The Reason Is a Smile

"No, but I think since she's Mai- chan's sister, her talent shouldn't be bad."

"Mr. Aoki, please don't do this. She and I are different people."

Mai shook her head.

"Oh? Do you two have a bad relationship?"

Aoki Shin asked in surprise.

They know each other well, so they can ask such questions freely.

Mai paused for a few seconds before replying, "It's not a matter of how well we know each other, but rather that I don't want you to project your expectations of me onto her... But then again, I haven't really interacted with her much."

Her mindset is like that of Hyakka.

Hyakka hates it when people attribute her achievements to her mother's talent, and Mai doesn't want her sister's efforts to be summarized as "Sakurajima Mai's sister."

Shuya would have faced similar issues, but he was so outstanding that he was unlikely to be labeled as Hanazawa Sakura's son or Inoue Hikoo's son by others.

But such situations do occur occasionally, but he has a good attitude and automatically ignores those stupid remarks.

Mai said, "Mr. Aoki, just follow the normal selection process. You don't need to take care of her because of me."

"Ha... that's fine. You're really strict."

Aoki Shin agreed, and then went back to watch the filming.

Shuya asked with a smile, "Do you think your sister has a chance?"

Mai shook her head. "I don't think so. If they were capable of being elected, why would their agency need to pull strings like this?"

"Um..."

What she said makes sense.

Shuya will wait and see.

"By the way, what does your sister look like? Let me see."

He took out his phone and typed in the names of Toyohama Nodoka.

It was found quickly.

She was a blonde girl, a member of the idol group Sweet Bullet.

"They're actually quite cute."

"..."

"How about we go see their performance sometime?"

Shuya deliberately teased Mai, but she saw through his act easily.

Mai said indifferently, "Oh, go if you want to."

"Ugh, how boring."

Shuya disappointed.

He said, "... Let's talk about it another time."

He remembered it later.

However, while he says that, he usually forgets most of it in the end.

Mai didn't care whether he went or not; besides, it wasn't her business whether he went or not.

Shuya continued searching and discovered that their group had an account on Nico Nico Douga and had even posted some performance videos.

So he clicked on it to take a look.

Since there were people filming nearby, he couldn't play the music out loud, so he plugged in his earphones to listen.

Just as he was about to put it on, Mai snatched one of the earphones away.

"Didn't you say you weren't interested?"

"Leave me alone."

"..."

Shuya put on one earphone and started watching the video.

This was a performance at a livehouse, where Toyohama Nodoka's group gave a powerful performance, and the otaku in the audience were cheering wildly.

Several minutes passed.

Shuya asked, "Mai- chan, what do you think?"

She took off her headphones and handed them back to him, saying, "So-so."

"It's really just average. The only bright spot is that the little girls are quite cute."

Both of them spoke without holding back.

This is just a small group that's everywhere in the industry; there's nothing to praise about it.

If it weren't for Mai's sister being in there, Shuya wouldn't have given it a second glance... unless they were wearing swimsuits, then he might even look at them.

He glanced at the view count, and sure enough, it wasn't high.

Shuya tapped the comment section with his finger, then withdrew it.

His comments might attract some traffic, but that's all superficial. They don't have the ability to retain viewers, and they might even get criticized in the end, which would be a case of good intentions gone wrong.

Shuya gave up lazily.

Ultimately, it was because he lacked the motivation to help.

He asked curiously, "Did you and your sister have a fight?"

"No."

"Oh..."

Seeing that she didn't want to talk about these things, Shuya didn't press her further.

He turned around to watch the filming.

Asakawa Jun and his classmates were making a ruckus in the classroom, already imagining the glorious days he would have as an idol.

According to the script, this joyful scene is followed by a brutal beating from society.

Having a good face is just a prerequisite for becoming an idol; in reality, it's certainly not that easy.

Asakawa Jun embarked on a spectacular journey of failure.

First of all, his methods for becoming an idol were very limited.

Because he was so eager to become an idol, going to a specialized school or training center was not an option for him; firstly, he didn't have the money, and secondly, he didn't have the time.

Waiting for talent scouts to come to your door is unreliable; it's too uncertain.

The only way is through an audition.

At this moment, a minor actor with some screen time writes and draws on the blackboard, explaining things to Asakawa Jun (an audience member).

There are actually many auditions for recruiting idols.

These auditions are generally for recruiting idols from various agencies, local idols, underground idols, and idol groups formed around a particular interest.

The audition process is mostly the same.

The process generally involves three steps: submitting the application form and photos, document review, and an interview.

Asakawa Jun is good-looking, and he made it to the interview stage in all but a few auditions.

---And then he achieved the feat of losing all his candidates.

The idol audition mainly assesses dance and singing abilities, two areas he had never trained in, so naturally he was terrible at both.

However, his appearance is not particularly attractive, which puts him in a very dangerous situation.

The final blow that led to his elimination was when he actually revealed his reasons for wanting to become an idol.

Section 655, paragraph 611: The reason is a smile.

"The girl I like is my idol, so I want to become her idol and confess my feelings to her!"

Asakawa Jun shouted this out with great enthusiasm during the interview.

The fact that he didn't explicitly reveal the girl's identity was probably his last act of intellectual struggle.

The adults who auditioned were deeply moved by his declaration and then rejected him.

Putting aside the fact that saying such strange things is a major taboo in interviews, the content of his words alone is enough to condemn him to death.

For an idol, being in a relationship is always a fatal problem.

In Japan, being an idol is a profession that sells dreams. Their job is to fulfill the fantasies of their fans. In return, fans will spend money on their idols that is disproportionate to their own abilities in order to support them.

It's not a matter of who's right or wrong; it's essentially a mutually beneficial relationship where everyone gets what they need.

The rule that idols are prohibited from dating is no longer even an unspoken rule.

Japan idols are characterized by their immaturity and approachability, and fans often regard them as ideal figures.

For idols who are in love, it's like they've fallen from heaven to earth, shattering the deliberately created illusion.

This disillusionment with dreams can severely damage popularity.

To be honest, most idols sell a sense of fantasy, but they don't actually possess the talent that matches their income.

The songs were written by others, the dances were choreographed by others, the programs were produced by others, and the plays were written by others.

Aside from all that, what is truly commendable about an idol?

Do you really need to work hard? There are plenty of people who work hard, so why should you idolize someone?

Is hard work enough to justify fans investing huge sums of money?

... You have to understand that these days, high-quality idols with a special skill are very rare.

Most idols are simply good-looking with a carefully crafted persona to fulfill fans' fantasies, thereby getting fans to spend more money.

This relationship is actually very fragile; it will break down as soon as there are lovers. Marriage would be an even more devastating blow, fast-forwarding straight to graduation.

Therefore, it was only natural that Asakawa Jun would fail all his auditions when he clearly stated that the girl he liked was an idol and that he had a strong desire to be in a relationship.

When his classmates learned of his complete failure, they all sighed in despair.

The plot has reached this point, meaning the second episode is entering its later stages.

Shuya's scenes have finally arrived.

To facilitate filming, the production team will film the school scenes first, and then go to other places to reshoot Asakawa Jun's audition scenes. There will also be a funny scene where Asakawa Jun escapes from a conman gay talent scout.

... Let's leave aside the unnecessary details.

The second episode ends with Sakurajima Shuya helping out by introducing Asakawa Jun to his former manager.

Filming has officially begun.

In the footage, the classroom was shrouded in gloom, and Asakawa Jun's expression was as if his parents had died.

At the same time, Sakurajima Shuya suddenly received a phone call.

He glanced at his phone, which displayed the surname Kanda.

"..."

He glanced at the rest of the class; they were all at the front comforting Asakawa Jun.

Shuya walked out of the classroom without hesitation, and the camera followed him out the door.

He walked all the way to the corner, then leaned against the wall to answer the phone.

The phone calls made during filming were not real; the dialogue was mainly dubbed in post-production.

Shuya said expressionlessly, "Hello?"