Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 218 Almighty Jack...Express Ksai!

Kaiju Wars went in the same direction as it originally did, and although it tried its best, it wasn't well-received by the audience and ultimately failed.

It can be seen that Wang Gu Yingji cares about this matter very much. Less than five minutes after Gu Ming sat down, Wang Gu Yingji mentioned the Kaiki Operation four times.

"So after all, we should respond to the audience's calls. I heard that there have been a lot of letters sent to TBS and Wangu recently, hoping that they can continue to produce works named after Ultra. Although TBS no longer has plans, it seems that Wangu can continue filming?"

Gu Ming tried to test Wan Gu Eiji's thoughts a little.

However, Mantani Eiji did not react at all, but just held the teacup, looking lost in thought.

The original "Return of Ultraman" was the last words of Eiji Mantani before his death, instructing his descendants to re-shoot the Ultra series. So, under the encouragement of Mantani, many people were found to shoot the work "Return of Ultraman".

——Ishiro Honda was the director of the first ten episodes, and right-wing screenwriters like Yoshiro Ishido were also brought in at that time.

And now, looking at Wan Gu Yingji's reaction, Gu Ming seems to have not yet restarted the idea of returning to Guiman.

Gu Ming was about to persuade him again when the paper door made a clicking sound. It was Wan Guyi who came back.

"Hmm... I can't keep up with the way you young people think. You should just have a good chat."

Wangu Eiji bowed slightly and said to Wangu Ichi, "Xiaoyi, talk to Furuya-kun about the recent plan. Maybe he can be of some help."

The two of them hurriedly stood up and saluted, and only after he left did they feel a lot more relaxed and sit down.

Gu Ming looked at Wan Guyi, somewhat curious: "So, what is the plan?"

"Wait a moment." Wan Guyi said hello and ran out for a while before bringing a file bag in front of him.

Gu Ming didn't even need to look at it to know it must be "Almighty Jack".

Almighty Jack is one of Toho's posthumous works. The abandoned project was brought back by Eiji Mantani and made into this work. The first season was cut short and after the re-production, it became a children's work.

Different from Strange Wars.

Kaiju Wars was well-received but not commercially successful, and Almighty Jack was neither well-received nor commercially successful, which directly led to the collapse of the post-Bankyu era.

Gu Ming casually flipped a page and prepared to take a look, then persuaded Wan Guyi not to take a picture of this crappy thing.

"In 2001, the Earth was suddenly attacked from outer space. Heat radiation turned the Earth into a sea of fire..."

Gu Ming hissed.

Which the hell is this Almighty Jack?

Gu Ming turned back to the title page, which contained the full name of the project.

Horrible dragon war team コセイドン

Gu Ming scratched his head.

This is translated from Japanese as "Dinosaur Team", and the kana at the end is a person's name, called Ksai.

Power Rangers Ksai...

Gu Ming instantly raised his head and looked at Wan Guyi.

"Brother, when was this plan made?"

"Recently." Wang Guyi tilted his neck, pried open his eyelids, and put in eye drops. After a long while, he continued to tell Gu Ming, "Before, Tokyo Channel 12 approached Wang Gu to discuss a few collaborations. Wang Gu also cooperated and made some works mixed with anime, namely the Power Rangers series. This one, they hope to make it into a live-action drama, so this Power Rangers K'sai project came about."

Tokyo Channel 12, later reorganized into Tokyo TV.

It is the poorest of Japan's five major private TV stations.

It is said that TBS is really rich. Gu Ming was misled in the past and thought that TBS was poor. In fact, TBS is very rich. It has long been at the top of the list of the five major private TV stations until it was overtaken after the 1980s. However, it is still one of the top five private TV stations.

It’s different with TV Tokyo. TV Tokyo is extremely poor. Taiko was assassinated by a teppo ashigaru, but TV Tokyo is still broadcasting anime.

But no matter what. No matter how poor it was, it was still a TV station. As a platform, it naturally occupied a high-level position. Gu Ming flipped through it briefly, and sure enough, the plot was similar to his impression of Dinosaur Express Ks-X, with only a few differences in details, likely due to changes made during filming.

Gu Ming didn't say anything for a while, but was thinking.

Dinosaur Express Ks-X was actually considered a relatively unsuccessful work in Japan, but it was extremely popular and praised on the other side of the ocean.

But because Tokyo TV was relatively poor, it finally had a program with good ratings, so it kept the program and broadcast it for a whole year.

"Although K'Sai's ratings aren't very high, overall, it's still better than Kaiju Wars! After all, Kaiju Wars only had two seasons, while K'Sai is an annual show. So, K'Sai should be able to do it."

Gu Ming was deeply impressed by Kesai. He could never forget the red motorcycle suit and helmet.

Seeing that Gu Ming seemed to have some ideas, Wangu smiled and said, "But it's impossible to cast Furuya-kun in this drama. Tokyo Channel 12 didn't offer a very high production budget, and we haven't found any sponsors. Takeda Pharmaceutical doesn't seem to want to continue sponsoring, so we probably have to use a new actor."

Gu Ming also laughed: "How low is it? It can't be only a few hundred thousand, right?"

Wan Guyi pinched three fingers.

When Gu Ming saw this, he almost fainted.

What the hell...

Three million yen per episode, just to shoot that shit. He went to Journey to the West to be a formation master. The entire company spent one and a half million yen to shoot one episode.

Gu Ming filmed a total of 19 episodes. After deducting various expenses and salaries, the agency's net income was 17 million yen, which is enough to film at least six episodes of Ksai!

No wonder the Ksai exudes an air of poverty from the inside out, without even a proper leather case.

Gu Ming took a look and realized that they were really poor!

Wan Gu spread his hands.

There's no other way, even if you're poor, you still have to eat! Wangu can't stop working forever.

"My agency has recently signed quite a few talented employees. If you need any actors, you can come to our agency. As for this play..."

Gu Ming was silent for a while, then suddenly said, "If Wangu and Tokyo Channel 12 have no objections, I'd like to participate."

Seeing Wan Guyi's surprised look, Gu Ming explained, "I've made a little money recently, so I want to invest in some productions. Although I can't act in them, it would be okay if someone from the agency could act in them."

Wan Gu's expression suddenly became serious.

If Gu Ming only provides actors, then he is a simple partner. But if he wants to invest, then it is a different story.

Now Wangu is extremely short of money!
After filming Seven, Wangu started to lay off employees, and a large number of people lost their jobs.

Things are better now, but I'm still short of money. If someone is willing to invest in my work, that would be great!
Gu Ming didn't bother to exchange pleasantries with Wan Gu and simply raised a few fingers.

"I'm willing to invest an additional one million yen per episode, but I have some conditions."

"Wangu must undergo a financial audit."

Internal corruption in Wangu has been going on for a long time. No one has conducted a financial audit, and no one knows how the one million was wasted.

"As for the killing array, although I won't be there, I can find a suitable candidate from the firm."

Gu Ming’s price is a bit high now, and Wan Gu is a bit reluctant to pay for it.

"As for the producer... I can ask Xiao Jie to come here."

Wan Gujie was originally a member of the Wan Gu family, so it was appropriate for him to be the middleman.

Wan Guyi thought about these conditions. They seemed harsh, but if he thought about it carefully, if he really wanted to concentrate on filming the work, then these conditions would be no problem at all.

It seemed that after talking to Gu Ming once, all the problems were solved in an instant!
(End of this chapter)