Interest

Onsen Musume Mixed Media Project Gets Male Counterpart

Enbound's Onsen Musume (Hot Spring Girls) mixed media idol project is continuing to expand, both into new mediums and new characters. The staff announced the project will soon include a smartphone game, another live cast event, and male ninja counterparts.

The game by Edia, Inc. will be titled Onsen Musume: Yunohana Collection and is set for release next year. It will work in conjunction to the player's location.

The voice actress group SPRiNGS will hold their second live event on Christmas Eve. The group will perform new songs that would only be suitable for such an occasion. The concert will be held twice that day, once in the daytime and once in the evening at the Nakano Zero Great Hall. Fan club members will get ticket priority, while other tickets will be distributed via lottery tickets bundled with the group's CD singles.

SPRiNGS will be busy for the remainder of the year. A public web radio public recording event, "Yukemuri Festa Vol.5 @ Haneda Airport" will be held at the Tiat Sky Hall on September 10 followed by the "Special Yukemuri Festa in Kobe Vol.2" at Siebeck Hall on October 15 and the "Special Yukemuri Festa in Sendai at the Eagles Dome on November 19. The AKATSUKI vs LUSH STAR event will be held on October 9 and the Adhara vs petit corolla event will be held November 11. Akatsuki, Lush Star, Adhara, and petit corolla are the name of other mini-idol units within the Onsen Musume project.

The project opened a teaser site for the "Onsen Ninja Project," the male counterpart to Onsen Musume. The project is set to launch on 2018.

The Onsen Musume project started as a crowdfund campaign earlier this year. It reached its goal in 10 days and ultimately raised 7,110,540 yen (about US$64,000), enough to fund production of a drama CD with the main cast. The project then added a manga, fan clubs, live events, a Wixoss trading card game collaboration, and merchandise.

In the project's story, god of hot springs Sukunahiko summons nine girls to fight the decline of interest in hot springs. To fulfill their role, the Hot Spring Girls form the idol group SPRiNGS. The girls serve as guardian deities who are voiced by seiyū and designed individually by different character designers. Animation studio Doga Kobo brought the idols together for their first animated music video featuring their first song "Mirai Imagination!" (Future Imagination!).

The SPRiNGS idols cast includes:

Yuina Kusatsu (Yūki Takada, design by Dontsugel)
The group's center idol. She's the type that acts quickly and thinks positively. Her tendency not to look before she leaps causes problems for the other group members. She's always fighting against bad test scores due to her poor study habits. She's fearless on stage.

Mitsuki Gero (Yurika Endō, design by Ren Sakuragi)
She isn't confident in herself and would have undoubtedly remained alone if she hadn't met Sukunahiko. When she removes her eyeglasses, her idol persona awakens and she radiates an aura. Her hobbies are looking herself up online, watching anime, and reading manga.

Saya Hakone (Rika Nagae, design by Itiso Kujō)
A "refreshing" girl who likes to exercise and enlivens things around her but on the other hand works as a shrine maiden at the family shrine. She tends to set the group's mood and makes use of Yuina's reckless momentum.

Fūka Arima (Kana Motomi, design by Mika Pikazo)
Despite being a sheltered girl, she's very curious, clumsy and possesses a mysterious energy. Although her entire being is packed with cuteness, she'll do things like go ghosthunting or go exploring to capture a strange animal to make it her pet. She's the group's lovely little sister.

Ayase Noboribetsu (Natsumi Hioka, designed by Tarō Amagai)
An easygoing person who moves along at her own pace, Ayase is the group's outstandingly stylish older sister. She'll gently envelop the other members when they feel like they've failed or are facing setbacks. In that way, she keeps the idol members feeling encouraged.

Rinka Arima (Yūki Kuwahara, designed by QP:flapper)
A high-handed lady who doesn't usually try to join a circle of friends. She has distinguished taste and has appeared in fashion magazines as an amateur model. She was the first to notice how attractive Mitsuki is without her glasses.

Nanako Akiu (Karin Takahashi, designed by Tiv)
A bit of a shy country girl, Nanako speaks with a Tohoku dialect if she isn't careful. She's very attentive, carrying various items in a handbag just in case. Her fashion sense is catastrophic, especially her casual wear. However, she stays in good spirits and serves as everyone in the group's "wife."

Izumi Dōgo (Minami Shinoda, designed by H2SO4)
An old-fashioned honor student girl, she is somewhat conservative and likes to abide by the rules. She finds problem children like Rinka and her younger sister Fūka baffling. She acts skeptical of trendy and expensive items but actually is very interested. The group leader, she keeps everyone organized.

Yufuin Baden Kanade (Misaki Watada, designed by QP:flapper)
Yufuin was born in the spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany and claims to have raised herself. She looks biracial and is a high spirited girl. She enjoys both listening to and playing music and can play the guitar, piano, and traditional Japanese instruments. She uses strange honorific words and Japanese phrases, using endings that have to be written in katakana. She's responsible for being the group's comedic relief.

Source: Animate Times