Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 128



Only Krnovel

Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 128

128. Real-life version

Tokyo International Exhibition Center.

The building is Japan’s largest exhibition hall and features an eight-story inverted pyramid-shaped conference building made of glass and titanium panels, and is a famous tourist attraction better known as “Tokyo Big Sight.”

As an international exhibition center, various events are held here, and today, another huge event was scheduled to take place.

as soon as,

‘Everything about animation is here!’

A large-scale subcultural event that attracts 150,000 visitors every year.

Japan’s largest anime festival, ‘AnimeJapan 2024’.

A festival of dreams and hopes for nerds that only happens once a year.

Thanks to this, the area in front of Tokyo Big Sight was filled with people from the morning.

There is a long line of people waiting to enter the venue.

The lines at amusement parks are ridiculous.

Since it is common to have to wait more than two hours just to buy a ticket and get in, there are even people who line up from the early morning hours just to get in a little faster.

It’s such a popular event.

Meanwhile, a black van leisurely passed them by.

As the van entered the venue through the official line, envious and jealous gazes from those around them flew in and stuck to it.

Who on earth is that guy riding over there···!

Soon, the event staff got out of the van that had arrived at the parking lot.

I am a member of the ‘AnimeJapan 2024’ operating staff.

Then another man appeared.

Visuals that are too flashy for someone who works at an animation event.

The identity was Sungjun, the singer who is currently dominating the Korean music charts.

Additionally, he was also invited as a guest singer to perform a special stage during today’s event.

“Thanks to you, I was able to come comfortably.”

“What are you saying? Of course we should invite you. You are the most important guest at today’s event. Then, we will invite you to the venue.”

The staff guided Sungjun and his manager Oh Haesoo who was with him.

“Wow.”

As soon as he entered the venue, Sungjun’s eyes and mouth opened wide.

The spacious event hall was decorated splendidly with booths from each animation production company.

There are promotional posters for animation characters hanging from the ceiling, and various animations are shown on the LED screens.

The life-size stand and large sculptures where you can take commemorative photos also steal your attention.

The overwhelming visuals naturally elicit admiration.

‘Come to think of it, Kang Seung-wook was a fan of animation, wasn’t he?’

If my band mate came here, he’d be all over the place.

“I guess this is your first time at an animation event.”

The staff member snickered and said as he watched Sungjun looking around like a child, unable to take his eyes off him.

“Let’s take a closer look later. For now, let’s go to the conference room.”

I walked around the fancy event hall and followed the staff to the conference room.

As soon as he opened the door, familiar faces greeted him.

“You came!”

“You’re here!”

Three people who were chatting away got up from their seats and greeted each other.

Director Sotozaka, the master of animation production company ‘Muportable’.

And the two members of the Japanese supernova sibling band Twilight, Yoru and Hikaru, will be performing on the special stage with Sungjun today.

“Thank you for coming such a long way, Seong Jun-sang.”

“You all came early. Have you eaten?”

The four people share the joy of reunion while enjoying drinks and snacks prepared by AnimeJapan.

A staff member who had been watching them talk for a while opened his mouth.

“Now that everyone is here, we will begin the rehearsal.”

We need to finish rehearsal quickly before the audience enters.

A special stage was set up on one side of the event venue.

The sound has already been set up.

Seongjun, Yoru, and Hikaru came up on stage.

Just like when they busked in Shinjuku before, the three of them decided to perform on stage together this time too.

Seongjun plays guitar, Yoru plays bass, and Hikaru plays drums.

Another guitarist from Twilight joins as a guest.

“If you’ve finished setting up your instrument, let’s go ahead and try it out the way we did yesterday.”

The rest nod their heads at Seongjun’s words.

Actually, I had a meeting with the Twilight siblings yesterday.

It was to practice ensemble practice for today’s performance.

So when singing the opening song ‘Life and Death’, the Twilight members took charge of the session.

On the other hand, when singing the ending song ‘影 (Kage=Shadow),’ it was decided that Sungjun would assist with the keyboard.

Since we had already worked together once, it was easy to tune the sound.

“I think this is enough.”

We had about two rehearsals.

The original group of talented people gathered together, and with the thorough practice they had yesterday, the synergy was perfect.

We returned to the conference room and sorted out the performance times and other details.

And when I came out to the venue, it was already bustling with people entering.

It was literally a festival scene.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!”

On one side, people were dancing and singing along to the animation theme song.

“Welcome, how about picking up a pamphlet?”

Each animation event booth is handing out promotional pamphlets.

The photo spot where professional cosplayers line up and pose is also extremely popular.

“The atmosphere is good.”

Seongjun was in a good mood as he was immersed in the vibrant scene.

“Our booth is this way.”

I followed Sotozaka to the ‘Muportable’ booth.

From the entrance of the booth, the biggest hit of the year, ‘Nahonbul’, was displayed as the main attraction.

The merchandise stand was filled with goods such as figures, key rings, dolls, and t-shirts, and a large crowd of fans gathered in front of them.

‘Ugh.’

The sight of people cheering for Korean characters and even buying Korean goods in the home of animation somehow fills me with a sense of national pride.

When Sungjun stared at the goods stand, Sotozaka, who misunderstood it as meaning something else, smiled and said.

“If there’s any goods you want, Sungjun, just let me know. I’ll give it to you.”

“Oh, really?”

Since it was an animation that I participated in composing, I was thinking that it would be nice to decorate the studio with some goods.

I’ll have to pick a few later and ask for them.

Meanwhile, after looking around the booth, we had time for the final stage preparations.

“As I said during the meeting, we also have to cosplay.”

This is a clause that is often attached to the conditions for participation in animation events.

Rather than full-blown cosplay, it’s more like just wearing a costume.

Sotozaka took out the clothes that Muportable had prepared themselves.

It looks like it was made with a lot of effort, and the quality is pretty good.

‘It’s cosplay.’

Suddenly, I remember when I did a couple cosplay with Seol Hye-yoon and Durahan.

I thought that would be my first and last cosplay.

‘Come to think of it, is Hye-yoon’s songwriting going well?’

After connecting with Hyo-ryeon, I deliberately did not bring up the subject.

Because I feel like I’m interfering with your work for no reason.

Of course, I will respond at any time if Seol Hye-yoon asks for my opinion or asks for help.

‘Well, a system message will notify you when the lyrics are finished.’

So there was nothing to worry about, but I still had to ask anyway.

With those thoughts in mind, I changed my clothes in the changing room inside the booth and came out.

Seongjun is the main character, and Yoru and Hikaru cosplayed as the female protagonist and main villain, respectively.

“Wow… The visuals are definitely there… They’re really cool.”

“It’s a visual that makes you want to make it into a real-life scene!”

As soon as he came out after changing into his uniform, the staff let out exclamations and Sotozaka swallowed his saliva.

There was a subtle greed flowing in his sparkling eyes.

That guy’s live-action.

Why does Japan break the hearts of anime fans by making well-made anime into live-action?

I didn’t say it out loud.

“Let’s all take a picture together.”

Hikaru said, as if he liked the outfit and was striking poses here and there.

“I’ll take the picture. Director Sotozaka, please stand with us.”

Oh Hae-soo, who was quick-witted, quickly stepped forward.

Sungjun, the Twilight siblings, and Director Sotozaka stand side by side.

“Okay, here we go, one, two, three.”

“This time, next to the life-size figures of the characters each of you cosplayed as.”

“Next time I’ll take a picture with an instrument.”

Click-

They say that if a dog studies at a private school for three years, it will be able to recite poetry.

Oh Hae-soo, who has a lot of experience as a manager, even leads the poses.

Thanks to that, I was able to get some pretty decent pictures.

“Oh, it came out well. Can I post it on SNS? Seong Jun-sang?”

“Of course.”

Hikaru shouts ‘Ahssa’, and Yoru, who has smoky makeup on, continues to look at the photo with the corners of her lips slightly curved.

As it was getting close to time, I headed backstage.

And soon the staff introductions began.

“Welcome to AnimeJapan 2024. To thank you for your support, we have prepared a special stage.

“We have invited the singers who sang the opening and ending songs of ‘I Alone Ambassador’ and ‘I Alone Ambassador’ to this venue. Please give them a big round of applause!”

Sungjun and Twilight came up on stage amidst applause and cheers.

“Hello. I’m Sungjun, a singer from Korea. Thank you for inviting me to such a wonderful event. Did you all enjoy watching ‘I’m Alone’?”

“Ohhhhhhh!”

Seongjun’s comment was met with a loud cheer.

Seongjun smiled and said, seeming satisfied with the answer.

“Then, let me tell you about ‘Life and Death’ right away.”

Seongjun and Hikaru exchange glances.

A flashy guitar riff was played simultaneously with the drumstick sign.

Seongjun, with his eyes wide open, opened his mouth.

“In the endless flow of life and death, within that boundary-”

Seongjun’s voice echoes throughout the room.

Even though it was clearly a crowded and noisy event venue, somehow his voice pierced my ears even from far away.

So much so that the fans watching found themselves looking at the special stage without even realizing it.

[Currently [SR Grade Skill Cocktail Party] is in effect.]

It was thanks to the skill he used while busking in Shinjuku that he was able to convey his voice to the audience even in noisy places.

“Amazing… This is the first time I’ve seen such an incredible performance.”

“Is that man’s voice magic? Who would have thought it would revive my heart that I thought was dead?”

Fans who were watching Sungjun’s stage were so amazed by his overwhelming performance and vocals that they let out exclamations full of fandom.

On the other hand, the visuals of the cosplaying trio also caught attention.

“The synchronization is quite high. It really sounds like anime characters are playing the instrument.”

“The singer who sang Life and Death was such an ikeman (handsome guy)? And he was even Korean?”

“Yoru-chan is truly an angel!”

“I’d rather have a villain like Hikaru-kun!”

As with Sotozaka, it felt like watching a scene where characters who had truly come to life were performing.

After the ‘Life and Death’ stage ended, the ‘Kage’ stage followed immediately.

“Be your shadow.”

Fans once again fell in love with the charm of ‘Kage’, which features Yoru’s desperate vocals, which are different from the exciting atmosphere of ‘Life and Death’.

The two songs played for 10 minutes like that.

For those 10 minutes, instead of their favorite characters, Sungjun and Twilight took their place in the fans’ minds.

And on this day, the stage heated up Japanese SNS and communities.

– They say that live-action characters from ‘Nahonbul’ performed at AnimeJapan 2024?!

– I just came back from watching the fancam and the vocals are crazy. What’s that guy’s name?!

N Sungjun! Don’t you know yet? He’s the number one singer in Korea right now!

Oh, Shinjuku busking!

n DMLC is also called Junsama

N Huh? Wasn’t that a song sung by a Japanese person? The pronunciation was definitely Japanese!

– A group photo was also uploaded to the Twilight account!

N This isn’t an edited photo, is it?! The visuals of these three are crazy!!

N Hello, this is Japan’s ‘My Star’. Please show lots of love to our Jun-chan! Twilight is also cheering for you.

N My Star has even appeared in Japan?! What kind of penetration is it!

A man who looks like he jumped out of an anime.

Aetunam and Sungjun have once again taken over Japan’s real-time trends.

*

After the successful conclusion of the AnimeJapan 2024 event,

Seongjun did not return to Korea right away.

Because he had one more schedule left in Japan.

That schedule wasn’t ‘tourism’.

This is a really official schedule.

That’s on the level of AnimeJapan, or maybe even higher.

The importance of this is proven by the fact that Director Baek Seok also joined.

anyway.

Seongjun and Baekseok, who were together for the first time in a long time, were sitting in front of the person who had made this Japanese schedule.

A man wearing a suit with vertical stripes and sunglasses.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yujiro Ito from Let’s Production.”

Shibasaki, who had a ‘minor incident’ with Seongjun.

The vice president of the largest and most powerful entertainment agency in Japan, to which he belongs, smiled and extended his hand.