If "[My guess is]" Hoshino Ai were to exist in real life, would she be in Hashimoto Kanna's class?　Considering the influence from the depiction in the work

Considering the influence of the real entertainment industry and the ubiquitous Ai Hoshino.

The original story, written by Akasa Akasaka, and the manga, written by Mengo Yokojari, teamed up to create "[Ai Hoshino]". The original comic series has sold a total of 12 million copies, and has been gaining momentum at an accelerating pace even after the anime broadcast ended.

In addition to the appealing characters and interesting story, one of the reasons for the popularity of this work among readers is the realistic depiction of the entertainment industry based on Akasaka's meticulous reporting. Despite this realistic portrayal of the entertainment world, this work features a character named Ai Hoshino, who dominates the entertainment world with her unrealistic star power. Unfortunately, Ai dies in the middle of her dreams, but the Cinderella story she weaves has a charm that draws you in.

One wonders how much of an idol and talent Ai would have been if she had existed in real life. Here, we would like to consider "what if she had existed in reality," taking a cue from her portrayal in the story and comparing her to real idols and TV personalities.

Reviewing Ai Hoshino

First, let us review what kind of person Ai Hoshino really is.

She is the absolute ace of the idol group "B Komachi" and is 16 years old. As of the first episode, it is explained that four years after their formation, their media exposure has slowly begun to increase, and they are depicted performing at the Budokan.

Although they temporarily suspended their idol activities, they appeared on a music program soon after resuming their activities. At that time, the program staff said, "I know at least their name, but I haven't heard anything about them in the last six months," "They must be from the underground," and "I don't even know an office called Ichigo-Pro," suggesting that at that point their recognition may have been little more than a hair above that of underground idols.

In episode 4 of the original story, there is a panel where Ai remarks, "My salary this month is 20,000 yen. Considering that the salary of one person in a group of seven is 200,000 yen, he must be a reasonably successful artist.

In episode 5, she is a model and assistant radio personality, appearing in her first drama and movie, albeit in a minor role; in episode 6, she is featured on a quiz show and in a magazine cover photogravure.

And in episode 8, she even became an image model in a street advertisement, and has reached 1 million followers on social networking sites. The drama in which he played the lead role had the highest instantaneous rating of 14.2%, and the other members of "B-Komachi" also had their work filled. Then, just before a live performance at the Tokyo Dome, he passed away for one reason or another.

At the time of the first episode, they were only famous as idols?

From here, I would like to examine how influential Ai was in comparison to other real-life celebrities. First of all, Ai was able to perform at Budokan in the first episode. As the manga "I'll die if my idol group performs at the Budokan" suggests, the Budokan is often a goal for idol groups. However, the reality is that only a handful of groups are able to do so.

The comprehensive information site "Live Department" has compiled a list of groups that have held live performances at the Budokan. Here is a list of idol groups that have performed at the Budokan. It is said that there are about 3,000 idol groups, large and small, and only 1% of them can stand at the Budokan, which is a very narrow gate.

#1

And "B-Komachi" has been described as having performed at the Budokan only once; if we focus on the 32 groups that have performed there just once, there are a total of 17 groups. Among them, there were 17 groups in total, ranging from "national idol groups" like AKB48, to "CY8ER," which has already disbanded but boasted legendary popularity in the idol scene, to "Negicco," a regional group based in Niigata Prefecture that has made great strides as a regional group. Negicco," a regional group based in Niigata Prefecture that has made great strides in the idol scene. All of these groups were undoubtedly recognized as mainstream in the idol world. B-Komachi" was probably a group that was highly recognized in the idol community.

In the second and third episodes, they appeared in commercial broadcasts and music programs.

In the second episode, Ai resumes her idol activities after a hiatus. It is a story about appearing on a music program, and during the production, she is asked, "Are you all right? Are you eating properly?" someone is talking to Ai on the show. The person associated with this line is probably Tamori from "Music Station," a music program broadcast on the TV Asahi network.

When we looked up the idol groups that have appeared on "Music Station" over the past three years, the names "BiSH," "New School Leaders," "Hyuhizaka46," "Blueberry Soda," "Nogizaka46," "Sakurazaka46," "AKB48," "STU48," "=LOVE," and "Last Idol" were listed. If "B-Komachi" had appeared on "Music Station," it seems safe to assume that it would have been on par with the scale of these groups.

In episode 3, there is a depiction of a commercial for the 7th single "Super Motor" being aired. If this is referring to "Super Motor," then the commercial was aired in the living room, and many people who were not interested in idols may have heard of the song even if they had never heard of it.

Episode 4 reveals Ai's salary, and the recognition that can be expected from it.

Episode 4 is a story that mentions the idol's salary situation. As I mentioned at the beginning of the story, in episode 4 it is revealed that Ai's salary is at least 200,000 yen. Whether this is a lot or a little for an idol should be one of the determining factors.

It is unclear whether Ai's salary is 200,000 gross or 200,000 take-home pay. In addition, if employed, the employee pension and health insurance premiums must be deducted or paid by the employee, resulting in " 157,972 yen.

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Pooh Lui, a former "Bis" member, disclosed on the video that he was paid approximately 350,000 yen as salary for the three months immediately before he quit the group. The monthly salary is about 120,000 yen. This amount includes his success in recording the 4th place on the Oricon and selling out the Kokugikan scale, according to the video. Since Ai also ranked third in the Oricon and also performed at the Budokan, which boasts 1.5 times the capacity of the Kokugikan, the minimum 200,000 yen figure may actually be quite reasonable, or even a little high.

Bis" is an idol group that started in 2010 and gained recognition through unprecedented promotions and extreme benefit events, even going so far as to hold a breakup live performance at Yokohama Arena in 2014. Although they were not as well known as "AKB48" or "Momoiro Clover Z" at the time, "Bis" is still talked about today as a legendary group that quickly rose to the top during the "Idol Warring States Period, They did not leave any trace of their existence behind, and disbanded gracefully. Those who frequented idol concerts would have at least heard of the group even if they were not interested in "Bis" at the time.

If "B-komachi" was the same size as "Bis" at the time of episode 4, "B-komachi" might have been recognized as a legendary group that could hold a breakup live in an arena.

Growing by leaps and bounds in episodes 5 through 8

In episode 5, Ai has appeared in modeling, gravure, assistant personalities, her first drama/movie, and a variety show. According to Aqua, she is "an idol/talent who is on the market to rave reviews.

In episode 8, two years later, she is featured in a street advertisement for some product as an image model. In reality, there is also something called the Shibuya Charter Sheet advertisement in front of Shibuya Station, but this one costs about 7 million yen for a 2-week posting. If 7 million yen is spent just to place the ad, it is likely that a considerable amount of money is being spent when various contractual fees are taken into account.

Also, if the story is at the level of a street advertisement, it is likely to be a product of a so-called major manufacturer. Being a model for a major manufacturer's product means that appeal is still important, and it would be difficult to serve without considerable recognition by the general public, so Ai's name recognition as of episode 8 must be substantial.

#8

Also in episode 8, there is a frame in which the president of the office remarks that the drama in which Ai played the lead role recorded a 14.2% viewer rating. The lineage of idols-turned-actresses reminds me of Ryoko Shinohara, formerly of Tokyo Performance Doll, whose best-known work "Unfair" averaged about 15.4% in viewership. Similarly, Kanna Hashimoto, who also went through her idol days and is now an actress, has averaged a rating of 10% for all episodes of her representative work, "Today I'm! averaged around 10% in viewer rating for all episodes. Considering that Ai was able to appear in a work on par with this popular group of dramas, she must have also been recognized as an actress who dominated her generation.

Also not to be overlooked is the description of Ai's social networking site, which has reached 1 million followers. When we looked up idols, including former and current, who have around 1 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), we found four candidates: Yuki Kashiwagi with approximately 1.3 million, Reina Matsui with 1.05 million, Rina Kawae with 880,000, and Sakira Miyawaki with 840,000. All of them are members of idol groups that everyone knows and are central figures in the group. If they tweet something, they will receive thousands to tens of thousands of likes and retweets, which means that if Ai tweets something as of episode 8, she will get at least a few thousand responses.

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And now we come to the development of the impending live concert at the Tokyo Dome, where I looked up the groups that actually performed at the Tokyo Dome. In terms of capacity, it holds 55,000 people, which is five times the capacity of the Budokan where they performed at the start of episode 1.

Again, a quick check of the "Live Department" shows that there are only four female idol groups that have appeared at Tokyo Dome in the past: Sakurazaka46, Hyuugaizaka46, Nogizaka46, and Momoiro Clover Z. These are the top groups, in other words, with one or more members of the group appearing on TV programs every day, having their own TV shows, and being able to perform on historic singing shows. It is reasonable to assume that "B Komachi," which was also scheduled to perform at the Dome, would have been considered a top group in the era of episode 8.

Ai Hoshino's influence is so great that it surpasses that of the top idols.

In summary, Ai and "B Komachi" from the start of episode 1 to episode 4, if applied to reality, would be famous in the idol scene, but only to the extent that they were not known to the public.

However, by episode 8, when they were at the peak of their popularity, they were performing on par with Ryoko Shinohara and Kanna Hashimoto as actresses, and if they were used in advertisements, they would generate a considerable amount of money. In terms of idols, they have the same level of influence as Yuki Kashiwagi, Rina Matsui, Rina Kawae, and Sakira Miyawaki, and "B-Komachi" itself is probably a top group. It is no exaggeration to say that they are more than just idols.

It is not an exaggeration to say that "B-Komachi" is more than just an idol group; it is an exceptional situation for an idol born from a weak agency. In the story, Miyako Saito likened Ai's success to a "miracle that doesn't happen twice," and this reminds us that Ai was truly a miracle.

I hope that by reading this article, you will realize how great she was and how much of an impact she had in the early stages of the story, and become more immersed in the world of "[Myushinoko]".

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• Original story information
• Serialized in Shueisha's "Weekly Young Jump
• Written by Akasa Akasaka and Mengo Yokojari