Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 208 If You Don’t Come Back, I’ll Kill You
It had been more than two months, nearly three, since Jissoji Akio took over the production of Maoyan. The scattered footage left by Gu Ming before his departure had almost all been used up, and every day Jissoji Akio had to pull out his already limited hair and try hard to find a way to make up for Utsumi Toshio's absence.

Especially since the second season is almost finished, but the script for the third season has not been received yet!
The image of Chun-Li was unexpectedly good and received high praise, especially because the character was set to be a Hong Kong native, so the work was successfully sold in Hong Kong, and TBS was quite satisfied.

Now that the second season is coming to an end, news has come from the United States that Rothrock has been found and she is willing to come and see, but she will not talk unless she meets with Gu Ming.

To the extent that Jissoji Akio had to write a letter to Gu Ming.

If you don't come back, I'll drive you to death!
"Mr. Jissoji! Long time no see!"

When Gu Ming met him, he pounced and grabbed Jissoji Akio directly.

Jissoji Akio had a gloomy look on his face as he looked around and finally stopped.

"Strange, the corpse is talking."

Gu Ming smiled and turned his wrist.

"Look, I brought you some souvenirs from Kyoto! Little toys that are a specialty of Kyoto!"

"Isn't this a souvenir made in Tokyo and sold in Kyoto? You brought it back from Kyoto, right?"

Jissoji Akio rolled up his sleeves, grabbed Gu Ming's shoulders and shook them vigorously: "I don't want souvenirs, I want the script! The script!! The second season is about to be finished, and there is no script for the third season yet. How can I shoot it?!"

"Oh, I'm going to die, I'm going to die..."

……

Finally getting rid of Jissoji Akio, Gu Ming sincerely apologized: "I've been really bothering Mr. Jissoji during this period. I have a clear idea of the script, but have you settled the issue with the actress?"

"Need I say more? It's already been done. They're waiting for you to come back. They won't be at ease if they don't meet you."

After all, it was her first time filming a movie, and she had come straight from the US to Japan. Cynthia Rothrock was still a little worried. Who knew what they were going to film with her?!
Cynthia Rothrock isn't exactly stunningly beautiful, but for an American, her features are relatively soft, with gentler lines. Among American actors with a neutral aesthetic, she's more in line with Asian aesthetics. That's why Cynthia Rothrock often appeared in early Hong Kong action films, such as the "Royal Sister" series.

Gu Ming took a quick look around the Maoyan crew and found everything was normal.

"If nothing unexpected happens, I should be back before the New Year. After that, they will go to Zhou Country to shoot for a month, and I won't be involved there."

Gu Ming told Jissoji Akio about this.

"Anyway, I'll be staying in Tokyo for a week. During this week, I'll go to Toei to help out once, then go to Maoyan to finish filming an episode, leaving behind some scattered footage, and take care of that Cynthia Rothrock thing. As for now..."

Gu Ming raised his hand and looked at his watch.

Let's go home! I'm exhausted!
Being outside in the wind and sun every day, Gu Ming is embarrassed to call himself Yakushimaru Hiroko's brother when he meets her now.

He really became an uncle!
Jissoji Akio waved his hand with a look of disgust on his face.

"Get out of here now, I'm annoyed just by seeing you!"

……

……

Come back home.

This is an old word.

Gu Ming has no home, but at least he has a place to stay.

He lay on the floor for a long time until he heard the sound of the key opening the door, and Gu Ming jumped up instantly.

Shaqin was even more surprised than Gu Ming. She didn't expect him to come back suddenly.

But soon, her expression of surprise turned into joy, and she folded her hands in front of her knees and bowed slightly.

"Get some rest. I'll go prepare dinner."

"Alright."

Gu Ming turned over, lay down and relaxed, chatting idly about recent events.

"I'll have a chance to chat with our Lao Deng and tell him about his recent situation."

"On Maoyan's side, I added a Hong Kong character, which was considered a little bit of a sneak peek."

"I participated in the production and filming of Journey to the West, a TV series co-produced with the Zhou Dynasty. If I hadn't participated, many things might have turned out badly, but I fixed them all."

"Oh, and..."

Gu Ming suddenly sat up straight.

"I have saved some money now, and if possible, I plan to find an opportunity to shoot a film myself."

Shaqin stopped cutting vegetables and turned to look at Gu Ming.

"When you say you film it yourself, you mean..."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm talking about. I won't film anything too obvious." Gu Ming tapped his head with his backhand: "I'll tell you something more subtle."

Accountant Matsuzawa Yuko would regularly go to Endai to check the dividends. Although Gu Ming was only the smallest partner and a future small shareholder, he had received more than 10 million yen in dividends.

This amount of money is actually nothing in the film industry. A hit movie can earn hundreds of millions of yen or even billions at the box office.

Even TV dramas often receive large-scale investments of 40 million yen, and the production cost of filming one season is several hundred million yen.

But if used well, tens of millions of yen can work miracles.

In this regard, Gu Ming's idea is the same as Cheng Long's.

Don’t talk about those things. It’s useless to talk about them. Foreigners don’t care.

If he fights well, the audience will naturally like him, and if they like him, they will learn from him. Maybe decades later, when games like King of Fighters and Street Fighter are made, there will be a character based on him.

"Ah...right."

Shaqin suddenly remembered something, hastily wiped her hands on her apron, then took out a videotape from the bookcase and handed it to Gu Ming.

"This was mailed from Hong Kong. I didn't tell you because I knew you didn't have time recently. I wonder if it's something important?"

Along with the videotape, there was also a letter.

Gu Ming took a look at the letter. It was written by Cheng Long and must have been translated into Japanese by Yasuaki Kurata.

The general idea is to invite him to visit Hong Kong and make a cameo appearance in a film if given the chance. If he wants to develop in Hong Kong, that's fine too, as there's a vacant position there.

Gu Ming opened it and looked at the cover. There was no name written on it, but Gu Ming could roughly guess what work it was.

During the meal, Gu Ming casually inserted the videotape into the player and played it, and it was indeed Drunken Fist.

If Snake in the Eagle's Shadow helped Jackie Chan escape the title of box office poison, then Drunken Master was his first big hit.

Drunken Master, which has been the box office champion in many Asian countries, once made Koreans have the illusion that Jackie Chan is Korean. The leg king 'Hwang Jung-ri' who plays the villain in the film is actually a Korean.

It was also with this movie that Cheng Long entered the Japanese and Korean markets.

However, it would not become a hit in Japan until next year, 1979, after Toei re-dubbed and introduced the film.

"Ah, my super Koreans, why are they so bad, stealing everything!"

Gu Ming couldn't help but sigh.

Looking around, Shaqin had clearly finished her meal, but her eyes were still fixed on the TV.

There was no dubbing or subtitles, so she couldn't understand it, but she was still quite focused.

I couldn't understand the lines, but Cheng Long had received training from Su Huazi, which anyone with eyes could understand. This was really a novel experience for Japan.

You have to know that in today's swordplay films, when it comes to practicing martial arts, the character just picks up a wooden sword and chops around, and then he develops magical skills. There is no concrete performance.

It was not until Cheng Long defeated Huang Zhengli that she turned to Gu Ming.

"So, that martial art is real?"

"It's fake." Gu Ming explained, "I made it up for the filming."

Drunken Fist does not exist. Yuan Heping said that it was the Yuan family troupe who consulted ancient books and compiled the moves of Drunken Fist from a drunken dance in order to make a movie, and also designed the moves specifically for Cheng Long.

This kind of humorous kung fu film helped Cheng Long find his track.

Gu Ming said this while gesturing with his hands.

When drunk, he lifts a pot with a thousand pounds of strength, spins and knees to knock drunk people down, walks drunkenly with his arms around the pot, throws a cup and kicks repeatedly...

Poor Yuan family, their cultural level is only about the same as Gu Ming's, yet they can still come up with such nice-sounding names for their moves.

When it comes to cultural output, people can't remember it. But when it comes to drunken boxing moves, many people can recite a few. So this is what Gu Ming pursues, true output.

The drunken boxing is fake, but the body is real. Without strong physical fitness, you won’t be able to imitate some of the movements.

"This is what I want to shoot! I won't talk about anything else, I will just talk about the work, a work that everyone can understand!"

"Give me paper and pen. I want to write a letter."

This time I can’t let Shaqin write for me, I have to do it myself.

Gu Ming plans to invite Cheng Long to make a movie next year.

Ho Kuan Chang did not allow Cheng Long to play a supporting role, but now Cheng Long is still under Lo Wei's control and is not a member of Golden Harvest.

The two of them collaborated to make a kung fu movie, that's called, Twin Dragons!
(End of this chapter)