My daily life with the original diva

This was under the condition that Johnny & Associates required Toei to maintain its screening rate, but the decline was so severe that Toei couldn't hold on for more than two days. After all, no one watched the movies that were released, and the theaters were empty, which was a huge loss for Toei, which controlled the theaters.

So after two days of no improvement, Toei directly reduced the screening rate of this youth romance film to 0.5%, with only a very small number of screenings and shows. Other theater chains followed suit, which basically sealed the film's fate.

Johnny Kitagawa Hiroshi threw the report on the film that Johnny's had invested in to his older sister, Johnny Kitagawa Mary, and sneered, "Heh, my dear sister, is this the film that Johnny's has invested heavily in and the pretty boy that they've been promoting? It's really impressive. So much money was invested, and they even used their relationship with Toei, and this is all the box office revenue? They're really giving up their principal? When has Johnny's ever done such a losing business?"

Johnny's Entertainment is notorious for exploiting its artists and never doing anything that doesn't lose money. But today, Johnny's has invested two or three hundred million yen, yet it seems difficult for its films to even gross over one hundred million yen at the box office. This is simply outrageous.

The reason for such a large investment was that Toei was unwilling to spend much on publicity for this film, so Johnny & Associates had to cover it. The production cost of the film plus the large-scale publicity made its investment so high, but the actual investment in filming was only 70 million yen.

Given this outcome, Mary's expression was understandable. In fact, the movie's box office was quite good at the beginning. If it could have been shown until the end of the season, even if it didn't make money, it wouldn't have lost money. It could have also used the popularity of the movie to get Masahiko Kondo to release a single, and by bribing the media to create the impression that he was very popular, it might have been able to make him popular again.

But she never expected that after the movie made by that kid named Kimura was released, it immediately disrupted the film market at the same time, causing her plan to completely fail.

It's all that kid named Kimura Hiroshi's fault. Mary hated him so much at this moment that she even wanted to tear him to pieces. But she knew she couldn't do it now because this kid's background was becoming more and more powerful. It was said that he had a close relationship with Fukada, the vice minister of Toho, and Nozaki Toshio of the Sasakawa Group also spoke highly of him.

At this moment, she felt a little regretful. She should have just pinned him down and not backed down because of her brother's warning. But now it was no use thinking about it.

Trying to calm herself down, Mary said, "This time, my plan was flawed, and I take full responsibility."

"That would be perfect. If it weren't for the fact that you are my sister and you have made great contributions to the establishment of Johnny's, and your series of planning failures recently, I would have removed you from your position as vice president long ago."

"I'll give you one last piece of advice: get rid of that pretty boy named Kondo. We need to focus our resources on newcomers. That boy band that used to be Kondo's backup dancers is pretty good; maybe they can get a piece of that Kimura kid's pie."

Kitagawa Hiroshi spoke with a warning tone, which seemed like a final warning, but in reality he was just using Mary's mistake to put her down. He couldn't really dismiss Mary because Johnny's still needed her.

Hearing her brother's words, Mary stood up and said, "Don't worry, President, I will arrange for the junior team to debut as soon as possible. As for other matters, I will take care of them."

After saying that, she turned and left quickly. She returned to her office and immediately called Kondo Masahiko over.

A while ago, thanks to the movie's promotion and its decent box office performance, Masahiko Kondo appeared on many shows with Hiroko Yakushimaru, seemingly poised for a comeback. However, Hiroshi Kimura dealt him a heavy blow. The movie's daily box office, which used to be in the tens of millions of yen, dropped to a few million yen after the release of the movie starring Hiroshi Kimura, and now it's less than 500,000 yen per day.

Originally, he thought he was about to make a comeback. Kondo Masahiko even fantasized about how he would humiliate that kid named Kimura after he became popular again. However, this idea only lasted for a few days before Kimura Hiroshi, whom he wanted to humiliate, personally exposed it and told him that if he wanted to become popular again, he should dream about it.

Dejected, Masahiko Kondo arrived at Mary's office, still looking utterly miserable.

Seeing Kondo Masahiko's appearance, Mary's anger surged. She was certain that this guy was a good-for-nothing, so she picked up a folder from the table and threw it at Kondo Masahiko.

With a sharp "bang," she slammed the object directly onto Kondo Masahiko's head. She yelled, "Look at you, so useless! You're a complete waste. I should have kicked you out of Johnny's."

Kondo Masahiko, who was hit, was stunned for a moment. Ignoring the pain in his head, he was terrified when he heard Mary's words. If he left Johnny's, he would really have no chance to make a comeback.

He immediately knelt down, tears streaming down his face. He crawled step by step to Mary's side, hugged her legs, and gently rubbed them with his hands, wailing, "No, don't do this, Mom, I was wrong, please forgive me, I can't live without you."

In the summer, Mary was only wearing thin trousers. When Kondo touched her like that, she immediately felt a shiver run through her body, and her anger subsided by more than half. Even she herself did not know why she felt this way.

After calming down for a while, she realized that her desire to lift up Kondo Masahiko again was not only driven by that desire, but also by her anger at Kimura Hiroshi for repeatedly ruining her plans. She was determined to defeat that kid once more. She lowered herself down, grabbed Kondo Masahiko's face with her hands, and said, "Don't let me see you looking like you're about to die again. I'll give you one last chance. If you can't seize this opportunity, don't blame me."

Seeing that Mary didn't seem to have given up on him, Kondo felt a surge of joy, but his face still showed a look of fear as he asked, "Mom, is there any other way?"

"Don't underestimate my influence in the entertainment industry. Just wait and see, you'll find out soon enough. But since I've worked so hard for you, you'd better repay me tonight. The whip and candles I prepared last time, you'll have to keep me company and have some fun tonight," Mary said in an extremely ambiguous tone.

These words sent a chill down Kondo Masahiko's spine. Mary used to only play normal things, but recently, it seemed that she was very angry because of a series of bad luck and started playing some strange things. He had refused Mary's request last time.

It seems there's no escaping it now. Kondo Masahiko swallowed hard and said, "Okay, okay, Mom, whatever you want to play, I'm willing to do it. My life is yours."

Chapter 196 We can't let ourselves be drained dry.

With the film's box office soaring, the happiest people besides Toho were Hiroshi Kimura. As an investor in the film, he initially chose box office revenue sharing as his profit method. In other words, the higher the film's box office, the higher his future profits would be, all of which could be attributed to his wise choice.

Thinking that he could earn more than a billion yen after the movie's release, he saw that Masahiko Kondo's "Love Travel" has only grossed tens of millions of yen so far, and it seems very difficult to break 100 million yen.

Hiroshi Kimura has been in an even more cheerful mood these days. Not only did he make money, but he also successfully dealt with the bad guys, killing two birds with one stone. So now Hiroshi Kimura is all smiles wherever he goes, and he is exceptionally friendly to people. He will hum a song softly from time to time, and even in work meetings that he usually dislikes, he is all smiles.

Inside the meeting room, President Hanami Kaku's expression darkened as he looked at Kimura Hiroshi's smiling face. When Kimura Hiroshi proposed making a movie, he had rejected Ken-On's investment in it, mainly because he thought it was just nonsense. In other words, he had personally turned away his relationship with Toho and a large sum of money.

Seeing the beneficiaries smiling happily in front of him, one can only imagine the feeling. Not to mention, because of this matter, he was also called in by Nozaki Shuno for a long talk, the core meaning of which was to listen more to Kimura Hiroshi's opinions, and to remember to inform him if Kimura Hiroshi had any investment ideas, so that he could decide whether to participate.

The original profits slipped away, and as the president of the company, he was also asked by his boss to listen more to the opinions of his artists. This was simply double torture for him. It would be strange if he could have a good expression, unless he had some special masochistic hobby.

"Today's meeting will mainly discuss two things. The first is that we have recently received many requests to write songs for them. Of course, they all want to invite Kimura-san to write songs for them. These are faxes from various agencies requesting songs." Despite his bad mood, he still had to do his job. After Hanami Kaku finished speaking, his staff immediately handed Kimura Hiroshi a stack of faxes from various companies requesting songs.

Kimura Hiroshi, who was still thinking about which properties to buy once he got his share of the film revenue, looked at the faxes of invitations to sing in front of him and his face changed instantly. Good heavens, there must be at least dozens of them. Isn't this a bit too crazy?

He casually flipped through the list and found some unfamiliar newcomers as well as established stars. They were all female idols or young female singers. He even spotted Seiko Matsuda and Naoko Kawai, and even Iyo Matsumoto, whom he had previously criticized.

However, these invitations were all sent by the agency. While a super idol like Seiko Matsuda might be able to influence the agency's decision, the agency decides what other female idols sing. So even if they dislike Hiro Kimura, they can't stop the agency's decision.

With so many female idols, how could he possibly handle it all? Although he had many, he couldn't possibly absorb all of their energy. If he accepted them all, he would probably be completely drained within two years.

Moreover, if there are too many, it will become a disaster, and his songs will lose their value and he won't be able to attract any traffic. Therefore, Hiroshi Kimura still wants to maintain his previous approach.

He said, "President, let's reject them all. Except for those we've collaborated with before, reject all others. If we write too many, the songs will lose their value."

Hanami Kagami now understands this principle. Kimura Hiroshi's scarcity marketing strategy is very successful so far. Although many other methods were used in the process, it is undeniable that it is indeed a good method.

However, there was one person, Hanami Kaku, who was reluctant to refuse. He said, "Sun Music wants you to write a song for Matsuda Seiko. If you're willing, they'll offer a lot, not just money, but also some resources that we don't have."

Sun Music was obviously offering a lot, and Hanami Kaku had no intention of refusing. However, Kimura Hiro knew that he absolutely could not write a song for her at this time, not only because he was an Akina supporter, but also because if he got involved with Matsuda Seiko at this time, he would probably fall into the super vortex of her breakup with Go Hiromi.

"Um, President, Seiko Matsuda and Akina are in competition. Is it really okay for me to write a song for her?" Hiroshi Kimura asked tentatively, intending to use this as a reason to refuse the invitation.

Hanami Kagami said nonchalantly, "It's just a song, it won't have much of an impact. I still believe in Akina-san's abilities."

Well, that sounds very high-sounding, but Kimura Hiroshi had no intention of accepting it. He gently tapped the thick stack of faxes and said, "President, but I still don't really want to accept it. As for the reasons, let Mr. Tomioka tell you. Mr. Tomioka, please tell the president about what happened when we went to Sun Music that day."

Hanami Kagami was a little confused by what he was saying. He turned to look at Tomioka Yukio with a puzzled expression.

Adjusting his posture, Yukio Tomioka knew what Hiroshi Kimura meant. He said, "President, actually, Mr. Aizawa, the president of Sun Music, wants to poach Kimura-san. Last time when I went to Sun Music with him, he wanted to invite Kimura-san to join them in front of me."

"Is this even possible?" After hearing what Tomioka Yukio said, Hanami Kagami was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, he remembered that Aizawa Hideyoshi had been frequently inviting Kimura Hiroshi to some celebration party or asking him to sing. So that's what he was up to. What a rascal! He originally thought that this was a high-quality agency to cooperate with, but now it seems that he has ulterior motives. Just as rumored, this guy really does things by any means necessary.

"Mr. Tomioka, you should have told me this on the same day, instead of now. But since that's the case, then don't go to Sun Music anymore, and cancel the existing collaboration." Clearly, Hanami Kaku was a little angry, partly because Tomioka Yukio had kept this from her, and partly because she felt she had been played by Aizawa Hideyoshi.

"President, there's no need for that. Let's continue the existing cooperation. Breaching the contract won't benefit us. I'll just reduce my contact with them in the future. I'm not going to transfer my registration, you should know that," Kimura Hiroshi quickly said.

After thinking for a moment, Hanami Kaku nodded, because he knew that Kimura Hiroshi was indeed unlikely to transfer his registration, whether in terms of benefits or the hefty penalty for breach of contract. He said, "Then let's decide on that. Okay, let's move on to the second thing, Kimura-san's next single and album. Kimura-san, are you prepared?"

It's almost September, and there are only about four months left in the year. Hiroshi Kimura has only released two singles this year, which is extremely low for an idol singer. It's only because of his special status that his agency would be so unhappy if other idols had such good sales and released so few songs.

"Yes, Kimura-san, have you thought it through? This album is extremely important. If it sells over a million copies, you will become the only singer after Pink Lady to have five consecutive albums sell over a million copies, and the only male singer to do so. That would be an extremely high honor."

When it comes to records, Yukio Tomioka also has something to say, after all, he represents Warner Music, and what he values ​​most is record sales.

Kimura Hiroshi had naturally considered this matter. After all, this year might be the last year that the record market is still doing relatively well. Next year, it would be extremely difficult to produce a record that sells over a million copies. Kimura Hiroshi was not confident about the sales of his own record next year. After all, the market wouldn't turn around just because you sing well. For his own benefit, the sooner he released the record, the better.

He hasn't decided yet on his new single. Should he switch to a new style or continue with the old one? After all, a new style might be risky, given past examples where sales plummeted after a style change. Sticking to the old style, on the other hand, is more acceptable to fans and listeners, so there's not much risk. But without anything new, it's uncertain whether it will sell well.

As for his new album, he already has an idea: to release a love album, full of love songs, to commemorate the first year of his relationship with his girlfriend, Akina Nakamori.

This album will probably be very memorable in the future. When people hear this song in the future, they will remember that two top idols in the 1980s actually used an album to show off their love. Will they curse them? It's outrageous that they have to eat dog food while listening to the song. Just thinking about it makes Hiroshi Kimura quite amusing.

So he said, "Give me two more days to decide on the single, but I've already decided on the album. The theme will be 'Love,' to commemorate my first love."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present was stunned. Good heavens, you're actually going to release an album for your first relationship? You really know how to play games.

"Kimura-san, isn't this a bad idea? If we do this, your relationship with Akina-san might be exposed." Hanami Kagami immediately objected. He was the person who least wanted to see their relationship exposed because it could affect their careers, and Ken-on would be the one who suffered the most.

Knowing Hanami Kagami's concerns, Kimura Hiro said, "Don't worry, President. The songs in it are all carefully selected, and we'll use things that only Akina-san and I know. No one else will know that. Besides, it's not unreasonable for a male idol like me to release a romance album. There are so many male idols who sing love songs."

Amazing, truly amazing. Even Hanami Kagami couldn't find a reason to object, while the only female employee present, Ms. Michiko, had her eyes sparkling when she heard this.

"How romantic! Using an album to commemorate a relationship? Is this how a genius young singer creates romance? If those female fans knew, their jealousy would probably explode like Mount Fuji. Ah, I absolutely can't let them know!" Michiko's heart was screaming wildly.

Chapter 197 Dishes That Are Sometimes Sour and Sometimes Sweet

Since returning from promoting her movie in Kansai, Akina Nakamori's schedule has been almost nonstop. She's been doing music shows, shooting photobooks, performing live in various places, and shooting commercials. For the past ten days or so, she's barely stopped, only getting five or six hours of sleep a day. There's no way around it; this is the most normal work schedule for a top female idol.

Today was another busy day. After shooting a photobook in the morning, I have to go to the recording of the Young Studio program in the afternoon. However, Akina Nakamori is in a good mood today, and even her fatigue has dissipated a lot.

Since she could finally rest tomorrow without any work scheduled, she had already made plans with her boyfriend, Hongjun, to go to his apartment to watch DVDs in the afternoon and have a romantic candlelight dinner at a restaurant in Roppongi in the evening. As for the morning, she would naturally use it to catch up on sleep, since she was really too tired.

Arriving backstage on time, Akina Nakamori noticed that everyone participating in the show today was a familiar face, including Naoko Kawai, the band Shibukagi, Yu Hayami, and Iyo Matsumoto.

"Akina-san, you're here."

"Good afternoon, Akina-san."

Except for Matsumoto Iyo, who pretended not to see her and turned her head away, everyone else greeted her, and Nakamori Akina smiled and responded to each of them.

They're all acquaintances, usually busy participating in various programs. Since it's not easy for them to meet, they naturally want to sit down and have a good chat. This is one of the few relaxing moments they have amidst their busy work. Anyway, the program rehearsal won't start for a while.

The conversation almost entirely revolved around Akina Nakamori. There was no way around it; she was just too popular lately. Not only were her records selling like hotcakes, but her new single, "Ten Commandments," had already sold over 450,000 copies in just one month.

Based on current sales estimates, this album may eventually sell over 800,000 copies, becoming Akina Nakamori's second single album this year to sell over 800,000 copies, the previous one being Kita Tsubasa.

The film she starred in is aiming to become the highest-grossing film of the year. This is her first film, and although everyone is still young, they know the value and significance of it. The conversation naturally turned to her. This is a rule in the entertainment industry, and they understand it.

Akina Nakamori, however, didn't seem proud at all. Faced with everyone's praise, she humbly said that it was nothing, that singing was just a matter of choosing the right song, and that the movie was entirely thanks to Hiroshi Kimura, and had nothing to do with her.

Unexpectedly, the topic quickly shifted to Hiroshi Kimura. When Hiroshi Kimura was mentioned, the band Shibukashi had strange expressions. Although they were actually very curious about this hot newcomer, their agency, Johnny & Associates, required them not to have anything to do with him, so they could only listen but dared not say anything.

As for Matsumoto Iyo, her face was extremely ugly because her agency told her that they had asked Kimura Hiroshi to write a song for her, without taking her opinion into consideration at all. Because her record sales had been very low in recent years, the agency did not care about her thoughts and only wanted to increase record sales.

She had just had a heated argument with Hiroshi Kimura backstage at the Best Ten show a while ago, and now she's asking him to write a song for her. You can imagine how she feels. She's so ashamed that she wants to crawl into a hole.

Hayami Yu and Kawai Naoko were curious, because they knew very little about Kimura Hiroshi. Although they had met him, and Hayami Yu had even apologized to him for the argument with Matsumoto Iyo, they knew nothing about this junior, had never spoken to him normally, or knew what he was like in private.

So the two of them asked some questions, and Nakamori Akina praised Kimura Hiroshi without reservation, practically showering him with compliments. Anyone could tell they had a very good relationship.

"Ah, so Kimura-san is so gentle and talented! By the way, our agency has even asked him and me to write a song. I wonder if there will be a chance to collaborate this time." Naoko Kawai said with great longing as she listened to Akina Nakamori's praise of Hiroshi Kimura.

Seeing Naoko Kawai's expectant look, Akina Nakamori suddenly realized something. Her gaze shifted to Naoko Kawai's chest, and seeing the prominent area under the thin summer clothes, alarm bells rang in her mind. Oh no, something big has happened.

She recalled how Kimura Hiroshi had stared intently at Kawai Naoko's shapely figure the last time. If they were to collaborate, things would get out of control. And why hadn't she heard anything about the song invitation? Hmph, was he trying to keep it from her?

Thinking about this, I felt a pang of sadness. Why was her Hongjun so talented and attracted so many girls' attention? Yet, her Hongjun was still a bit shy and unreliable. It was truly a happy kind of trouble.

No, I must go back and interrogate him thoroughly. I must nip all danger in the bud. Her Hongjun can only belong to her.

But she really is big. Nakamori Akina looked at herself again. She wasn't small either. She wondered if she should lose weight. It seemed that losing weight would make her cup size smaller. Would that make Hiro-kun not like her?

Amid such worries, Akina Nakamori finished recording today's program. However, because she had something on her mind, her complexion was not good. People who didn't know her might have thought she was in a bad mood. In reality, she just spaced out or had a blank expression when she was thinking about things.

The recording of the program ended at 8 p.m., but she couldn't go back to rest yet. She had to go back to the agency to handle some matters, mainly the work arrangements after her rest tomorrow. This way, she could go directly to her next work location the day after tomorrow.

Back at the agency, after confirming the work arrangements, Nakamori Akina went to the costume room to get some clothes. Many of her performance costumes were stored at the agency, naturally because there were too many to fit in her apartment. Her requirements for performance costumes were absolutely perfect, so the agency had to buy enough clothes for her to choose from.

When Nakamori Akina returned with the new clothes, before they had even turned the corner, they heard Ms. Noriko's exaggerated voice saying, "Really? Kimura-san is going to release an album to commemorate his first year of dating Akina-san, and all the songs in it are love songs he wrote himself?"

"Of course it's true. Kimura-san said it himself at a work meeting. He's planning to write five songs, and they all have to be masterpieces. He said that's the most memorable way. Ah, that's so romantic. If I had a boyfriend like that, I'd be so happy."

Akina Nakamori stopped in her tracks and recognized the voice as that of Michiko. What she said stirred up a storm in Akina's heart: Kimura-san was actually going to release an album to commemorate their love.

A sweet bubble rose from the bottom of her heart, then burst with a bang, filling her heart with sweetness. Her Hongjun was always so special, always creating unexpected romance for her in ways that others couldn't imagine.