I live my life in Tokyo

This is not the first time that Ken Sano has collaborated with Toei. He had just made his debut when he was shooting special effects five years ago, so he has a deep affection for Toei.

"This is also the first time I've seen Higuchi-kun's audition. Well, the role she plays is a girl who makes people want to protect her at first sight. To be honest, this type of role also exists in other actors' auditions, but Higuchi-kun did the best."

Higuchi Madoka lowered her head and smiled, expressing her silent gratitude politely.

After praising the actor's strengths, the reporter thanked him contentedly and sat down.

"I have a question for actor Sakakibara. It seems that the colleagues in the crew are all acquaintances of actor Sakakibara. What do you think of director Takenaka and your colleagues in the crew?" A young female reporter asked with a slightly blushing face.

In confusion, Sakakibara Kaede took the microphone handed to him by Sakurajima Mai. When was he labeled as an assassin? Why was this reporter so unsportsmanlike and attacked the new actor who had just debuted right away?

"Cough cough."

Under Sakurajima Mai's elbow, the boy cleared his throat and said, "Director Takenaka is my teacher to me."

"I have only been in the industry for a short time and have not received formal training as an actor, so I still have only a vague understanding of some of the actor's terminology and interpretation methods." The boy spoke honestly. These are all well-documented things and it is not embarrassing to talk about them. "Director Takenaka often teaches me new interpretation methods, which really benefits me a lot."

"I would also like to thank the action director and supervisor. Some of the shots in the movie——"

Before he could finish his words, he was kicked on his left and right feet at the same time. Apparently, Sakurajima Mai and Higuchi Madoka were afraid that he would spoil the plot, so they had the same idea and didn't step on him, but kicked him instead.

After all... I bought a pair of new white shoes, so I can’t let them be stepped on the next day, right?

"Well, as for the crew, I've met many of the actors before, and we're all friends... How should I put it, it's like a family... Director Takenaka is a bit like the head of the family."

Takenaka Kiyoshi couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and pointed at Sakakibara Kaede, "It's not easy to manage you young people, which is why I always sleep on the bed when I get home."

"Haha, Director Takenaka, thank you for your hard work." The boy grinned.

When the female reporter saw that the boy had finished answering, she continued to ask, "Well, actor Sakakibara has worked with Sakurajima-kun before, and now he is working with Higuchi-kun. Which actor do you feel more comfortable and happy working with?"

stare--

Sakakibara Kaede was holding the microphone, speechless for a moment. He was broken. Why did this red-faced reporter keep targeting him? Did he have a grudge against him?

Takenaka Kiyoshi had a serious look on his face, but in fact he was already laughing uncontrollably in his heart after hearing the question.

Ken Sano had a strange look on his face, but like everyone else he managed to keep his face calm and was secretly happy in his heart.

This... This question, why do people not have a harem, but feel like there is a Shura field with a storm coming?

"Well, actually, I'm also very curious, who will Sakakibara-san choose in the end?" Mai Sakurajima's eyes rolled and she blurted out the misunderstanding.

Higuchi Madoka glanced at Sakakibara Kaede calmly and said, "Just tell the truth."

Chapter 41: Innocent Monster

Everybody was watching for fun.

Mai Sakurajima had a gentle smile and looked very friendly. She patiently coaxed Kaede Sakakibara to give the answer.

Higuchi Madoka had a blank expression on her face, and she glanced at Sakakibara Kaede lightly, with an indescribable emotion flashing in her purple gemstone-like pupils.

The boy closed his eyes slightly, and after a moment he thought for a long time in public.

After a while, he opened his blue eyes, and a gleam of light flashed in them.

"That's naturally Sano-san."

When these words were spoken, everyone inside and outside the stadium was shocked. The boy sneered and said nothing. The days with the knights were the real days!

Ken Sano laughed, a very nice smile, and high-fived Kaede Sakakibara who was sitting behind him to celebrate.

Mai Sakurajima and Madoka Higuchi were staring at the boy sitting in the middle. If the meaning in their eyes was true, then Mai Sakurajima was waving a whip and Madoka Higuchi was sharpening a knife.

"You broke the rules, Sakakibara-san. I order you to answer the question quickly." After laughing, Kiyoshi Takenaka asked seriously.

Sakakibara Kaede sighed in his heart and put on a polite smile of flattery on his face.

"I think that Sakurajima-san and Higuchi-san each have their own charms, and I had a great time getting along with both actresses both during filming and during breaks."

"Well, speaking of which, Sakakibara-san has a good relationship with everyone in the crew."

Mai Sakurajima assisted Kaede Sakakibara, giving him a general direction for his next topic.

The boy nodded and thanked her for her words, "Well... For example, during my break I will find Sakurajima-san or Higuchi-san to practice a scene with."

"They are all my seniors. I would ask them questions if I didn't understand something during acting."

"What's the point? Why don't you tell us about how it feels to be with us."

Sakakibara Kaede's eyes narrowed and she looked at Sakurajima Mai who was smiling beside her. I just praised you and now you're backstabbing me, right?

We finally managed to avoid this topic, but why did Sakurajima-senpai bring it up again? Isn't he just adding fuel to the fire?

Seeing the reporters nodding frantically, the boy's mouth twitched for a moment.

"When I was with Sakurajima-san, our conversations were very casual. Sometimes we could bicker for many times in a row, and there were often back and forth wins and losses. No matter what the topic was, we could quickly get to the key points, such as the scenes with each other or the auditions."

"Hmm... Speaking of getting to the point quickly, it does feel like Sakakibara-san and I don't usually have much in the way of politeness."

"This is a normal interaction between people, right? Besides being colleagues, aren't we also senior and junior students?"

Sakakibara shrugged and introduced to the reporters and fans who were not aware of the news, "Sakurajima-san is a senior at Sobu High School in Chiba Prefecture. I graduated from Sobu High School a year ago. I have seen him at school before. We are just acquaintances."

She said she wasn't sure, but in fact it was Kaede Sakakibara who was explaining how she knew Sakurajima-san. Sakurajima Mai didn't need anyone to introduce her movements, so naturally some fans listed all her information.

Mai Sakurajima recalled and then laughed, "Well, we became colleagues from that time on."

Mai Sakurajima was satisfied. Her indigo eyes were filled with smiles as she blinked at the boy. She was quite satisfied with the answer.

The only flaw was that the boy did not say that their relationship was actually closer than that of colleagues.

They are friends.

However, thinking that the reporter did not ask in detail about the relationship between the two, Mai Sakurajima gave up this idea. After all, sometimes saying too much may lead to misunderstandings.

At least Mai Sakurajima believed that there would be some fanatical fans who would comment on the boy online and think that he was not worthy of being called their friend - she didn't want that.

"I guess the reason I met Higuchi-san was because of the TV series."

The boy recalled that at that time, Higuchi Yuanka was shrouded in a layer of fog, and he could not see or touch her clearly. The only thing that greeted him was a cold and polite smile.

When did it start to change? Higuchi-san's attitude towards him. Was it after the graduation advertisement? After the performance at the Christmas party? Or after the handshake and autograph at the idol event?

"Hey, I've seen all the efforts Sakakibara-san has made."

"But the reason why we have such a good relationship is probably because we filmed the graduation advertisement together. At that time, we acted out many scenes together, and the final confession was also very touching... Is it really so good to be in love?"

"That last exclamation is so strange. Where did Sakakibara-san get it from?"

"The boss lady of the restaurant where I work."

As soon as these words were spoken, both Higuchi Madoka's fans and the boy's fans burst into laughter.

Compared to those fanatical CP fans, fans of actors still hope that the artists they follow are popular, have excellent personalities, and get along well with everyone.

The boy's fans were very satisfied. They raised their mobile phones and took pictures of Sakurajima Mai, Higuchi Madoka and Sakakibara Kaede together.

"Later, I worked with Higuchi-san many times as an extra, and after we got to know each other better, our relationship improved a lot."

Higuchi Yuanxiang recalled the many times she had cried while holding the boy's body, feeling the familiar and nostalgic aching pain in her heart. She frowned slightly and nodded, "There's nothing we can do about it."

"...You spoke your mind, Higuchi-san."

The boy's silent complaints again caused fans to laugh and applaud.

“But the scenes between Higuchi-san and Sakakibara-san always seem to end with Sakakibara-san’s character dying and Higuchi-san crying loudly beside him,” a director interjected with a grin.

"It's groundless, it's groundless... It's a problem with the script, it's definitely not our problem." Sakakibara Kaede quickly clarified.

"Yeah, I always feel that you are very suitable for such a script." Kiyoshi Takenaka sighed, stroking his beard.

"..." Higuchi Madoka glared at Sakakibara Kaede, and the latter looked at her innocently. Can you blame me for this?

Innocent monster.

Fans of Higuchi Madoka are very satisfied. Even the future star actress Sakakibara Kaede was humbled by her words. Higuchi Madoka is indeed the top 1 cool and beautiful idol.

The female reporter sat down contentedly, and the boy breathed a sigh of relief. These reporters have one good thing about them: they will run wherever there is news, and they run faster than anyone else, but the questions they ask are still too young and sometimes naive.

Sakurajima Mai and Higuchi Madoka looked at each other and saw a hint of satisfaction in each other's eyes. Higuchi Madoka was slightly startled and then looked away.

She didn't want to have such emotions.

"Hello, Director Takenaka, supervisors, and the five leading actors. What was the biggest difficulty you encountered during filming?"

Hearing the question return to general terms, Takenaka Kiyoshi nodded first, "Speaking of difficulties, I think the first is the weather. Many of our filming locations are off-site, and filming in the wild is sometimes humid and sometimes dry. This summer, there were thunderstorms from time to time, which caused considerable obstacles to filming outdoor scenes."

"And the equipment for filming."

What Kiyoshi Takenaka is talking about now are some professional terms, such as using the sun to shoot with a reflector, the camera getting damp, sometimes there is fog in the woods, and it is impossible to use aerial drones to shoot, and other unfavorable factors.

Although what he said was complicated, his meaning was very clear - the actors worked very hard and there were very few NGs, so we were able to speed up the filming progress a lot under these unfavorable weather conditions.

The reporter thanked Director Takenaka for his answer and then turned to the five leading actors.

"...Well, I think indoor scenes are also difficult to shoot."

The weather was left out, and Ken Sano thought for a moment before saying, "We shot a lot of night scenes. During rehearsal, the lights inside the mansion were on. We needed to remember our positions and directions at that time so that we could succeed when shooting without lights."

"It's so dark... Just standing there feels creepy."

When Kashima Yu came to this point, he stroked the goose bumps on his arms, with a look of fear on his face.

The boy nodded in agreement. Under the darkness of the night, the entire mansion seemed to be covered with a strange veil. Although he knew in his heart that all this was fake, when he put himself into the role during filming, he could still feel the creepy atmosphere.

Not to mention the frightening geographical environment, the fake blood and broken arms made by the props team make people feel like they are there inadvertently.

"The darkness during filming makes the actors' action scenes much more difficult." Sakurajima Mai said, looking at the reporter who asked the question, "Friction, falling and bumping into the wall are inevitable. Filming at night probably has the most NGs."

Takenaka Kiyoshi nodded in agreement.

"However, this kind of environment can help actors quickly integrate into their roles."

Sakakibara Kaede echoed, "In that environment, everything about city life fades away, and the only thing left in my mind is the mansion in front of me."

Several people thought about the real fear they felt during filming. Sometimes, without even trying, they would unconsciously get into the role. . . Such a feeling is indeed very rare.

A real environment is required to achieve this.

Some movies use green screens during filming, relying on post-production to add backgrounds and effects. This is common in movie making and is nothing wrong. In this case, the actors need to immerse themselves in their own fictional world, performing things that do not exist in real life and belong only to their own fantasy.

But the will-o'-the-wisp fire in midsummer is different.

This movie was shot on location. Although there were delays and NGs due to lighting, location, and weather issues during filming, it allowed the actors to experience everything the characters were experiencing.

This was a rare experience for the five of them.

At the film press conference, after reporters asked about the expected box office and the director's opinion of the actors, the questions became relatively casual. They would also ask specific questions to certain actors and inquire about gossip within the crew.

"Actor Sakakibara, what was your biggest improvement and gain from filming this movie?"

The boy nodded slightly. This question is quite good. . . Look at the previous questions. They were either asking him who he was paired with in the drama, or asking him how he felt about Higuchi-san being paired with him. Aren’t all these reporters CP bosses?

“I think my biggest improvement is being able to play different types of roles.”

Sakakibara Kaede's words set the theme for what she said next, "When I was acting in TV dramas before, the characters I played were silent and obscure. I can see the shadow of the past in such characters."

Mai Sakurajima looked at the boy. She had never heard him say that before.

Maybe... She had heard of him, but Mai Sakurajima subconsciously regarded Kaede Sakakibara as a reliable and popular senior.

She even felt that the character played by Sakakibara Kaede, Mizuno Hayabusa, in this movie was his true appearance during his time at Sobu High School.

"This time I'm trying out a completely new role..."

The boy said this and looked at director Kiyoshi Takenaka, who nodded to him, indicating that he could continue.

Simply talking about the characters' personalities is not considered a spoiler, and their promotional video is almost ready. In a short video of less than a minute, we can see all kinds of people clearly, so there is no harm in revealing some of it now.

"This time I played a sunny squad leader type of role. This was my first time playing such a role. To be honest, it took me a long time to get into the role at first."

The boy had mixed feelings when he said this, the protagonists in anime are usually not this kind of popular live-action class leader role, and neither are the protagonists of galgames.

Therefore, in order to find materials, he paid special attention to the image of the male protagonist's gay friend when promoting galgame before entering the role.

Most of the gay friends are generally good-looking, but not popular with women. They can help the male protagonist in various places, and sometimes even act as wingmen to provide assists, etc.

What is the way of being a gay friend? This is also a profound subject.

"I can try and master a new type of role, which is my biggest gain from participating in this filming." Sakakibara paused and continued, "Of course, the filming is not over yet, and my learning journey has just begun. I hope Director Takenaka can give me more guidance."

Perfect answer.