My daily life with the original diva

The atmosphere among the four of them was quite good. After dinner, they went to a bar for drinks. When they got there, the playboy from the mountain revealed his true nature. He saw his former college classmate, Nagasaki, and went to flirt with her. Rika saw that Rimi was jealous, but Rimi denied it. Kanji also spoke up for Rimi.

Lixiang is a very perceptive woman. She immediately realized that Wanji liked Rimi, but Rimi liked Yamakami, who was a playboy. Wanji was just a backup option, making it a melodramatic love story.

In later generations, this would definitely be criticized as melodramatic and cliché, but in this era, it's novel and captivating. Both Sachiko Kamachi and Rie Miyazawa were deeply engrossed in the plot, eagerly watching to see how these characters would develop, their eyes glued to the screen.

Rika, who considers herself Kanji's friend, wants to matchmake Kanji and Rimi, and even helps Kanji get his phone number, which he has never asked for.

Seeing this, Sachiko Kamachi couldn't help but speak up, saying, "You're really useless, Kanji. You're an old classmate and you don't even dare to ask for her phone number. Reika is such a lovable girl. She's bold and thoughtful, and she dares to ask strangers for their phone numbers for her friends. She's really amazing."

“Yes, yes, Ms. Reika is wonderful,” Rie Miyazawa agreed.

At the beginning, as the plot unfolded a little, Rika's personality quickly won the hearts of most people. It's understandable; most Japanese people are reserved and dare not speak out about many things, yet they all hope to have a passionate, cheerful, and bold friend by their side who can help them speak their minds. It's quite a contradiction.

On TV, Wanzhi's colleagues saw him walking closely with Lixiang and told him not to get too close to Lixiang because Lixiang had an unusual relationship with the department head. This made Wanzhi hesitate again. Just then, he saw Lixiang and the department head come out together, and Lixiang even smiled and beckoned Wanzhi over.

Rika's smile was so infectious that Kanji couldn't refuse and went over. Rika then started asking him about the progress of his relationship with Rimi. When she learned that Kanji had arranged to meet Rimi that night, Rika was overjoyed and insisted on going along to see what was going on, being quite gossipy, but Kanji refused.

Meanwhile, Yamagami also went to meet Rimi, and Rimi went to meet Kanji, so there were three people at the end of the date. They were all old classmates and had a good chat, but each of them had their own thoughts. After eating, the three of them took a walk by the river. The atmosphere was wonderful. Suddenly, Yamagami said that he would skip stones and if he won, Rimi would be his girlfriend.

Kanji and Rimi looked embarrassed, but Yamagami really won. Just when the three of them didn't know what to do, Rika called and asked Kanji to go back and deliver goods. A store urgently needed a batch of goods, but Kanji had already driven the company car out.

With no other option, Kanji had to go back to deliver the goods, while Yamagami and Rimi went to a bar. Kanji said he would go after he finished delivering the goods, but Kanji had no sense of direction and had no idea how to get there. He needed Rika to give him directions over the phone. It was quite a hassle before he finally delivered the goods. In the end, Kanji invited Rika to go to the bar with him.

Just as the two arrived at the bar entrance, they saw Rimi and Yamagami coming out. Inside the bar, Rimi had finally confessed her feelings, saying she liked Yamagami. As they left the bar, Yamagami kissed Rimi at the entrance, a scene witnessed by Kanji and Reika.

You can imagine what Kanji was feeling. He was completely dejected and left the bar with Rika. Seeing Kanji's low spirits, Rika suddenly made a bizarre decision: she kicked over a trash can on the side of the road and shouted for Kanji to run. Kanji, not understanding what was going on, followed her. After running for a while, Kanji stopped, but Rika pulled him to keep running, which is a classic scene from a Japanese drama.

Seeing this, Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori exchanged a smile. The characters they played in the drama had done this kind of thing, and in real life, the two of them had also done this kind of thing. The feeling was truly very special.

They ran to a bridge in a park. Lixiang comforted Wanzhi, saying that he had so many friends to talk to, chat with, and drink with, unlike her who was so lonely. After hearing this, Wanzhi's mood improved a lot.

They chatted until late at night, having a very pleasant conversation. But it was time to part ways. They were in a square when they had to say goodbye, but neither of them wanted to separate.

Finally, Lixiang said, "I'll count to 1, 2, 3, then we'll turn around together and start counting now, 1, 2, 3."

After the numbers were counted, Kanji immediately turned around, but Rika didn't. She didn't even move, just stood there looking at Kanji. This was a very classic scene, and everything foreshadowed the ending of this love story.

Turning around, Kanji realized that Rika hadn't left. He turned back and said, puzzled, "What's going on? Why aren't you leaving?"

But Lixiang didn't answer; instead, she kept calling out "Maruko, Maruko, Maruko" over and over again.

That's right, it was a name that was deliberately mispronounced at the airport. Wanji wasn't angry, but asked with a bit of amusement, "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

Then Rika did something that surprised Kanji. She rushed over with a smile and threw herself into Kanji's arms, as if she were saying to herself, "It really is a failure. I like you."

Kanji was completely bewildered and had no idea what was going on, while Rika's romantic advances were exceptionally intense. She immediately gave Kanji a kiss and then sweetly said, "Goodnight."

He ran away immediately after saying that, leaving behind a confused Kanji, and the first episode ended there.

Chapter 630 Sets a New Record for Premiere Ratings

They kissed in the very first episode, and the female lead even confessed her feelings. If this were in later times, it would be considered a rapid development. In later TV dramas, the romance between the male and female leads is truly entangled and complicated, and the relationship hasn't even started after several episodes have aired. But in this era, the progress of the relationship in TV dramas is generally quite fast.

So even though they confirmed their feelings for each other in the first episode, people were surprised, but they didn't feel there was anything particularly special about it.

"Ah, as expected of the warm and generous Miss Lixiang, she immediately showed her love without hesitation when she sensed it. Miss Lixiang is really wonderful."

Seeing the ending, Rie Miyazawa liked the character Reika Akana even more. There was no way around it; her character was just too well-developed. Her personality was quite different from most Japanese people, but the enthusiasm, outgoingness, and courage she displayed, and of course, her beauty, which was even more important, was something many Japanese people aspired to.

Therefore, Rie Miyazawa quickly fell for the charm of the female protagonist, Reika Akana. After all, she was still a young girl, and naturally she was filled with longing for the image of such an older, charming woman.

"Yes, it's hard not to like Akina-chan's portrayal of Reika. I estimate that Akina-chan's popularity will increase significantly as the drama airs, and she may gain even more popularity among young people." Sachiko Kamachi also felt that the character of Akina Reika was portrayed very well.

Nakamori Akina simply smiled and said, "Popularity isn't that important, as long as everyone likes it. But what do you all think of Hiro-kun's portrayal of Kanji? Do you think many people will like it?"

Clearly, Nakamori Akina cares more about Kimura Hiroshi than herself. After all, she thinks that she won't have many entertainment activities after getting married, while Kimura Hiroshi is likely to have some entertainment activities. Popularity is more important to him.

When Akina Nakamori asked this question, Sachiko Kamachi and Rie Miyazawa exchanged a glance and then shook their heads in unison. Sachiko Kamachi said, "Kanji, I don't see what's so likable about him. If there's anything, it's that he's quite calm, but he's also very hesitant, timid, and lacks courage. He's just a very ordinary person. Perhaps he can complement Reika well."

“Yes, I think so too. Ms. Rika probably feels that she is too cheerful, so she likes a more mature man. But after watching the first episode, I felt that their complementarity is not enough. Ms. Rika probably hopes that her partner can also bravely express his love. If this were in real life, I think they definitely wouldn’t be able to be together.” Rie Miyazawa said with great certainty, seemingly extremely against this relationship.

Upon hearing their analysis, Kimura Hiroshi stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "The analysis is excellent. In fact, Kanji is just a very ordinary person, even somewhat foolish. The reason he is portrayed this way is only to highlight the female lead. This drama is actually about the female lead, not the male lead. She is the only one."

"Oh, is that so? No wonder I felt the male lead was too ordinary, quite different from the ones Hiro-nii filmed before," Rie Miyazawa said, as if suddenly realizing something.

They chatted about the TV series for a while longer, and it was almost 11 p.m. Japanese TV series are usually over an hour and a half long, like movies. By the time they finished watching, it was already late. With the early hours of the morning approaching, Sachiko Kamachi quickly got up to say goodbye and go home, and Rie Miyazawa wanted to come with her.

It was so late, and Kimura Hiroshi was worried about the two girls going home alone, so he offered to drive them. Nakamori Akina agreed, and Kimura Hiroshi drove them home. As for the leftover plates from dinner, that was Nakamori Akina's job; she was responsible for washing all the dishes.

After dropping both girls off at home, it was already past midnight when she returned. Nakamori Akina didn't go to sleep. She washed the dishes, cleaned the dining table and kitchen, and even took a shower. She was sitting on the sofa in her pajamas watching TV, a late-night comedy show, which she was thoroughly enjoying.

Hearing the door open, Nakamori Akina turned around, smiled at Kimura Hiroshi, and said, "You're back, Hiroshi-kun! Did you get Rie-chan and Sachiko-chan home safely?"

"Yes, I definitely took them home, especially Sachiko-chan. She had a few drinks, and I wouldn't feel at ease leaving them there. I didn't leave until the lights came on in their apartment," Kimura Hiroshi said as he walked over.

He was also sitting on the sofa. Nakamori Akina instinctively wanted to lean closer to Kimura Hiroshi, but Kimura Hiroshi blocked her way.

"I haven't showered yet after cooking, I'm all greasy. Akina, don't come too close after you shower, or you'll have to shower again later. I'm going to sit down and rest for a while. You can stay close to me for as long as you want after I shower," Kimura Hiroshi said with a hint of teasing.

Nakamori Akina wrinkled her nose at Kimura Hiroshi and replied, "I don't want to get close to Hiroshi-kun. He smells bad, and I don't like it."

Hey, even Kimura Hiroshi didn't want to argue, because this woman slept so close to him every night. Most Japanese people have their own blankets, but this woman always squeezed into one with him, forcing him to order a large blanket, otherwise, he couldn't cover two people, because he was really quite big.

“Just now, Sachiko-chan and Rie-chan said that Hiro-kun’s portrayal of Kanji might not be very popular. I didn’t think so when I was watching, but thinking about it, it seems to be true. Will this be bad for Hiro-kun?” Akina Nakamori asked with some concern.

Unexpectedly, Akina Nakamori was worried about this. Hiroshi Kimura couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's okay, Akina, why are you so worried? In the future, I probably won't be involved in the filming of TV dramas or movies much, so popularity isn't that important to me. We'll have a new life in the future."

Kimura Hiroshi will still sing often in the future, after all, he has been singing for so many years. But when it comes to acting, he can supervise and write dramas, but he has no interest in acting. After all, in Japan, married entertainers can't act in many dramas, so he doesn't want to act anymore. He can find something else to do in the future.

Hearing Kimura Hiro say that, Nakamori Akina breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled again and said, "That's good. Ah, it's almost one o'clock. Hiro-kun, go take a shower. You have to do your final wedding makeup tomorrow. You can't be in bad shape. You have to go to bed early."

For the two of them now, the most important thing is the wedding. Everything else is secondary. Nothing can interfere with the wedding preparations. So Kimura Hiroshi obediently stood up and said, "Yes, my dear Akina. I'll go take a shower right away. You should go to bed early too. Don't watch TV, or you'll have insomnia again if you get too excited."

After taking a shower, the two went to sleep immediately. The next morning, after having breakfast, they went to the wedding planning company to finalize their makeup.

Miyauchi Takeshi also got up very early, or rather, he barely slept at all last night. After the first episode of "Tokyo Love Story" aired smoothly, he went home, but he was still worried about the broadcast. In this state, how could he sleep? So the next morning, he arrived at the TV station very early.

"Get me the ratings data right away, make sure it's accurate." As soon as he arrived at the office, Miyauchi Takesetsu wanted to see the ratings, but ratings weren't compiled so early; they were usually only available in the morning.

So even though Miyauchi was in a hurry, the ratings weren't out yet, and his staff couldn't get them for him, so he could only wait. It wasn't until after 11 o'clock that the staff hurriedly brought over the compiled ratings.

"Minister, Minister, great news! Last night, the first season of 'Tokyo Love Story' achieved a viewership rating of 47.29%, setting a new record for television drama ratings." The staff member delivered the viewership statistics, his whole body trembling with excitement.

There's nothing they can do. The ratings have broken records, and this was achieved under their management. It's definitely their achievement, so how could they not be happy? Whether they get promoted or switch to another TV station in the future, it will be an achievement they can boast about.

"What? Forty-seven percent?" Upon hearing this number, Miyauchi Takesetsu could no longer remain calm. His eyes widened, and he snatched the form from the staff member's hand. Sure enough, the column on it read: "Tokyo Love Story premiere, ratings for forty-seven percent." What a terrifying number!

Generally speaking, a viewership rating of over 18% was considered a hit drama in this era, and a rating of over 25% was considered phenomenal. The premiere's viewership rating of over 43% is unprecedented, and this is an achievement that even Miyauchi Takesatsu never imagined.

But this is only the record for the premiere. Just seven years earlier, in the year that Hiroshi Kimura had just come to his senses, a TV series called "Brick Collapse," which tells the story of parents and a delinquent girl's family, had an average viewership rating of over 45%. That's an average viewership rating, but the premiere rating was not as high as that of "Tokyo Love Story."

The high premiere ratings were only achieved thanks to some false advertising and the buzz surrounding the wedding of Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori. Subsequent viewership will depend on the quality of the drama, but Taketsuki Miyauchi believes that with the quality of this romance drama, an average viewership rating exceeding 40% shouldn't be too difficult.

If it can exceed 40%, that will be a record for Fuji TV's drama series, and it will also be the first Fuji TV drama series to have a viewership rating of over 40%. For Miyauchi Taketsuki, that would be a real achievement.

"The minister's publicity strategy was indeed flawless. By leveraging the buzz surrounding Kimura-san and Akina-san's wedding, the drama's viewership ratings soared to over 47%, creating an unimaginable record. The minister's contribution is truly remarkable; he's incredibly talented." The subordinate began showering Miyauchi Takesatsu with praise. Of course, this time the praise wasn't just random; it was based on solid evidence.

This naturally pleased Miyauchi Takeshi, but he still pretended to be very modest and said, "Ah, this is not my achievement alone, but the achievement of all our staff. I will report everyone's work results to the board of directors. Now go and tell everyone this good news. I need to make a phone call."

With such results, Miyauchi Takesetsu naturally had to tell Kimura Hiroshi, after all, it was a TV series he directed, not to mention their collaborative relationship. So after his subordinates left, Miyauchi Takesetsu made a phone call to Kimura Hiroshi.

The phone rang a few times before Kimura Hiroshi answered, though his voice sounded rather impatient as he asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"It's me, Kimura-san. I have some amazing news to tell you. The results for the premiere of 'Tokyo Love Story' yesterday are out. Do you know what they were?" Miyauchi Takesetsu asked excitedly.

But Kimura Hiroshi simply asked, "Oh, how much is it, Miyauchi-san?"

"47.29 percent, Kimura-san, you and I have set a new record for the premiere of a TV series. This is the highest premiere record ever achieved by a TV series in Japan. Can you imagine that, Kimura-san?" Miyauchi Takesetsu couldn't help but excitedly reveal the ratings.

But Kimura Hiroshi remained indifferent, only saying, "Oh, that's not bad. But Miyauchi-san, I'm trying on wedding dresses right now, I'm very busy. I'll talk to you when I get back. I'll hang up now."

Then the other end of the phone hung up, leaving Miyauchi Taketsuki completely bewildered. She couldn't believe that Kimura Hiroshi had just hung up like that. After all, that was a record for viewership ratings! Shouldn't Kimura Hiroshi have been happier and more excited? Why did he seem so calm, as if he hadn't even received good news? This made Miyauchi Taketsuki feel a little hurt.

But he quickly recovered. This was a viewership record, a tremendous achievement, created under his leadership. You can imagine how he felt. But this was only the beginning of the success. To get the TV series to a viewership rating of over 40%, he couldn't relax immediately. He had to step up the promotion and truly maintain the viewership rating.

Chapter 631 Each with their own thoughts

The premiere achieved record-breaking ratings, which not only caught the attention of Takeshi Miyauchi, the head of the drama department, but also many high-ranking officials at Fuji Television. There was no way around it; Fuji Television nowadays relied somewhat on dramas, which had relatively low production costs and could consistently generate high ratings over a long period of time.

Over the years, Fuji Television has created many programs with extremely high ratings, but they have been canceled one after another. For example, "Twilight Meow Meow," produced by that fat guy Yasushi Akimoto, was canceled after only two years of stable broadcasting due to internal strife within the production team and a decline in ratings.

The most serious issue is that the high-rated music show Yoru HIT, which had been airing for over 20 years, was canceled due to excessive production costs. In addition, the award ceremony music festival produced by Fuji TV also had poor ratings and needed to be adjusted. This has caused Fuji TV to be very worried about the overall ratings of the station recently.

TV ratings are the lifeline of a television station. Without ratings, there are no advertising revenues, and without advertising revenues, where will the money come from? Therefore, Fuji Television naturally pays special attention to programs with high ratings.

So when Miyauchi Takesetsu submitted the viewership ratings and requested increased publicity, the usually slow-moving television station surprisingly approved them very quickly. Even the veterans at Miyauchi Takesetsu themselves found it hard to believe.

With the support of the television station, on the third day after its premiere, numerous media outlets published reports about "Tokyo Love Story." Even some media outlets that usually favor Hiroshi Kuroki or Akina Nakamori were no exception, singing praises for the drama.

"A huge hit! The premiere viewership rating exceeded 47%. 'Tokyo Love Story' depicts the love stories of young men and women in modern Japanese cities!"

"It's truly based on the love story of Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori, and the premiere of 'Tokyo Love Story' broke viewership records!"

Many media outlets have used this kind of headline, and it has to be said that although it clearly has a promotional element, ordinary Japanese viewers are really buying into it.

Young people, in particular, were drawn in after watching the first episode of "Tokyo Love Story" because of Fuji TV's false advertising. The female lead, Reika Akana, captivated both young male and female viewers in the bar.

It must be said that the character of Akana Reika was very well portrayed. She successfully won the hearts of young male and female viewers. Her generosity, enthusiasm, courage and thoughtfulness are traits that most Japanese people do not have, but are exactly what they hope to have. Therefore, this female protagonist can be said to meet their fantasies about friends or partners.

However, viewers also realized that this was not an adaptation of Kimura Hiroshi and Nakamori Akina's love story at all. Although Kimura Hiroshi also came from what Tokyoites consider a rural area, or rather, Saitama Prefecture, a poor and remote area of ​​Tokyo, how was Kimura Hiroshi any like Kanji in the drama?

The male protagonist is really too ordinary, or even overly realistic. He vividly portrays the hesitation, confusion, and unease of a young man from a small town who comes to the city to make a living. But is Kimura Hiroshi really that kind of person? The image he presents in front of the media is that of a confident, bold, and even somewhat arrogant person. His famous scene of confronting reporters is still widely known.

It can be said that even in the media, which other celebrities avoid like the plague, Hiroshi Kimura is not one to suffer a loss. This is completely the opposite of Kanji. As you can probably guess, Hiroshi Kimura has a top-notch image and top-notch talent. How could such a person be content with mediocrity? Therefore, his performance is acceptable.

So, people might believe that Rika and Akina Nakamori might have some similarities, since Akina Nakamori's stage presence is such that she can't stop smiling when she's happy and has a dark expression when she's unhappy, which is similar to Rika. But Hiroshi Kimura is nothing like Kanji; they are two extremes.

Even so, after watching only the first episode, viewers were still captivated by the drama's content. They were eager to know how things would develop after the two kissed for the first time, and whether the male and female leads with such different personalities could really end up together. Just from the first episode, they already had the desire to keep watching.

This immediately made "Tokyo Love Story" the hottest TV series since the beginning of the 1990s, an absolute hot topic, and generated a great deal of discussion in society.

As a result, the theme song of the TV series, "Sudden Love" sung by Hiroshi Kimura, has also received a lot of attention. Originally, the single was written and sung by Hiroshi Kimura and already had his own popularity. Even though he was getting married, his popularity remained the same. Now that the TV series is so popular, it has become even more popular.

Since last year, Hiroshi Kimura has not released any singles. Many of his fans even worried that he would stop releasing singles after getting married. Although Kimura said on a program that he would continue to release singles he likes in the future, who knows if he even has any singles he likes? Therefore, this single has received a lot of attention from fans after its release.

The result of these two factors was that Hiroshi Kimura did almost no promotion for the single; the single's high sales were solely due to the Fuji TV drama broadcast.

On the first day, it sold over 80,000 copies, on the second day it sold nearly 90,000 copies, and on the third day it really broke the terrifying record of 100,000 copies sold in a single day. This sales volume is almost the same as the first single that Kogoro Kimura could achieve when he debuted. With just these three days of sales, it successfully made it the number one song on the record sales chart.

This sales figure left other agencies and record companies speechless. Although the record market has visibly recovered this year and everyone is full of hope for future record releases, no one expected that the first record to recover so rapidly would be Hiroshi Kimura.

"Unbelievable! Kimura Hiroshi hasn't released an album in so long, and he rarely even appears on TV shows. Why are his singles still selling so well, pushing everyone else out of the competition?"

"Yeah, although he's been very popular lately, it's all because he's getting married. It doesn't make sense. When an idol gets married, his popularity should decline, and fans should pay less attention to him. So why are his record sales still so good? Is it really because of the TV drama ratings?"