Your brow furrows as you read over the various jobs.
Kaiba could really, really use a win at this point.
If she would fail another job, then there’d be absolutely nothing left of her self-esteem.
The job for Yoshikawa Sailing seems like a decent fit.
Not too stressful and they’re asking for a skill that Kaiba is fairly proficient in.
“Let’s send Kaiba on the acting job by Yoshikawa Sailing,” you say to Matsui, “It’s low-risk for her and the change of scenery will probably do her some good – get away from the city for a bit.”
“Noted,” says Matsui, “How about the other two?”
“We’ll send Chigusa Iki to the reality show ‘One-day Marriage’,” you reply.
Shows like ‘One-day Marriage’ are reality shows in name only, most of it is loosely scripted.
Success in the show largely hinges on whether or not your personality appeals to the audience, so Chigusa should be fine as long as she isn’t forced to improvise as she isn’t much of a natural actor that can bounce-off whatever hints the fellow participants are putting out.
She probably wouldn’t notice those hints in the first place.
“Enatsu Mari…” you say, sliding your gaze over the sheet of jobs, “We’ll send her to the in-house dancing experiment by Kyoto Animation. It probably won’t result in much visible publicity, but these kinds of things are a perfect networking opportunity.”
“Thinking ahead,” says Matsui, somewhat impressed.
“Matsui-san, I am a professional idol manager,” you say somewhat smugly.
Perhaps you’re allowing your good mood to get the better of you.
“Very well, I’ll contact the respective companies,” says Matsui, scribbling down some final notes, “Let me know when you’ve decided on a plan for Chigusa’s and Enatsu’s debut.”
With a shallow bow, Matsui returns back to work.
Their idol debut, huh?
That’s certainly something to consider.
Chigusa’s chosen idol persona is that of a ‘Stern childhood friend' and Enatsu’s persona is almost identical to her own a ‘Sporty, fun-loving girl’.
Ideally, you’d debut idols in a way that firmly imprints their persona in people’s minds.
There’s more to an idol than their persona, but in most cases the persona serves as a first impression.
Somebody on the lookout for an idol similar to Watase Yoko is probably not going to be interested in Enatsu Mari’s fun-loving idol persona.
Individual debuts are the norm, but you could also debut an idol as a pairing.
You could even debut an idol group if you wanted, which has its own perks and cons.
An idol group often outlives the idols within it.
World-famous idol group AKB48 is constantly adding and retiring idols within the group.
An idol group essentially serves as its own brand and takes on a life of its own.
Scandals affecting idols within the group hurt everyone involved in the group, but success is equally enjoyed by all.
Newer idols that enter a famous group can get carried to stardom through the power of the group alone.
They themselves might be unknown, but being involved with a famous group will have companies throwing jobs at them left and right.
Even the most recent addition to a group is always at least as famous as the group itself.
There is no idol more important to a group than its headliner, the face of the group.
The person that immediately springs to mind when fans mention the group by name.
A talented headliner can carry all other idols to a level of fame normally unreachable for them.
The beating heart of your dazzling idol group.
Nevertheless, there are also cases where a single idol is so instrumental to the success of the group that the retirement of said idol is a death sentence to the group.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Without that idol the group doesn’t have the necessary skills to succeed at the jobs associated with its fame and slowly withers away into obscurity.
Being the headliner is an envied position that comes with a lot of stress.
Matsui Tomo mentioned back when you went out drinking alongside her and Kitabayashi that Kitabayashi was being prepped to be the headliner for a group, but caved to the pressure before it ever took off.
However, for those that have the talent, willpower, and skill, being a headliner is a one-way ticket to stardom.
They gain fame faster, are paid far more when participating in individual jobs, and are in way higher demand than their peers.
Those are definite perks, but you have to remember that your chosen headliner might be unable to handle it -- like Kitabayashi who subsequently retired.
Closely monitoring your headliner’s stress-levels will help them avoid burn-out, but in the end, you need somebody that can cope with high stress levels to begin with.
The headliner will either have your idols reach for the stars or bury the others alongside them when the headliner crashes and burns.
> Summary on Idol Groups
>
> * Perk: An individual idol within a group can never have a lower fame level than the group itself.
>
> * Perk: Idol groups have access to special jobs unavailable to individual idols
>
> * Perk: If the group gains fame, all idols enjoy the success
>
> * Perk: You can pick an idol as a headliner, gaining them various perks
>
> * Con: Failure by an individual within the group might reflect badly on the rest
>
> * Con: When a scandal hurts the group, all idols suffer for it
>
> * Con: The high stakes group-based environment might result in competition or bullying
>
> * Con: If the group fails to meet expectations and disbands, all idols lose fame
>
> * Con: Headliners are more prone to high stress and retirement if they fail
>
> Note: If you choose to start a group then there’ll be follow-up questions like “Who is in the group?” and “What kind of group is it?”
> An idol group featuring dancers and singers is the norm, but (just as you did with the livestream concept), you can start a group for anything so long as it revolves around entertainment.
> Decision
> >1 - Independant debuts for all idols
> >2 - Start an idol group
>
> Winner
> >1 - Independant debuts for all idols
Although running an idol group has its upsides, you don’t really think any of your idols are ready for such a demanding task.
Considering she just recovered from a stretch of homelessness, Kaiba Aoi isn’t in the right frame of mind to take on such a burden.
Your other idols have only completed a single job and lack experience.
It might be best to keep things simple for now.
You can always start an idol group at a later time.
Nothing’s simpler than a plain idol announcement on the company’s Instagram page and while it gets the job done, it doesn’t provide any extra merits.
Marketing mentioned that Kaiba’s live vlog is starting back up again this week.
Perhaps you can talk to Kaiba and ask if she can do a sort of collaboration with one of your idols.
You could get marketing involved and make it a special event: the announcement of a new streaming idol.
The live vlog has worked well for Kaiba, but you’re not sure if Enatsu Mari and Chigusa Iki are suited to sit in a small room and stare at a screen the entire day.
Then again, they don’t have to. Do they?
There’s plenty of daily vlogs out there with people travelling, visiting stores, engaging in extreme sports, and plenty of other activities that they showcase.
Live vlogging has kind of been Kaiba’s “thing”, but you know it has great potential.
Hundreds of people showed up to the handshaking event despite Kaiba only have a handful of jobs under her belt.
You could make a name as a manager that dedicates herself to idols that livestream, each with their own stream, but with the occasional collaboration between them.
However, what would the new idols even vlog about?
Perhaps you can draw inspiration from the jobs they completed last week?
That’d work surprisingly well for Enatsu Mari, but a little less so for Chigusa Iki.
According to her datasheet, Enatsu Mari has great potential in both her dancing ability and her appearance.
Meanwhile, Chigusa Iki is more of an all-rounder, but her highest potential is also in her looks and dancing ability.
Enatsu Mari could easily double-down on her sporty idol persona and become a live streamer that dedicates herself to sports and fitness.
With the release of the “Genki Clothing” shoot around the corner, it’d be a great fit.
A dedicated stream for dance and fashion wouldn’t be a bad choice either, that would play to her strengths, but isn’t as good a fit for her idol persona.
Chigusa Iki has mentioned at several points that she takes meticulous care of her body.
For example, she mentioned during the interview that she exercises specific muscles to increase her appeal as an idol while following a very strict diet.
Something like a streamer dedicated to cooking and general health wouldn’t be a bad fit.
It’d fit moderately well with her “Strict Childhood Friend” persona as such a person would want their friends to be healthy.
She could even wear cosplay during her debut stream to pull strength from the Isekai Cosplay photoshoot that’ll release soon.
Though you’re not sure how happy she’d be with that.
Alternatively, you could simply have the live vlog remain something exclusive to Kaiba and have both the newer idols take the more traditional idol route.
A proper debut matters.
If things go well, they might even get some extra fame out of it.