My daily life with the original diva

These film critics either thought the film was very good or were afraid of Toho. Unbeknownst to them, Kimura Hiroshi was not only recognized for his talent, but his relationships were also becoming stronger. Takahashi Akira was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

"Good lad, good lad, you're getting better and better, but I won't admit defeat, absolutely not." Right now, Takahashi Akio is completely driven by pride, by the pride of a successful man in his forties being defeated by a teenage idol. For this pride, he is making reckless attacks.

Chapter 191 What to do if you can't resist temptation?

This era is not like the internet age of later years, where after watching a movie you can go back to a rating website to rate it, comment on whether it's good or bad, and then other people can decide whether to watch the movie based on the rating and other people's comments.

In this day and age, audiences mainly rely on two sources to determine whether a movie they haven't seen is good or not. The first is word of mouth, since only those who have seen the movie have the right to judge. The second is the media, where many professional film critics publish reviews in magazines or newspapers after the movie's release.

However, this film, which had attracted a lot of attention before its release, had a strange turn of events after its release. Many media outlets did not publish any reviews of the film, except for those major media outlets and those controlled by Toho, which were all unanimously positive.

Only a few small media outlets tried to sensationalize the situation and hurl insults, but they failed to attract much attention.

It's not that these media outlets don't want to capitalize on this traffic; it's just that this traffic is hard for them to swallow. They wanted to criticize it even before the movie was released, after all, it was Kimura's first film, and he even wrote the script himself. However, because of Toho's influence, they didn't dare to criticize it directly, since no one had seen it and there was no basis for their criticism.

But once it's released, if it's bad, then we can start criticizing it, right? On the first day of its release, many entertainment media outlets sent knowledgeable film editors to see it, just waiting for it to be a bad movie before they came back to criticize it. But when the editors came back, they all stammered and said that the movie was very good and not a bad movie, so it wasn't appropriate to criticize it.

Now, the media, who were originally prepared to hurl insults, are in the same predicament as Akifuku Takahashi. The movie is actually quite good, and it's not easy to criticize it. So, are they supposed to praise Hiroshi Kimura? Sorry, they can't. They can either choose to say nothing or continue to smear Hiroshi Kimura from other angles.

At this point, the only way to determine whether a movie is good or not is through word of mouth and the big media outlets. As it turns out, trusting them was the right thing to do, especially since many of the viewers were students.

Students are indeed a group that is very easy to connect with. After the first batch of student fans of Hiroshi Kimura or Akina Nakamori watched it and thought it was good, they began to recommend it to their classmates.

Students are arguably the most free people during summer vacation, so a second group emerged. They thought the movie was good and recommended it to their classmates. Eventually, more and more people joined in because everyone was talking about it. Anyone who hadn't seen it seemed out of place, which was unacceptable to Japanese students.

It's not just students; most working young people or middle-aged people who have watched it think it's good. Whether it's the relationship between the male and female leads or the action and gunfight scenes, they are all handled very well. In addition to the action and gunfight scenes, the emotional scenes are also touching.

Of course, a small number of people may not like the movie. After all, a movie isn't a banknote, and it's impossible for everyone to like it.

As the number of moviegoers continued to rise, the film's box office also began to climb rapidly.

The box office was only 70 million yen on the first day, but it rose to 90 million yen on the second day. On the third day, the daily box office began to break 100 million yen, and it remained stable at around 120 million yen for the next few days.

On the last day of its first week of release, Saturday, the number of people with free time increased significantly, resulting in a box office of 180 million yen, the highest in its first week. The following Sunday, it reached an astonishing 210 million yen. After eight days of release, Léon: The Professional successfully surpassed the 1 billion yen mark at the box office.

After this box office figure was released, everyone who knew even a little about film box office was stunned, because according to this trend, this film was very likely to become the highest-grossing domestic film in Japan this year.

At this time, the highest-grossing domestic Japanese film was only around 3 billion yen. This film seems to be aiming for that goal, as it entered the fifth place among the films released this year in just eight days. It will continue to be released for about two more months, and there is a great possibility that it will break 3 billion yen.

As a result, the film once again became a huge topic of discussion, and all the media outlets that paid attention to it made a fortune. Even those media outlets that originally didn't want to get involved had no choice but to follow suit. After all, no one can avoid a hot topic for long. Even if they were willing, the shareholders behind them wouldn't be. Who would turn down money?

They were essentially fed the shit-flavored chocolate by Kimura. They had to eat it even though they felt disgusted. That's the power of money.

Along with the soaring box office, the movie's theme song and insert song albums, released at the same time, also saw a steady increase in sales. The melody of PLANET, with its slightly melancholic tune, always evokes the smile of the movie's male protagonist, Fujino, before his death. The insert song, First Love, sung by Akina Nakamori with a touch of despair, reminds one of the passionate confession between the male and female protagonists during their life-and-death separation.

This album, which didn't feature many promotional performances, started to gain momentum thanks to the movie's popularity. In the first two days after its release, sales were not impressive, only around 10,000 copies. This was because of the fame of Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori; after all, it was their first album together, which was quite appealing. In today's shrinking record market, this was already a very good result.

On the third day of the movie's release, sales began to rise, exceeding 20,000 copies. On the fourth day, sales reached 25,000 copies, and on the fifth day, they reached 30,000 copies. By the end of the week, sales had exceeded 200,000 copies, successfully taking the top spot on the record sales chart.

All the media and fans who were originally planning to watch the fierce battle for female idol record sales were completely surprised. This week, the top four female idols on the sales chart were all working hard, frequently appearing on various music shows, and their record sales were neck and neck, making it very tense. Everyone was guessing who would be the winner this week.

Suddenly a man ran out and said, "Excuse me, I'll take this first place. Oh, and by the way, I'll also mention last week's first place winner."

All the efforts of the female idols before were rendered meaningless by a single movie.

Many fans who were expecting a fierce competition wanted to curse, but there was nothing they could do. Hiroshi Kimura was a giant shark in the idol world, and no idol could compete with him. Female idols would need two top stars to join forces to compete with him.

When the final rankings were released, everyone realized just how terrifying Hiroshi Kimura was. The top seller was PLANET/First Love (Hiroshi Kimura/Akina Nakamori) with 200,000 copies sold; the second was Ten Commandments (Akina Nakamori) with 120,000 copies sold; the third was Seiko Matsuda (Pink Mozart) with 86,000 copies sold; the fourth was Momoko Kikuchi (Say Yes) with 73,000 copies sold; and the fifth was Yukiko Okada (Summer Time) with 69,000 copies sold.

The top five, except for Seiko Matsuda, are almost all related to Hiroshi Kimura. Because Akina Nakamori's Ten Commandments, boosted by the movie's popularity, saw its sales significantly outsell the other female idols who were also working hard in the latter half of the week, becoming the only one to sell more than 100,000 copies in a single week.

Such a scene would make anyone envious, especially Matsuda Seiko, who was caught in the middle. She felt extremely uncomfortable, with two people pressing down on her from the front and newcomers chasing after her from behind. All of these people were connected to Kimura Hiroshi, and she felt truly uncomfortable, as if she were the most pitiful one.

The moment the charts came out, she rushed to Aizawa Hideyoshi's office and demanded, "President, I don't care, I have to get this Kimura Hiroshi to write a song for me, just like Yukiko-chan did, I have to get him to write one for me."

VAP, Watanabe Kawasaku looked at the charts and then at the media predictions that Kimura Hiroshi's first film would top the annual box office. He whispered to Kikuchi Momoko beside him, "I heard that Kimura-san doesn't have a girlfriend yet. Momoko-chan, try to get closer to him. This is for your own good, understand?"

Listening to the producer's words, Momoko Kikuchi blushed slightly, but still nodded gently. Kimura-san was indeed very talented and had a charming appearance, not to mention his gentle personality. It was not unacceptable for her to be close to him.

Akina Nakamori, who is currently participating in a program, feels that more female idols are taking the initiative to talk to her lately. Many of them were unwilling to talk to her before. However, these people are approaching her not because of her, but because of her boyfriend Hiroshi Kimura, who is still hiding in the shadows.

They either asked directly or stammered and chatted, but what they all asked was, "Akina-san, we heard that you and Kimura-san are in the same agency. Could you ask him to write a song for us? Do you have his phone number? We have something we want to ask him, so please do help us."

This left Nakamori Akina with a peculiar feeling, a mix of pride and a touch of sourness. When no one was around, she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Damn Kimura-san, why is he so outstanding? Now look what's happened, so many people are eyeing him. This is bad, bad. Kimura-san is usually a bit shy, he definitely won't be able to resist the temptation of these women. I have to keep a close eye on him, lest he be seduced by them."

For the first time, she hardened her heart and resolutely refused to give those female idols Kimura-san their phone numbers. Who knew what they would say when they called Kimura-san? What if Kimura-san couldn't resist the temptation?

Chapter 192 The Couple's Nighttime Adventure (Part 1)

Seeing the box office of his first domestically produced film, which he had brought in despite opposition, soaring and even showing promise of becoming the highest-grossing domestic film of the year, Yuya Fukada's previously suppressed emotions grew increasingly joyful as the box office soared.

The employees who had initially questioned his actions began to flatter him, and no one dared to slack off on the tasks he assigned. Everyone knew that the success of the film meant that Fukada Yuya was getting closer and closer to the position of department head. If anyone dared to offend him at this time, they would probably face trouble in the future.

As for those old guys who were very dissatisfied with him doing this, they no longer dare to come out and give their opinions, and have fallen into silence. Their past experience obviously did not play any role in this film.

"Old bastards, all you know is to act like you're old and bully newcomers. You can't produce anything of value yourself, and you won't let your newcomers produce anything good either. I'm not playing with you guys anymore." Seeing those old guys who usually liked to act superior get their comeuppance, Fukada Yu felt incredibly satisfied.

Having won his gamble, Yuya Fukada is about to reap the rewards of his bet, but he is not yet satisfied. With such good box office performance at home, he can definitely try his luck overseas. He is working hard to contact channels in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia to send the film out for release, and there are also some prospects in Europe and America.

Moreover, this was not enough. Although the box office exceeded one billion yen in the first week of release, and there was a great chance of it becoming the annual box office champion, it was not secure. Yuya Fukada began to ask the two leading actors of the film to strengthen the promotion. He had to win the title of annual box office champion and wear a valuable honorary title on his head when he was promoted to department head.

When Toho gave the order, Ken-On dared not disobey. Ever since they learned that Kimura Hiro had connected with Toho, they had been trying to get involved. Now that they were going to promote the movie, no matter how busy they were with music shows, they had to make Nakamori Akina take two days off to cooperate with the movie promotion.

Naturally, if Nakamori Akina goes, Kimura Hiroshi has no reason not to go. Firstly, it's to give Fukada Yuya face, and secondly, he hasn't seen his girlfriend for several days. She's been too busy. Now that they have the opportunity to work together, it's a kind of meeting, and they might even have a chance to spend time alone together in private, which is something he'd be very happy to do.

However, this time the promotional location is different. The two of them will go to Kansai for promotion, instead of the Kanto region where Tokyo is located. Toho counted the movie's box office and found that the Kansai region seemed somewhat weak. Fukada Yuya felt that it might be because the movie promotion had not been to Kansai before. Previously, the movie promotion was mainly concentrated in the Tokyo area.

Because they only had two days and had to travel to other places, time was extremely tight. They first went to the Kyoto area to participate in various programs and promotional activities for some large cinemas, and were busy until two or three in the morning of the second day.

I immediately took a car to the Osaka area, slept for four or five hours, got up and continued working, and was busy until seven or eight o'clock that evening before I had time to go to the hotel to rest.

I had originally hoped to find an opportunity to spend more time alone with my girlfriend during work hours, but I found that this was a pipe dream. Not to mention the busy work, there were other staff members coming and going around me all the time, so it was impossible to say a few intimate words.

So when they arrived at the hotel, although he was a little tired, Hiroshi Kimura still quietly slipped into Akina Nakamori's room.

The hotel room that Dongbao booked for them was very high-end and spacious, even with a sofa. Kimura Hiro sat on the sofa, and Nakamori Akina leaned against his thigh. The two enjoyed their rare time alone together, quietly watching TV. However, Kimura Hiro noticed that Nakamori Akina, who usually loved watching TV, seemed a little uninterested, and there was no smile on her face.

Tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and asked softly, "What's wrong, Akina-san? Are you too tired from work? You seem a little unhappy."

Getting up from the sofa, Akina Nakamori shook her head and said in a low voice, "I'm not unhappy. It's just that the movie has been promoted for so long, but I still haven't watched the whole movie I acted in. It's a bit of a pity. I wanted to go to the cinema to watch it the other day, but Mr. Akio refused. He said I can't appear in public places casually."

"So that's what it is," Kimura Hiroshi smiled and comforted him, "I'll bring it over for you to see as soon as Toho's videotape is finished."

Such comfort was clearly ineffective. Nakamori Akina said, her mood becoming increasingly depressed, "I don't want to watch the videotape. I want to watch it in the cinema. Kimura-san, don't you think it would be great if we could be like a normal couple, going wherever we want, watching movies, shopping, eating out, without having to care about what other people think?"

Listening to Akina Nakamori's words, Hiroshi Kimura couldn't help but think of an interview he had once seen with Akina Nakamori. She said that there were actually two Akina Nakamori in her heart. One longed to sing, but there was also a bigger Akina Nakamori in her heart who hoped to be like an ordinary girl, able to easily fall in love, go shopping, go to the movies, and so on.

Seeing Kimura Hiroshi looking worried after hearing her words, Nakamori Akina felt that she might have been a bit unreasonable. She took Kimura Hiroshi's hand and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Kimura-san, I shouldn't have said those willful things and caused you trouble."

Kimura Hiroshi pinched Nakamori Akina's nose and laughed, "How could that be? That's what love is all about. What kind of love is it if you stay at home or in other rooms all day? Let's go out and have some fun. The movie theaters should still be open."

"Great!" Upon hearing that she could go out and play, Nakamori Akina jumped up from the sofa with joy. However, she quickly calmed down and frowned, saying, "But if we go out, we will definitely attract attention. There are reporters waiting in the hotel lobby downstairs. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to even go out."

“Hehe, then we’ll naturally need to disguise ourselves.” At this point, Kimura Hiroya stood up and whispered in Nakamori Akina’s ear, “We’ll do this…”

As Nakamori Akina listened to Kimura Hiroshi's words, her pretty face began to turn red. After listening, she looked at Kimura Hiroshi with a strange look and whispered, "You're really indecent, you lewd Kimura-san."

She quickly realized something was wrong, and, hands on her hips, loudly asked, "Tell me, Kimura-san, when you said you wanted to become the company president, did you have this kind of thought in mind—wanting to have an affair with a pretty female subordinate in the office?"

What is this all about? It was clearly meant to help them keep up the act and fool the reporters, so how did it turn into him wanting to have some kind of illicit affair? Kimura Hiroshi tapped Nakamori Akina's forehead and said, "You really don't appreciate kindness. So, do you want to go or not, Akina-san? If you don't want to, you can just watch TV at the hotel."

“Hehe, how can I not go? It’s a perfect opportunity to try out the romance between a male boss and a female office lady with Kimura-san.” Nakamori Akina quickly grabbed Kimura Hiro’s arm and said.

“Alright, in that case, Akina-san, let’s have a couple’s nighttime adventure!” Kimura Hiroya said with great enthusiasm.

"Truth or dare! Truth or dare!" Being a cheerful person, Akina Mori was even more excited and thrilled when she heard about the truth of the truth.

To disguise himself as an office worker, he first had to change into business attire. Kimura Hiroshi returned to his room, changed into a gray suit, and even tied a tie and put on frameless glasses.

When he returned to Akina Nakamori's room, she was wearing black-rimmed glasses, her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a light pink shirt, a black suit skirt that just went past her knees, and black stockings. Kimura Hiroshi stared at her intently.

"Staring like that is so rude, you lewd Kimura-san." She said this, but she deliberately lifted a corner of her skirt, making Kimura Hiro's pupils dilate even more.

“This dress isn’t mine. I borrowed it from Ms. Noriko. I didn’t expect it would fit,” Akina Nakamori continued.

Then she looked at Hiroshi Kimura, who was wearing a gray suit and glasses. He was tall and straight, and the glasses made him look elegant and handsome, but she still noticed something was wrong.

Too young, doesn't look like a boss at all, so she pulled Kimura Hiroshi to sit in front of the vanity and said, "Too young, Kimura-san, I can still recognize you. I need to cover it up a bit so you can see my makeup skills."

To avoid being discovered, he could only let Akina Nakamori do as she pleased. Hiroshi Kimura sat in front of the makeup mirror, watching Akina Nakamori apply makeup to his face, mainly to make his skin rougher and darker, in short, to make him look ugly. She even added a few moles, which made Hiroshi Kimura's forehead full of black lines.

After fiddling with it for a full half hour, Nakamori Akina looked at her masterpiece and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, this makes me look like a boss. No, something's missing. Kimura-san, wait for me!"

After saying that, she ran out, but returned shortly afterward with a black, fuzzy thing in her hand. Nakamori Akina said with a grin, "Hehe, how can a boss not have a beard? Hehe, luckily the makeup team came too, otherwise this thing would have been really hard to find. Quick, let me put it on Kimura-san."

Once the beard was applied, Akina Nakamori was completely satisfied. "Very good. Now I really look like a boss, a younger male boss."

It was already 10 p.m. when everything was settled. If we didn't leave soon, it would be too late. But we had to inform our agents before we left so they wouldn't worry.

Akina Nakamori wrapped her arm around Hiroshi Kimura's and buried her head in his arm. Hiroshi Kimura walked to Yukio Tomioka's door and gently knocked.

The door opened, and Yukio Tomioka saw a bespectacled man in a suit with a neatly groomed beard and a young woman in business attire standing in the doorway. He paused for a moment, then asked, "Who are you? Did you get the wrong room?"

"Pfft!" Nakamori Akina, who had her head buried in Kimura Hiroshi's arm, couldn't help but laugh first, lifting her head up. It was only then that Tomioka Yukio realized it was Nakamori Akina. Who was this man? He stared at her closely, slapped his forehead, and said, "Kimura-san, Akina-san, what are you two up to now?"

"We're going out for fun, Mr. Tomioka, so we've put on some disguises. We'll definitely be back before 2 a.m." Even the manager had to look closely to recognize him. Kimura Hiroshi was very satisfied; the disguise seemed quite good. Once we went downstairs, those reporters definitely wouldn't be able to tell.

"What? Going out to play? What nonsense! There are still reporters downstairs. You're not allowed to go." Tomioka Yukio naturally couldn't let them do such a thing.

Most celebrities wouldn't dare disobey their managers, but Kimura Hiroshi didn't care about that. "Oh, Mr. Tomioka, please let us go. We haven't been to Osaka yet. We're so busy right now, and we don't know when we'll have a chance to come again. Please tell Mr. Tomioka that we're leaving now."

After saying that, she ignored Yukio Tomioka's attempts to stop her and the two walked hand in hand out of the hotel.

Two top idols dressed up for a nighttime adventure – probably no one would have guessed.

Chapter 193 The Couple's Nighttime Adventure

In August, the sweltering summer heat was an absolute torture for paparazzi lurking outside upscale hotels. The asphalt streets, baked by the sun all day, were radiating heat at night. Osaka, a coastal city with abundant moisture, felt like a giant steamer at this time of year.

This was only the physical torture. They squatted outside watching well-dressed, successful people come and go from upscale hotels. Every single one of them was accompanied by a female or male companion. The security guards at the hotel entrance greeted them with smiles, while they had to stand guard outside the hotel, and the hotel security guards looked at them with the eyes of thieves.

"Buzz, buzz, splat." The roadside green belt is a hiding place for mosquitoes, and the mosquitoes squatting here are obviously the best targets for bloodsucking. They have no women to accompany them, but the female mosquitoes here still love them and crawl on them one by one without hesitation.

After swatting a blood-sucking mosquito, a paparazzi couldn't hold back any longer and said to his colleague with the camera, "Senior, let's go. Those two are probably already asleep. They've been running around promoting the movie for two days straight, they must be exhausted. Why would they come out?"

The senior standing in front also wanted to leave because he knew that Nakamori Akina and Kimura Hiroshi, two top idols, were among the most homebodies in the idol world, and it was almost impossible to see them going out to have fun. However, he couldn't leave because his competitors were still there. If they left and the other side took some important photos, they would probably lose their jobs.

"Just bear with it a little longer, let those guys get away, and I'll treat you to a drink at an izakaya when we get back," the senior said in a low voice.

Since that's been said, as a junior, he naturally couldn't ask to leave. He could only watch with a bit of torment those people coming and going in high-end hotels with their female companions, fantasizing that one day he could be like them. But all he had for company was the female mosquito.

Just as he looked up after swatting another mosquito, he saw a tall figure appear at the hotel entrance. He was wearing a gray suit, and beside him, a young woman in a business suit was holding his arm, hiding her face in his arm. The man looked around at the hotel entrance.