Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 34: The various aspects of human life, do you like it or not?

This night in mid-July 1976.

Ultraman is officially on air.

At that time, no one had thought that Ultraman would become a classic IP that lasted for half a century, not even Eiji Mantani himself.

In Tokyo, the atmosphere had already been created after TBS's week-long preview.

There aren’t many good dramas to watch right now. Occasionally, there’s a good one, and of course the whole family gathers together to watch it.

A pachinko parlor in Roppongi, Tokyo.

After fighting till darkness fell, Haruo Nakajima raised his head and looked at the TV in the billiard room.

The billiard room was filled with smoke and it was difficult to see clearly.

"Ultraman...Qi."

Nakajima Haruo was very disdainful.

Is there anything great that can compare to his portrayal of Godzilla?

He quickly lowered his head again, concentrating on the pinball machine in front of him.

Nakajima Haruo thought that he would wait a few days and, if he had the chance, ask someone about the ratings.

As for now, he has more important things to do.

……

……

Shinjuku, convenience store.

There are a few small stools outside the store. At this moment, the children are each holding a soda and staring at the TV screen on the other side of the window.

"Oh!!!"

Watching Hayata Susumu narrowly escape death after being attacked by Bermula, the sound of gasps could be heard one after another.

Fortunately, Hayata Susumu finally escaped successfully.

Then, Hayata Shin raised the β magic wand in his hand and transformed into Ultraman.

When Ultraman, with his fist raised high, was about to rush out of the screen, there was another commotion in the audience, which made the housewives nearby feel helpless.

Children are the most emotional animals. They exclaimed when Ultraman and Bemula rolled into a ball.

They were still exclaiming when Bermuda sprayed out light.

And when Ultraman fired the classic Spesium Ray to blow up Bemula, they were still exclaiming in surprise.

For the price of a bottle of soda, you can get your kids to sit down and watch TV with their friends, instead of making noises at home and asking for all kinds of things, or asking strange questions like 'Why are the buildings so tall? Why is there a sister next door?'

The housewives actually felt sincerely grateful.

It’s great to have Ultraman help take care of the kids!
Shaqin also turned her gaze away from the TV.

Wanguichi's level is indeed amazing. Of course, the effect is also brought by the script written by Tetsuo Kaneshiro and Shinichi Sekizawa, as well as the wonderful fighting performed by Ultraman, and Kurobe Susumu who looks like a good guy with a righteous face, etc.

Each one of them was truly dreamlike. Even she, who had no interest in special effects dramas, watched the entire episode.

"Furuya-kun, you will become an excellent actor indeed."

Shaqin thought so, and after sending the children away, she returned to the convenience store.

Taking advantage of the time when there were no customers, she opened her self-study notes again.

She also has to work hard to become a real lawyer.

……

……

Shibuya's alleys and residential areas are a gathering place for those who have moved to Beijing.

Seto Mikio is a young man with a bright smile and a bit of a silly side.

He was born in Yokohama and only went to high school.

This is also a common choice for many Japanese people. Instead of going to university, they start working after graduating from high school.

At present, Seto Mikio is working as a part-time singer in a bar in Tokyo, performing every day. During the day, when he has the chance, he will appear in various film sets as a supporting role. Most of the time, he plays a small role that does not even have extra camera time, and is just a background board.

Despite this, Seto Mikio still works hard to live in Tokyo.

Tokyo is a big city after all, and you can earn more money if you live here.

You know, the gap between Tokyo headquarters and Yokohama is even greater than the gap between Beijing and Tianjin.

As the only son in the family, Seto Mikio still hopes to contribute to the family income as much as possible.

In the early morning, after finishing his part-time job as a resident singer for the day, Seto Mikio dragged his tired body back to his small temporary residence.

There is a small TV here, connected to a VCR. In his free time, Seto Mikio will stay in the residence to watch TV. If he misses a program, he will watch the replay on the VCR.

He doesn't have many entertainment options, and staying at home and watching TV is one of the free and fun ways to entertain himself.

Besides that, Seto Mikio also enjoys boxing. He joined the Japanese 'Gouju Kenpo Federation' and often learns various moves, which has kept his body in good shape.

"Seven o'clock, seven o'clock is... um, Ultraman."

Seto Mikio played the video at seven o'clock.

Although it was only twenty minutes, Seto Mikio couldn't take his eyes off it.

Too beautiful! !
Such imagination, performance effects, conspicuous but not glaring lighting effects, and of course, Ultraman.

An expert judges an expert by his own standards. Seto Mikio felt that although it was a leather suit, the movements and techniques were full of signs of training.

The person under the suit must have extensive martial arts experience! That's why he can fight so brilliantly even in the suit.

"Ultraman..."

Seto Mikio pursed his lips.

It looks very nice, worthy of being that Wan Gu.

"It's such a great production, I wish I could be in it! I've practiced boxing too! If you ask me to wear a suit, I can do it!"

Seto Mikio demonstrated a few martial arts moves, looking very professional.

But Seto Mikio quickly shook his head.

Impossible, no chance.

Or, just focus on what's happening right now. After all, he's just a small-time actor who sings in a bar and appears on various film sets.

Seto Mikio didn't know.

In another world, he would have a stage name and then actually starred in Ultraman.

The stage name is 'Masato Ryu', the character is called 'Hōgen', and the Ultraman is called 'Ultraman Leo'.

……

……

When talking about the works that were screened, we cannot avoid the ratings statistics.

However, unfortunately, in this era there is no magical statistical method that can be used to collect statistics anytime and anywhere.

TBS calculates its ratings by sending people to street corners in the evening to survey housewives with children.

On Sunday evening, Xiaoji's father was blocking the street to conduct a questionnaire survey.

Kokichi's father is called 'Kinoshita Danjiro', who is an employee of TBS.

"Hello, this is TBS! Have you heard of Ultraman?"

"Have you heard of it? Oh! That's really helpful. What were you doing at seven o'clock yesterday?"

"Watch Ultraman? Okay, okay, I've got that."

Looking at the completed questionnaire in his hand, Kinoshita Danjiro couldn't help scratching his head like a monkey.

"Oh my, this is really..."

Kinoshita Danjiro was a little unsure of his gaze, but it seemed to be true.

Yesterday, many people were watching Ultraman!
Just in the street he was responsible for, more than half of the housewives passing by had heard of or even seen this name.

Although one household is counted as one household when calculating the ratings, the ratings are still quite impressive.

Kinoshita Danjiro made a rough estimate based on the questionnaire in his hand.

This drama might just break Ultra Q's record.

The ratings for the first episode, 'Space Operation Number One', must have been at least over 20 points!

Unfortunately, he was in a meeting at TBS yesterday and didn't have time to watch Ultraman. Instead, he listened to his son Xiaoji nagging a lot and making gestures, saying that he wanted to kill his father with the Spysum ray.

Kinoshita Danjiro packed up the questionnaire in his hand and prepared to return to TBS.

Today, TBS will make statistics and estimate the approximate ratings.

Of course, based on the coverage of TBS TV, it is impossible to calculate the national ratings, but as the richest region in Japan, it is sufficient to calculate the ratings in Tokyo.

Kinoshita Danjiro went all the way back to TBS and submitted the questionnaire he had prepared.

His gaze accidentally shifted, and Kinoshita Danjiro was startled by the questionnaire his companion brought back.

"Why are there so many over there?"

"I didn't expect that!" a colleague exclaimed. "Can you imagine? In the area I'm responsible for, almost 70% of the people were watching Ultraman last night! Even if we count families, it's almost 50% to 60%! If every area has this level, it's terrifying!"

Kinoshita Danjiro swallowed.

Well, how should I put it?

Even if it doesn't reach this level, it's still terrifying!

　While the editor wasn't paying attention, I secretly posted an extra chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)