Karen Hojo

**Karen Hojo** (北条 加蓮, ***Karen Hojo***?) is one of the characters available in *THE iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls* and *THE iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage*. Her theme color is turquoise and her idol type is cool.

## Bio

### Personality

Karen had a weak body due to an illness in childhood, which was severe enough to force her to spend time in the hospital, keeping her from attending school regularly, and even missing a grade. Despite her condition, she was resilient and hopeful. During her hospitalization, she looked up to the idols that appeared on television who provided a beacon of light and inspiration during her darkest moments, fueling within her a deep desire to become an idol herself, though she convinced herself she could never become one. Her eventual recovery in middle school was considered nothing short of miraculous by her doctors, her family, and herself alike. But the long time she had spent hospitalized severely hurt her academic and social life. Lost friendships, dwindling grades, and bouts of mild sicknesses only added to her mounting woes. The overwhelming physical and mental stress weighed her down, leaving her vulnerable to illnesses and gradually whittling away at her vitality. With each additional burden, she had to summon greater reserves of strength, but the road to recovery was long and arduous. Her trauma left her with a sense of "survivor's guilt", causing her to feel that succumbing to her illness would have been a better outcome than continuing to suffer.

When her idol career started, Karen still retained her pessimistic personality and was standoffish towards others, including her Producer. She was still a sickly person at the time, thus, she acted cold and withdrew from doing idol activities due to fear of collapsing and being hospitalized. Though still anemic and prone to fever, Karen's health had significantly improved after exercising regularly and having her dream of becoming an idol fully realized. Her illness completely disappeared, hinting that her poor health condition post-recovery was psychosomatic. As she formed connections with fellow idols, particularly Nao and Rin, Karen's condition gradually improved and she became more open to others. As she matured, Karen shifted her focus from dwelling on her past to achieving her dreams and embracing what the future held, promising to leave her mark as a top idol.

Since her recovery, Karen has shown a more cheerful side of herself, often teasing those around her and making them feel embarrassed - a trait she inherited from her mother. Her playful antics are usually directed toward targets like Nao, with Rin acting as her accomplice, and the Producer, whom she pokes fun at for his inexperience with love. Other victims include naive idols, like Uzuki, and people who easily blush, such as Mika. She is also interested in fashion and often dons a gyaru style, though more subtle than Mika or Rina. Additionally, her exceptional skill in nail art is widely recognized, and she takes pride in offering her services to other idols free of charge. She says that she learned how to do nail art while she was bedridden, from a nurse at a hospital. As she couldn't move at the time, doing her nails provided her with an outlet for self-expression and creativity, which remains deeply ingrained in her to this day.

### Relationships

* Producer: Karen feels indebted towards her Producer, seeing him as a savior from his darkest times and the key to her recovery. However, she didn't want to be a burden on him because of her past, so she kept what she felt about it from him.
* Rin Shibuya & Nao Kamiya: Close friends and unitmates in Triad Primus. All three of them went to the same middle school, went to different high schools, reconnected at the agency, and became friends. Karen sees Nao as a friend and partner in the idol industry, and Rin as a "rival" that she wants to catch up to. She often teases the two to buy some junk food at a family diner and talk until it's dark outside. She is also one to tease the two as she bascially knows everything about them. Besides Triad Primus, Nao and Karen are also part of Caskets.
* Mika Jougasaki: Close friends. Karen thinks it's silly when Mika sings about love, as she doesn't actually know anything about it.
* Rika Jougasaki: Close friends. Karen treats Rika like a younger sister, and the feeling is mutual.
* Kanade Hayami: Close friends and unitmates in Monochrome Lily. Kanade thinks of Karen as an excellent nail artist and if she ever had to graduate, nail art would be a great alternative route for her. Beside MonoLily, both idols are part of the unit ∫nTegrαl, and, with Ibuki Komatsu, form one of the final units of the original *Cinderella Girls* mobile game, Ring-Link.
* Mizuki Kawashima, Koume Shirasaka, & Anastasia: Friends and unitmates in Caskets.
* Mayu Sakuma, Miho Kohinata, Riina Tada, & Chieri Ogata: Friends and unitmates in Masque:Rade.
* Kyoko Igarashi & Aiko Takamori: Friends and unitmates in Trichromatic Nature.
* Makino Yagami & Hina Araki: Friends and unitmates in ∫nTegrαl.
* Yui Ohtsuki: Friends and unitmates in COUNT/LAST.
* Rina Fujimoto: Friends.

## History

When the Producer first saw Karen, he called her out for having a sad look in her face. Karen thinks he's coming to flirt with her, but the Producer is not true, and that in fact, he is looking to scout Karen to becoming an idol, and gives her his business card. Karen is reminded of the times she's watched idols on TV, but she denies the offer, saying that idoling is nothing but a dream to her and that the Producer is looking for the wrong person. Thus, the Producer and Karen split ways.

A few days later, the Producer finds Karen in the same spot she was yesterday and offers the opportunity again. Karen calls him persistent and that she's not interested in becoming an idol and that he doesn't even know anything about her. Though, she decides to introduce herself anyway. She says her name is Karen and that she's been sick since she's a little girl. She's been hospitalized her whole life and thus doesn't have any friends, nor does she have any interests because of her growing apathy. She has watched idols on TV but says that being an idol herself is just a fantasy. But the Producer does not care and tells her not to tout herself into believing she has no future as an idol. This gets Karen inspired to take the Producer's offer and become an idol officially.

## Trivia

* Karen is one of many idols in *iDOLM@STER* to be from Tokyo. Other idols from Tokyo include but are not limited to Miria Akagi, Ryo Matsunaga, Kanade Hayami, and Akiha Ikebukuro.
* Karen is the idol with the most votes to become a Cinderella Girl, with over 16,000,000 votes. She is the winner of the 9th Cinderella Election.