Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 69

21. Third Settlement

Before a core fanbase, affectionately dubbed ‘Hope,’ could even properly take shape, Blue Rose achieved the remarkable feat of reaching number one on a music show just five days after their debut.

Although it was on a cable channel, specifically A Broadcasting Station’s music show, reaching number one in just five days was the fastest record ever.

It was two days ahead of Black Tiger’s record.

Of course, considering that Black Tiger’s agency, YC Entertainment, was a small to medium-sized company at the time and faced an uphill battle in the industry’s power dynamics, it was still a significant achievement.

With the number one trophy secured, an encore performance was prepared, but they couldn’t complete the stage properly.

Having finally obtained the trophy they had once envied so much, something they could only dream of, they couldn’t calm their hearts.

-Sniffle, sniffle.-

The one who burst into tears the most that day was Lee Chae-young, known as the Stone Buddha among fans [a nickname suggesting her usual stoic demeanor].

She cried so loudly, as if she was so overwhelmed, that she eventually had to leave the encore stage without singing a single verse.

Fortunately, Ji-heon, who usually showed off her *maknae* charm [youngest member’s endearing qualities], surprisingly remained calm and gave her thoughts on behalf of her older sisters.

She thanked her family, friends, manager, and even the recently formed fans called ‘Hope,’ and continued with teary eyes.

“…And most of all, our CEO, who believed in us even more than we believed in ourselves. Thank you so much. Thank you.”

She hesitated and made a heart with her hand, and the wriggling gesture was quite cute, so this scene became a meme and circulated through many online communities.

Starting with this number one, Blue Rose topped the music charts on every broadcasting station they appeared on.

They revived the retro style of the 90s with the right emotions, and their popularity increased among those in their 30s and older.

Originally, it wouldn’t have been easy on terrestrial channels, but the top idol groups who had been sweeping number one before Blue Rose appeared stepped down early, making this possible.

As Blue Rose’s popularity grew, they took the top spot on all broadcasting stations.

Their support from various age groups increased, and eventually, by the end of the second week, they were branded with a national little sister image.

Naturally, by the fourth week, the term ‘Blue Rose Syndrome’ began to emerge.

This was due to their universally liked image and music that continued to dominate music charts without becoming tiresome.

The huge success of Blue Rose naturally led to increased attention for their agency, YC Entertainment.

Lee Na-eun’s success as a solo singer was somewhat within the realm of common sense, but when even an idol group succeeded to an unbelievable extent, even the major agencies began to pay attention to them with nervous eyes.

* * *

Due to the enthusiastic response, Blue Rose’s activities were extended for two more weeks.

However, unlike their activities as singers, they didn’t appear much on variety shows.

It wasn’t because they weren’t getting offers.

Rather, as the term ‘syndrome’ emerged, all of the leading variety shows in the country sent casting requests.

If they were any other idol group, they would have tried to appear on as many shows as possible.

Even if they were called national little sisters, they were still rookies, so they needed to show their faces on as many media outlets as possible to increase their recognition.

However, Chief Tokashi, who oversaw Blue Rose, had a different idea.

“Blue Rose is an organically designed group. We may suffer losses in the short term, but if we fail to maintain this design, we will not be able to differentiate ourselves from other idol groups.”

Therefore, Chief Tokashi was picky about variety shows to the point of being fastidious.

No matter how big the variety show was, if it didn’t fit Blue Rose’s image, he would boldly reject it.

Even the variety shows they did choose were only *chulyeon* [appeared on] after much consultation and adjustment with the writers and PDs [program directors].

There were voices of concern within the company, but I agreed with Chief Tokashi’s actions.

“The past as a third-rate idol can be a good narrative, but if we go in the wrong direction, it could become a fatal weakness.”

If those who are already successful become even more successful, people tend to accept it, but if those who were unsuccessful in the past suddenly become successful, there will definitely be people who are jealous.

Even a slight misstep could lead to malicious rumors such as ‘they’ve changed since they became famous.’

So, until they become untouchable figures, it was right to manage them thoroughly as they were doing now.

In that respect, their activities in Japan were not very active either.

They only appeared on music programs and a few relatively verified variety shows.

Fortunately, that alone was enough to gain considerable popularity in Japan.

Ichiro, the head of the Japanese branch, had already promoted Blue Rose before they even debuted in Japan.

-The first idol raised by YC-sama [Mr. YC]-

His short promotional phrase worked perfectly.

Malicious articles in the form of ‘YC’s girls’ appeared frequently in third-rate tabloid magazines, but these malicious articles actually helped promote Blue Rose.

It wasn’t intentional, but they had properly executed noise marketing (a marketing technique that intentionally creates negative issues to attract consumers’ attention, regardless of quality).

It wasn’t intentional, and they weren’t planning to put much effort into their activities in Japan right away, so they wrapped things up as soon as they saw some results.

They filed lawsuits through local law firms and released materials that made it easy to learn about Blue Rose, including their narrative.

Thanks to this, there were quite a few people who initially knew them as targets of criticism but ended up falling for Blue Rose.

“Surprisingly, the proportion of female fans is quite high.”

“It seems that Blue Rose is not just pushing for pureness but also putting a lot of effort into their performances. I think they felt a certain girl crush. Interestingly, male fans are overwhelmingly in their 40s and older.”

“Well… maybe it’s only natural.”

In the past, the cultural gap between Korea and Japan was about 10 years. Naturally, the sensibilities of Korea in the mid-90s were similar to those of Japan in the mid to late 80s.

So, Blue Rose would have reminded men in their 40s and older who spent their youth during that time of their memories.

It wasn’t until the last week of their activities in Japan that Blue Rose received enthusiastic attention from teenagers in Japan.

That’s when teenage girls recognized Blue Rose’s unique girl crush.

The influence of those girls led teenage boys to learn about Blue Rose, and the result was obvious.

Although they are loved by girls for their girl crush, Blue Rose is an idol group that is pushing for pureness.

In addition, they boasted visuals that were on a different level from the 2D characters they were obsessed with or the amateurish local girl groups, so it was bound to be a hit.

And that’s not all. Due to Japan’s unique subculture, the narrative of a third-rate idol’s success story perfectly targeted their tastes.

“By the way, it’s surprising that the proportion is not higher than expected, isn’t it?”

It goes without saying, but as in Korea, the most popular member in Japan was Kim Ah-young, the center.

She already had overwhelming visuals, but she also matched the concept so well that Kim Ah-young accounted for half of the group’s share.

“Well, we’ve done well enough.”

If it were any other girl group, Kim Ah-young would have accounted for not just half but more than 90% of the group’s share.

‘Maybe Baby Fox killed Kim Ah-young’s color because she considered this point.’

But even considering that point, it was definitely strange that she ruined the group with that member composition.

This proportion will be further reduced from more full-fledged activities in Japan than it is now.

Distributing this proportion evenly within the team is more important than you might think.

It’s not that there aren’t one-man teams in idol groups, but if it goes too far, the idol group will no longer be able to exist.

It wasn’t just a phenomenon caused by jealousy among the team members.

It’s just that external factors create it.

For example, if you shoot a pictorial advertisement as a solo artist, you can receive more than 100 million won, but if you shoot a pictorial advertisement as part of a group, it’s difficult to receive even half of that.

The reason is that the advertiser only wants one popular member.

Rather, the other members are far from the advertising image they want, so this strange phenomenon is inevitable to endure it.

Even this is the case when the popular member is considerate, and if not, the team goes through the process of disbanding before that happens.

‘Come to think of it, Black Tiger is a team that has given up on this part from the beginning.’

From the beginning, bands are bound to focus on the vocals.

And if they were younger, it might be different, but it didn’t make sense to be obsessed with such popularity at the age of 50.

Above all, the uncles, including me, were sincere about music.

The reason why they were holding onto music that didn’t make money, or rather, only created expenses, until that age was one thing.

“Because it’s fun.”

And this fun explodes like crazy on stage.

Once you’ve tasted the stage, you can’t help but come back for that reason.

“I’m glad the activities were completed successfully.”

Chief Tokashi, who had been nervous until the end, finally showed a sigh of relief.

But both Chief Tokashi and I knew that this was another beginning.

For idols, the activities don’t end just because the official activities are over.

Rather, in the case of first-tier idols, they have even busier schedules during their break.

First of all, they had to fulfill the entertainment show appearances, pictorial shoots, or CFs [commercial films] that had been postponed due to their schedule. In addition, they had to perform at events such as large corporations and festivals.

The unit price of events that are invited to perform is usually over 100 million won for first-tier idols.

Among these events, the biggest money is, of course, overseas events.

In China, the price could be up to 10 times higher, and even if it wasn’t, it was possible to receive at least twice the pay.

This is why first-tier idols focus on overseas schedules rather than domestic events.

In addition, they had to prepare for the next album, so it wasn’t really a break even if it was called a break.

Newcomers usually bring the original song rather than MR [music recorded] to prepare for mistakes because they are not familiar with these events.

Above all, the success of the event must be prioritized, so it was inevitable.

However, this brings about other criticisms.

It creates questions about the singer’s sincerity and doubts about their skills for lip-syncing after being invited at a high price.

“Fortunately, Blue Rose doesn’t have to worry about that.”

“That’s right.”

At this point, Chief Tokashi and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Good Night and Baby Fox were veterans of events who had been called to perform at really crazy places as they were called.

The essence of the event didn’t change just because the stage got bigger.

Rather, compared to the time when they were forced to build their stage coping skills due to the cheaply made event venues, it was nothing for them to handle such big stages.

Above all, there were fans on this stage who were cheering for them.

Perhaps because of the experience of being called to perform just for show in the past, and the burden of creating a festive atmosphere for a completely different age group, the stage events where fans cheered for them at the top of their lungs seemed to energize them.

Anyway, Blue Rose’s official activities ended like that.

However, YC Entertainment was busier than ever.

This was due to the schedules of Blue Rose, the support for G1 Band’s activities in China, and the management of Lee Na-eun’s entertainment shows and stage events.

But the biggest reason was, of course, our Black Tiger’s comeback.

And it’s not just any comeback.

This album is also the first full-length album, and above all, the comeback was delayed more than expected because we were preparing for a concert tour that many fans had been waiting for.

This concert tour was scheduled not only in Korea but also in Japan and China.