Nagisa Ran - 1st Idol Story
Writer: Akira
Season: Spring
Nagisa: (♪~♪~♪
~……♪)
…… Mm?
…… Ah, it’s you. You’re Anzu-san, if I’m not mistaken.
…… That’s a relief. If it’s with you, I’ll be able to talk without putting on a character.
…… It seems that right now, the agency is a bit undecided on what my character from now on should be like.
…… As for Ibara, he said I’m fine just the way I am.
…… I don’t really know myself that well, so I’m troubled even if I’m told that I’m fine just the way I am.
…… Anzu-san. What kind of human being(1) am I?
…… I see? It’s decided that I have to call you ‘Producer’?
…… Is that how it is. But the agency did say that I shouldn’t be getting too friendly with you.
…… Mm? Then, it’s okay? Calling you by your title ‘Producer’ rather than your name feels like we’re not on friendly terms.
…… Aah, having to change the way you refer to someone due to circumstances is so troublesome.
…… Humanity, it’s imperfect.
…… More importantly, Anzu-sa— ‘Producer’-san,did you need something from me?
…… You don’t? You heard my singing voice as you were passing by and just peeked because you were curious?
…… You’re brimming with curiosity, aren’t you. I’ve got quite a similarity with you there, so I can empathise with that.
…… However, curiosity killed the cat. Knowing and seeing goes hand in hand with risks.
…… Us idols always endeavor to show the part of us that we want to show.
…… If a part we don’t want to be shown is seen, there will be backlash. We might even fly into rage due to the circumstances, so it’s better if you are careful.
…… Because you’re a child(2) who cannot always protect yourself.
…… Aah, you don’t have to apologise. I was told off by Ibara in the same manner, and I’m just repeating what he said.
…… I believe that good ideas should be accepted and shared. And that is how humanity has continued to progress.
…… More importantly. What is called an idol’s song is in itself a commodity that can be exchanged for compensation of an equal value.
…… Letting you listen to it for free is not going to balance the accounts(3), so I want you to pay a little compensation of equal value.
…… Aah, I don’t need money. Ibara will give me as much money as I want, so I’m not really interested in it.
…… Each person has a stock exchange(4) inside of their hearts. To know what is stored within the self, that is to say the spirit and emotions, you need to offer equivalent compensation.
…… The most commonly used is money. That would be currency— and in the case of this country, it would be the Yen.
Nagisa: …… However, there are also stock exchanges(4) that deal with other forms of currency. Dreams, pride, authority(5), filthy sexual desires, and so on and so forth——
…… As an example, if you were to tender your position as ‘Producer’, there are people who would recognise it as a compensation of equal value and agree to the deal.
…… Every human(1) has their own stock exchange, where therein exists their own currencies.
…… Lately, I’ve been trying to understand and learn how to use it.
…… Nobody could just close up their inner self(5) without engaging in trade negotiations. The Sakoku(6) was an irrational policy even from a historical perspective.
…… One will be able to trade with others for things that do not exist within oneself(1). If there is no growth, to flourish will be unthinkable.
…… That’s how everyone lives and become adults.
…… Fufu. When I talked to Ibara about this discovery, he was astonished and said “Eh, you’ve just figured it out after all this time!?”.
…… At the same time. I can make conjectures that Father was very good at those trades. He had ample assets—— resourceful volunteers, who skillfully did those transactions again and again to amass riches.
…… Eventually, he was able to accomplish growth beyond what others could reach—
…… He ruled the world from behind the scenes.
…… As for me, I don’t plan on becoming like him. We’re not in that sort of era anymore, you see. World domination is not realistic.
…… However. By knowing the way Father had raised and molded me, I will be able to discover the answer to the one question I’ve always been holding onto.
…… What am I? I’m still searching for the answer to that, even now.
…… So. Producer-san, I want you to listen to my song. Then, I want you to tell me the opinion that arises from your heart. That will be my compensation of equal value.
…… Currently, I’m in the middle of learning each and every song made during the period when Father was active.
…… It’s quite extensive, and most of it outdated by now, but…
…… It’s father, who had hidden in the back of society and thus consequently driven away as a long-forgotten memory’s, songs——
…… I want to inherit all of them, from Father who had once dominated the world. Because, I’m Father’s child.(8)
…… It’s like picking up grains of sands by the beach one by one, and it might be a fruitless and foolish effort.
…… But I, want to do it.
…… Producer-san, if you have the time, I’d like you to handle me well. I want you to think of ways to transform my conduct into brilliance.
…… That should be what your job is as well, isn’t it?
…… I will be doing my job as well. Those who work will be able to go trade for and attain the scattered valuable things from this world.
…… That way, eventually I will be complete(9). Just like Father——complete(10) as an idol, and as a human.
(♪~♪~♪)
TL NOTES:
- 人間 (ningen): a human, but in this context could also be asking about character of a person. 子供 (kodomo): a child as in a minor, unlike the word 子 (ko) which is usually also translated as child, or sometimes used to refer to a girl.
- 帳尻 (chuujiri): closing the balance sheet (in accounting and finance).
- 取引所 (torihikijyo) lit. place of exchange (in the context of finance).
- 権力 (kenryoku): social power.
- 鎖国 (Sakoku): a period of national isolation enacted by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
- The pronoun used here is ‘onore’, which is more impartial than Nagisa’s usual ‘Watashi’.
- This time the word for child is actually 子 (ko).
- 完成 (kansei): I will be “complete” but complete is like ‘fully assembled.’ Like the Megazords in Power Rangers.
- 完結 (kanketsu): the completion of a story.