Prologue
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Two Years Ago—.
The year Ayane Kiraboshi, at the peak of her career as a top idol, performed at the Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
TN: The Kōhaku Uta Gassen is an annual music show held in Japan on New Year’s Eve.
That year, the moment that achieved the highest instantaneous viewership rating at Kōhaku was when Ayane Kiraboshi, the center of Genesistars, and Tsukino Mizuki, the group’s leader, sang a duet part together at the center of the stage.
Ayane Kiraboshi, with a dazzling smile like the sun, and Tsukino Mizuki, always cool and composed with a refined expression like the moon.
Ayane Kiraboshi wasn’t just known for her charismatic personality; she possessed a natural talent for singing and dancing, genius idol.
In contrast, Tsukino Mizuki, whose aloof demeanor led to a low ranking in the group’s first general election, climbed to second place—right behind Ayane Kiraboshi—in the following year’s election through relentless effort. Appointed as the group’s leader, she was praised by those around her as a genius of hard work.
Tsukino Mizuki and Ayane Kiraboshi rose to the top as idols through completely opposite paths.
The two, despite being in the same group, were like the ‘Moon’ and the ‘Sun,’ forming a contrasting pair.
At that time, Genesistars, bolstered by the presence of this ‘Moon’ and ‘Sun,’ grew into an idol group unrivaled by any other.
In an era when K-pop idols held absolute dominance, Genesistars became the centerpiece of Japan’s idol industry, standing as a counterforce—but that same Genesistars would, in just one year, follow a path of unrelenting decline.
The reason for that decline—was the departure of the Moon and the Sun.