Jan 17, 2026
aight I'll try and probably fail to keep it short
The issues I shared earlier remain true to the end, unfortunately, but the same goes for the positives. I do like that the agency isn't treated like the last boss as in many other entries, but is rather a cog in the system. What they did won't fix the industry, but it'll make them happy, and sometimes that's all that matters.
I liked that Hakaze got to tackle her trauma with Reina, even if this might not necessarily mean "defeating" it. In general, I found her to be highly enjoyable from beginning to end. While she was feisty, she wasn't reckless, which I really liked. I feel like it's easy to slip into the hothead archetype, but she was pretty mature about the way she approached things without necessarily being passive.
I'm COMPLETELY UNBIASED when I say that I'd 100% read a spin-off about Harua and his bf. I'm just saying it would objectively be a good idea. Just saying.
As for Ren... well, yeah, sorry, I still think he was the weakest character out of the main squad. Weirdly, I feel like he mattered less and less as the story went on. I think it's because the "core" of the story doesn't feel like it includes him, but rather centers more on Hakaze's personal fight. He happens to be there because he's tangentially related, but he almost feels like a prize at the end, I don't know. I feel like every conversation he had with Hakaze was related to the plot in some way whereas she got to engage in small talk with pretty much anyone else. The closest thing to a fun time they had was mayybe the Not Date, but even then, that's stretching it a bit. I also never really got why Ren was infatuated with her? And for that matter, I still feel like she's horny about him and that's where the attraction ends. I can see WHY they'd be compatible, but they're missing narrative glue. I'm repeating myself so I'll end it there though 
Out of the dozens of retired idol faces evil corpo fics I've read, this is by far the most mature take on the topic to me for reasons I mentioned above. It feels like a nature 'what then' to a retired idol. From what I've researched, the vast majority of them stay within the industry and get "forgotten" about as new ones show up, with certain standouts, like Ren or arguably Hakaze/Eclipse leaving enough of a mark to be recognized. Still, it does kind of imply that it's ultimately a doomed fight, but at least they get a small victory for now. I wasn't sure if Ren getting scouted was for another idol group necessarily, or just a music/artist group related to the field. He's pushing 30 himself, so I'd assume that's the case? idk
Rather than a romance, this felt like a character drama with a romantic subplot, maybe, but I digress. I thought it'd take a much darker turn with Harua's ultimate fate going one step ahead of Reina's, so I'm really glad that this wasn't the case ;(
This is easily a top 5 entry for me so far despite my nitpicks, if not my favorite, so I'll definitely be sticking around in case you plan on publishing anything else, or even if you feel like continuing/rewriting this in the future. 
P.S. Hilariously, one of the recs below this chapter is called 'Eclipse', is also a spotlight romance, and also has a male lead called Ren.
P.P.S. For science: what hair/eye color do Yuta and Harua have? Again, for science...
