Uta no Prince Sama

Uta no Prince-sama for PSP is a Japanese romance adventure and visual novel released by Broccoli on June 24, 2010. Developed by Nippon Ichi Software, it is the first game in the Uta no Prince-sama series, later known internationally through its music, animation, and character releases. The story follows Haruka Nanami, an aspiring composer who enters Saotome Academy with the hope of writing a song for an idol. At the school, students train either to perform or to create music, and Haruka must find a partner whose voice can give her songs life.

The game presents its story through dialogue scenes, character art, and player choices. Haruka’s decisions direct the narrative toward different characters and outcomes, so a first playthrough reveals only part of the game’s material. The structure encourages returning to earlier decision points and pursuing other routes, with the player shaping both Haruka’s relationships and the course of her school year. Rather than treating the academy as a simple backdrop, Uta no Prince-sama makes its rules and graduation goal central to the drama: a successful idol-and-composer pairing can earn a place with Shining Agency.

Haruka is surrounded by classmates who are working toward idol careers, each bringing a different temperament and musical identity to the academy setting. The original PSP game centers on six principal male students: Otoya Ittoki, Masato Hijirikawa, Natsuki Shinomiya, Tokiya Ichinose, Ren Jinguji, and Syo Kurusu. Their routes give the player different perspectives on the school’s competitions, rehearsals, friendships, and personal ambitions. Romance is prohibited within Saotome Academy, creating an added constraint as Haruka develops trust with the performers who may become her creative partners.

Music is more than a theme in this PSP adventure. The original production credits Elements Garden with music production, while Mamoru Miyano performs the theme song “Ao no Tsubasa.” The game also combines its visual-novel progression with minigames whose results can affect the available endings. Those interactive sections break up the reading-focused format and reinforce Haruka’s role as a composer in a setting built around vocal performance, training, and the prospect of an idol debut. It is a single-player PSP experience, designed around story routes rather than competitive or online play.

Broccoli positioned Uta no Prince-sama as an adventure centered on music and romance, and the original release received a limited Shining Box edition alongside the standard version in Japan. Its supplementary material included a drama CD and a Saotome Academy booklet, expanding the game’s fictional entertainment-school world beyond the software itself. The PSP release also featured character designs by Chinatsu Kurahana, in-game illustration work by Production I.G, and a large voice cast that helped establish the personalities later associated with the franchise.

For players exploring the beginnings of Uta no Prince-sama, this first PSP game is the starting point for its composer-and-idol premise. It predates the later sequels, fan-disc-style follow-ups, and rhythm titles, so its focus remains on Haruka’s arrival at Saotome Academy and the branching partnerships that form there. The game’s mix of choice-driven romance, school-life storytelling, music-themed minigames, and an ensemble of future idols established the foundation from which the broader Uta no Prince-sama multimedia series grew.