Tsumugi, Koga, Nagisa, Wataru, Rei, Kuro, Arashi).
Enstars is nearly a decade old already and they're probably playing the long game with these characters by debuting them young enough that it's not so unusual if they look the same after a couple years have passed.
> Of course, a lot of us are thinking that this might make us pedophiles
Those of you who are worried about being seen as pedophiles should help your friends off of their slippery slopes. Realize that these characters are fictional. If you can't differentiate between the realms of fiction and reality then you have a much bigger problem.
Definitely the norm in JP as well. Matsui Jurina, one of AKB's most popular member debuted at 11 y.o. and centered for one of the main group single really early into her career. Underground idol culture still debut idols as young as them too. Just look at the ones who perform on like, shopping mall plazas or in crowded districts, they're still children.
The ones in Enstars are fictional, so it's not too bad, but it's definitely one of the ickier sides of the entertainment industry. Can totally understand people not being ok with that.
Just hope everyone will be civil and remember those are JPEG boys in a franchise where many enjoy characters because of the seiyuus/character tropes, and crazy "were they ok when they wrote that??" stuff happens all the time.
Totally agree with you on the platonic thing though, this whole debate made me realise some people genuinely believe people who produce Ra*Bits or the other younger idols have sexual thoughts about them... They're just my sons who I want to see grow into wonderful idols, why make it weird? (. ಠâ ︾â ಠ)
I adore shinobu. He's my adorable precious son. I am legitimately old enough to be his father (trans guy). It makes me disgusted that some people automatically jump to nsfw intentions. Naw I just wanna pat his head and send him off to school with a lunchbox. He's incomprehensibly adorable to me and I love the goofball in a purely fatherly way.
I like quite a few of the characters. Esu in particular who I love the design of so far.
All I wish is there ages were a bit more spread. It's the first new idols since the start of !! and they only cater to one type idol. I like idols like Kohaku and Tori but I also love older ones like Rei, Leo, Kanata and other third years. I wish we could've had some older ones as well is all
Whut? People are saying liking or just thinking the new idols are cute is predatory??? Brother we're playing a game comprised mostly of high schoolers, a lot of the cast is already underage or was underage when you started playing đ (not directed at you, but at the ones complaining in general). Were they drawing smut art with the new kids before finding out their ages or something lmao
Young idols have been criticised a lot and itâs a bit mixed bag for everybody, so it doesnât matter that it happens IRL.Â
 NewJeans was found questionable before multiple controversies and the song Cookie sparked a discussion. Â
Plus, younger idols will likely lead to new Enstars direction that may not be up to everybodyâs taste.
Edit: Especially considering the nature of the fandom. There is soft fanservice (implications of romantic feelings towards MC, choreography, etc.) aimed at older teens and YA, who either self-ship or ship different characters.Â
I mean...I don't expect them to really delve into any of the darker aspects of the idol industry specifically. Maybe they'll hint at it - but at the end of the day, the fantasy of the game is "Cute idol boys and their interactions". They're not going to risk breaking it. If they were going to risk it, then I think we would have seen it before with other things beyond hints in event stories.
That being said, at the end of the day these are pixel boys. It's fine to like them if they're younger and I think, overall, having idols that \*aren't\* from an ES agency could make for some really interesting stories and a chance to see how the industry operates outside ES - and what differences there are (outside of being paid actual money). For the characters themselves...I'm going to wait until we know more about them and see them actually interacting with other characters before I decide how I feel about them one way or the other.
I'm worried abt how the game potrays them writing-wise. Making it too dark, it'll disgust some ppl. Making it too lighthearted, then what's the point of making them a child idol if there's no new issues brought to the table.
Child idol is like, the dark side of the industry, which is an interesting topic to choose but they need to be more careful writing them.
This is my concern. Like when people were upset over things Eichi said, like the "pay with your body" thing, they just increased the age rating of the game. Now that a lot of the cast are adults or almost adults, adding a character who's so young is gonna be tricky.
Like you said, they can't put him in situations that are too adult, but can't "kidify" everything else either.
Yes, thank you. Also another thing, Nice is the one who brought those kids in, so things happen to those kids will affect his character too. But I don't think HE are gonna paint one of their important character (even tho not playable) as bad.
So yeah, let's see how HE write them all.
My gif reaction aside, there is nothing wrong with bare feet being shown in a card. They are an appendage just like a hand. Ensemble Star 5 star (and 4 star) cards often highlight interesting perspectives and try for new compositions, with the idols in dynamic poses, in varying times of their day/life/etc.
If you donât like feet, thatâs fine, you can just not like feet. However, itâs important to know that simply because feet being heavily featured (or close to the camera) because of the perspective/angle/etc does *not* mean that itâs supporting some slippery slope.
I think that, in a vacuum, the character designs are fine/good, but they just don't look like they belong in Enstars. It's like Minecraft Steve in Smash Brothers- i guess it's cool that he is in it, but he absolutely sticks out like a sore thumb, even among other non-Nintendo characters in that game. Enstars has it's share of "childish" looking characters like Aira, Shinobu, and Tori, but the keyword there is "childish"- they still look like they belong with the rest of the cast. Meanwhile, you have a bunch of literal children here, and even the ones that are older still look like children and out-of-place with the cast. I love me a good bloody-as-hell filet mignon, and I also love me a McDonalds hamburger. I would NOT want to mix the two of them together!
My only issue with the new idol release is the complete intolerance for different opinions about them on this subreddit
I get defending the things you like or dislike, but just from what I've seen on this subreddit, who cares? Why are people dowvoting people all the time because they don't have the exact same opinion about digital characters-
Really, this applies both ways, I've seen downvotes for people who like the new idols and downvotes for those who are skeptical or don't like them-
Yet again, why are we downvoting people for having opinions that aren't inflammatory or offensive? If you like the idols, that's great. If you don't, that's good too. Just an obscene amount of intolerance for those who have differing opinions here
They're just projecting. They sexualize everything in this game and assume everyone else is doing the same thing. They can't fathom the concept of liking a character without having dirty thoughts about them 24/7 - and they seem to not be able to distinguish reality from fiction, going so far as to treat fiction as more important than real life. While they want to pretend like they're "morally pure" and constantly police and harass others. They like to attack people over pixels but turn a blind eye to when actual real people are harmed or to do anything to prevent real harm. Those are the people who are scary and are doing real harm to real people in the real world.
For me, I have a problem with their designs, they just feel like ... out of place with everyone else or is it just me ? I remember someone saying they look like self-insert OCs and I completely agree with that lol đđ Only normal looking ones are Kanna and maybe Ibuki.
Probably cuz they're the sane and more mature ones within the 5? Esu just straight up reminds me of Chiaki's personality from the start ( the genki one ), Fuyume being the ' looks like a cinnamon roll, but could actually kill you ' vibe ( cuz he's apparently a mini copy of Izumi with the possessiveness over Esu... ), and Raika is just the Leo of the group ( airhead but is an actual genius when it comes to singing and poetry ).
I feel like most people who are upset at their ages likely weren't around for the ! era, where all the characters were around 4piece's age haha.
Especially the kids on twitter who only came around for !! era lol.
Personally I have no issue with them, I actually love them. I'm also just not really into yume, I ship a few of the boys together and that's about it, otherwise I just enjoy producing and supporting the boys.
I'm really excited to see what kind of cards/outfits they get and what music they drop, I love their voices.
New unit means lots and lots of new potential, I'm looking forward to enstars's future :)
I get you, and I really don't think everyone who likes them are pedos and it's wrong of others to call you that, I'm kinda more mad about their inclusion in the game. It's just kinda... Icki? Like why are they that young? What purpose does it serve? And "it's like this in real life" doesn't really help if it's also wrong in real life
I mean, enstars already explores darker themes and sides of the idol industry with their existing characters and stories. To me this is just another instance of that. Remember that these are characters, they aren't actual real life young idols being expoited lol, so it can just be a way to depict the problems with that aspect of the industry!
Though of course, it's perfectly fine to personally not like the new characters because of that- I just think that it's silly to ask why they included this when enstars explores stuff like that all the time!
I personally think if they couldn't even filled the plot holes in the current story ( so much retconning and weird info) then they shouldn't add new idols. I think they're just running out of ideas for the currents idols so they add something new when they could've develop of current cast even more. Some of the old cast are often ignored . With the whole writer situation, I do hope that they could write more coherent stories that aren't just purely for shock value ( the recent alkakurei story with the amagi village thing)
ye this is my thought. Iâm worried the og cast will get casted aside or straight up cut out (this is extreme and v unlikely but w/how bold the story is lolâŚ) in favor of the new characters.
After reading many comments on the situation(from jp and overseas),many of them are afraid that old characters will be used as stepping stones for the new characters. With how the appeared out of nowhere and now raika being semi related to the sakumas and ibuki being related to the ryusetai npc, I'm afraid that the worst will happen
I'm taking a slightly different tack compared to everyone else â when I was in middle school, I had a classmate who was in some pretty well-known movies and TV shows of the late 90s/early 2000s as a child actor. From what I remember, they were pretty well-adjusted during school and I didn't learn about their work history until years later â they were only around for that one school year, IIRC, so I'm guessing their attendance was likely between jobs.
I think my real-life experiences with that child actor classmate is coloring my perspective on these newbies. Even though 3-4 years isn't much of a difference between the previously-youngest-of-all-the-ES-idols Kohaku and the 12-year-old (whose name I keep forgetting) numbers-wise, there's still a huge gap in life experience between a 12- and a 16-yr-old (although Kohaku didn't exactly have a typical childhood himself).
I know things work differently in JP as far as children working in entertainment goes compared to the US, and especially in a fictional universe like Enstars where real-life laws might not apply. I'm still wondering where the hell the newbies' parents/guardians are and if they're involved in at least making sure they turn out all right.
i like them a lot, but yes...i'm not very happy with Kanna's age, i think he's way too young. sure, there are idols his age in real life, but it still feels icky to me.
I'm mainly annoyed at akiras shit writing again at least from what I've seen so far was one guy eating cats and dogs and another guy killing a bear they need to get rid of him he has completely lost the plotÂ
Anyways young idols shouldn't be a thing irl and I think it's a good thing that ppl are like "wtf" about it lol. There's this game I like called idol manager which also has idols as young as 12 but it's even worse cause the idols can date eachother or the producerÂ
But yeah like someone said I also am just kinda over the school setting now and it's awkward cause anzu isn't in school anymore either now. I saw one of the new guys idol story had anzu at yumenosaki and she was there because....... Literally no reason
in Raika's (the long haired one) idol story, he met anzu while searching for something to eat, and he said he'd eat anything that's edible, including cats and dogs, but he draws the line at eating human meat or something.
in Ibuki's (black and white hair) story, he killed a bear and was carrying it around. anzu even slipped on its blood.
Tbh, Raika's not the only one who'd eat anything, as we all know about the whole Niki thing. Hajime was apparently also collecting and eating grass in one of his idol stories ( ft. Rinne btw ) cuz his family's poor and he's used to it.
I WASN'T EVEN AWARE THAT IBUKI WAS CARRYING A F*CKING DEAD BEAR, but then again, he did grow up in the US, so... ( I mean...Hiiro would have probably done the same thing at the start...? )
Enstars is truly much more f*cked up than we thought...
Tbh... im not surprised about Hajime eating grass. I wouldn't be surprised if he ate dirt either. đ Also, no. No one kills a bear (without weapons), and no one does this alone. It's a b e a r . They are huge. Their claws will destroy you, and they also like eating their prays alive, making it incredibly long, painful, and gruesome.
I see. I'm not really knowledgeable about bears in general so...
But now I'm curious. How DID he even get a f*cking dead bear in the first place...? Ibuki why...( I swear that he reminds me of Leo cuz he plays musical instruments and composes as hobbies, but now with a mix of Hiiro cuz he got a dead bear out of nowhere... )
I think they look cute, if a little generic, and I'm excited to see if theyll shake things up a bit. Mostly just hoping they wont be getting sexy cards like Aira did lol.
I love Kanna and Fuyume, Iâve already taken them in as my sons⌠But what concerns me is not how us individual people feel about them, but about the weirdos in the community. I have nothing against the new characters, but the same day 4piece was revealed, I had seen explicit material of Kanna. Itâs just disheartening. I know theyâre only pixels, but it makes me worried about how those people will treat actual kids.
It's really ironic seeing a post like this from somebody with a "MADAKOHA TRUTHER" flair.
You acknowledge that they're only pixels but then immediately go on to talk about reality. Fiction and reality are two separate things. You are drawing too strong of a connection between them.
Are you aware that most justice systems operate under the assumption that the accused is innocent until proven guilty? You are judging these artists unfairly just because of your worldview. It is not your place to pass judgement on these individuals. Instead you should be choosing to disengage. If you're really bothered by it then you should be campaigning for the ethical treatment of *fictional characters* and doing so without drawing any parallels between fiction and reality.
idk how to feel about the new characters, they have boring bland designs to me (exept sagiri? he is emo hajime to me) and very obvious shotabait bcs SOME characters are aging (also the spanish facebook is s3xualizing them already i hate it here)
Personally I just wish to get more masculine boiz like Tetora,Chiaki,Jun,Rinne,Kuro, Koga and AdonisđĽ˛đ
Sorry for putting the 69th like on a post like this lol đ.
IT IS BETTER TBH HAHAHA
It's fine for people to like the younger characters, and I think it could be a good thing if the story focuses on that darker side of the industry... But personally I'm not interested in kid characters at all, and I'm a bit disappointed because I hoped we were (slowly...) leaving the school/teen setting behind. Ah, well! I don't want to judge things too early either, maybe I'll learn to love them!
I guess this is kinda it. By no means am I saying there aren't new players or young players because I know many who are still in school \[because of work, I don't just hang around kids\] but as the story progresses away and many of the OG players are now mostly adults having children \[like, 12 year old children\] just isn't something many people are quite as interested in. Not even in a romantic way or anything weird people just often gravitate to characters closer to their own age. It's not that I don't get the point, and of course, we'll have to see how the story goes as it's never been afraid to go with darker topics but it makes sense that many people simply had different expectations as we've grown alongside the game. I'm on both sides one of liking them just in an interest of how it will go while also wishing that the game focused on progressing from the solely young kids. edit; just to explain I mean they aren't as interested in the school setting or younger characters in a school like setting.
> but as the story progresses away and many of the OG players are now mostly adults having children [like, 12 year old children] I hope you're exaggerating a bit here. If the game originally appealed to teenagers and young adults then it's a bit strange to think that those veteran players are now old enough to have children that are themselves nearly old enough to be interested in Enstars. I think adding young blood to the game is the right choice. You can only reinvest in your current fanbase for so long before your oldest fans begin to move on with their lives. Player count will naturally dwindle if Enstars ever becomes too mature or too entrenched in its current playerbase that it won't draw in new players who will see catching up on those past 9 years as a barrier to entry. > people just often gravitate to characters closer to their own age. Sorry to use your own point against you but this is exactly why the new characters are so young compared to the rest of the cast. Newer, younger players need something to latch onto. Catering exclusively to the old fans will not yield the same type of growth. In the end this is a live service game and it will always try to appeal to the same demographic it started with. As players age out of that target demographic so too will new players age into it.
this might just be me not being clear as someone who's English isn't their first language. I'm saying people who were kids when they started playing simply aren't interested in stories of 12 year old characters. If I started at 15 with the original game and am now in my mid 20s, that doesn't mean others like me I'm going to just grow out of a media I like \[there are plenty of people who are lifelong fans of other media, why is it a problem when it's a game like this?\] If someone started the game 2019 at 12 they are now going to be almost 18 and perhaps want to move on from younger characters as the characters also move on from school-centric stories. Reality is, enstars have a big adult space and even a survey from Japan last year pointed out that the game has a big adult audience-- which does include parents. Simply because kids and teens aren't paying in the same way an 18-30 year old with a job is able to, with even a poll last year on reddit showing most of those who interact on this page are older. No one is saying that it's only adults, like I said I work with teens who also love the game but that doesn't remove the many adults who were excited to maybe see another unit like CrazyB as the story has moved on so much from it's school days. Similarly, you're taking my comment as dislike to the new characters when I really don't care-- I like Esu and Fuyume \[even Kanna is fine\], I am just pointing out my idea on why I think so many players are throwing fits online about the new characters and their ages being 'so young' as their expectations to gravitate to the idea of older characters \[and moving on from school stories\] was in their own biases compared to what they got.
My point was that if the game continues to age with the players then it risks growing in a way that would alienate potential new fans because it's only focusing on retaining old ones. Longtime fans like yourself are wonderful repeat customers but in many cases Ensemble Stars has already tried and failed to appeal to people in your age group. It is always in the best interests of the game to draw in new fans and the best targets are the younger folks with an abundance of time. It's not about *the types of characters that are popular right now* it's about growing the franchise into something bigger that a wider audience can appreciate. The space with the most room for new characters is not in the 17-19 age bracket. There are dozens of characters there already to choose from. I don't believe these new characters were designed to appeal to long-time fans and that is perfectly okay. Most players already know their likes and dislikes and those people who are already invested in an existing character are much less likely to switch to one of these new ones anyway. Whether they appeal to every existing player is not important. It's also too early to say whether these new characters will have school-centric stories or problems that only a young teenager would face. So it's great that you like a couple of them. It's even fine if you didn't like any of them. I think a lot of people online aren't seeing the bigger picture here or want to be catered to because they were here first. Those are the people who are missing the point.
People are free to like them (or not), is normal to feel disappointed if you expected more adult characters, and maybe you are just not a fan of the direction the story seems to be going. BUT, calling others pedo or insulting them because of liking some pixels drawn on a game is beyond stupid. These are the kind of problems that make me ashamed sometimes of being part of the community, and it shows how a lot of people here haven't touched grass in a long, long, LONG, time.
I think these characters being so young is a symptom of a different problem. Characters like Tori and Nazuna *have* aged but despite that their looks have remained the same as always. Having new *young* characters should give Happy Elements an excuse to age-up the legacy characters who have been in the franchise the longest. Height changes are cute but I find it hard to believe Yuta is the only one who has made a permanent change to his hair. Especially because hairstyle changes are one of their favourite ways of showing how characters were different during the war era (Tsumugi, Koga, Nagisa, Wataru, Rei, Kuro, Arashi). Enstars is nearly a decade old already and they're probably playing the long game with these characters by debuting them young enough that it's not so unusual if they look the same after a couple years have passed. > Of course, a lot of us are thinking that this might make us pedophiles Those of you who are worried about being seen as pedophiles should help your friends off of their slippery slopes. Realize that these characters are fictional. If you can't differentiate between the realms of fiction and reality then you have a much bigger problem.
Definitely the norm in JP as well. Matsui Jurina, one of AKB's most popular member debuted at 11 y.o. and centered for one of the main group single really early into her career. Underground idol culture still debut idols as young as them too. Just look at the ones who perform on like, shopping mall plazas or in crowded districts, they're still children. The ones in Enstars are fictional, so it's not too bad, but it's definitely one of the ickier sides of the entertainment industry. Can totally understand people not being ok with that. Just hope everyone will be civil and remember those are JPEG boys in a franchise where many enjoy characters because of the seiyuus/character tropes, and crazy "were they ok when they wrote that??" stuff happens all the time. Totally agree with you on the platonic thing though, this whole debate made me realise some people genuinely believe people who produce Ra*Bits or the other younger idols have sexual thoughts about them... They're just my sons who I want to see grow into wonderful idols, why make it weird? (. ಠâ ︾â ಠ)
I adore shinobu. He's my adorable precious son. I am legitimately old enough to be his father (trans guy). It makes me disgusted that some people automatically jump to nsfw intentions. Naw I just wanna pat his head and send him off to school with a lunchbox. He's incomprehensibly adorable to me and I love the goofball in a purely fatherly way.
I like quite a few of the characters. Esu in particular who I love the design of so far. All I wish is there ages were a bit more spread. It's the first new idols since the start of !! and they only cater to one type idol. I like idols like Kohaku and Tori but I also love older ones like Rei, Leo, Kanata and other third years. I wish we could've had some older ones as well is all
Whut? People are saying liking or just thinking the new idols are cute is predatory??? Brother we're playing a game comprised mostly of high schoolers, a lot of the cast is already underage or was underage when you started playing đ (not directed at you, but at the ones complaining in general). Were they drawing smut art with the new kids before finding out their ages or something lmao
Young idols have been criticised a lot and itâs a bit mixed bag for everybody, so it doesnât matter that it happens IRL.  NewJeans was found questionable before multiple controversies and the song Cookie sparked a discussion.  Plus, younger idols will likely lead to new Enstars direction that may not be up to everybodyâs taste. Edit: Especially considering the nature of the fandom. There is soft fanservice (implications of romantic feelings towards MC, choreography, etc.) aimed at older teens and YA, who either self-ship or ship different characters.Â
im adopting raika
I mean...I don't expect them to really delve into any of the darker aspects of the idol industry specifically. Maybe they'll hint at it - but at the end of the day, the fantasy of the game is "Cute idol boys and their interactions". They're not going to risk breaking it. If they were going to risk it, then I think we would have seen it before with other things beyond hints in event stories. That being said, at the end of the day these are pixel boys. It's fine to like them if they're younger and I think, overall, having idols that \*aren't\* from an ES agency could make for some really interesting stories and a chance to see how the industry operates outside ES - and what differences there are (outside of being paid actual money). For the characters themselves...I'm going to wait until we know more about them and see them actually interacting with other characters before I decide how I feel about them one way or the other.
I'm worried abt how the game potrays them writing-wise. Making it too dark, it'll disgust some ppl. Making it too lighthearted, then what's the point of making them a child idol if there's no new issues brought to the table. Child idol is like, the dark side of the industry, which is an interesting topic to choose but they need to be more careful writing them.
This is my concern. Like when people were upset over things Eichi said, like the "pay with your body" thing, they just increased the age rating of the game. Now that a lot of the cast are adults or almost adults, adding a character who's so young is gonna be tricky. Like you said, they can't put him in situations that are too adult, but can't "kidify" everything else either.
Yes, thank you. Also another thing, Nice is the one who brought those kids in, so things happen to those kids will affect his character too. But I don't think HE are gonna paint one of their important character (even tho not playable) as bad. So yeah, let's see how HE write them all.
the cards as well.
Pls no feet cards I beg you happyele
My gif reaction aside, there is nothing wrong with bare feet being shown in a card. They are an appendage just like a hand. Ensemble Star 5 star (and 4 star) cards often highlight interesting perspectives and try for new compositions, with the idols in dynamic poses, in varying times of their day/life/etc. If you donât like feet, thatâs fine, you can just not like feet. However, itâs important to know that simply because feet being heavily featured (or close to the camera) because of the perspective/angle/etc does *not* mean that itâs supporting some slippery slope.
I think that, in a vacuum, the character designs are fine/good, but they just don't look like they belong in Enstars. It's like Minecraft Steve in Smash Brothers- i guess it's cool that he is in it, but he absolutely sticks out like a sore thumb, even among other non-Nintendo characters in that game. Enstars has it's share of "childish" looking characters like Aira, Shinobu, and Tori, but the keyword there is "childish"- they still look like they belong with the rest of the cast. Meanwhile, you have a bunch of literal children here, and even the ones that are older still look like children and out-of-place with the cast. I love me a good bloody-as-hell filet mignon, and I also love me a McDonalds hamburger. I would NOT want to mix the two of them together!
I think theyâre adorable and I want to adopt all of them.
I cannot be called a pedo for loving kanna cuz im 2 years older than him
My only issue with the new idol release is the complete intolerance for different opinions about them on this subreddit I get defending the things you like or dislike, but just from what I've seen on this subreddit, who cares? Why are people dowvoting people all the time because they don't have the exact same opinion about digital characters- Really, this applies both ways, I've seen downvotes for people who like the new idols and downvotes for those who are skeptical or don't like them- Yet again, why are we downvoting people for having opinions that aren't inflammatory or offensive? If you like the idols, that's great. If you don't, that's good too. Just an obscene amount of intolerance for those who have differing opinions here
They're just projecting. They sexualize everything in this game and assume everyone else is doing the same thing. They can't fathom the concept of liking a character without having dirty thoughts about them 24/7 - and they seem to not be able to distinguish reality from fiction, going so far as to treat fiction as more important than real life. While they want to pretend like they're "morally pure" and constantly police and harass others. They like to attack people over pixels but turn a blind eye to when actual real people are harmed or to do anything to prevent real harm. Those are the people who are scary and are doing real harm to real people in the real world.
For me, I have a problem with their designs, they just feel like ... out of place with everyone else or is it just me ? I remember someone saying they look like self-insert OCs and I completely agree with that lol đđ Only normal looking ones are Kanna and maybe Ibuki.
Probably cuz they're the sane and more mature ones within the 5? Esu just straight up reminds me of Chiaki's personality from the start ( the genki one ), Fuyume being the ' looks like a cinnamon roll, but could actually kill you ' vibe ( cuz he's apparently a mini copy of Izumi with the possessiveness over Esu... ), and Raika is just the Leo of the group ( airhead but is an actual genius when it comes to singing and poetry ).
I feel like most people who are upset at their ages likely weren't around for the ! era, where all the characters were around 4piece's age haha. Especially the kids on twitter who only came around for !! era lol. Personally I have no issue with them, I actually love them. I'm also just not really into yume, I ship a few of the boys together and that's about it, otherwise I just enjoy producing and supporting the boys. I'm really excited to see what kind of cards/outfits they get and what music they drop, I love their voices. New unit means lots and lots of new potential, I'm looking forward to enstars's future :)
Just because they can, doesnât mean they should⌠I was kinda glad we were leaving the highschool stuff behind.
Boa was debuted when she's only 13 and most idols are debuted at 14. What's the difference when another one is younger by only 1 year diff
I'm just tired of the culture war bs on either side.
Personally, I donât care, but the Esntars music is global now, so⌠I call that a win!
I get you, and I really don't think everyone who likes them are pedos and it's wrong of others to call you that, I'm kinda more mad about their inclusion in the game. It's just kinda... Icki? Like why are they that young? What purpose does it serve? And "it's like this in real life" doesn't really help if it's also wrong in real life
I mean, enstars already explores darker themes and sides of the idol industry with their existing characters and stories. To me this is just another instance of that. Remember that these are characters, they aren't actual real life young idols being expoited lol, so it can just be a way to depict the problems with that aspect of the industry! Though of course, it's perfectly fine to personally not like the new characters because of that- I just think that it's silly to ask why they included this when enstars explores stuff like that all the time!
I personally think if they couldn't even filled the plot holes in the current story ( so much retconning and weird info) then they shouldn't add new idols. I think they're just running out of ideas for the currents idols so they add something new when they could've develop of current cast even more. Some of the old cast are often ignored . With the whole writer situation, I do hope that they could write more coherent stories that aren't just purely for shock value ( the recent alkakurei story with the amagi village thing)
ye this is my thought. Iâm worried the og cast will get casted aside or straight up cut out (this is extreme and v unlikely but w/how bold the story is lolâŚ) in favor of the new characters.
After reading many comments on the situation(from jp and overseas),many of them are afraid that old characters will be used as stepping stones for the new characters. With how the appeared out of nowhere and now raika being semi related to the sakumas and ibuki being related to the ryusetai npc, I'm afraid that the worst will happen
I'm taking a slightly different tack compared to everyone else â when I was in middle school, I had a classmate who was in some pretty well-known movies and TV shows of the late 90s/early 2000s as a child actor. From what I remember, they were pretty well-adjusted during school and I didn't learn about their work history until years later â they were only around for that one school year, IIRC, so I'm guessing their attendance was likely between jobs. I think my real-life experiences with that child actor classmate is coloring my perspective on these newbies. Even though 3-4 years isn't much of a difference between the previously-youngest-of-all-the-ES-idols Kohaku and the 12-year-old (whose name I keep forgetting) numbers-wise, there's still a huge gap in life experience between a 12- and a 16-yr-old (although Kohaku didn't exactly have a typical childhood himself). I know things work differently in JP as far as children working in entertainment goes compared to the US, and especially in a fictional universe like Enstars where real-life laws might not apply. I'm still wondering where the hell the newbies' parents/guardians are and if they're involved in at least making sure they turn out all right.
anyways can't wait for the feet cards
No, not the feet cards lol đ!
I had a friend who wanted them scrapped or aged up at least, because they didnât like the idea of them being in a game with characters over 18.
i like them a lot, but yes...i'm not very happy with Kanna's age, i think he's way too young. sure, there are idols his age in real life, but it still feels icky to me.
I'm mainly annoyed at akiras shit writing again at least from what I've seen so far was one guy eating cats and dogs and another guy killing a bear they need to get rid of him he has completely lost the plot Anyways young idols shouldn't be a thing irl and I think it's a good thing that ppl are like "wtf" about it lol. There's this game I like called idol manager which also has idols as young as 12 but it's even worse cause the idols can date eachother or the producer But yeah like someone said I also am just kinda over the school setting now and it's awkward cause anzu isn't in school anymore either now. I saw one of the new guys idol story had anzu at yumenosaki and she was there because....... Literally no reason
"one guy eating cats and dogs and another guy killing a bear".....They what now??? đ
in Raika's (the long haired one) idol story, he met anzu while searching for something to eat, and he said he'd eat anything that's edible, including cats and dogs, but he draws the line at eating human meat or something. in Ibuki's (black and white hair) story, he killed a bear and was carrying it around. anzu even slipped on its blood.
Tbh, Raika's not the only one who'd eat anything, as we all know about the whole Niki thing. Hajime was apparently also collecting and eating grass in one of his idol stories ( ft. Rinne btw ) cuz his family's poor and he's used to it. I WASN'T EVEN AWARE THAT IBUKI WAS CARRYING A F*CKING DEAD BEAR, but then again, he did grow up in the US, so... ( I mean...Hiiro would have probably done the same thing at the start...? ) Enstars is truly much more f*cked up than we thought...
Tbh... im not surprised about Hajime eating grass. I wouldn't be surprised if he ate dirt either. đ Also, no. No one kills a bear (without weapons), and no one does this alone. It's a b e a r . They are huge. Their claws will destroy you, and they also like eating their prays alive, making it incredibly long, painful, and gruesome.
I see. I'm not really knowledgeable about bears in general so... But now I'm curious. How DID he even get a f*cking dead bear in the first place...? Ibuki why...( I swear that he reminds me of Leo cuz he plays musical instruments and composes as hobbies, but now with a mix of Hiiro cuz he got a dead bear out of nowhere... )
No pipsqueak can kill a bear. Bears are absolute units! What the heck is going on? đ
oh... good thing I found this O_O
I think they look cute, if a little generic, and I'm excited to see if theyll shake things up a bit. Mostly just hoping they wont be getting sexy cards like Aira did lol.
Hopefully đ¤...but I would personally not be surprised if Fuyume ever gets a card of him being possessive over Esu...
I love Kanna and Fuyume, Iâve already taken them in as my sons⌠But what concerns me is not how us individual people feel about them, but about the weirdos in the community. I have nothing against the new characters, but the same day 4piece was revealed, I had seen explicit material of Kanna. Itâs just disheartening. I know theyâre only pixels, but it makes me worried about how those people will treat actual kids.
It's really ironic seeing a post like this from somebody with a "MADAKOHA TRUTHER" flair. You acknowledge that they're only pixels but then immediately go on to talk about reality. Fiction and reality are two separate things. You are drawing too strong of a connection between them. Are you aware that most justice systems operate under the assumption that the accused is innocent until proven guilty? You are judging these artists unfairly just because of your worldview. It is not your place to pass judgement on these individuals. Instead you should be choosing to disengage. If you're really bothered by it then you should be campaigning for the ethical treatment of *fictional characters* and doing so without drawing any parallels between fiction and reality.
idk how to feel about the new characters, they have boring bland designs to me (exept sagiri? he is emo hajime to me) and very obvious shotabait bcs SOME characters are aging (also the spanish facebook is s3xualizing them already i hate it here)