The Cinema Show

May 17, 2024

Masaru Oma was meeting with Hideki Tomoe regarding A TO Z SIX’s upcoming concerts that Friday night and the following Saturday night, as well as regarding the incident that had occurred the weekend prior. “You’re lucky I didn’t order you to suspend Takahara for that little incident at the last show, Tomoe.”

“I understand, sir,” he replied with a nod. “I already talked to her about it that day.”

“I want you to reaffirm it with her before she takes the stage tonight.”

“I understand, sir.”

“Also,” Masaru then said to change the topic. “I heard she’s been hanging out with a boy in school recently. Somehow, a picture was taken of her walking with two boys and another girl that’s not in A TO Z SIX, and it appeared online a few hours ago. We also got yet another photo from inside her school showing her with the same boy.”

“Oh no,” Hideki said with dread in his voice. “That’s not good at all.”

“Apparently, it’s starting to make the rounds on social media now. People are asking questions, Tomoe. We need to nip this in the bud before we have fans burning our merchandise or destroying our CDs because they think one of the girls has a boyfriend. It’s happened before, and it’s not fucking pretty. Not one bit.”

“How do you suggest we do that?”

“Tell her to be more careful,” Masaru explained. “I don’t want her torpedoing her own career with her carelessness. Also, on that note, I was thinking that maybe we could explore sub-units of A TO Z SIX, specifically a Takahara and Takagawa subunit. I’d rather not have a big controversy derail that.”

“A subunit, huh… I mean…” Hideki sighed as he rested his elbows on the table to ponder this idea. “The two of them work well together, especially since they go to school together. That said… I don’t know if it would cause tension within the group or not.”

“We’ll make sure any tension gets taken care of. We’ve replaced a girl before. I’m not afraid to do it again if it comes down to it.”

“I’d rather not have to go through a girl leaving the group again.”

“Me neither, but when you’re in this job, it’s some ring you gotta prepare for. I’ve done it plenty of times, and it never gets easier, but I do get more used to it.”

…

Ryosuke and Ai found themselves in the front row of the music hall, with a similarly sold out crowd behind them. As generic J-Pop music, much of it from other acts signed to Time Clock Records, played in the background, the two of them waited for the opening act, a new idol group that had been formed late last year, to begin their set. “I don’t expect Momo-san to shout us out when A TO Z SIX takes the stage,” Ryosuke said to Ai. “It might blow her cover.”

“And it might piss off some fans since you’re a boy,” Ai pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s a fear of mine, and a genuine one.” Ryosuke then pulled up a news story on his phone. “Just look at this story from last year when an idol got kicked out of her group for being with a guy.”

“That’s one of the reasons why I was so surprised Momo wanted to form a band with us. Admittedly, I’m still worried about what it will do to her reputation.”

“I was worried about it, too, but she was persistent.”

Then, much to their surprise, a familiar song began to play on the speakers, prompting Ai to remark, “No fucking way.”

Ryosuke did not recognize the song at first, asking her, “Wait, what’s u-?” When he did, he similarly said, “Wait a minute… No way…”

Yet another Genesis song was playing. This time, it was intentional, and instead of Peter Gabriel on the lead vocals, it was Phil Collins. The song was a more recognizable hit by the band, and as such, a few of the older people in the audience seemed to recognize it. Ai said to herself, “Abacab… It’s Abacab!”

“You know, I never expected to hear a song like this before an idol concert,” Ryosuke chuckled. “It’s like I got transported back forty years.”

“To a time where neither of us were even alive,” Ai added further. “Hell, my parents were still children. My dad was only seven when this song was released, and my mom was only four.”

An older man, roughly around the same age as Ai’s father, overheard their conversation and asked them, “Wait, you two know this song?”

Ai replied to him, “Yeah, do you?”

“I know it’s Phil Collins, but what is it?”

“It’s Abacab.”

“Aba-what? Is that really a Phil Collins song?”

A bit annoyed, Ai replied, “It’s not a Phil Collins song. It’s a Genesis song.”

Confused, the old man then said, “Genesis? That’s a band Phil Collins was in? Wasn’t that an ani-?”

“No,” Ai sighed. “Phil Collins is not Genesis! They were a band, and he was the drumm-!”

“Okay, Ai-san, calm down,” Ryosuke told her with a pat on the shoulder. He then told the man, “She’s very passionate about that band.”

“I can tell,” he replied, “Is she your girlfriend?”

Ai immediately stopped ranting about the difference between Genesis and Phil Collins upon this rather personal question being asked. “Oh, um…”

“No,” Ryosuke assured him. “She’s just a friend.”

“Just a friend, heh… That’s what they all say when they’re young.”

“It’s not like that,” Ai retorted. “His eyes are focused on Mo-!”

Realizing Ai was about to blow their cover and reveal Momo’s name, Ryosuke quickly covered her mouth in a state of panic. “It’s nothing! We swear! We’re only friends, and I’m actually closer to another girl. This one is the girlfriend of my friend who’s just out in the bathroom, that’s all!”

“Hmmm,” replied the man. “Suit yourself, I guess.”

Ai coughed as Ryosuke stopped covering her mouth. “Dude, what the Hell was that for?!”

“Ai,” he told her in a somewhat stern voice. “You can’t just reveal that we know Takahara, okay? Hell, you can’t even say her name. The last thing we want is to blow her cover.”

Realizing what she had almost done, she felt bad. “Shit… I almost blew it, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you almost did. Look, I know it’s exciting to know an idol, but there’s risks that come with it.” Ryosuke then sighed and turned back to the stage. “Let’s just enjoy the show. Looks like it’s about to start.”

…

Backstage, Momo was being talked to by Hideki about what Masaru had talked to him about as she set down a bookbag she normally took to concerts before changing into the necessary idol outfits for the day. “So he’s mad that I have friends that aren’t just girls?”

“I’m afraid so,” Hideki sighed. “Someone snapped a picture of you walking with that boy from your school. What was his name again?”

“Sakamoto Ryosuke,” she explained in a rather annoyed and somewhat angry tone. “And he’s just a friend, Tomoe-san. There’s absolutely nothing going on between us. I know what happens when idols get boyfriends, and it’s not fun. I’m not unaware of the industry, you know. I’m not some ignorant little girl!”

“Don’t get mad, okay? I’m not the one who came down with this. You know how hard it can be to work with Oma-san.”

Momo then turned away slightly. “You know, it’s shit like this that really kills my drive to make music. For the past three years, all I’ve wanted to do was sing and perform, and yet it feels like recently, all my energy to do so has been drained. It makes me want to leave, but…”

“Don’t leave, please,” Hideki begged her. “You’re one of the most popular members of the group.”

“I know. I’m not saying I will, but… I want something else to do musically that’s not just… This. Something I have more control over.”

Hideki felt bad, knowing that Momo was stressed out from what had been happening to her. “Well… Do you have any ideas?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I want you to meet some people from school after the show.”

…

Several hours, a concert, and a meet and greet later, Hideki was waiting in a back room at the music hall. As he checked his phone to see what the time was, he said to himself, “This better be good. I have a meeting tomorrow at the office early in the morning.” Then, Momo entered the office, accompanied by Ai and Ryosuke. As the three of them walked in, a surprised Hideki asked her, “Wait, who are those two guys?”

“This is Inuyama Ai and Sakamoto Ryosuke,” Momo explained. “They’re here because I’m forming a band with them.”

Hideki blinked. “A… Band?”

“Yes. We call it Sweet Juliet. We also have a fourth member, but he’s not here with us now. In total, we have me as the lead vocalist and flautist, Ai-chan as the drummer, Ryosuke-kun as the keyboardist, and another friend of our’s as the bassist. All we need is a guitarist, and personally, I think Sadako-chan would be a good fit for it.”

Needless to say, Hideki had many questions about this proposal. The first was one that Momo was not expecting. “Flautist? Don’t you play piano, too, Takahara-san?”

“Ryosuke-kun is better at it than me,” she explained.

“I mean,” Ryosuke then interjected. “You could always join in if we get our hands on two pianos.”

“…I’ll think about it,” she replied to him before turning back to Hideki. “Anyway, this is something I want to do on the side alongside A TO Z SIX, Tomoe-san. Meeting with them and even getting to play with them has really energized me. I haven’t felt this happy making music in a while.”

Hideki, taking a deep breath, asked her, “So what are you saying?”

“I would like for the record company to give us a chance. I know that there’s been talks of there being subgroups within A TO Z SIX, and if we get Sadako-chan on board, we could function as a de facto subgroup.”

Hideki knew she was right about the company wanting to form subgroups. Still, the fact that it was a band that had outside members in it, especially at least one boy, gave him pause. “I… I don’t know, Takahara-san. Having a boy in the group could be disastrous, and you know how much Oma-san is breathing down my neck given those photos.”

Ryosuke, confused, asked Momo, “Photos? What photos?”

Momo and Hideki both looked at each other as they realized Ryosuke did not know. “Oh shit,” the former muttered.

“Apparently,” Hideki then said. “Takahara-san was photographed walking with a boy, and given what’s happening now, I’m starting to suspect that you are said boy.”

Ryosuke turned to Momo, concerned. “Momo-san, they… They didn’t post them, right? Who photographed us? Do you know?! What the Hell is going o-?!”

“I don’t know, okay?!” Momo interrupted him in a very frantic tone. “I don’t know who posted them, Ryosuke-kun, and it doesn’t really matter. Look, we’re here to make our case and pitch the band. We will talk about it later.”

Ryosuke, accepting her stance, replied, “Alright, alright, we’ll talk later.”

Hideki then pointed out to the band, “Another thing is that even assuming I don’t get laughed out of the room given the composition of this band, I can’t present anything to Time Clock Records if I don’t have any actual music. Have you guys even written a song?”

“We have,” Ai then spoke up. “Ryosuke-kun wrote almost an entire EP, and I have a few songs. We just haven’t had the capability to properly record them yet. As soon as we get a guitarist, we can.”

“What kind of songs are they?”

“Rock songs. Specifically progressive rock.”

Hideki knew that this would be more of the same music that Momo had gotten him to play as part of the pre-concert music at A TO Z SIX shows recently. “You mean like those songs Takahara-san likes now?”

“Yes,” Momo nodded. “I know it’s unusual, but I think we can pull it off.”

“I hate to say it, but it’s pretty much old people’s music, guys. I mean, Time Clock Records does do rock songs, but not ones like this. It’ll be a hard sell.”

“Just give us a chance,” Momo told him as she passed along a folder that she pulled out of her backpack. “Look at these notes. These are photocopies of the songs Ai-chan has written, both lyrically and musically. They may change a bit, but for the most part, they’re complete.”

Hideki took the folder and opened it up, finding that the first song listed was one called Metal Machine. It was a fairly standard-length song of a little over four minutes as estimated by Ai in the notes at the top of the page, but much of the rest of the song was anything but standard. The intro was in the rather unusual time signature of 13/8, while each of the three verses were in a more standard 6/8 waltz. Further still, the choruses were all in 4/4. As for the key the song was in, it changed between each verse and chorus, with the verses all being in D flat minor while the choruses were in B flat minor, giving the song a total of five key changes throughout. The lyrics, meanwhile, told of a man whose soul was trapped inside of a computer after a freak accident who then was forced to work as an AI assistant. To say the song was different from the regular J-Pop that Momo, and Sadako for that matter, normally sang would have been an understatement.

“So, um,” Ai asked Hideki, nervous as to how he would respond. “What do you think, Tomoe-san?”

“It’s… Unusual,” he chuckled. “Certainly different from the usual pop we have A TO Z SIX, or really most of our acts, sing. The one thing going for it commercially is that it is at least a normal song length.”

“Go to the next song and see how long that one is,” Momo then replied.

“Okay then…” Hideki then flipped to a song that had no definitive title yet, but one that he could already tell was even more unusual compared to Metal Machine. As estimated by Ai in the notes on top of the first page, this as of yet untitled song was about eight minutes long. “Now this is one that would never get approved as a single.”

“That’s the thing,” Momo pointed out. “Sweet Juliet isn’t focused on singles. We would be focused on albums and EPs. That’s not to say we wouldn’t agree to having singles put out there, but don’t expect us to have six or seven singles per album like I do in A TO Z SIX.”

“An album-focused group… Now that’s something you don’t hear too often these days.”

“They’re still out there,” Ai pointed out. “They may not be massively popular, but plenty of bands in Japan and overseas focus on albums over singles. It’s more common in the West since CD singles are dying out there in favor of digital releases and vinyl records.”

“But that’s in the West,” Hideki pointed out in return. “Here in Japan, physical media still rules.”

“I wouldn’t count on that forever,” Momo replied. “K-Pop took advantage of digital media very well, and they’re doing numbers overseas that Japanese artists may never see. The point is that while we’ll still put out singles, we won’t be writing songs with the intent of getting singles out there. Instead, our focus will be on writing whole albums and EPs. In fact, Ryosuke-kun’s EP that he wrote is entirely focused on a story about actors in a stage play. Each song, even in the rough shape they’re in right now, tells a part of this story.”

“So a mini concept album of sorts,” Hideki realized. “Interesting. Please tell me there are shorter songs on this EP of your’s… I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Sakamoto Ryosuke,” he replied to him. “And yes, there are short songs on the EP as of now. Like Momo-san said, we are still working out the kinks, but we got the entire story down.”

“And if we can get Sadako-chan on as our guitarist,” Momo added. “We’ll have finished songs for you. We just want you to be okay with us talking to her about it.”

Hideki, confused, asked, “Me? Why do you need my permission for that?”

“It’s a respect thing,” she replied. “Even though this won’t be our main gig, it’ll still eat away at time for A TO Z SIX, so I wanted you to be okay with us adding another member of the group to our band.”

“I see… Well, I don’t have a problem with that. Besides, we got other things to work out regarding this… Endeavor of your’s.”

…

May 18, 2024

“Really?! You really want me to play guitar with you guys?!”

“Yes,” Momo replied to Sadako as the entirety of Sweet Juliet met up at school that Saturday. “Why else do you think I told you to bring your guitar, after all?”

Sadako was overjoyed. Finally, she was going to get to use her guitar skills for an official project. “I never thought I’d hear those words… This is amazing!” She quickly took Momo’s hands, causing the latter to blush as she told her at a million kilometers per hour, “Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me, Momo-senpai!”

“Woah, woah, calm down,” Momo told her with a chuckle. “We’re still in our infancy, and for all we know, Time Clock Records could go tell us to fuck off even if we complete a demo tape. Still, it’s worth a shot.”

“Agreed,” Masato nodded as he zipped open his bass guitar case and pulled it out. “I’ve been studying those songs Ai-san wrote.”

“Same here,” Ryosuke nodded. “All we gotta do now is work on the instrumentation of my own songs, since all I got are lyrics.”

“I got some ideas already,” Ai replied to him as she got seated behind a drum kit. “Ryosuke, did you bring that digital recorder and microphone?”

“I sure did,” he replied as he reached into a bag he had set down earlier and pulled out a small digital voice recorder as well as a high-quality microphone. “We don’t exactly have a true recording studio to use, so this will have to make do.”

Sadako then pulled out her guitar from its case and put it on, telling the band, “Before we do anything else, do you guys mind if I warm up a bit?”

“Not at all,” Ai assured her. “Hell, we might as well begin recording now. Warmups have resulted in full songs being made out of them before.”

“Screw it,” Ryosuke said as he got the recorder and microphone set up on a table nearby and then hit the record button. “We’ll start now. Show us what you got, Takagawa-san.”

“Alright then,” she replied as she plugged her guitar into a small amp the school had on hand for the music room and then began to play a few chords. After a quarter of a minute of noodling around, she found a riff she liked and began to play it repeatedly. “Hmmm… That sounds…” It was a slow-moving riff that evoked more of a soft rock and yacht rock feel, but it was still one that caught the attention of the rest of Sweet Juliet.

“That sounds pretty good,” Momo remarked. “Did you come up with that just now?”

“Actually,” Sadako said as she stopped playing. “I’ve had this riff in my mind for a week or two, and it hasn’t really been able to escape my head.”

“Good thing we got it on tape,” Masato noted. “We could revisit that for a song.”

“With all that said,” Ai then asked the rest of the group. “What song do you guys wanna work on first?”

Momo suggested, “Why not Metal Machine? It seemed to be the one that got Tomoe-san’s interest the most.”

“Works for me,” Ryosuke replied as he changed the settings on the keyboard the school had provided for the room to an organ sound, as indicated by Ai’s notes. After testing the keys to make sure he was on the right setting, he asked Ai, “So organ first, then piano for the main song, and then organ at the end? I can’t really do organ and piano at the same time since I only have one set of keys to work with.”

“Correct,” Ai replied. “We’ll just work with what we have for now. Besides, when we play this song live, we may have to simplify the keys like that.”

“Hang on,” Momo then said as she remembered something. “I swore there was a second keyboard in here.” She then walked over to a closet in the room to look. “I was told by one of the music teachers there was, but it was stuffed back here behind a bunch of shit.” After some rustling around and shuffling boxes and other instruments to get access, Momo found what she was looking for. “Aha!”

As Momo pulled out a second, much older keyboard, Ai looked to Ryosuke and asked him, “Actually, if that one works, would you mind if Momo takes a crack at some of the piano stuff?”

“Why not?”

“I haven’t studied the keys for this song too much,” Momo warned them as she set the second keyboard up. “Also, I want to try singing it without any keys first so I get more comfortable with it.”

“That’s fine,” Ryosuke said as he got an idea. “What if I just used both sets at once? I got two hands.”

“Sure,” Ai shrugged. “After all, we’ll have to run through this song a few times anyway. If we fuck up now, we can always go back and fix it.” She then looked at the rest of the band and asked them, “Are we all good to go?”

“Yep,” Momo replied as she readied a wireless mic she held.

“I’m ready,” Ryosuke replied with a thumbs-up.

“I’m all set,” Sadako replied with a strum on her guitar.

“All good to go,” Masato replied to finish off the list.

“Okay then,” Ai nodded as she began to count the band in. “Starting off in 13/8 time… One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one, two, three, four, five, six…”