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The Portal of Zeta: iDOLM@STER Neo Vision

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ZetaFlare:
Kousaka Kaori's Route, cont.

Some of Kaori’s promotions involve portraying the love interest of a vampire hunter in an upcoming play (Castlevania), performing in a mall during a card game tournament (Yu-Gi-Oh!), and advertising for commercials with Edo era (Goemon), stealth agent (Metal Gear), and octopus/penguin (Parodius) themes. Sometimes during dance lessons, she envisions arrows flying around for some strange reason (DDR).

Despite her airheaded nature and slow rhythm, Kaori is still performing wonderfully on stage and helps her unit achieve Rank E and win in their first festival. The night after the White Lotus Festival, Kenji commends Kaori for her impressive performance habits. He feared she would be incredibly sloppy on stage during the first couple weeks he has known her. He then asks if she has been involved in performing arts such as singing, dancing, or acting in the past. Kaori does recall working as an idol one year ago as she pulls one of her old single CDs from her backpack. Kenji recognizes the logo on the bottom-right hand corner of the disc cover—573Pro. He wishes to listen to her song (Ikenai Lip Stick), so Kaori plays the CD on the practice room’s stereo. Kenji is a little surprised, finding the lyrics somewhat risqué. Still, according to Kaori, what she has done with ZetaPro feels a bit different from her activities with 573Pro. When Kenji asks her why she left her former company, she is not very sure. She does know she admires the idol world and joined ZetaPro on a whim, thinking it would help shape a more certain future. Kenji is concerned she might be keeping a secret but then again, it’s like her to simply forget stuff like that.

Weeks later at the Sunny Beach Festival, Kaori’s unit is defeated singlehandedly by Himeko. As Himeko shows up to mock ZetaPro and flaunt her status, she senses an air of familiarity with Kaori. That creamy blonde hair…that extremely ditzy voice…those voluptuous breasts…it had to be her, the exhibitionist of 573Pro! She thought 573Pro let her go because Kaori tried to gain money and fans through her sex appeal and songs with ecchi lyrics and dance routines. And now ZetaPro has the gall to give a total skank like her another chance in the idol world? Himeko demands the unit to disband, claiming them to soil the name of idols everywhere. Kaori starts to stress out from Himeko’s degrading names and comments. The stress is too much to bear, causing her to fall to her knees and cry. Kenji tries to brush Himeko off, but she claims she is a princess and takes no orders from peasants like him. Still, time catches up to her as she leaves the scene laughing proudly.

Back at the office, Kaori still has a headache from all that stress. Some of the more serious idols will blame her for the unit’s loss, believing she was being her usual airheaded self and was not focusing at all. Kenji wonders why Himeko made all those “exhibitionist” comments towards her, worried that something like this could sink her career if what Himeko said was true. Kaori tries her best to remember, but stresses out again. Kenji gives up on the conversation, believing she probably would not want to talk about it.

Kaori manages to regain her composure after a couple of successful performances and promotions. One day after the festival against 961Pro/Ryuuguu Komachi, Kaori is sitting next to a big tree while reading Water Margin (Suikoden is based off this book). She sees Kenji passing by and, feeling a little lonely, offers him to join her, which he accepts. This tree is one of Kaori’s favorite places to visit. It’s very relaxing. Plus, right next door is her old private high school where she graduated a little less than a month before joining ZetaPro. According to the rumors, couples who confess their love under this tree will be together forever (Tokimeki Memorial). During their chat, 573Pro idol Yoshiko Momoyama shows up, recognizing her old friend and partner. She has heard about Kaori’s success with a new production company and wants to know a little bit more about her experience with them. She then notices Kenji and finds it a bit surprising that someone as young as him could be her producer. Figuring he is the type who would take full advantage of Kaori’s assets and naivety, Yoshiko decides to “play” with him a little. Kaori begs her to stop, recalling the sadistic teasing she gave her during her days with 573Pro. To Kaori, Kenji has been a very kind, caring, and supportive producer. Under his management, she has made quite a bit of progress in her talents while steadily improving her formerly tiny comfort zone. Yoshiko is impressed. Here she was thinking Kaori was through being an idol after what happened during her short career but it seems as though she has adjusted to the change very well. Recalling Himeko’s comments towards Kaori, Kenji is curious and asks her what made 573Pro let her go. Yoshiko decides to answer, figuring Kaori would likely forget. Contrary to what some people believe, it was not 573Pro’s decision to release Kaori. It was not her decision to promote herself the way she did. The production staff wanted to promote Kaori more for her sex appeal than her talents. She only performed two songs: her solo Ikenai Lip Stick and Ifuudoudou in a duet with Yoshiko. Her CD covers and music videos were even more risqué than the lyrics she sang. She would participate in very exposing gravure photoshoots (though her “most tender spots” are still covered)…one of her most popular was of her posing naked with a soft red blanket (a reference to Kaori’s namesake character). Naturally, Kaori was too naïve to object to the staff’s questionable methods, thinking it’s just part of her promotion as an idol. Yoshiko, however, didn’t mind either…she really enjoys teasing her fans as much as she does Kaori. One day, Hanabi, Kaori’s overly strict mother, caught wind of the company’s exploitation of her daughter and angrily revoked her contract with them. However, the staff decided to cover up the incident with the gossip columnists. They claimed the suggestive promotion methods were all Kaori’s idea, causing them to immediately fire her. Incredibly offended by their lies and humiliation, Hanabi filed a lawsuit against 573Pro’s staff and won a tidy sum. While the staff members involved in the scandal wound up fired, some fans still believed Kaori to be an exhibitionist. Kenji can hardly believe it. No wonder Himeko kept making those cracks about her. She knew about her past. Kaori decides to pitch in. Hoping to make her more ladylike, Hanabi never wanted Kaori to become an idol again, believing they are sex-crazed S-L-U-Ts who sacrifice their dignity for the sake of their fans. Still, Kaori was rather intrigued from seeing the activities of other idols. Since she is still not too certain about her future, she decided to start her idol career from square one, this time with ZetaPro. Kenji is glad she is still following her heart, but is a little worried that her past activities could come back to bite her in the future. Yoshiko has to run back to 573Pro and practice her new song, but she wishes Kaori good luck with her career and her future as she leaves. Kaori decides to head home too, thanking Kenji for spending some time with her.

(to be continued)

ZetaFlare:
Kousaka Kaori's Route, cont.

Little did Kenji, Kaori, and Yoshiko know that Yamato’s spies have been eavesdropping on their conversation. It did not take long for them to immediately send their hot scoop to gossip panelists. “The exhibitionist idol is back! Kousaka Kaori, the former dumb blonde idol of 573Pro, continues to “expose” herself to her fans under a new company!” Kaori doesn’t seem to mind when she sees it (mainly because she has no idea what’s going on), but Kenji and the president find the articles very offensive and full of lies. None of her songs, performances, promotions, or photoshoots with ZetaPro have been anything out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, Kaori continues to gain new fans. Plus, some long-time fans have pleased with all the changes she has made under ZetaPro’s management.

On the day of the IU preliminaries, the 573Pro idols immediately recognize Kaori and swing by her group to say hello. They have all heard about Kaori’s recent success courtesy of Yoshiko and are very proud of her. Rika would always buy her newest singles. Yoshiko introduces Kenji to Erisa, Rika, and Koneko, their newest member. She tells them about how his kindness and support have been a big factor in Kaori’s success with ZetaPro. It turns out 573Pro is going to try to enter the IU as well. They’ve got a new production staff and a couple of brand new songs to try out. They wish Kaori the best of luck as they get ready to audition. When Kaori discovers that ZetaPro has been placed in the same competition block as NAZO, she forgets who NAZO is. Once Himeko shows up, Kaori immediately recognized her as the girl who tormented her at the Sunny Beach Festival. Believing Kaori was not humiliated enough during their last encounter, Himeko decides to use this as an opportunity to teach her she does not deserve to be an idol. What will it take for her to bow to her princess? Kaori thinks Himeko is scary, but Kenji and the others help calm her down so she can focus on her performance. Much to Himeko’s surprise, ZetaPro manages to pass the audition (although placing a distant second from NAZO). Still, she simply laughs at Kaori, claiming she will never be able to surpass a princess like her. The only reason Kaori is so popular is because of her large…assets. Besides, it’s only a matter of time before her past comes back to bite her. “There is no escape from the past,” Himeko warns Kaori as she exits the venue laughing.

Back at the office, Kaori is in for shocking news from the President. Earlier, Hanabi came storming into the office, told him she did not agree to Kaori becoming an idol, and demanded him to tear up her contract with ZetaPro. As of today, her daughter will no longer be an idol. Kaori is distraught. She knows Hanabi stands so strongly by her opinions that almost nothing anybody says will make her look the other way. As Kaori sadly packs her belongings and heads for home, Kenji interrups. From what Yoshiko told him, Hanabi sounds like she has a pretty judgmental view of idols. Not willing to let her destroy her daughter’s happiness, he decides to personally join Kaori in convincing Hanabi to reconsider.

The next day, Kenji arrives at Kaori’s house. He and Kaori sit at the table with Hanabi to chat. Hanabi claims the idol world is a bad influence on someone like Kaori. To her, idols are willing to throw away their dignity for the sake of appeasing their fans. Their stage outfits tend to be too revealing, they sell with their bodies, their minds are corrupted by their fame, and are, in general, sex-crazed attention hogs. When 573Pro scouted Kaori more than a year ago, Hanabi allowed Kaori to audition although she did have her doubts. After seeing the material 573Pro made Kaori shell out to the public, Hanabi could not forgive herself, claiming she made the dumbest decision in her life. The reason Hanabi pulled Kaori out of ZetaPro is because she wants her daughter to act more proper, ladylike, and well-behaved like an ideal woman. While Kenji understands how she feels after what Kaori went through at 573Pro, her vision of idols is wrong. Idols are considered pure. They know there is a fine line when it comes to appealing to their fans. He then recalls his conversation with Yoshiko, who once worked under the same roof as Kaori. According to Yoshiko, after Hanabi sued 573Pro, it turns out most of their management was corrupt and exploited their idols’ naivety, causing the President to immediately fire all the staff involved in the scandal. Since then, the idols’ material has become much more suitable, utilizing the most of their natural talents. Once Kaori joined ZetaPro, she could tell her experience was a lot different than before. The production staff, especially Kenji, have been very kind and supportive of her throughout her career. He’s probably the sweetest guy she ever met. Even though she has gained national renown, Kaori still maintained her innocent, easygoing nature (although she still stresses out as easily as before and has her ditzy moments every now and then). Kenji tells Hanabi she is very lucky to have such a talented daughter as Kaori. Still, Hanabi refuses to change her decision. Kenji then asks Hanabi to think about her daughter’s future. Kaori decides to step in and speak her thoughts. Before she became an idol, Kaori had no idea what to do with her life. She couldn’t find anything she was comfortable with. She was in and out of several after-school activities because either they were too much for her or the other members did not get along with her. People were chastising her to get into an after-school activity, which stressed her out. When Kaori was scouted by 573Pro, she joined on a whim, thinking it would be a good way to shape her clouded future. Once she escaped their corrupt managers and joined ZetaPro, it seems she found her true calling in life. She felt more and more comfortable the more she practiced, made public appearances, and performed on stage. Plus, she has the constant support of Kenji, the President (both have treated her very responsibly), her two partners, and her old friends at 573Pro. When Hanabi had Kaori’s contract revoked, it felt like a chunk of her future just vanished. Kaori felt so happy being an idol. She does not want to be stuck in the middle of a fork in the road again. Seeing Kaori’s sad face makes Hanabi feel a bit guilty. While she loves her daughter and wants her to maintain her “ideal woman” nature, being stuck made her unhappy. Kenji asks Hanabi once more to reconsider her decision for Kaori’s sake. After a moment of pause, Hanabi finally decides to allow Kaori to continue her work as an idol. She figures if she truly loves Kaori, she should set her free and let her follow her own heart. Hanabi tells Kenji she will speak to the President and give him the OK to let Kaori keep her contract and continue her idol work. She then apologizes to Kaori for paying no mind to her feelings before. Kaori sincerely thanks Kenji for helping her make her mother have a change of heart. Kenji really cares about Kaori and her future. Kenji then thanks Hanabi for the time, letting her know that Kaori really has the potential to become a superstar one day. Kaori will resume her work the following weekend.

(to be continued)

On a side note, Hanabi is meant to be based off Honey, the pink cloud zone boss from Parodius Da, who looks remarkably similar to Kaori (the one from Sexy Parodius).

ZetaFlare:
Kousaka Kaori's Route, conclusion

On the day of the IU finals opening ceremonies, Kaori overhears a conversation between Himeko and Yamato. While her rival still claims to be perfect, she feels a little insecure being fully British. She fears that if word gets out (especially about her real name), all the fame and fortune she has will be destroyed and she will have absolutely no chance of winning the IU. Yamato angrily makes her snap out of it. He made her a regal princess idol because she is the definition of pure perfection and proof that the upper class is superior in every way. Her competition will bow to her like the goddess she is. On the other side of the fence, Kenji wonders what has got Kaori’s attention. Kaori is pretty certain she hears Himeko’s voice but she had no idea what she was talking about. There was just too much going on that she couldn’t focus on the conversation. Soon, the 573Pro idols arrive and congratulate Kaori for advancing to the finals. They also advanced to the next leg of the tournament, mostly thanks to their new and improved production staff. Yoshiko never figured she would have to face her former partner one day, but once they enter Tokyo Dome, they will be rivals. The idols from both sides wish each other the best of luck in the finals as they head home for the evening.

Later that night, Yamato sends his spies to search every nook and cranny of the 573Productions building for unreleased material that could likely wreck Kaori’s career. One of the spies may have found something after finding another spy fainted from a nosebleed of epic proportions. Yamato takes a quick peek and hastily puts it away, blushing a bit. It looks like he found what he was looking for…

During the IU quarterfinal matches, ZetaPro advances while 573Pro gets eliminated by Project Fairy. Yoshiko and the others decide to stick around and support Kaori for the rest of the tournament. Rika tells Kaori, “Give ‘em (Project Fairy) one for your old comrades, girl!”

The next morning on the day of the finals, Kaori receives an ominous red letter with a dragon motif. “We have got our hands on an unreleased erotic photoshoot from your days at 573Pro. Drop out of the IU finals and surrender to RyuuseiPro by the 6:00 tonight or these photos will be displayed on the dome’s jumbotron for all to see before being released to the public. There is no escape from your past, exhibitionist idol!” Kenji gets angry, finding it hard to believe Yamato would stoop so low as to threaten Kaori like that. Kaori does not seem to recall participating in such a scandalous photoshoot, but the ultimatum does make her a little stressed. As she goes outside to take a breather, she meets Yoshiko again. Yoshiko wonders why Kaori would be so worried when her unit is going to participate in the finals. Kaori lets Yoshiko know about the ultimatum Yamato sent her. Yoshiko is shocked. She remembers a time when Kaori was involved in a very sketchy photoshoot just after she was getting finished with a shoot of her own. In these photos, Kaori was completely in the buff (with her tender spots exposed and everything), posing very erotically, and took several pictures loaded with innuendos. Unfortunately, Kaori naively believed it was all part of the promotion. It was going to be released in an adult magazine until Hanabi came along and revoked her contract with 573Pro, so it was never publically released. Yoshiko fears Kaori’s entire career will be a shambles if this photoshoot does get released this way. Kaori considers dropping out, but the 573Pro idols and especially Kenji prevent her from doing so. Wishing to let her former partner perform without mishap, Yoshiko considers a plan to counterattack. She tells Kaori to get prepared while the 573Pro idols work their magic. Kenji and Kaori thank them for the help.

While Kaori and the others get dressed and run through their performance one last time, Koneko, using her cat-like instincts, sneaks into NAZO’s quarters, steals the photos (as well as the negatives) from under Yamato’s nose, dashes away like lightning, and gives them to Yoshiko. Kenji gets a call from Yoshiko telling him the coast is clear. That evening, Yamato is surprised to see Kaori dressed out and ready to perform. She really must be a masochist if she wants to be punished for her past perversion this way. All of a sudden, Yoshiko shows up with the unreleased photos in hand. Yamato is shocked and asks where she got those photos. Yoshiko considers them a part of Kaori’s past that has been long forgotten. She then exits the stage in order to shred the scandalous photos, laughing triumphantly. Yamato gets angry and tells Kenji and Kaori they only got lucky because they have resourceful friends. Kenji demands a fair fight, finding it hard to believe the rival he once respected would stoop so low as to use Kaori’s past to destroy her career and assure victory for NAZO. Kaori wishes to show NAZO just how much she has changed since her days at 573Pro. The past no longer matters. It’s all about the present!

ENDING

As Kaori goes on stage to accept the championship trophy, she can’t really think of anything to say, so she turns it over to her former comrades at 573Pro. Yoshiko, Erisa, and Rika (Koneko stays in the audience because she was not with 573Pro during Kaori’s days with them) are all very impressed with what Kaori has accomplished since switching to ZetaPro. When she was with 573Pro, it was not her decision to promote herself the sketchy way she did; it was due to the company’s corrupt management at the time who took advantage of her naivety and promoted her for her sex appeal. Kaori was not fired for her exhibitionist practices; her mother pulled her out to prevent further exploitation. The corrupt staff members tried to cover it up, but Kaori’s mother saw through their lies and successfully sued the company, causing the president to immediately fire the management. Kaori’s new production staff has been very caring and supportive of her, promoting her talents as an idol the proper way. They watched her recent performances and could tell just how much she has improved. With all she has been through, 573Pro is proud to call Kaori a top idol. Kaori thanks her former partners as she and the rest of her unit prepares for their encore performance.

That night, Kaori chats with Kenji just outside the office. Embracing him tightly, she thanks him for all the support he has given her since the day she changed companies. Her comfort zone feels almost a thousand times stronger than it was when Kenji met him that day at the mall. Not only that, but all of her caring friends helped her clear her past name. Because of all the memories Kaori had with Kenji, she finds the true life of an idol very special. Thanks to her producer, her future has been decided…she will continue her idol career. Once she’s done with that, she wants to become a casual singer and model. Suddenly, Kaori gets a text message on her phone. It’s from Hanabi. She says she is very proud of her daughter’s accomplishments. She can really tell Kaori enjoys being an idol and wishes her a long, successful career for years to come. She also thanks Kenji for helping her wake up. “Idols really are special. I am proud to call my dear Kaori an idol.” Kaori continues to embrace Kenji, squeezing his face between her gigantic breasts.

ZetaFlare:
Once again I have made a few VA changes.

Due to impending health issues concerning Nana Mizuki, Nozomi's VA has been changed to Marina Inoue.
Hotaru is now voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro, inspired by her Jolyne Cujoh voice.
Kotone is now voiced by Saori Hayami, inspired by her Hsien-Ko voice.

Also, big news! Who's going to Anime Expo in Los Angeles this year? I am! I will be around from Thursday through Saturday. I'll be showing off some unreleased Neo Vision artwork for those who are interested! They will be posted here after the con.

My next Story Mode route walkthrough will be Karen, seeing that her birthday is on July 1.

MetalPredat0r:

--- Quote from: ZetaFlare on June 30, 2014, 05:49:52 am ---Kotone is now voiced by Saori Hayami, inspired by her Hsien-Ko voice.

Also, big news! Who's going to Anime Expo in Los Angeles this year? I am! I will be around from Thursday through Saturday. I'll be showing off some unreleased Neo Vision artwork for those who are interested! They will be posted here after the con.

--- End quote ---

No homo, but I freaking love you for referencing Darkstalkers! :D! That series deserves MUCH more attention than it gets and its long overdue for a new installment!

Anyway, I can't wait to see the new illustrations! Too bad I'll be out of the country by the time you're in LA. XP!

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