Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 70: Script Writing, Losing the Pen Name

At this moment, a three-year-old boy named "Wada Shu" who lives in Tokyo and does not want to reveal his name does not know that he has lost his pen name.

On Sunday, the ratings and feedback for this episode were sent to Banku via TBS.

Wan Gu'ao rushed in and excitedly read out the latest news.

"Dad, we should sell toys! A lot of toy manufacturers have come to us to apply for authorization. We should license Ultraman and other dolls to them to make toys and charge licensing fees. This way we can make more money!"

Although there have been requests for toy licensing before, they have never been as concentrated as this one.

Wanguao understood clearly that this was because the child in the drama was holding an Ultraman doll, which was a small toy made by Narita Toru himself and was not sold outside.

However, after running in, Wan Gu'ao found that there was already someone in the Japanese-style room.

"Ah...Mr. Kagiyama."

Wan Gu'ao quickly bowed and gradually calmed down.

Wangu Yingji looked at him deeply and asked Wangu Ao to put down the things for the time being.

"You are still not as steady as your brother."

The bland words made Wan Gu'ao tilt his head slightly. He said sorry, but he was somewhat annoyed in his heart.

Being born in the same family means people are always compared with each other. He is not as young as Wan Gujie, so he is always compared with Wan Guyi.

"He keeps saying 'Big Brother'... Am I any worse than Big Brother?! I'm pretty capable too! That guy only knows how to take photos and has no idea how to run a business! If Wan Gu were left to him, it would be finished in two days!"

Wan Gu'ao secretly complained, said sorry, put down the report and left the Japanese-style room.

After Wan Gu'ao left, the two continued their conversation in the room.

"Come to think of it, the screenwriter for this episode is a newcomer I haven't seen before. Did Wangu discover this talent somewhere?"

When Wangu Eiji heard this, he laughed out loud, feeling a sense of success.

"You probably wouldn't have guessed this! Actually, that wasn't a newcomer, but a real Ultraman."

Qujing Wei thought about it.

Hayata Susumu? Obviously not.

Thinking about the previous news, Qi Jingwei suddenly understood.

"You mean, Furuya Akira?"

Mantani Eiji nodded slightly.

For this, Wan Gu also gave him an extra amount of royalties in addition to his film remuneration, which was quite generous.

At this moment, there was a hint of fierceness on Qujingwei's originally kind face.

"I say, old man, don't let such a talent always shoot special effects, and as a suit actor at that. Let him come to TBS, he will have a better future."

Mantani Eiji just smiled and said nothing.

No rush, just wait.

Wait a little longer, there will be a chance.

……

……

Today, Toei TV Department Director Ryosuke Watanabe also watched the enemy station.

Although I was at Toei, I had to listen to the enemy station to get the latest news.

After hearing this, some inspiration gradually emerged in Watanabe Ryotoku's mind.

The Japanese market is not big, but it is not small either. Toho is not the only one that can produce special effects works, but Toho and Bankai, which split from Toho, are the most powerful.

When it comes to gigantic special effects, no one can compare to Eiji Mantani.

Although Toei also followed the trend and filmed some works, they were all tepid.

"Since gigantic special effects can't compare to his, why not change to life-size special effects! Negative energy of the universe, transformed Yakuza... Then, this idea can also be used, such as mysterious organizations, transformed monsters, etc."

There is also the Pigmon flying kick.

Watanabe Ryotoku thought, since Pigumon can do flying kick, then a full-size hero can certainly do flying kick too!

Gigantism, monsters, light, no one can capture these things better than Wangu, no matter what, no one can be better than Wangu.

Even after Eiji Mantani left, Toho's level of giant-scale filming dropped significantly.

That’s why we have to find another way!
Life-size, weirdo, humanoid hero, the end of physical skills!

Oh, and there are motorcycles!
A lone hero fighting on a motorcycle, using physical skills as a finishing move to end everything!
A rough plan gradually took shape in Watanabe Ryosuke's mind.

He suddenly remembered that someone had submitted a plan to Toei TV Department before, but it was temporarily shelved due to lack of feasibility. Perhaps it could be taken out for reference.

That project is called——"Masked Man K". ...

……

At this moment, Gen Urobuchi and his duo had just left the only Saizeriya restaurant in the port area.

With its affordable Western food and previous performances, this restaurant has achieved the effect that Yasuhiko Masagaki wanted. It became popular as soon as it opened and seats are in short supply.

However, most of the people who came to eat were parents with their children, which made Gu Ming and the other person seem like outliers.

"I wonder what the ratings for this episode will be like." Because she was personally involved in the script, even Shaqin is now starting to worry about this matter.

"Don't worry. We'll get the report tomorrow when we go to Wangu. I don't think it should be too low, right?"

Although Gu Ming said this, he was still not sure in his heart.

The episode "Delusion of Seven" is one of the more outstanding chapters in Ultraman Eddie, but the ratings are not high.

It was the 1980s, and there were already countless competitors to Ultraman. Ultimately, Ultraman Eddie's ratings were unsatisfactory.

But it does not mean that Ultraman Eddie is of poor quality. In fact, quite a few parts of Ultraman Eddie are of extremely high quality.

"I don't know if this episode can bring back any improvements to the original Ultraman."

Gu Ming didn't dare to make a conclusion.

After returning to his residence, Gu Ming was a little worried, so he simply made a phone call in advance.

"Hello...is this Mr. Narita? I'm Akira Furuya."

"No, there's nothing else to do. I just wanted to ask about the ratings of this episode."

"How many?"

"Well……"

After hanging up the phone, Gu Ming was confused for a moment.

Seeing that expression, Shaqin couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"Isn't it good?"

"No, it's not bad. How should I put it? It's just a little unexpected."

Gu Ming raised his hand and gestured two numbers.

44%.

Shaqin flipped through the notebook and found that Gu Ming had recorded the ratings of each episode.

In the previous episode, the ratings of Pearl Shell Defense were 41.7%, while this episode increased by another 2.3%.

“It’s really, really great!”

Now even she felt relieved and couldn't help but hold Gu Ming's hand.

This is also an excellent work!
Gu Ming smiled and shook his head. "No, this wasn't just my effort. Without you writing it, without Mr. Kaneshiro Tetsuo's revisions, and without the efforts of the crew and Director Jissoji Akio, a script alone wouldn't have achieved this effect."

"You're always so overly modest. If you're not too flamboyant, people will think you're an old man."

Shaqin sighed slightly, then changed the subject and said, "But come to think of it, there's no second suit in the series. How did they achieve that effect?"

"Mirror." Gu Ming gestured.

"Most of the shots were done with editing, so you rarely see two Ultramen appearing at the same time. When they do need to appear at the same time, they use mirrors. As for the other special effects, I can't quite explain the specific principles, but it has something to do with the clones in the Baltan episode."

Wangu put a lot of effort into this. On the one hand, he relied on the reflection of the mirror to create the existence of both sides at the same time, and on the other hand, he relied on repeated cutting shots.

And there is another part, which is the effect that the production staff completely hand-painted on the film!
Koichi Takano put a lot of thought into this.

As for the cost, there is no need to say more.

Wangu Productions never considers cost, but only the effect.

For this purpose, even the budget given by TBS was spent completely.

Fortunately, the ratings justified the cost.

Gu Ming moved his wrist.

Now that we have the first episode, let’s make a few more scripts to relieve the creative pressure on the planning department!
"What do you mean by earning two bucks from one job?"

Gu Ming spread his hands.

The pay for one episode is 80,000 yen, I have to take the pay.

A script costs 200,000 yen, and I also want to get the royalties.

You have to get both the film remuneration and the royalties, only then can it be considered healthy!

(End of this chapter)