Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 112 The National Cartoonist Who Lies Down and Plays Badly
This is Akira Toriyama's home and also his studio.

To be precise, this is a house with a strange shape, which is connected to another standard single-family house through an aerial corridor, and covers an area of ​​more than 500 square meters.

A conventional single-family house is the house where Akira Toriyama and his family live.

The oddly shaped orange house is where he works.

According to urban legend, Akira Toriyama once wanted to move to Tokyo in order to submit his manuscripts more easily.

In order to keep him here, Aichi Prefecture built a road from his home to Nagoya Airport.

But whether it is true or not, Akira Toriyama has indeed stayed in his hometown.

Lin Yuan looked at the address in his hand: Isn’t this right?
He confirmed it again and it was correct.

So he walked to the door of the standard single-family house and prepared to pay a visit.

Lin Yuan's visit to Akira Toriyama was made possible through the intermediary of Brother Chen Long.

I won’t elaborate on the fact that Chen Long and Akira Toriyama are acquaintances.

Logically speaking, since he was there to discuss work, Lin Yuan should have gone to the strange orange house, which was where Akira Toriyama's studio was located.

The Japanese are very particular about their sense of propriety and keep a clear distinction between public and private.

However, the location provided by Akira Toriyama was the single-family house where he lived.

The meaning here is interesting.

You can understand that Akira Toriyama chose to receive Lin Yuan at his home in order to express his closeness.

It can also be understood that Akira Toriyama did not want to talk about work, and chose to meet at home, which implied a polite refusal.

In Lin Yuan's opinion, the second possibility should be more likely.

But Lin Yuan didn't mind. He took a long, exquisite wooden box from the car and walked forward to press the doorbell.

"Ding dong!"

Following the ring of the doorbell, the door soon opened.

Akira Toriyama, wearing round-frame glasses, appeared before his eyes.

Born in 1955, he is about to turn 47 years old.

He is 1 meters tall, which is not short, but he is almost a head shorter than Lin Yuan who is 73 meters tall.

"Nice to meet you, Master Lin Yuan, and welcome to my humble abode."

Akira Toriyama took the lead in saluting with a standard 30-degree bow to express his respect.

Japan is a country that pays great attention to hierarchy and corresponding etiquette.

Although Akira Toriyama is a national-level manga master and enjoys a high reputation internationally, his social status in China is roughly equivalent to that of Saisao Kamiizumi, both of whom are leaders in the same industry.

And Lin Yuan... he is Taidou's teacher.

After the apprenticeship ceremony, the Japanese media has promoted him as the strongest kendo master in the history of Japan.

After all, it is an ironclad fact that he easily defeated three kendo masters in a one-on-three match. After the video of the duel in the Huajian box was released, it aroused extremely enthusiastic responses from all walks of life in Japan.

However, Lin Yuan's Chinese identity earned him even more fanatical admiration.

Are you surprised? Isn't it said that Japan discriminates against my country and looks down on us?
In fact, it is not that simple and crude. Japan has complicated feelings towards its former teachers.

When China fell behind the world in modern times, Japan did look down on our technology and national strength.

They chose to leave Asia and join Europe, completely westernizing and learning from Europe and the United States.

However, Japan has always highly respected the splendid culture of ancient China.

For example, Chinese cuisine is synonymous with high-end in Japan.

Ancient Chinese poetry, calligraphy, handicrafts... are all highly respected and loved by the Japanese.

Therefore, as a Chinese, Lin Yuan demonstrated his unparalleled skills in cold weapons.

For the Japanese, this was a perfect match for their fantasies: a powerful, mysterious Chinese swordsman from the former fatherland!

Double the joy!

The media praised Lin Yuan generously, calling him an invincible sword god who surpassed the legendary sword saint.

Lin Yuan felt a little ashamed of the second-year title of Sword God.

But it can only be: if you like to call it that, then feel free to do so.

Therefore, when Lin Yuan faced Akira Toriyama's respectful salute, according to Japanese etiquette he should have straightened his back, accepted the salute first and then returned the salute, slightly bending his body 15 degrees.

But he is not Japanese.

Why do we have to follow Japan's strict hierarchical rules?
Akira Toriyama's comics were not only his spiritual food during his childhood, but his works also made a significant contribution to the promotion of Chinese culture.

Therefore, he has respect for Akira Toriyama in his heart.

So, Lin Yuan smiled and extended his right hand to Toriyama Akira.

Akira Toriyama, somewhat puzzled, also extended his hand and shook hands with him.

Lin Yuan enthusiastically extended his left hand again, took Toriyama's hand with both hands, and said enthusiastically, "Mr. Toriyama, I grew up reading your comics. Your comics brought me countless happy memories of my childhood."

"Thank you, Master Lin Yuan, for your kindness."

The two of them went to the living room and sat down together.

Akira Toriyama's wife kindly served tea and snacks, then backed away.

At this point, Toriyama Akira spoke up, "I'm truly envious of Master Lin Yuan for looking so young. At my age, even working a little longer, let alone strenuous exercise, would be too much for my body."

After hearing what Akira Toriyama said, Lin Yuan immediately tasted the meaning behind it.

Before coming, he had already conveyed his idea of ​​collaborating with Akira Toriyama on a comic through his elder brother Chen Long.

At this time, when Akira Toriyama said this, it was certainly not simply to express his envy of Lin Yuan.

The key point is this: If you work any longer, your body will feel overwhelmed.

This is already a very euphemistic way of saying that he is probably not able to collaborate with Lin Yuan on a comic.

Lin Yuan was not surprised by this.

The long-term serialization of "Dragon Ball" consumed all of Toriyama's enthusiasm and energy. After that, he almost entered a semi-retirement state, occasionally publishing some short serialized works or independent works.

Of course, he also served as the character designer for the Japanese national RPG "Dragon Quest".

This seems to indicate that Akira Toriyama has completely lost his passion and no longer wants to create any long-form comics.

In fact, in his previous life, Akira Toriyama did not create any masterpieces of the same level as "Dragon Ball" in the next twenty years.

His peak remained permanently in the 1980s and 1990s.

But the real situation is probably not like this.

He remembered that Akira Toriyama said in a later interview: How great it would be if there was a machine that could directly convert the ideas in his mind into comic manuscripts.

This shows that he still has the desire to create.

It’s just that the cost-effectiveness of the creation is too low: not to mention surpassing "Dragon Ball", it is almost impossible to reach a similar level.

It’s impossible to create another miracle anyway, so why work so hard?

After all, I have made enough money, so why not enjoy life?

This is a very real thought and it is human nature and there is nothing wrong with it.

Facing Akira Toriyama who was lying down, Lin Yuan did not directly try to persuade him.

He took out the long wooden box he was carrying and placed it on the table.

"This is my gift for your first visit. I believe you will like it."

(End of this chapter)