Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 183 Japanese Journey to the West

The comic of the same name of the Cat's Eye Sisters has begun serialization. Although Hojo Tsukasa didn't know why he was beaten first, it was still good to earn some extra money.

After returning from Fukuoka Prefecture, Gu Ming will continue filming the Knight series.

The first season of Kamen Rider has been completed and the overall situation is very encouraging. If nothing unexpected happens, Kamen Rider No. 2 will not appear again.

Originally, the existence of No. 2 was due to Fujioka Hiro being injured, which made No. 2 necessary. Now that Gu Ming is not injured, there is of course no need to create No. 2.

But Gu Ming still wanted to give it a try.

The filming period of Kamen Rider is too long, and sharing the two roles can solve many problems.

This is also the reason why many famous actors in the Showa era did not act in special effects.

Generally speaking, special effects dramas are often produced every year, and Toei will even shoot for two or three years. For two or three years, the players are tied to the same drama and cannot do anything else.

After Wangu went bankrupt, the series was changed to a seasonal or semi-annual series, which was able to attract many talented or younger actors because it was easier to arrange their time.

After today's filming ended, Gu Ming stayed on the set and called Hirayama Toru.

"Mr. Hirayama, I'm Furuya Akira... Hmm? You have something to talk to me about? What a coincidence! I'm always available to meet you. As for the location, let's go to Saizeriya."

The meal is free and it can also advertise you, so it would be a shame not to go.

Soon, the two met in Saria.

Just as Gu Ming was about to talk about Plan No. 2, Hirayama Toru moved closer and grabbed his hand with sincere affection.

"Gugu-kun, I really need you!"

Gu Ming was so frightened that he quickly shook off Pingshan Heng's hand.

"Please help yourself! I'm not that kind of person!"

"What are you talking about, I mean, please help me!"

Hirayama Toru explained: "It's like this, there's a super big production coming out recently, it's super!"

He put his hands together and made a particularly large gesture.

"It's so big that no single company can handle it alone. They have to collaborate to film. Toei is just one of them. There are countless companies competing. Some companies have been fixed from the beginning, such as Wangu. Some of the special effects involved in the plot will require Wangu's guidance."

"The action plan hasn't been finalized yet, but there are two gentlemen, Yasuaki Kurata and Shinichi Chiba, who are interested in collaborating."

"Mr. Watanabe thought of you first! Furuya-kun!"

Gu Ming's blood boiled after hearing these few words.

“With so many companies, what kind of works are they?”

Hirayama Toru grinned.

"You know that TBS produced a TV series called 'Fly! Sun Wukong' last year?"

Gu Ming was stunned and couldn't eat the French fries.

Hirayama Toru continued, "Inspired by that drama, this drama is called Journey to the West!"

Gu Ming's hand trembled and he almost splashed ketchup on Hirayama Heng's face.

In 1978, China and Japan signed the "Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty" and entered the so-called Sino-Japanese honeymoon period. The names of the attendees from Zhou State cannot be entered, but they are all top figures.

In the same year, in order to show their sincerity, China and Japan collaborated on a super-production TV series, namely, the Japanese version of Journey to the West in 1978 and 1979.

Some scenes were filmed domestically, with assistance from the then-unknown State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, a political undertaking of the highest order. The series's investment remained at the highest level, reaching a massive 1978 million yuan per episode in 4000.

It was mentioned earlier that the investment of 1000 million per episode in Seven's original time and space was already the peak, but this drama has reached a terrifying investment of million per episode.

Forty million yen in 1978 would be worth hundreds of millions today.

The actor who was originally chosen did not choose to perform for various reasons, so someone else was eventually found.

For example, the leading actor, Masaaki Sakai, who plays the role of Sun Wukong, comes from a well-known "comedy family" in Japan and has long served as the emcee of the Red and White Songs Festival, which is the Japanese Spring Festival Gala.

Tang Sanzang, played by Natsume Masako, is not a female Tang Sanzang, but a female actress who plays a male Tang Sanzang, just like Maggie Cheung in the Hong Kong version of Legend of the White Snake.

Zhu Bajie, Nishida Toshiyuki, was beaten to the point of having his bones broken by the Japanese right wing because of his pro-China remarks and reflections on the massacre.

——In this drama, Ryu Manatsu plays a character called 'Qingyun Tongzi', or Qingyun Tongzi, who is set to be on the same level as Son Goku.

Niemoto Tatsumi also serves as Sun Wukong's martial arts stunt double, incarnation, and the dark Sun Wukong at the beginning of the story.

Many of the models in the drama were produced with the assistance of Toho, and the special effects were assisted by Mantani. Koichi Takano served as the special effects director for the plot, Mamoru Sasaki provided the script, and Minoru Nakano provided the lighting effects director...

In short, the Japanese side showed the utmost sincerity in this drama, and it was not just random filming as later online marketing accounts said.

"Lao Shi" was one of the top video producers in China in the early days, but he did make many wrong explanations about the Japanese version of Journey to the West in order to gain traffic.

Of course, it cannot be said that this drama has no problems. The drama makes extensive use of folk culture and myths and legends that are more common in Japan, which makes it unacceptable overseas. For example, Sha Seng is indeed designed as a kappa, and Sun Wukong is indeed not a strong fighter. The theme is not the Sun Wukong fighting against heaven and earth that is more common in China, but a road movie about the journey of the team to the west.

Lao Shi said that the filming looked like Ultraman, because the monsters were models made by Toho, and the filming method was guided by special effects provided by Wangu, so it really looked like Ultraman.

So much so that when it was screened in China in 1981, it was met with widespread criticism upon its premiere, prompting China to make up its mind to film its own version of Journey to the West.

However, in Japan, and overseas at the time, this Japanese Journey to the West received rave reviews, with foreign websites calling it 'MonkeyKing'.

Although it was not the first TV series about Journey to the West in history, it was the first time that many people in English-speaking countries came into contact with Journey to the West.

"As a result, the Zhou people's own works were finally filmed and disseminated by the Japanese..."

Gu Ming let out a long sigh, sighed inwardly, and then looked at Pingshan Heng seriously.

"So, what does Mr. Hirayama mean?"

"The cast has already been decided, and that can't be changed. However, the stunts and other aspects are still being prepared. The section chief intends to recommend Furuya-kun's agency under the Toei name. This is a 40 million dollar TV series. If they can land a role in it, they'll quickly become nationally famous!"

Gu Mingxin said that it was not only famous throughout the country, but also famous next door! It was famous all over the world!

"Then, I'm going to represent Toei..."

"No, not on behalf of Toei," Hirayama Toru interrupted. "What the section chief means is that Toei is recommending Furuya-kun as Toei's representative. If possible, of course they can bring some Toei actors along, but the agency doesn't represent Toei."

Gu Ming nodded, seeming to understand.

In other words, this is only equivalent to obtaining a title of preliminary test. Whether you can pass the test later depends on subsequent operations.

Gu Ming immediately became serious and bowed slightly: "Thank you Mr. Watanabe for the recommendation. I will try my best to get this opportunity. When the time comes, I will definitely invite Toei's action actors."

No matter what the purpose.

Gu Ming intends to seize this opportunity.

Obtained the qualification to direct the killing array for this Japanese version of Journey to the West.

For this reason, it doesn’t matter even if Cat’s Eye and Kamen Rider are shut down at the same time.

(End of this chapter)