Chapter 56 If you don't sell handshake tickets, are you still an idol?!

An 11.5% viewership rating may not seem like much, but it is a far cry from prime-time shows.

But you have to know that the average highest rating of the next-door "Kamen Rider Kuuga" is only 11.8%, and the average rating is only 9.7%.

Admittedly, it is a bit unfair to compare the average ratings of the next-door show with the ratings of a single point during its peak period, but no matter what, as a special effects drama, the ratings of "Magical Girl Illya" are undoubtedly a success.

This result made TBS TV station director Takeda so happy that he couldn't even close his mouth. Originally, he had planned to show the show even if the ratings dropped below 1%. After all, this was the debut work of the granddaughter of [Movie Emperor] Ryutani Norisawa, and he certainly couldn't miss such a good opportunity to do favors.

It's not that Takeda looks down on Nanaya's new drama, but in his eyes, the theme of magical girls has long been outdated. In this era when the theme of giants fighting monsters has become outdated, a TV series with magical girls as the theme can have a peak viewership rate of 5% which is already very good.

However, the current situation surprised Takeda, and then he counted the money until his hands were tired.

You should know that before the broadcast of "Magical Girl Illya", the ace program of TBS on Saturday night was the Ultraman series. But unfortunately, even this old program that was once so glorious that it dominated the industry and now has a history of decades has become difficult today.

As the president of TBS, Takeda has a deep affection for special effects dramas, which was once the flagship show of TBS TV and created a record of over 40% viewership in the first generation. Otherwise, he would not have taken advantage of the gap in the schedule to invite the new director Nanaya Kiryu to shoot special effects dramas.

It's a pity that Takeda wanted to help, but the Ultraman series itself was not up to par. As the final chapter of the Heisei Ultraman trilogy, "Ultraman Gaia" did not have a single episode with a rating of more than 8%, while "Kamen Rider Kuuga" which just started airing on TV Asahi next door was able to hover around 10%.

This time, "Magical Girl Illya" finally had an episode with an average viewership rating of over 10%, which allowed Takeda, who had been depressed for a long time, to finally feel proud.

Just as Nanaya and Li Wenshu had planned before, this explosion that could be recorded in the history of special effects dramas attracted a large number of spectators to come and watch.

Boys love to watch the excitement and are extremely excited about such big scenes. They originally thought that this TV series with the name of magical girl was probably something that only girls like to watch, such as "Flower Fairy", and they ignored it. But when they were attracted by the explosion scenes and saw the strange settings such as heroic spirits and magic, their souls were immediately attracted.

You mean Kamen Rider? Never mind, it's on that Sunday anyway, let me finish watching this episode of Magical Girls first.

The girls were also deeply attracted by the gorgeous costumes of the older and younger sisters, especially Rin and Luvia's two sets of magical girl costumes with corresponding red and blue ribbons, which were simply what they longed for the most.

As for young and adult otakus...

All is well with pretty girls!

Four super beautiful girls (Lolita) of different ages, races, and attributes appear in a drama at the same time. Who? Who cares about the plot? Just look at the beauties!

So Nanaya, with his unique vision, caught the two groups of children and otakus in the three major purchasing powers. After 7 episodes of tepid popularity, "Magical Girl Illya" finally rose to a higher level overall.

Although the ratings dropped to 8% due to the plot slump after the climax of episode 7, this is a good result that TBS TV station has not achieved in several years.

It can be said that after the seventh episode, "Magical Girl Illya" became popular overnight. The four main actors of this drama also became a hot topic. Among them, Illya and Miyu, the main actors, are too young and are pure newcomers, so not many people discuss them.

Therefore, the ones who truly benefited from the popularity of "Magical Girl Illya" were Rin, Luvia, and their group Trier.

The most notable performance is that the theme song record of "Magical Girl Illya", which was previously criticized by Nanaya and others, actually sold 450,000 copies in the first week, surpassing the monthly sales of "Oblivion", the theme song of "Kara no Kyoukai", in one fell swoop.

So the five girls from Trier stood in front of the public almost overnight.

Although the current Trier is completely inferior to the national idol group 48 Family 10 years later, and even Morning Musume at this time cannot be compared with them, there is no problem for them to fight for the second place with the current popularity.

Tohsaka Rin, a young girl in red with invincible youth and stunning looks.

A young lady from Europe, a perfect example of nobility, Luviagelita Edelfeldt.

And the three passers-by ABC who served as foot-washing maids.

With the sales of 450,000 copies in the first week, Trier began to appear in various news and programs. Especially with someone's backdoor, Trier even appeared on Fujimura Taiga's "Best Filmmaker" program.

For an idol group, being able to appear on a prime-time TV program is something incredible.

So with the support of various favorable news, the Trier group began to show up in front of the Japanese people in various ways, and gained the attention of the people with the super high looks of its two pillars.

Yes, the group Trier is really becoming popular.

A week after receiving the news of the first-week sales of 450,000 copies, Trier's operators held a short meeting, and a shameless director also shamelessly participated.

By this time, it was already November 2000, and the last year of the 20th century had unknowingly come to an end.

The atmosphere in Trier's conference room was very quiet. The team's producers, managers, agents, scholars, and a director who was invited to attend were all present.

"Hehe, we have to say that it is all thanks to Kiryu-san that our team was able to achieve such a high result this time." Trier's producer first expressed his gratitude to Nanaya at the beginning.

"No, no. I just made a small contribution." Although Nanaya acted very modestly, he still had a smile on his face.

"No, no, no. The idea of putting the handshake tickets in the CD is simply a stroke of genius. Not only does it give the team members a good opportunity to get in touch with the fans, it also promotes the sales of the CD. It can be said to be a good idea that kills two birds with one stone."

[Isn't this nonsense? In ten years, will you see any girl idol group selling CDs without handshake coupons?]

"But the handshake meeting must be done safely. If something goes wrong and the girls get hurt, it will be troublesome."

Nanaya gave a brief reminder that he didn't want something like the May 25 handshake incident to happen to the girls in Trier.

"Of course, we will ensure adequate security."

The officials and agents present immediately agreed. Now the girls from Trier are the cash cows of the team, and it is reasonable for them to make all preparations.

"That's good." Nanaya nodded seriously, "Excuse me, but who is the child that fans are most eager to shake hands with right now?"

"It's Tohsaka and Edelfeldt."

The expression on the producer's face became a little uncomfortable, and everyone present knew why.

"Should we stagger the time of the handshake meetings between these two people?" A scholar-official offered his suggestion.

The scholar was interrupted by the producer, "Impossible. If it happens in the future, it's fine. This is Trier's first handshake event. If all members don't perform together, isn't this just a joke?!"

"Um, Director Kiryu. Do you have any good ideas?"

[Do you think I'm a magical conch or the blue fat man from Nobita's house? Why do you have to ask me about everything? ]

In response to the agent's question, Nanaya simply curled his lips.

If you want Rin and Luvia to be together without quarreling, it would be easier to just hope that there will be no earthquakes in Japan from now on.

But since the other party asked him, Nanaya had to answer. So the director could only make up a story: "It's okay, I'm observing the night sky, and the quarrel between Rin and Luvia might make people more popular."

"But, they have quarreled so many times before." The agent felt that Nanaya's statement was a little unreliable, "How can they get away with it this time?"

"It's okay, trust me!" Nanaya said in an unquestionable tone, "When I was in school, people gave me the nickname Little Zhuge, how could I have calculated wrongly?"

"..."

Everyone else in the conference room felt that Nanaya's statement was not very reliable, but seeing how confident Nanaya was, they could only suppress their uneasiness for the time being.

However, on the day of the handshake meeting——

"Shut up, you arrogant woman!"

"Shut up, you country savage!"

Looking at the two women quarreling in front of the fans, Trier's agent covered his head.

"It's over, all the fans will be scared away again!"

But no one expected...

"Keep going! Come on, Lady Luvia!"

Don't lose to the Europeans, Ms. Rin!"

"Is this a live cosplay? The degree of restoration is quite high."

··

As a result, the atmosphere among the fans at the scene was surprisingly good.