Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 1072 tells him that money is not a problem.

Hideki Hanyu could easily understand why Kitahara Eri said that both things were related to him.

"Tokyo Love Story" was produced by Yunshang Group in conjunction with a television station and broadcast on Fuji Television; both are companies under his control.

Needless to say, the so-called major overhaul was definitely related to the company rectification he instructed Iwata to carry out.

However, he did not expect that the internal affairs of Elf Entertainment would arouse heated discussions outside.

However, before Hideki Hanyu could ask, Eri Kitahara offered an explanation.

"The fact that Elf Entertainment's benefits and treatment did not decline despite the economic downturn last year has made many people envious, and naturally, jealousy is also inevitable."

As a result, at the very beginning of this year, President Iwata began to rectify the company's atmosphere and dealt with many employees and managers. When the news spread outside, it immediately aroused a lot of speculation.

Everyone felt that Elf Entertainment's operations must have encountered problems, and it wasn't as good as it seemed on the surface.

Some say that Elf Entertainment's traditional business is fine, but it has run into problems in other investments, resulting in serious losses and requiring financial support from its main business.

For example, the Fairyland project under construction in Kanagawa has become the biggest target of suspicion due to its delayed progress.

In summary, the general consensus is that Elf Entertainment, like other companies, is experiencing operational problems and is using this major restructuring to begin layoffs.

After hearing Kitahara Eri's explanation, Hideki Hanyu couldn't help but chuckle.

He was somewhat speechless at this discussion.

Clearly, many people see Japan's economy slumping while Elf Entertainment is thriving, and secretly wish that Elf Entertainment would suffer the same fate as them.

The old saying, "It's not scarcity that's worrisome, but inequality," is indeed true.

People who have absolutely no connection to you will become jealous of you because you're doing so well.

Thinking of this, Hideki Hanyu looked at Satoshi Iwata.

"Don't pay attention to these rumors, just focus on doing our work."

"Yes, President."

Iwata Satoshi responded, then took out a document and pushed it in front of Hanyu Hideki.

"President, this is a summary of the things you asked me to do."

Hideki Hanyu picked up the document, flipped through it, and found that it was the summary report of this internal rectification campaign.

It briefly described how the investigation was conducted, the scope of the investigation, how it was handled, and who was dealt with, etc.

At the very end of the report, Satoru Iwata also listed a number of people, all of whom held high-ranking positions at Elf Entertainment.

Clearly, Satoru Iwata had proactively dealt with all the people he could handle.

Because of their rank and special positions, he was not in a position to make decisions directly, so he specifically reported the matter to Hideki Yuzuru for a decision.

Looking at these familiar names and their performance during the investigation, Hideki Yuzuru immediately picked up a pen and began writing after each name.

Not long after, Hideki Hanyu returned the documents to Satoshi Iwata.

And after those people's names, there were already written down the proposed solutions.

“You did a great job this time. As for these people, handle them according to what I wrote. If there are any problems, let them come to me.”

Upon hearing this, Iwata Satoshi immediately agreed.

Meanwhile, Kitahara Eri, standing nearby, chuckled, "Heh heh, I don't think these people would dare to come looking for Yuzuru-san."

"I actually hope someone dares to come looking for me."

As Hideki Hanyu spoke, he raised his hand and glanced at his wristwatch.

"It's lunchtime, let me treat you to lunch."

"Thank you, Chairman," Iwata Satoshi said respectfully.

Kitahara Eri immediately stated, "I want to eat barbecue."

Hideki Hanyu said, "No problem, Kitahara-san can decide."

And so, Hideki Hanyu, accompanied by the two top leaders of the Spirit Department and led by Eri Kitahara, entered a nearby upscale barbecue restaurant for lunch.

During the meal, the three of them did not continue to discuss business, but instead chatted casually.

As Kitahara Eri continued talking, she asked about Nakamori Akina, who lived far away in Sendai.

"Akina's due date should be coming soon, right?"

Hideki Hanyu replied, "Next month."

Kitahara Eri smiled and said, "Then congratulations in advance to Yuzuru-san, you'll be welcoming another baby next month."

Hideki Yuzuru said nonchalantly, "I don't need any more children, so stop congratulating me. Kitahara-san is Mrs. Kosugi now, don't you want to have a child?"

Kitahara Eri waved her hands repeatedly, "I'm not in a hurry, my career is more important."

"If I remember correctly, Kitahara-san will be thirty-three years old after the New Year."

Upon hearing Hideki Hanyu's words, Eri Kitahara immediately feigned displeasure and said, "Hyuyu-san, it's very impolite to casually discuss a girl's age."

Hideki Hanyu shrugged. "I was just concerned about you."

Kitahara Eri said helplessly, "Because of work, neither Kosugi-san nor I want children for the time being."

He was not the only son in the family, so the family wouldn't pressure him for the sake of having offspring.

“Alright, but Kitahara-san is now a very wealthy man, so he definitely needs to start thinking about his successor soon.”

It's not an exaggeration for Hideki Hanyu to say that.

Leaving aside Kitahara Eri's dividends from the Pokémon series, just considering the shares of Oak Logistics that she initially subscribed to, after Oak Logistics went public, changed its name to a group, and expanded globally, it is already worth a considerable amount.

This part alone is now worth at least over one hundred million US dollars.

Of course, with the subsequent actions of Hideki Hanyu and his friends, the stock price of Star Chart Logistics will definitely experience a surge, and Eri Kitahara's net worth will also rise accordingly.

In this pleasant atmosphere, the lunch of the three was coming to an end.

Thinking that he hadn't seen his friends in Japan for a long time, Hideki Hanyu simply extended an invitation to Satoshi Iwata and Eri Kitahara.

"I'm planning to throw a party at Yorozuya in a few days and invite old friends to get together. You guys can come too."

Mr. Iwata can bring his wife and children.

Kitahara-san can also bring Kosugi-san along.

After saying that, he spoke first without waiting for their reply.

"Don't say no."

Iwata Satoru replied modestly, "I certainly won't refuse the chairman's invitation."

Kitahara Eri retorted, "You're not allowed to refuse, so what can I say? Just tell me the time once it's set."

After discussing this matter, the three of them left separately.

Seeing that Kitahara Eri was bidding farewell to Iwata Satoshi and had no intention of returning to Elf Entertainment, Hideki Yuzuru directly invited Kitahara Eri to get into his Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit.

"Kitahara-san, let's go to see how the spirits spread. We can talk about other things along the way."

After Kitahara Eri boarded the vehicle, Hanyu Hideki informed her of the upcoming Star Map Logistics operations.

"Don't worry about stock price fluctuations. I will notify you in advance when it's time to cash out. Even if you want to continue holding the stock, you can re-enter the market afterward."

Kitahara Eri quickly replied, "Then I'll leave it to you, Yuzuru-san." Since it was a way to make money, she naturally wouldn't miss it.

Hideki Hanyu reminded everyone, "It's best to keep this to yourself. Even if you wanted to tell others, it would be too late, because the news will be announced tomorrow."

Kitahara Eri assured, "Don't worry, Hanyu-san."

Hideki Hanyu was just offering a reminder; he still trusted Eri Kitahara completely.

If Kitahara Eri hadn't already held shares, he would never have revealed even a fraction of this information beforehand.

He has always disliked getting involved with his friends when it comes to financial market operations.

After discussing these matters, the two chatted about other things along the way and soon arrived at the headquarters of Elf Spreading.

After joining the company, we naturally had to talk about the development of Pokémon propagation.

In recent years, as Elf Entertainment has expanded its reach overseas, the influence of its game IPs has continued to spread, and the value of its copyrights and the sales of related merchandise have become increasingly popular.

Elf Spread's revenue is also increasing dramatically every day.

In addition, with its strong capital, it has continuously acquired copyrights or obtained various derivative product licenses, and its business scope has long since expanded beyond the Pokémon IP.

For example, the acquisition of Sanrio last year brought considerable revenue to Elf Entertainment.

Nowadays, if we only consider the toy market, Elf Spread's sales have long surpassed those of the long-established giant, Bandai Group.

However, Elf's advantage lies mainly in its numerous copyrights and the huge global influence of its games, especially its various adorable plush toys, which are extremely popular in "Elf Show".

However, there is one area where Bandai completely crushes Elf Entertainment.

Those are robot toys and figurines.

This is all thanks to Bandai's two trump cards.

One was the Transformers copyright acquired in the mid-1980s through the acquisition of Akatoku.

Another one is the famous Mobile Suit Gundam series, for which Bandai signed a copyright agreement as early as the mid-1990s.

These two trump cards are something that Hideki Hanyu is extremely envious of.

Although Elf Media has made many efforts in this regard, and has acquired similar copyrights through cooperation with Cloud Entertainment and the acquisition of numerous animation companies and studios.

However, the commercial value and popularity of these copyrights are still far behind those of Transformers and Mobile Suit Gundam.

In the last two years, Yunshang Entertainment has produced a series of tokusatsu dramas that have achieved success, such as the most famous "Armor Hero".

Furthermore, by collaborating with Toho and Tsuburaya Productions, they acquired the series rights to Ultraman, the Warrior of Light, which gave them the strength to compete with Bandai in similar fields.

Currently, Elf Broadcasting is also competing with Bandai for another copyright, namely Toei's "Kamen Rider" series.

Despite having the advantage of a gaming platform, Elf Spread has a greater chance of winning in the end.

But what Hideki Hanyu really wanted was the Transformers and Mobile Suit Gundam series.

After all, the global recognition and commercial value of these two series are too high, and the malleability of the IP is unmatched by other copyrights.

And ultimately, these tokusatsu dramas are not robot-themed.

But obtaining these two copyrights is no easy task.

Transformers is fine, but Elf Media can completely bypass Bandai and go directly to North America to negotiate a partnership with Hasbro.

After all, in another timeline, the live-action Transformers movie was produced by Universal.

However, obtaining the copyright for "Mobile Suit Gundam" is more difficult.

The copyright license agreement between Bandai and Sunrise still has several years left before it expires.

Moreover, the two companies have always had a pleasant working relationship. In another timeline, in 1994, Bandai even acquired Sunrise.

Under these circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for Elf Media to poach viewers from "Mobile Suit Gundam".

Hideki Hanyu naturally told Eri Kitahara all these thoughts.

However, Kitahara Eri's expression was somewhat exaggerated when she heard this.

"Hanyu-san, Elf Spread is already very powerful. In terms of total global revenue, Bandai is not even one-fifth of ours."

If they were to steal Bandai's Transformers and Mobile Suit Gundam franchises, Bandai would be doomed.

It's impossible for us to acquire all the IPs.

Bandai is unlikely to cooperate, and the official stance is that they won't allow such a situation to arise.

Hideki Hanyu said nonchalantly, "When everything becomes a fact, there's no need to care about the official opinion."

At this point, Hideki Hanyu immediately began to make plans.

"First, there's Transformers. We can use the cloud platform to discuss this, starting with a film collaboration. I believe Hasbro would definitely be willing to sit down and talk."

As for Sunrise, even if they license the rights to Mobile Suit Gundam to Bandai, so what? We can just send someone to negotiate with Sunrise, pay to acquire them, and then end their licensing agreement with Bandai.

After hearing Hideki Hanyu's words, Eri Kitahara was speechless and facepalmed.

"I think neither of Yuzuru-san's two methods has a high chance of success."

"Why?" Hideki Yuzuru asked.

"Let's start with Transformers. Bandai is our competitor, but has Mr. Yuzuru forgotten that Hasbro is also our competitor?"

Today in the North American toy market, we've captured a significant market share from Hasbro thanks to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pokémon, Mario, Sonic, and the Electronic Pets family of toys.

So even if Universal manages to acquire the movie adaptation rights to Transformers, Hasbro is unlikely to give us the rights to related merchandise, unless they're suicidal.

At this point, Kitahara Eri said, "That was my mistake."

He only remembered that in his previous life, Universal and Hasbro collaborated on the live-action Transformers movie, and even put the IP into Universal Studios.

He instinctively overlooked the fact that his Pokémon marketing was also a competitor of Hasbro's.

Then Kitahara Eri continued.

"As for Mobile Suit Gundam, our wishful thinking is useless."

Sunrise and Bandai have a very good working relationship; even if Sunrise really wanted to sell the company, Bandai would be their first choice.

But Hideki Hanyu then interjected, "No, I don't agree with Kitahara-san's statement."

In my opinion, the owner of Sunrise is also a businessman, and a businessman's first choice will never be emotion, but money.

If not, then it just means we didn't contribute enough money.

Kitahara Eri said helplessly, "To break the relationship between Sunrise and Bandai, we'll probably have to spend a considerable sum. Is it worth it for a copyright issue?"

Hideki Hanyu raised his finger and shook it, “In a business deal, don’t just calculate costs and profits.”

Take Mobile Suit Gundam as an example. Whether we can obtain the copyright is not important. What is important is that we cannot allow Bandai to continue to obtain the copyright.

When dealing with competitors, one must show no mercy.

Because as long as Bandai exists, it will always pose a threat to Elf Entertainment.

"so?"

"Contact the owner of Risen Energy and tell him that money is not a problem."

(End of this chapter)