Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 217: Furuya Akira returns to his loyal Tokyo

Everyone from the Extreme Action Agency left the set and returned to Tokyo a few days later.

Before leaving, Gu Ming said goodbye to everyone in the crew. Sakai Masaaki and others deeply missed Gu Ming and the many foods that Gu Ming bought regularly.

Gu Ming also asked for the actors' contact information, which he might need in the future. Nishida Toshiyuki is seriously handsome these days, a man of pure elegance. Even though he plays Zhu Bajie, it doesn't affect Nishida Toshiyuki's aura. He's not called the Japanese Tang Guoqiang for nothing.

In these nineteen episodes, they received 150 million yen in killing array fees, which averaged out to a net profit of 90 yen. The agency received a total of more than million yen, which was enough to make an art film without any grand scenes.

At the end of December, Akira Furuya finally returned to his loyal Tokyo.

"I'm finally back. I've been acting like a monkey every day and I'm almost turning into one."

Manatsu Ryuu covered his arm and complained a little.

He has been a stand-in every day for the past few months. Although he has made a lot of money, he still feels a little regretful occasionally. Seeing that Tatsumi Nikamoto has become a Kamen Rider, but he is still being a stand-in for others, Manatsu Ryu always feels a little unbalanced in his heart.

It’s not about the money, it’s mainly about showing your face and not showing your face, there is a huge difference!

Gu Ming had sensed this emotion early on.

"Don't panic, your best days are still ahead." Gu Ming said with a smile: "For example, do you want to try playing Ultraman?"

Manatsu Ryuu gasped for a breath of Lion's Eyes.

I play Ultraman, is this true?

Gu Ming patted his shoulder solemnly.

You said you couldn't do it, but the agency had already decided that you had to recite a poem...

Gu Ming was not joking.

As mentioned earlier, the Ultraman project originated from the Ultra project in TBS's self-produced drama plan.

After Kaiki Wars, the Ultra Project came to an end, and TBS no longer interfered with Bankaya's filming requests.

Although "Kaijutsu no Daisuke" is a classic of its generation, its ratings were not high and it was eventually ended after only two seasons.

If everything goes as planned, Banku will film Almighty Jack next. Almighty Jack fails again, which directly leads to Banku being on the verge of extinction and a large number of people leaving - Tetsuo Kaneshiro left at this time, because when Almighty Jack failed, some people spread rumors that he took money from his competitors and deliberately wrote a bad script.

So Gu Ming felt that instead of continuing to shoot the Almighty Jack, it would be better to restart the Ultra series.

From Ultra Q to Kaiki Wars is the first period of the Showa era, from Return of Ultraman to Leo is the second period of the Showa era.

Four series were broadcast in the second period of the Showa era, namely Jack, Ace, Taro, and Leo.

Compared to previous works, these four films have a major change, which is that the focus is on people, rather than simply transforming and fighting monsters.

The protagonists of the four works are gradually growing up, and each has its own plot. The team leaders and members are also portrayed with emphasis.

Of course, Leo was too aggressive. Feng Yuan was beaten every day in the plot. In the team, he was either beaten by the group or by teammates. He was even beaten by aliens when he went out. It can be said that it was quite miserable. In the middle of the game, Wangu had no money and even his girlfriend. There was only one child left by his side. He also had no monster suits and they were all replaced with hanging ropes.

Many people say that Leo’s plot is dark, but it’s not really dark, it’s just too much.

People die in every episode. That's not called darkness, it can only be said to be excessive force. The only meaning of the existence of the MAC team in the whole plot is that a group of people go up to die, and wait for Leo to master his magical skills and come back for revenge.

So much so that by the end of the story, apart from the group, there was no memorable member of the MAC team.

Gu Ming said what he wanted to say, but he planned to conduct some market research to see what kind of works Wangu would launch. He couldn't go against the market trend and force himself to make Leo, otherwise the ending might be even worse than in history.

"Anyway, this drama has concluded successfully. We'll wrap up Maoyan next year, and then finish filming Kamen Rider... Maybe the agency will also produce a few TV series and one or two movies. We'll all have dinner tonight to celebrate the completion of our work on Journey to the West!"

The young men cheered.

Eat, enjoy!

……

...The next day, Tani Akira met with Okamoto. They learned from their conversation that his next Taiga drama project had already been finalized, though it wouldn't involve any large-scale scenes. Okamoto's main goal was to encourage Tani Akira to collaborate with NHK if he had the chance, as a way of building a relationship.

Although NHK was later criticized every day for charging excessive fees, it was still known as Japan's CCTV and its status was still very high, so Gu Ming would naturally agree.

After bidding farewell to Okamoto, Gu Ming went to Wangu.

This was arranged in advance. Since Wan Gu had time, he took the opportunity of the New Year to visit and ask about the plans for the new work.

"Brother Gugu, I beg you!" Wan Gujie clutched Gu Ming's thigh and wailed, "I don't want to watch movies anymore. I'm just living like a parasite, eating and waiting to die every day. Please find me a job! Even if it means putting on a suit and being a suit actor, that's fine!"

Gu Ming hissed.

This kid, why is he actively asking for a job?
"The reason I let you watch movies is to cultivate your sense of picture. If you have the chance, you can try to see how your studies are going." Gu Ming comforted Wan Gujie: "I'm going to visit my father in Wan Gu today. You should come back with me."

Wan Gujie wiped his tears and nodded silently.

He watches movies every day now and his eyes are tired.

Gu Ming took Wan Gujie all the way back to Wangu.

Wangu is currently taking a break. He just hastily finished the Strange Wars not long ago, and the morale of everyone in Wangu is a little low. After all, the Strange Wars was not very successful.

It was winter and the New Year was approaching, and there was no staff member to be seen in Wangu. Gu Ming walked through the studio, past the models that he once was proud of, and finally, all the way to the backyard of Wangu's house.

Wan Gu'ao was at home. He looked at Gu Ming and seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

Furuya-kun, could you please sell Endai's partner to me again?! Who knew you'd make a profit right after I sold it to you?

Gu Ming spread his hands.

It's impossible to sell it back.

The situation of Endai at that time was a interruption in cash flow, which did not mean that Endai had no strength.

As the leader of the three partnerships, Endai was a formidable force, but the forced acquisition of the plastics factory, coupled with resistance from distributors, led to a cash flow disruption. Now that Toei has made up for Endai's lost cash flow, Endai is naturally starting to profit.

Gu Ming was the middleman in this matter, and it was not something Wan Guao could solve.

Wan Gu Ao also knew that this was impossible, so he could only sigh and waved his hand to indicate that Wan Gu Eiji was at home, then he left with his hands behind his back.

He's angry! He wants to go out for a drink!

Gu Ming changed his shoes, bowed to Mrs. Wan Gu, and then walked to the Japanese-style room where they were to meet.

As soon as they met, Gu Ming frowned.

After not seeing him for more than half a year, I always feel that Eiji Mantani has aged more seriously, and I can clearly see the "old man's feeling" in his eyes.

It seems that the failure of Kaiki Wars had a great impact on Eiji Mantani.

"Dad." Gu Ming bowed slightly and sat opposite him.

"Ah? Oh..." Wang Ya Eiji narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at it carefully for a long time, and finally seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's Xiao Jie, and Gu Gujun."

He paused and thought for a long time before continuing, "Gugu-kun has been very good recently. I occasionally see his works on TV, and they are excellent. In this Journey to the West, Wan Gu also put a lot of thought into it. What a pity, alas, Kaiki Daisaku…"

Gu Ming sighed secretly.

I feel like Eiji Mantani's words are becoming inconsistent.

Although he knew this was very common, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

After all, Eiji Mantani is an old man. If we follow the reality, he would have been dead for eight or nine years now.

(End of this chapter)