is a Japanese four-panel

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by Akane, based on

Bandai Namco Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

' ''

The Idolmaster is a Japanese media franchise that began in 2005 with a Life simulation game, raising simulation and Rhythm game, rhythm video game series created by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The series primarily centers on the career of a pr ...

'' franchise. The series revolves around the daily lives of the idols of 765 Production as they are joined by miniaturized versions of themselves known as Puchidols. The manga began serialization in the September 2008 issue of

ASCII Media Works , formerly , is a Japanese Publishing, publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a Mergers and acquisitions, merger bet ...

' ''

Dengeki Maoh is a Japanese seinen magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks). It first went on sale on October 27, 2005, and is sold every month on the twenty-seventh. The magazine features information on video games ...

'' magazine. An

original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animat ...

(ONA) series by

Gathering Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to: Anthropology and sociology *Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods * Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a s ...

was streamed online between January and March 2013, with a second season streamed between April and June 2014.

Plot and characters

The daily lives of the idols and staff of the talent agency 765 Production are changed when the idols meet minituarized versions of themselves known as , each with their own unique personalities.

Puchidols

; : :The Puchidol version of Yukiho Hagiwara. A timid Puchidol who enjoys tea and often takes rests, either in boxes or holes that she has dug herself. She grows a tanuki tail when it is cold. ; : :The Puchidol version of Miki Hoshii. A cheeky Puchidol who loves eating onigiri; she sleeps so heavily that onigiri is the only reliable way to wake her up. Her hair turns brown and shorter in the summer. ; : :The Puchidol version of Chihaya Kisaragi. A Puchidol who enjoys skinship with flat-chested girls but is violent towards larger chested girls, the exception being Ritsuko. In the winter, her hair grows to great lengths, also forming cat-like ears. ; : :The Puchidol version of Haruka Amami. She is similar to

Gremlins ''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voic ...

in that she multiplies when coming into contact with water, hates bright sunlight, and turns vicious when eating snacks after midnight. She also changes into a larger version often used as transport when in a large body of water. ; : :The Puchidol version of Yayoi Takatsuki. A curious Puchidol who reacts to the sound of money being dropped, often seen catching a

10 yen coin The is one denomination of the Japanese yen. The obverse of the coin depicts the Phoenix Hall of Byōdō-in, a Buddhism, Buddhist temple in Uji, Kyoto prefecture, with the kanji for "Japan" and "Ten Yen". The reverse shows the numerals "10" and ...

after one bounce. Her hair puffs out during cold weather and she grows bamboo shoots in the spring. ; : :The Puchidol version of Ritsuko Akizuki. Like Ritsuko, she is a busy worker and is often ordering the other Puchidols around. ; : :The Puchidol versions of Ami and Mami Futami. A pair of mischievous Puchidols who love to play pranks on others. ; : :The Puchidol version of Kotori Otonashi. A very capable Puchidol who is better at her job than Kotori herself. She is also able to fly. ; : :The Puchidol version of Makoto Kikuchi. A tough Puchidol who is incredibly strong and also has healing powers. She often gains weight due to Makoto overfeeding her. ; : :The Puchidol version of Azusa Miura. A ditzy Puchidol who has the habit of teleporting herself, and anyone near her, to a random location upon hearing sharp noises. ; : :The Puchidol version of Iori Minase. A

tsundere is a Culture of Japan, Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a character with an initially harsh personality who gradually reveals a warmer, friendlier side over time. The word is derived from the terms (adverb, 'mo ...

Puchidol who is capable of firing laser beams from her forehead. ; : :The Puchidol version of Hibiki Ganaha. An easily-frightened Puchidol who summons various animals whenever she starts crying or gets frightened. ; : :The Puchidol version of Takane Shijou. A refined Puchidol who mainly communicates in writing kanji and loves eating ramen.

Media

Manga

''Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster'' is a four-panel

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

series written and illustrated by Akane. It started serialization in the September 2008 issue of

' ''

'' magazine. The first ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volume was published on November 27, 2009, and 12 volumes have been released as of December 27, 2019.

Anime

A 64-episode

(ONA) adaptation began streaming on Animate.tv and

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every weekday between January 1 and March 29, 2013.

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

began simulcasting the series on January 14, 2013. The episodes were released on three Blu-ray Disc (BD) and DVD compilation volumes between March 27 and May 29, 2013. An

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

(OVA) episode was bundled with ''Dengeki Maoh'' on October 27, 2012. Another OVA, titled , was released consisting of six episodes; three bundled with the limited edition of the fifth manga volume released on March 27, 2013, and three included in each BD/DVD volume of the series. A second season, titled , was streamed on Niconico for 74 episodes between April 1 and June 30, 2014 and was also simulcast by Funimation. The opening theme is . For the first season, the main ending theme for episodes 1-23 is by Haruka (

Eriko Nakamura is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. In 2014, at the 4th Newtype Anime awards, she won a voice actor award (female). Biography After going through the Japan Narration Acting Institute, she joined Arts ...

), Makoto (

Hiromi Hirata is a Japanese voice actress represented by I'm Enterprise. She is best known for her role as Makoto Kikuchi in ''The Idolmaster'' game series. She was featured as a guest of honor at Anime Expo 2004. In video games, she voices Mao in ''Disgae ...

), Miki (Akiko Hasegawa) and Ritsuko ( Naomi Wakabayashi), the ending theme for episodes 24-43 is "Today With Me" by Chihaya (

Asami Imai is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Early Wing. She debuted as a voice actress in 1997 and as singer in 2009 by releasing her first single "Day by Day / Shining Blue Rain" under the 5pb. Records label. She is also well known ...

), Yukiho (

Azumi Asakura , also known as , is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Arts Vision. Biography Asakura won the Columbia Award for the new audition of Voice Newtype and changed her last name from Yamamoto on September 1, 2006. It was announced at '' THE iDO ...

), Hibiki (Manami Numakura), Ami and Mami (

Asami Shimoda is a Japanese actress and voice actress. Her best known roles include the Futami twins in ''The Idolmaster'', and Kagamine Rin and Len in the Vocaloid Crypton Future Media , or simply Crypton, is a Japanese media company based in Sapporo, ...

), the ending theme for episodes 44-63 is "Maybe Tomorrow" by Yayoi ( Mayako Nigo), Takane (

Yumi Hara is a Japanese voice actress and singer. In December 2017, she had a hiatus from her singing career. Personal Life She announced her marriage on September 26, 2019. On July 17, 2020, she announced that she had given birth to a baby boy. On De ...

), Azusa ( Chiaki Takahashi) and Iori (

Rie Kugimiya is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kagura in '' Gintama'', and Happy in '' Fairy Tail'' and '' Edens Zero'', and ...

), and the ending theme for episodes 64 and OVA is "La♪La♪La♪Wonderland" by 765PRO ALLSTARS featuring Puchidol. For the second season, the first opening theme is by Yayoi, Iori, Hibiki, Ami, and Mami.

References

{{Gathering 2008 manga 2013 anime ONAs 2014 anime ONAs ASCII Media Works manga Bandai Namco franchises Comedy anime and manga Funimation Gathering Japanese idols in anime and manga Kadokawa Corporation franchises Seinen manga The Idolmaster Yonkoma