Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 21: Preliminary Chapter, Wangu Family's Meal

That's the end of this week.

After that, Gu Ming soon received a notice that he was playing a bandit blocking the road in a period drama. He rushed out and hacked at the passing merchants, and was then killed by the protagonist who acted as his bodyguard.

This is a period drama produced and financed by TBS. Although it seems a bit crudely made, it is large in quantity and satisfying in content.

And there aren't any good TV shows to watch right now.

In short, it was just a few seconds of footage and one line of dialogue.

But because Gu Ming looks very majestic, he is quite suitable for this role.

In just a few seconds, he received an 8,000 yen salary from TBS.

"It's because someone recommended it...but TBS is really rich."

Gu Ming sighed.

To be precise, it is because the special effects industry cannot come up with much funding.

Whether now or in the future, the protagonists of special effects films have always had low pay.

After all, the production cost of special effects is too high, so the actors' salaries have to be cut.

At the same time, the salary of special effects protagonists plus the suit actors was not as high as the pay of other drama actors.

It's even more incomparable than movie actors.

Time passed and it was Monday.

Without any notice, Gu Ming went to Wangu's place. On the one hand, he wanted to help out and make himself familiar with the staff, and on the other hand, he wanted to familiarize himself with the current special effects shooting process.

After being busy all day, I naturally left a good impression on Wangu.

On the way back, Narita Heng gave Gu Ming a special reminder.

"Furuya-kun, when you get home, remember to watch TBS after 6:00. Our pre-release episode will be aired after 6:20."

Gu Ming nodded.

Speaking of TV, though…

——Why don’t I go to Mr. Narita’s house? I don’t think Mr. Narita has anything to do when he gets home at night.

Gu Ming resisted the urge to joke, bowed slightly to Narita Heng, and left.

Gu Ming returned to his residence and looked at the time. It was already six o'clock.

He turned on the TV and tuned it to TBS.

At this time, TBS was broadcasting a popular period drama.

"Tsk."

Gu Ming suddenly frowned.

It felt so bad, seeing his own face for the first time.

Although he was wearing an eye patch, Gu Ming still recognized him at a glance.

"Today, I'm a bit player. If I go back 40 years, I'd still be a bit player. It's fate!"

Gu Ming sighed, picked up the phone and dialed the number of the convenience store.

"Hello, this is Department B..."

Gu Ming responded: "I am Gu Gu Ming."

"Oh!! It's Furuya-kun, what's wrong?"

"Do you have a TV over there? If possible, try watching TBS."

Gu Ming briefly talked about the previous chapter before hanging up the phone.

Then he sat in front of the bedside table, staring at the TV.

Even though he had already watched it once in the TBS conference room, Gu Ming still wanted to watch it again on TV.

……

……

Advance chapter.

This is a rather novel term; it didn't exist in 1976.

Of course there is a TV on Shaqin's side, with one side facing the outside of the store, which occasionally attracts customers to stop and watch for a while.

Shaqin tuned to TBS TV station and waited quietly.

After 6:20, the picture on TBS TV station suddenly changed and a somewhat exciting march was played.

Following that, it was Kurobe Susumu's voice.

"Ultraman, why did you come to Earth?"

The tiny Hayata Susumu, holding a pistol, looked at the Longsen Lake in front of him.

Standing tall at Longsen Lake is the monster under the night sky, Bermuda!

Small and large, Bermuda under the moonlight and the sparkling Longsen Lake form a bird's-eye view composition.

Although it was just a fleeting shot, it was full of tension, demonstrating Wan Guyi's photography skills.

"It's the space monster Bemula! I'm going to attack!"

……

"As a member of the Space Guard, it's my duty to repel monsters."

Shaqin sighed.

What a familiar voice.

What the hell, aliens speaking Kansai dialect.

that……

Could it be Gu Gujun?
She really wanted to find out the truth, but Ultraman did not show up in the end. Only Hayata Susumu and Bemula appeared, and in Hayata Susumu's voice, they introduced the composition and origin of Team Kot, as well as information about Bemula.

Therefore, she had no idea who Ultraman was and could only imagine.

What is Ultraman? What does Ultraman look like?
Furuya-kun plays Ultraman, so when will Ultraman appear?
All of this is still a mystery. The only thing that can be seen is a huge red ball of light floating in front of Hayata Jin, which seems to be nurturing some mysterious creature.

That is.

Ultraman!
……

……

The backyard of Wangu Company, the residence of Wangu family.

Mantani Eiji, Mantani Ichi, Mantani Ao, and even Narita Toru, Miyauchi Kunio, and the others, all gathered around the kotatsu. Of course, kotatsu weren't used in the summer, but everyone still gathered around the table, watching TBS.

There are some simple refreshments on the table, ready to be used at any time.

This is a rule of Eiji Mantani. When a work is broadcast, he likes to call the main creative staff he is familiar with. Everyone gathers together, comments and discusses while eating and drinking, and then discusses the content of the next episode.

This is nicknamed "Wangu's meal" in Dongbao.

At this moment, Eiji Mantani was leisurely eating snacks while watching the advance episode on TV.

In just three minutes, the picture of the future is already painted.

"Well……"

Wangu Eiji glanced at Wangu Ichi.

"Xiaoyi's photography skills have improved again."

Wan Guyi chuckled: "It is also because of your trust, father. In addition, it is also because of Gu Gujun's advice."

Akira Furuya.

Mantani Eiji nodded slightly.

He's quite an outstanding young man.

Narita Heng leaned over and said, "Right, Mr. Wangu, I told you he wouldn't let you down."

As he was speaking, Tetsuo Kaneshiro hurried in from outside.

"Sorry, I'm late." Jincheng Tetsuo wiped the sweat off his face and looked at the TV: "Has it started yet?"

Miyauchi Kunio looked up at him.

It has ended!
Tetsuo Kaneshiro opened his eyes wide.

How could this happen! He didn't even have time to see it!
There are no reruns on television these days.

Tetsuo Kaneshiro could only mutter and put down the file bag in his hand.

This is the script for the first three episodes of Ultraman, written by the well-known screenwriter 'Sekizawa Shinichi'.

At the same time, Shinichi Sekizawa is also Tetsuo Kaneshiro's teacher and the person who led him into the industry.

The reason why Tetsuo Kaneshiro was late was because he went to get the script from Shinichi Sekizawa.

"Fortunately, I have accomplished my mission and brought the script back from the teacher."

As they spoke, several people quickly opened the bags and exchanged the scripts with each other.

Episode 1: 'Space Operation Number One'.

As he watched, Eiji Mantani frowned and put down the script.

What to say.

In fact, Shinichi Sekizawa's level is very high.

but.

Too high!
It’s because it’s too high, so it doesn’t work!
Ultraman is a TV series, not a movie, but the content written by Shinichi Sekizawa is completely based on the format of the movie.

There are big problems with both the plot arrangement and the rhythm.

After Wan Gu finished reading it, he also had a headache.

"I didn't expect Guan Ze-sensei to actually...Ahhh!! What should I do now? I have to prepare for the first episode this week! It will start airing next Saturday!"

If it is to be rewritten, there will not be enough time. Sekizawa Shinichi is busy and cannot focus on writing one script. Of course, he does not have time to change the three episodes that have already been written.

Eiji Mantani looked at Tetsuo Kinjo.

Tetsuo Kaneshiro suddenly had a bad feeling.

If I were to give this suggestion to Guan Zexinyi, he would not be able to speak up!

However, Mantani Eiji gave him an encouraging look.

"Jincheng, think of a way to simplify this script into a proper TV drama script."

"Huh?! Is it appropriate for me to change the teacher's script?"

Jincheng Tetsuo smiled bitterly.

But what else can we do?

No one had thought that this problem would arise beforehand.

After all, he is the well-known screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa in the industry.

As a result, because the script was written too well, it could not be used directly.

Tetsuo Kaneshiro could only smile bitterly and bow.

"I, I will try my best."

Tetsuo Kaneshiro bowed, no longer bothering to watch TV, and hurried away with the script.

In this regard, fellow creator Kunio Miyauchi expressed deep sympathy.

His work went smoothly. He had written the song and even commissioned a children's choir to perform it, with very encouraging results. The interlude was also quite successful.

In contrast, Tetsuo Kaneshiro, who is in charge of the script, will probably pull out a lot of hair this week.

Wangu Yingji suddenly looked at Wangu Yi.

"After the first episode is shown, please invite Kurobe-kun and that Furuya-kun to be our guests."

It's like this, everyone sits around the kotatsu, eats snacks, watches the movie on TV, and then discusses the content of the next episode together.

It's a bit playful, but also warm, home-like atmosphere.

As for the monster character 'Nakajima Haruo' who is also the protagonist?
To be honest, Eiji Mantani has basically given up on him.

Haruo Nakajima used to be a very good actor. After the filming of the original Godzilla was completed, he was very excited about it. He even secretly ran to the cinema to watch everyone's reactions, and then came back to tell everyone excitedly.

But since he became addicted to playing pinball, Nakajima Haruo has completely changed.

He thought he could continue to be a suit actor for Godzilla, but more than ten years later, as he has grown older, Haruo Nakajima can no longer continue this youthful career.

Mantani Eiji tried to persuade him, but unfortunately, it was of little use.

This time, it was because of Nakajima Haruo's past abilities and qualifications that we specially invited Nakajima Haruo to come to Wangu to play the role of a monster. Unexpectedly, Nakajima Haruo would be late.

Although Mantani Eiji accepted the other party's apology for the sake of Godzilla and Nakajima Haruo's crying at the time, unless Nakajima Haruo really changed his bad habit of shooting steel balls.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to go back to the past.

(End of this chapter)