Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 46 I play Pigmon, is it true or not?
At Mantani Eiji's house, Kagi Wei and Mantani Eiji sat opposite each other.

Eiji Mantani is already an old man of almost seventy years old. Kagi Ie is younger, but he is also fifty years old. So, he is also an old man.

Although TBS was busy, Kagi Wei still came to Mantani specifically to visit Mantani Eiji.

Kashii said: "No one expected that Ultraman would have such excellent ratings. Even the worst episode so far has an astonishing ratings."

Mantani Eiji nodded slightly.

The fourth episode did have the lowest ratings so far, at only 34%, but it was still amazing.

Director Nonagase Samadhi learned from his mistakes and then worked harder. In the following episodes, Nonagase Samadhi also contributed. Although the ratings did not reach the level of the first and third episodes, they gradually recovered.

After some polite exchanges, Qujing Wei explained his purpose.

"Actually, the top management hopes the ratings can be raised a bit more. Although they're already quite high, if they can be even higher, we'll have more confidence when negotiating with advertisers."

As he spoke, there was a hint of inquiry in his tone: "So, would you like to come out in person and improve the ratings?"

When Wangu Eiji heard this, he clapped his hands and laughed, called Mrs. Wangu over, and whispered a few words to her.

The old lady bowed and soon returned to the Japanese-style room, handing a script to the two of them.

"Please take a look. Actually, everyone has been holding back their energy recently and wants to produce better works." Eiji Mantani said, pushing the script forward.

This is the new episode script completed by the Planning Department yesterday under the supervision of Tetsuo Kaneshiro.

After taking it and looking at it carefully, Qujingwei's eyes lit up.

This……

Very exciting!

The plot is secondary. The key point is that this episode reveals an important point, which is the "commercialization of monsters."

The purpose of filming is to make money! If you don’t make money, you can’t continue filming!
But Eiji Mantani was used to the large-scale studio system. He only cared about making good movies and never cared about how much the movie cost. It was common for him to lose money for this.

Although Ultraman has such high ratings, it is extremely difficult to monetize it because Eiji Mantani has never considered any profit-making methods other than ratings.

For example, the beta magic wand, as a toy, will make a little sound when pressed.

That’s all…

Compared with the fancy transformation device of the new generation Ultraman, the playability is not even a little bit worse.

When buying this kind of toy, the collection value is greater than the playability.

but now.

Through this episode's script, Kajii Wei discovered that some of the ideas in it actually coincided with his own.

"You've actually thought of that! If Pigmon is likable enough and stays with the Kote team permanently, then we can definitely make a splash in the commercial sector."

Qijingwei pondered, nodded his brow, and said, "Old man, you don't like commercialization, and there are not many commercial talents in Wangu. So, who wrote this episode? Could it be Xiao Ao?"

Wan Guao is the only one in Wangu who realizes the need to complete commercialization as soon as possible.

Later, Wan Gu’s commercial authorizations were mostly related to the decisions made by Wan Guao during his tenure.

However, due to the limitations of the times, Wan Gu'ao sometimes made mistakes in his decisions.

After listening to Kagi's speculation, Wangu Eiji smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's not him."

"That's beyond my comprehension," said Kazuo. "Please be more specific. Who gave the script suggestions? I trust Jin Cheng's writing, but he doesn't seem like someone who could come up with something like this."

Qiu Jingwei guessed several names in succession, but none of them were right.

It wasn't until the very end that Mantani Eiji, with a childish, playful smile, said, "You've seen this person before. It's A-Ming, Furuya Akira. Yesterday, Kaneshiro and Narita and the others went to visit A-Ming and, by the way, discussed the script for the new episode. That's how I got the inspiration and came up with the new design for this episode."

If Pigmon's popularity is high enough, he will be allowed to stay in the Kurt team permanently.

Even if it is not popular enough, this method of sheltering instead of killing will be more pleasing and will have a positive impact on the ratings.

Kagami Wei looked up instantly.

Furuya Akira.

I didn't expect him to be such a discerning young man. ...

……

The eighth episode of Ultraman, "The Lawless Monster Zone", has many monsters appearing in this episode. Although there are not as many as in the background setting, there are still three or five monsters.

This made Narita Toru a little troubled.

The leather case is easy to deal with, but the key is where to find so many people!
It has been confirmed that Red King will be played by Teruo Aragaki, and Takeharu Sato is willing to play "Chandra" who was killed by Red King, but there are two other monsters. One is Magera, who was scared away by Red King and only met him once. This is easy to do, and any employee can be found to replace him.

However, there is still one crucial monster, Pigmon!

Suit actors don't have lines, so they have to rely on actions to express their characteristics, so Pigumong must be someone with acting skills.

"Oh my, this is really difficult."

Narita Heng scratched his head but couldn't figure out where to find someone.

Seeing Gu Ming changing his suit, Narita Heng's eyes lit up: "Aming, why don't you play the role of Pigumong?"

Gu Ming groaned, "Mr. Narita is really making things difficult for me. I can't even fit into Pigumon's trap."

"That's true." Narita Toru scratched his head.

We can still think of a solution now since the filming hasn't started yet. It will be too late if we wait.

Moreover, according to the script previously discussed by Gu Ming and Tetsuo Kaneshiro, if Pigumon becomes popular enough and is given a permanent role in the future, then a separate suit actor will have to be found for the role instead of borrowing it from Toho.

Seeing Narita Heng scratching his head, Gu Ming couldn't bear it, so he finally said, "I do have a candidate, but he may not be a good suit actor. If we just ask him to temporarily play the role of Pigmon, maybe it won't be a big problem."

Narita Toru was grasping at straws and eagerly asked, "Who is it?"

Gu Ming recited his lines seriously.

"I am Jingtian Kojuro Jinglong!"

"Oh oh!!" Narita Toru's eyes lit up.

Manatsu Ryu.

This candidate seems to be indeed suitable!

He is a resident singer in a bar, working from 6pm to 2am and can sleep in the second half of the night, which means he has nothing to do during the day.

He has a background in martial arts, which means he is in good physical condition and can handle the filming tasks of a suit actor.

Moreover, he has also acted in movies!

Although they are all roles with no screen time.

Most importantly, Manatsu Ryu had come to help with Akiyama Kotaro's incident, so he was considered a friend of Bankai's. Of course, there was no problem using him.

“It seems to work!”

Cheng Tianheng immediately pulled Wan Gujie over and asked him to call someone.

Gu Ming recommended Zhen Xialong casually, and at this moment he couldn't help but sigh.

I don’t know if Zhen Xialong can be a good Pigmon. If he becomes Pigmon, he will definitely kick Red King to death with one Pigmon flying kick!

What if the audience digs it out many years later and finds out that the silly and cute little monster Pigmon was actually played by Ultraman Leo... then his reputation as the cosmic bully will be confirmed!
Wan Gujie quickly brought back a definitive answer: Zhen Xialong was indeed free. Although he sounded like he was still asleep, upon hearing that there was a filming, Zhen Xialong rushed to Wan Gu as soon as possible.

"Brother Furuya! Teacher Narita!" As soon as Manatsu Ryu arrived, he thanked Gu Ming and the others.

"I never thought I'd have the chance to continue working with Wangu! So, which warrior will I play this time?"

I'm quite looking forward to it. Last time I played Jing Tian Jing Long, I think he seems to be quite suitable for this kind of role!
Gu Ming turned his head to look at Narita Heng, and Narita Heng pointed at the Pigumon leather case that had just been delivered.

"Not a samurai, you play this!"

Zhen Xialong looked at the silly Pigumong in front of him, and was filled with awe.

I play a monster? Is this true?
(End of this chapter)