Naked – Prologue
Season: ES 2nd Year, Summer (September)
2nd year of ES’s establishment, in September. In Yumenosaki Academy’s Auditorium…
…Ooh. There really are a lotta people gathered here.
Nihihi. I spared no effort in promoting our concert, after all~♪ I made it a point to say that “that” Ryuseitai will be performing a free-to-watch live show in school!
Isn’t it a bit too embarrassing to say “that Ryuseitai” as a member of said unit…?
Well, I admit that it is a little embarrassing… But it’s important to exaggerate things a bit.
New candy products are promoted the same way, no? Like how they call the product a “huge favorite” or “talk of the town” when it was just put on sale! That’s why we’d only be at a disadvantage if we held back!
Fuhahahaha! It’s such a blessing to see all these students make time just to come here for us!
Even though they surely have their own daily lessons and activities to get to!
It isn’t every day that you get to see graduates perform a live show in school, after all~
Even when there are graduates here, it’s usually for something complicated, like for a lecture to learn about the future of idols or the like. To be frank, an opportunity like this is extremely valuable.
yes~ i have [graduated] from [yumenosaki], so i do not know much about how it is now…
but [live shows] in the school are typically performed by [students] only.
so if they ever wanted to [learn] from our live show, they would [have] to come all the way to a [venue] just to watch it.
that is why i am sure that they are happy to have us come to them instead~♪
Mmh~… Even then, I don’t feel like people would be that excited to see us…
For something like this, wouldn’t they all have been happier seeing a unit they look up to?
Jeez, Midori-kun, you need to have more confidence in yourself! Ryuseitai was a hot topic during Mega Stream, you know!1
Exactly, Takamine. I won’t go so far as to say we stood out the most or anything, but we’ve left pretty good marks during the stream.
Ossu, yep! It was all through live streams though, so it was kinda limited to that area at the time, as in like… it didn’t feel like it extended that far at first, but—
When we came back down to the ground, we started gettin’ a lot more jobs thanks to the Mega Stream, and we even got a lotta comments from people.2
It made me more confident in myself, knowin’ that what we did wasn’t wrong after all.
That’s… Mm, well, you’re right about that.
Like, if we don’t get even a little bit of payoff, then that month would’ve really ended up as nothing but a waste.
You’re too pessimistic, Midori-kun~ We’re bound to get plenty of payoff, not just a little!
After all, we’re going to act as role models for all the students who’ve come to watch our live show!
Of course, there are likely some kids who simply want to check out something they don’t get to see every day, and some who are only here to browse—
But I just know for sure that we hold the power to captivate all the students here!
ehehe. shinobu is [fired up] even more than usual today, isn’t he?
Mhm! I am the one who came up with this Ryuseitai live show, after all.
You see, how shall I put this… I feel as though in the eyes of these budding-idol students, idols themselves have become an “existence far beyond their reach” right now.
An underclassman even consulted me the other day saying, “After watching the Mega Stream, I started to question if I’m genuinely able to work as an idol.”
Ahhh… Well, in reality, it was physically far up in the sky.
If I were shown something like that, I’d probably assume it’s something from a whole different world.
Uu~myu… Not like that, I think it’s got more to do with scale and capability, yeah?
Yeah. But I don’t think what Takamine said is necessarily wrong, either.
We’re all used to seeing idols through a screen. That’s basically the norm, in fact.
But— While we were in Mega Sphere, we might have appeared a little different to that kid who consulted Sengoku.
In a place far from anyone’s reach, only the chosen ones get to shine bright—
If we ended up looking like that in his eyes, then it only makes sense he’d feel anxious about his own future.
In his mind, our existence may have gone past admiration and ended up at being “humans from a different world”. Even though the reality is that we’re all fellow idols chasing after the same dream…
then let’s let all those [students] know that through our [live show] today.
we will teach them that we are not a [fantasy], but [reality].
that we are [idols] who struggled and worked so very hard in [yumenosaki], just like everyone has…♪
…You’re right.
I don’t think I’d like it if we were seen as nothing but sparkling beings who’ve never experienced hardships.
And if I were in their position, I’d just get depressed over it and lose motivation in the end… so I’m all for Shinobu-kun’s plan.
…I don’t feel like things will change with just one live show from us, but—
Still, it may act as a turning point for someone to see things more positively.
Mhm, mhm! That’s the spirit, Midori-kun!
Right, it is time we raise the curtains. Is everyone ready?
One for all, and all for one! Let’s join forces to deliver energy and hope to everyone…☆
“—Fuhahahaha! I’m sure we’ve kept you all waiting long enough!”
“The red flame is the mark of justice! The sun of life, burning bright red!”
“Ryusei Red, Morisawa Chiaki…!”
“The black flame is the mark of effort! The burning fighting spirit, stained with mud!”
“Ryusei Black, Nagumo Tetora…!”
“The green flame is the mark of compassion! The great nature, growing infinitely!”
“Ryusei Green, Takamine Midori…”
“the blue flame is the mark of mystery~ i have come from the blue sea~”
“ryusei blue, shinkai kanata…!”
“The yellow flame is the mark of hope! The beam of miracle, shining into the darkness!”
“Ryusei Yellow, Sengoku Shinobu…!”
“With the five of us together! We are Ryuseitai…☆”
“To all our guests, thank you for coming today!”
“I’m sure everyone here is giving all their efforts in order to become an idol, each and every day.”
“And for that exact reason, there may be moments when you feel like your existence is minuscule, or that all the active idols out there are nowhere near your reach—”
“But you know, we were not performing this well from the very start, either!”
“We’ve had failures, and we’ve gone through many frustrations. Even now, we are training to improve ourselves day in and out!”
“As we kept moving forward bit by bit, we managed to reach this point before we knew it — That is all there is to it!”
“So not to worry, for there is no need to rush yourself! Everyone has their own pacing!”
“Today, we shall pour our all into our song with these feelings in mind! May our performance provide you with the strength to work just as hard tomorrow!”
“♪~♪~♪”
Translation Notes
- ↑ Referring to the Mega Stream main story, in which Ryuseitai garnered so much attention that they were one of the highest ranks in the stream for the first week or two.
- ↑ This is referring to the Mega Stream main story arc. In July, all the ES idols were locked up in the Mega Sphere for a month to do a world-wide stream 24/7. As of August, idols can freely do as they like, including going between ES and Mega Sphere whenever.