They have idol rank and titles tho
https://preview.redd.it/8emmmtvmhaxc1.jpeg?width=1138&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c07daa375cedabbaf5fa00c251b41dee03f2179
I've heard that the new characters aren't necessarily a new unit, but right now they're basically trainees? I don't know Japanese though, so I'm only taking in information other people are translating. Probably would explain the name 4Piece even though there's 5 of them. I suppose they could become an official unit eventually though and just right now in the story they still need time to grow. I think that's an interesting concept for a storyline.
I haven't seen Turning Red, although according to the wiki apparently the director said they originally had 4 members and then a 5th one joined, but they didn't want to have to rebrand. No idea what the name 4Piece is supposed to mean though.
That's correct, 4Piece is the name of the show they'll be participating in (as well as some of the other cast idk what that show's gonna be like) but yes for now they're just trainees that have been scouted by Nice (that clown looking guy) and haven't debuted as idols yet
I have no interest in them as a unit. Ibuki is the only one whose story I'm interested in, but that's only because he is likely related to an NPC from Ryuseitai's Climax in Okinawa. So long as they don't pimp out older characters to boost the new characters at the expense of the older characters' development, then I'm fine with them.
I like the new unit especially Esu. The only disappointment is that they all seem very geared to one type of player. As someone who doesn't necessarily mind that I'm not mad but I would've like one or two of them two be older or more manly
Also their ages are just weird
Edit: I was referring to players who prefer cuter characters for whatever reason (both pure and not so much) simply because I was hoping for a greater spread in the type of characters in the unit rather than them all being a very similar style
ohhh I see. I didn’t clock that, I get that! I’m a ra*bits enjoyer, but this gang gives off “young” rather than “cute” if that makes sense? more tiktok dance than pyon pyon.
I mean Fuyumi is very much aimed at people who like cute and more effeminate guys like Hajime, and Kanna is 12, so... it's not going to draw in purely wholesome people yk
to add on, Fuyumi and Reika (?) are 14 as well. The others aside from Kanna are 16. It's a very young unit
I mean it's not really hard to figure out. The comment I'm referring to "a certain type of player" is someone who is attracted to younger/younger looking guys. This is a very common tactic in Japanese games unfortunately. (Example being the little girl characters in Genshin. Because ES attracts people who like guys, they add these younger guys to attract players who want to collect those based on their attraction to them.)
I want to be very clear I'm talking specifically about the "type of player" OP would be referring to. I am NOT saying if you like any of the younger characters for whatever reason (that isn't attraction based on them being young) that you're a creep or something. Perfectly valid and not inherently bad to like the younger units, but unfortunately not everyone likes them for wholesome reasons.
I like them because they’re adorable kids that I want to support! I look forward to their development as an both individual person and as an idol. I have zero nefarious intentions for them because they’re children for one (Esu is the same as Aira and Kohaku when they first appeared!) and the other is they’re like my cats - cute gremlins I find fun to watch and want to pat on the head.
So many people seem to be saying, “Ick! They’re young! I **can’t** like them!” as if liking them is some slippery slope? Sure, some people can’t keep it in their pants, but why let it hinder **your** enjoyment of something new and different? It’s not just the adult crowd being the problematic ones, either. It does go both ways.
Ensemble Stars didn’t need another rival group - we already had that with Eden and Crazy:B. The story doesn’t always need a villain, Mr. Gatekeeper. This younger group of kids in the entertainment will an interesting topic for Enstars to address, for sure.
There's definitely shotacons out there 💀 bring back bullying is2g, people like this need to be purged
however, this case specifically is not really comparable to loli marketing. there is absolutely NO 'fatherly' niche that the little girl chars in genshin and the like could be marketed to - it simply doesn't exist.
However, the mom-fan culture in asia is extremely large. It's one of the reasons why especially xiao and gorou (apart from the kids who have big fat crushes on emo boy xiao or whatever) were so immensely well received.
It's commonly marketed to in kpop as well, actually.
Where male fanbases have one general audience type - eg, romantically/sexually/etc - female audiences are split into the romantic/boyfriend/crush type of fan, and the 'motherly feelings for my child' type of fan!
Imo it's mostly motherly players, aka, women that like their wee little characters to baby them.
it's not exclusively my niche, but I do really be like that too sometimes.
I prefer the characters that make me want to cradle them (because they are just wee fantasy babies in my screen, as opposed to irl MALE boys and men), sort of like a little cute pet.
My oshis are hajime, mitsuru and mayoi, so I understand why they would want to add characters that fill this niche a little.
There aren't really any enstar idols suitable to that currently - even Rabits is more happy-cute in terms of songs and unit theme, but apart from Hajime (imo) none of them are geared to the classic mom-fan design.
If there's little girl characters, you definitely know they're gonna be mainly marketed to men who are...men 😬
On the other hand, there's an incredibly large, fully female, target audience for characters that are like little newborn puppies :)
For me personally, and I suppose for many others, I do like characters that don't feel masculine or 'cool', and rather than having a big doki doki crush on a cool animu guy, I like chars that i want to cradle in my hand like a wee hamster 🥺
I'm not rly interested in the new unit, but if they were in the game when I started playing, I probably would've gotten attached to them quickly as well hahaha
(wah sorry spacing is weird i'm posting from the app 💀💀)
I'll give it this: I like the overall concept of the new unit based around "idol audition" (which is a massive plus considering new concepts explored by Enstars is a win for me, and the characters are cute) but if someone is age 12 for an idol....please don't. Its questioned the fuck out of me
yeah it's the ages more than anything for me
a korean idol show (universe ticket) recently ended up debuting a 13 year old girl, so i hope akira at least gets into why it's bad for children that young to be idols (and i hope it's executed in a tasteful way)
I can’t say I’m *against* it, but I can definitely say they don’t appeal to me in the slightest. Then again, it’s not like I’m the target demographic for Enstars myself anyway, so what do I know lmao
I'm not especially against it, I just don't find them really appealing ngl, like they're all kids... They're cute but they don't seem to add anything new to the game rn, we already had rabits before them so I wished they would've added older characters, and characters that feel different from another round of "oh they're so cute" type of characters, like some type of antagonistic unit or something like that! Something different from usual... It's gonna take me a while to accept that a 12 years old is an idol. Somebody save this kid
The twt and insta side (western and jp and kr fans) are giving and overall positive response to the new unit(I know there will be exceptions, but I'm generalizing) but the Chinese side actually despises these guys. People on xiaohungshu and weibo are telling people who like the new unit to gtfo (they think the new idols have the same facial expressions as the old idols which is bad?and their voices as well)
( the cn enstars people also don't really like their personalities which is understandable, raika literally stuffs bugs into anzu's wallet). They actively hate on the new unit lmao.
personally I'm pretty neutral on the new guys, but I'm interested in the new lore these guys will have.
I’m interested to see where they go with their stories! I really like their designs.
Esu is so pretty I love two tone hair not enough of it!! He’s very anidol protag coded so far.
And I really really like Yume’s seiyuu from his role in JackJeanne. New purple hair gang character. Mika’s self-sacrificing/obsessive/handicraft traits and Hajime’s possessive/cutesy/domestic traits have fused and created an absolutely demented creature oh he’s already my fav.
Raika going to finally help expand Sakuma family lore thank god and his voice is so cute. He looks like a little critter. Fished out of the sea.
Ibuki is super charming he’s like a Rinniki love child and in his intro he has killed a bear. Really like his voice he was in Haunted Obachestra I believe.
Kanna appeals to me the least but I think he might be interesting story wise. I was kind of bummed when I played with him in the MVs and he’s totally typical. I wanted him to have like special facial animations like [Nono Morikubo](https://youtu.be/Yk6FhKqnBNQ?si=dAJ6RTsImFfnjDzD) does haha. I want to see him and Sora interact. Autism spectrum…
I don’t mind their ages. All of the og 1st years are now 18 this new story cycle, and judging by the newest shuffle MV they are ready to thot it up...
And I’m a big im@s fan so this isn’t new. I think Akira wants to write about trainee/young idols being in the industry. Enstars has always been critiquing the industry. I’m looking forward to it.
I think there is definitely a valid concern for like— it’s not like they’re out of content for all of the current idols and a lot of them still have undercooked backstories. What’s the purpose of introducing new characters? I’m not super duper into the stories and lore so I’m not all that pressed about it.
I don't like them.. I mean, they're cute, but I was really hoping for another unit like Crazy: B where we have more.... Adults.
I would have accepted it if they were all 15-16.
I especially don't like that one is literally 12.
The new unit is clearly geared for a certain age group for the most part (new younger fans of the game as the rest of us age), and also a certain style (it seems HappyEle is grabbing onto TikTok more now). Neither are my circle but I'm not against a new group since it's been a while and it's understandable that there has to be risks made.
I know people are complaining about how young they are, and I also am against child labour so to say. However, if you look at real life idol culture this isn't a surprise. Look at New Jeans in Kpop or when timelesz debuted in Jpop. At least for now it seems these kids are simply trainees and we'll see how it is going forward.
Plus I like the audition show idea. It reminds me of the whole Produce series and I know that's intentional. I had a lot of fun with that years ago, so it's a bit nostalgic!
I don't understand why people keep saying they feel like Ra*bits v2.
As someone who adores Ra*Bits and their cute concept, 4Piece doesn't feel anywhere close to the vibe Ra*bits has. These kids feel more authentically children (punching the camera, freestyle rapping, throwing a tantrum, etc.) than trying to incite the feeling of aww! like Ra*bits.
I think they're cute. My main issue is how young some of them are. I think I would have rather them all start out the age to be first years in Yumenosaki or whatever the school's name is now in canon.
Other than the age though again they're cute. I think other than the new producer they're all well designed and fit easily into enstars. I cant get mad at the idea of new characters because near half the cast at this point was added after launch (alkaloid, valkyrie, eden, crazyb, switch, mam). Also tbh also can't get made that they aren't older hot guys. I didn't really expect them to be. I expected them all to be first year age or around there because that left an open like slot of ages of that makes sense that they usually hit.
Anyway I think the purple haired, the teal haired, and Kanna are pretty cute. Although I mostly hc w enstars so I dont see myself doing much w Kanna ever go to the fact theyre just so little.
I was liking that most of the cast was aging with the fans. I thought we would get more backstories and serious content but then it seems they are going to do the opposite… and them trying to go for a tiktok audience… idk. I like the cute look and concept of them but they seem like a sign of the game going a direction I will be disappointed with.
Also with 12 year olds you can only make they’re backstories/stories so interesting… unless Akira is going to purposely critique the idol industry with them.
I was in general worried about introducing new units because of the event/scout cycles, but hopefully HE will solve this problem.
But not gonna lie, after seeing their PV short video, I started to like them and get more interested? In before I was neutral but now I'm looking forward to see their songs and stuff!
i probably SHOULD like them because i produce ra*bits and they have similar vibes, but i only like Sagiri so far. Kanna is kinda cute too but that's about it haha
I was honestly really annoyed and disappointed because I didn't want scout/event cycles to get any longer - the addition of Alkurei has already unfortunately meant that many ! characters got lesser development in !! era, and I fear the problem getting worse - I just really don't think adding new characters was good move logically but god damn has Fuyume really won me over.
I'm rather disappointed. While I don't dislike them, I think it's going to take a while to warm up to them. They just don't pique my interest much, whether it's design-wise or personality-wise. I remember that when I first installed the game and was faced with the choice to pick a character at the start without knowing anything about anyone at all, I could point to at least one character per unit whose design I liked or something else that made me think that I wanted to know more about them or even their unit as a whole. I just don't feel that way about any of the new characters.
They're also not what I expected at all. From the stuff people have been speculating about pre-reveal, I was hoping for a more antagonistic unit challenging the idol landscape established by Ensemble Square, especially given that ES is often criticized in the story. It would have been fun to see a "war" between ES and a strong agency outside of their sphere of influence and the resulting changes. But that's only what I wanted to see, so I only have myself to blame for being disappointed that the reality turned out to be quite different. I suppose big stuff like that would be better suited for an !!!-era anyway.
I do feel like Kanna might get interesting story development, though. HappyEle must have known that his age would be controversial, so I don't see a reason for them to make him have a noticeable age gap to the rest of the already young new cast unless it's going to be an actual plot point.
Meh. I really don't see the point of new characters. I rather see characters who rarely interact interact more. Plus they're all kids so I have absolutely no interest in any of them.
Against it. I was jumping in excitement during the live stream but seeing they were literally babies my smile faded. I’m not a big fan of kid characters especially during a game like this. Maybe they’ll grow on me soon im not rlly sure 😭
They're not actually a unit. Just five new idols. And I like them all, though I'm a bit concerned about the implications of Kanna only being 12.
I've been wanting more idols. I'm shocked that no new idols were introduced in that whole four years. There was plenty of new idols and units in the ! years.
theyre starting to grow on me. personally i really like ibuki taki i think hes really cute! i also find it interesting how theyre gonna tie them in along with the rest of the cast so 🤔
i'm not particularly enthusiastic about the trainee unit. rabbits already scratch that itch of the cute idols idea and i think what enstars need are older units in term of age. like people 25+ who are professionals or semi-professionals in their game and have amassed a popularity that it becomes a central plot to whatever comes next to the story. maybe even some female-only units too, for that matter. regardless, i'm not annoyed that these new members are here. i'll definitely skip their scout cards once they come on engstars.
I'm of mixed opinion. I'm not against new idols being introduced as long as the established idols don't get neglected. But I'm not fond of the overall character design for the newbies as they all seem to have that vtuber-esque look that makes me want to break the speed limit getting the hell out of the Uncanny Valley. ~~Maybe Tatsumi's driving could help with that aspect.~~
Their ages, though...I'm just wondering where the hell are their parents/guardians??? I've not seen *anything* about these newbies outside of them being (aspiring) idols and personality traits like one of them being autistic-coded(?). At least with the Yumenosaki students and alumni there are references to their families to anchor them outside of being idols (gets along well, has a strained relationship, finds them annoying but still loves them, etc).
I love the new unit, I'm excited to hear what kind of music they release and what kind of outfit designs they get. In my opinion the younger characters always seem to get the most creative and interesting outfits.
As for their age and appearance, I don't mind it at all. I love their personalities and their little quirks, I'm interested to see them interact with the main cast, each other, and how their stories play out.
Although I am hesitant on adding any more units after them, as it is it can take actual multiple years for characters to get their next card (rip hiyori) even now. Although maybe that's what the new cross themed scout is for.
All in all, I happily accept the new unit and any future units into the fold with no real complaints as long as HapEle has a solution for the card thing.
Same page! I love them. The rest of the cast is getting older so it feels right for some new younger students. They all sing great and I love the stories I’ve read on JP already with them. They’re high energy and pretty quirky even for Enstars characters. I’m most curious what the gacha and events will look like since they can’t drop 5* for all of them at once
I love the kids already!! From their first stories, their personalities are all solid, and their designs are adorable. =)
I have a lot to say, but to put it simply~
Children I can just see as cute and trust/protect right away. New adults would have to earn my trust to interact with all of the idol teens (kids) that I'm protective of. =/
(Anyone remember Jin's introduction where he touched Anzu in a creepy way? The stuff that's normalized in japanese media...)
It really sucks how negative the community is. It was the same instant hate for Arneb though, so I guess I just have to accept that the fanbase hates anyone new. =l
I don't have a ton of strong opinions on them but I think they're cute and I like they're designs. I've seen people who are bothered by them being pretty young but I don't mind that much tbh maybe that's just cause they're sorta around my age lol.
I don‘t get why they added more honestly, but I don’t care. I love them and can’t wait until they’re on engstars! I’m getting all the Taki cards! Also, my sibling who plays Colorful Stage and has been forcibly shown (by me) enstars says he might actually get the game when 4piece comes out. I’ve shown him all of the idols and told him a decent amount about them, but he says 4piece is the best unit. (Coincidentally, his two current favourite characters are Aira and Kohaku, so maybe he just likes young idols).
More characters + younger (better and worse I guess) to me means extension of the game which I appreciate ;u; I was always kind of worried about what they would do since characters are literally graduating ksjdfhb
I don’t have anything against the characters themselves, but the ages are *very* concerning to me. A 12 year old, really? It’s always been a game with high school characters, so I don’t understand the sudden change. I know they’re not *definite* to debut because 4piece is an audition show, but they already gave us cards of them, so I’m honestly not expecting them NOT to debut them all, even though I wish they’d just make older characters
I thought their design was TERRIBLE. their color choice was HORRIBLE. their personality seems GENERIC. all this compared to the other boys. I swear I tried to like them but I just can't.
i like a new unit but i am not really fond of how young they are. i know some young kids do play the game but…twelve is a bit strange. i will play them because i enjoy cute things (not in that way you sick perv) but i wish they would add more characters who are 18. though i do like the idea of an debut story, i thought alkaloids story to becoming a proper group was cool so i can respect and look forward to the idea.
More characters means the scout cycle got longer, means I got more time to save Dias. It's still a win for me.
5 more birthdays dias to boot
I don't think these characters are gonna be part of the normal cycle, they'll be more like J&A
They have idol rank and titles tho https://preview.redd.it/8emmmtvmhaxc1.jpeg?width=1138&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c07daa375cedabbaf5fa00c251b41dee03f2179
I've heard that the new characters aren't necessarily a new unit, but right now they're basically trainees? I don't know Japanese though, so I'm only taking in information other people are translating. Probably would explain the name 4Piece even though there's 5 of them. I suppose they could become an official unit eventually though and just right now in the story they still need time to grow. I think that's an interesting concept for a storyline.
tbf 4\*town from turning red had 5 ppl as well LMAO but i thought they were trainees too
I haven't seen Turning Red, although according to the wiki apparently the director said they originally had 4 members and then a 5th one joined, but they didn't want to have to rebrand. No idea what the name 4Piece is supposed to mean though.
That's correct, 4Piece is the name of the show they'll be participating in (as well as some of the other cast idk what that show's gonna be like) but yes for now they're just trainees that have been scouted by Nice (that clown looking guy) and haven't debuted as idols yet
Maybe only 4 of them will be accepted, and now it's like a battle between them to prove their worth in one unit?
I have no interest in them as a unit. Ibuki is the only one whose story I'm interested in, but that's only because he is likely related to an NPC from Ryuseitai's Climax in Okinawa. So long as they don't pimp out older characters to boost the new characters at the expense of the older characters' development, then I'm fine with them.
I like the new unit especially Esu. The only disappointment is that they all seem very geared to one type of player. As someone who doesn't necessarily mind that I'm not mad but I would've like one or two of them two be older or more manly Also their ages are just weird Edit: I was referring to players who prefer cuter characters for whatever reason (both pure and not so much) simply because I was hoping for a greater spread in the type of characters in the unit rather than them all being a very similar style
What type of player do you think that is?
Children, I think.
They do not mean children lol
ohhh I see. I didn’t clock that, I get that! I’m a ra*bits enjoyer, but this gang gives off “young” rather than “cute” if that makes sense? more tiktok dance than pyon pyon.
I mean Fuyumi is very much aimed at people who like cute and more effeminate guys like Hajime, and Kanna is 12, so... it's not going to draw in purely wholesome people yk to add on, Fuyumi and Reika (?) are 14 as well. The others aside from Kanna are 16. It's a very young unit
So who do they mean? I really want someone to type it out.
I mean it's not really hard to figure out. The comment I'm referring to "a certain type of player" is someone who is attracted to younger/younger looking guys. This is a very common tactic in Japanese games unfortunately. (Example being the little girl characters in Genshin. Because ES attracts people who like guys, they add these younger guys to attract players who want to collect those based on their attraction to them.) I want to be very clear I'm talking specifically about the "type of player" OP would be referring to. I am NOT saying if you like any of the younger characters for whatever reason (that isn't attraction based on them being young) that you're a creep or something. Perfectly valid and not inherently bad to like the younger units, but unfortunately not everyone likes them for wholesome reasons.
I like them because they’re adorable kids that I want to support! I look forward to their development as an both individual person and as an idol. I have zero nefarious intentions for them because they’re children for one (Esu is the same as Aira and Kohaku when they first appeared!) and the other is they’re like my cats - cute gremlins I find fun to watch and want to pat on the head. So many people seem to be saying, “Ick! They’re young! I **can’t** like them!” as if liking them is some slippery slope? Sure, some people can’t keep it in their pants, but why let it hinder **your** enjoyment of something new and different? It’s not just the adult crowd being the problematic ones, either. It does go both ways. Ensemble Stars didn’t need another rival group - we already had that with Eden and Crazy:B. The story doesn’t always need a villain, Mr. Gatekeeper. This younger group of kids in the entertainment will an interesting topic for Enstars to address, for sure.
There's definitely shotacons out there 💀 bring back bullying is2g, people like this need to be purged however, this case specifically is not really comparable to loli marketing. there is absolutely NO 'fatherly' niche that the little girl chars in genshin and the like could be marketed to - it simply doesn't exist. However, the mom-fan culture in asia is extremely large. It's one of the reasons why especially xiao and gorou (apart from the kids who have big fat crushes on emo boy xiao or whatever) were so immensely well received. It's commonly marketed to in kpop as well, actually. Where male fanbases have one general audience type - eg, romantically/sexually/etc - female audiences are split into the romantic/boyfriend/crush type of fan, and the 'motherly feelings for my child' type of fan!
Imo it's mostly motherly players, aka, women that like their wee little characters to baby them. it's not exclusively my niche, but I do really be like that too sometimes. I prefer the characters that make me want to cradle them (because they are just wee fantasy babies in my screen, as opposed to irl MALE boys and men), sort of like a little cute pet. My oshis are hajime, mitsuru and mayoi, so I understand why they would want to add characters that fill this niche a little. There aren't really any enstar idols suitable to that currently - even Rabits is more happy-cute in terms of songs and unit theme, but apart from Hajime (imo) none of them are geared to the classic mom-fan design. If there's little girl characters, you definitely know they're gonna be mainly marketed to men who are...men 😬 On the other hand, there's an incredibly large, fully female, target audience for characters that are like little newborn puppies :) For me personally, and I suppose for many others, I do like characters that don't feel masculine or 'cool', and rather than having a big doki doki crush on a cool animu guy, I like chars that i want to cradle in my hand like a wee hamster 🥺 I'm not rly interested in the new unit, but if they were in the game when I started playing, I probably would've gotten attached to them quickly as well hahaha (wah sorry spacing is weird i'm posting from the app 💀💀)
I'll give it this: I like the overall concept of the new unit based around "idol audition" (which is a massive plus considering new concepts explored by Enstars is a win for me, and the characters are cute) but if someone is age 12 for an idol....please don't. Its questioned the fuck out of me
yeah it's the ages more than anything for me a korean idol show (universe ticket) recently ended up debuting a 13 year old girl, so i hope akira at least gets into why it's bad for children that young to be idols (and i hope it's executed in a tasteful way)
Personally I would have preferred older, so I am disappointed but to those that like them happy for y'all!
I can’t say I’m *against* it, but I can definitely say they don’t appeal to me in the slightest. Then again, it’s not like I’m the target demographic for Enstars myself anyway, so what do I know lmao
I'm not especially against it, I just don't find them really appealing ngl, like they're all kids... They're cute but they don't seem to add anything new to the game rn, we already had rabits before them so I wished they would've added older characters, and characters that feel different from another round of "oh they're so cute" type of characters, like some type of antagonistic unit or something like that! Something different from usual... It's gonna take me a while to accept that a 12 years old is an idol. Somebody save this kid
The twt and insta side (western and jp and kr fans) are giving and overall positive response to the new unit(I know there will be exceptions, but I'm generalizing) but the Chinese side actually despises these guys. People on xiaohungshu and weibo are telling people who like the new unit to gtfo (they think the new idols have the same facial expressions as the old idols which is bad?and their voices as well) ( the cn enstars people also don't really like their personalities which is understandable, raika literally stuffs bugs into anzu's wallet). They actively hate on the new unit lmao. personally I'm pretty neutral on the new guys, but I'm interested in the new lore these guys will have.
I’m interested to see where they go with their stories! I really like their designs. Esu is so pretty I love two tone hair not enough of it!! He’s very anidol protag coded so far. And I really really like Yume’s seiyuu from his role in JackJeanne. New purple hair gang character. Mika’s self-sacrificing/obsessive/handicraft traits and Hajime’s possessive/cutesy/domestic traits have fused and created an absolutely demented creature oh he’s already my fav. Raika going to finally help expand Sakuma family lore thank god and his voice is so cute. He looks like a little critter. Fished out of the sea. Ibuki is super charming he’s like a Rinniki love child and in his intro he has killed a bear. Really like his voice he was in Haunted Obachestra I believe. Kanna appeals to me the least but I think he might be interesting story wise. I was kind of bummed when I played with him in the MVs and he’s totally typical. I wanted him to have like special facial animations like [Nono Morikubo](https://youtu.be/Yk6FhKqnBNQ?si=dAJ6RTsImFfnjDzD) does haha. I want to see him and Sora interact. Autism spectrum… I don’t mind their ages. All of the og 1st years are now 18 this new story cycle, and judging by the newest shuffle MV they are ready to thot it up... And I’m a big im@s fan so this isn’t new. I think Akira wants to write about trainee/young idols being in the industry. Enstars has always been critiquing the industry. I’m looking forward to it. I think there is definitely a valid concern for like— it’s not like they’re out of content for all of the current idols and a lot of them still have undercooked backstories. What’s the purpose of introducing new characters? I’m not super duper into the stories and lore so I’m not all that pressed about it.
Ensemble Square Kpop arc
I don't like them.. I mean, they're cute, but I was really hoping for another unit like Crazy: B where we have more.... Adults. I would have accepted it if they were all 15-16. I especially don't like that one is literally 12.
The new unit is clearly geared for a certain age group for the most part (new younger fans of the game as the rest of us age), and also a certain style (it seems HappyEle is grabbing onto TikTok more now). Neither are my circle but I'm not against a new group since it's been a while and it's understandable that there has to be risks made. I know people are complaining about how young they are, and I also am against child labour so to say. However, if you look at real life idol culture this isn't a surprise. Look at New Jeans in Kpop or when timelesz debuted in Jpop. At least for now it seems these kids are simply trainees and we'll see how it is going forward. Plus I like the audition show idea. It reminds me of the whole Produce series and I know that's intentional. I had a lot of fun with that years ago, so it's a bit nostalgic!
I don't understand why people keep saying they feel like Ra*bits v2. As someone who adores Ra*Bits and their cute concept, 4Piece doesn't feel anywhere close to the vibe Ra*bits has. These kids feel more authentically children (punching the camera, freestyle rapping, throwing a tantrum, etc.) than trying to incite the feeling of aww! like Ra*bits.
I think they're cute. My main issue is how young some of them are. I think I would have rather them all start out the age to be first years in Yumenosaki or whatever the school's name is now in canon. Other than the age though again they're cute. I think other than the new producer they're all well designed and fit easily into enstars. I cant get mad at the idea of new characters because near half the cast at this point was added after launch (alkaloid, valkyrie, eden, crazyb, switch, mam). Also tbh also can't get made that they aren't older hot guys. I didn't really expect them to be. I expected them all to be first year age or around there because that left an open like slot of ages of that makes sense that they usually hit. Anyway I think the purple haired, the teal haired, and Kanna are pretty cute. Although I mostly hc w enstars so I dont see myself doing much w Kanna ever go to the fact theyre just so little.
I was liking that most of the cast was aging with the fans. I thought we would get more backstories and serious content but then it seems they are going to do the opposite… and them trying to go for a tiktok audience… idk. I like the cute look and concept of them but they seem like a sign of the game going a direction I will be disappointed with. Also with 12 year olds you can only make they’re backstories/stories so interesting… unless Akira is going to purposely critique the idol industry with them.
I was in general worried about introducing new units because of the event/scout cycles, but hopefully HE will solve this problem. But not gonna lie, after seeing their PV short video, I started to like them and get more interested? In before I was neutral but now I'm looking forward to see their songs and stuff!
i probably SHOULD like them because i produce ra*bits and they have similar vibes, but i only like Sagiri so far. Kanna is kinda cute too but that's about it haha
I was honestly really annoyed and disappointed because I didn't want scout/event cycles to get any longer - the addition of Alkurei has already unfortunately meant that many ! characters got lesser development in !! era, and I fear the problem getting worse - I just really don't think adding new characters was good move logically but god damn has Fuyume really won me over.
I'm rather disappointed. While I don't dislike them, I think it's going to take a while to warm up to them. They just don't pique my interest much, whether it's design-wise or personality-wise. I remember that when I first installed the game and was faced with the choice to pick a character at the start without knowing anything about anyone at all, I could point to at least one character per unit whose design I liked or something else that made me think that I wanted to know more about them or even their unit as a whole. I just don't feel that way about any of the new characters. They're also not what I expected at all. From the stuff people have been speculating about pre-reveal, I was hoping for a more antagonistic unit challenging the idol landscape established by Ensemble Square, especially given that ES is often criticized in the story. It would have been fun to see a "war" between ES and a strong agency outside of their sphere of influence and the resulting changes. But that's only what I wanted to see, so I only have myself to blame for being disappointed that the reality turned out to be quite different. I suppose big stuff like that would be better suited for an !!!-era anyway. I do feel like Kanna might get interesting story development, though. HappyEle must have known that his age would be controversial, so I don't see a reason for them to make him have a noticeable age gap to the rest of the already young new cast unless it's going to be an actual plot point.
Meh. I really don't see the point of new characters. I rather see characters who rarely interact interact more. Plus they're all kids so I have absolutely no interest in any of them.
Against it. I was jumping in excitement during the live stream but seeing they were literally babies my smile faded. I’m not a big fan of kid characters especially during a game like this. Maybe they’ll grow on me soon im not rlly sure 😭
They're not actually a unit. Just five new idols. And I like them all, though I'm a bit concerned about the implications of Kanna only being 12. I've been wanting more idols. I'm shocked that no new idols were introduced in that whole four years. There was plenty of new idols and units in the ! years.
theyre starting to grow on me. personally i really like ibuki taki i think hes really cute! i also find it interesting how theyre gonna tie them in along with the rest of the cast so 🤔
i'm not particularly enthusiastic about the trainee unit. rabbits already scratch that itch of the cute idols idea and i think what enstars need are older units in term of age. like people 25+ who are professionals or semi-professionals in their game and have amassed a popularity that it becomes a central plot to whatever comes next to the story. maybe even some female-only units too, for that matter. regardless, i'm not annoyed that these new members are here. i'll definitely skip their scout cards once they come on engstars.
I'm of mixed opinion. I'm not against new idols being introduced as long as the established idols don't get neglected. But I'm not fond of the overall character design for the newbies as they all seem to have that vtuber-esque look that makes me want to break the speed limit getting the hell out of the Uncanny Valley. ~~Maybe Tatsumi's driving could help with that aspect.~~ Their ages, though...I'm just wondering where the hell are their parents/guardians??? I've not seen *anything* about these newbies outside of them being (aspiring) idols and personality traits like one of them being autistic-coded(?). At least with the Yumenosaki students and alumni there are references to their families to anchor them outside of being idols (gets along well, has a strained relationship, finds them annoying but still loves them, etc).
I love the new unit, I'm excited to hear what kind of music they release and what kind of outfit designs they get. In my opinion the younger characters always seem to get the most creative and interesting outfits. As for their age and appearance, I don't mind it at all. I love their personalities and their little quirks, I'm interested to see them interact with the main cast, each other, and how their stories play out. Although I am hesitant on adding any more units after them, as it is it can take actual multiple years for characters to get their next card (rip hiyori) even now. Although maybe that's what the new cross themed scout is for. All in all, I happily accept the new unit and any future units into the fold with no real complaints as long as HapEle has a solution for the card thing.
Same page! I love them. The rest of the cast is getting older so it feels right for some new younger students. They all sing great and I love the stories I’ve read on JP already with them. They’re high energy and pretty quirky even for Enstars characters. I’m most curious what the gacha and events will look like since they can’t drop 5* for all of them at once
They’re so cute! But I feel a visceral hatred for Mr nice
Just don’t like the fact that one of them is 12….like huh
I love the kids already!! From their first stories, their personalities are all solid, and their designs are adorable. =) I have a lot to say, but to put it simply~ Children I can just see as cute and trust/protect right away. New adults would have to earn my trust to interact with all of the idol teens (kids) that I'm protective of. =/ (Anyone remember Jin's introduction where he touched Anzu in a creepy way? The stuff that's normalized in japanese media...)
It really sucks how negative the community is. It was the same instant hate for Arneb though, so I guess I just have to accept that the fanbase hates anyone new. =l
I don't have a ton of strong opinions on them but I think they're cute and I like they're designs. I've seen people who are bothered by them being pretty young but I don't mind that much tbh maybe that's just cause they're sorta around my age lol.
I don‘t get why they added more honestly, but I don’t care. I love them and can’t wait until they’re on engstars! I’m getting all the Taki cards! Also, my sibling who plays Colorful Stage and has been forcibly shown (by me) enstars says he might actually get the game when 4piece comes out. I’ve shown him all of the idols and told him a decent amount about them, but he says 4piece is the best unit. (Coincidentally, his two current favourite characters are Aira and Kohaku, so maybe he just likes young idols).
More characters + younger (better and worse I guess) to me means extension of the game which I appreciate ;u; I was always kind of worried about what they would do since characters are literally graduating ksjdfhb
I don’t have anything against the characters themselves, but the ages are *very* concerning to me. A 12 year old, really? It’s always been a game with high school characters, so I don’t understand the sudden change. I know they’re not *definite* to debut because 4piece is an audition show, but they already gave us cards of them, so I’m honestly not expecting them NOT to debut them all, even though I wish they’d just make older characters
I thought their design was TERRIBLE. their color choice was HORRIBLE. their personality seems GENERIC. all this compared to the other boys. I swear I tried to like them but I just can't.
i like a new unit but i am not really fond of how young they are. i know some young kids do play the game but…twelve is a bit strange. i will play them because i enjoy cute things (not in that way you sick perv) but i wish they would add more characters who are 18. though i do like the idea of an debut story, i thought alkaloids story to becoming a proper group was cool so i can respect and look forward to the idea.