King of Prism

King of Prism is a Japanese media franchise produced by Avex Pictures and Tatsunoko Production. The series is a spin-off of the "Pretty Rhythm" multimedia series and focuses on the male characters introduced in "Pretty Rhythms third anime series, ', aiming for an older female demographic.
"King of Prism" debuted as a film series in 2016, with the first film, "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm" releasing in January 9, 2016. It was then followed by ' in 2017, ' in 2019, and "King of Prism All Stars: Prism Show Best 10" in 2020.
Plot.
The "Pretty Rhythm" series focuses on Prism Stars, idols performing figure skating routines through song and dance with special moves known as Prism Jumps. The characters participate in Prism Shows, live performances that are scored based on how charmed the audience is. Currently, there are two styles of Prism Shows for male Prism Stars: academy-style, standardized performances to appeal to women; and street-style, performances that incorporate street dancing and is not officially recognized by the Prism Show Association.
Set 1.5 years after "", the story follows Shin Ichijo, a new student at Edel Rose Academy inspired by the group to train at becoming a Prism Star and participate in Prism Show Tournaments. However, Edel Rose's ex-supervisor Jin Norizuki has established a rival academy, Schwarz Rose, who becomes their main competitor.
Characters.
Edel Rose.
 is one of the top dance schools specializing in Prism Stars attached to the all-boys high school Kakyoin Academy and Le Celiana Girls Academy. It is run by . Edel Rose's famous alumni includes Koji Mihama, Hiro Hayami, and Kazuki Nishina, who formed the group . The new students are collectively referred to as , but by the end of "Shiny Seven Stars", they debut as .
Schwarz Rose.
 is a school for Prism Stars led by , who uses Spartan training to discipline students and has a large influence on media.
Production.
Hiroko Nishi and Takeshi Yoda had wanted to develop a late-night 13-episode television series that would focus on Over the Rainbow, the male characters of "Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live", but their original plan was rejected. When it was reworked into a film, it was rejected again, and the staff were told that if they were able to provide evidence that the project would work out, then it would be approved. When the full version of Over the Rainbow's theme song, "Athletic Core", received positive feedback. a character song album centered on them was produced. In 2015, Over the Rainbow appeared in the movie "Gekijō-ban PriPara: Minna Atsumare! Prism Tours" if the audience chose to view route 4, which ended with a teaser for their comeback. The film was financially successful, with fans attending the cheer screenings multiple times with glowsticks. After executives at Avex Pictures assessed the popularity of cheer screenings, they then approved the "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm" film project.
Media.
Film.
After teasing Over the Rainbow's comeback at several "Pretty Rhythm" and "PriPara" events, "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm" was announced at an Edel Rose event in 2015. The film was directed by Masakazu Hishida, who had previously directed various episodes of "Pretty Rhythm", while ' scriptwriter Jou Aoba was in charge of the script. Yoshihiro Otobe, who previously handled the CG direction in ' was in charge of the CG direction for the film, and Mai Matsuura was in charge of character designs. The film was released in Japan on January 9, 2016, grossing at the Japanese box office in two months. Though "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm" was initially planned to screen in 14 theaters, the popularity and financial success led the film to screen in more than 130 theaters nationwide, later selling about 460,000 tickets for approximately . 4DX theater screenings were available in 26 theaters on June 18, 2016. The Los Angeles Film Festival screened the film on September 16, 2017.
A second film titled "" was announced in 2016 and was released in theaters on June 10, 2017. The film ranked #7 nationwide on its opening weekend and grossed within the first four days of release, grossing more than .
"King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars", a television anime series and film project, was announced in 2018 as a sequel to the first two films. The theatrical version consisting of four feature compilation films, with three episodes condensed in each, were given limited cheer screenings from March to May 2019. The first film, "King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars I: Prologue × Yukinojo × Taiga", opened on March 2, 2019. The second film, "King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars II: Kakeru × Joji × Minato", opened on March 23, 2019. The third film, "King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars III: Leo × Yu × Alec", opened on April 13, 2019. The final film, "King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars IV: Louis × Shin × Unknown", opened on May 4, 2019. The theatrical release of all four films grossed a consecutive total of , with over 190,000 attendees. "King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars IV: Louis × Shin × Unknown", opened at #1 on opening day and #9 on opening weekend. The television version aired weekly on TV Tokyo at 1:35 AM beginning April 8, 2019, with all four films split into 12 episodes. Crunchyroll licensed the show for English distribution. The opening theme song is "Shiny Seven Stars!" The ending theme song for the theatrical version is "366 Love Diary", while the television version features cover versions of TRF's most popular songs from each character.
A compilation film titled "King of Prism All Stars: Prism Show Best 10" was announced in 2019 and was released in theatres on January 10, 2020. The anime film sold 26,000 tickets and earned 45 million in its first four days.
Stage play.
A stage play adaptation summarizing both "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm" and "", titled "King of Prism: Over the Sunshine!", ran at Umeda Arts Theater Drama City in Osaka from November 2 to 5, 2017 and AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo from November 8 to 12, 2017. The play is directed by Masanari Ujikawa. Jou Aoba and Rei Ishizuka, who had worked on the original animated film as the scriptwriter and music composer respectively, returned to work on the play. The cast consists of Shohei Hashimoto as Shin, Koji Kominami as Kouji, Taishi Sugie as Hiro, Takuto Omi as Kazuki, Shojiro Yokoi as Yukinojo, Ryoki Nagae as Taiga, Yoshiki Murakami as Kakeru, Yuzuki Hoshimoto as Leo, Ryota Hirono as Yu, Taiki Naito as Louis, Spi as Alexander, and Yamato Furuya as Joji. Masashi Igarashi reprised his role as Minato from the film.
Manga.
A manga adaptation of "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm", titled "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm Party Time", was drawn by Sumika Sumio and serialized in "Monthly GFantasy". The manga ended in the February 2018 issue, released on January 18, 2018.
Game.
A gacha game for smart phones titled "King of Prism: Prism Rush! Live" was released on August 4, 2017. The events in the game explore plot details in the "King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm" and "", as well as connecting them to "King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars" with events titled "Road to Shiny Seven Stars." On August 12, 2020, Avex announced the game would end services on October 29, 2020.
Short stories.
From January to December 2018, a series of short stories called "Young of Prism: Boku, Umareta! by King of Prism" were published monthly on "Pash! Plus", the online website of the magazine "Pash!" Each story was released monthly, focusing on one of the main Prism Star characters when they were babies.
Other media.
The characters of "King of Prism" have made crossover appearances in other franchises and games. Taiga, Kakeru, and Alexander appeared in a collaboration rap battle with Buster Bros!!! from "". Shin, Hiro, Taiga, Kakeru, and Alexander appeared in "Ensemble Stars!" The characters will also be appearing in "DREAM!ing". "King of Prism" has also collaborated with the skincare brand Bioré UV and appeared on promotional packaging.