Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 509 Selection of Actors for the Eight Dogs of the Southern Army
Kadokawa Group's masterpiece, "Satomi Hakkenden," will begin its first round of auditions this Monday in Tokyo, followed by auditions in other well-known cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, and Nagoya.

From the moment this news broke, they made no attempt to hide the fact that they were collaborating with the actors, displaying the names of Tani Akira and Yakushimaru Hiroko.

This inevitably brings to mind the Japanese film "Sailor Suit and Machine Gun," which also featured a similar combination.

This is, of course, leveraging existing resources in marketing. Haruki Kadokawa is a top expert in this area in Japan, so there's no need for Taniaki to worry about it.

That being said, Gu Ming also felt that although the rumors surrounding Haruki Kadokawa were rather chaotic, there was one real advantage to his cooperation with the Kadokawa Group.

Just as Toei has famous movie stars like Ken Takakura and Ken Ogata, several Japanese companies have their own famous top artists, both male and female.

However, since Kadokawa Group only entered the industry in the late 1970s, it doesn't have its own top stars, and no actor's name immediately brings Kadokawa Group to mind.

This is probably why Kadokawa Haruki didn't hesitate to allocate 2 billion yen to Tani Akira for investment.

Whether Gu Ming wins or loses, he won't lose out.

As a semi-freelance artist, Gu Ming sometimes worries about breaking up with a film and television company. For example, a small rift with Toei Animation made Gu Ming somewhat worried about the release of "Violent Man".

Fortunately, it won an award overseas, and Toei responded quickly, immediately stating that it would not affect the distribution.

Going along with Kadokawa would be beneficial for both sides.

Gu Ming has multiple options, and Kadokawa Group can also have a reliable person to work with year-round.

In fact, Kadokawa Group originally had the concept of "Three Kadokawa Girls", one of whom was Hiroko Yakushimaru.

However, due to Tani Akira's existence, several well-known films by Kadokawa Group, such as the original "Sailor Suit and Machine Gun," were not made, and Hiroko Yakushimaru was not found, which indirectly led to the absence of many works, and naturally there was no such thing as the "Three Girls of Kadokawa."

"However, since we're going to film Satomi Hakkenden this time, which involves at least eight people, we can find suitable actors. And of course, they should be our own people."

Gu Ming pondered for a moment, and when he looked up again, he realized that the car had already arrived outside the Shibuya office building.

"Koizumi? Why didn't you remind me when we arrived?"

"I see that Brother Gu is thinking about something, so I won't disturb him any longer."

Gu Ming responded without saying anything more, and the two went upstairs together.

Having gotten used to living in that warehouse, Gu Ming was really not used to moving to a skyscraper, so much so that when he walked in, he subconsciously planned to greet the receptionist on the first floor.

After a long journey, they took the elevator to the twentieth floor and returned to the Seventh Actor Agency.

After the split, this place became a dedicated office for actor affairs, and they also hired some relatively professional agents. Anyway, Gu Ming didn't know any of them; they were all recommended by Haruki Kadokawa.

As for Gu Ming himself, he is both the largest agent holding contracts and a member of the firm. He is his own agent.

—It's just that I have to ask Tanaka to arrange all my work.

Gu Ming was looking for a few actors when he suddenly looked up and saw Zhen Zidan sitting with her legs crossed, fiddling with a game console in the lounge. He couldn't help but stop and call out to her.

"Dennis, what are you doing here?"

"Oh! Brother Gu." Zhen Zidan raised her hand to greet him: "I originally went to JAC's place, but they didn't seem very sincere. After they found out I was dragging them along, they stopped including me, so I came back by myself."

"It's good that you're back. Going there wouldn't have made any difference anyway. Just forget about what happened before."

Gu Ming felt there was no need to go through the trouble of making a special trip to JAC.

"It's quite a coincidence that I happen to have a film contract. Although it's a supporting role, it's an extremely important one."

Of course, there are eight main characters in Satomi Hakkenden, both male and female.

Although Gu Ming didn't know much about it, he did know that both Sonny Chiba and Hiroyuki Sanada had played roles in it.

On another note—Takagi Mio also played a small role in Satomi Hakkenden, a killer who was killed by Kushi with a single slash.

If Hiroyuki Sanada can play the role, then Dan Ge can play it too!

It's not that Gu Ming is overhyping, but Dan Ge's cold and sophisticated villainous face is really popular in Japan.

Even the Zhen family troupe led by Zhen Zidan is one of the few groups that can succeed in Japan.

Jackie Chan's popularity doesn't mean the Jackie Chan Stunt Team is popular; Japan prefers the Donnie Yen Stunt Team's action style. That's why they were able to create new sword-fighting films like Rurouni Kenshin.

Zhen Zidan didn't care at all, and shrugged: "If Brother Gu thinks I can do it, then I'll act in it. I definitely won't disappoint."

Gu Ming casually patted him on the shoulder. "There's a book called 'The New Satomi Hakkenden,' written by Toshio Kamata. You can buy a set at Kadokawa Shoten when you have time. If you don't understand it, you can ask your older sister, Yuan Qiu, to help translate it."

Anyway, Gu Ming won't translate for him.

After settling everyone in, Gu Ming returned to his office to find someone else.

Daigo Ryudo, who previously played the male lead Takeshi Yago in Ultraman 80, currently has no film contracts, which makes it a good opportunity to cast him as one of the Eight Dogs of Satomi.

"Speaking of which, the role that Hiroyuki Sanada played was the male lead, and it seems like I took it? But Hachiken Satomi has other roles, so let's use one of our own for now."

Open auditions are just a way to fool the general public. Take Zhang Dahuzi, the director of the Jin Yong adaptations in China, for example. His open auditions are a complete hoax; the actors have already been chosen, and the auditions are just a gimmick. When he was filming Swordsman, he completely fooled actors like Nie Yuan, Shao Feng, and Huang Haibing, making them think they could play Linghu Chong. In the end, they chose Li Da Niao instead.

It's not that Gu Ming looks down on Li Daniao, but his Linghu Chong is really no good.

As for Kadokawa Haruki, if JAC is chosen, then he cannot be chosen. At present, Kadokawa Haruki certainly knows very well who to choose.

……

……

In the evening, Zhen Zidan returned to her residence and found a message on the answering machine.

Unexpectedly, the message was left for him by Hiroyuki Sanada.

"Tsk, I already said I wasn't going, why are you bothering me?"

Zhen Zidan was a little annoyed, but she still listened to the message. It said that she wanted to meet him at a place in Ginza, saying that she had something to talk about.

"They're just digging into my past. I'm busy filming, why would I go to your place? I'm busy!"

Zhen Zidan wasn't really keen on going, but considering he was going to find a Kadokawa Bookstore to buy books soon anyway, he figured he might as well go out on the way.

I quickly tidied myself up, styled my hair in a cool way, put on a cool leather jacket and sunglasses, and went out to meet them.

"It's nothing more than them trying to poach me. What else could it be that he wants to switch jobs?"

With some lingering resentment, Zhen Zidan met Sanada Hiroyuki, who had been waiting for a while.

Hiroyuki Sanada is three years older than Zhen Zidan, and he was still young at the time, not the mature, older man he later became.

Upon meeting, Hiroyuki Sanada got straight to the point.

One sentence from Zhen Zidan was like a thunderbolt.

"Dan! I don't want to be an actor at JAC anymore. I heard that you are an actor that Mr. Furuya specially brought back from abroad. You must be very familiar with Mr. Furuya. I wonder if you could introduce me to Mr. Furuya? This is a gift specially prepared for you, and this is a gift prepared for Mr. Furuya."

Zhen Zidan looked down.

"watch?"

“Rolex…this is for Mr. Furuya.”

Zhen Zidan said "Oh," and then added, "So, I haven't even had a chance to get one."

"This is the gift I asked you to give me as a matchmaker!"

Hiroyuki Sanada casually pointed to the other side of the road.

Zhen Zidan rubbed her eyes and looked closely.

A flamboyant and imposing heavy motorcycle was parked across the street, like a graceful and alluring woman beckoning to him.

Come on! Handsome boy, come and play!

He couldn't help but wipe his mouth.

Ouch.

This isn't cheap!

Although Gu Ming told him to resist temptation, Zhen Zidan thought to herself, "I can't resist it!"
“Well then, let’s make this clear first!” Zhen Zidan said, “I only promise to tell Brother Gu about this, but whether he agrees or not, whether he agrees or not, is not up to me.”

Hiroyuki Sanada bowed deeply: "It's alright, this is enough!"

(End of this chapter)