My daily life with the original diva

Kimura Hiroshi was finally relieved. Led by the TV station staff, he and Tomioka Yukio went to Long Ge's dressing room. There were people watching at the entrance of the studio. The TV station staff went up and explained the purpose of their visit, and then they were let into the dressing room.

Upon entering, Kimura Hiroshi discovered that there was not only Brother Long inside, but also several other staff members, two of whom looked like they were from Japan, because their eyes lit up as soon as they saw him, which clearly indicated that they recognized him.

Meanwhile, the guy Kimura Hiroshi wanted to see, Brother Long, was sitting in the middle of the group. He had a head of thick, black hair that was still able to get him shampoo commercials decades later, which was quite impressive. He looked very young and full of vigor, no wonder he could charm so many Japanese girls.

"Hello, this is Hiroshi Kimura, Mr. Kimura. He's a fan of yours and wants to meet you and take photos with you." The TV station staff introduced Hiroshi Kimura in Japanese.

Brother Long didn't pretend to be a big shot. Instead, he stood up, smiled, and said in Japanese, "I know him. He's a very famous singer recently. He sings very well and is very popular in Hong Kong."

Hiroshi Kimura was stunned. "Holy crap, this guy can actually speak Japanese! No wonder he can release records in Japan. He's really something else!" Moreover, his English is also very good. He had no problem acting in movies in Hollywood. In addition, his Mandarin accent is not heavy. It's no exaggeration to call him a language genius.

"Hello, Brother Long, my name is Hiroshi Kimura, and I'm a fan of yours," Hiroshi Kimura greeted in Mandarin.

Now it was Brother Long's turn to be dumbfounded. Not only him, but many people present were also dumbfounded, because they could tell that it was the language of Brother Long's country.

"Haha, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, Kimura, you can speak Mandarin, and so fluently at that, it's really rare." Brother Long also switched to Mandarin, but the people next to him could tell what language it was, but they couldn't understand what they were saying.

Not wanting to leave the people present confused, Kimura Hiroshi switched to Japanese and said, "I've studied it. Um, I'm a fan of yours, may I take a picture with you?"

Long was delighted to meet someone who spoke his native language in a foreign country and immediately agreed, "No problem, taking a few pictures is no problem."

Chapter Fifty-Six: Treatment Only Asian Superstars Receive

When Long Ge met someone in a foreign land who could speak his native language, he naturally felt a great deal of goodwill towards Kimura Hiroshi. He took many photos with him and even said that if he wanted to expand into Hong Kong in the future, he could contact him.

Kimura Hiroshi wouldn't even dare to think about developing his career in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is now a chaotic place, with gangsters running rampant and many celebrities being threatened. Even superstars can't escape it, and he wouldn't dare to take that risk.

If someone threatens him and takes some strange photos or makes some strange movies, what will happen in the future? I wonder how many female fans will go to some digital website to look for him, wanting to see what he looks like without clothes, so it's best not to go for now.

The two didn't exchange more than a few words before the TV station staff told them to go to the rehearsal to arrange their entrance and the upcoming performance. After all, it was a live broadcast, and if there was a chaos and a live broadcast accident occurred without a rehearsal, it would be troublesome.

Stepping out of the lounge, Yukio Tomioka asked in a low voice, "Kimura-san, when did you learn Mandarin? Did you learn it at school?"

"The school won't have courses like this. I taught myself this, Tomioka-san," Kimura Hiroshi said, feigning arrogance.

Self-taught? You can learn it this well? Tomioka Yukio's small eyes widened in surprise. It was unbelievable that someone could learn a language on their own. He couldn't help but praise, "Kimura-san, you really are a genius."

Accepting the praise without any guilt, Kimura Hiroshi went to the front of the stage and followed the staff's arrangements. He was the third to perform and the seventh to sing. As an international star, Long Ge was arranged to close the medley, singing his own single.

The rehearsal ended quickly, and they were all arranged to rest backstage for a while. When it was time for the live broadcast, the host came on stage, introduced the situation, and the familiar medley began.

He hadn't paid much attention to the earlier performances by Kimura Hiroshi until the final act, when Long Ge, an idol singer, finally appeared and showed him how he performed.

He's not much different from other idol male singers. He sings Japanese songs, and his pronunciation is a bit inaccurate, but it's barely listenable. However, he has a heroic and handsome air about him, and his face is full of smiles. He seems quite approachable, which is a special contrast to his image as a kung fu superstar with a full body of muscles. The Japanese people also like this. I have to say that the person in charge of marketing is really a genius.

If there's anything that sets him apart from other male idol singers, it's his age. He's almost thirty, and being an idol singer at that age is truly a first for him. Other male idol singers need to consider transitioning to other roles by their early twenties.

As a superstar known throughout Asia, Brother Long obviously received the most attention from the program team. After the medley ended, the host immediately stepped forward to interview him, and the questions asked were very restrained and polite. He didn't even dare to make a joke.

The interview took quite a while to end, which was quite unusual. Usually, interviews with other celebrities are brief and to the point, but Brother Long not only got to promote his album but also his movie showing in Japan. This is truly the treatment only a superstar gets.

Next up was his individual performance time. This time, Hiroshi Kimura didn't doze off; instead, he watched each guest's performance attentively. Unfortunately, the production team deliberately stirred things up last time and somehow managed to film him dozing off, which was then released. Although it was funny, it also attracted a lot of criticism, with people saying he didn't respect the other artists.

Although he watched attentively, today's music show was rather lackluster, with almost no outstanding performances. Even Kyoko Koizumi's singing was only average. However, her short haircut, fitted clothes, and athletic movements gave her a playful and charming look.

Finally, it was his turn to appear. As soon as the two hosts saw him, it was as if they had discovered some kind of ratings secret. They grabbed him and started asking questions like, "How are your recent movies going? What movies are they? Are the scripts you wrote any good? Why did you change the style of this song?" and so on.

Clearly, he didn't receive the same treatment as Brother Long. Many of the questions were quite pointed, but Hiroshi Kimura just laughed it off. As for the movie, he said that once it's released, everyone can see for themselves. As for the song, he said he wanted to try different styles.

Faced with Kimura Hiroshi's mastery of tai chi, the two hosts were at a loss. This kid was nothing like a teenager; he was frighteningly calm and shrewd, and he wouldn't fall for their tricks. They could only let him go and let him perform.

As a music show with extremely high viewership, many viewers are watching the program right now. When they see Hiroshi Kimura take the stage to perform, they are all curious about how this young man will sing this somewhat melancholic and heavy song live.

As the music started, Kimura Hiroshi immediately looked very different from his previous youthful and energetic self. His eyes became deep and determined, and the shadows on his face from the makeup made him look more mature, concealing his childishness.

Even his clothes were different from his usual style; he wore a dark suit, and at this moment, no one would doubt that he looked like a twenty-something office worker.

This mature attire matches the mood of the song and doesn't seem out of place, since it's always incongruous for a young person to sing such a melancholic song.

"In the cycle of seasons, things slip through my fingers. When I stop and turn around, you look at me with loneliness. No matter when, I always believe this will be a day I can be proud of."

Suppressing his own clear voice, Kimura Hiroshi imitated Hirai Ken's slightly sharp yet weathered voice, using all his stage experience from his past lives to perform this song.

"Very good! He sang very well. It's truly remarkable that a young boy can sing like that." A father who was watching enka on TV couldn't help but praise Kimura Hiroshi's singing.

This immediately drew enthusiastic agreement from her daughter: "That's for sure, Kimura-chan is a genius, he sings the best, ah, is this what he looks like now that he's matured? He seems even more charming now."

"Oh no! Dad, my sister's swooning over him again. She's definitely going to buy that guy's records. Don't give him your allowance next week, give it to me. I won't waste it," the younger brother teased.

"Ah, what are you saying, you brat? You'll definitely buy those long-legged women's photo albums and hide them under the bed. Don't think I don't know." The older sister, seeing that her younger brother was trying to steal her allowance, directly exposed his big secret.

Well, that's terrible. My younger brother, who's only in junior high, actually dared to buy something like that! The family was in an uproar. In the end, my father decided to cut off my brother's allowance and buy him a copy of the single because he also thought it was pretty good. The battle ended with my sister's victory.

Kimura Hiroshi's outstanding performances have also allowed many television viewers, especially older male viewers, to see him as a male singer rather than a young and handsome idol.

Many mothers are very dissatisfied. They like the youthful and sunny Hiroshi Kimura, but they don't like the weathered Hiroshi Kimura. It's like their own clean-cut son suddenly turning into a weathered uncle. Who can stand this kind of transformation?

Two hours later, the program ended smoothly. After saying goodbye to Kyoko Koizumi and Ryu-san, Hiroshi Kimura was about to go back when he was stopped by the same Japanese staff who had been with Ryu-san in the lounge.

Chapter 57 Talking about Cooperation with Toho

In a private room of a café not far from the TV station, Hiroshi Kimura, along with his manager Yukio Tomioka and assistant Michiko, met with the person who had just contacted them.

The staff members who were with Brother Long just now are actually from Toho Co., Ltd., a famous Japanese film company. They are responsible for the distribution and promotion of Brother Long's films in the Japanese market.

Toho Co., Ltd. is no ordinary company. It is a behemoth that integrates production, distribution, and exhibition, making it a vertically integrated film company. It also has many directors and actors under its umbrella, including the famous director Akira Kurosawa, who directed the first Godzilla monster movie. In addition, it owns about 300 cinemas.

Later, many famous animated films, such as Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan, Detective Conan, and Your Name, were also produced by this company.

In terms of influence in the entertainment industry, Toho is absolutely nuclear-level. Even seemingly powerful agencies like Johnny & Associates are absolutely weak and helpless in its presence. It is precisely because of this that they were able to sign an Asian superstar like Long Ge and turn him into an idol singer.

Similarly, Kimura Hiroshi and Ken-on were pitifully weak in front of such a powerful figure. When they said they wanted to talk to them, Tomioka Yukio agreed without waiting for Kimura Hiroshi to speak. He was obviously afraid that if Kimura Hiroshi refused, he would get angry and take action against them, and they would really have no choice but to silently endure it.

"Kimura-san, surname Kimura, from Saitama Prefecture. Your family must be a prominent one there, right?" Fukada Yuya, the vice president of Toho Films' sales department, asked with great interest as he sipped his coffee.

Unsure of what the deputy minister meant, Kimura Hiroshi frowned slightly, but still answered truthfully, "Yes, my great-grandfathers were retainers of the local Minamoto clan daimyo, but by my father's generation, they were only somewhat well-known figures in the area."

Upon hearing this, Yuya Fukada's smile widened. Kimura was a noble surname, but not everyone with that surname was a descendant of nobility. As a descendant of the noble Fukada family, he felt a natural sense of closeness upon learning that the other party was also a descendant of nobility.

When Kimura Hiroshi introduced himself, his manager, Tomioka Yukio, and assistant, Ms. Michiko, were quite shocked, because they had no prior knowledge of Kimura Hiroshi's family situation. Of course, this was also the result of Kimura Hiroshi's deliberate concealment, as he did not want anyone to disturb his familiar yet unfamiliar home.

Despite Japan's several rounds of modernization, feudal remnants remain extremely strong. People can tell who your ancestors were just from your surname. Certain surnames have great influence among the social elites because many of them are descendants of old nobles and are very particular about lineage. Many businesses and political circles are distinguished by family.

Even now, there are still tribesmen who are considered untouchables, and ordinary people do not intermarry or associate with them. Even in the 21st century, remnants of this still exist, showing how deeply rooted they are.

Yuya Fukada is clearly that kind of person. After confirming that the Kimura surname came from the nobility, his attitude softened considerably. Although he had become an entertainer, his family was still around, so it wasn't a problem.

"Ah, is that so? No wonder Kimura-san is such a genius." Fukada Yuya actually praised Kimura Hiroshi because of this.

When Kimura Hiroshi heard such praise, he smiled and nodded, but in his heart he was cursing, "What the hell? What era is this? Why are they still talking about such class distinctions? Have you never heard of 'Are kings and generals born with a special destiny'?"

But clearly, this surname is now bringing him great benefits. The Vice Minister Fukada is very polite to him and does not have the oppressive feeling that a leader of a large company would have towards a junior.

"I heard that Kimura-san is currently filming a movie. I wonder what it's like?" After chatting for a while, Fukada Yuya finally got down to business.

"Yes, it's an action-romance film about a ruthless killer who experiences what happens after saving a young girl. It's a gunfight blockbuster." Kimura Hiroshi didn't hide anything and directly revealed the main plot of the movie.

Because he knew that Fukada contacted him either to get him to make a movie, or because of his recent movie, and now it seemed to be the latter.

As expected, upon hearing Kimura Hiroshi's answer, Fukada Yuya showed great interest and asked, "Then, once filming is complete, can it be sent to Toho? If they think it's acceptable, Toho can screen this movie. Don't worry, we will definitely provide the maximum amount of publicity."

This could be considered a request, and Yuya Fukada had no choice. In recent years, the Japanese film industry has not been doing well and has not yet fully recovered from the decline of the film industry in the 1970s.

In the 1970s, with the popularization of television sets and the increase in income, people's willingness to go to the cinema to watch movies decreased significantly, which is very similar to what mainland China experienced from the 1990s to the early 21st century.

Entering the 1980s, the film industry made adjustments, such as moving to the big screen and improving the color brightness of the screen. Coupled with rapid urbanization, the film market has now recovered, but it has not yet fully returned to its previous state.

Therefore, Toei will not miss any opportunity to boost the film market. For example, introducing Jackie Chan's action films was a great success, with each film generating two to three billion yen in revenue.

Now they've set their sights on Hiroshi Kimura's movie. Kimura is a popular idol, which in itself can attract a certain number of people. Add to that the gunfights, the young girl, and other factors, and Toho's interest has grown even stronger.

However, they were also worried that it might be a bad film that the agency wanted to give their artists a taste of, so they wanted to send the film over for review before deciding whether to release it.

Hiroshi Kimura was quite pleased with this, since the only issue after filming was the release of the movie. Now that the other party had taken the initiative to approach him and even agreed to help with the promotion, it couldn't be better.

“Alright, once the film is finished, I will send it to Toho first. If you like my film, then we can talk about other things. What do you think, Mr. Fukada?” Kimura Hiroshi said politely.

“That would be wonderful. In that case, I wish us a pleasant collaboration in the future.” Yuya Fukada stood up and shook hands with Hiroshi Kimura.

"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Hiroya Kimura stood up and extended his hand.

The matter was settled, and a preliminary cooperation was reached. Fukada Yu was very happy. Looking at the young Kimura Hiroshi, he whispered in his ear, "Kimura-san, do you want to go out and have some fun tonight? There are a lot of female idols there. Of course, they are not very famous, but most of them are very young and beautiful."

Hiroshi Kimura's pupils dilated as he listened. Sure enough, these big shots in the entertainment industry know how to have fun. They can just play around with unknown female idols like that, right? To be honest, he really wanted to go, but he knew that this kind of place wasn't one you could just go to casually, because you never know when you might be photographed.

If they use this to threaten you, you'll really be at their mercy. So he shook his head somewhat reluctantly. "I want to go back and rest. I'm sorry, Mr. Fukada."

Chapter 58 The Chaos Following the Plummeting Record Sales

Nothing unexpected could interrupt the promotion of Hiroshi Kimura's new single. With his brilliant performance on television, the new single, Gaining Through Losing, finally topped the cable hits chart before its release date.

However, this super achievement, which many idol singers could not accomplish, became Kimura Hiroshi's worst result, because his previous single and album title track reached the top of the charts much faster than this song. Both songs reached the top of the charts in just five days, while this song took almost ten days.

The popularity of this song is clearly not comparable to the previous two songs, and this market response has already prepared Hiroshi Kimura and Ken-On for a significant drop in sales.

As the album went on sale on November 6th as scheduled, their expectations came true. Only 70,000 copies were sold on the first day, the first time the first-day sales were less than 100,000 copies. However, this data was still acceptable to Hiroshi Kimura and Ken-On.

In the following days, sales figures fluctuated within this range, and the first week's sales reached 264,000 copies, once again taking the top spot on the sales chart, the song request chart, and the Oricon chart.

However, this sales figure is almost a 50% drop compared to his previous single and album, and many media outlets started celebrating upon seeing this data.

"The myth of the pretty boy is over, and record sales have plummeted!"

"This handsome young man will flop after only half a year since his debut!"

"Disrespecting the media leads nowhere; handsome young men are role models!"

In short, these media outlets began publishing reports with all sorts of sensational headlines, as if Hiroshi Kimura had really faded into obscurity. They were almost blind to the fact that Hiroshi Kimura's new single topped three charts and that his record sales completely crushed all other singers.

However, not all media outlets were against Hiroshi Kimura. Kimura had previously given interviews to some major media outlets and had a fairly good relationship with them. These major media outlets did not have much malice towards Kimura; on the contrary, they were quite friendly to him.

They placed Kimura Hiroshi's return to the top of three charts on their front page, praising the young man for having three consecutive songs reach number one, which is quite rare.

As a result, two completely different reports emerged in the Japanese media. Several major media outlets said that Hiroshi Kimura was continuing his legendary run, with his album topping the charts in its first week, while many other media outlets were saying that Hiroshi Kimura was past his prime and that his album sales had plummeted.

Seeing such chaotic reports, coupled with the frequent appearance of Hiroshi Kimura's songs on the radio, many ordinary people who follow the entertainment industry feel like they're going crazy. They can't figure out whether Hiroshi Kimura has faded into obscurity or is even more popular now.

Regardless of these reports, the decline in sales is a fact. Ken-On began investigating the specific reasons for the decline in sales, and almost all of them said that Hiroshi Kimura had suddenly changed his style, and many ordinary fans could not fully accept it. They did not like such mature songs.

"So, let's discuss whether the next single should revert to the original style?" At the Ken-On meeting, Hanami Kaku, as the president, asked the people present first.

Kimura Hiroshi, who was attending the meeting, did not speak first; he wanted to wait and see what the others in the agency thought.