MusicRay’n Generation 3 Is Not A Failure. It Is Just A Far from Its Priority.
In the previous article, which was one year ago when IDOLY PRIDE was celebrating the first anniversary of the game’s launch (you can check by yourself, here), I started to introduce MusicRay’n Generation 3 (ミュージックレイン３期生) as it is.
However, there is a special note for members of TrySail (Generation 2) and Sphere (Generation 1), where the “voice acting career development process” of all talents is smooth and complete, and this is absent in Generation 3, at least for the real “planned aces”, Aikawa Kanata, Tachibana Mirai, and Hinata Moka, 3 talents who have iconic characters in IDOLY PRIDE at once, of course, consider the “traditional dynamics of MusicRay’n,” at least for the real “planned aces”, Aikawa Kanata, Tachibana Mirai, and Hinata Moka, 3 talents who have iconic characters (Narumiya Suzu, Nagase Kotono, and Hayasaka Mei) in IDOLY PRIDE at once, of course, consider the “traditional dynamics of MusicRay’n” (for example, Tachibana Mirai in Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun, etc, or Aikawa Kanata in Wonder Egg Priority).
(Even to this day, Hinata Moka’s work situation is “mysteriously” still below average for an ace, something that will form the basis of this discussion of why Tachibana Mirai and Aikawa Kanata’s fate is only as good as the lucky ones).
Yes, let me tell you something now: this was, alleged to be, a real thing, even to the highest percentage of probability ever. But, it was never easy, even until now …
This mystery began to be revealed one by one after IDOLY PRIDE Collection Album “Mirai” was released on February 1st, 2023. Yes, Mirai (未来) in Japanese means the future, but there is also an anecdote in Japan, around Japanese audiences (not the otaku one), that Mirai here also refers to Tachibana Mirai, Nagase Kotono’s voice actress who is also allegedly MusicRay’n Generation 3’s ace-in-bigger-capacity.
Why am I getting rude here? Because of some spontaneous events, where her privileges cannot be forgiven?
Let’s discuss this.
The Deep Background
The story of MusicRay’n Generation 3 clearly did not start with their debut which coincided with the launch of IDOLY PRIDE on December 9, 2019, let alone the simultaneous broadcasts between IDOLY PRIDE (January 10, 2021) and Wonder Egg Priority (January 13, 2021). But, to achieve this awareness, we must not limit our thinking to the fact “they are just not only entertainers, moreover just seiyuu.” This feeling became essential to its existence, when Wonder Egg Priority appeared, “apart from Nojima Shinji-san’s distinctive philosophical approach, it was also due to the fact that there was a producer at Aniplex who allegedly deliberately auditioned voice actors from a multimedia project that the Sony Group considered to be a reference as well as a rival in the future for IDOLY PRIDE” (despite, of course, the big deals between Aniplex, MusicRay’n, and Sony Music Artists, taking into account the constraints that had to be placed at the time, such as the fact that Aikawa Kanata, Ooto Ai’s seiyuu as well as Narumiya Suzu’s seiyuu in IDOLY PRIDE, still underage at that time with a schedule that was already quite busy with these 2 projects).
We have to go back to 2017, 2018, and 2019, when they first auditioned “with situations that actually came as a shock to them.” Yes, just like the story of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, when He asked His disciples (through the women, which were including them), to return to Galilee.
There is a lot of evidence that actually what is happening in the present, “was causality in the past.” It can be seen that in 2018 and 2019, before their debut and before all of their potential careers has been revealed, “there was already a deep network of friendship built up, especially between Aikawa Kanata, Hinata Moka, and Natsume Kokona” (please read the article through the link). Uniquely, at that time, Tachibana Mirai and Miyazawa Koharu turned out to have a long distance from all the members. That’s even more special for Aikawa Kanata and Hinata Moka, as we know, their characters in IDOLY PRIDE (Narumiya Suzu and Hayasaka Mei) “have been paired since the Community Page era,” which you can read for yourself here.
At the same time, it’s easy to conclude that Aikawa Kanata “was already being prepared for a double agent,” for IDOLY PRIDE and Wonder Egg Priority as well, considering that according to Mito (Clammbon) and DE DE MOUSE in an internal interview within Wonder Egg Priority team (you can check by yourself in this), this project already had an embryo 3–4 years before the anime was released. In other words, the Best New Seiyuu trophy which Aikawa Kanata got from the 16th Seiyuu Awards last year has been perfectly realized by several staff, as well as is a way for the secrets of several staff at MusicRay’n to reveal.
Mystery of Hinata Moka’s Videos on IDOLY PRIDE Official Youtube Channel “Revealed”
Second, Hinata Moka and what’s going on with her.
Hinata Moka’s career condition since passing the 2017 Super Seiyuu Audition until now is completely unexpected and mysterious, not comparable to her talent which is considered competitive in this industry, at least for me watching her play the role of Hayasaka Mei and following her other contents …
Just see Hinata Moka’s biography on Anime News Network: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=201771
One year ago, I wrote about Hinata Moka. This talent caught my attention because the documentary evidence in the media “has paved the way for allegations of another design for MusicRay’n Generation 3.”
And in 2023, the mystery that initially only I knew, perhaps, has been revealed by the public. I have mentioned IDOLY PRIDE Collection Album “Mirai” which was released on February 1st, 2023, before. But, it was special for Hinata Moka, because she had actually its own teaser on October 30th, 2022, “ only 10 days after Aikawa Kanata entered adulthood according to Japan’s new law, which is 18 years old, and only 7 months after Aikawa Kanata got his trophy from the 16th Seiyuu Awards!
In this show, Hinata Moka succeeded in doing mono-mane/物真似 (the activities to imitate the voices of certain characters, in English we know this activity as “mimicry”), on Sunny Peace’s characters, by singing on “Summer Holiday” song which was fully released on Collection Album “Kiseki” (Miracle), which was released on October 27th, 2021, and also the last album of Nagase Mana (CV: Kanda Sayaka-san).
What happened in that radio show, answers the mystery about the 2 videos that have been circulated officially. But more than that, this also opens up more the mystery about Hinata Moka’s own career. However, it should be noted that this did not happen right away but had to wait until April 2023, at the start of the Spring 2023 season, when Hinata Moka won the title from the Japan Karaage Association (an industry and trade association, you can imagine how complex the networks and jobs she will get),
as well as the announcement of the nomination at the playlist of Winter 2023, for the song “shiny shiny” in the area of anime song world, sung by Hayasaka Mei (CV: Hinata Moka) and Narumiya Suzu (CV: Aikawa Kanata) in Collection Album “Mirai”, and right after the key events inside.
Even more surprising, Hinata Moka’s moment also appeared at the same time as the return of Aikawa Kanata with a new character to Japanese television, since Wonder Egg Priority Tokubetsu-hen, 2 years ago, namely Ao no Orchestra Episode 2 on NHK Educational Television, and Aikawa Kanata’s third main character or her first main character since Ooto Ai in Wonder Egg Priority 2 years ago with one of short anime which is also submitted to the Association of Japanese Animation with their own training program! (this will be also aired in ANIMAX Japan, this May).
However, what is more unique, than this situation is this Spring of 2023, which occurs after Winter 2023, which is quite mysterious. There were several surprising moments, such as the new blunder of Tachibana Mirai who was able to get the location address for the MV Anemoneria of Wonder Egg Priority when the location of the MV was actually only known by the WEP and Wake Up Girls’ production team so far (not IDOLY PRIDE’s either, even if she knows by herself, that’s not ethical in the middle of the context).
And of course: the mystery of the absence of the Game Awards announcement in the 17th Seiyuu Award this year (where one of the eligible to compete is IDOLY PRIDE which is a project from MusicRay’n and Heaven Burns Red that brings a lot of jobs for the seiyuu of Sony Music Artists).
We may need to debate a lot about this situation, but what happened to Tachibana Mirai with the better seiyuu career “with that privilege,” and comparing her to Aikawa Kanata “who had worked under the team of Toyosaki Aki who prefers Tachibana Mirai (this was also revealed after Collection Album “Mirai” which showed any connections with Toyosaki Aki and Wonder Egg Priority through the song Mirai Moyo which was composed by Mito of Clammbon)," and Hinata Moka “with limited privileges,” already shows that there is a sharp difference between MusicRay’n with the Japanese public in general about MusicRay’n Generation 3.
And even more …
Note, many things are generated by otaku but actually the industry also has its own judgment, so instead of talking about popularity, it’s better to talk about work standards. Although Tachibana Mirai can be credited with bringing Natsume Kokona back to TV after IDOLY PRIDE anime in the Summer of 2022 through Aharen-san’s anime (although if you want to check again, TrySail’s service is bigger here, it’s 180 degrees different from IDOLY PRIDE which has strong Sphere-interventionism, and that is confirmed by Natsume Kokona’s next job, namely Armagia, which is more dominant in TrySail’s characteristics. Anyway, we’ll discuss it further later), that merit was suddenly overshadowed by her reckless actions on March 11, 2023, which actually gives a bad impression “that Aikawa Kanata became the current Aikawa Kanata is due to the services of Tachibana Mirai and Toyosaki Aki.”
Was MusicRay’n’s Staff Doing Wrong?
If we take a quick look, it’s easy to say that MusicRay’n made a mistake, but it’s a bit difficult to explain everything here considering “the structural reconstruction still looks immature for review.”
But for sure, from here, I start to find various conclusions that confirm that MusicRay’n did make a mistake, especially with regard to the Sphere connection vs the TrySail connection here. For a long time, I have suspected that TrySail’s legacy actually existed in Generation 3, but it was covered up by Sphere connections dominated by Tachibana and Toyosaki, something that doesn’t seem surprising considering the passivity of other Sphere members (including Kotobuki Minako who is more generalist. It should be noted that even in 2020, it can be seen that the other 3 Sphere members, such as Tomatsu Haruka-san, Takagaki Ayahi-san, and Kotobuki Minako-san, look like they are disconnected from Generation 3, even more than Amamiya Sora-san and Asakura Momo-san who are actually still quite sensitive to the existence of his juniors).
Sphere hasn’t been shining and blooming for a long time, especially after TrySail’s extraordinary position as part of Aniplex and SACRA Music (regarding its connection to Generation 3, this is also what actually needs to be reviewed again because it was teased on Wonder Egg Priority), but that doesn’t mean that Generation 3 can be used arbitrarily by Sphere, especially Toyosaki Aki, for their own existence, because they have their own future, as TrySail’s direct juniors. Moreover, there are more talents in Generation 3 who know TrySail members better than Sphere (uniquely, 2 of them are Aikawa Kanata and Hinata Moka themselves).
‘The appearance of Pajama Party, which is also included in the IDOLY PRIDE Collection Album “Mirai,” also sharpens debate as well as strengthens hope. This new unit has a unique premise, “as told, Pajama Party is a unit formed by Hashimoto Satomi (CV: Kusunoki Tomori).” The problem was, all of the characters that were there were the youngest characters which also included Natsukawa Shiina’s character (Natsukawa Shiina-san has actually met Hinata Moka and Natsume Kokona one by one before these), Toyosaki Aki’s and Aikawa Kanata’s themselves (thus, this would be the second time, Aikawa Kanata and Kusunoki Tomori had worked together directly). With a structure like that, you could imagine the “psywar” that happened, even if that psywar can also bring positivity to Generation 3 so we can reduce the corrupt influence of Sphere’s generation there. Fortunately, the poor quality of the songs and the presence of the song by Tachibana Mirai (behind “Nagase” Kotono) as well as the song “shiny shiny” on the same album, “could have reduced that potential.” Yes, it could reduce the psywar, but the psywar still exists, not until March 11, 2023, when Tachibana Mirai makes a blunder and changes the psywar’s direction to a very short duration with a very anti-climatic ending: “Toyosaki Aki, Tachibana Mirai, and actually, Kusunoki Tomori (I have told you a year ago here), are really barbaric as humans in this business, so we need to clean up of their footprints from Generation 3.”
(Even Kusunoki Tomori didn’t have any shame to do that April Fool for IDOLY PRIDE)
Nothing Is Too Young, There Is Only Negligence
From this, we can conclude that in general, MusicRay’n is careless in understanding its own talent for Generation 3. It felt too strange for an agency that had witnessed how close Asakura Momo-san and Natsukawa Shiina-san are at TrySail.
When IDOLY PRIDE was first released on December 9, 2019, Aikawa Kanata was only 15 years old, Natsume Kokona was 16 years old, Hinata Moka was 18 years old, Tachibana Mirai was 19 years old, and Miyazawa Koharu was 20 years old, but keep in mind that the live broadcast was only not attended by Aikawa Kanata after 10 pm JST! (moreover, I’ve heard that the law for working after 10 pm is not based on age but based on education level, which you already know that Japanese high schoolers can go “arbeitung” (work in part-time according to the Japanese understanding of this German word)). Taking into account the existing official report from Wonder Egg Priority production team, we can understand something that is getting tricky: “the production of Wonder Egg Priority itself doesn’t even pay attention to the age of the talent" (something ridiculous for such a heavy piece of work). As such, it becomes even stronger “Sphere (especially Toyosaki Aki) vs TrySail,” has been felt since then in MusicRay’n Generation 3. From here too, we start to see that Wonder Egg Priority was not really like those who were watched by everyone in Winter 2021-29 June 2021. It is also suspected that there were other MusicRay’n Generation 3 members who were actually cast for Wonder Egg Priority because there really is no connection to Generation 3 which was as sharp as Wonder Egg Priority.
(Until someone else dares to challenge Aniplex over Horimiya, for example, or MusicRay’n in regards to Kanojo Okarishimasu, and the like).
So what actually happened, in conclusion? MusicRay’n Generation 3 was pirated alone by Toyosaki Aki and Tachibana Mirai for several years!
But a new question arises: why does Aikawa Kanata who is so deeply rooted in her interest in TrySail (through Amamiya Sora-san) and intimately bonding with Hinata Moka, who is also a fan of TrySail, "can be trapped in here"?
The Story of Aikawa Kanata and How It Also Opens the Story of Natsume Kokona: A Unique Moment
The answer is simple: “Aikawa Kanata was too young and too innocent to break into the industry at that time."
From the start, I was quite suspicious of Kanata-chan’s whereabouts, where she entered MusicRay’n solely by relying on her sense of interest in the industry based on Amamiya Sora-san, but she was more recognizing Kotobuki Minako-san who also comes from Hyogo-ken, as her senior. When she was successfully cast for Wonder Egg Priority, she immediately developed a closer friendship with Saito Shuka-san and Yano Hinaki (even giving more credit to Yano Hinaki without more clarity!). I’m afraid, Aikawa Kanata really doesn’t realize anything that she herself didn’t even know what Sphere was like in the past (especially since Kanata-chan was only born in 2004, the same year as Sphere’s debut), let alone recognize Love Live series which was the reason Saito Shuka-san and Yano Hinaki can be her compatriots in Wonder Egg Priority. In other words, all this time we have assumed that the entire industry is a playground for Kanata!
However, we have a positive side to this complicated situation: "It’s possible that Aikawa Kanata really sincerely considers Hinata Moka as her older sister."
So what? Isn’t that a nice exchange? In the long run, that’s a good thing, and that’s why it all happened, at least according to God’s will.
But we’re not really talking about individual talents, but all of them as a unique unit, just like their seniors in MusicRay’n. In the past, we could say that Amamiya Sora and Asakura Momo were indeed TrySail’s aces, or Toyosaki Aki or Tomatsu Haruka were Sphere’s aces, so from there we could move “the whole of generations.” But that turned out to be hard work in Generation 3, at least until the dramatic moves of Aikawa Kanata and Hinata Moka turned the needle.
What’s more surprising, Aikawa Kanata’s story like this, also "opens up the opportunity to open Natsume Kokona’s story." Natsume Kokona has actually not really different story than Aikawa Kanata, because Kokona is only one year older than Aikawa Kanata, except she was already auditioned with the profile as a girl from Saitama-ken, just like Hinata Moka, so I think actually Kokona felt easier to bonding, with than Kanata. This is also strengthened by Natsume Kokona’s interest in one of her seniors, Tomatsu Haruka-san.
(Also, Aikawa Kanata seems to be actually not very rooted in her interest in Amamiya Sora, although "actually there is quite a lot of roots when it comes to career”)
Knowing that Natsume Kokona, Aikawa Kanata, and Hinata Moka, during their pre-debut training period, also "already built deep circles with each other," as explained in their debut article, this is not really surprising, even makes easier to conclude that Natsuma Kokona can be said as the intermediator of younger-Kansaijin Kanata and older-similar Kantojin Moka, and also bringing us new hope on MusicRay’n Generation 3 overall after what’s going on Aikawa Kanata and Hinata Moka …
We Have Gotten MusicRay’n Generation 3’s Aces-Centers: Another MusicRay’n-styled Communality?
Based on what has happened, it can be concluded that we have actually found MusicRay’n Generation 3’s aces that are more sustainable and better for everyone, and also those who can be future Generation 3’s centers: Aikawa Kanata, Hinata Moka, and Natsume Kokona.
That is quite surprising compared to the mindset of IDOLY PRIDE which caused a buildup of power in Tachibana Mirai and her caretaker alone (something that also affected Wonder Egg Priority). As we know, due to IDOLY PRIDE, which enforces 3 main characters, namely Nagase Mana (CV: belated Kanda Sayaka-san), Nagase Kotono (CV: Tachibana Mirai), and Kawasaki Sakura (CV: Kanno Mai), it also affects Tsuki no Tempest as a unit was formed based on the “framework of Generation 3 MusicRay’n,” so what happened was that Tachibana Mirai was considered the center and main ace of Generation 3. In the old mindset, Aikawa Kanata (actual second ace, by office) and Hinata Moka (actual third ace, by office) were forced to walk under the influence of Tachibana Mirai (and of course under Toyosaki Aki and Sphere, because of that personal relationship).
So what about the future with Aikawa Kanata, Hinata Moka, and Natsume Kokona?
The good news is that this will cause MusicRay’n Generation 3 to return to the traditional structure of MusicRay’n (TrySail and Sphere): there will no longer be anyone to be the center or the leader, everyone will work quietly on behalf of themselves and work in a communal spirit to units.
But we have many questions, after this, like how is it from a demographic perspective or even more extreme, will IDOLY PRIDE be non-essential in the future?
The Complex Demographic of MusicRay’n Generation 3
This title doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch to Twitter users: the so-called audiences for MusicRay’n Generation 3 are something that’s really hard to imagine.
As I noticed at a glance, Sphere fans are more likely to support Tachibana Mirai and Aikawa Kanata and some also support Miyazawa Koharu (because she is the most unique personality in the history of MusicRay’n for now), while TrySail fans are more supportive of Hinata Moka, and a few are more supportive of Natsume Kokona. Apart from that, solo fans appeared even before the era of solo careers opened, especially for Aikawa Kanata, Hinata Moka, and Natsume Kokona. But especially for solo fans, I have to make sure that all of my career journeys are not in vain. Many Love Live fans have become supporters of Aikawa Kanata after Wonder Egg Priority, and many TrySail fans have supported Hinata Moka after learning that she is also a TrySail otaku. Besides that, IDOLY PRIDE has actually generated a solo fan base for each talent according to the character played: even though their live performances and singing abilities have been “publicized” (just like last year and probably permanently, only Aikawa Kanata and Natsume Kokona are stronger as the future singers). Apart from that, there are also fans who prefer to see all talents unite as MusicRay’n Generation 3, just like Sphere and TrySail.
Taking this into account, does this mean that with these communal centers-aces, Aikawa Kanata, Hinata Moka, and Natsume Kokona, the bonding of Generation 3 will also get stronger besides restoring the true dignity of MusicRay’n Generation 3?
The Future of New MusicRay’n Generation 3 Is The Last Days of IDOLY PRIDE?
In this article, we can see that IDOLY PRIDE also has an effect that tends to be essentially detrimental to MusicRay’n Generation 3, namely the emergence of “center” concepts like what’s going on Tachibana Mirai because of Nagase Kotono. Of course, the development of Aikawa Kanata and Hinata Moka at the same time, which affects Natsume Kokona as well, will change the image of IDOLY PRIDE itself, in the same direction as MusicRay’n Generation 2 (TrySail)’s relationship with Idolmaster Millions Live in the past.
In the future, IDOLY PRIDE’s main side will only be considered as a solo project for Tachibana Mirai and only important for Tachibana Mirai fans only, while Aikawa Kanata and Hinata Moka are considered “will have more interesting complements” in the future (in addition, there will be a glorification of return of Wonder Egg Priority which causes the situation to change again like Winter 2021, by Aikawa’s fans, although actually, I don’t recommend it because, after all, Wonder Egg Priority was actually born from the same kikaku as IDOLY PRIDE). However, if QualiArts is really true to its stance, I believe they are also not willing to sacrifice the future of IDOLY PRIDE, by distributing more non-Nagase content, including Hayasaka Mei, Narumiya Suzu, and Ibuki Nagisa, even Sunny Peace, and IIIX.
Reflection
By witnessing all of this, I can conclude that the crisis that MusicRay’n Generation 3 is experiencing is over. We will achieve a better future, which may be as equal to TrySail if MusicRay’n and its fans are consistent with this. The existing phenomena have also broken all the oblique assumptions of industry observers. There will definitely be less work, as well as with the other shinjin-seiyuu (new and young Japanese voice actors), but they’re already on the right track.
Most importantly, the Ever-Living God will always be watching, so don’t be afraid.
