Chapter 41

Chapter 41: 041, The “Original Girl Group” Before AKB48 and Nogizaka46?

In later eras, there were many girl groups, and many of them were not particularly strong in singing or dancing.

However, as long as they had certain standout qualities, they could still be accepted by audiences.

Compared to the carefully crafted “perfect idol” model of the Showa era, these groups—despite their flaws—often felt more “real.”

When the individual strengths of group members were enough to offset weaknesses in singing or dancing, a full-fledged idol girl group became possible.

The artists at STARLIGHT, chosen for gravure photo shoots, at least had acceptable looks and figures. That alone was already a strong point. If further qualities could be developed, forming a real girl group would not be a problem.

As for whether Japanese audiences could accept it?

AKB48 and Nogizaka46 in later years had already fully proven that they could.

“Daitomo-san, why not consider forming a girl group with the agency’s talents?”

“A girl group? A female unit?” Yoshimura Daitomo’s face was already red, and his speech slightly slurred. “Like Hana no San-Nin Musume and Pink Lady?”

“No,” Nagayama Naoki replied helplessly. “Daitomo-san, if they had the level of those groups, would we still be sitting here drinking in frustration?”

“True… so what exactly is a girl group?”

“As the name suggests, it’s a group of girls. The number of members can be relatively large—five or more,” Naoki explained slowly.

“Each member doesn’t have to be a perfect idol. They all have their own flaws and strengths.

But when those small sparks of light come together, what people see becomes the ‘starlight’ of idols.”

“Then that kind of ‘Starlight’…” Yoshimura Daitomo laughed, looking like a lecherous middle-aged man. “It would definitely be beautiful~”

Then, with a thud, he collapsed onto the bar counter of the izakaya.

“What the hell—his tolerance is so low and he still dared to call someone out drinking?!” Naoki Nagayama only realized too late that he had kept drinking until he passed out.

“Damn it—why do I have to pay for the drinks too?!”

“Seriously, I still have to drag this old man home?! I don’t even know where he lives!”

“So in the end, you brought him to the studio?” Ito Shuichi looked at the man lying on the office couch.

“Sorry, I really didn’t know his address.”

“Taking him back to the agency would be embarrassing for Daitomo-san.”

“Taking him to a hotel… a young, handsome guy bringing a drunk middle-aged man to a hotel would cause misunderstandings.”

“Leaving him on the street could be dangerous too.”

“After thinking it over, Shuichi-san is our mutual friend, and there’s enough space here to find somewhere for him to sleep, so I brought him here.”

Ito Shuichi grimaced. “You could’ve just left him in your car.”

Naoki replied matter-of-factly, “It’s my new sports car. I can’t bear it.”

A very solid reason.

It had been several days since he last came to Ito Shuichi’s place, and the studio was surprisingly free.

“Shuichi-san, has the commercial finished?”

“Not yet.”

Naoki found it strange. “It’s already been almost a week, hasn’t it?”

“It’s just a commercial. If things go fast, it can be done in a day.”

“The male and female leads just can’t get into sync, and both of them have other schedules. It’s hard to coordinate time.”

“Haha, Shuichi-san didn’t tell them to go on a date?” Naoki recalled the earlier shoot.

“If Johnny’s finds out I encouraged their idols to date, the yakuza will come knocking,” Ito Shuichi joked, referring to the dark reputation behind Johnny’s agency.

“Hahaha.”

Naoki laughed as well. Seeing the set already prepared, he asked, “Filming today?”

“Yes. Luckily both actors are free this afternoon. Hopefully we can finish today.”

Naoki had nothing else to do and planned to wait for Yoshimura Daitomo to wake up anyway, so he decided to stay and watch.

Ito Shuichi agreed and went to greet the staff.

After the actors arrived, filming finally began. Naoki did not interfere on set and instead stood watching from behind the scenes.

Shuichi was doing NG takes again. Kondo Masahiko was complaining again. The female lead—someone unfamiliar, but quite cute.

Watching a live shoot from the outside really was interesting.

After an hour or two, Yoshimura Daitomo finally sobered up, still confused about why he was in the studio.

“Daitomo-san, you’re finally awake,” Naoki poured him a glass of water. “Do you remember what we were talking about earlier?”

“I apologize, Nagayama-san. I was being careless and called you out,” Daitomo said, now more clear-headed. “It’s a bit fuzzy, but I remember something about starlight…”

“Ha, so you really forgot.”

“We were talking about girl groups.”

“Ah, female units? Like Hana no San-Nin Musume and Pink Lady?”

The same answer again. It seemed he really was a fan of those groups.

Naoki explained again: it wasn’t about high-level idol perfection, but groups of five or more members. Each member had flaws, but also their own appeal. Together, their light would become “starlight.”

“You mean forming a girl group from STARLIGHT’s talents?” Daitomo asked in surprise. “Would that attract attention?”

“Perfect idols are already everywhere. A slightly imperfect group isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Naoki said.

“The girls at STARLIGHT may not each be outstanding idols individually, but a group of attractive young women with good looks and figures won’t be disliked so easily.”

Daitomo nodded slowly.

“There will probably be resistance,” he said. “The media will criticize it too.”

“That’s fine,” Naoki replied. “In an industry where traditional idols dominate, rejection just means attention. And you don’t even have much recognition to begin with.”

“Criticism is still publicity.”

Daitomo gave a bitter smile. “Naoki-san, you really hit the point.”

Naoki continued: “Once it gains attention, you can release songs or create reality-style programs to keep developing it.”

“And it’s just a group of cute girls. It’s unlikely everyone will strongly reject it.”

Daitomo thought for a moment and found it somewhat feasible.

“Also,” Naoki added, “members don’t need to be fixed. You can rotate them, create a ‘first-generation original group,’ and continuously inject new members to keep it alive. It can even become a tradition.”

“An original girl group…”

Yoshimura Daitomo decided to give it a try.

During the break, Kondo Masahiko said, “Why is that guy here again? Just watching us struggle?”

“Probably here to see Shuichi-san,” his manager replied.

“I don’t like him.”

“Why do you dislike him so much?” the manager asked. “He didn’t really do anything to you.”

“He just acts like he’s superior. I can’t stand it.”

The manager seemed to understand.

Jealousy?