For every little girl, there’s a ticket awaits them, a ticket that will grant them entry into the colorful world of Prism Paradise, a place where girls become idols and are what they want to be. Manaka Laala loves idols, but she only prefers watching them, and despite that, she somehow ended up being part of Prism Paradise as one of the most popular idols around. But Laala has to be careful, especially in school where it is forbidden for girls to indulge in such activities. Music, fun, adventure, anything is possible in PriPara!

PriPara is geared towards a very young audience and you can pretty much tell that’s the case because PriPara has mahou shoujo-like transformation scenes, a very lighthearted storyline, and tons of wacky humor. Aikatsu!, PriPara, Full Moon wo Sagashite are little gateways for fans to enter the world of idol anime, and PriPara offers something big idol anime lacks—Extreme fun.

Ichigo has never really considered becoming an idol, but all that changed when she saw the Top Idol, Kanzaki Mizuki, sing and dance on stage. Mizuki’s beauty and appeal on stage entranced Ichigo and from that day onward, Ichigo enrolled at Starlight Academy and her life changed as she became an idol. But despite her many successes as an idol, she still couldn’t reach her senior. Was it something she lacked? Should she train harder? Run faster? Work harder?

Just like PriPara, Aikatsu! is a lighter and more wholesome than her big sisters with the focus more on doing various idol activities like auditions, meeting new friends, training, school, etc.. Oftentimes Aikatsu! is known as the imouto of idol anime. Currently on its third iteration Aikatsu Friends!, the Aikatsu! series is a fun alternative if you wish to watch idol anime without the unnecessary drama and conflict. There is conflict in Aikatsu!, but they’re not as extreme or tear-jerking like from Wake up, Girls!, or even Love Live!. All you need to know is Ichigo, Aoi, Ran and friends are doing idol activities to bring smiles and laughter to fans in both the 2D realm and the IRL realm. Watch the original Aikatsu!, Aikatsu Stars!, or Aikatsu Friends!, every show is guaranteed to give you a wholesome fun time.

Also a protip: Do not get discouraged by the CGI. It’ll improve over time!

12-year-old Kouyama Mitsuki has big dreams of becoming a singer. One day, she made a promise with a boy named Eiichi, that one day when they meet again, they will have both fulfilled their dreams. Unfortunately for Mitsuki, she is diagnosed with a growth in her throat and if left untreated, the tumor will take her life. However, she refuses to be treated because in doing so, she will forever lose her ability to sing and fulfill her promise to Eiichi.

As her last days pass by, she is visited by two soul takers (shinigami), Takuto and Meroko to prepare for her departure to the afterlife. Refusing to give up, Mitsuki shows her resolve and passion to sing and convinces Takuto to help her. With his powers, as well as some reluctant support from Meroko, they push Mitsuki to pursue her dreams by giving her a temporarily healthy body. Will Mitsuki fulfill her dream as a singer and meet Eiichi or will she fail and succumb to her illness?

Mitsuki, her manager, and everyone who is helping her never claimed Mitsuki is an idol, but rather, they call her a singer. In Japan, the role of an idol is often seen as someone who is temporary in the entertainment business and people don’t take them as seriously as singers, actors, etc. If one wishes to pursue their career professionally, the idols graduate and build their career from there. For Mitsuki, she is essentially an idol working to become a singer for her young love Eichi and throughout the series, we watch as Mitsuki start from a novice to a professional artist while overcoming the tumor that’s slowly taking her life away.

346 Production has enacted the Cinderella Project—finding normal girls with hidden talent and take them to stardom as one of the most radiant of all idols. The Producer searches around the city, looking for that girl and one day, he has found one—The girl named Shibuya Rin.

After a long wait, the sequel, rather, the spin-off of the idol anime that started it all has arrived, and Cinderella Girls is, well, different than its predecessor. Being different doesn’t mean it’s also bad at all. While a lot of fans didn’t like the less colorful art style, and, let’s be honest here, the three main girls Rin, Uzuki and Mio weren’t too interesting or boring even, Cinderella Girls still has a huge cast of supporting characters to make up for it.

The tone of the anime is more on the serious side than the original im@s, the main story and the aforementioned supporting characters carry the series about an idol production company looking for diamonds in the rough and make them shine and radiant like in the famous fairy tale Cinderella.

A mysterious illness called the Var Syndrome is wreaking havoc throughout the galaxy. With its origins unknown, the syndrome spreads through planet after planet, turning every humanoid into mindless zombie-like creatures. Miraculously, the idol unit Walküre and the Delta Squadron has the power to put an end to this epidemic.

Macross Delta may not have a school setting or a story of an idol company producing cute idols, and Macross Delta is of the wrong genre of anime, but the idol unit Walküre is as “idol” as you can get. Led by the mysterious Mikumo Guynemer and new recruit Freyja Wion, they perform live in active battlefields and use their songs to transmit a special wave that can turn the tide of battle. It’s a risky responsibility as they open to enemy fire and hazards. But thankfully Walküre has the Delta Squadron that consists a team of pilots that acts as the unit’s dancers and protectors.

Music is an essential element in stories of Macross and each series has a songstress that helps the main character overcome obstacles and give them superhuman powers to turn the tide of battle. Out of the many series out there, Macross Delta was the first to feature an idol unit. If you something different other than typical school idol anime, then Macross Delta is an anime you didn’t know has idols. It also has love, drama, action, and a fantastic music playlist.

Inspired by the success of Otonokizaka High School’s now-legendary school idol group μ's, Takami Chika, a seemingly normal girl who isn’t part of any school club, decided to create her own idol group for her seaside school of Uranohoshi Girl's High School. However, things didn’t go too well as the school president of the school rejected Chika’s plans to set up an idol club. Undeterred and with the help of transfer student from Otonokizaka High School Sakurauchi Riko, Chika has recruited 7 more girls to form the new school idol group Aquors.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This is basically what Love Live! Sunshine!! is with elements all too familiar and oftentimes it feels like their riding the success of its predecessor Love Live!. This is, in retrospect, not totally a bad thing because the new cast of characters and music are anything but similar, and they’re reason enough for you to care for them—Chika, Riko, Kanan, Dia, You, Yoshiko, Hanamaru, Mari, and Ruby goes through phases where they conquer their fears, settle their differences, and work together and be one of the best idols in Japan. Love Live! Sunshine!!, while familiar, it’s still a must-see for idol fans who want to experience more of the Love Live! universe.

Small-time idol group Wake up, Girls! isn't as popular as the rest of their peers, but they got a modicum of success though it's not much to get them off the ground. Things turned for the worse after their manager ran off with their concert money, leaving the group without a future and Green Leaves Entertainment on the verge of closure. The girls got a second chance and it's a very rough road, but it's a path the girls must take in order to achieve success.

The Wake up, Girls! series as a whole was made with a low budget resulting in stiff animations, horribly drawn backgrounds and CGI has an abysmal frame rate. But despite its flaws due to a limited budget, Wake up, Girls! still managed to tell a realistic story about the struggle of idols like how they promote themselves, hunting for events, paying the bills, and tackling the dark side of the idol industry like character assassination, sexual exploitation, drugs, and corruption. The tone of Wake up, Girls! is definitely not on the cheerful side, but the anime offers a one of a kind experience that is not shrouded by frilly dresses and bubbly music. Maybe Wake up, Girls! is showing us something and we should wake up to the harsh reality of idol-hood.

Motomiya Nagisa is your typical girl in one of the industrial planets colonized by mankind going about her day. One day she witnessed something special—a live concert of the fugitive interplanetary idol group AKB0048. The dazzling lights and heartwarming music has captured her heart and this inspired her to join in their ranks. However, she must hide her love for music for The Deep Galactic Trade Organization deemed it illegal to like music as it’s one of the sources of evil in the universe. What will you do when the universe becomes anti-fun and imposed a universe-wide Entertainment Ban? Create an idol group, spread love, cheer and fun throughout the galaxy and fight spoilsports with guns and robots!

AKB0048 is similar to Macross Delta in a way that the setting is in the far distant, off-Earth future, but without the destruction, despair and the death of someone close to you because your singing turned them into mindless berserkers. Instead of fighting other alien races, Nagisa and the new members of AKB0048 must travel from planet to planet to hold concerts while evading capture from the most anti-fun government in existence. This unique and fun premise is reason alone to watch AKB0048 and who wouldn’t be dazzled at these beautiful girls with beautiful voices and with equally beautiful music?

765 Production Studio is the home and workplace of 13 young idols with different walks of life. Led by the 765 Pro staff, including the newly-hired Producer, the idols train hard, settle their differences for the group synergy, fix their shortcomings, conquer their fears and face whatever obstacles that come their way to become professionals in the booming and popular idol entertainment industry.

The iDOLM@STER is the template of the modern idol anime like a huge cast of idols with varying personalities, a look at how the idol entertainment works, how these idols promote their name or brand, and the hardships or scandals they experience. Unlike Wake up, Girls! and Aikatsu!, The iDOLM@STER strikes the perfect balance of drama and fun, so the anime won’t feel melodramatic but at the same time not feel too campy. At one point the idols will do a fun music video on one episode and a serious story of a rival studio sabotaging 765 Pro on the other, The iDOLM@STER has it all and it’s one of the best idol anime out there.

With the decline of the number of students enrolling every year, Otonokizaka High School is set to close its gates. However, the ambitious student of the school, Kousaka Honoka, is determined to keep the school open for the future generation of students by boosting the school’s popularity through Honoka’s idea to create an idol group and compete in the prestigious Love Live! Tournament. With the help of her friends Umi and Kotori, Honoka wastes no time to find more members to help save the school by forming the idol group μ's.

Like the iDOLM@STER, Love Live! is a massive multimedia franchise covering anime, manga, games, music and radio shows. Before the anime started, Love Live! is already popular in Japan with its music and beautifully drawn characters and having touched every form of media in Japan, an anime adaptation was expected. And the adaptation arrived and more or less it met the expectations of fans (maybe except Nico fans), and Love Live! was something different.

Unlike the IDOLM@STER, Love Live! didn’t follow its rival’s template but instead move in a direction that distinguishes itself from the rest of the idol anime. There are no production studios, no producers, the focus was solely on the girls working hard to save their school. Honoka may be an airhead or dumb at times, but she’s very determined and she can make things work without the help of a producer or has the funds of a production company. Love Live! may have paved the way for a new idol anime template for future idol anime to use.