• Document version 0.9 by Hitoshi Doi, 2000.07.28
• Document version 0.9E by Hitoshi Doi, 2001.03.25

Kira Kira Melody Gakuen (Kira Melo) was a seiyuu growing/training project by Banpresto and AIC. They gathered a lot of young girls who wanted to become seiyuu, and trained them as if they were going to a seiyuu/acting/dancing high school, Melody Gakuen.

For their training, the girls had real lessons in "school", but they also did more "on the job" type training. The Melody Gakuen girls did voices in drama CDs, did mock radio shows, appeared in real radio shows, appeared in some TV shows, did events and concerts, etc.

There were also many Kira Kira Melody Gakuen goods made of these girls (both real and virtual). There are CDs, telephone cards, badges, posters, videos, books, etc. There was also going to be an anime (and maybe a game) based on these girls, with these girls doing the voices for it. However, the Kira Melo project ended on March 25, 2001.

Kira Melo began in spring of 1999. Around 2000 (?) girls auditioned, and over 60 girls were selected to be the First Class students. They had an event at the Tokyo Game Show in March 1999 to kick off this project. All of the Kira Melo girls wore a very colorful school uniform (sailor fuku), light blue color with a big pink ribbon. In the summer and autumn of 1999, there were monthly Kira Melo events, and they also appeared at some other idol events. They appeared as a regular guest on the Ani Game Paradise radio show, and did some radio drama.

Then in the spring of 2000, they held auditions for the Second Class students. The final round of this audition was a public audition. Around 1500 (?) girls auditioned, and 50 were selected to be the Second Class students. There was an event at the Tokyo Game Show in April 2000 for the commencement of the Second Class students. There was also a new set of school uniform for the girls. The First Class students wore a blue, blazer style uniform and the Second Class students wore a light green uniform.

But also in April 2000, they reduced the number of First Class students to 28. There had been 51 students up until then, so 23 girls were let go. They said that the girls who were let go had "transferred" to another school. In July 2000, they had an "exam" for the Second Class students, and 16 of them "transferred" away. Also 6 of the First Class students "graduated" early. So in August 2000, there are 22 First Class students and 34 Second Class students in Melody Gakuen. This continued until the end of Kira Melo in March 2001.

If things went according to the original plan, they would have had auditions again for the Third Class students in 2001, and the First Class students would have graduated in 2002. But the project was cut off short..

The school Melody Gakuen does not exist. It is made up for the anime (virtual story). In the virtual world, it's supposed to be somewhere in Yokohama. The "real" Melody Gakuen is in Matsudo (Chiba). (^_^;

The real and virtual worlds cross a lot, and the real girls are put into situations and talk like they are going to a real school, Melody Gakuen.

similar web pages

Melody Gakuen