Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

"Voice acting or singing are just minor skills! A doctorate in musicology is what you should focus on at this stage."

"Sorry, Dad... I've had enough of this life of working hard for your goals."

As soon as he got out of the elevator, Xia Fan heard a man and a woman arguing.

"Is this voice the monitor?"

Recognizing that the woman's voice belonged to Horie Tsubasa, Xia Fan subconsciously looked in the direction of the voice.

"What, my goal? Do you know how much effort and connections I have put into paving and planning for your future career development?"

"Then you never asked me what I really wanted to do."

In the corner of the corridor, Keizo Horie, with his hands tucked into the sleeves of his kimono, was arguing with Tsubasa Horie with a serious expression.

"You have no idea what it's like to start from the bottom in this quagmire-like industry. Over the years, the first selection criteria for voice actors and singers has long since changed from 'vocal skills' to 'good looks'. Do you know what that means?"

"Anyway, I will ask Haruo to stop caring about your subsequent work, and you should also withdraw from the recording of "Gurenge" this time."

Noticing the "samurai" walking out of the elevator, Keizo Horie didn't want to continue arguing with Tsubasa Horie and turned and left.

"You usually say that you want to be a music critic who 'gives objective evaluations to all music', but you don't dare to give your daughter's song a chance to be fairly evaluated..."

"If mom were still alive, would she approve of what you did today?"

Horie Tsubasa growled in dissatisfaction with tears in his eyes.

"you……"

"Well said. I will give you a fair, just and impartial evaluation of this recording, voice actor Kurokawa Tsubasa."

Keizo Horie paused and walked into the meeting room.

Horie Tsubasa stayed where she was, wiping her tears silently, but someone silently handed her a tissue.

"Thank you……"

Horie Tsubasa looked up and found that a young samurai with a bloody face and a topknot that was brighter than a light bulb had appeared in front of him.

"Xia Fan...Pfft...why are you dressed like this..."

When she recognized the man as Xia Fan, she suddenly smiled sweetly.

"I was working part-time on a commercial before, and it was so urgent that I didn't have time to remove my makeup..."

After she reminded him, Xia Fan realized that his makeup looked a little "inappropriate".

He pulled the wig, but found that in order to avoid the "head falling" blooper, the makeup artist used a very strong glue, and it could not be pulled off at all.

"You just heard everything...the conversation between me and my father."

After being interrupted by Xia Fan, Horie Tsubasa calmed down a little and took the tissue.

"No, I heard nothing."

Xia Fan shook his head without hesitation.

Since the middle-aged man is Horie Tsubasa's father, then it is someone else's family affair. It would be impolite to overhear it even if he accidentally heard it.

"I never mentioned in school that my father is a famous and experienced musician. In his eyes, voice actors and singers are just 'tools' of capital. He always hoped that I could engage in music academic research and creation like him."

"I kept my activities as a voice actor 'Kurokawa Tsubasa' a secret from him from the beginning to the end. Only Uncle Haruo knew about it..."

Horie Tsubasa rolled his eyes at him, wiped the tears from his face, and sobbed as he told him the whole story.

"But, because your "Gurunge" was too difficult to record, Uncle Chunxiong had no choice but to ask him to supervise, so it was exposed."

Having said that, Horie Tsubasa stuck out her pink tongue and patted Xia Fan's arm.

"Is that so? But didn't your father just say..."

"Yes, he has already promised to give me a fair evaluation. Let's go, producer, everyone has been waiting for you to record."

Forcing himself to calm down, Horie Tsubasa turned and walked towards the meeting room, the fragrant breeze from her pigtails brushing against Xia Fan's nose.

……

"Sorry, everyone, I'm late."

"Producer Xia Fan, you are finally here!"

As soon as Xia Fan entered the meeting room, before he could even deal with the strange looks from everyone, he was stopped by Tsuchiya Haruo.

"Thank you for your hard work. You just finished work and rushed here without changing your clothes."

Faced with Xia Fan's sincere eyes, coupled with his blood-stained samurai uniform and shiny hairstyle, Tsuchiya Haruo did not feel any sense of blame.

"Teacher Horie, let me introduce you. This is the creator of the song "Gurenhua" that we are going to record this time, 'Xiafan'. His previous work "Sakura" is also very popular now."

"Xia Fan, this is a famous music critic, composer, and senior music supervisor..."

Then he began to introduce Xia Fan to Keizo Horie, who was sitting above the conference table.

"I know, Mr. Keizo Horie. I've seen him on the school's wall of fame."

"I have heard of your name for a long time. I am honored to have the opportunity to receive your guidance today."

Before Supervisor Chunxiong could finish his words, Xia Fan had already greeted him respectfully.

Keizo Horie, a senior figure in the industry, once taught at Tokyo University of the Arts. He had previously given high praise and recommendations to "Sakura", so he naturally knew it.

Chapter 50 Recording (Please read it on Tuesday)

2024-07-13

"Wall of Fame? You are a student at Tokyo University of the Arts. In which year did you graduate?"

Having been famous for many years and having served as the director of the Music Department of Tokyo University of the Arts, Keizo Horie has long been accustomed to being recognized.

"Well, I haven't graduated yet. I'm a freshman."

Xia Fan answered truthfully.

"A freshman? You can write a work as calm and unpretentious as 'Sakura'. You are better than I thought."

Keizo Horie took a sip of tea and nodded in admiration.

As a traditional musician, he admired the simple and pure song "Sakura", which is why he gave it a positive review and recommended it to his friends in the industry. He even agreed to come and assist in the recording this time.

As a freshman, Xia Fan did not indulge in showing off his skills or piling up words. He simply used music to interpret emotions, and he had already surpassed most of the students he had taught.

"Without further ado, since both of you are here, let's start the first step of the audition."

With the movie release date approaching, Tsuchiya Haruo started the recording work in full swing.

The first step, of course, was to accompany Keizo Horie to listen to the song "Gurenhua".

That’s right, before the movie was released, the song “Gurenge”, whether it was a DEMO or an original soundtrack, was a top-secret asset of the “Cursed Blade Production Committee” and could only be listened to live after signing a confidentiality agreement.

"..."

Xia Fan and Keizo Horie put on monitoring headphones and started listening.

The audition content includes real instrumental accompaniment, as well as versions sung by Kurokawa Tsubasa and Sakura Inori.

The three of them wore monitoring headphones and listened to the music repeatedly for more than ten minutes with serious expressions.

"You two, how, how is it?"

After the audition, Tsuchiya Haruo asked weakly.

"How is it? Although I am not very familiar with rock music, I can be sure that this is definitely an excellent piece of work!"

After the playback ended, Keizo Horie took off his headphones and slowly stood up.

“If ‘Sakura’ is a minimalist composition that depicts the poignant sadness of parting, then ‘Red Lotus’ is a composition that uses prosperity in despair to depict the fiery heat of burning life!”

"I know, Xia Jun, you must want to use this completely opposite song to fight back against those negative music reviews that think Sakura is too 'cheesy', right?"

"In fact, you don't have to care about other people's opinions. You just need to focus on the pursuit of 'art'..."

As a music critic, he spoke incessantly, his cheeks trembling with excitement.

"Ah, what negative music reviews?"

Xia Fan next to him looked confused.

"It may be fate that I was unexpectedly appointed as the music supervisor for this song. In this case, I will use the strictest standards and will never tolerate such a work being left to rot in my hands..."

"Mr. Xia, as the producer, please explain it to everyone first."

Having said that, Keizo Horie looked at Xia Fan expectantly, indicating that it was his turn to speak.

"Then I will share my superficial understanding with you."

Xia Fan was not afraid of the stage either. He stood in front of the blackboard on the side of the conference room and picked up the chalk...

"In the pre-chorus, it should blend in gently at the beginning with the images on the screen, and then use the huge contrast of the crescendo to catch the audience's ears..."

"In terms of technique, the climax of this song has a strong rhythm, but the prelude and interlude are very gentle. You need to fully stretch the span from weak to strong, and use your childish little accent to quickly rise to a strong high note..."

"For the emotional part, you should use more weak vibrato, angry voice, and crying voice. You can also mix in breathy voice in these places to show the spirit of 'bravely moving forward in sadness and helplessness'..."

Thanks to his solid foundation in music theory and the mastery of songs bestowed by God, he selflessly shared his understanding and wrote down the simple score, lyrics and key points of "Red Lotus" on the blackboard according to the progress of the explanation.

"I've never seen such a detailed explanation. As expected of the original creator of the song, so amazing..."

The industry's top music production team and popular voice actors of "Cursed Blade" were all stunned. They ignored Xia Fan's "out-of-place" outfit and buried their heads in taking notes like elementary school students.

"Is this really the Xia Jun I have known for four years?"

Horie Tsubasa's face flushed as he listened to the song, and he felt that his understanding of the song suddenly became clear.

"Good, good, good... Xia Jun has a solid musical foundation and outstanding accomplishments... The Tokyo University of the Arts Music Department has a successor..."

Fifteen minutes later, when Xia Fan finished his explanation, Keizo Horie took the lead and applauded with everyone else.

"As a producer, Xia Jun's understanding of this song is top-notch. I don't have much to add. I can only give you guidance based on the details of the subsequent recording."

"While we are debugging the equipment, the two singers, please digest the information as quickly as possible and prepare to go into the studio for the trial recording."

Then, Keizo Horie directed the sound effects team to fine-tune the recording equipment based on the characteristics of "Gurenge".

The first person to enter the studio for trial recording was Sakura Nozomi.

Keizo Horie, who has profound academic attainments in music and has participated in the recording of many famous songs and operas, can be said to be a first-class music supervisor in the entire 11th district.

With him personally in charge, every detail including singing technique, dry sound collection, mixing strength, audio balance, etc. was just right during the entire recording process.

The whole process is like the sushi god has molded ordinary rice grains into top-quality sushi that is airy and fluffy.

"This hasn't even reached post-production yet, but the effect has changed so much. Music recording is really profound."

Xia Fan, who was eavesdropping on the side, felt his eyes were opened.

Under the direction of Keizo Horie, and with the understanding of the song that Xia Fan had shared earlier, Sakura Inori performed at an excellent level on the spot, and the effect was significantly improved compared to the previous version.

Then, Horie Tsubasa walked into the recording studio.

"Ms. Kurokawa Tsubasa, please follow my instructions and start recording..."

Keizo Horie, who was wearing headphones, gave a deep reminder.

"Okay, I'm starting."

"I know the reason for becoming stronger... Take me with you and move forward!!!"

Horie Tsubasa adjusted the position of the microphone, opened her red lips slightly, and began to sing with a focused expression.

During the entire recording process, Keizo Horie remained meticulous, as if the person behind the glass wall was not his daughter, but just an ordinary singer.

"Class leader... recording with my father is a bit stressful, and I can't completely let go."

But Xia Fan, who was outside the recording studio, showed a hint of worry.

Because, from his perspective, Horie Tsubasa's left hand, which was holding Li Mai, was trembling slightly...

As the singing gradually reached its climax, her expression became more and more peaceful like water.

He looks just like the gentle and polite Horie Tsubasa in school.

……

"Thank you all for your hard work. This audition was completed successfully."

"Next, we have to decide through audition which voice actor's version will be used for post-production as the official theme song of the movie."