Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 498 Newness in Appearance and Newness in Nature

July.

This seemingly ordinary summer vacation saw the simultaneous release of two tokusatsu (special effects) films produced by different companies.

One is the well-established Wangu, and the other is the offspring of Wangu who left the company. The new company they jointly established is highly anticipated no matter how you look at it.

In these circumstances, some children made their own choices.

Of course, I'll prioritize watching the works of the authentic Wan Gu!
Xiao Ji finally got to watch the first episode of "Ultraman Leo" and recorded a segment for "Gridman".

The first episode truly opened his eyes: L77's wandering prince, the figure playing guitar under the starry night, punches and kicks, Ultraman Seven living in seclusion behind the scenes, and of course, the flying kick that sparked and flashed all the way!

When he saw that scene, he thought of the various movies that had been shown before.

Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and of course, Jet Li.

And now, he can see his favorite characters performing his favorite fight scenes! He can even wield nunchucks!
The story in the first episode excited Xiao Ji so much that he went to school the next day to discuss it with his friends.

"Did you guys watch Ultraman Leo yesterday? He defeats enemies with just punches and kicks, that's amazing!"

"Tch, what era are we living in that you're still watching Ultraman? It's obvious you haven't watched Ultraman! That's a computer!"

The classmate dismissed Xiao Ji's description and stood on the podium, recounting yesterday's events with a swaying head.

"The world of computers! Superman who can transform into Gundam! It's way better than all that old stuff! You guys have never used a computer, have you? I have one at home, a Fujitsu! It's really expensive!"

His rambling, passionate storytelling unsurprisingly attracted the attention of many classmates.

Although it was Japan in the 1980s, there were always some children from particularly wealthy families. For example, this child named Gu Xiong's family was in the foreign trade business. His father imported beef from Brazil and Argentina and sold it in Japan. His income was much higher than that of Kinoshita Danjiro, who worked as a full-time employee at a television station.

Xiao Ji clenched his fists, his face flushed, and in the end, he could only whisper one sentence.

"Whoever wants to watch can watch! I'm not watching!"

……

Even so, he still watched the recording when he got home, still feeling unconvinced.

It’s better not to watch.

Once he saw it, he couldn't take his eyes off it.

The show struck him as fashionable!

In the world of computers, the Gridman, who resembles a mechanical creature, is unique in both appearance and clothing.

Although the story is still about a hero transforming into a monster to fight, the monsters they fight are either ordinary monsters or computer-generated monsters.

That mindset is different!

That's a computer! The latest technology!
For example, he doesn't even have a computer at home.

Xiao Ji had never even seen what a computer was!
Now, the child is truly in a dilemma.

What should I do with these two stories?

……

……

Gu Ming received the first day's ratings report on time.

It's clear that TBS is much more efficient than TV Tokyo; after all, it's a large company.

Of course, behind this is the hard work of countless Danjiro Kinoshitas, handing out flyers on the street on weekends.

"This number is not very optimistic."

Gu Ming frowned as he flipped through the investigation report. The premiere episode had a viewership rating of 17.1%, which wouldn't have been great in the past, but it was considered an outstanding production these days.

However, despite the reputation built up over the years, Wangu's golden brand only managed to achieve this level of viewership, which is truly disappointing.

As for the investigation report, it was fairly standard. The protagonist, plot, music, singer, and children couldn't really tell whether it was good or bad. Anyway, Ryu Shinatsu seemed quite approachable and not annoying. Plus, this was only the first episode, so they were fairly satisfied with the protagonist.

"Furuya-kun, this is bad."

TBS producer Yoji Hashimoto handed another report to Akira Tani.

"This is a report on 'Denko Choujin Gridman' that I got from Fuji Television through a friend."

Gu Ming nodded and glanced through it.

The first episode of Gridman had a viewership rating of 7%, which seems to be less than half of this one, but the two have different reputations and status.

It's worth noting that Simbot Productions is a recently established joint venture with no reputation or brand recognition! Even so, it's quite remarkable that they achieved this result for their premiere.

Yoji Hashimoto frowned, unable to hide his worry.

"What's most remarkable is the level of satisfaction with the characters in the survey report. Basically, over 90% of the audience gave it a positive review! Electronic superheroes, a computer world—they were very satisfied with this novel concept! In comparison, it's not that our version is bad, but such a conventional approach doesn't seem to attract everyone's attention."

At this point, Yoji Hashimoto paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and then said, "Although there is no difference in essence, that is, after all, a computer monster, an electronic world. How about we make some modifications as well?"

"No, there's no need for that right now."

Gu Ming refused immediately.

"Destroying the world-building for this novel setting would have fatal consequences. It's only the first episode, and the plot hasn't even unfolded yet. If we rush to make changes now, things won't go well. The impact on the future won't be immediately apparent. I think we should maintain the current situation."

Then Gu Ming waved his hand: "Isn't it all about novelty? I have an idea about this."

In fact, those in the industry can see the difference in filming techniques between the two works; Gu Ming's work clearly uses more advanced technology.

However, children and most viewers cannot perceive the technical differences.

Therefore, Gu Ming had an idea.

It was less of an idea and more of a long-planned scheme.

Wangu has a visitor day, which was just an ordinary day when it was first established.

However, after Wangu took control of Wangu, he transformed the visitor day into a kind of corporate image, changing it from a fixed time every week to a fixed time every month or even every year.

At the same time, Wangu Ao vigorously maintains the Wangu brand image, deeply binding the surrounding shops with Wangu, so that anyone who comes to this street can buy the latest products, participate in festival activities, participate in stage play interactions, and so on.

In short, it's about creating this Universal Universe in the Disney model.

Although it wasn't as effective as Disney, it was influential in Japan.

From this perspective, Wan Gu'ao is indeed a rare talent in the Wan Gu family.

—It would have been better if he hadn't embezzled the filming funds.

"It can be considered using one's own spear to attack one's own shield."

Gu Ming shook his head, made up his mind, and looked at Hashimoto Yoji with a serious expression.

"Hashimoto-kun, could you please book an advertisement for me on TBS? I'll have Tanaka take care of the payment later."

"The advertisement content is..."

"'Mangu Space Festival'!"

(End of this chapter)