Iku Nakatani

Iku Nakatani(中谷育  , *Nakatani Iku*), is one of the idols featured in The iDOLM@STER: Million Live! and is also one of the members of the "39 Project" (*「39（サンキュー）プロジェクト」,* "*sankyuu purojekuto*") during the events of Theater Days. Her Million Live! original card type was Visual, meanwhile her Theater Days card type is Princess. She is voiced by Akari Harashima (原嶋あかり, *Harashima Akari*).

## Appearance

Iku has dark black hair that is rather short in length, that she wears down and sits in a round bob shaped style. She has straight cut bangs and puts a small piece of her hair up in a red and white ball clip, making a small ponytail in her hair. Her eyes are orange-brown in color.

Iku's casual wear consists of a short yellow dress that has pink bows laced around it . The bottom of the dress is frilled and is a darker shade of yellow. She wears bright pink sneakers. All of Iku's casual wear reflects her childish nature.

## Personality

Iku is the youngest character in the Theater, being just 10 years old. Despite this, she refuses to be treated like a child and just wants to prove to others that she can look after herself with no help. Because of this, she has a very strong can-do attitude and sometimes comes off as quite precocious. She has a very strong will to learn more about the world, especially that of the adult world. Despite this, Iku is still a child at heart and especially enjoys getting praised by people for doing things on her own. Iku has even somehow convinced herself that she already is an adult, simply because she can make sunny-side up eggs all on her own. Although, she does carry her phone at all times in secret just in case she needs to contact an adult (or they need to find her). She also still believes in Santa Claus.

She became an idol because her mother praised her talents in the performing arts, specifically acting. Upon arriving at the Theater, she assumed that the producer was actually her apprentice that would learn from her, giving her a huge confidence boost on accident. This lead her to initially reject any help anyone offered her because she believed she was a leader. Iku is shown to be very hard working through this, and even gives her all in areas she knows she can improve in. Her headstrong attitude can occasionally get her into trouble when she overestimates her actual ability, such as when she accidentally cut herself while cooking with the older girls in an attempt to keep up.

She still does childish things from time to time, such as wishing upon stars to become better at the things she could improve on, although she really just loves shooting stars in general, despite never actually seeing one up until the Good Sleep Baby event story. Iku also loves to play the recorder, which is something that she can even be seen doing in the Theater from time to time. She acknowledges that she is technically still learning the basics, which can sometimes cause her to be out of key, much to her embarrassment. On occasion, she will play her recorder alongside Julia when she plays guitar.

Iku is known in the Theater to have a creative nature, as well as being able to read people and the mood of a situation rather well for someone her age. This has caused her to become somewhat of a peacemaker among the others in the Theater, especially the other younger girls.

Iku enjoys being alone as it makes her feel independent. She encourages others to talk walks alone as she has found it makes her much more aware of people she's never spoken to or places shes never been.

Of course, like any young child, Iku loves her mother to pieces and clings to her a lot, as well as wanting to prove to her mother than she can do things for herself. She claims that her one true "adult" talent she has is that she can wake up early, usually without any problems getting going. However, she is also guilty of staying up later than a child should, as she watches a lot of anime, her favorite being one named "Magical Girl \* Shiny Idol".

## Image Songs

* Good Day Sunshine!
* Animal☆Station!
* Tokidoki Seesaw

## History

#### **THE iDOLM@STER: Million Live!**

The producer notices that they'll be working with someone who is surprisingly, 10 years old. Producer ponders to themselves if maybe they should call the young girl "Iku-chan", considering her age. Iku quickly enters the room, and looks at the Producer questioningly. In very formal Japanese, she asks "I thought the producer would be here....but" and eyes the producer up and down. Producer quickly exclaims that they are in fact, the producer she heard about. The producer calls Iku "Iku-chan" as planned, but Iku quickly shuts it down, as she believes the "chan" suffix makes her sound childish and irresponsible. The producer makes a deal with Iku, saying that "in that sense, you don't need to be so formal with me, normal Japanese is alright, okay?" to which Iku finally lets her guard down and begins to speak like a normal child would. She asks the producer outright "what is your purpose here?" exclaiming that she thinks she is capable of handling idol work all on her own. The producer laughs, and tells Iku that "I can do anything, while it's fine for you to work alone, call on me for help, okay?" Iku ponders on this for a while, but decides that maybe she could use the help of someone. However, Iku gets confused, as she assumed that the producer would be the one who is teaching her how to sing and dance. The producer gently explains that he just helps with scheduling and is ultimately "in charge" of Iku. This gives her the wrong idea, and assumes that the producer is actually an assistant to Iku. For the sake of keeping her happy, the producer just goes along with it, and asks Iku when she's like to next meet up to discuss a plan of action.

#### **THE iDOLM@STER Million Live!: Theater Days**

Auditions are going ahead smoothly for the 39 project. The next girl to be interviewed is Iku....the producer wonders what she'll be like, considering she is only 10. The interview starts, and Iku enters and introduces herself in very formal Japanese, surprising for a child. She proudly exclaims that her mother taught her the greeting, and that it's always important to greet people formally at work. The producer laughs, and says it sure is a "lively greeting". He then tells her that it's okay for her to speak casually, as she is a kid after all. Iku rejects, saying that "all adults use formal language at work", to which producer swiftly rebuts "but close co-workers can be informal, so why don't we try that". This softens Iku up, and she decides that speaking informally is okay, only as long as the producer doesn't call her "Iku-chan". The producer then asks Iku why she wanted to become an idol, to which she proudly exclaims "my mum praised me and said I could do it!". It is here that Iku actually mentions that she has received classes in acting before, so she is quite talented. She also mentions playfully that between school and acting classes, her days are always busy "but she's an adult so she can handle it". The producer sees the abilities Iku has, mostly meaning how well she is able to balance a lot of work at once, so Iku gets a pass. At first, Iku is taken back, as she wasn't actually sure she'd land the job. However, the adult like position breaks away and Iku breaks into laughter and song, celebrating her new found idolhood.

The day of Iku's promotional photo shoot arrives, and the producer is worried that Iku might be a little nervous or overwhelmed, so they go to check on her. Much to their surprised, Iku is bright eyes and bushy-tailed, looking as energetic as ever. Iku says that her talent is being able to wake up early, and that having a large breakfast can help you get energized for the day. She even notes that she woke up earlier than intended, which she thinks is very responsible of her. The producer expresses their concern that Iku may be nervous, to which she says "not at all!! I'm so excited!!". However, right there, she begins to doze off, obviously not being able to keep herself fully awake. The producer gives her a little shake, and she jolts awake, exclaiming loudly that she's absolutely fine and not sleepy at all. Iku then goes off to get her makeup done, but keeps yawning through the process. The producer suddenly gets scared that Iku may fall asleep halfway trough the shoot. Luckily, the excitement from Iku putting on makeup (or "makeup-san", as she calls it), was enough to energize her, and the shoot goes well. Iku proudly states that wearing special photo makeup makes her an adult, which means she's grown a little more responsible today. The producer laughs, noting that "while Iku might not be a grown up yet, she sure does look like one". Thankfully, Iku has enough energy to get her through the rest of the shoot session.

## Relationships

Momoko Suou

Iku is very close to Momoko, which is a given since the two girls are the youngest members of 765 MILLION STARS. Iku's kind nature is a source of warmth for Momoko, and it was thanks to Iku that Momoko was able to open up to others, and Momoko considers Iku her first friend. The two girls share a variety of interests, even getting matching stationery at one point. Momoko even likes the pancakes Iku makes, although she gets embarrassed when complimenting Iku about them.

Tomoka Tenkubashi

Iku gets along quite well with Tomoka, and is often doted on by her. Tomoka agrees with a lot of things Iku says and goes out of her way to make sure Iku is listened to. When Tomoka overhears Iku talking about having nightmares, she drops in to tell Ikuto call for her help if she has another nightmare. Within the nightmare, Tomoka shows up as Iku's guardian angel and scares away the monsters, prompting Iku to believe she has mysterious powers. The two even got a duet, titled HELLO, YOUR ANGEL♪.

Mizuki Makabe

## Trivia

* Iku once brought the producer a present, as she is aware that Santa Claus doesn't bring real adults presents. She didn't want the producer to feel left out.
* Because of her big love of magical girl styled anime, Iku was granted the position of center for the unit Twinkle Rhythm.
* Despite her ability being "waking up early", she still struggles staying awake for long periods of time, like any child.