The Idolmaster 2

Development

The Idolmaster 2 was developed by a team within Bandai Namco Games, directed by Akihiro Ishihara and Masataka Katō. From the project's start, the team intended to create another major high-definition Idolmaster title and decided to rebuild the game from scratch, similar to the original arcade game's development, aiming to earn fan support for another two to three years. Production began by designing the game's setting, which was finalized after development of The Idolmaster SP ended and before The Idolmaster Dearly Stars was announced.

The development staff asked the voice actresses whether they would continue their long-term support for the franchise. All except Yurina Hase, who voiced Yukiho Hagiwara, reaffirmed their support and reprised their roles. An audition for the role was held in 2010, but no satisfactory replacement was found. Ishihara then reviewed recordings from previous auditions and thought Azumi Asakura's singing voice suited the character; he offered her the role after a recall audition.

During recording, Asakura was concerned about differences between her rendition and Hase's, but neither Ishihara nor songwriter Kōji Nakagawa shared this concern, as they were convinced Asakura's voice was fitting after listening to her recitations.