Life in Tokyo starting as a child star

"What kind of movie is it? A big river movie?"

Qingshuishan, who was sitting next to him, was the first to express doubts.

The so-called Taiga drama can actually be regarded as a Japanese historical drama. It is a long-form TV drama that mainly takes a Japanese character or era as its theme and requires specific historical facts.

For example, it is similar to the filming of historical TV series such as "Zhu Yuanzhang" and "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty" within the Chinese dynasty.

Works about rivers have a wide audience in Japan and are very popular among the people.

Therefore, as long as the quality is not particularly shoddy, you can basically get good profits in the market.

Tanaka Kenzo's main focus is river-type and period-type movies and TV series.

Therefore, when talking about Tanaka Kenzo's movies, Qingshuishan naturally thinks of this aspect first.

However--

"Actually, it's not a traditional big river movie. To be precise, it should be a period movie with strong artistic processing. Hmm."

Tanaka Kenzo raised his chopsticks to pick up a piece of sashimi and put it into his mouth. His big, smooth bald head was particularly eye-catching under the light.

He spoke.

"Qingshui, you should know "Swordsman Den", right?"

""Swordsman Den"? Uh...? Wait a minute, are you talking about the "Swordsman Den" produced by Kadokawa Pictures?"

Qingshuishan picked up the pickled vegetables with his chopsticks and paused for a moment, then looked at Tanaka Kenzo in surprise.

After getting a nod of confirmation from the other party.

Qingshuishan then looked at Bei Chengshi with a sigh on his face.

"Boy Beicheng, you are so lucky. You actually got the opportunity to audition for "Swordsman Den" for free."

He sighed, hoping to see the excitement on Beicheng Minoru's face.

However--

"Huh? "Swordsman Den"?"

Kitagami, who was listening carefully to the conversation between the two, did not show any particularly excited expression. Instead, he turned his gaze strangely.

It was as if he didn't know what Qingshuishan was talking about.

This made Qingshui Shan a little surprised. He looked at the other party in disbelief:

"Boy Beicheng. Is it possible that you don't know "Swordsman Den"?"

"I usually read the college entrance examination questions from Tokyo University, Keidai and some other famous universities. I don't have time to read comics. Is it famous? This work?"

Kitaki looked curiously.

There is really no way around this.

Qingshuishan was speechless. He had almost forgotten that Kitumi Minoru was a freak who wanted to get into Tokyo University and Keida University since he was eight years old. He could only explain patiently.

It is different from the previous horror novel-adapted movie "The Resentment".

The original work of "Swordsman Den" is a swordsman type comic work.

But it's different from ordinary comics.

"Swordsman Den" is a truly extremely popular comic, and it has been serialized for 21 years.

There have been many feature-length animations, and they are truly masterpieces that are well known to the Japanese public.

To be blunt, many Japanese grew up watching "Swordsman Den".

but--

"In other words, a live-action movie adapted from a comic book?"

Hearing this, Kitazumi probably understood what it meant.

After all, live-action movie adaptations of popular comic works are not uncommon in the industry.

but--

"I remember that the revenue from comic book movies in the industry has never been very optimistic, right?"

Considering that Tanaka Kenzo was by his side, Kitami Minoru's words were a little more reserved.

He really didn't know what was going on in the comic "Swordsman Den".

But let’s talk about the current status of live-action movies adapted from manga in the Japanese industry.

To be blunt, Beicheng could be described as "a complete mess".

For a movie based on a live-action manga, it is considered normal to lose hundreds of thousands of yen.

Some time ago, Kitami Minori also heard that the film industry had adapted a famous comic book, which was claimed to be a "definitely profitable" comic book masterpiece and a big IP.

The result was a production of 90 million yen and a loss of 80 million yen.

Not to mention that the box office of 10 million yen could not make up for it, and the reputation was not good, and it was criticized by a lot of fans of the original work on social networks.

Even the directors and actors have received death threats from comic fans, who want to eat them alive.

It can also be seen from this.

Adapting movies from comics is definitely a nightmare for most directors, and it is the ultimate thankless task.

For this reason, there is also a popular saying in the industry when it comes to live-action movies adapted from comics, which is ‘if you can make money, you will be considered a success, and if you can make money back, you will not lose money’.

Comics have been transformed into movies, and this statement is by no means groundless.

However--

"'Swordsman's Den' is different from that kind of adaptation, Beicheng boy."

Qingshuishan saw what Beicheng was thinking at a glance and spoke with a smile.

"'Swordsman Den' has been adapted into three movies so far, but the average box office is no less than 3 billion yen. Do you know what this concept is?"

He held out three fingers.

"Three movie works, each with an average of 3 billion yen, and the best result is 4.56 billion yen. Let's put it this way, "Swordsman Den" is the best-performing manga adaptation in the industry today. There is no one."

Kitaki Minoru nodded.

really.

If it is true as Qingshuishan said.

With an average box office revenue of 3 billion yen per film, even if you don’t look at it from the perspective of a comic film, the results of "Swordsman Den" are still very good.

but--

"According to Uncle Shimizu, the protagonist of "Kengouden" should be a young man or boy, right?"

Kitasumi turned his eyes to Kenzo Tanaka, a little surprised.

"If that's the case, why did you ask me to audition for the main role?"

Yes.

Why would a boy or young man protagonist ask him to audition for a child role?

An eight-year-old kid swinging a knife on the screen?

Is it interesting?

It feels a bit awkward no matter how you look at it, right?

The key is that it doesn't make sense.

"Kengou probably doesn't know that the fifth volume of "Kengouden" "The Return to Youth" tells the story of the protagonist Aoki Kenichi and his friends exploring their enemies, stepping into the dragon vein, and accidentally returning to youth."

Speaking of this, Kenzo Tanaka also had a headache.

As a comic reader.

The protagonist's body becoming smaller can bring readers a fresh sense of contrast, make the plot more interesting, and allow the protagonist to have closer contact with some women, giving readers some "benefits" that readers like to see at the comic level.

But the medium of movies and comics is different.

For this type of swordsman movie, the role of a child actor cannot be more photogenic than that of a young or teenage actor.

But he had no choice.

The original plot is like this.

Moreover, the plot of the original "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is also very good. The part where Kenichi Aoki, who seems to be indifferent and even disgusted with others, shows true feelings when he sees the death of his friend is particularly touching.

If one is not done well, the entire crew may have to play a wave of "Nine Clans Elimination" in the fans' little notebooks.

In serious cases, people may spit on them when walking outside.

After all, the original "Kengouden" is really popular.

And the film adaptation of "Kengouden" itself was not the responsibility of Kenzo Tanaka.

It was just that the director who was responsible for the adaptation of the first three parts suddenly had a car accident.

There was really no way, so he could only change the generals at the last minute, and he picked Kenzo Tanaka, who is good at shooting big river and period movies.

When I think of this.

Kenzo Tanaka's heart was beating fast.

What are these superiors thinking?

Do they really know the difference between Taiga drama, period drama and "Kengouden" which is more action-oriented?

He was a little speechless.

But the superiors at Kadokawa Pictures asked him to do so.

He could only bite the bullet and take on this job.

At the same time, he asked someone to communicate with the original author of the manga, Mayu Watanabe.

He hoped to change the protagonist of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" to a more youthful boy or young actor.

Otherwise, this work would really be ruined in his hands.

But he was kicked out by the other party with "If you can't do it, don't do it! Don't think about changing other people's works casually!"

Whether it was the superior on the left or the original author of the manga on the right, both sides were playing a mixed doubles against him.

He almost lost all his hair in the past two days.

Fortunately, it was at this time.

He discovered Kitasumi in "Human Investigation"

The other party's handsome and cute appearance, as well as his mature and steady style

Especially his look of disgust and disgust, thinking "this person is really troublesome", really has the feeling of Kenichi Aoki in the comics.

So——

"Kitasumi-kun! You must come to our "Kengouden" audition!"

Without saying a word, he grabbed Kitasumi's palm again, feeling the change of expression on the other party's handsome and cute face and the beautiful eyebrows that began to wrinkle

Tanaka Kenzo became excited.

Yes! Yes!

That's the look!

That's what he wants!