Tokyo Soft Rice King.

Takanashi Mirai could tell that Kuroba Akira wasn't flattering her, so she was happy, but she still cared more about the evaluation of the music.

"Is the video good...? What about the music, though?"

Kuroba Akira gave a very honest assessment.

"This song is actually pretty good. It has a great rhythm and I like the melody, but to be honest, it's only 'pretty good.' You should understand that yourself, right?"

"……Um……"

Takanashi Mirai nodded after a moment of silence.

She has loved listening to music since she was a child, and when she asked for headphones, it was because she wanted to listen to her favorite music better.

Therefore, she is also very clear about the level of her original music.

It's not even up to par.

In other places, this level would be enough to qualify someone as a professional musician, but in this country, it seems a bit lacking.

Japan's pop music scene is probably the most vibrant in all of Asia, and even in the world.

There's even a dedicated music genre called J-pop.

In fact, in the 1950s, Japan's music industry was still very small. Later, with rapid economic development, music gradually emerged. Then, in the year 2000, a group of iconic 'songstresses' appeared, thus opening a new chapter in the Japanese music scene.

At the same time, the Korean wave was also sweeping across Asia. The stage performance style that combines dancing and singing, coupled with the idol management model, led to the birth of a large number of female idol groups in Japan, namely various 48 groups, and various bands also debuted one after another.

Now, a large number of new works and singers emerge every year, and some singers and groups become instant hits and enter the year-end Red and White Song Festival.

The Red and White Song Festival is an annual New Year's program, similar to the Spring Festival Gala, but it only consists of singing, and participants compete in two camps, red and white.

The Red and White Battle originated from the Genpei War. The Minamoto clan used white flags, while the Taira clan used red flags. The two samurai groups fought each other to the death...

Japan is also known as the land of samurai, so the concept of red versus white is widely used in various binary opposition situations, such as school sports meets and kendo, which originated from the samurai way.

In short, being able to perform on the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle) is equivalent to becoming 'famous'.

However, even the most famous producers find it difficult to appear on the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle), and only a few musicians who have successfully transitioned to other fields have the opportunity to perform on stage.

This path is far more arduous than that of a voice actress. If Shion had chosen to become a singer, she would have truly stepped into a hellish battlefield.

However, with Ziyin's talent, she can probably still become the next generation's queen of the music scene, after all, Ziyin is a very good singer.

However, Mirai Takanashi does not have any musical talent.

Her fingerstyle guitar skills are quite good, simply because she practices diligently.

Neither voice acting nor music can be her 'profession'.

The fact that one's own aspirations and desires are not being realized in the long run is undoubtedly a harsh reality for Takanashi's future.

But Kuroba Akira needed to 'wake her up'.

"While you probably can't become a top musician just by relying on music, I think if you take making videos seriously, you can support yourself and even make a lot of money from it. You might not necessarily be worse off than your mother."

She might not have much of a concept of making money, but when Aunt Akiko is mentioned, she understands just how exaggeratedly swollen Kuroba Akira's bloating is.

"How could I possibly compare to Mom! I don't make any money from making videos... and my most viewed video only got 100,000 views... that's not enough to watch at all!"

"You can try making other types of videos."

"Other video types... Even if you put it that way, I don't know what type of video to make... I only made the music MAD video as a side effect to match my original music..."

Can she really do this so easily? That's the true testament to her talent.

Indeed, geniuses are extraordinary in their areas of expertise.

"Any type is fine. You can make videos about anything you can think of. For example, you like playing games and you know a lot about animation and comics, right? Maybe you could try making game walkthrough videos, game gameplay videos, and videos about anime and manga."

"Oh... but will anyone even watch this? And how do you make money from this?"

"Video playback revenue, advertising revenue, paid subscriptions, etc... Of course, these video websites are still immature and their profit models are still very simple, but as long as you start making videos now, you will definitely be able to make a lot of money in the future."

What Kuroba Akira really meant was that once my website is up and running, we can achieve a win-win situation.

To help Takanashi better understand in the future, Akira Kuroba explained using analogies.

"Just like novelists and comic book artists have die-hard readers, right? And they can get a lot of royalties from publishing books. Just think of it as getting similar royalties from making videos."

Takanashi Mirai slapped her palm and suddenly realized.

"Oh! I get it! In other words, the more fans you have, the more money you make! It's the fan economy of idols!"

"That's right! The same applies to making videos!"

"I see... I never thought making videos could make money..."

"No matter what it is, as long as you make a name for yourself, you'll always make money... But the question now is, can you fully dedicate yourself to making videos?"

"..."

Faced with Akira Kuroba's probing question, Mirai Takanashi fell into deep thought.

She recalled that she was quite happy when she was editing audio MAD videos, just like playing a game.

On the contrary, when practicing dubbing in order to become a voice actor, repeatedly reciting the same line dozens of times can feel very boring and meaningless.

Therefore, Takanashi Mirai has always believed that dreams cannot be achieved happily; success can only be achieved by paying a price.

Now that Akira Kuroba suddenly tells her that she can do what she likes and make money, Mirai Takanashi is somewhat skeptical.

"Well... I do quite enjoy making videos... but I haven't made other types of videos before, I'll have to try them out to see if they're easy to make, or if they're interesting... but..."

But what?

Takanashi Mirai didn't say it aloud, but judging from her hesitant expression, Kuroba Akira knew that she still had a problem in her heart.

Until she fully understands why her mother doesn't want her to become a voice actress, she still can't completely give up on the path of voice acting.

So it's time for Kuroba Akira to help her.

"How about this, I'll try to find out what Aunt Qiuzi is thinking for you, okay? Otherwise, I doubt you'd be interested in making any videos."

"Hey?"

Takanashi Mirai paused for a moment, then asked in return.

"But aren't you the savior Tong brought in? Didn't you come to me to get me back to school? Are you betraying her and siding with me?"

"It's not a betrayal. The class monitor originally entrusted me to help you, not to forcibly drag you out of your room. And now I think the best way to help you is to help you find out the truth your mother is hiding."

"what……"

"Whether you go back to school or not is your own business. We just hope that you are not 'forced not to go to school' because of external reasons. So, after you resolve your inner conflict, you can decide for yourself whether to go to school."

"Okay... um... thank you... thank you all..."

Takanashi Mirai suddenly felt a little embarrassed, yet deeply moved.

Previously, I had even thought to myself that Hitomi was no longer a friend, and that Kuroba Akira was just Hitomi's pet dog... How petty of me.

Actually, they're all thinking of themselves...

And Tong, and Ming in front of us, they are all actually doing it for their own good.

It turns out I still have good friends who truly care about me...

However, while Saionji Masato and Anri Hitomi may genuinely care about their childhood friend, Kuroba Akira is clearly there to collect a price.

"But in the future, if I find out why Aunt Akiko doesn't want you to be a voice actress, and you accept that reason, then you should try making videos, just like I said. I genuinely think you're more suited to this path."

As for live streaming... let's talk about that after I've built my own bullet screen website. Live streaming platforms are still very difficult to establish in this day and age.

But it should be fine in two more years, right? You can ask Uncle Yong when you get back.

Takanashi Mirai nodded. She just wanted to know the truth, to get an explanation, and to know the secrets hidden in her mother and this family.

Takanashi Mirai became a voice actress out of admiration for her mother, rather than out of a strong desire to pursue the profession. Therefore, she doesn't necessarily want to become a voice actress no matter what.

“Okay, I’m getting a bit tired of the game anyway, and I’m just sitting in my room with nothing to do, so I can try making new videos… Hmm, let’s start with game playthroughs.”

"Very well! Well then... now please tell me all your mother's weaknesses and secrets!"

"Uh……"

Just keep being a shut-in!

I'm going to go and win over your mom!

Chapter 211 Becoming His Family

Takanashi Mirai felt something was off. Seeing how much fun Kuroba Akira was having, she couldn't help but think that he might be after the girl's mother.

Is this guy into married women? Does he want to be my father?

The reason she thought this way was that Takanashi Mirai also felt that her mother was still at an age where she was still charming and had no wrinkles on her face. She didn't look like a mature wife who had been married for many years and had such a big daughter. Instead, she looked more like a newlywed wife.

However, because Akiko's mother has a very strong presence, when the two go out together, they are not mistaken for sisters, but rather for mother and daughter. But Akiko knows that this is mainly because her mother's hairstyle and attire are too old-fashioned. If she could dress more youthfully, she would definitely regain her youth.

Furthermore, my mother is different from me; she has a very broad mind... I mean, she is both broad and expansive in a physical sense.

Men are always particularly concerned about this part of the body, and Kuroba Akira was the same just now, glancing at it every now and then.

So it's not surprising that Kuroba Akira would fall for his own mother.

Some men just like older women, and they even have a bit of a henpecked husband complex. Maybe Kuroba Akira has this hidden trait.

However, the idea of ​​a classmate becoming a father is something that only happens in late-night anime.

But since I'm not planning to go to school anyway, it doesn't really matter...

Besides, having a dad who can play games with you every day seems pretty good, doesn't it?

The main thing is that we can play games together, which is a big plus for Takanashi Mirai, as she really needs a close playmate.

Thinking about this, Takanashi Mirai felt that it wasn't unacceptable for Kuroba Akira to be her father. Although it might not be appropriate for her to call him "Dad," she thought it was okay to give him a chance to be a father if it was just a matter of giving him a legal and reasonable status to live in the house.

Speaking of which, if my mother really remarries him, will she change her surname to Kuroba? Then my name will become Kuroba Mirai?

The surname has been darkened, and it actually looks pretty cool... Takanashi's future chuunibyou spirit is burning brightly.

In short, Mirai Takanashi assumed that Akira Kuroba wanted to be her father, but since she was quite satisfied with him in all aspects, she decided to help him out.

She then revealed some of her mother's weaknesses and secrets that she had previously noticed.

Kuroba Akira wrote down all this important information, knowing he needed to do his homework in order to win over his wife.

However, as they chatted, Mirai Takanashi became incredibly sleepy. Her eyelids were drooping, and her speech became slurred and her pronunciation was all slurred together.