Why Become a Dietwoman? (私が国会議員になっても Watashi ga Kokkaigiin ni Natte mo) is the first episode of the Idol Incidents anime which aired on January 8, 2017.
Plot[]
With the sudden passing of the Niigata representative Tonomura, his seat in the Diet is up for grabs and one of the representatives, Sachie Kondou, sets her sights on the lively country girl, Hoshina Natsuki. Natsuki eagerly accepts- but learns it's easier said than done when multiple problems arise as she prepares for the auditions.
Summary[]
One late evening, two older men are sharing drinks when one begins to choke until he suffocates. Word spread like wildfire about his death, including the fact that his Dietman spot is now open.
Sachie Kondou listens as her assistant fills her in on the news as they travel by a small area. He makes a suggestion that they look for someone popular and local to take Tonomura's place, and just then Sachie hears several people begin to cheer for someone by the name of Natsuki. She asks her assistant to stop and watches with amazement as Natsuki performs a song and dance to encourage everyone to work hard with their recent harvest. Natsuki's vibrant aura manages to catch Sachie's attention.
Natsuki sits down once work is finished and begins to eat an onigiri as many offer her praise for her efforts. She remains humble and is surprised when Sachie appears to request that she become an idol, and without thinking about it she quickly agrees; only to choke on the remnant of her food.
On the day of the auditions the Heroine Party is going to be announced, along with the brand new Chairwoman. Sachie thanks everyone for coming and brings them to the audition spot, a large hill. The group of girls are shocked as she expresses that anyone who can reach the peak are guaranteed for greatness, and the first person who does this will be the qualifier. After she lets the girls start, her assistant wonders if this was the best way to do things, but Sachie assures him that it is vital to see an idols body at work, since its one of her assets.
Several girls reach their limits, including a weary Natsuki. But she thinks about the idols she saw on television and forces herself to get back to the competition. Her desire to become an Idol brings her resolve, and she manages to make it to the peak of the hill.
In her office, Sachie is busy painting her nails when her assistant begins to worry that someone like Natsuki isn't suitable for the job. He recalls her interview and her responses, and he reminds Sachie that they should hire someone qualified for the role. Sachie is convinced that everything will be fine though. With that, they get to work spreading the word about Natsuki's accomplishment, but she struggles to garner any real attention from the crowd. This disappoints Sachie, especially when a rival effortlessly manages to steal the attention from Natsuki; until she hastily says something that causes the males in the audience to misunderstood her.
Despite these setbacks, Sachie remains hopeful because another girl will be showing up too. Just then, a mysterious young woman named Shizuka Onimaru arrives. Shizuka isn't impressed with Natsuki, who proclaims she is a fan of hers. Sachie asks that the two girls put on a performance together but Shizuka declines, forcing Sachie to manipulate her pride until she agrees.
Later, the duo gets straight onto training. Natsuki proves herself to be fairly clumsy and unable to dance, but Shizuka is surprised to see how positive and hopeful she remains as several of her country-side townspeople have shown up to support her. Despite her injuries -and damage to the property- Natsuki keeps pushing herself. But eventually Shizuka decides to tell her to quit. She hasn't been able to keep up or impress her, there's no reason to continue.
Natsuki is sad as she heads for home when a young child from her town joins her. He gushes over getting to see her perform with Shizuka, and brings that that everyone will be there to support her, but she doesn't dare tell him what happened.
At the hotel, Shizuka thinks back to her time as an Idol on another team. She was kicked out of the group due to her lethal aura, which hurt others she performed with because it would surpass them and they couldn't keep up. As a result, she is simply unable to work with others. She thinks back to the harsh words of the lead Dietwoman on the team when this happened, but suddenly she realizes something.
The following day Sachie pays Natsuki's grandmother a visit. She was informed of what happened and wants to check on Natsuki, finding her tiredly working in an attempt to redeem herself for failing. Everyone continues to cheer her on, and Sachie realizes that she worried over nothing.
Eventually, the performance day arrives. Natsuki has become a nervous wreck while Sachie wishes her luck- then proceeds to give her a shove onto the stage after realizing Natsuki won't move. The crowd is confused to see the clumsy Natsuki there, realizing she isn't Shizuka, who they all came to see. They lose interest despite her attempts to put on a good show for them, but Sachie believes that Natsuki can pull through. The crowd slowly begins to leave and Shizuka approaches Sachie, who remarks on the "muscle pains" she said that she had earlier. Shizuka isn't surprised when Sachie reveals she was aware that she was wearing compresses, then suggests that Shizuka joins Natsuki. She knows Shizuka has anxiety about performing with others, but if she focuses on singing she knows Natsuki can handle it.
Just as Natsuki begins to feel hopeless, Shizuka arrives on stage, attracting the crowd again. But before they can start their performance the rival from the Rogai side returns to berate the Heroine Team. The audience members are swayed by this rival, but Natsuki isn't phased and she starts to sing for everyone. Surprised, Shizuka watches and releases her aura while performing, but to her shock she observes Natsuki's own to see that it is vastly larger and more vibrant, and their aura's blend together to create a whole new, magical aura. The crowd goes crazy as the performance ends, and Natsuki spreads her cheer to everyone and requests that they vote for her. In the process she even won over the rival candidate.
As an official Dietwoman, Natsuki joins Sachie and Shizuka and she is surrounded by press. They ask her of her plans as a new Dietwoman- but as it turns out nothing has changed, and she continues to trip over her words with a big smile.
While this is going on, two older men make conversation elsewhere. They're not too concerned but they know it is not smart to risk letting her gain too much momentum either, but the one man assures they will put a stop to it when the time comes.
Trivia[]
- The way Sachie finds Natsuki is very similar to the way Kanade was discovered in Dream-Fes. Both Natsuki and Kanade revealed a brilliant aura that caught the attention of the person observing them while they were working to lift the spirits of others.
- Both Natsuki and Kanade also have a red theme and share personality quirks.