As a child, Eichi deeply admired idols—one in particular being Wataru, a performer he greatly looked up to. He chased after his dream of becoming one, himself, and eventually he found himself at Yumenosaki Academy. However, Yumenosaki had become corrupt, rotting over the years of stagnation as a result of the idol winter that began when the last super idol, Sagami Jin, retired seven years ago. The Yumenosaki Eichi entered was therefore a shell of its former glory, its students lazy and intent to ride on the coattails of their predecessors in a hopeless attempt to find work after graduation. This wasn’t the world Eichi was expecting, and so he sought to change it.
He enlisted the help of his childhood friend Keito, who had followed him to Yumenosaki to help realize Eichi’s dreams. They devised a plan together which entailed taking over the school and changing it from the top down. Keito put the legwork into reinstating the defunct student council, and when it was finally reformed, they put their plan into action.
Their first attempt was to utilize the charisma and power of the current student council president, Sakuma Rei. Though he was nothing more than a figurehead sitting in the president’s seat at Keito’s request, he still naturally had the sway within the school to persuade the student body to act according to his will. Knowing this, Keito sought to use him as a puppet to command the student body and get them to take their studies and idol activities seriously. However, this attempt ended in massive failure when Rei sabotaged Keito’s plan, and Keito and Eichi were put back at square one with shameful defeat under their belt.
However, they both learned from their failures, and soon they both reconceptualized their revolution into one that would hold strong even without a figurehead commanding the masses. Their second plan was to create a scapegoat onto which the student body could redirect their own frustrations—at themselves, and at the idol industry. Eichi believed that if the students had a common, tangible enemy, their nebulous frustrations toward a systemic issue would therefore be reconceptualized as something they could actually defeat with their own power, and therefore be inspired to work harder.
The scapegoats, Eichi decided, would be the Five Oddballs, five students with exceptional natural talent whose lackadaisical and negligent behavior could exemplify the corruption within the school. Eichi chose Sakuma Rei, Shinkai Kanata, Hibiki Wataru, and Itsuki Shu, and after Eichi enlisted the help of Tsumugi, he decided on Sakasaki Natsume to round off the numbers at Tsumugi’s recommendation.
After Rei defected from the student council, Eichi became its president with no opposition, and afterwards he signed a contract with Hiyori, Nagisa, and Tsumugi to form fine, the official face of the revolution. Keito formed Akatsuki with Kuro and later Souma, and they became fine’s blades, taking on the dirty work while fine remained a pristine, spotless hero the whole student body could rally around. And thus, Eichi began subjugating the Oddballs one by one, beginning with Shu and ending with Wataru.
The War was overwhelmingly successful: with Eichi’s position as student council president, he was able to change and add academy rules at will, and he did so with gusto. He made grading more rigorous through the creation of the Dream Fes system and limited free time by requiring club activities, both of which increased the pressure and stress upon the students. Many of them dropped out; many others ended up committing suicide and are now honored with the cenotaph constructed on campus. But those who survived the harsh conditions did rally behind fine and supported the cause, and by the time Wataru was subjugated at his first and final live, fine had the whole school under their thumbs.
Unfortunately, the war was won with bloodshed, and the bitter feelings left behind resurfaced with Trickstar’s revolution in the spring of the following year. But in the end, Eichi did accomplish what he set out to do by reforming the school and making an army of passionate idols, a goal he continues to pursue even in the current era.
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