Item Glossary

Here is a list of the various terms you may encounter while checking out idol goods either here or elsewhere.

#

  • 2D idol: Refers to idols that exist solely in the 2D space such as Hatsune Miku
  • 2.5D idol: Sometimes used to refer to an idol franchise that has both 2D and 3D elements, such as LoveLive, 22/7 or vtubers that are open about their 3D identity and perform in-person. In other cases 2D/3D may be used instead
  • 3D idol: Refers to strictly real-life idols, such as AKB48, Morning Musume.

A

  • A4 Clearfile: See Clearfile.
  • Aqours: The second group in the Love Live! franchise. They were introduced in 2015 and went on to star in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Love Live! Sunshine!! the School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow, and Genjitsu Yohane: Sunshine in the Mirror. Aqours is the most senior active group in the franchise and has enjoyed sustained popularity through both frequent, polished live performances and enthusiastic community engagement, driving vital tourism to the seaside locale of Numazu, Shizuoka, the home of the fictional version of the group.
  • A-RISE: The three-person rival group of Muse, also hailing from Akihabara, but instead attending an elite, high-tech high school and eventually receiving professional management.

B

  • B2 Poster: Paper posters measuring 50 by 70.7 cm, or 19.7 by 27.8 inches.
  • BanG Dream!:  A multimedia franchise created by Bushiroad with a focus on girls bands. Featuring over 9 bands with a distinct style. Originally included a male band but was spun off into its own universe 
  • Blue Archive: Mobile game developed by Nexon Games and Yostar, it focuses on Sensei and his activities with the various students of Kivitos with firearms.  This game is not music focused, but previous events have featured the students in idol groups or bands
  • Bromides: Collectable photos. These normally feature the seiyuu rather than their anime counterparts, although some may have the character or a group of seiyuu.

C

  • Chika Idol: Underground Idol. These idols don't have as huge social media push or money like AKB and they generally perform at much smaller venues. Think of them as a small time band being the opening act for a much larger one.
  • Concert Stick: Known as penlights, kingblades, or lightsticks, these lights are used during concerts to cheer on idols or participate in community projects and comes in various shapes and sizes. All LL events have no restriction on which penlights you use, although many try to at least use one from the series while some non-LL concerts may restrict use.
  • Convention: Shortened to con, a large event that can be short as just a day or as long as 4 days celebrating Japanese culture or western media. Some anime cons play host to concerts, like Anime Expo hosting Lovelive
  • Clearfile: Folder featuring artwork from a series. Styles and measurements vary, but A4 size is most common.
  • Cheki: Polaroid style photos, these can feature real life idols or characters. Please note that for chekis, many of them are fan specific (the fan is in the photo, idol signed with the fan's name) and are generally not for sale if they're not generic 
  • Chuusen: Term used by the idol/anisong community to refer to the process of applying to attend a Japanese concert. Some items may include codes to initiate an application.

D

  • D4DJ: Multimedia franchise created by Bushiroad and under current control by Donuts, this focuses on the DJ aspect of music. A few LL seiyuu are in D4DJ in different units
  • Dekimasen: Term normally used by the LL community to refer to the loss of a lottery round.

E

  • Ensemble Stars!!: Multimedia franchise with a focus on male idols, Currently has two mobile games with different focus for both as well as an anime series.

F

  • Free Size: Japanese t-shirt size. These would typically fit a US M-L
  • From Argonavis: Multimedia project by Bushiroad with a focus on male bands. Initially part of the BanG Dream universe, was spun off into its own world. Name came from the first group, Argonavis

G

  • Gacha (Gachapon): Randomized items sold in blind-bags or capsules.
  • Graduation: Term used by idols and vtubers to denote a talent ending activities. Ending activities may include leaving their group and starting a solo career (or if they have an ongoing solo career, focusing on it) or exiting the entertainment industry
  • Granblue Fantasy: A RPG developed by Cygames, a company well known for its Shadowverse card game. They have collaborated with LL to create two unique story events featuring both Aqours and µ's.

H 

  • Hasunosora Girls' High School Idol Club: See Link! Like! Love Live!
  • hololive - Major vtuber talent agency owned by Cover Corporation. Consists of the main agency and its 3 branchs (JP, ID, EN) alongside its male-only side (Holostars JP, EN). While mainly focused on games, they do hold concerts (Holofes and HoloEN-specific) and some of their talents may have solo artist careers (Suisei)

I

  • THE IDOLM@STER (IM@S): Idolmaster is a media franchise created by Bandai Namco that originally started as an arcade game and has since grown to include anime, audio drama, live events. Similar to LoveLive, the series contains multiple groups

J

K

  • Kaigai Idol: Overseas Idols. These refer to idols outside Japan and in any location. These idols can include both cover idol groups and original music idol groups but at the end they are all still idols
  • Kawaii Lab:  A Japanese Idol group project whose goal is to share Japanese idol culture to the world. Groups it has produced include Fruits Zipper, Candy Tune, Sweet Steady, and Cutie Street.
  • Kingblade: A specific model of concert stick. See Concert stick.

L

  • Liella!: The fourth main group in the Love Live! franchise. Initially starting as 5 rookie seiyuu, including the notable Chinese Love Live! cosplayer Liyuu, were selected for this once-secretive anime and live music project. Instead of starting as a group of nine members evenly divided between school years, Liella's original five members were first-years at a newly-opened school, and each season of their anime follows one year of their high school life, adding new friends to Liella's roster with each season.
  • Lightstick: See Concert stick.
  • Live: LoveLive! series' name for concerts.
  • Link! Like! Love Live!: Mobile app for Hasunosora Girls' High School Idol Club. Unique in that its the first virtual school idol group and their activities are done in real-time in the app including graduating from the school (and in turn the series).
  • Love Live! Bluebird: The latest project after Hasunosora, this project puts an emphasis on the virtual more than Hasunosora with events unfolding realtime on YouTube and Twitter.
  • Love Live!: Multimedia project spanning animated series, video games, live concerts, and written stories, driven by fan votes and suggestions. In the world of the franchise, Love Live! is a competition held twice a year, pitting school-age amateur idols and groups from across Japan against each other to perform their music for regional and national televised audiences. These performers, called "school idols", generally compete with completely self-made material, from music and choreography to stage and wardrobe.

M

  • Muse (officially written as µ's): The first group in the Love Live series, who starred in the Love Live! School Idol Project anime, Love Live! the School Idol Movie, and various magazine projects starting in 2010. In their story, the members of Muse attend a sleepy high school near Akihabara, and in order to keep their beloved school open, decide to enter the Love Live! music performance competition as one of many self-made idol groups. Muse was beloved by anime fans across the world, launching the careers of its member voice actresses and vocalists like Yoshino Nanjo, Sora Tokui, Pile, and Suzuko Mimori into the stratosphere, before disbanding in 2016.
  • Morning Musume: Founded in 1997, Morning Musume is a real-life idol group as part of the Hello! Project music collective

N

  • Nesica: One of several cards used in arcades to save game data. 
  • Nijigasaki High School Idol Club: The third primary group in the Love Live series, originally announced as the Perfect Dream Project in 2017 and going on to star in Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars, their eponymous anime series, and the Nijiyon cartoon. In the story, the group is based in a futuristic elite girls' academy in Odaiba and contains a global gang of 12 members from Japan, Switzerland, America, and Hong Kong, alongside a cool-headed manager who does not perform, but writes the group's music and treasures each one as shining stars onstage.

O

P

  • Penlight: See Concert stick.
  • Photobook (pb): A book released to promote a seiyuu featuring color photos of them in various locations, outfits, and poses. Please note that some PBs could contain sexually suggestive images.
  • Polaroid style trading card: Trading cards styled after Instax mini-size instant photos. Compatible with Instax-size holders and albums. See Cheki for more information

Q

R

  • Revue Starlight: Multimedia project by Bushiroad that focuses on the stage aspect, ranging from real life stage plays to the now shut down mobile game Revue Starlight ReLive. 

S

  • Saint Snow: The rival group of Aqours, appearing in the Love Live! Sunshine!! anime and movie, After School Activity, and School Idol Festival. First-year Leah Kazuno and her third-year sister Sarah Kazuno hail from Hokkaido and perform edgy music with ice-cold attitude. Leah and Sarah's voice actresses, Hinata Sato and Asami Tano, are also notable for starring in other musical girl-power anime, with Hinata being in Revue Starlight and D4DJ, and Asami in Smile Pretty Cure! and Zombieland Saga.
  • School Idol Collection: A trading card game using assets from the School Idol Festival mobile game, starring only Muse, Aqours, and Saint Snow. Supports solo play and unlimited players -- scout girls from your deck, play them on your stage, get them together to sing songs, and reach 9 points to win.
  • School Idol Festival (SIF): Long-lived mobile rhythm game featuring all the franchise's groups. Closed in 2023 to make way for SIF2 Miracle Wave
  • School Idol Festival After School Activity (SIFAC): Love Live! arcade rhythm game, similar in gameplay to the School Idol Festival app and containing Muse, Aqours, and Saint Snow. Cabinets are no longer in service in Japan, but some have been exported to other countries for private use, and the PS4 version is available around the world under the name Wai Wai Home Meeting.
  • School Idol Festival All Stars! (SIFAS): RPG-like mobile game with rhythm elements featuring Muse, Aqours, and Nijigasaki. Shutdown in 2023 to consolidate all SIF activities into SIF2 Miracle Wave
  • School Idol Festival 2: Miracle Wave: The latest and currently the final game in the SIF series. JP version shut down as of 03/31/2024 with Global shutting down 05/31/24
  • Seiyuu: The Japanese term for voice actors/actresses. Idol community may refer to the Japanese VAs as seiyuu while everyone else is referred to [Language] VA to distinguish them outside their names
  • Small Size: Japanese t-shirt. These would typically fit a US S-M

T

U

  • Ultra Orange: A special chemical-based glow stick that when cracked, gives off an extremely bright orange light hence the Ultra Orange name. They can come in both chemical and battery form, but many recognize it as the chemical light stick. Using this may be frowned upon at some events, outright banned in others, or encouraged at other.
  • Ultra Size: Newer live shirt size from LoveLive, these would typically be a US L-XL
  • Unit: Refers to a specific group(s) within a main one (Guilty Kiss/CYaRon/AZALEA for Aqours) or within a franchise (D4DJ units). Subunits may sometimes be used by the community instead of unit.