A new update has been issued for the beta version of Idol Manager, and it is heavily focused on the sorts of relationships you will see between the different idols within your group. Notice Me, Senpai! allows you to have characters develop senpai/kouhai mentorships, notice cliques form, and see if people are or aren’t getting along. It was all revealed in the game’s most recent Kickstarter update.
The mentoring element is present to help train characters. It begins by picking a character who is considered the senpai in the relationship. She can then be asked to mentor one kohai, a younger singer who looks up to her. The two will then become closer and one of the kohai’s stats will grow more quickly. The official post notes this is most effective if the senpai’s stat is much higher. So, say Inoue Izumi as a dance stat of 24. If she mentors Kumazaki Maiha, who has a dance stat of 6, Kumazaki’s stat will increase much more quickly.
The relationship system introduced in the Idol Manager Notice Me, Senpai! update allows people to connect to one another. When you talk to a character, you can see who a character’s friends are, who they consider their best friend, and if they belong to a clique. You an also determine if characters could be dating one another or someone outside the group. Bullying will also be an issue. If bullying goes too far, an argument could ensue and the public could find out about trouble within the group. This means players will have to step in to determine how to break up the fight.
Finally, a graduation system is in play. This can happen naturally or after you decide to fire an idol. All idols know when they will eventually graduate. If you like how she is performing, you could try and get her to delay her departure or hire her as a part of your staff. If you don’t like how she’s doing, you can immediately fire her or bump up her graduation date. (All past idols can be seen in the idols section, allowing you to see how they did after they left the group.)
Idol Manager is in development for the Nintendo Switch and PC. It is currently in beta on PCs, and people can access that build if they backed the Kickstarter or purchased it on itch.io.
