Important things must be said three times to win

"Although I’d love to offer you some advice as a senior, unfortunately, I’m also at zero in this area."

"Zuisui-san, are you the type who wants to hold concerts, or the type who doesn't?"

"I think I probably like concerts," Sakai Izui mused. "Being able to see the expressions on the audience's faces in person and feel their passion is certainly a wonderful thing. However, for me, when facing the audience, my emotions might be exposed, and that makes me a bit shy and a little troubled."

"So, for the time being, you have no plans to hold a concert, right?"

"Yes," Sakai Izui said in a slightly playful tone. "Whenever I decide I want to hold a concert, I'll have to ask you, my 'senior,' for some advice."

"When that time comes, I'll definitely put on a proper senior's airs," Aozhao joked.

...

After finishing dinner, the two parted ways at the Nakano Sunplaza square.

"Please do your best with the upcoming new album, the concert, and the movie—everything across the board," Sakai Izui said.

Aozhao nodded. "Thank you... And, have a pleasant trip. Goodnight, goodbye."

"You're being too formal, Aozhao-kun." Sakai Izui chuckled softly.

Aozhao looked somewhat embarrassed. "Should I use a more relaxed tone?"

"That's not really necessary," Sakai Izui replied with the exact same words. "Goodnight, goodbye."

Afterwards, the two waved goodbye, Sakai Izui boarded a taxi, and Aozhao walked to Nakano Station to catch a train. If he didn't have to be squeezed like a canned sardine during rush hour, he actually quite enjoyed riding the train.

...

Record sales in 1995 could only be described by a single terrifying word.

Popular singers were fighting with absolute peak force, and the dark horses that occasionally bolted out of nowhere showed astonishing momentum. No matter how big a star, no artist could guarantee a permanent hold on the number one throne.

Living in an era of contending heroes, if one wanted to secure a steady weekly championship, the only choice was probably to carefully pick a day when virtually no one else was releasing a record. However, in 1995, such days could literally be counted on one's fingers. Moreover, should a single suddenly surge with monstrous momentum a few weeks or dozens of weeks after its release, even such cautious planning would be completely useless.

Summer Color had climbed step by step from the very bottom to the peak, Rainbow had debuted at only third place, and by the time Inter, Again came along, it had endured several counter-trend climbs before recapturing the top spot. Therefore, even though every single Aozhao had ever released had topped the weekly charts, when it came to first-week sales, there was no need whatsoever to chase after any ranking records.

Having mentally prepared himself, Aozhao felt not the slightest bit of regret—in fact, he felt immensely satisfied—that his new single, A Singer's Love Song, had debuted at number three on the charts with first-week sales of 164,000 copies.

It wasn't that he lacked grand ambitions. Firstly, with the release date of his new album having been announced in advance, it was entirely expected that the single's sales would be affected. Secondly, Aozhao Sings Love Songs was the kind of track that grew on listeners over time rather than hooking them instantly on the first listen. While its lasting momentum after positive word-of-mouth spread might be quite good, explosive debut sales were always going to be difficult.

As for the final point, the competition on this week's charts was simply too terrifying; landing a third place was already a commendable result.

...

Occupying the top two spots on this week's weekly chart were two bands that shared a minor commonality: My Little Lover (abbreviated as MLL) and Dreams Come True. Their commonality... was that both were groups consisting of two male instrumentalists and a female vocalist.

Following the rise to fame of Dreams Come True, the configuration of two male instrumentalists plus one female vocalist sparked a trend in Japan. MLL, Globe, and slightly later, Every Little Thing (ELT), were all standout representatives of this format. A female vocalist with exceptional singing ability and ideally a pleasant appearance, paired with skilled male instrumentalists—such a combination inherently possessed a perfect sense of balance.

However, not every female vocalist possessed the genius songwriting capability of Dreams Come True's lead singer, Miwa Yoshida. Even without knowing how to read sheet music or play any instruments, she relied on a peerless sense of pitch to write countless phenomenal hits through humming and her own unique notation system. All of the group's lyrics and about half of its music were written by her.

Therefore, in trios like MLL, Takeshi Kobayashi took the charge; Globe had Tetsuya Komuro; while Mitsuru Igarashi was responsible for almost all the composition and arrangement for ELT.

The advantage of this setup was having a mature, continuously productive composer who could greatly guarantee the quality of the group's songs. The disadvantage was equally obvious: once detached from this core soul figure, the group would struggle to sustain itself.

Take the band MLL as an example. The producer Takeshi Kobayashi, because of his affection for the vocalist Akko, formed the band specifically for her, even giving it a name that seemed to proclaim ownership. Later on, as the two married and subsequently divorced, the band existed in name only.

Of course, talking about all this right now was still a bit premature. At this moment, MLL had just entered its breakout period as a band, and their single Hello, Again ~Yomukara Aru Basho~ had brilliantly debuted at number one. Anyone with even a slight awareness of Japanese pop music would undoubtedly recognize this famous track.

Securing the number two spot on the charts was Dreams Come True's Love Love Love. This immortal love song, which invariably claimed a top-three spot during MS love song voting polls, was released at the end of July paired with the classic Japanese drama *Hold Me Tight*. Not only did the drama achieve explosive ratings, but the single's momentum was also monstrous, debuting with sales of nearly 700,000 copies... That's right, even after being released for over a month, this single still sold 200,000 copies this week, brilliantly claiming second place.

As a side note, right behind Aozhao was Field View, which belonged to the same record company.

Their single Suddenly and Dreams Come True's *I Love You, The Important Things Must Be Said Three Times* were released on the same day. Although the lead track *Suddenly* featured the divine configuration of Tetsuro Oda composing and Izui Sakai writing the lyrics, because they ran into the behemoth that was Dreams Come True, they missed the optimal first-week sales window to claim the top spot. Afterwards, a continuous stream of heavyweight acts surged forward, suppressing them for a full month.

While it was somewhat regrettable that such a great song failed to take the crown, in this era of clashing titans, losing to any of these great masters was hardly anything to feel sorry about.

...

On the very night he narrowly edged out Field View, Aozhao met up with Field View's lead singer, Yuya Asaoka, at a small bar in Roppongi. Naturally, this took place with other people present as well.