Best movies & TV Shows like I★Chu: Halfway Through the Idol

A high school teacher, struggling to keep up with today's youth and estranged from his only son, receives the news about a terrible accident that left his son in a coma. Wanting to know more about his son's life, he finds out that he's been working as a producer for a new underground idol group who are now left without a guiding hand.

Seventeen-year-old Nanaka Kirisato is a high school student serious about her studies and goals in life. She frequently criticizes her best friend, Nenji Nagihara, for being a childish delinquent who spends his time fighting other boys. Then one day, after a heated argument with Nenji, she falls off a flight of stairs and suffers a brain injury, resulting in her mind reverting to that of a six-year-old. With this in mind, Nanaka's father and Nenji must keep her injury a secret as she struggles to live a normal life and grow up all over again.

Sasahara Kanji is a college freshman who decides to join a student society to share his hidden thoughts on manga, anime and gaming. As he participates in club activities such as visiting dojin shops and anime festivals he opens his mind and resolves that he will make his way into the otaku world.

No matter where she goes, Sora takes her sketchbook along. The world is full of mysterious and beautiful things, after all, and Sora doesn't want to miss a single one. The best way she knows to capture each moment is by drawing and sketching, watching and learning.

THE IDOLM@STER follows 13 girls from the 765 Production Studio, whose sole goals is to become the top idols in the Japanese entertainment industry. Along with the laughs, struggles and tears that are inherently part of this journey, you will cheer for the girls of iDOLM@STER as they climb their way to the top!

Otonokizaka High School is planning to close within three years. However, nine female students come together with one thing in mind—form a pop idol group to revive the school’s popularity and keep it from shutting down. 'In order to protect our beloved school, there’s only one thing we can do...become pop stars!'

Uranohoshi Girls’ High School, a private school in the seaside neighborhood of Uchiura at Numazu city, Shizuoka prefecture. A small high school in a corner of Suruga Bay, it is home to nine teens, led by second-year student Chika Takami, driven by one seriously big dream: To become the next generation of bright, sparkling “school idols”! As long as we don’t give up, any dream can come true... All we have to do now is keep pushing hard for fame and glory! Now their “School Idol Project” begins to make their dreams come true!

Living by the sea, protecting the sea, and journeying across the sea... They're the Blue Mermaids! Because of a shift in tectonic plates around 100 years ago, Japan lost much of its area to submergence. To preserve Japan's territories, coastal cities sprung up, one after the other. Eventually, they became marine cities, and along with the expansion of sea-lanes to connect them, the need arose for a sizable staff to protect the seas. At the same time, maritime jobs were becoming more popular among women. Hence, the Blue Mermaids, tasked with keeping the seas safe, had become every female student's dream job. This is when childhood friends Akeno Misaki and Moeka China enroll in a marine high school in Yokosuka, along with other girls who share their goal of becoming a Blue Mermaid.

Yume Nijino aims to become a top idol, and she enrolls in the Yotsuboshi Gakuen (Four Stars Academy). This academy has a special group called the S4, who are the top four active idols in the school. Yume and the other first-year students aim to become a part of the S4.

An art club in a certain middle school, and its members: Subaru Uchimaki, who is a genius at drawing faces, but only wants to draw the perfect 2D wife; Colette, a rich troublemaker who never stops making mischief; and the club president, who sleeps through sessions and collects sleeping aids. Mizuki Usami is the only person in the club who wants to do art club-like activities, and constantly struggles to do so.

Set six years prior to the events of Barakamon, detailing the life of Seishuu Handa as a high school student—and a very interesting life it is. In Handa-kun, Seishuu Handa is admired by his peers as a calligraphy genius and given the utmost respect, but Handa-kun himself is under the mistaken impression that the deference and attention he receives from the other students is actually bullying. Handa just wants to live a quiet life, but hilarity ensues as one character after another challenges his position as the school idol, and somehow comes away as a fan all while Handa is horrified and clueless.

Nadeshiko, a high school student who had moved from Shizuoka to Yamanashi, decides to see the famous, 1000 yen-bill-featured Mount Fuji. Even though she manages to bike all the way to Motosu, she's forced to turn back because of worsening weather. Unable to set her eyes on her goal, she faints partway to her destination. When she wakes up, it's night, in a place she's never been before, with no way of knowing how to get home. Nadeshiko is saved when she encounters Rin, a girl who is out camping by herself. This outdoorsy girls story begins with this first encounter between Nadeshiko and Rin.

Hana Ichinose is a normal 16-year-old high school student. However, there is something different about her: She enrolled in high school one year late! Her classmates are unaware of this, and Hana will have to work hard to catch up with everyone else.

Kaoruko Moeta is a 15-year-old high school student and 4-panel manga artist. After moving to a dorm especially for female manga artists, she meets shoujo manga artist Koyume, teen romance manga artist Ruki, and shounen manga artist Tsubasa. Every day, they'll work all through the night trying to ink and finish their work!

Nariyuki Yuiga is in his last and most painful year of high school. In order to gain the “special VIP recommendation” which would grant him a full scholarship to college, he must now tutor his classmates as they struggle to prepare for entrance exams. Among his pupils are “the sleeping beauty of the literary forest,” Fumino Furuhashi, and “the Thumbelina supercomputer,” Rizu Ogata–two of the most beautiful super-geniuses at the school! While these two were thought to be academically flawless, it turns out that they’re completely clueless outside of their pet subjects…!? As Nariyuki’s life is turned upside down by these quirky girls who just never learn, he must do everything he can to get them accepted into college! The stage is set for this romantic comedy featuring prodigies who never learn when it comes to studying and love!

The story centers around the first-year student Mana Shikimiya as she pursue her dreams of winning at the Prism Stage, the competition that determines the top middle-school idol.

One day, Miu Takigawa suddenly receives a letter notifying her that she has been chosen as a member of a brand-new project. Half in disbelief, she heads over to the location stated on the letter. There, she finds seven other girls summoned there in the same fashion. The girls behold a giant, top-secret facility. They stand in bewilderment as they are told: "You are going to debut for a major record label as an idol group." A new kind of idol, never-before-seen, is about to be born here...

Former showbiz stars Roko, Hayu, and Nina live together in a dormitory for dropout idol girls. As timing would have it, young dreamer Sakura happens to move in with the other girls just as an announcement is made to tear down the dorm due to a 100-million-yen debt! This leads to the unexpected formation of a new idol group called Fruit Tart. Their sole mission: earn some yen and stop the demolition.

Based on a mixed media project that blends fantasy, magical girl, and idol elements, Lapis Re:LiGHTs will follow a group of students as they train to become idols. Together, they'll use the magic of music and the magic of... well, literal magic... in their performances.

Nijigasaki High School is located in Odaiba, Tokyo. The school is popular due to its free school style and diverse majors. The story centers on the members of school idol club in Nijigasaki, and their attempt to prevent the club from being abolished.

Rinku Aimoto, who has a habit of saying "Happy Around!", has returned to Japan from abroad and enrolls at Yoba Academy where DJing is popular. She is deeply moved by a DJ concert she sees there and decides to form a unit of her own with DJ Maho Akashi, VJ Muni Ohnaruto and keyboardist Rei Togetsu. While interacting with other DJ units like Peaky P-key and Photon Maiden, Rinku and her friends aim for the high stage!

Go for Hoi Hoi Hall! This is the passionate but relaxed 10 day story of struggling idols who fight to fill a 100 seat concert hall!

The final summer of middle school, Shotaro Futaba discovers boys gymnastics and is completely enamored by it. Shotaro ends up going to Soshukan Private High School (aka Ao High) and decides to visit the boys gymnastics club. He's greeted by very unique senpais and a star gymnast named Misato Ryoya. Dedicating your life to something you love during your fiery days of youth... Of course, there is frustration, and fights, but see how these boys work together as a team towards a similar goal in this drama about sports and youth.

Yuigaoka Girls High School is a newly established school that lies between the Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama neighborhoods of Tokyo. The story centers on its first batch of students. With no history, no upperclassmen or alumni, and no reputation, it is a school full of unknowns. Five girls, among them Kanon Shibuya, have a fateful encounter with school idols. Kanon decides, "I love singing. I want to make something come true with song!" Many feelings converge upon a star that has only started to grow. The future is blank and full of possibility for these girls, and their story that everyone will make possible has only just begun. Soar with your wings, our Love Live!

Ayumu just fell in love at first sight with Urushi and joined the illegitimate Shogi Club! But Ayumu has vowed not to confess his feelings until he can best Urushi, and he has a long way to go before he can stand up to her strategic brilliance.

What would you do to pursue your passion? For Hiyori Suzumi, it’s leaving her simple rural hometown for the bustling city of Tokyo to join Sakuragaoka High School’s track team. Between being a manager-in-training for two cutthroat schoolboy idols, track, and friends, Hiyori shows no signs of slowing down.

Maigahara Music College Affiliate School Maigahara Senior High (abbreviated as MaiMai). At this academy that gathers the most promising musical talents, there's a rumor circulating among students. "If you give an amazing performance at the school festival, you get special extra credit (or so they say)." Serina's grades are not very good, so she immediately believes the rumor and decides to form a band! Rehearsals, sleepovers... even cosplay? Everything they can imagine will become part of their colorful daily life. But will they really be able to give an amazing performance and get the rumored credit!? The curtain rises on the story of the daily, funny lives of these girls!

Yayoi Sakamoto, a diehard fan of comedians and comedy acts, enrolls in the private Kazuki High School in Nanba (Osaka's entertainment district famous as the starting point for many comedians). She reunites with Yomogi Takahashi, a childhood friend who once formed the comedy duo "Konamonzu" with her when they were little. Before long, they find themselves putting together a routine at a park like they did before, in order to enter a local shopping area's contest. At that moment, a mysterious girl calls out to them.

After one last tournament and an embarrassing loss in the final round, Michi decides to call it quits on the sport of judo. Between high school social activities and entrance exams, she’ll have no time to compete in the martial art she loves most, but putting aside old hobbies is a normal part of growing up. Still, the love of judo lingers—and it comes back full force when she meets her new classmate Towa, the girl who bested Michi in her final match! Towa wants to form a judo club at their school, but she’ll need new members to get it up and running. United by their love of judo, they’ll throw in their passions into the ring together and score ippon again!

“I want to be an ordinary person! Someone who's normal! I've already told you I don't have my power anymore!” Blade is a carefree transfer student whose only goal is to make friends with his classmates at Rosewood Academy, a school for heroes-in-training. On the surface, Blade seems like an ordinary boy, but he is hiding a miserable secret with seeds that start long ago, with the defeat of the Demon King at the hands of the Great Hero. Join this new class of friends as they unravel the mystery surrounding Blade, and journey toward becoming full-fledged Heroes!

Kyotaro Ichikawa, a boy barely clinging to the bottom rung of his school's social ladder, secretly believes he’s the tortured lead in some psychological thriller. He spends his days dreaming up ways to disrupt his classmates' peaceful lives and pining after Anna Yamada, the class idol. But Kyotaro's not nearly the troubled teen he pretends to be…and it turns out Anna's a bit odd herself!

These small girls are ready to make it big! All 12 or younger and under 149 centimeters tall (4'11"), these aspiring pop idols dream of performing for thousands of people. But with zero experience, they've got a lot of work to do! With the help of their rookie producer, who's almost just as short, can they stay focused and make it to the top?

Mirai Kasuga, who wants to carry on a dream she has yet to see. Shizuka Mogami, who yearns to be an idol and is shaken. Tsubasa Ibuki, who does not know what she can be serious about. At 765 Production new idols gather and everyone's "dreams" will brought into brilliance at the theater! The long-awaited anime of "The IDOLM@STER Million Live!!

Yuki Itose is just a typical student dealing with the pressures of college. She is struggling one day on the train when an upperclassman named Itsuomi Nagi helps her out. As he gradually opens a new world to her, Yuki develops feelings for Itsuomi. A pure love story begins to grow.