Nice job!
What should we do after this?
Hmm, I guess I'll go home.
Oh, what about you, Mana?
I saw a cutie at the dressing room booths, so I think I'll go see her!
You sure do like the cute ones.
Such an otaku.
Which stage?
Star Stage.
Ah, that hellhole.
It's so hot there.
Hey, Boss, can we stay and watch the next stage too?
Mem-cho's performing.
I've heard of the name. Who is she?
She's a streamer. She's cute and funny.
She was on this show called Love For Real recently.
Ah, the one that received backlash.
That girl joined this group called B Komachi.
B Komachi?
You've heard of it?
I guess kids nowadays don't know.
They inherited the name of an old group.
There was this legendary girl called Ai in it.
She was just amazing, but she died midway through her career.
But even if they have the same group name...
Well, let's just watch a little before we leave.
B Komachi, you're on.
Okay!
B KOMACHI
The size of the crowd isn't bad.
I wasn't too worried since we have an influencer in our group.
But also many red penlights stand out more than I thought.
My penlight color will be red!
The same color as Ai's!
Then I guess I'll be yellow.
And you, Senpai?
Oh. Hmm...
If anything's okay, white.
White, huh...
Oh, is that not allowed?
It is allowed, but some girls see it as special and unfair,
so they tend to argue about it.
Really...
Why not?
Since you're not an idol otaku, it's very like you.
B Komachi!
I'm fine.
Once I get up on stage, I'm not really nervous.
The customers in the front are mostly waving yellow lights.
Our customers are mainly here for Mem-cho.
Everyone's here so they can see her.
I'm sure the customers would've been happier if she was the center.
What do you think as an OG B Komachi otaku?
They're completely different. This isn't B Komachi.
That group was upheld by a star called Ai.
Just gathering three amateurs...
Boss?!
Oh, this girl is so bright.
Thank you so much!
She loves idols and she's always upbeat.
It's like she was born to become an idol.
Even at this very second, she's grabbing someone's heart
and she's gaining more fans.
These are the girls who rise to the top.
Next up is that megahit song you've all been waiting for!
"Sign is B!"
I envy them.
For being watched over and desired by everyone.
There's no one who'll look at me.
My mom and my manager neglected me.
Even our fans only see the old child star in me.
"Somebody, please look at me."
That's all I've been screaming for the past dozen years.
"Please say that you need me."
If you just tell me that, I'll work as hard as I possibly can.
"Say that you can use me."
Then I'll work like a dog for you.
"Tell me that I did a good job."
Then I'll work even harder.
Somebody...
Tell me that I belong here!
He's so stupid!
What's he doing while keeping a straight face?!
He even bothered to wave all three of our color lights.
Does this mean he's a fan of every member? You cheater!
I've made up my mind.
While I'm an idol, I swear I'll turn all of your lights white.
I'll make you love me.
I'll become your favorite!
Boss, isn't that girl nice too?
Her expression has been getting better since the first song.
I can honestly be her fan.
All three of them have the looks of an ace idol in other groups.
Especially that girl in the center would be loved by otaku and she can sing.
They might get popular.
I'm so tired!
Oh, Bro, you were here?
Well, yeah.
By the way, what was that back there? I couldn't stop myself from laughing!
How was our performance?
Well, I guess you guys did good for your first time.
What? Compliment us some more!
I can't do that.
Since you guys are going to do bigger and better concerts from here.
Considering that, it's a waste to give you guys a high score now.
Is that so.
Those two finally decided to talk to each other.
They don't seem like they get along.
It's not what you think.
Hey Aqua, are you doing well with Akane from Love For Real?
No, I haven't seen her since the party.
Really?
Well, she's just a work colleague after all.
But we're talking about going to take photos together to post on Instagram.
Work...
That's right!
That Akane Kurokawa would never get serious over someone like you!
It's all an act for the TV show! This is pretty common, you know.
Poor you!
You can't take these things seriously!
Oh gosh, are you seriously upset?
Arima, you're so smiley all of a sudden...
Is that what this is?!
Arima has a thing for Aqua!
Akane!
Who am I supposed to root for?!
Akane, your next job's decided.
Oh, is this true?
Aqua, we'll be able to work together again.
You were the one behind Pieyon's mask during our lessons, right?
Why did you do something like that?
Because you wouldn't talk to me.
That's it?
That's the only reason?
That's why you were running and dancing with that hot mask on?
I did it once too, but wasn't it tough as hell?
And you were talking in that creepy voice?
But hey, you're good at impressions!
You got yourself a surprising skill. Wow!
Like I said, if you wouldn't talk to me, you would never listen to my directions.
It was just to make my sister's first concert a success--
Sure, sure. This is one of your sister complex moves again.
You have such a convenient excuse.
I'll leave it as that for you!
What's with you? I'm leaving.
You running? You running?
What are you talking about? I'm not running from anything.
Just because I found out you did something weird to talk to me,
you're gonna run because you're embarrassed?
Fine, you seem to have the wrong idea, so let's talk this out.
Sit down.
Bring it on!
I'm glad it seems like those two made up!
But it also seems like things are just about to get worse.
It's okay, Bro's not the type who likes to get involved with others.
If you don't provoke him like that, your relationship with him wouldn't last.
He wasn't like that before though.
Really?
Well, a lot happened and he developed a twisted personality.
Oh.
When he's with Senpai, he seems a bit like his old self though.
Akane... you gotta work a little harder.
Well! I've got us our first big title in a long time!
Over a total of 50 million copies sold! Its anime film was a megahit too!
The theatrical adaptation project of the almighty popular manga, Tokyo Blade!
Oh, I know this!
My daughter's hooked on this from the anime.
Theatrical means it's 2.5D, huh?
That's right!
I've got a huge budget for it, so we're gonna make it flashy this time!
The stage is an interesting place too!
The seats rotate 360 degrees and the stage uses computer graphics
to recreate the original story's atmosphere!
I've secured a good crew too!
And for the adaptation, I've added on Theater Lalalai's cooperation.
Oh, that's exciting.
I'm surprised you were able to talk Mr. Kindaichi into doing it.
Money talks. Since any theater has it tough financially.
All that's left is the casting.
We can probably get Akane Kurokawa from Lalalai.
But pretty boys and cute girls will be essential for our target audience.
Lalalai doesn't have many young actors,
so we'll need to bring some in from the outside.
Kaburagi, you've got strong connections there, don't you?
You know any good ones?
Well, I may know a few.
Some up-and-coming young ones.
I can introduce you, but you'll owe me one.
No, no!
I'm giving the kids you're looking after a chance to grow,
so actually, you'll owe me one!
Then it's a deal.
PROJECT PROPOSAL
Is this good?
I don't know, but I guess it's good.
Now, we've made our boyfriend-girlfriend alibi for our fans.
So we'll be good for a while.
About that one job... has the news reached you?
Is it about Tokyo Blade?
Yeah.
The theatrical troupe that I belong to called Lalalai will be leading it,
so I've received an offer too.
Theater Lalalai...
I thought it might help her somehow,
so I introduced her to this one theater's workshop.
A workshop?
It's called Theater Lalalai.
The theater group that Akane belongs to.
It wasn't that famous at the time though.
That's probably the place...
where Ai fell in love.
Ever since Ai joined that workshop, she started to care about her appearance.
And she would ask me where the good restaurants were.
Of course I couldn't tell who her dates were,
but I remember she suddenly looked all grown-up.
If you're curious, I'll introduce you to Lalalai's superintendent.
You'll surely get closer to the answer you're looking for there.
I'm doing it.
Right?
I got an offer to play Princess Saya, and you'll be Touki, right?
The two roles are a couple.
I bet whoever chose the cast did this on purpose.
I hear there's a high demand for BL in 2.5D, but is this okay?
It's because the original story has mainly male and female couplings.
Of course, many girls tend to have that kind of view though.
Touki's a side character,
but he's pretty popular among men too due to the rom-com elements.
Every week, everybody's discussing if he'll get with the heroine or his partner.
Touki's partner, Tsurugi...
That role should also be filled soon.
I wonder who it'll be.
Me.
Arima.
Don't do live posts.
These types of posts can draw troublesome fans into stalking you.
For any photos taken outside, it's a basic rule to schedule posts.
Did you wanna cause trouble again by making a weird fuss?
You need to learn, Akane Kurokawa.
Kana, you're playing Tsurugi?
How long has it been since we were cast together?
I surely thought you quit acting.
Since you're an idol now, right?
Akane?
What's the point of locking yourself up in a stage that doesn't make any money?
Oh! That's right, you were on some reality dating show lately.
I heard you finally got popular from selling off your private life.
Good for you!
Arima?
Well... I came to warn you guys because I was just nearby.
Continue your business date after you change location.
Bye.
You know Arima?
We're the same age and we've been in the same industry since we were kids,
so of course.
Well, try to get along.
That's impossible.
She's always taken all of the jobs that I wanted to do.
Try to imagine...
how it feels to be an actress born the same year as that genius child star.
But I won't lose now.
While Kana was releasing that ridiculous "Green Pepper Exercise,"
I was always doing my acting lessons.
This is my chance to finally get my revenge.
I won't lose this time.
Why are all actors...
I won't lose to her.
...so competitive?
The child actress formerly known as a genius
and the actress currently known as a genius.
Kaburagi's clever but cruel to put these two against each other.
Now, I'm personally looking forward to Tokyo Blade's stage!
I think that you might become an idol yourself one day, Ruby.
And maybe Aqua might be an actor?
I wonder what kind of adults you two will become.
The culprit who put Ai to such a fate is in the entertainment industry.
I'll find them no matter what it takes.
If it's for that, I'll...
Subtitle translation by: Kanami Kitabayashi