A commentary on the Japanese entertainment industry.

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⚠️ Content warning: This article involves suicide and the dark side of the Japanese entertainment industry.

⚠️ content warning

Sole remaining public image of Makuwa Yurika in life.

Item #: SCP-6874

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6874 is to be kept in cold storage at Site-247's morgue at all times. No devices capable of video playback are permitted within a four meter radius of SCP-6874.

Monthly payments of three million yen each are to be distributed to SCP-6874's surviving family members, as part of the Foundation front Samaritan's Compensatory Program, in order to ensure their continued silence.

Description: SCP-6874 is the corpse of Makuwa Yurika, who committed suicide on 20██/██/██. 25 years old at the time of her death, the cause was determined to be bleeding out via a scissor-induced neck wound. As of writing, SCP-6874 has exhibited no signs of decomposition.

SCP-6874's anomalous properties occur when exposed to any electronic device capable of video playback. SCP-6874 affected items will play a non-existent episode of the anime I Love To Sing: An Idol's Life1 on a loop. This episode will continue to play so long as the device playing it is within a four meter radius of SCP-6874, resisting all attempts to turn off, unplug, and/or destroy it. Refer to Addendum 3 for more details.

Addendum 1 - Discovery: SCP-6874 was discovered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in the bedroom of Makuwa Yurika's apartment, after a missing person's report was filed by her family on 20██/██/██. Upon approaching SCP-6874, the officers' body cameras became affected by its anomalous effect, causing confusion amongst the officers and Dispatch.

A request for backup was called, which was intercepted by Site-247's regional monitoring station. Agents of Embedded Task Force Theta-∞ "Endless Eight" were mobilized to the location, and assumed control of the situation. Affected officers and members of Dispatch were promptly offered a stipend of two million yen a month each, in exchange for their silence on the matter and the signing of a non-disclosure agreement; all accepted.

SCP-6874 was subsequently secured by members of Theta-∞, and transported to Site-247 without incident. After testing SCP-6874's properties, current containment procedures were put into place.

Addendum 2 - Background: Makuwa Yurika was born in Osaka in the Kansai region, to Makuwa Ryuuko and Makuwa Mako on 19██/██/██. She proceeded to live an uneventful life until she was 19 years old, when a representative of Nishiatama Vocal Group scouted her at the Osaka College of Music, offering her a career in the anime and music industry in exchange for becoming one of their clients.

Makuwa Yurika's initial roles were minor, ranging from background dialogue in crowd scenes to providing musical interludes in between commercial breaks. Eventually, when she was 23 years old, she was offered the lead role of Kashu Utsukushī in I Love To Sing: An Idol's Life, which brought her cult fandom as a seiyuu2 into the mainstream.

I Love To Sing became critically acclaimed and commercially successful during its first, and only, season, with critics in particular praising Makuwa's performances as both the speaking and singing voice of Kashu. Makuwa's popularity rose to the point that businesses she frequented in the Tokyo Metropolitan area would see renewed financial success by proxy, and that a live promotional concert organized by Nishiatama managed to sell out all of its tickets within minutes of going online.

Talks were had between Makuwa Yurika and the producers of I Love To Sing of creating a second season. However, this would not come to pass.

On the morning of 20/██/██, anonymous envelopes were sent to all major news outlets in Tokyo, containing candid photographs of Makuwa Yurika participating in the consumption of marijuana in her home. Despite Makuwa's adamant protests that the events photographed did not occur, public perception of her would immediately, irrevocably, and negatively change.

Makuwa Yurika was terminated as a Nishiatama client, with a representative citing "breach of contract and moral repugnancy". Episodes of I Love To Sing were pulled from physical and digital circulation, and all photographs and social media posts mentioning it or Makuwa Yurika were taken down.

Additionally, a warrant for Makuwa Yurika's arrest was placed. However, this would not come into fruition, due to her committal of suicide.

Addendum 3 - Contents of SCP-6874 Broadcast: The following is a transcript of a relevant excerpt from SCP-6874's broadcast, translated from Japanese.

(Kashu Utsukushī is seen standing on stage, illuminated by spotlights. The camera then switches to reveal the audience, who are glaring at her contemptuously.)

Kashu: H-hello, thank you all for coming to this impromptu little concert of mine.

(An audience member is heard coughing; Kashu winces before recomposing herself)

Kashu: Regretfully, this will be my last performance. I thank you all sincerely for staying by me to the end. …L-let's not waste any more time…

(Music begins to play from speakers in the stagecorners. Kashu opens her mouth to sing. However, her words are distorted by a burst of white noise that continues for the duration of her song. Through careful audio isolating, though, the following snippets were able to be recovered.)

Kashu: Never… Open… Night… Please… Do not forget me… Not me…

(Kashu finishes her song, giving a bow to the audience before standing up straight, the microphone clutched tightly within her hands.)

(The silence from the crowd is overbearing.)

(Kashu fidgets in place, her expression growing anxious.)

(The crowd remains silent.)

(A single tear begins to trickle from Kashu's left eye.)

Kashu: P…please…

(The crowd remains silent.)

Kashu: S-something… Anything…

(The crowd remains silent.)

(Kashu shudders, sinking down onto her knees against the stage, sniffling audible from her.)

(The crowd remains silent.)

(Kashu buries her face into the palms of her hands, sobbing viscerally. The noise echos from her still live microphone.)

(The crowd remains silent.)

(The video fades to black as Kashu begins wailing.)

(The crowd remains silent.)