Unnamed Idol Story Project
Oh uh, resizing makes her shirt's motif glitch.
General presentation
This is an idea I've had on my mind for a while. Since idolm@ster, Love Live, Aikatsu, and the likes, there has been a big expansion of the idol genre as a whole. They all introduced the idol culture to anime and manga fans, including me who then fell in love with real life idols, and later with the lesser known underground idols sub-genre. And this is what made me want to write up this kind of story for a while, a story which could mix the (sometimes) harsh reality of actual, starting-from-scratch, idols,with the fun and appeal of fictional, easy-going, idols. There are some animes which tried that, like Wake up girls and its scandals-related issues, but I think there's a lot more to explore.
So here's the pitch. I want to create a story that could depict the struggle of people chasing their dreams, especially in the artistic field, and the beauty of fulfilling them. It's really classic, there's no actual twist to that — but the whole thing would have to be supported by relatable and likable characters. The only little real bells and whistles I'd like to bring in are how those idols which the story will be focused on are. I'm sure people always imagine pink/pop-colored girls in frilly clothes when we talk about idols, with romance and happy-go-lucky songs. And it's true, it's what the vast majority of big name idol groups embodies.
But as I said in the beginning, I also love underground idols — idols who are different, who can be grim, rock, who can raise the middle finger to their fans while smiling adorably. I don't really want to go to such extremes, but they exist, and I want to give them the spotlight. That's why the idols in this story would be street idols, sporting streetwear and rapping out their melodies between two winks. There's also something we don't see much in anime idols, and that's the whole behind the scenes business. How idols can be captive, mouth-shut and dolls to their management. That's a subject I want to touch on as well.
The story would obviously have to be told mainly through the characters, with, if possible, less descriptive text and would feel more like a good play (as it's the kind of VN I like most, like Blazblue's story mode for those who played it).
Uncovering the different protagonists' past would also play a big role in understanding them better.
Story presentation
I don't want to spoil too much, so I won't go into too much details. But I already have a relatively good outline though it still needs to be ironed and completed.
A group of three girls will, one day, end up banding together in order to pursue their dreams. Though their goals are all different, the means is the same: they want to become idols and make their group successful. But all hating having their string pulled by higher-ups like puppets, they chose the path that comes with equally as much freedom as setbacks — they chose to be self-produced. They will have to find means to promote themselves from nobodies to something worth speaking of, while being part of an already struggling scene.
There is but one keyword to their adventure: perseverance.
The story is set in a modern-day, realistic Tokyo.
Characters presentation
I'm keeping their last names hidden for now. Not that they have any importance, none of that is definitive anyway.
Manami (center): Leader of the group and its creator. She has always loved singing more than anything in her life, and has always preferred singing alone in her garden more than attending classes. She's always been bad at making friends because of this, not because she's asocial, but because she doesn't really pay much attention to others as much as she's focused on her dream of making her debut. She also used to ditch classes in order to get her soul soothed at her local livehouses. She wants to make it big as an idol in order to use that reputation for a solo career in the future.
She had finally managed to enter a well-known idol group right before it started declining, and ended up disbanding soon after her arrival, despite her biggest efforts to keep it afloat. That will give her the motivation to give up on relying on others' business to create her own group — little did she know no one would show up at her recruitment meeting...
She has a will stronger than anyone and is known never to give up, which stems from her own pride and ego. That, however, also means she has pretty much only ever focused only on very few things and is clueless about everything else.
She always speaks her mind out and is never afraid of taking risks — nothing can ever go wrong as she has failed enough times to know how to get back on her feet. This gives her natural charisma and trust for people to follow her.
As an extension of singing she also tried various instruments but only ever stuck with guitar and ends up composing the group's instrumentals.
Yua (left): A girl who arrived in the big city of Tokyo after losing her father with whom she was living abroad. She's fully Japanese-blooded, but has been raised in another culture, and thus had absolutely no idea what idols were before contacting Manami. There's only two things on her mind: finding a place in a country she has no roots and no friends in, and securing a steady job to get money.
She's a fresh graduate from a famous graphic design and communication school, which makes her the best fitted to have the PR role in the group. She also loves interacting on social networks with her fans for the sole reason that being the most popular of the group also means she'll be the one making the most profit.
She's however relatively slow-paced and doesn't talk all that much — not because she's shy, but simply because she doesn't like to talk for no reason, and being all respectful, sometimes fears backlashes. Thus, while she seems warm and fun on the net or on stage, she often comes off as cold in real life, but makes up for it with her cuteness.
Naru (right): The only girl who's still a college student in the group. She used to be in another group before who disbanded because of her, although both this fact and the reason is unknown to the two others. She's the biggest idol fan of the group, a pure wota who won't hesitate to throw away her princess-like appearance to dance with the rest of the audience, dressed with a ridiculous logo-branded shirt and waving her penlights in the air.
Always dressed impeccably the rest of the time, she's also the most skilled in dance and an overall refined girl, only making her rock-imbued soul visible through her numerous ear piercings.
She however has a sharp, though elegant, tongue and, being the same age as Manami, will often be the one to get her back to earth.
She's also a fast and good thinker, easily coming up with solutions for the weirdest situations. And although she may seem at first like the one with the least problems, is that really true?...
A fourth girl is also supposed to join the group later after a certain event.
Notes
I'd like the game to be a kinetic (or only have side-stories as "routes") novel. There's no dating elements nor is there any sim elements. I just want a good story, with memorable characters, emotional and obviously funny moments. K-on! Is definitely another of one my big ref.
If possible, I'd like the game to be commercial funded through a KS, but for now everything is just at the planning stage so this is off the radar.
The story would ideally be at least around 120,000 words long, but my goal for now would be to create a pilote/prologue/demo of ~20,000 words.
I'd also like to note I've been to Japan for two months and have attended a bunch of lives and idol-related events, this isn't a lot but I think it's enough to give out a somewhat realistic rendition of Tokyo and idols.
What I currently have:
- Story outline (~50%)
- Sprite/CG artist – myself, although I don't know if I can consider myself good enough yet or not
- Project manager — myself again, if I ever were to team up with people properly (I can also serve as the PR guy since I've worked a bit in communication as well)
What I'd need (with Priorities):
- P1) A writer/script-writer. I'm not a writer myself, and english isn't even my native language. The most I can write is prose and I'm certainly no good at writing dialogues, so it'd be cool if a writer willing to follow my outline/concept would like to join the project. If he/she loves idols, even better! That'd certainly help to understand each other.
- P2) BG artist (?). I may branch off to learn how to create BG myself, but it'd certainly be easier to have someone else do it to save time.
- P2) Programmer (?). Something I may be able to learn as well, but better to leave that in the hands of experts.
- P3) Music maker - OST
- P3) Singers – for insert songs
- P4/P2 for demo) Editors
I'm not exactly asking for recruitement just yet EXCEPT if you're actually super motivated by the project as the writer position. In which case, by all means, don't hesitate to get in touch!
If this idea goes anywhere closer to reality, I'll start recruiting for assets production once the demo script would supposedly be done.
Anyway, question time.
- Does this project sound interesting? / Would you read it?
- Are you interested in idol culture? If yes, how much do you know about it? (Limited to anime knowledge or more...) ; if no, would this kind of story potentially make you change your mind?
- What would be the best priority to you: drama or comedy? Knowing that some drama is at least bound to happen at some point anyway.
- Which girl sounds the most and/or the least interesting so far? Can either be about the design or the description.
- Any suggestions/comments?
Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
I almost wish I could apply for a writing position, but I find myself to be unsuitable.
