They all pushed me!

"Are you here to ask about Tokyo BLADE as well?"

As she spoke, she also cast a sharp look at Kurokawa Akane who walked into the room and naturally closed the door, and said sharply:

"But what I want to say is that I will definitely be the winner this time."

"……Fine."

"But if Kana loses again, the score will become 4 to 3. I'm ahead again."

Faced with Arima Kana's sudden declaration of war, Kurokawa Akane was no exception. Ever since the two of them marketed their relationship with nine-tenths truth and one-tenth falsehood a few years ago, there have been nosy media reporters following their audition competition, and even listed the scores between them with exaggeration, writing about the competition between the two so far in a specious manner, and listing the scores with interest, and concluded that Arima Kana had the upper hand before the age of ten and Kurokawa Akane had the upper hand after the age of ten.

Beichuan Liang, who was sitting behind his desk, watched the two people exchange glances without giving in, and unconsciously pulled the corner of his mouth:

That is to say, is there a possibility?

Ruby is also competing with you for this role?

Chapter 2: Drinking Wine and Talking about Heroes

As the undisputed number one hit in the past two years, it can be said that every adaptation of "Tokyo BLADE" is attracting a lot of attention, and the Japanese industry is also quite familiar with how to build a series of IPs. From comics to animations to theatrical versions, coupled with the continuous release of comic-adapted novels, the one-stop industrial chain has always ensured the exposure of this IP to the public. If nothing unexpected happens, after this 2.5-dimensional stage play project, the subsequent IP creation will be the turn of the complete movie version starring real people.

As the starting point for "Tokyo BLADE" to move from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional, since the announcement of the plan for this 2.5-dimensional stage play, relevant information including the cast, stage director, production team, etc. has received widespread attention.

After all, there are a lot of IPs in China that died at the step from two to three. Many times, even the loyal fans of the original work often advise passers-by to stay away from such live-action adaptations. It was not until the official "Tokyo BLADE" officially announced that its cooperation partner was the LALALAI Theater Company that such doubts and concerns finally subsided.

After all, as the first and most successful well-known theater troupe to undergo commercial transformation, LALALAI Theater has accumulated a very reliable and solid reputation in the past decade, especially in the field of 2.5-dimensional stage plays. It has received unanimous praise for its cast and the adaptability of stage equipment. There are even rumors on the Internet that the original authors of many comics specifically hope that LALALAI Theater will be responsible for the adaptation of their works.

After the LALALAI Theater Company was officially confirmed as the cooperative team, fans of the original work naturally began to make related associations. It goes without saying that Ryo Kitagawa, who has already locked on to play the male protagonist BLADE, is the right person for the film. After all, the original author of the comic, Abiko Samejima, has already publicly admitted that part of the inspiration for the entire comic and the related appearance design of the male protagonist were based on him as a reference. It would be better to say that they would find it strange if it wasn't Ryo Kitagawa who played the role.

Because it was announced in advance that the content of this stage play adaptation corresponds to the "Shibuya Protest" in the second part of the original work, many netizens happily began to pair up the characters that were emphasized and appeared in this part of the original work and some famous representative actors in the LALALAI theater. Then it quickly turned into an electronic cricket fight and a comparison of combat power. One moment, some people said that Kurokawa Akane was simply the most ideal actor to play Shoji in their minds, and the next moment, some netizens who claimed to be fans of Magana came up to interrupt and said that Kurokawa Akane could be played by anyone except Shoji, which quickly led to the whole discussion thread being distorted. Fans of Kurokawa Akane immediately came to the rescue and claimed that someone should stop trying to play Shoji in the stage play, and the several parties quickly started fighting.

In a sense, although the cast has not yet been officially announced, the related discussion and traffic have been spontaneously hyped up, and as a result, it has actually attracted a lot of passers-by who were not interested in stage play performances.

As the popularity of the play continues to rise, the opportunity to perform in this stage play has naturally become a hot commodity in the eyes of many people in the industry. As the general person in charge of this project and the representative of the event's operation, Lei Tian Chengxian, who is only in his early thirties this year, is certainly one of the people who knows this best. After all, in just two days, he has received too many calls or text messages asking him about this matter.

"But I don't trust those guys completely. The one who is most skilled in this area must be Kaburagi-chan. Should there be some good candidates on hand?"

Looking at the young man with a bright smile in front of him, Kaburagi Katsuya silently complained in his heart whether those who work in the second dimension like to use such strange names, but he still replied calmly without any disturbance:

"Of course there are. The children I can introduce to you are all young people who will have great prospects in the future."

After hearing Kaburagi Katsuya's affirmative statement, Kaminari Sumiaki also nodded, but immediately came over and winked at him and said:

"I heard that Kaburagi-chan is very familiar with the artists at Kitagawa Ryo's agency? Right now, Kurokawa Akane and Arima Kana are very popular on the Internet. I also want to see them perform on the same stage. What do you think, Kaburagi-chan?"

"That's it..."

Upon hearing this, Kaburagi Katsuya just took a sip of the beer in his hand, raised his head and smiled:

"I can only say that this is something that is very likely to happen."

"Then I'll have to look forward to it."

Kaminari Sumiaki smiled and reached out to clink glasses with Kaburagi Katsuya. After taking a big gulp of half a glass of beer, he began to look forward to the future with great interest:

"If Akane Kurokawa plays Shoji and Kana Arima plays Kengi, it feels like they are both suitable and will be a hot topic. After all, it is Kitagawa who plays Blade. To be honest, when Tomorrow and Pest were broadcast one after another, I found that the three of them had a high compatibility."

"The role hasn't been decided yet. Although there is indeed a lot of demand for it online, it will ultimately depend on the results of the auditions."

Kaburagi Katsuya shook his head, suddenly pointed at Kaminari Sumiaki who was sitting opposite him, and said with a smile:

"In this regard, the two of us are not qualified to speak. The opinions of the stage director Kindaichi Toshiro, the original author Samejima Abiko, and the only confirmed leading actor Kitagawa Ryo are undoubtedly more important."

Facing Kaburagi Katsuya's somewhat sharp remarks, Raita Sumiaki did not seem to be angry, but nodded happily:

"Indeed, I was just saying it casually. Professional matters should be left to professionals after all. I know this too. Kaburagi-chan will be responsible for attracting people, and I will be responsible for overall coordination and operation and promotion. As long as the final effect is satisfactory, it will be fine."

"Hmm... But to be honest, among these three people, I think Mr. Kindaichi has more say."

But immediately Kaminari Sumiaki added that after all, Kindaichi Toshiro himself was one of the most experienced veterans in the industry, and this stage play was ultimately structured around the actors of the LALALAI troupe. In addition, he had also heard that Kindaichi Toshiro himself was the closest and most respected elder of Kitagawa Ryo, so it was natural for him to come to this conclusion.

"Well, actually, Ms. Samejima Abiko's opinion is also very important."

After hearing what Kaminari Akira said, Kaburagi Katsuya just shook his head slightly and spoke slowly and calmly. However, the content of his words made Kaminari Akira himself sweat.

"Mr. Raida should have heard similar rumors before. Ms. Samejima Abiko has always been very strict about the licensing of Tokyo BLADE. No matter what kind of formal authorization you want to obtain, you need to get her personal certification. In the past two years, there have been many lawsuits filed against Tokyo BLADE's insulting fan creations and vulgar figure manufacturers, but because the scale is relatively small, no one has reported it."

"Ms. Samejima Abiko is a person of this character. In a sense, she wants to present the most perfect effect just like you, Mr. Raida. But on the other hand, if she is not satisfied, the other party will ruthlessly revoke the permission for this stage play adaptation. The penalty and contract cannot restrain her."

At this point, Kaburagi Katsuya couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head:

"She has been a super popular idol for more than four years, and now she has become a popular cartoonist. The tens of millions of dollars in liquidated damages are just a number in people's eyes. She is definitely able and willing to spend the money."

Seeing that Raita Sumiaki was stunned by his words, Kaburagi Katsuya smiled and comforted him:

"But there's no need to worry too much. Didn't the animation and theatrical version of Tokyo BLADE have no major problems? And she was personally responsible for the script this time. If you think positively, this has already avoided a wave of conflicts between the playwright and the original author."

"makes sense."

Upon hearing this, Lei Tian Chengzhang also breathed a sigh of relief. As a practitioner in this field, he knew best how common and difficult to deal with conflicts between playwrights and original authors were in this kind of adaptation work, and it often ended up that no one could convince the other.

"And I have to point out that Ryo's opinion will be very important. After all, both Kindaichi-san and Samejima-san Abiko have very good relationships with him. If they really disagree, he will have to make the decision. Whether it's Shojime, Kengi, or any other character, they will always have the most scenes with him as the protagonist."

As he said this, Kaburagi Katsuya also made a self-deprecating remark:

"Everyone has different ideas. For example, my attitude towards this project is that I will do whatever is popular. I am a thorough businessman."

"No, if that's the case, then I am the same, right? After all, I have nearly a thousand people who depend on me for their livelihood. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to get the right to operate this project."

Raita Sumiaki waved his hand casually, propped his chin up and spoke to Kaburagi Katsuya:

"Since Kaburagi-chan knows so much, do you know if any of those three people have someone they already love? Especially regarding the selection of Sayahime."

Because the main adaptation is the second part of the original work, "Shibuya Fight", and in the original work, Sayahime, who is the leader of the Shibuya Group, is naturally the well-deserved female lead of this stage play, so Kaminari Sumiaki specifically asked such a question.

"Well, this question... Mr. Raida should have seen the list of people who auditioned this time. There is a girl among them who has a very close relationship with all three of them, right?"

After being reminded by Kaburagi Katsuya, Raita Sumiaki immediately narrowed his eyes and replied:

"Kitagawa Rumi?"

Frankly speaking, he was already impressed when he first saw this name on the cast list today. After all, among all the names surrounding her, Kitagawa Rumi is almost the only pure newcomer without any representative works. It is really hard not to notice her.

Since ACE graduated, compared to Samejima Abiko who became famous through the hit of "Tokyo BLADE" and MEM啾 who focused on live streaming and making videos and also had a high exposure, Kitagawa Rumi, one of the trio, has been somewhat silent in the past two years. The last time she appeared in the public eye was when she was photographed at the graduation ceremony of Yangdong High School not long ago.

"This is her advantage and also her disadvantage."

Kaburagi Katsuya lowered his eyes, swirled the beer in his glass, looked at the snow-white foam and spoke slowly:

"A lot of eyes are watching this audition. Even if we assume that Mr. Kindaichi, Ms. Samejima Abiko, and Ryo are the kind of people who would let their relatives and friends get in through the back door, as long as Ruby's performance fails to convince the crowd, everyone and even the reputation of this project will be ruined."

"really……"

Kaminari Sumiaki nodded thoughtfully, tilted his head back and drank the beer in his glass in one gulp. Suddenly he leaned forward and looked at Kaburagi Katsuya with a smile:

"What about Kaburagi-chan? Although our opinions may not be helpful, I still want to hear your opinion on the selection of the actress to play Sayahime."

"As for me——"

It seemed that he was not surprised that Raita Sumiaki would ask this question. Kaburagi Katsuya still looked calm and gave his answer casually:

"I would recommend Kitagawa Rumi to play the role of Shoji."

"what?"

Shocked by Kaburagi Katsuya's answer, Raita Sumiaki's voice unconsciously became louder, and the thick glass wine glass in his hand hit the table with a loud clang, and he looked at the other party in disbelief:

"Could it be that Kaburagi-chan is also close to Kitagawa Rumi... Speaking of which, Kaburagi-chan was indeed the producer of many of ACE's albums, including their debut album."

"Not for that reason."

Facing Raita Sumiaki's guess, Kaburagi Katsuya just shook his head slightly, but he did not intend to answer the other party's question directly. Instead, he asked him:

"Come to think of it, Mr. Raida, you should have read the manga "Tokyo BLADE", right?"

"Of course, that's what I do after all."

"Then Kaburagi-chan should also know that although with the current plot development, many people... well, how do you say that word, are supporting the CP of Kengi and the male protagonist. My daughter is also obsessed with this recently. But at least in the early days of the comics, including the Shibuya Fighting Arc, most people should like the pair of Sayahime and the male protagonist."

As he spoke, Kaburagi Katsuya took out his mobile phone from his pocket, found a screenshot from a few years ago, and showed it to Raita Sumiya.

It was a screenshot of a live broadcast that sparked widespread heated discussion at the time, and even led to the birth of a live broadcast program called "Today's Meal at the Beichuan Family", which is still broadcast irregularly today.

The brother and sister who unexpectedly appeared in the same frame and looked surprisingly photogenic almost made people unable to take their eyes off them.

"After all, if we really want to talk about the so-called CP feeling, then it's actually Ruby..."

“That’s the best one.”

Chapter 3: Restart!

Every time he stepped into the LALALAI theater building, Kitagawa Ryo had a real sense of trance. After all, if you counted the time, he had been here for twenty years. The front desk clerk in charge of reception had almost changed several times, and the troupe leader Kindaichi Toshiro had also grown from a middle-aged man in his thirties to an old man with half white hair and beard, although he was still single as always.

In fact, most people in the industry, even many people including Kindaichi Toshiro himself, did not expect that Kitagawa Ryo would continue his contract with the LALALAI Theater. Most of the terrible long-term contracts he had when he was a child star were the product of his stepfather Kitagawa Susumu's greed. It was not until he was around sixteen that all these contracts expired and he was able to get rid of these burdens, but this did not include the LALALAI Theater.

Frankly speaking, many people in Kitagawa Ryo's management team at the time agreed to terminate the contract right here and there. After all, Kitagawa Ryo was almost visibly heading towards the top at that time. The commercial value of the drama industry is really limited, but it takes a lot of time and effort to make connections. The input-output ratio is really too low. What's more, he himself had already won a grand slam of related awards in the past ten years, so he could be said to have retired with honor.

Admittedly, Kitagawa Ryo did debut in the LALALAI theater troupe and received help from this platform in the early stages of his career, but this was a mutually beneficial relationship. After all, before he emerged on the scene, the troupe was nothing more than a group of drama academy graduates who got together to form a fan club of some kind. It is no exaggeration to say that the building that the LALALAI theater troupe now occupies in the city center, which is the envy of other theater troupes, and the expensive stage equipment, almost every piece of which was brought by Kitagawa Ryo.

In other words, whether from a commercial perspective or a personal perspective, Kitagawa Ryo seemed to have no reason to renew his contract with LALALAI Theater. What's worse, at that time, LALALAI Theater was in a period of transition when Kitagawa Ryo himself was shifting his energy and work focus to film and television dramas. The contract offered to him was definitely not generous, and could even be said to be a bit shabby.

But at that time, Kitagawa Ryo still firmly rejected the advice of the agency team, and said directly in front of everyone, "There is no problem in extending this series for another ten years."

In fact, the ten-year contract that was renewed at that time had come to an end before the New Year. Just recently, Kitagawa Ryo once again renewed his contract with the LALALAI Theater, and the term was still ten years.

This is his third decade with the LALALAI Theater Company and Toshiro Kindaichi.

Although there have been many different opinions on the Internet about the relationship between Kitagawa Ryo and the LALALAI Theater, many people have vowed that in ten years the troupe will definitely be handed over to Kitagawa Ryo by Kindaichi Toshiro. After all, he has no biological children, and it is just a relationship of passing from left hand to right hand. However, he himself does not particularly care about these things.

The LALALAI Theater is a place where only first-rate actors gather. Its celebrity effect actually just paved a perfect beginning for this statement which is now widely recognized in the circle. The one who completely turned it into reality should be the director Kindaichi Toshiro. In the years after the Kitagawa Ryo era, he has done almost perfectly whether it is grasping the trend of the times and transforming in time, or actively absorbing new blood to complete the smooth iteration of the troupe's signature actors.

To be honest, Kitagawa Ryoya didn't think that he could do better or more outstandingly by putting himself in the other's position, although it seemed that Kindaichi Toshiro really wanted to adopt the troupe to him now.

The interior of the building and the rooms on each floor have actually undergone several rounds of renovation and decoration, but the layout is still familiar. After nodding and greeting the current receptionist, Kitagawa Ryo walked slowly to the practice room on the second floor. Suddenly, he realized that the receptionist who had just spoken to him was even younger than him, as if she had just graduated from college.

You know, although he was jokingly called the prince and absolute core of the troupe in his early years, because he was still a child and had a relatively easy-going personality, he seemed to be treated as a mascot among the troupe's staff. I remember that when he was teaching Hoshino Ai to perform, he had to move a stool to reach the high ground. At that time, it became a trendy hot topic that everyone in the troupe talked about and smiled knowingly.

In the past twenty years, some people have come and gone, some faces are familiar and some seem to be newcomers, but when Kitagawa Ryo opened the door of the practice room again, he was still subconsciously enveloped and infected by the passionate atmosphere in the room, which is unique to the LALALAI troupe. In the words of Toshiro Kindaichi, everyone here has the unwillingness to admit defeat that belongs to an actor. This is the confidence and foundation of the LALALAI troupe after so many years of development.

"Good afternoon, Kitagawa-senpai."

As the most senior veteran and soul figure in the entire troupe, Kitagawa Ryo attracted considerable attention as soon as he walked into the practice room. Many members who were practicing alone or taking a short break also greeted him. However, everyone knew that this senior in their troupe was not arrogant and did not like others to be respectful to him, so their attitudes were quite casual.

After briefly greeting a few members who were relatively close to him, Kitagawa Ryo spotted Himekawa Daiki, who was leaning against the wall and seemed to be taking a nap. He took two quick steps forward and sat next to him, smiling and greeting this rising star under his own agency in the past two years:

"Didn't you get enough rest, Himekawa? If Uncle Min sees you like this, he'll scold you again."

"…So it's Kitagawa-senpai, good morning? Or good afternoon, never mind."

As if he hadn't woken up yet, Himekawa Daiki half-opened his eyes sleepily, pushed up his glasses that were about to slide down his nose, and yawned:

"I'm really tired recently because I'm filming a movie."

As he spoke, he tilted his head again, his eyelids couldn't hold up and fell back, and his voice began to become gradually weaker:

"But I will try my best in the next audition—"

"Yeah, that's definitely okay."

Although the sloppy-looking Daiki Himekawa seemed unreliable, Kitagawa Ryo still nodded seriously and patted him gently on the shoulder. He was well aware of the character and abilities of Daiki Himekawa, who also came from the LALALAI troupe and is now an artist under his own agency.

Although it seemed that 50% of the popularity and traffic of "Tomorrow" was taken by Akane Kurokawa, 40% by Kana Arima, and 10% by Furiru Shiranui, in the industry's evaluation, Daiki Himekawa, who was also a newcomer, was also highly recognized. With the help of Kitagawa Ryo's connections, he soon got the opportunity to star in a monthly drama, and he did respond with a pretty perfect answer, becoming a representative figure among the new generation of male actors and his popularity soared.

In a sense, Kitagawa Ryo thinks that Himekawa Daiki is the one who best deserves the title of 'the next Kitagawa Ryo', but not because he is an actor and has won the same Imperial Drama Award for Best Actor as him, but because of his background. Similar to him, Himekawa Daiki was also a child brought up by Kindaichi Toshiro from an orphanage to support his studies and training, although he has never called Kindaichi Toshiro anything like father in all these years. This is his second failure.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was looking at Himekawa Daiki who seemed to have fallen asleep again and recalling some things related to him, the door of the practice room was soon pushed open again. Kurokawa Akane, who left home two steps later than him, arrived at this time. After quickly scanning the scene in the room, he found Kitagawa Ryo's position with his eyes lit up and walked towards him with brisk steps.

"It feels like I haven't seen Ryo-senpai in the troupe for a long time."

Kurokawa Akane sat down next to Kitagawa Ryo, first smiled sweetly at him, then held his chin and looked in other directions:

"Since Senior Liang has returned, everyone's enthusiasm for practice has increased compared to before."

"According to Akane's description, I'm probably equipped with some kind of range-enhancing buff. In fact, everyone is working very hard."

Although the troupe's signature actor who was taking a nap beside him looked a bit out of place, Beichuan Liang still smiled and replied:

"Acting with everyone in the troupe is actually more fun than participating in the filming of some large-scale film and television dramas, because everyone is one of the top actors."

While saying this, Kitagawa Ryo also deliberately increased the volume a little, physically giving the nearby members a visible buff that raised their mental state, then he turned around and looked at Kurokawa Akane, who was now almost seventeen years old, and asked:

"Akain, do you have a favorite role this time? It seems that many people on the Internet want you to play the role of Shoji."

Although the official auditions for "Tokyo BLADE" will not start until two days later, and the specific cast has not yet been announced except for himself, the popularity of the film has indeed been hyped up recently, and Kitagawa Ryo himself has also come across similar trends and topics.

"Well... Whether I'm reading the comics or the script, I actually think that playing every female character in it is very interesting. But just like what Ryo said, the role I want to play the most is definitely the role of Shoji, after all, she is the heroine this time."

Kurokawa Akane tilted his face slightly, with his slender fingers resting on the sofa, his eyes wandering on the ceiling for a long time, and finally he raised the corners of his mouth, looked directly into Kitagawa Ryo's dark pupils and gave his answer.