Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 592 Stepping on Flames

As Tani Akira walked through this detached house in Setagaya Ward, he felt a brief sense of unease and confusion.

In Japan, detached houses are certainly not considered high-end residences, but location and architectural style must still be taken into account.

Given its location in Setagaya Ward and the size of the land, including a small courtyard, it's safe to say that this house is definitely not cheap.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford it, but Gu Ming felt a strong sense of unease about using something like this as a birthday gift.

"Don't worry, this house isn't expensive at all. After all, the seller is selling it for a pittance, no more, no less, only about forty million yen." Kadokawa Haruki walked to the side, seemingly implying something, but ultimately added a sentence to the previous conversation.

"After all, in order to get cash, the other party was willing to sell the house quickly at a price lower than half price."

Gu Ming suddenly looked up.

Who sold it?

“Your old friend, Wan Gu’ao.”

Gu Ming responded with an "oh," unsure of what to say for a moment.

He could probably guess the reason.

Selling assets because of a lack of money is a common occurrence, and the reasons for this lack of money are varied.

Based on his understanding of Wan Gu'ao, there was only one possibility that he had no money.

The company may be poor, but the individual may be rich. This is fine if it's a one-man show like Wangu, but for larger companies with more investors, every penny taken from the company must eventually be returned.

“Sometimes, people shouldn’t do things beyond their capabilities.” Kadokawa Haruki leaned against the glass railing, standing on the second-floor balcony overlooking the courtyard below. The yard was overgrown with weeds, clearly untrimmed for some time.

"I've seen 'Gridman,' and it's a good show, not that bad. The only problem is that it exceeded their production capabilities. Forcing filming under those circumstances inevitably led to insolvency. Besides, there were people sabotaging the project."

Haruki Kadokawa shrugged, turned to Akira Tani, and a pack of soft cigarettes popped out from his sleeve.

"Have one?"

"No, I don't smoke."

Gu Ming originally intended to refuse, but after a moment of silence, he still reached out his hand.

"Have one."

The glow of the cigarette flickered on and off, then disappeared in an instant.

"cough……"

Gu Ming, holding onto the glass railing, coughed violently, his body swaying back and forth, feeling as if his lungs were about to explode. The extremely spicy taste was hard to get used to.

It took Gu Ming quite a while to recover. He simply leaned against the railing and sat down, watching the cigarette in his hand slowly burn in the night wind.

"First time smoking?"

"Yeah, first time."

"Say what you want to say, there's no need to hide anything."

"I have nothing to say, you're overthinking it."

Haruki Kadokawa smiled.

"That's not much of a friend."

As he spoke, he flicked his finger, and the cigarette in his hand traced an arc along the balcony, finally landing on the lawn. There was nothing to ignite on the damp lawn; the cigarette butt twitched a few times and went out completely.

Kadokawa Haruki also turned around, placing both hands on the railing, and like Tani Akira, leaned against the railing, gazing at the erotic tiled roof of the mansion.

"Do you think I went too far?"

Gu Ming didn't speak, he just nodded.

“That’s how business is. You’ve heard that saying before, right? What’s it in English again?” Haruki Kadokawa pretended to think for a moment, then smiled easily. “Business is business. If you don’t die, someone else has to. The further you go, the more people you have around you, the less you want to fail. Because the price of failure is higher.”

At this point, Haruki Kadokawa paused for a moment, then suddenly looked down at Akira Tani.

Gu Ming held the cigarette in his hand, still flickering faintly. "I don't know what you're planning, but many people know who you're associating with, they just don't want to say it out loud. Stop now. Ideals are fragile, money is abundant. The best of times are over; this is an era of rampant materialism. Even the grandest ideals require money to achieve. Money! Yen! Dollars! Euros! Who cares, as long as it's money! Stop now, or it'll be too late if someone's watching you."

At this point, Kadokawa Haruki stood up from the railing and casually patted Tani Akira on the shoulder.

"As a friend, that's all I have to say. Think it over. Also, if you need me for the next movie, remember to contact me. Don't think you're a firefly in the dark, believing you can light up the whole night, when in reality you only illuminate the small space around you. In the end, you'll end up like this cigarette, silently extinguished, and no one will even know you ever took a puff."

As Kadokawa Haruki walked further away, Tani Akira could faintly hear the sound of the wooden steps sinking down in the stairwell.

Gu Ming looked down at the cigarette in his hand, which was almost extinguished.

Perhaps it really is time to stop.

But Gu Ming then opened the pack of soft-pack cigarettes he had just seen.

The two cigarettes met, and as Gu Ming took a breath, the tobacco burned and glowed again.

The cigarette butt in my hand had burned onto my hand before finally going out.

Gu Ming held the newly lit cigarette in his hand.

"You're right, and I know you're right. Everyone knows you're right. But at least we still have another cigarette."

……

……

The following day, Tani Akira moved into the mansion located in Setagaya Ward.

In the newspapers, journalists spoke of the matter with undisguised fervor.

While resting in the tea room, Kinoshita Danjiro saw the newspaper report.

Several colleagues were discussing the matter without any restraint.

"A rich person, living in a mansion in Setagaya Ward."

"I don't know when I'll be able to move in there."

"I'm so envious."

Kinoshita Danjiro couldn't help but shake his head.

"I'm saying, aren't you guys focusing too much on irrelevant things!"

The employees immediately became serious.

"Professor."

"Section Chief Kinoshita..."

Kinoshita Danjiro scoffed, "If you ask me, Furuya Akira should have moved by now. Don't you know? He's always lived in Dan-ku. He's made so many works and he's still living in Dan-ku. He's only moving now because he's a very frugal person."

When it comes to his works, Kinoshita Danjiro is truly very knowledgeable about them.

"We have a lot of shows airing on TBS alone, including collaborations with Mango TV and action shows that we've tried our best to connect with, such as Cat's Eye, and of course, the manga of the same name. Not to mention the movies! Whether it's the three Ghost Scrolls, Satomi Hakkenden, Onimusha, or now Trucks on Meals, who can say they haven't seen any of them?"

After finishing his speech, Kinoshita Danjiro patted the group on the shoulders.

"Work more and gossip less, it won't do you any harm!"

The two new employees only breathed a sigh of relief after Kinoshita Danjiro left.

"Section Chief Kinoshita is actually a fairly easy person to talk to."

"It's true, without realizing it, I've seen a lot of Akira Furuya's works."

"A mansion in Setagaya Ward, I wonder who lived there before?"

"I don't know, but it's probably just some insignificant person."

(End of this chapter)