Flying over the bubble era

Chapter 1080
When the idol market was in full swing, Johnny, the overlord of the male idol world, was in full swing.But the era of idols has passed, and even the overlords have to accept changes in the market and explore new paths.

Even if he has connections and resources and is domineering, but after all, the general trend is irreversible.The audience is not turning their heads to like other idols, but they simply don't like it.That being the case, there is no choice but to think of a way.Johnny's is different from other firms. It specializes in male idols. If you give up your idols, then Johnny's will no longer be Johnny's.

After experiencing the Heike School’s passing before reaching its apex and the unprecedented dismal debut of SMAP, Johnny, who has not launched a new generation of facade combination, the current Kanban is still light GENJI.

In today's bleak idol market, Guang GENJI seems to be unaffected, gathering the public's attention to male idols.From this point of view, GENJI alone is the culmination of traditional Johnny style idols, which means that GENJI alone is enough.Of course, it is also related to the high nationality and solid foundation of this group.

Genesis is well-known in the industry as a black-hearted firm, and the popular GENJI has not been given special treatment. Compared with the group's ability to absorb money, the members' income is pitifully small.

It is clearly the face of the firm, and there are no juniors who can threaten their status, but they can only receive a salary that does not match their popularity. Among the several senior members of the group, there are complaints about the salary issue, and even spread to Kitagawa Hiroshi .

However, the members of GENJI are domineering and domineering, but they also know the power of Kitagawa Hiroshi, and have not directly made trouble.In the final analysis, they bullied the weak and feared the strong, showing off their power in front of ordinary people, but when they came to Kitagawa Ko, they became dogs with their tails clamped down.

Such a guy is the least to fear.

Because of this, even if Kitagawa heard about the complaints of several senior members headed by Morohoshi and Ji, he just took it as ignorance and ignored it at all.Of course, this also makes it more urgent for him to launch a new combination.

On the Tokyo side, in cooperation with Shinichi Iwahashi, with Shigeru Jojima as the captain, several teenagers including Masahiro Matsuoka, Kei Kojima, Taiichi Kokubu, and Masayuki Sakamoto were selected to form the "Tokyo Boys".

On the other side of Osaka, I chose Domoto Takeshi and Domoto Hikaru one or two young boys who happened to have the same surname to form the "Kansai Boys".

Kitagawa Hiroshi was very fond of the two teenagers from Kansai, so he made a phone call to recruit them, and then personally negotiated with the parents of the two families, and asked them to transfer to Tokyo, and he would act as the guardian in person.

The ready-to-go reserve army made Kitagawa feel at ease, and he was not disturbed by the challenge of the great changes in this idol era.

But apart from that, he still pays close attention to the combinations that have debuted but failed to improve.

The Heike faction was a combination that was hastily launched in order to dilute the scandal and repay Sony's favor.Several members were temporarily pulled over, and the running-in and compatibility between them were not very good.And as Keiko Fujishima, who was in charge of them at the beginning, resigned and joined NTV, although this group did not become an abandoned child, the hearts of the members were floating.

With such a disorganized combination, the possibility of them being able to regroup is extremely slim.The next thing to consider is whether to let them continue to operate as the Heike faction, but the members are actually flying solo, or make another adjustment.

Matsumoto Jiro of the Heike faction has an extraordinary passion for singing.As for Hiroshi Nagano, his acting performance is remarkable.

Kitagawa Hiroshi knows the characteristics of his idols like the back of his hand.

On the contrary, it is another combination SMAP.

This group has been paid attention to by Kitagawa since its establishment, and the members of the group have also undergone changes. Finally, the current six people were confirmed and made their mainstream debut. There was no accident along the way——

It's unexpected that it failed miserably only when it debuted.

Not only that, after the failure of the debut single, every single released by the group was not popular, and the sales volume of each single was lower than that of the other, even if the songwriters were all famous artists.

Traditional marketing methods are completely ineffective here at SMAP, and Kitagawa Hiroshi has to consider how the group should go next.

Although this group seems unattractive in the eyes of the audience now, in the eyes of Kitagawa Kuo, this group has the most important thing: the members of this group are full of cohesion.

This cohesion that allows them to work together is the key to how many times SMAP is stronger than the Heike faction.

……

After his debut, his performance was dismal. Even Johnny's idol, it is rare to see a good face on the TV station.Not only are the staff indifferent, but sometimes they have the opportunity to share the stage with professional singers or actors, and they even stare blankly at them.

Just a few little idols.

With high expectations, I also greeted my debut with full confidence. I thought I could show my skills, but the reality is that even the manager couldn't help sighing, saying "How can you guys become popular?"

Among the two members of the older group, Big Brother Kimura always looked confident, never in a hurry, and worked hard.The big brother Zhongju will talk to the manager with a smile, and get along with the staff like an adult.

Although Brother Mori is also full of energy, he can neither talk to the staff, nor does he look confident.Brother Goro and Brother Kusao, these two people always seem to be indifferent...

Katori Shingo observed the members of the same group in the lounge, thinking naively.He will only enter high school next year, and Shingo Katori, the "last son" in the group, every time he participates in activities together, he follows behind his older buddies.

When he first debuted, Katori Shingo was happy that he didn’t have to run errands for Hikari GENJI to buy drinks, but soon, after experiencing the cold eyes from the TV staff and other artists who shared the same lounge, he realized that running errands for seniors is the most elementary .

Idols who are not popular do not have their own lounges on TV stations. Today they came to TV TOKYO to record a program, and temporarily settled in a large room like a utility room, which even has props such as headgear for cross-dressing.

Although this time I didn't share the same lounge with other artists, it was obviously not a lounge.

No outsiders were present, and the teenagers were very interested in the cross-dressing props in the room.Especially Kimura Takuya, although he is a standard handsome man, but he is eager to try those funny and ugly props, he picks them up and gestures to his face, and makes weird dubbing with his throat.

...But from another point of view, it is precisely because he is a standard handsome man that he is very calm about acting ugly.

It's fun for a handsome guy to pretend to be ugly, but it's a different kind of funny when an ugly guy pretends to be ugly.

The manager saw it from the side, and frowned slightly, "Kimura-kun."

Takuya Kimura was a little bored, put down the props, "Don't be so serious."

Being a smooth idol, he was reminded by his manager never to talk back, but whether he took it seriously or not is another matter.It's the same with being a manager, it doesn't matter if the things under your nose are reminded or not.

If you really want to say, if this group is so half-dead, his manager may not continue to be in charge.There have never been many idols who were given up because of lack of improvement, and had to go to the announcement by themselves.

In this state, even if he is an agent, it is difficult to be optimistic.

At this time, a series of footsteps sounded outside the door of the lounge, and a young staff member stood at the door and called out, "You guys from SMAP are going to make preparations."

The manager bowed and took the teenagers to the recording studio.

What they want to participate in the recording is an idol variety show that is rare now.At the moment when major TV stations are reducing idol variety shows, TV TOKYO's quasi-late-night idol variety show has become the last place for half-red and not-black idols to fight for.

Johnny's idol can occasionally act ugly for the sake of the show, but he can't be uglinessed.In the idol production experience Kitagawa pursued, there is such an uncompromising persistence. Of course, SMAP has to abide by this rule.

In order to prepare for the stage, the teenagers had already changed into costumes.Johnny's ancestral, circus-style fancy clothes.Sitting in a brightly lit studio, it's surprisingly not that strange to dress up like this.

Next door to this studio is the recording site of "It's Okay to Start on Monday".

While the manager was waiting outside the venue, he not only paid attention to the situation in the studio, but also the surrounding situation.Seeing six directions and listening to all directions is an essential skill for a broker——

An unattractive, short female staff member stood at the studio of "It's Okay to Start Monday", talking to the staff there.

She looked polite and humble, like a broker or a handyman.However, judging from the same humble attitude of the staff who responded to her, it was more like a person in charge or something.

After the woman communicated with the staff, she stood outside the arena, looked at the situation inside the arena for a while, and then glanced around, pausing for a while on the garishly dressed teenagers over there.

"Jennis?"

With that circus-like style and the selection criteria of a slender and beautiful boy, Johnny's idols are immediately recognizable, even if they don't know which group they are.

……

As the representative of Shinichi Iwahashi, Mitomo Iijima came to follow up the production of the program, so he is naturally not an ordinary staff member.She showed a little curiosity, and enthusiastic people offered to introduce her.

Although the reason why she pays attention to Johnny is because she has been following up the progress of Tokyo Boys as the representative of Shinichi Iwahashi.When I was a student, I used to chase after Johnny's Hiromi Go, and later I found Toshihiko Tahara attractive...

One day, as the man in black behind the scenes, he came into contact with Johnny.

The manager of SMAP took out his business card and greeted this "Iijima-san".I thought it was some kind of person in charge of the TV station, but in the end, the business card I got back was not TV Tokyo, but GENZO records.

Holding the business card handed over by the female staff named Iijima Sanchi, the manager reacted.Iijima Mitomo was articulate, and immediately explained to him that as a representative of GENZO Iwahashi-san, he came to participate in a variety show produced by TV Tokyo.

Although she is not a staff member of the TV station, she is the representative of GENZO Iwahashi-san. The manager's enthusiasm and politeness towards her are undiminished, "...Our side is also under the care of Iwahashi-san."

The Tokyo Boys have a lot of battles. The staff of Johnny's, as well as the idols who are concerned about the company's trends, have more or less heard that such a group is about to be born, and the object that Johnny's entrusted is the Iwahashi-san from GENZO. .

Mitomo Iijima nodded politely, and replied with a smile, "This is the one, thanks to Genissan's trust." Of course, she didn't mention that she was also a representative of Shinichi Iwahashi, following up on the progress of the Tokyo Boys.

In the studio, several teenagers from SMAP followed the rhythm of the host, talking and laughing.Occasionally, when I was asked some difficult questions by someone with bad intentions, I would squeeze out a smile and catch the topic.

Santomo Iijima exchanged greetings with SMAP's manager for a while, and followed him for a while.

For idols who are not popular, the host is not polite to them.However, the few teenagers showed a tacit understanding, coping with the excessive ridicule like a relay, and they seemed to be able to share joys and sorrows.

The manager saw it and breathed a sigh of relief.I heard Mitomo Iijima say again, "The cooperation between them is quite good."

"At least in terms of energy and tacit understanding, I will never lose to anyone." The manager laughed as he spoke.He was half-joking and half-serious, "Telling Iijima-san this way feels like taking the opportunity to sell them."

"If there is a chance, please ask Iijima-san to remember our SMAP." Half of the manager's words are polite, and the other half are to cast a wide net to catch big fish.

Sanchi Iijima showed a flattered expression, as if he felt incredible that he could be entrusted with such a favor in his current status.

However, she neither rushed to evade with slight reasons, nor accepted the half-joking please with social rhetoric. She just smiled and politely returned the salute to SMAP's manager.

……

On Saturday, Shinichi Iwahashi was invited by Kitagawa Hiroshi to go to the Imperial Theater to watch a play.Throughout June, the Empire Theater staged a stage play starring Norioyuki Higashiyama of the Junior Team.

Kitagawa Hiroshi, who was born as a theater manager, was deeply influenced by the style of stage plays when he was making idols.He himself has always been rooted in the stage, asking his idols to participate in stage performances to hone himself.

When I meet Kitagawa Hiroshi, no matter watching a movie or something else, I will definitely talk about work in the end.

When it came to Johnny's side, as soon as Iwahashi Shinichi received the invitation, he called Sanchi Iijima and asked her to follow her.For a while now, she has been in charge of contacting Janice, bringing her along to discuss things.

When they arrived at the Imperial Theater, Shinichi Iwahashi and Santomo Iijima went to confirm their seats first.

As soon as he returned to Iwahashi Shinichi's side, Iijima Santomo naturally changed his identity, became a competent assistant, and rushed forward for him.

(End of this chapter)