Tokyo Bubble Life

After entering November, Japan has reached the most suitable season for autumn leaf hunting.

Tokyo's roadside parks and public gardens are filled with eye-catching maple trees.

The red ones are like fire, the bright yellow ones are like brocade, the tender green ones are like the new leaves of spring, and there is also a tree where the colors turn from green to yellow and then gradually to red, like a colorful masterpiece specially painted by autumn.

On such a day, an artist and singer under Shuyou officially debuted!

The song "My Friend", with the warm voice of Izumi Sakai, captured the hearts of the audience at once, just like the warm sunshine in autumn.

Izumi Sakai already had the fame brought by the "Voice of Japan", and her performance at the Tokyo International Film Festival brought her even greater exposure. The debut song that followed just caught up with the popularity and immediately rushed into the top ten of the Japanese Music Oricon Chart.

And the popularity of the song is still rising, heading towards the top three
Nowadays, the melody of this song is echoing in record stores, karaoke bars, KTVs and alleys. For a time, it was even more popular than the top idols.
Moreover, Izumi Sakai frequently appears in various audio shows on TV. With her cool appearance and gentle elder sister temperament, Izumi Sakai has attracted countless fans of all ages.
"Where is the next stop?" Izumi Sakai asked, breathing lightly as she sat in the car.

Horiuchi Yufu, who was driving in front, took a look at the itinerary:

"My next schedule is TBS, I will be on "The Best Ten"!"

"Okay, call me when you get there." Izumi Sakai closed her eyes in the back row, "I want to take a nap. I'm so tired."

"Hi"

Horiuchi Isamu nodded and drove more steadily. These days were the time for promoting the new song, and both the singer himself and his agent were very tired.

However, they are still not as good as top idols because they do not need to participate in other types of variety shows. Top idols want to increase their exposure, so they have to participate in all kinds of variety shows.

It is possible to have more than 20 itineraries in one day!
When Akimoto Yasushi, a member of TBS TV, who was recording "Fighting People" outside, learned that Izumi Sakai was coming, he expressed his feelings:

"As expected, the popularity of idols is declining. The idol industry is not doing well~"

"What?" The program director next to him, Mitsuhiko Inagaki, said in surprise, "How could the popularity of idols drop? Weren't they very popular? Even the comeback of Akina Nakamori caused a lot of discussion, didn't it?"

"Akina Nakamori, she is no longer an idol." Akimoto Yasushi waved his hand, "This song, 'Passion', is still a previous plan. It's just the last chance to show off the remaining enthusiasm this year."

"I did some research and found out that she will have a few albums next year. I heard that Akina Nakamori personally selected the lyrics and music for all of them. She wants to create excellent works in Akina Nakamori's style. She is already on the path to becoming a professional singer."

The program director, Mitsuhiko Inagaki, curled his lips:

"Why not let her husband Naoki Nagayama take control? Isn't he a gold medalist musician~"

Akimoto Yasushi rolled up the newspaper in his hand and hit Inagaki Mitsuhiko on the head:
"This is what shows that Akina Nakamori is serious about making her own music! If it's for making money, it would be easy to let Naoki-san write the songs. Wouldn't it be easier to just star in Naoki-san's movie?"

If you just want to make money, you might as well please your husband~
"."

Inagaki Mitsuhiko scratched his head, still not understanding.

"That's just Akina Nakamori, why do you say the idol industry is failing?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mitsuhiko-san, you need to open up your horizons!" Akimoto Yasushi shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his hands and looked at the beautiful autumn scenery in the park. "The current idol industry is like this gorgeous autumn scenery, but after that it will be a cold winter!"

"???"

"Baga, look at how many talent shows there are this year. How many new idol stars have emerged?!"

Seeing that his subordinate was so stupid, Akimoto Yasushi couldn't help but hit him on the head with the paper roll again.
"Look at what people are singing in KTV?!"

"It's rock and disco!"

"Idols' songs aren't that popular anymore! Record sales are dropping!"

He pointed to the photo of Izumi Sakai in the newspaper and said:

"Look at how popular cool queens like Izumi Sakai are. The era of teenage idols is about to pass!"

As one of the few people in the entertainment industry who is sensitive to changes in the industry, Akimoto Yasushi saw the trend after idols were disqualified as early as the "Twilight Meow" period. There were not many people continuing to tell the stories of girl idols, so he introduced amateur students into the ranks of idols and made a lot of money by taking advantage of this last glory.

He now has a high reputation and status in the industry. He also owns a long-running comedy variety show like "Fight People", and has firmly established himself in the entertainment industry.

In fact, apart from Shizuka Kudo and Yukiko Okada, there are really few newcomers in the idol industry. Without freshness, they cannot attract new fans and can only continue to compete with existing fans.
The entire industry is caught in a vicious cycle.
In the past, the suicide of Yukiko Okada cast a tragic shadow over the entire idol industry. Then there was Akina Nakamori’s wrist-cutting, and then the bubble burst. The title of “idol” is dead!

And now, without Yukiko Okada's thrilling jump, the entire idol industry will only slowly wither instead of suddenly collapsing.

"Anyway," Akimoto Yasushi's chubby face was unexpectedly serious, as if he had seen the future, "maybe the future will be ruled by big sisters!"

"." The corner of Inagaki Mitsuhiko's mouth twitched slightly, "Akimoto-san, don't tell us your type!"

"."

With a "pop", Akimoto Yasushi's paper roll hit the head of the program director Inagaki Mitsuhiko again~
At the filming base in Ota Ward, the crew of "Ghost" is busy working.

Naoki Nagayama's "Ghost" has almost entered the middle stage. As mentioned before, the plot of this movie is very simple, the relationship between the characters is not complicated, and there are not many big scenes involved. The main reason is that the special effects production in the later stage requires a lot of effort.
"cut!"

Naoki Nagayama shouted into the loudspeaker, then immediately turned around to look at the director's monitor.

After a while, Mingcai also came over. She had just filmed a crying scene, and her eyes were still a little red.
"How about it?"

Akina asked her husband.

"This touching tearful scene is great!" Naoyama Naoki naturally praised his wife generously, "Akina's tears are really pretty!"

"What are you talking about!" Akina lightly hit Nagayama Naoki and smiled embarrassedly.

The scene filmed today was the one where Fujiwara Aori, played by Akina, officially confirmed that the ghost of her boyfriend Hirakawa Toshifumi really existed, and she shed tears in shock and emotion.

This is a close-up shot. Tears slowly fill up the black and white eyes. The big tears roll down from the eye sockets, leaving a crystal tear mark on the white cheek.
Not everyone can handle a close-up shot of the face. In addition to the delicate features, the expressions, eyes, and emotions will all be magnified, especially the crying part, which requires talent and practice!
But fortunately, Akina's appearance is very resistant to aging, and she looks very beautiful when she cries!
"No wonder those guys said that if they could trick Akina into crying, the show would be a big hit."

Naoki Nagayama muttered to himself as he looked at the director's monitor screen.

"???" Akina felt like she heard something strange, "Naoki-san, what did you just say?!"

"Uh, nothing." Naoki Nagayama realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"No. What kind of prank are you talking about? And you mentioned me?!"

Mingcai narrowed her eyes slightly and threatened,
"Tell me quickly!"

"Ah this"

Naoki Nagayama scratched his head.
"It was during a chat at a TV station that the director of the show 'Star Prank Secret Report' said that if we played a prank on Akina, it would be very effective and the show would definitely stand out!"

". What?" Akina raised her eyebrows, her eyes filled with murderous intent, "If you play a prank on me, it will definitely be effective?! Am I someone who is easy to fool?!"

"Well, it was mainly because Akina was very popular at the time!" Naoki Nagayama said with a smile, "Also, Akina was sincere (easy to cheat), kind (easy to bully), and pretty (when she cries)."

".Naoki-san, are you coaxing a child?!"

Hearing this, Akina didn't know whether to laugh or get angry for a moment~
"But it doesn't matter. I've already told the director that if anyone dares to play a prank on Akina, I'll find someone to play a prank on him!" Naoki Nagayama said, putting his arm around Akina's shoulders.

"Eh?! Naoki-san, how could you do this!" Akina complained, but the corners of her mouth curled up, obviously showing happiness, "I'm just doing a show."

"Yeah, I said let the camera break in while he's in the shower!"

Naoki Nagayama said in a fake tone,
“Then the show will be a blast!”

"Hahaha~"

Akina thought Naoki Nagayama was joking and laughed happily.

However, Kyon Kimura, who was standing next to the camera, was sweating coldly because it seemed that Naoki-san had really discussed with him whether he could use his low presence to sneak into the director's house and film him while he was taking a shower.
This is actually a practice that has been really thought about!
Kyon Kimura looked at Nagayama Akina who was laughing happily, and silently wiped the sweat off the director and himself~
The next scene is that the two of them walked into the house and called the police to catch the villain.

Although the heroine Fujiwara Aori knows the existence of her boyfriend's soul, she still cannot see the spirit.

The two people separated by Yin and Yang can only communicate and confide in each other with the help of the psychic witch Nana Okada as a translation.

In this performance, Akina had to pretend that she couldn't see Naoki Nagayama, which was a real test of her acting skills.
"Is Levin here?"

Akina glanced around, ignoring Naoki Nagayama next to her as air, and asked the psychic witch. However, the psychic witch could only hear voices but could not see spirits.

So, Naoki Nagayama's character, Toshifumi Hirakawa, said:
"I sat next to her."

"He's sitting right next to you!"

Akina turned around and looked to the side. But this time Nagayama Naoki was right in front of her, so they naturally met her eyes.
"Cut!" Kyon Kimura shouted directly, "Akina-san's eyes are focused! You shouldn't be able to see it!"

Kyon Kijima is also an experienced director, so Naoki Nagayama doesn't need to point out this mistake.

"Ah, hi, .Private Marseille!"

Akina nodded and adjusted herself.
"Let's do it again!"

"."

after awhile
"Cut! Akina-san, we're meeting eyes again!"

".Private Marseille!"

Naoki Nagayama had no other options, so he asked:

"Kijima-kun, this shot only shows my profile, right?"

"Hi!"

After getting the answer, Naoki Naoyama said to Akina across from him:
"Then I'll close my eyes later. Without your eye contact, I'll be able to treat what's in front of me as air!"

Mingcai nodded:
"Okay, I'll give it a try~"

So the director shouted "Action" again. This time, without the window to Naoki Nagayama's soul, Akina could finally act as if she couldn't see the person in front of her.

"Levin." Akina raised her hand tentatively, "Can you sense me?"

"whole-heartedly."

"."

"CUT!" Kimura finally nodded, "Very good, this one is very good! Let's do it again, and we'll keep one!"

"."

"Cut! Change the camera position. Same scene. This time the camera is on Naoki-san. Naoki-san, open your eyes!"

"Hi!"

"."

Shooting over and over again, polishing each shot, this is the tedious process of filming a movie.

Hezi, who had been on the set for more than a month, walked around with a clapperboard, shouting out what was being filmed, and deeply felt the hardships of filming a movie!
"I'm going to call Chunshui and the others over tomorrow so they can experience it, too!"

After filming this scene, Naoki Nagayama asked the crew to take a break, at least until Akina's eye sockets recovered before filming the next scene.

At this time, Naoki Nagayama went to take a look at the nearby film set and saw Masataka Komori and the crew members packing up equipment.

"Masataka-kun, they're already cleaning up."

"Yes." Seeing Naoki Nagayama coming, Komori Masataka quickly brought drinks. "We need to airfreight them overseas, so we must have enough cameras and films. As for auxiliary tools such as lighting boards, I plan to rent or buy some directly in Paris."

"Haha, indeed, those things are numerous and varied."

It's very troublesome to go through customs with so many things.

"So you'll be in Paris this month?"

"Hey, it's estimated to be about a month," Komori Masataka nodded, "The weather there is not too cold yet."

“Yes, Paris is also very beautiful at this time.”

The crew of "Along the Way" shot almost all the scenes on location in Paris, so light and weather are very important.

“Have all the leading actors gone?”

"Chikako-chan and Shibata-san will go with me, but Leslie Cheung has already returned to Hong Kong and will meet up with us in Paris." Komori Masataka sighed, "Leslie Cheung's schedule is very tight!"

"Haha, she's a big star in Hong Kong." Naoki Nagayama looked back, "her popularity is almost the same as Akina before she got married."

"That's right~"

If Japan had not been the center of the Asian entertainment industry at that time and everyone wanted to develop their careers there, we might not have been able to invite Leslie Cheung.

"I can't always monitor your filming when I go to Paris this time. You have to rely on yourself for everything!"

"Hey, I'll work hard!" Komori Masataka said confidently, "I won't let Naoki-san down!"

"Hmm~"

(End of this chapter)