Tokyo's bubble economy: From literary giants to great entertainers

Nine o'clock in the morning, at the entrance of the film set on campus, where people come and go.

Keiko Matsuzaka leaned against the Mercedes, her tone lazy with a hint of displeasure, yet also somewhat friendly.

Last night's gathering brought the two of them much closer.

Of course, such a typical company gathering wouldn't usually have such a significant impact. The main reason was that Suzuki Honami's arrival later caused the conversation at the table to revolve around Kanbara Shuichi.

The three of them drank and chatted, and she and Suzuki Honami exposed each other's secrets, constantly teasing Kanbaru Shuichi, and even playing drinking games with him. Their relationship grew much closer over time.

Especially after learning about Shuichi Kanbara's background, she developed a different kind of feeling towards this young man.

Shuichi Kanbara did the same. He walked to the car and said, "President, you came all this way so early just to tease me?"

"Stop being so cheeky. Oh, and this is for you."

Keiko Matsuzaka rolled her alluring almond-shaped eyes, then bent down and squeezed through the car window to look for something.

A moment later, she took out two thick parchment envelopes and placed them on the hood of the car. "This is part of your signing deposit, one million. As for the remaining six and a half million, I just had the finance department transfer it to the bank."

"They're quite fast."

Shuichi Kanbara picked up the envelope, smiled, and weighed it in his hand for a moment.

He was both the screenwriter and director of "From Today, It's My Turn!!", handling both roles simultaneously. Yesterday's negotiations concluded that Matsuzaka Entertainment would pay him a total of 25 million yen.

This price is extremely high, exceeding the top standard for newcomers in the industry, which shows how much Keiko Matsuzaka values ​​him.

According to industry practice, on the day the contract is signed, the screenwriter and director receive 30% of the total remuneration, which is the signing deposit. Once the entire script is finalized and filming officially begins, another 40% of the total amount will be paid, and the final 30% will be settled upon completion of filming.

The total reward is 25 million yen, and the deposit is 7.5 million yen.

This number is not small by today's standards. Rie Miyazawa, who was standing next to them, stared wide-eyed at the two of them talking.

In the Japanese film and television industry these days, top-tier national superstars, such as Tomoko Yamaguchi and Hiroyuki Sanada, would only earn between 1500 million and 1800 million yen for a ten-episode drama series, or about 150 million yen per episode.

The second tier consists of popular idols or established actors, such as Yuji Oda and Miho Nakayama, whose per-episode salary ranges from 80 to 120.

The third tier is the "familiar newcomer" tier.

A few years ago, she became a sensation with "Reiko Shiratori" and received this level of per-episode pay. One episode was around 20, and not only was the pay low, but the opportunity was also extremely rare. Many people even had to accompany others for drinks and sex to get such an opportunity.

In addition, the agency's commission is usually around 40%-50%, so in the end, they only get about 100,000 per episode.

But it's not over yet.

Previously, all the money she earned was controlled by her mother, and she didn't have her own account. Her mother was not only ruthless but also a gambling addict who was heavily in debt and would only give her a small amount of living expenses each month.

She's never even seen more than five ten-thousand-yuan bills, let alone twenty-five million!

Rie Miyazawa was a little confused.

At that moment, Shuichi Kambara pulled out ten bills from the envelope and handed them over, laughing, "I heard from Grandma that you threw away all your old clothes. Take this money and buy a few outfits. Also, ask Grandma to give you more meat when she cooks; you've become skin and bones."

"Eh!"

Looking at the ten Fukuzawa Yukichi cards in front of her, Miyazawa Rie subconsciously put her hands behind her back and shook her head like a rattle-drum, "No need! Shuichi-san has already done enough..."

"What did you say?"

Under Rie Miyazawa's slightly bewildered gaze, Shuichi Kanbara took her small hand, stuffed the money into his palm, and winked teasingly, "This money isn't just for free; it will all be deducted from your future film fees."

"I see..."

Rie Miyazawa nodded honestly.

But then she thought, since it wasn't Shuichi Kanbara who paid her the salary, how could she deduct the money?

I've been fooled!

Rie Miyazawa raised her head, but at that moment Shuichi Kanbara was already walking towards the film set, chatting and laughing with Keiko Matsuzaka.

What a frivolous older brother!

Rie Miyazawa sticks out her little tongue.

She squeezed the ten thousand yen bill in her hand, then looked at the back of Shinbara Shuichi. A sweet smile gradually appeared on her face, and she quickly chased after him.

It wasn't because of money; she wasn't the kind of girl with strong materialistic desires. But she really enjoyed the feeling of being pampered, a feeling she had never experienced before.

.

Rie Miyazawa is indeed a person with a naturally mild temperament and very low material desires.

This can be seen from the fact that after she broke free from her mother's control in her previous life, she did not engage in retaliatory spending. Instead, she began to actively reduce her exposure in the media and shifted from being a dazzling idol to low-traffic but high-artistic-value fields such as stage plays and art films.

You have to understand that for a twenty-year-old girl to suddenly have tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in her bank account is a very exaggerated thing.

If she can maintain her original lifestyle under these circumstances, it can only mean that she really doesn't care that much about material things.

Such people are extremely rare.

Shuichi Kanbara has lived two lives. Although his desires are not as rampant as in his previous life, he still has an interest in spending money.

Especially buying a car.

Unfortunately, as a director, not having a car is just too inconvenient.

He walked into the audition room, and in the corridor he was still chatting about cars with Rie Miyazawa, Keiko Matsuzaka, and Kento Kaku, who had just arrived.

But those things can wait a couple of days. Today's priority is still auditioning actors, but there aren't any major problems.

In his opinion, there are only seven core characters in the drama "From Today, It's My Turn!!".

First, the protagonist, Takashi Mitsuhashi; second, the supporting character, Katsutoshi Imai; third, the contrasting high school girl, Kyoko Hayakawa; fourth, the long-haired teacher; fifth, the second male lead, Ito; sixth, the female lead, Riko; and seventh, Akemi Kawasaki.

These seven characters are the core, but apart from Mitsuhashi, Imai, and Kyoko, finding replacements for the other characters shouldn't be too difficult.

For example, the second male lead, Ito, is a well-developed character. But to say that this role is particularly demanding in terms of actors and acting skills... well, it's not that different. If you replaced him with a handsome guy with a similar temperament, the difference wouldn't be that significant.

"The key is still to find an actor to play Imai."

At the audition table in the audition room, Shuichi Kanbara twirled a pen in his hand, frowning as he looked at the actor information spread out on the table, his eyes full of struggle.

Imai was just an important supporting male character in "From Today, It's My Turn!!", but anyone who has watched the show knows that his performance was nothing short of phenomenal. The actor who played Imai, Taiga Nakano, delivered a performance that can only be described as divine.

Therefore, whenever he thinks of this role, the face of Nakano Taiga will subconsciously appear in his mind, making it difficult for him to choose a replacement actor.

He's dumber than Nakano Taiga, but not as innocent.

Those who are purer than him are not as rustic.

He's more rustic than me, but he doesn't have that rustic charm that's also a bit clever, though not quite clever enough.

"Looking at the faces of these people who came to audition for this role, they don't seem suitable... Oh well, let's look at them all. Maybe there are actors among them who are suitable for other roles."

Shuichi Kambara comforted himself in this way.

He didn't notice that Rie Miyazawa, who was sitting next to him, was a little nervous.

Although she has been almost slated to be the actress for Kyoko Hayakawa, some executives from Matsuzaka Entertainment will be there today, so she will still have to go on stage and make a brief appearance.

To be honest, she had auditioned many times before and rarely felt pressured by the performance itself. In the words of some directors she had worked with, she was born to act.

But this time, she felt extremely nervous.

It's not that I'm worried about not performing well, but rather that I'm worried that if I don't perform well, it will lead to some negative opinions about Kanbara Shuichi among the higher-ups at Matsuzaka Entertainment.

"This won't do."

Sensing that something was wrong with her emotions, Rie Miyazawa patted her cheeks and let out a long sigh. Just then, Shuichi Kanbara's voice came through the window.

"Are you under a lot of pressure?"

"without..."

Rie Miyazawa subconsciously denied it—when she was with her mother, expressing her stress would immediately draw a scolding, and over time she got used to hiding her emotions and processing them on her own.

But this time, she stopped short of speaking. She realized that the person beside her was not her mother, but Shuichi Kambara.

"In front of Shuichi-san, I... can hold nothing back, right?"

The thought had just flashed through her mind when, under her slightly widened gaze, Shuichi Kanbara took out the booklet containing Kyoko's morning stories from his pocket, handed it to her, and patted her head with a smile.

"This is a labor of love, a blessing for you. Go for it. Trust me, you're the best here."

"Mmm...Mmm!"

Looking into those calm, smiling eyes, Rie Miyazawa felt the pressure in her heart vanish instantly.

She smiled sweetly and hummed in agreement. Then, under the surprised gaze of Kanbaru Shuichi, she blushed and reached into her collar to take out a small amulet.

"According to the rules of Rie's hometown, amulets... only work if they are exchanged. This one was obtained for me by my grandfather when I was very young, so I'm temporarily entrusting it to my older brother, Shuichi, for safekeeping!"

The sudden address, "Brother Shuichi," startled Shuichi Kanbara. Before he could say anything, Rie Miyazawa had already dashed out to the next room to prepare for her audition.

"This girl is precocious for her age."

Touching the small amulet that was still warm from his body, Shuichi Kanbara smiled and shook his head.

Just as he was about to put it in his suit's inner pocket and continue looking at the cast list, his gaze suddenly fell on the amulet again.

"This is..."

The White Crane's Childhood Amulet

[Quality: Green]

[Effect: Subtle yet comprehensive enhancement of various acting talents]

[Description: It accompanied her through countless tear-soaked nights and helped her welcome the first light of dawn.]

[Exchange: For every three items obtained, you can exchange them for one chance to win a prize without any cost. You can obtain 3/3 of the same level items from the shop.]

[Six Categories Launched in the Online Store]

Legendary directors: "Spearman's storyboard markers," "Akira Kurosawa's favorite wooden folding fan," "Wong Kar-wai's retro black sunglasses"...

Top game producers: "Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma's Green Field Compass", "Rockstar's Sam Hauser's Vice City Revolver", "Capcom's Shinji Mikami's Deathly Silence Flashlight"...

[Great songwriters: "Miyuki Nakajima's acoustic guitar," "Lo Ta-yu's black-rimmed glasses," "Paul McCartney's harmonica"...]

[Best Actor: "Stephen Chow's gold pocket watch from God of Gamblers," "Al Pacino's black top hat from The Godfather," "Ken Takakura's white scarf"...]

[Singers: Michael Jackson's crystal white gloves, Teresa Teng's pearl earrings, Hibari Misora's plain silk scarf...]

[Literary Masters: "Shakespeare's Heirloom Quill Pen," "Tolstoy's Engraved Bookmark," "Lu Xun's Old-Fashioned Brass Fountain Pen"]

[Note 1: The prize pool refreshes with each draw, but items will not become unavailable.]

[Note 2: Some individuals who have achieved great success across different industries have different representative items in different fields.]

[Note 3: The quality of the item you draw is the same as the original item, but it can be automatically upgraded as you use and learn from it.]

"Wardfa?!"