I Became a Producer Who Rewrites Idols

Chapter 79

79 – Advance into Japan (1)

Jung Song-i returned to the office of the vice president of GI Productions with his secretary.

And I thought deeply about it without even turning on the computer.

Cursed Dolls enters Japan.

As there was a small fandom for Cursed Dolls in Japan, a suggestion was received from a local distributor asking if they should pursue activities aggressively.

[Idol Producing] I was worried because it was a situation that did not exist in the game.

Although the character of an idol is an important factor in both Korea and Japan,

If Korea focuses 60% on character, Japan devotes more than 80%.

There is also a subtle difference in this character.

In Korea, idols are seen as stars, but in Japan, they focus on creating a feeling of familiarity and closeness.

Of course, Korea also has a strong tendency to become close friends with fandoms through SNS, but it is not as close to a dating experience as it is in Japan.

Of course, the Korean Wave in reality was popularized by Twice and BTS as Korea’s idol strategy worked in Japan.

This is the world in the [Idol Producing] Game.

There is no TWICE or BTS.

… There isn’t even BoA, the first generation Korean idol.

I am in a position to pioneer the Korean Wave.

So, I heard that Lucky Seven Entertainment’s overseas promotion team is not that big of a presence.

Because the Japanese branch was small in the first place.

[Idol Producing] K-POP in the game was only now slowly spreading overseas.

‘Cusdo Dolls have strong characters, but….’

From noble mtl dot com

I wasn’t sure if that was a character trait that would work in Japan as well.

Will I be successful enough to give up my Korean activities for a while and come to Japan?

I took out my smartphone and called Lucky Seven Entertainment’s overseas promotion team.

“Um, are we advancing into Japan?!”

The next day, I went to Lucky Seven Entertainment headquarters for the first time in a long time.

And then he called the Cursed Dolls members to the training room and delivered it to them.

Decided to enter the Japanese market.

“Wow, wow…” !”

Cursed Dolls members—Choi Ju-yoon, Gong Si-on, and Kang Eva—looked at each other and held hands.

It was a happy face no matter who saw it.

Korean celebrities who advance overseas, even outside of Japan, are very rare here in the world of the [Idol Producing] Game.

Ding—.

Today again, Eva Kang spoke to me in the group chat room.

[Eva: But then how do I meet the producer?]

Serious expression… I still don’t know if she knew it, but Eva Kang raised her head and looked at my face.

The idea of going overseas means, of course, that the celebrity himself is leaving the country.

“Well, you can’t do that!”

Gong Shi-on looked as if he had been stabbed in the back, as if he hadn’t even thought of that.

… It’s such a big deal for them to be separated from me.

As a man, I was happy, but as a producer, I had mixed feelings.

“Producer, please come to Japan too… !”

“Oh, that’s right! Please produce in Japan too!!”

Choi Ju-yoon and Gong Si-on clung to my suit jacket and began to beg.

Realistically, I couldn’t leave Korea.

Not only Cursed Dolls, but also Berryz, Afternoon Sweets, Yeomseonjeong, and Yellow Cow are in Korea.

“Calm down. “You guys are not going to Japan.”

“Yes? Is it so??”

All Cursed Dolls members tilted their heads.

In their opinion, it seemed like going overseas meant going to the local area and working directly.

But I had no intention of doing such a high-risk business.

“We are going to advance into the Internet.”

“Through the Internet… ?”

This was explained in detail to the Cursed Dolls members.

Japanese market marketing through Internet channels.

Revising the music that Cursed Dolls has released so far with Japanese lyrics and re-filming the music video to better suit Japanese tastes.

And the full version of the music video will be released for free on YouTube.

I learned something new after consulting with local distributors in Japan. Unlike Korea, in Japan, you have to pay to buy the music video to see the full version.

The local fandom, which is said to be small in Japan, is said to have mostly come from watching the Cursed Dolls music video posted in Korean, so I thought about localizing this music video and seeing the reaction.

“If that’s the case….”

The Cursed Dolls members nodded their heads after hearing my explanation.

After all, they debuted in Korea, so they cannot hide their Korean nationality.

That’s why we planned to film the music video with a Korean background.

It was more like just changing the video flow to better suit Japanese tastes.

“Teacher, please come in.”

The training room door opened.

He was a Japanese teacher recruited from a Japanese language academy near Lucky Seven Entertainment.

“Hello.”

… My Korean pronunciation is a bit poor, but the important thing is to teach Japanese.

Cursed Dolls members also slightly bowed their heads and greeted us.

“Wow, this is a very kawaii Aidoru, just like I saw on TV!”

It even has some strange Chinese characters installed.

Cursed Dolls members don’t need to speak Japanese very fluently right now, but at least their pronunciation when singing had to be accurate.

Otherwise, the meaning of localization will fade….

Soon after, the Japanese teacher’s class began.

It was a practice of listening to the teacher’s pronunciation and imitating it.

“”Aiueo kakikukeko.””

Even Eva Kang opened her mouth well at times like this.

Now that the Cursed Dolls members have finished practicing Japanese, they come out of the training room to return to GI Production.

“Are you Vice President Lim Boo-gil?”

Suddenly, a female employee caught me.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh, this is the overseas promotion team I called you earlier.”

“Oh yes, hello. “What’s going on?”

A female employee wearing glasses and wearing simple clothes spoke slowly.

“The CEO has instructed us to consider expanding into Japan for Berry’s and Afternoon Sweets.”

“… Yes?”

Cursed Dolls were also a surprise, and now Berryz and Afternoon Sweets.

Even though Berrys has no members attending school, the afternoon sweets duo are all active high school girls.

The schedule is limited in Korea, so it is difficult to go to Japan and promote.

“Wouldn’t it be better to decide on Berries and Afternoon Sweets after looking at the Cursed Dolls situation first?”

“As expected, right? “I guess the CEO was excited because he received an offer from Japan first.”

“… ….”

Is this the owner’s risk?

Whether it was the same with GI Production or the acquisition of Jeil Entertainment, he seemed to be the type of person to push forward when an opportunity came.

There is nothing wrong with the mindset of rowing when the water comes in, but I had no choice but to take a more cautious approach.

There are many cases where businesses fail due to excessive expansion.

“I understand. “Then I will convey that to the CEO.”

“Yes, please take care of me.”

***

Click—.

A photo of her standing side by side with a male fan came out of the camera instantly.

“Then I’ll come again next time, Setsuna-chan.”

“Yes, please come again!”

A small live venue in Tokyo with a maximum capacity of 50 people.

After finishing selling and servicing all goods after the performance, the women entered the waiting room.

One person sat down on a chair and let his body go limp.

“Oh seriously, dealing with idol otakus is tiring.”

No one listened to the complaints that always came out, so they just took off their makeup and changed their clothes.

For these unpopular underground idols, there was not even a proper manager, let alone a producer.

Their current goal is a grand dream of securing a dedicated performance venue after signing a contract with a major agency.

“You can’t say that because they are your customers….”

“Ah, but Setsuna, let’s be honest, it’s okay to sweat at a concert hall, but how can you endure the smell that looks like you haven’t washed in a month?”

Setsuna also knew that person.

A man who has followed me since the beginning of his activities and is clearly an otaku.

After all, most underground idol fans are otaku, so that guy had a particularly bad body odor.

But there are passionate fans who come to every live performance.

I couldn’t ignore it.

“I came from the countryside, so I’m used to all the smells.”

“Is there a smell worse than that in the countryside?”

“If you’re that curious, try at least a one-day experience at the barn.”

The woman cried out in disgust.

Without making any expression, Setsuna was the first to open the door to her waiting room and try to leave.

“Aren’t you going to have an after-party?”

“I have a part-time job today.”

“Oh, really? Then let’s do it later.”

“… “You can just do it among yourselves.”

Setsuna leaves the concert hall without looking back.

The part-time job was tomorrow.

I just avoided it because I didn’t want to hang out with the members.

She was often told by those around her that she was pretty, and she received compliments that she was good at singing and dancing.

She lived in the countryside and came to Seoul to challenge herself as an idol.

But nothing happened.

She applied to ‘TKY52’, the most famous girl group in Japan, but she was not selected as a research student and was eliminated.

There is a case where she started as an underground idol and became a major, so she tried to become an underground idol with tears in her eyes, but she stayed in that position for 3 years.

Let’s put the key in the old, worn-out one-room entrance and turn it.

Tiriring—.

The phone rang.

“…… “Yes, Mom.”

-How are you doing these days?

“Well, it’s the same.”

-Your father is very worried.

“I’m sorry…. There are a lot of prettier girls than me in Tokyo, and they sing and dance better…….”

-Okay, then come back here and learn farming. It’s a bit tiring, but it’s enough work to make a living.

No words came out of Setsuna’s mouth.

Recently, many family members have made suggestions like this.

In my head, I thought the suggestion was reasonable.