When the idol market was in full swing, Johnny, the overlord of the male idol world, was in great glory. But after the idol era, even the overlord has to accept the changes in the market and explore new ways.
Even if you have the network resources and the domineering power to speak your mind, the trend is irreversible after all. The audience does not turn around and like other idols, but simply stop doing this. In this case, they can only find another way. Johnny and
Other agencies are different. They specialize in male idols. If they give up idols, Johnny will no longer be Johnny.
After experiencing the Heike faction's failure before reaching its peak and SMAP's unprecedented bleak debut, Johnny's has not launched a new generation of facade groups, and the current billboard is still light GEN.
In today's bleak idol market, Hwang Genki seems to be unaffected, and has gathered the public's attention to male idols. From this point of view, Hwang Genki is the culmination of traditional Johnny-style idols, with a sense of
Having light GEN is enough to inspire. Of course, it also has something to do with the group's high nationality and deep foundation.
Johnny's is well-known as a black-hearted agency in the industry. Even as popular as GEN are, they don't receive special treatment. Compared with the group's ability to attract money, the members' income can be said to be pitifully small.
They are clearly the face of the firm, and there are no juniors behind them who can threaten their status, but they can only receive a salary that is not in line with their popularity. Among the older members of the group, there are complaints about salary issues, which even reached Kitagawa Kaguya.
.
However, the members of GEN are domineering and domineering, but they also know the power of Kitagawa Kao and have never directly caused trouble... In the final analysis, they bully the weak and fear the strong, and show off their power in front of ordinary people. When it comes to Kitagawa Kao, they become dogs with their tails clamped.
, even if you want to point out some benefits, you have to beat around the bush and flatter him first.
Guys like this are the least to be feared.
Because of this, even if Kitagawa Kaguo heard the complaints of several older members led by Morohoshi and himself, he would just treat it as ignorance and ignore it at all. Of course, this also made it more urgent for him to launch a new
The combination.
In Tokyo, in cooperation with Shinichi Iwahashi, with Shigeru Jojima as the captain, several teenagers including Masahiro Matsuoka, Kei Kojima, Taichi Kunibu, and Masayuki Sakamoto were selected to form the "Tokyo Boys".
In Osaka, two young boys with the same surname, Tsuyoshi Domoto and Hikaru Domoto, were selected to form the "Kansai Boys".
Kitagawa was very interested in the two teenagers from Kansai. He personally called to admit them, and personally came forward to discuss with the parents of the two families, so that they could be transferred to Tokyo, and he would personally serve as their guardian.
The ready-to-go reserve army made Kitagawa feel at ease, and he did not lose his composure due to the challenges of the great changes in this era of idols.
But apart from that, he is still paying close attention to groups that have debuted but have not improved.
The Heike faction was a group that was hastily launched in order to dilute the scandal and repay Sony's favor. Several members were temporarily brought over, and the running-in and compatibility between them were not good. But as time went on
Keiko Fujishima, who was initially in charge of them, resigned from her position and joined NTV. Although the group did not become abandoned, the members' hearts were filled with doubts.
With such a scattered group, it is highly unlikely that they can regroup. The next thing to consider is to allow them to continue to act as the Taike faction, but the members will actually go solo, so they have to make additional adjustments.
Matsumoto Jiro from the Heike faction has extraordinary enthusiasm for singing. And Hiroshi Nagano's acting performance is remarkable.
Kitagawa Kaguya is well aware of the characteristics of his idols.
On the contrary, it is another group SMAP.
This group has been followed by Kitagawa Kaguya since its inception. The members of the group have also gone through changes before finally settling on the current six members and making their mainstream debut. There were no surprises along the way.
The only thing that failed miserably upon debut was unexpected.
Not only that, after the debut single failed, every single released by the group was not popular, and the sales volume was lower than the previous one, even though the people responsible for the lyrics and music production were all famous people.
Traditional sales promotion methods are useless here at SMAP. How the group should take the next step has become something that Kitagawa has to consider.
Although this group seems unattractive in the eyes of the audience now, in Kitagawa's eyes, this group has the most important thing: the members of this group are cohesive.
This cohesion that allows them to work together is the key to why SMAP is many times stronger than the Heike faction.
…
His performance has been dismal since his debut. Even Johnny's idol rarely has a good face on the TV station. Not only is the staff indifferent, but sometimes when he has the opportunity to share the stage with professional singers or actors, he is also looked down upon by them.
Just a few little idols.
There were high hopes, and I welcomed my debut with confidence. I thought I could show off my skills, but the reality is that even my manager couldn't help but sigh and said, "How can you two become famous?"
Of the two people in the older group, Kimura always looks confident, takes his time and works seriously. Nakai, on the other hand, smiles and chats with the agent, and gets along with the staff like an adult.
.
Although Mori-san is also full of energy, he neither talks to the staff nor does he look confident. Goro-san and Kusanagi-san, these two always seem to be indifferent...
Katori Shingo was observing the members of the same group in the lounge, thinking a little naively in his mind. He will only enter high school next year. Katori Shingo, the "last son" of the group, will follow the younger ones every time they participate in activities together.
Behind the grown-up brothers.
When he first debuted, Katori Shingo was happy because he no longer had to run errands to buy drinks for Hikaru Gengeki. However, soon after experiencing the cold looks from TV staff and other artists who shared the same lounge, he realized that running errands for seniors was the lowest level.
of.
The idol who is not popular does not have his own lounge in the TV station. Today he came to TV Tokyo to record a program. He temporarily settled in a large room like a utility room, which even had props such as headgear for cross-dressing.
Although I didn't share the same lounge with other artists this time, it was obviously not a lounge.
There were no outsiders present, and several teenagers were very interested in the costume props in the room. Especially Kimura Takuya, although he was a standard handsome man, he was eager to try out those funny and ugly props. He picked them up and gestured to his face.
, holding his throat and making weird sounds.
...but from another perspective, precisely because he is a standard handsome man, he is particularly calm about being funny and ugly.
It's fun for a handsome guy to pretend to be ugly, but if an ugly guy pretends to be ugly, it's a different kind of funny.
The manager saw it from the side and frowned slightly, "Kimura-kun."
Kimura Takuya was a little bored and put down his props, "Don't be so serious."
When an idol is tactful, he will never talk back when his manager reminds him, but whether he takes it seriously is another matter. The same goes for a manager. It doesn't matter if he is reminded of something under his nose.
Have you ever been remembered?
If we really want to say it, if this group continues to be so desperate, his manager may not be able to continue to be in charge. There have always been many idols who were given up because there was no improvement, and even the announcements have to be made by themselves.
With things like this now, even as an agent, it's hard for him to have an optimistic attitude.
At this time, there was a series of footsteps outside the door of the lounge, and a young staff member stood at the door and called people, "SMAP guys, let's get ready."
The manager bowed and took the teenagers to the video studio.
What they want to participate in the recording is an idol variety show that is now rare. At a time when major TV stations are cutting down idol variety shows, TV TOKYO's quasi-late-night idol variety show has become the last resort for idols who are half-red but not dark.
land.
Johnny's idols can occasionally act ugly for the sake of program effect, but they cannot be uglified. Kitagawa's idol production experience has such an uncompromising insistence. Of course, SMAP must also abide by this rule.
In preparation for going on stage, several teenagers had already changed into their performance clothes. They were the ancestral clothes of Johnny's and looked like fancy circus-style clothes. Sitting in a dazzling studio, dressed up like this, it was not surprising that it was not that strange.
.
Next door to this studio is the recording site of "It Might as well Start on Monday".
While the agent is waiting outside the venue, he not only pays attention to the situation in the studio, but also pays attention to the situation nearby. Seeing all directions and listening to all directions is an essential skill for an agent
An unattractive and short female staff member stood at the studio of "It Might as Well Start on Monday" and said something to the staff over there.
She looked polite and very humble, like an agent or a handyman. However, looking at the equally humble attitude of the staff who responded to her, she looked more like a person in charge.
After communicating with the staff, the woman stood outside the venue and looked at the situation inside the venue for a while. Her eyes also swept around the area and paused for a moment on a few teenagers dressed in fancy clothes.
"Jennys?"
With that circus-like style and the selection criteria of slender handsome boys, Johnny's idols are instantly recognizable to people, even if they don't even know which group they are.
…
As Iwahashi Shinichi's representative, Mitomo Iijima came to follow up on the program production, so naturally she was not an ordinary staff member. She showed a little curiosity, and enthusiastic people took the initiative to introduce her.
Although the reason why she pays attention to Johnny is because she has been following the progress of Tokyo Boys as the representative of Shinichi Iwahashi. When she was a student, she also chased Johnny Gogumi, but later she found Toshihiko Tahara to be charming...
One day, he came into contact with Johnny as a man in black behind the scenes. MAP's manager took out his business card and greeted this "Iijima-san". He originally thought he was the person in charge of the TV station, but it turned out that he was the person in charge of the TV station.
The name on his business card is not TV TOKYO, but GENZO Records.
The manager held the business card handed over by the female staff member named Mijima Iijima and reacted. Mijima Iijima was very articulate and immediately explained to him that as the representative of GENZO Iwahashi-san, he came to participate in the production of TV Tokyo
A variety show.
Although she is not a staff member of the TV station, she is the representative of GENZO Iwahashi-san. Her manager's enthusiasm and courtesy towards her have not diminished, "...we are also grateful for Iwahashi-san's care."
The Tokyo Boys have quite a strong presence. The employees of Johnny's, as well as the idols who are concerned about the company's trends, have all heard that such a group is about to be born, and the person whom Johnny-san entrusted to is none other than GENZO's Iwahashi-san.
.
Mijima Iijima nodded politely and replied with a smile: "This is the place, thanks to Jason's trust." Of course, she didn't mention that she was also the representative of Shinichi Iwahashi, following up on the progress of Tokyo Boys.
In the studio, several teenagers from SMAP followed the host's rhythm, talking and laughing. Occasionally, they were asked some difficult questions with bad intentions, but they managed to smile and pick up the topic.
Mitsuo Iijima was chatting with SMAP's manager for a while, and then looked at each other for a while.
The host was not polite to idols who were not popular. However, the few teenagers showed a tacit understanding and responded to the excessive teasing like a relay, with a sense of sharing the joys and sorrows.
The manager saw this and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he heard Mijima Iijima say, "The cooperation between them is quite good."
"At least if you have the drive and the tacit understanding, you will definitely not lose to anyone." The manager laughed as he spoke. He was half joking and half serious, "If you say this to Iijima-san, you will take the opportunity to promote them.
Feel."
"If there is a chance, I would also like to ask Iijima-san to remember our SMAP." The agent's words were partly polite, and partly meant to cast a wide net to catch the big fish.
Mijima 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 hurriedly excused herself with the slightest excuse, nor did she accept the half-joking favor like a social rhetorician. She just smiled and politely returned the favor to SMAP's manager.
…
On Saturday, Shinichi Iwahashi was invited by Kitagawa Sui to go to the Imperial Theater to watch a play. Throughout June, the Imperial Theater was performing a stage play starring Noriyuki Higashiyama of the Youth League.
Kitagawa Kao, who was 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, requiring his idols to participate in stage plays to hone themselves.
When you meet Kitagawa Hiro, whether you are watching a movie or something else, you will definitely have to talk about work in the end.
When it came to Johnny's side, after Shinichi Iwahashi received the invitation, he called Mijima Iijima and asked her to accompany him. For a while, she has been responsible for contacting Johnny's side and bringing her with her to facilitate discussion.
When they arrived at the Imperial Theater, Iwahashi Shinichi and Iijima Mitochi first went to confirm their seats.
As soon as he returned to Iwahashi Shinichi, Mijima Iijima naturally changed his identity and became a competent assistant, riding the horse for him and rushing to the front.
