Girls' Wishing Tree

Jina immediately clicked on the commercial song, and after a moment's reading, she pouted, "No, this song is terrible. Singing Togawa Group eight times in a row is like a hawker."

"We can work on this song in the studio, and use the recorded version on stage, lip-syncing along." Sakura observed Nina's expression and added, "I'm not saying we have to do this, but the client told me about it, so I'm passing it on. I've already asked the other three members of the band what they think. Zhi and Rupa are unwilling to compromise and are considering giving up on the performance, but ultimately, it's a decision we all have to make together. Miaomeng is willing to accept changes to the performance, believing that this will help them gain traction with the Toyokawa Group and increase their popularity."

Taoxiang turned off her phone screen. "I don't want to compromise. The best solution right now is to find a smaller livehouse and continue our first live. With the other party paying the liquidated damages, even if we lose money on our first live, we shouldn't lose much money."

If only Miao Meng was willing to continue performing at the mall, Takagi Sakura would have no choice but to cancel the collaboration. However, before responding to Party A, she confirmed with the two of them one last time: "Because the performance fee isn't high, the liquidated damages aren't very high either. Probably just enough for us to rent a 200-seat livehouse. Also, if we adjust to their needs, the compensation will be a few hundred thousand yen more. Just to confirm, you're both sure you don't want a particularly commercial debut, right?"

Nina nodded repeatedly. "Of course, if we were to sing a song like that, we wouldn't be ourselves."

Taoxiang had already opened the LiveHouse search app on her phone. "Let me see if there are any small or medium-sized LiveHouses available. Generally speaking, you need to book a LiveHouse at least a month in advance. If I look for one now..."

Judging from the expressions of Nina and Momoka, Takagi Sakura probably won't accept the mall's arrangement.

She could only stand up and walk outside, then call Miao Meng again: "Miao Meng, this is Ying."

"Well, did you see Momoka and Nina?"

"I've seen that they don't want to continue performing in the mall, so I have to reject the mall's request. Momoka is now looking for a LiveHouse, and it is very likely that the first live will be moved to a small or medium-sized LiveHouse." Takagi Sakura said with some apology.

"This opportunity is truly rare," Miao Meng said anxiously. "Ying, don't refuse yet. I've done some research on this game, and it might be the biggest change and breakthrough in the Japanese gaming industry in recent years. The current trend in gaming worldwide is to accept guidance from equality organizations and create more inclusive games. This game is the first in Japan to fully embrace inclusivity. All of the character designs and plot design perfectly align with international trends, and it's bound to do well in the international market. If the songs we write for this game are good, we'll be popular too once the game is released!"

Ying couldn't stand it any longer. "A game of this size and with this much publicity would have to sell over three million copies before discounts to even break even. In other words, they'd have to find three million people to buy it. But in my opinion, whether the number of players who will actually pay for this game will even reach one million is a huge question mark."

"How could that be? The Togawa Group has invested, which means they're very optimistic about this game! Companies like them take every aspect of the situation into consideration!"

"Meow Dream, if you're saying that performing at a mall will get more exposure, I agree. This time, I won't be performing at the mall live, so I'll do more promotion online. But speaking of games... you have to actually play the game first to have a basic understanding of its quality. Do you play PC or console games? Have you seen the character concept designs for this game?"

On the other end of the phone, Miao Meng was stunned by the question.

"Concept design...what happened?"

"You're a beauty blogger. You should have your own understanding of aesthetics. Take a look at the character designs and tell me if they can bring aesthetic enjoyment to people."

"Let me take a look, please wait." Miao Meng's somewhat panicked voice came, followed by silence for two minutes.

Ying was not in a hurry and just waited for Miao Meng to look at the character design drawings.

Miao Meng's voice trembled as she spoke. "So ugly! She's completely different from the game character I remember, and she's deliberately designed to be ugly. Her physical features, in particular, have all been designed to downplay any allure. She's unattractive to either men or women..."

"Then the question arises: what makes gamers so fond of this game? Is it because of the huge investment in the project, the internationally compliant production process, or the Togawa Group's keen eye for quality?"

"My understanding is biased. However, I still think we should accept the mall performance. They are willing to spend money on publicity, which will just bring us attention and buzz—" Miao Meng said here and then changed the subject: "But if none of the four of them agree, I also agree to switch to LiveHouse for the debut."

"I will write two songs for you and help you promote them online." Takagi Sakura touched her hair and breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I will turn down the mall and go find LiveHouse with Momoka."

Chapter 90 Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: 47. The Difference Between LiveHouses and Shopping Malls

After finishing the call, Takagi Sakura returned to the cafe and Momoka had already selected several LiveHouses.

"I've selected three livehouses. If you want to book a performance venue, it'd be best to book one today." Momoka showed her phone screen to Ying. "If you can't book one soon, booking it in two days might be even harder. Not only will they be occupied, but also adjusting the equipment and booking a warm-up band will be difficult."

Ying glanced at Nina and said, "Then Nina, go back to your cram school class. Momoka and I will go check out these stores?"

It’s not impossible to make an appointment by phone after viewing it online, but I still feel uneasy if I don’t go to the site to see the environment.

This is similar to renting a house. If you don’t go and see it in person, it’s hard to know where the pitfalls are based on photos alone.

"I want to go too!" Nina stood up. "You can't leave me behind with something like this, right?"

"Nina, you need to go to a cram school. Also, you don't understand what you need to look for when you go to a LiveHouse. It's not just about how many people can sit there. You also need to check what equipment is available, what services are provided, and how the rehearsal is arranged—"

As Momoka was talking, Renai's forehead hit hers, "I want to go!"

"Ying Ying told you to go back to the cram school!" Momoka glared at Nina, the two of them standing there like a bull fight, even attracting the attention of the coffee shop waiter.

Ying quickly tried to smooth things over: "Well...if Nina isn't busy, why don't we go take a look together? It's not a big deal—"

Momoka interrupted Sakura, "Nina already failed the exam!"

Renai countered, "Isn't it all your fault for installing a music arrangement app on my phone?"

"Then delete it!" Taoxiang waved her hand as if dealing with an annoying child. "You were the one who asked to know how the various parts of the song came about, so I installed it for you. Now you're blaming me?"

"Stop arguing," Sakura said, trying to pull the two apart. "How about Nina go back to class first, and then tonight I'll send Momoka some photos of LiveHouses and explain the process of choosing one? How about that?"

Just like that, the two of them separated a little, but when Momoka and Sakura walked out of the cafe, Nina followed behind.

Takagi Sakura knew that Nina couldn't possibly listen to the cram school lessons in her current state. She took out her phone, quickly typed a line of text, and showed the screen to Momoka.

[Rina doesn't look like she's suitable for tutoring right now, so let's take her with us.]

Taoxiang saw the content on Ying's phone screen and didn't say anything, just sighed softly. She was very grateful for Ying's help in forming the band and recognized Ying's musical attainments, so when Ying spoke, she would still listen.

But she didn't know how to deal with her relationship with Rencai.

This little fan from Xiong Ben brought her many surprises and also a lot of troubles.

Nina's voice is exactly what she imagined the lead singer of a band to sound like, and her current band is exactly what she wanted it to be. However, Nina's musical foundation is a bit weak, and she has a very stubborn personality. She is always struggling between tutoring and playing in a band.

She always wanted to take better care of Rencai, but Rencai didn't always appreciate her kindness.

In the end, she could only raise her voice to talk to Sakura and explain to Nina who was following behind her: "The most convenient LiveHouse I'm looking for is the small studio of Moonrise House. They are a chain of LiveHouses that operate several large LiveHouses and have collaborated with bands of all sizes. However, the downside is that the fees are relatively high. They take a commission from every ticket, and they also allow the staff to interfere with the content of the performances."

"Is it to control the quality of the performance or something like that?"

"Well, it's not all bad. Some amateur bands are really amateurs in their use of equipment. They might perform well in a familiar rehearsal room, but not on stage. There are also some bands that are full of confidence and want to perform live, but their performances are just barely above the noise level. In these cases, they'll offer additional services like studio sound adjustments and not using microphones for live performances."

"I've heard of them. They offer a package solution to bands, and they're quite professional." Sakura glanced back at Nina and continued, "What about the other two LiveHouses?"

Renai pricked up her ears to listen, but still pretended to be just following along.

Momoka continued, "There's another place a little further away, in Shimokitazawa, called LiveHouseStarry. I have a friend who knows the owner. It seats less than 200 people and is quite affordable. Normally, you have to go through a performance review by the owner before you can go on stage, but if I talk to Kikuri, we should be able to skip the review. The downside is that tickets aren't easy to sell, and you have to be very careful about adjusting the equipment yourself."

"Where's the third one?" Renai took a step forward and squeezed in between Momoka and Sakura.

The corners of Sakura's mouth curled up a little, but she didn't laugh out loud, and gave up her seat to Renai.

"The last one is to perform at Sakura's shrine, as long as Sakura agrees."

"I don't have a business license, forget it." Ying rolled her eyes at Momoka. "My own festival performances are all held at LiveHouse. The Sakura Festival is held at the shrine, but there's no entrance fee."

"Just kidding. The third one is LiveHouseCrew. The style of this place is more metal-oriented, and the lighting inside is dim. It's not really suitable for girl bands, but the size and prices are acceptable, and they have some really good equipment."

"What do you think, Momoka? It sounds like both are fine." Nina looked at Momoka, "It seems like it would be cooler than singing on a stage in the middle of a mall!"

"Performing on an indoor stage is different from performing outdoors. The equipment adjustment and stage performance are different. You can't simply compare them." Taoxiang shook her head helplessly. "If you want to switch to performing on an indoor stage, you need some special training."

"Why? Isn't it all the same song?" Rencai was a little dissatisfied, and her cheeks puffed up.

"It's a huge difference. I won't go into the technical details. For example, when it comes to adjusting equipment parameters, whether the surrounding area is air or sound-absorbing walls, there are many differences—" Taoxiang thought for a moment, then said the rest of the sentence: "The most important thing is that at LiveHouse, the audience buys tickets and spends money. But in a mall, it's the client who spends the money, and singing is just to create hype for them."

Rencai squinted her eyes, probably not understanding, but she didn't know where to start asking.

Seeing this, Ying helped Momoka explain further, "We need to satisfy whoever's paying. At livehouse shows, we need to deliver a great performance so that ticket holders feel their money's worth. At shopping mall shows, however, it's more important to create a warm atmosphere and attract fans, trying to convert them into paying fans. To put it more clearly, livehouse shows allow for deeper music, while at shopping malls, the chorus needs to be catchy and feature a lot of body language."

"It's so complicated." Nina looked at Momoka, "As long as I can sing Momoka's songs, that's all I need."

"This time when we go to LiveHouse, I will also help you write two songs. Of course, it's up to you whether you want to use them or not." Ying also told the two of them what she had promised Miao Meng.

Chapter 91 Shrines, Festivals and Monsters: 48, Premiere Location

Taoxiang and the others went to Yueshengwu for a brief talk and came out in just fifteen minutes - according to the charging standards there, in order to maintain a balance between income and expenditure, if all 220 tickets were sold, the price of each ticket would have to be more than 2100 yen.

Taoxiang couldn't afford the cost of holding a live show - their band was still relying on members' part-time jobs to make money, and it would be too much of a loss to just make a profit.

The three of them took the tram to LiveHouseCrew, a band that mainly performs metal music, but they still couldn't reach an agreement - the quick-talking Nina mentioned that she was the lead singer of the band, and the other party directly said, "This place is not suitable for idol bands to perform on stage."

It can be explained, but it is not necessary.

If renting a venue is going to cause unpleasantness, then it's better not to rent it at all. Nina raised two pinky fingers and was dragged out by Momoka and Sakura.

"Starry is the only one left. If they can't do it, our Live will be delayed." Nina said a little frustrated.

"Being in a band isn't always a smooth journey. If you want everything to go smoothly, cram school is definitely better." Taoxiang smiled. "Hehe, as long as you pass the entrance exam and the school's independent exam, you'll definitely be able to get into university. Unlike playing in a band, when and how you'll become popular is impossible to predict."

"That's not true!" Some kind of "aura" seemed to appear around Renai. She clenched her fists and shouted at Momoka: "As long as I can sing Momoka's songs and defeat the current DiamondDust——"

Momoka interrupted Renai and said, "Let's find a suitable live house first. DiamondDust can't even find a venue for 200 people."

"Didn't we make this change at the last minute?" Rencai retorted immediately.

"Whether it was at DiamondDust or now, I don't want to play a show that's full of commercials - but DiamondDust, or more accurately, the agency behind DiamondDust, will choose to continue playing in shopping malls."

Rencai looked at Momoka with raised eyelids like a scolded little animal, and seemed to have something to say about her mentioning DiamondDust.

"This is why I left DiamondDust." Taoxiang spread her hands. "Pursuing pure musicality comes at a price. So, we have to be mentally prepared for postponements and cancellations of live performances."

After Taoxiang said this, the three of them felt a little "low pressure" on their way to Starry.

LiveHouseStarry.

Gao Muying saw this store first. It was right on the roadside, and most of the facilities were underground, requiring walking down stairs to enter. Perhaps because it was underground, it was even darker than the metal-style Live House she had seen before.

But it was precisely because of this dimness that a little girl with golden twintails stood out more.

She raised her head, looked at Gao Muying walking down the stairs, and said with a bright smile: "Sorry, it's not business hours now."

"We're not here to see a live performance." Takagi Sakura continued down the stairs, looking at the girl who looked like a little sun with a dialog box: "We want to see if this LiveHouse is suitable for our band to perform live. Our band is preparing for its first live performance, and we want to see Starry's equipment and performance agreement--"

Taoxiang squeezed out from behind Ying: "I contacted Kikuri, she said the boss will be here soon - the one helping to look after the store now should be the boss's sister Hongxia, right?"

"Ah! Yes! I'm Ijichi Hongka! Are you here to see Sister Xingge? Would you like some water first?" The girl with twin ponytails stood up and greeted them in a childish voice. Her enthusiasm was unpretentious, and when she heard they were going to perform a live, she even had a hint of envy in her eyes.

"Don't bother, we'll talk to the boss later." Taoxiang found a seat and sat down. "Are there many girl bands performing here?"

"There are a lot of them. There are student bands and underground idol bands. It's very popular for girls to form bands now. What's the name of your band?"

Taoxiang was stunned by the question - this band has not yet decided on a name.

A few people got together to discuss what kind of music they should make, but they hadn't really considered what the band name should be or how the band's image should be designed.

"We can call it ShimokitazawaGhost (Shimokitazawa Ghost) or ShimokitazawaBeast (Shimokitazawa Beast) and so on. It sounds very rock and roll!" Nina took a step forward.

"It's not like we're primarily active in Shimokitazawa," Momoka quickly retorted.

"It's just a tentative name. Aren't we planning on having our first live performance in Shimokitazawa?" Nina muttered softly.

Just then, a woman who looked very similar to Ijichi Hongka, but was obviously an adult, walked down the stairs. "You're the band that Kikuri was talking about, right?"

"Yes, we're hoping to find a venue for a band to perform for the first time." Momoka came forward and said, "Hello, I'm Momoka Kawaharaki, and I'm organizing this band for the time being."

"Ichichi Hoshige, the owner of this LiveHouse." Hoshige walked over to Momoka and extended her hand. "Kiruri introduced you to me. You were the former lead singer of DiamondDust, right?"

Momoka's expression didn't change when she heard this, but Nina on the side looked unhappy.

Before Renai could say anything, Momoka gave a self-deprecating laugh, "Yes, I'm planning to play in a new band now, and I won't be the lead singer. Everyone in this band has good basic skills. The keyboard and bass are a veteran combination, the drummer is ambidextrous, and the lead singer has a very distinctive voice."

"Since it was Juli who introduced you, I trust you. When are you planning to schedule a performance?"

"Eight days later, on the weekend." Taoxiang directly discussed the price: "How are the ticket sales and venue rentals here?"

"There are two models. The first is that you rent the venue for 120,000 yen, and we'll be responsible for adjusting the equipment and providing each audience member with a drink. The other model is that you don't have to pay, but you're responsible for selling 100 tickets, at least 800 yen each. If you don't sell 100 tickets, you'll make up the difference. If you sell more than 100 tickets, we'll split the profits in half."

Taoxiang nodded - there is nothing wrong with these two models, which are basically the mainstream models of Tokyo LiveHouse. The latter is generally used more in "compilation" performances, that is, several bands put together a performance and sell a portion of tickets separately.

"Choose the latter, I'll help you sell the tickets." Takagi Sakura whispered to Momoka.

But in fact, this "soft voice" is not behind Xingge's back. In a quiet environment, as long as Xingge is not hard of hearing, he should be able to hear it clearly.

Taoxiang thought about it briefly and said, "Let's choose the second option. We can sell the tickets now."

"We can sell a maximum of 160 tickets here. I'll give them to you now. Take 8 yen first. If you sell less than 100 tickets, you must return the extra 60 to me. Hongxia, bring out a stack of tickets and stamp the date."

Hongxia skillfully took out a stack of tickets from behind the counter, confirmed the date with Taoxiang and started stamping them.

As Renai watched the number of stamped tickets increase, her smile grew higher and higher. "As long as the band has its first live, we'll be close to defeating DiamondDust!"

"It's still a long way off." Taoxiang put her hand on the top of Rencai's head and rubbed it gently twice. When she took it away, the static electricity made a strand of her hair stand up.

Chapter 92 Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: 49, Pipa Solo

Sakura Takagi took 100 tickets and left the remaining 60 tickets for the five band members.

Last time, all the more than 1,000 tickets for the Harvest Festival were sold out. With the current appeal of the shrine, it is easy to sell 160 tickets.

But Ying couldn't take all the tickets away, because that would make the band members feel like they weren't participating. And if she took care of everything for them, it wouldn't be good for their growth.

On the way back to the shrine, Sakura sent a message on her mobile phone about selling tickets for her friend's band. When she returned to the shrine, she kept a few tickets and put most of them for sale in the store downstairs.

In the store, she also received an unexpected surprise - the pipa sent from China arrived. After unpacking and checking, she found that the transportation across the ocean had not caused any damage.

Watching her examine the pipa, Zhi asked curiously, "I've never seen this kind of instrument before. Can Ying use it?"

"Yes, I can." Ying, who possessed advanced pipa playing skills, gently plucked the strings: "I'll be performing a warm-up show for you all, and it all depends on it."

"Is it a guitar-like instrument?"

"If it has a neck and strings, and it's similar to a guitar, then it can be considered one," Takagi Sakura introduced to Zhihe and Rupa. "This is the pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument. It was also introduced to Japan, where it evolved into the Japanese biwa, but it's not very popular. It has four strings and is characterized by extremely rich overtones and a clear sound. The most basic tuning is A, D, E, A, just like a guitar. Depending on the piece of music, it's sometimes tuned in drop tuning."