278. If you shoot a gangster movie in Showa, your life may be in danger.
...
After meeting someone in a teahouse, Nagayama Naoki had a subconscious shadow about the high consumption there.
Even though I knew it was my own store, I felt it was a bit exaggerated.
Therefore, the meeting with Mieko Harada was arranged at the studio where the office is located.
Mieko Harada's acting career can be said to be smooth sailing.
Since her debut on the big screen at the age of 16 in "Love in the Green Wind", she has participated in many movies directed by well-known directors. Her outstanding acting skills and unique personality have allowed her to leave her own mark in the entertainment industry.
He also won the Newcomer Award in various awards including the Film Blue Ribbon Award.
Last year, the TV series "Love in the North Country", also produced by Fuji TV, also achieved good ratings.
When Naoki Nagayama saw the actor in the conference room of the studio, she was only wearing a simple gray cashmere sweater and a pair of jeans. She had a hairpin in her loose black hair. She looked simple, free and easy.
At first glance, Naoki Nagayama did not feel the stunning beauty of the Showa era that was later called it. Instead, he looked like an ordinary college student.
The person who came with her was her manager Naoyuki Okazaki, who was wearing a black suit very formally. After seeing Naoki Nagayama and Otomo Yoshimura, he stood up respectfully and introduced himself:
"Good morning, I am Naoyuki Okazaki, the manager of the dance promotion agency. This is the actor Mieko Harada. This is the first time we meet..."
Fangcun Dayou, who had just entered the door, also responded quickly:
"Hi, this is the first time we meet. I am Otomo Yoshimura, the head of Shuyu Pictures. This is Naoki Nagayama, the president. Please give me your advice."
You have to bow and bow every time. Meeting a stranger in Japan is such a hassle...
After the meeting etiquette was completed, the two parties finally sat down and started chatting. Since Shuyou Pictures had directly approached the actors, the content of the story was of course also shown to them.
"Sa, how do you feel about the script, Ms. Harada?"
"It's a very novel campus love story."
Harada Mieko did not have stage fright, but expressed her feelings openly. After all, she has participated in more than ten movies and TV shows and is already a very mature actor.
"But I have a question. Generally speaking, shouldn't actors who have just debuted in such campus youth romance dramas be cast? Why did you cast them on me?"
No matter that Naoyuki Okazaki, the manager next to her, kept winking, Mieko Harada still asked her question. After all, she was already 24 years old, and it could be said that there was a big gap between her and high school.
Yoshimura Otomo looked at Nagayama Naoki,
"Ms. Harada, it's like this..." Naoki Nagayama organized his words, "Actually, as the absolute heroine of this drama, if you want to show the charm that attracts the attention of several male protagonists, it is definitely not just about appearance.
Achievable."
The story is set about the son of the four major chaebols. What kind of beauties have I not seen~
"Although I have made certain settings in the story, such as character, perseverance, plot twists, etc., if I want to express this character and make the male protagonist accept it, I still need a female actor with excellent acting skills.
main character."
"Judging from Ms. Harada's previous films, she is very suitable for her both in terms of acting skills and personality traits."
The heroine of "Boys Over Flowers" comes from a poor background and has a character as tenacious and unyielding as a weed, which is actually quite consistent with Mieko Harada's background.
"As for age and stuff..."
Naoki Nagayama looked at Mieko Harada in front of her. With her big eyes and delicate facial features, a lot of the plump baby fat she had when she first debuted has been lost, and now the thin layer just shows a tough look.
"Ms. Harada looks exactly like a high school graduate who just graduated. She is the least to worry about~"
After receiving a small compliment from the handsome guy, Harada Mieko, who was sitting opposite, became obviously happy.
"President Yongshan gave me the award..."
The ensuing contract negotiations were very boring. They mainly consisted of a verbal spat between Otomo Yoshimura and Naoyuki Okazaki. At this time, Mieko Harada and Naoki Nagayama started chatting in a low voice:
"President Nagayama, I have been a little curious since just now. The name Nagayama Naoki is exactly the same as the author of a novel I have read."
Nagayama Naoki smiled: "Is Miss Harada talking about "Love Letter"?"
"Hi!" Mieko Harada nodded, then realized, "Is it possible?"
"Ah, yes, "Love Letter" is exactly my humble work."
"Todoroki?!" Mieko Harada's sudden voice made Otomo Yoshimura and Naoyuki Okazaki, who were negotiating, look over.
"Is President Nagayama actually the author of "Love Letter"?"
Suddenly meeting a book lover and an actor whom he wanted to collaborate with, Nagayama Naoki was also surprised: "Hi..."
Mieko Harada transformed into a little fan girl and began to ask about various details of the creation of "Love Letter". She even forced Naoki Nagayama to recall the plot of "Love Letter" again...
It wasn't until the two agents had negotiated the contract that the little fan girl reluctantly stopped asking questions, but she still left a request;
"Teacher Naoki, be sure to sign your autograph for me next time we meet!"
...
"Naoki-san, I didn't expect you to be such a famous writer!"
Yoshimura Otomo is not very interested in reading. At most, he only listens to other people talk about best-sellers when chatting, so he doesn't know much about the popularity of "Love Letter".
And this time, he actually met a fan of Naoki Nagayama when he was discussing cooperation with an actor. Such a small chance really surprised him.
"Yeah, I'm a little surprised too~"
Nagayama Naoki was also a bit confused. He had previously communicated with fans of "Love Letter" through letters, but suddenly he met a live fan and almost choked on the strange questions.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "However, Harada Mieko is confirmed as the heroine." Nagayama Naoki did not hesitate too much, "Otomo-san, how is the youth team?"
"Ah, when Johnny's manager contacted me before, he suddenly mentioned Shibu Persimmons and Tahara Trio, and said he wanted to talk to me in person."
"Eh? What's going on? We are definitely looking for the youth team?"
"I don't know...it feels like there's an internal fight for resources?"
"Will Otomo-san meet with Johnny's manager today?" Nagayama Naoki originally wanted to call the youth team to ask.
"Hi, around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Naoki-san, do you want to come with us?"
Nagayama Naoki shook his head. He was not very interested in meeting an old man: "I won't go. It should be a sure thing. Let's have a good chat with Otomo-san. It's best to understand the reasons.
."
"Hi!"
Yoshimura Otomo packed up the materials in the conference room and walked towards the office, but suddenly he remembered something: "Naoki-san, there seems to be a problem with Shuichi-san's movie shooting... Shuichi-san is very distressed now.
"
Originally, "Boys Over Flowers" was scheduled to be filmed until the beginning of the year, and it would be completed in February at the most. In order to catch up with the filming schedule, Itou Shuichi has been working hard these days to catch up with the schedule. He has not seen anyone else for a long time.
If something goes wrong on the set, wouldn't he be able to catch up?
"Nani? What's wrong?"
"When Shuichi-san called yesterday, he mentioned that there seemed to be some bad guys hanging around the set...harassing them."
"Is there such a thing? Bad?"
Guys who are not even Yakuza actually have the guts to harass the filming of a movie? There must be a reason behind this.
You must know that when he was filming the movie, Kadokawa naturally greeted the local Yakuza people in Tokyo.
In Tokyo during the Showa era, if you made a yakuza movie but didn't communicate with the real yakuza, maybe if you did a good job, a group of boys in black would come to the set and let you film a real yakuza fight. This is real.
It will be life-threatening!
Although he and these people usually seem to be in two different time and space, Naoki Nagayama really knows how rampant the Yamaguchi-gumi is in Tokyo. Especially when the third generation died unexpectedly and the fourth generation was uncertain, the internal struggle became more sinister.
Even Shimizu's cousin Nagayama Kaede warned Nagayama Naoki not to withdraw into this kind of struggle.
Now Itou Shuichi seems to be involved with the underworld. Naoki Nagayama is also a little worried and plans to go over and take a look.
"Otomo-san, since I have nothing to do in the afternoon, I'll go visit Shuichi-san on the set~"
"Eh? Naoki-san..." Yoshimura Otomo noticed Naoki Nagayama's thoughts and didn't try to persuade him. He couldn't dispel his friend's good intentions. "Okay, Naoki-san, be careful~"
"Haha, it's just some bad tape."
.......
Itou Shuichi's studio is located in Yanaka, Taito District. Through his own connections, he rented an old teaching building at Tokyo University of the Arts as a filming base.
As a representative of Tokyo's Shitamachi culture, the traditional old architectural style and various small shops here, coupled with Sensoji Temple, Ueno Park and other scenic spots, are very suitable for taking pictures full of old-era life.
Itou Shuichi chose this place at first, and it was indeed a good choice.
But at this time, Itou Shuichi was looking at the seven or eight delinquents surrounding the set with a sad face, both male and female, wearing school uniforms but smoking, talking and laughing without any scruples, and occasionally pointing at the shooting scene.
These bad guys just stood on the periphery and didn't do anything too extreme. When the crew asked, they couldn't get any information, and they couldn't just chase them away.
"Qingshui-san, what's going on with these bad things?" Itou Shuichi said helplessly to Renbo Qingshui, "Why did they suddenly start to appear?"
Renbo Qingshui also frowned: "Alas... Although I said hello before, the Matsuba Society seems to have changed its mind and wants to participate in the production."
"Participate in the production?" Itou Shuichi frowned even more, "Why? Kadokawa should have already talked with them, right?"
"Speaking of which, the movie market this year is too hot.
Didn't Kadokawa's gangster movie "Machine Gun and Sailor Suit" earn more than 2 billion at the box office? It made too much money...
The person who said hello at the beginning was also the Matsuba Society, so I was jealous!"
Itou Shuichi was puzzled: "Shouldn't that be raised when the film production committee is formed? The film is already halfway shot, so what's the point of suddenly getting involved?"
"Shuichi-san...this is a gang. They don't have any rules. When they see meat, they will want to take a bite."
Ren Boqingshui sighed. If something like this happened, he would usually ask a big boss in the gang to help mediate, and then give out a portion of the red envelope appropriately before it ends.
Itou Shuichi was angry: "Even if you are a gangster, you should be moral! You have obviously said hello in advance!"
...
When Naoki Nagayama arrived at the set, the entire crew was also in a state of pause.
With a quick sweep of his eyes, he discovered an angry Itou Shuichi, smoking a cigarette under the tree.
"Shuiichi-san!"
After quietly walking to the side, Naoki Nagayama called out suddenly, scaring the cigarette out of Itou Shuichi's hand...
"Naoki, you guy!" As soon as the startled Itou Shu reacted, he saw Nagayama Naoki's hateful smiling face, "Scared me... why are you here?"
"I heard Otomo-san said that you are having some trouble here, so I came to see if Shuichi-san was okay. How is it? Has it been resolved?"
Itou Shuichi pointed at the studio and a group of bad guys not far away: "You can tell by looking at it... They are still in a stalemate."
"Then the producers have thought of anything?" Naoki Nagayama looked left and right, "Why don't you see Ren Ha Shimizu?"
"I went to deal with this matter and went to visit the Matsuba Society with Minister Isao Morikawa of Kadokawa." Itou Shuichi said, "But it does look like he is going to bleed."
With a box office of nearly 2 billion in front of us, it is impossible for Matsuba to let it go.
Itou Shuichi suddenly looked at Nagayama Naoki: "Naoki-san, is there anything you can do?"
"Um...Xiu Yi-san, you mean to find my cousin?"
"almost...."
Nagayama Naoki was a little speechless: "Shuichi-san... That's Shizuoka over there, and Tokyo here... There is a very important rule in the gang organization called the scope of activities, also called the jurisdiction.
If an organization from Shizuoka came to take charge of Tokyo's affairs, it would be considered to be out of bounds."
"Aren't they all from the Yamaguchi-gumi?" Itou Shuichi scratched his head, "Isn't it just a matter of saying this?"
"The Yamaguchi-gumi in Tokyo and the Yamaguchi-gumi in Shizuoka also have a competitive relationship. Are you really the same gang in the world? ...Besides, isn't your area under the jurisdiction of the Matsuba Association?"
Naoki Nagayama didn't say anything yet. If Matsuba is jealous, wouldn't the Yamaguchi-gumi, who are bigger than him, be jealous? The gang organization, despite being promoted as a legitimate organization, is actually just a group of evil wolves.
"Sigh... If we can't reach an agreement, the movie won't be filmed..." Itou Shuichi was a little depressed, "Then it might not be able to keep up with Naoki-san's new TV series..."
Shuichi Itou doesn't feel any pity for this movie. He is worried that he will not be able to keep up with the schedule and miss the filming of "Boys Over Flowers".
"Eh? If we stop filming, wouldn't we be able to join Naoki-san's team directly?" Itou Shuichi's eyes lit up.
Naoki Nagayama threw cold water and said: "Don't think too much... There is a high probability that it will be solved soon. The human resources of the Kadokawa Group cannot be underestimated!"
As a large publishing group, the connections in the political circles are complex. If Haruki Kadokawa is angry, it is not impossible to ask friends in the political circles to help undermine the Matsuba Society.
"Before this, Xiu Yisang just remember to take care of yourself~"
