Guide

The game and its stories

About Shiny Colors

THE iDOLM@STER is a multimedia franchise that began as an arcade idol-training game in 2005. Its games put you in the role of a producer who supports idols as they build their careers.

Shiny Colors is one branch of that franchise. It launched as a browser game in April 2018 and later expanded into music, comics, anime, and THE iDOLM@STER Shiny Colors Song for Prism, a separate 3D rhythm-focused game.

What makes Shiny Colors especially worth reading is the attention it gives to character writing. Its stories spend time on work, relationships, doubts, ambitions, and how its idols change over time. Rather than one long route, that story is spread across many short scenes called commus.

Iridescent Hues brings these commus together for reading in Japanese, with dictionary notes and English translations where available.

Playing Shiny Colors

Shiny Colors is set at the fictional talent agency 283 Production, read as Tsubasa Production. You play a new producer there, recruiting idols and guiding their careers.

The current cast has 28 idols in eight units. In the original browser game, the main game mode is called Produce. You choose one Produce Idol to guide and Support Idols to help her, then plan her weeks of lessons, work, and rest. Auditions test her abilities and help her gain fans. Commus appear between these activities.

Screenshots from the original game. Open one to see it at full size with an explanation.

To play the game, visit the official Japanese site .

During Produce

How commus fit into a Produce run

In a normal Produce run, commus come from the Produce scenario, the selected Produce Idol, and the Support Idols in your formation. In this example, the scenario is W.I.N.G., and Natsuha’s Produce Idol is 【夏は来ぬ】有栖川 夏葉, her sixth Produce SSR (P-SSR6).

One possible W.I.N.G. sequence:

  1. CommuW.I.N.G. opening: Natsuha is recruited.
  2. PlayChoose a lesson or work activity for the week.
  3. CommuA random commu appears (Produce Idol or Support Idol).
  4. CommuBy chance, a commu of the other type may follow immediately.
  5. PlayIn a later week, choose to rest or audition.
  6. CommuA later W.I.N.G. chapter continues the scenario.
  7. …More weeks, activities, and commus follow.

The order varies, and a morning commu may appear before a weekly action. After that action, at most one Produce Idol commu and one Support Idol commu can occur in the same week.

That can make a single story harder to follow while you are also managing the Produce run. Shiny Colors keeps the commus you unlock in an archive so you can read them separately afterward. Iridescent Hues provides that reading access without requiring you to play through the game.

Natsuha's unlocked W.I.N.G. commu list in Shiny Colors
W.I.N.G.Natsuha’s unlocked commus from the W.I.N.G. Produce scenario.
The commu list for Natsuha's Produce Idol card 【夏は来ぬ】有栖川 夏葉 in Shiny Colors
【夏は来ぬ】有栖川 夏葉Natsuha’s sixth Produce SSR (P-SSR6), with its own separate commu list.

Meet the cast

Choose an idol to start with.

Meet the 28 idols of 283 Production, then choose one to begin with. Her profile points you to W.I.N.G. and what to read next.

Browse all 28 idols