The Idolmaster General Producer Leaves Bandai Namco

The Idolmaster series general director Akihiro Ishihara has left Bandai Namco on January 31, the company announced on the series’ official blog page.

The former general director shared a message for fans on the blog post, thanking them for their support for the past 10 years of working on various titles for the series as it grew over the past decade.

Ishihara mentionedthat during the time he had to report his resignation, whenever a person of concern heard about it, they asked “so, why are you leaving?” to which he explains on the blog post that he didn’t leave because of one reason, but one of the major reasons is because he “wants to see his own ideal IP come to form.”

The former Idolmaster general director said that he feels that “continuing even without Ishihara” is what he considers one of the parts that makes The Idolmaster a strong IP, and he feels that it doesn’t have to be “owned” by someone in order for it to continue going on almost forever.

He says that he is truly happy to see how big The Idolmaster has become over the years, and as we head into 2016 with the recently announced  Platinum Stars, he feels that it won’t be running out of steam anytime soon.