Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 1073 Norika Fujiwara
The fact that Sunrise, the company behind "Mobile Suit Gundam," was targeted by Hideki Hanyu meant that in the near future, the Spirit series would once again engage in a "battle" with Bandai.

After all, if Sunrise's investors want to sell the company and aren't stupid, they will definitely use Bandai and Elf Media to drive up the price.

Bandai will absolutely be willing to spend its money to compete.

After all, for Elf Entertainment, the copyright of "Mobile Suit Gundam" is just a way to make up for shortcomings and add icing on the cake.

For Bandai, however, Mobile Suit Gundam was their last trump card, a matter of life and death, as Elf Entertainment pressed them relentlessly.

If even this copyright is taken away by the Pokémon series, then Bandai may truly become history.

This is absolutely not an exaggeration, but rather the harsh reality of Hideki Hanyu's gradual strategic planning and subsequent market squeeze over the years.

If the copyright held by the Pokémon franchise is only their own game IP, then Bandai could barely hold on.

However, Elf Entertainment, relying on the advantages of its game platform, has attracted a large number of copyright holders to cooperate. In addition, with its strong capital, it has continuously acquired, merged, and invested, as well as the support of the cloud system. In recent years, it has almost monopolized all newly emerging copyrights.

Meanwhile, manga publishers that Bandai had previously worked well with, such as Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Hakusensha, all switched to working with Spirit Publishing due to the influence of Hideki Hanyu on the board of directors of Hitotsubashi Publishing Group.

As for other large publishing groups that are on par with Hitotsubashi Publishing Group, such as Otowa Group (with Kodansha as its core), Kadokawa Group, and Shinchosha, they are all well-known.

Kadokawa Group is already a partner of Cloud Entertainment, so it chose Elf Media for its derivative product collaborations.

Otowa Group originally partnered with Bandai, but in recent years, due to the better sales channels and higher profits of Pokémon Spread, they have gradually become more inclined to cooperate with Pokémon Spread.

As for Shinchosha, although it was lured in by Bandai with generous offers, Shinchosha mainly focuses on literary works, and its literary awards such as the "Shincho Gakugei Prize" and the "Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize" are highly influential in the industry.

However, when it comes to comic works, there are not only few works, but also very limited market influence, and almost no overseas recognition.

Therefore, for Bandai, they have already been pushed to the brink by Hideki Hanyu, and Mobile Suit Gundam is one of their few remaining trump cards.

Therefore, in order to secure the copyright for "Mobile Suit Gundam," Bandai will definitely go all out in its acquisition of Sunrise and engage in a life-or-death struggle with the Spirit series.

Hideki Hanyu could naturally guess this, but he didn't care at all.

Bandai, which was once considered his biggest competitor, is now somewhat insignificant to him.

If it were just a matter of capital strength, he could crush Bandai with a single finger.

After confirming the matter with Kitahara Eri, Hideki Hanyu discussed some other matters related to the company's development with Kitahara Eri before preparing to take his leave.

"I won't disturb your work any longer, goodbye."

After finishing his sentence, Hideki Hanyu prepared to leave.

Kitahara Eri asked, "Hanyu-san, you're leaving so early, aren't you planning to explore the Spirit Spread?"

Hideki Hanyu asked with a puzzled look, "Has Spirit Communication done anything recently that I should pay attention to?"

"I don't have a job."

As Kitahara Eri spoke, she raised her hand to check the time and continued.

"However, Pokémon Communications is selecting commercial actors for the second generation of Pokémon Fight this afternoon, and Ms. Kyoko will also be there. Judging by the time, she should be arriving soon. Don't you plan to meet her, Mr. Yuzuru?"

"Today's son?"

Hideki Yuzuru hesitated slightly, then sat down again. "Let's wait for her then. It's been a while since we last saw each other."

Just as Hideki Hanyu agreed, Eri Kitahara's assistant knocked on the door and came in to report to Eri Kitahara.

"President Kitahara, all the people participating in the Pokémon Fight 2 commercial actor selection have arrived. Manager Hirai from the planning department is asking when you want to start."

"Tell Minister Hirai that I'm going right now."

After speaking to her assistant, Kitahara Eri looked at Hanyu Hideki.

"Hanyu-san, let's go take a look together."

"Let's go."

After Hideki Yuzuru agreed, he followed Eri Kitahara toward the actor selection area.

During the journey, Kitahara Eri did not forget to explain to Hanyu Hideki.

"I originally wanted to hand over the selection of actors for this commercial to Yunshang Entertainment, but President Hirohashi refused. She asked me to make the news public so that interested agencies could participate."

Those who are here at headquarters today have all gone through multiple rounds of preliminary screening to be finalized.

Hideki Hanyu asked, "Are there any contestants for Cloud Entertainment today?"

Kitahara Eri replied, "No, President Iijima didn't want to compete with other agencies, so he took all four spots and said he would bring people for us to choose from another day."

Hideki Hanyu didn't ask anything more.

He knew very well that Yunshang Entertainment was only asking for four spots, which was already quite generous of them.

After all, due to the special nature of the Pokémon Fight products, advertising shoots are often a large series.

It's not just the products; popular Pokémon characters also have their own promotional ads and celebrity endorsements to sell Pokémon cards.

Roughly speaking, the entire series of advertisements for the new product launch will feature no fewer than twenty main actors.

If Cloud Entertainment is willing, it could take all of these spots by leveraging its partnership with the Elf series.

The reason why Hirohashi Asako and Iijima Michi didn't do this might be because they didn't want to keep it all to themselves, or perhaps because many of the artists from the Yunshang Group are not suitable for shooting this type of advertisement.

However, these are just Hideki Hanyu's guesses, since he has never been involved in these specific business matters.

Besides, the Yunshang Group is a large and powerful company with abundant resources, so it doesn't lack opportunities to appear in commercials.

In many cases, compared to small agencies that seize every opportunity, Yunshang Entertainment values ​​the career path of its artists more and will not grab every opportunity to avoid damaging the artists' image and style.

Soon, Hideki Hanyu and Eri Kitahara arrived at the floor where they were going to their destination.

Before even entering the final selection venue, one could see that the entire corridor and even the stairwell were filled with candidates.

These people included both men and women; there were at least forty or fifty people in the corridor alone.

They were mostly young, handsome men and beautiful women; the youngest looked to be only ten years old, and the oldest was around twenty.

The majority of them were girls, while the number of boys was relatively small.

Kitahara Eri and Hanyu Hideki appeared, glanced at the people briefly, and then entered the office area.

However, even in this short period of time, it was enough for these people to see Kitahara Eri and Hanyu Hideki clearly.

Kitahara Eri is alright; although she is a rising female entrepreneur in the Japanese business world, she is still relatively unfamiliar to those who are developing their careers in the entertainment industry.

But Hideki Hanyu, who was next to Eri Kitahara, was completely different.

His handsome and tall appearance was extremely distinctive.

Anyone who watches the news in Japan knows Hideki Hanyu.

Moreover, this applies to those who intend to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

So the instant Hideki Hanyu disappeared, everyone in the corridor was thrown into turmoil.

Various exclamations and discussions arose one after another.

No one expected that they, who were just there to audition for an advertising actor, would actually meet a big shot like Hideki Hanyu.

Even though they all knew that Hideki Hanyu was the owner of Elf Broadcasting.

The problem is, why did Hideki Hanyu even participate in what was just a casting call for commercial actors?

The thought that they might be chosen by Hideki Hanyu during their upcoming interviews put immense pressure on even the most confident people.

Of course, besides the tension, many people also felt anticipation.

After all, that's Hideki Hanyu. If their performance could earn his approval, it would save them thirty years of hard work in the industry. The older girls had already taken out mirrors and carefully applied their makeup, making sure there were no flaws, determined to present the most perfect image to Hideki Hanyu.

Just as the candidates outside were getting restless because of Hideki Hanyu's appearance.

As Hideki Hanyu entered the office area with Eri Kitahara, he was greeted by Kyoko Koizumi, who was chatting with her staff.

The little fairy looked quite surprised to see Hideki Hanyu and Eri Kitahara appear together.

A student approached curiously and asked, "Why did you come with President Kitahara, teacher?"

"Can't I come?" Hideki Yuzuru asked the little imp deliberately.

Ignoring the presence of others, the little vixen grabbed the scumbag's arm and said sweetly, "That's not what I meant. I was just wondering why such a small matter would bother the teacher."

As Hideki Hanyu followed Eri Kitahara into the selection room, he explained to the fairy why he was involved in the spirit propagation.

After explaining, he then asked the little fairy.

"My presence here was purely accidental. But why did you also come to participate in the audition? If you want to appear in an advertisement, why don't you just ask Kitahara-san to reserve a spot for you?"

Hideki Yuzuru said this not to use his connections to give the little fairy preferential treatment.

Because if the little fairy wanted to participate in the fairy-themed advertisement, she wouldn't need to rely on his connections at all.

Since the birth of Elf Entertainment and its first television commercial, Little Fairy has been collaborating with Elf Entertainment.

Over the years of collaboration, whether it's event promotion, official endorsement, or product advertising, Xiaoyaojing has always been the first choice.

Not only is Elf Entertainment used to collaborating with Little Fairy, but Elf Entertainment's fans are also used to Little Fairy's image.

The girl who was once a gamer has gradually transformed into a game goddess.

Cooperation is the norm now; it would be strange if we didn't.

Upon hearing this, the little fairy explained, "I'm not here for an interview; I don't plan to participate in this advertisement."

"Then what are you doing here?" Hideki Yuzuru asked curiously.

"President Suo asked me to bring a newcomer from Burning Production to participate in the selection. I'm here to ask President Kitahara for a favor."

After the little fairy finished speaking, she grinned and moved closer to Kitahara Eri, "President Kitahara, for the sake of the teacher, could you reserve two spots for me?"

Upon hearing this, Kitahara Eri deliberately looked at Hanyu Hideki and said, "If President Hanyu agrees, let alone two spots, even ten would be fine."

"Really?" the little fairy feigned surprise.

"fake."

Hideki Hanyu denied it without hesitation.

"If you want it, work for it yourself. I won't interfere with such trivial matters."

Upon hearing this, the little fairy immediately shook Hideki Yuzuru's arm with a bitter face, "Teacher, please help me, otherwise I won't be able to explain to President Suoh."

Hideki Yuzuru, unmoved, extended his finger and tapped the little fairy's forehead.

"Don't waste your energy, this won't work on me."

"The teacher is so heartless!"

Seeing that trying to get in through connections was futile, the little fairy could only say listlessly, "Fine, I'll go tell them to prepare properly."

Watching the little imp walk away with her head down, Hideki Yuzuru smiled helplessly.

Kitahara Eri also asked with a smile, "Are you really not going to help Ms. Kyoko?"

"Under the same conditions, priority can be given to those who are considered. If the levels are too different, then we should choose according to the rules."

For Hideki Hanyu, the promotional effect of Pokémon Fight 2's launch was far more important than his personal relationship with Ikuo Suo.

Others might be afraid of the power behind Burning Production, but he didn't care at all.

Of course, Suo Ikuo, who now collaborates with him extensively, wouldn't care about such a trivial matter.

After all, following Hideki Hanyu's trip to Chiba Prefecture last year to reorganize the Saito Group, many board members were ousted, effectively increasing the interests of other investors.

Suo Ikuo was one of the beneficiaries.

Compared to the interests of the Xidu Group, what is a mere opportunity to participate in an advertisement?

Although Ikuo Suo is domineering in the Japanese entertainment industry, he also has to consider who he is dealing with.

"I see."

Once Kitahara Eri learned of Hanyu Hideki's attitude, she immediately instructed her subordinates that the selection of advertising actors could begin.

In the interview room, there were three interviewers in charge of the selection, from Elf Entertainment, Elf Communication, and the advertising department of Cloud Entertainment.

As for Kitahara Eri and Hanyu Hideki, they went into the inner room of the interview room and watched the interview process through one-way glass.

After giving instructions to the artists from Burning Production, Kyoko Koizumi also came to this room.

Looking at the candidates coming in for interviews, the little fairy turned to Hideki Hanyu and said.

"I thought the teacher would conduct the interviews in person. After all, all the kids outside were very excited when they saw the teacher appear."

“I’m not interested in this kind of thing. If Kitahara-san hadn’t told you you would come, I would have left already.”

Upon hearing the scumbag's words, the little vixen immediately hugged Hideki Yuzuru's arm with obvious delight, her face beaming with sweetness.

Seeing this, Kitahara Eri rolled her eyes without making a sound.

She could tell that Hideki Yuzuru was becoming increasingly adept at charming women.

Ironically, these women were willingly "deceived" by Hideki Hanyu.

Seeing that Kyoko Koizumi was letting Hideki Hanyu pluck her away at will, Eri Kitahara couldn't stand it any longer.

She quickly spoke up to remind her, "Ms. Kyoko, the next artist is from Burning Production."

As Kitahara Eri's voice rang out, a woman in a beige dress walked into the interview room.

The woman looked very young, with long, curly hair draped over her shoulders. She had a distinctive appearance, with an oval face and large eyes. She was pure and lively, yet possessed a mature and charming temperament, creating a strong contrast and complementarity.

Most importantly, the girl's figure was too outstanding.

At around 1.7 meters tall, she stands out from the crowd among Japanese women.

Despite her tall stature, she also possesses a curvaceous and shapely figure, which, combined with her facial features, gives the girl an innate sexy charm.

The moment the girl appeared, she immediately caught Hideki Hanyu's attention.

Of course, if she were only beautiful and had a great figure, she wouldn't have attracted such attention from Hideki Hanyu, a seasoned womanizer.

Most importantly, Hideki Hanyu knew this girl.

Seemingly to confirm, Hideki Hanyu immediately asked the little fairy.

"Is she an artist under Burning Production?"

"Yes, she's a newcomer who just signed with the agency's Kansai branch. She's currently studying at a women's university in Kansai and mainly works as a model there. She came to Tokyo specifically for this advertising audition."

After introducing the little fairy for a moment, she continued.

"She seems to be nineteen years old this year, and her name is Norika Fujiwara."

(Illustration by Norika Fujiwara)

(End of this chapter)