I, Hiroshi Nohara, the star of Japanese cinema

Chapter 146 Eiji Kurosawa's Abdication! The True God! Hiroshi Nohara!
These words, like the last withered leaf in autumn, carried a touch of self-mocking chill as they drifted down onto this desolate filming location on the outskirts of Tokyo.

The wind carried the smell of dust and withered grass.

The few simple townhouses in the distance, temporarily erected for filming and full of the style of the era, looked somewhat unreal and desolate under the dim afternoon sunlight.

Several plastic bags bearing the convenience store logo tumbled in the autumn wind, bumping against the cold equipment case with a soft rustling sound.

"Cheer up, everyone!"

Assistant director Shohei Soejima, a man nearing forty with sunken eyes and a face etched with signs of sleep deprivation, was holding a megaphone whose voice was already cracking from shouting, and weakly shouting at a group of staff members who were slumped on the ground in twos and threes, their expressions numb.

Beside him, editor Ichiro Watanabe, a rather refined-looking man wearing thick black-rimmed glasses, was repeatedly and almost neurotically wiping his already spotless lenses with a glasses cloth.

"I really don't understand what Director Kurosawa is thinking?"

In a corner, a young assistant in charge of lighting lowered his voice and complained to his colleague, his voice filled with barely suppressed frustration: "Wasn't the film already wrapped up and in the initial editing stage? Why did he suddenly call us all back? He said... we need to do reshoots? Does he know that we've been working almost a month straight through the night to meet his damn schedule!"

"Who says it isn't?"

Another props guy took a deep drag on his cigarette, inhaling the pungent smoke into his lungs before slowly exhaling, as if trying to vent all his resentment: "I heard the board of directors cut the director's budget again. This is the third time. I guess the director isn't satisfied and wants to come up with something new with the least amount of money."

"Making trouble? He may be having a good time making trouble, but aren't we subordinates the ones suffering?"

The lighting assistant curled his lip, his eyes filled with disdain and contempt for the "artistic pursuits" of his superiors: "I've seen through it all. Our industry is a bottomless pit. You can never satisfy those so-called 'great directors.' They talk about 'for art,' but in reality, they're just using our blood and sweat to build up their pitiful, outdated self-esteem."

The resentful conversation resonated with the crowd.

But everyone remained silent, and on their weary faces, a numb acceptance of fate was evident.

So what?
This is director Eiji Kurosawa, who would dare to offend him?

Shohei Soejima and Ichiro Watanabe exchanged a glance, both seeing a deep sense of helplessness in each other's eyes.

They certainly knew that director Kurosawa's film, "The Samurai in the Blacksmith Shop," had been fraught with difficulties since its inception.

They had also seen the initial cut of the footage.

To be fair, it was a samurai film of above-average quality.

Whether it's the composition, the soundtrack, or the actors' performances, everything bears the distinctive mark of Eiji Kurosawa, a unique aesthetic imbued with tragic grandeur.

but……

It's merely "above average".

It's peaceful now.

It's as bland as a glass of water that's long since cooled down; it quenches your thirst, but you can no longer taste any surprise or aftertaste.

Just like those samurai films made after Eiji Kurosawa.

What's the beginning, and what's the process?

What's the ending?

Everyone can guess it!

Even if a little unconventional approach is added, so what?
They knew that the golden age that belonged to Eiji Kurosawa, the age when he could cleave an entire era with a single samurai sword, might truly be gone forever.

In this oppressive and somber atmosphere, several familiar-looking vans inappropriately drove slowly into the desolate filming location.

The car door opened, and several young actors dressed in stylish casual clothes stepped out, their faces showing a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

It was Fujii Itsuki, Kaoru, and the other core actors from the Kanto region who shone brightly in "Tales of the Unusual".

"Soejima-san, Watanabe-san."

Fujii Itsuki, a popular actor among the younger generation, stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the two senior actors. His handsome face showed a hint of confusion: "Director Kurosawa suddenly called us over. Is there... some new arrangement? I remember we... weren't involved in the play 'The Samurai in the Blacksmith Shop'?"

"I do not know either."

Shohei Soejima shook his head with a wry smile, his tired face filled with the same confusion as the other person: "The director just told me to call over all the Kanto-style actors I could contact, saying... we're going to shoot a completely new scene."

A completely new play?

Everyone was stunned.

Looking at the "samurai-style" set before them, and then at their own modern casual attire, their faces were filled with disbelief and absurdity.

Just then, a steady roar, like that of a top-of-the-line sports car engine, came from afar.

All eyes, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, were fixed on the slowly approaching, all-black, sleek and elegant van.

The car door slid open silently.

Eiji Kurosawa, his figure resembling a drawn samurai sword, exuding the indomitable spirit of a craftsman from a bygone era, appeared at the doorway.

The scene fell silent instantly.

Everyone instinctively straightened up, and an instinctive sense of awe appeared on their faces.

However, before they could even utter their respectful greetings, another figure followed closely behind, slowly stepping out of the imposing minivan.

He was a young man dressed in simple casual clothes, with that signature gentle smile on his face.

He exuded a calm and peaceful aura, like the warm autumn sun, as if he were not on a dusty and tiring filming location, but rather taking a leisurely stroll in his own backyard.

It is Hiroshi Nohara.

"..."

The entire filming location instantly fell into an eerie, deathly silence.

Everyone stared blankly at the figure, their faces filled with disbelief and horror.

How...how could he be here?!
Shohei Soejima and Ichiro Watanabe stood there like two stone statues, motionless.

Although I know that director Eiji Kurosawa and Hiroshi Nohara, who recently made a name for himself on TV Tokyo, have a good relationship, why is Hiroshi Nohara, who directs anime, TV dramas and variety shows, here on the set of a movie?
You should know that before this, director Eiji Kurosawa had excitedly told me on his phone that he had called in reinforcements.

This reinforcement... is it Hiroshi Nohara?!

"Minister Nohara!"

In the midst of this deathly silence filled with shock and absurdity, a cheer filled with barely suppressed, almost frenzied excitement suddenly erupted like a thunderclap without warning!

Fujii Itsuki, Xiao Xunhua, and those other actors from the Kanto region, like a group of travelers who had trekked through the desert for decades and finally saw an oasis, rushed out of the crowd almost at the same time!
The confusion and bewilderment that had been on their young faces were long gone.

Instead, there was a kind of ecstatic joy that arose upon seeing one's own leader!
"Minister! What brings you here too!"

"That's great! We're relieved to have you here!"

Like a flock of birds that had found a sanctuary, they chirped and chattered around Hiroshi Nohara, their heartfelt intimacy and trust overflowing.

That fervor even infected those around them who were originally staff members of the "Kurosawa Group".

They looked at the young man surrounded by a crowd, then at their own director, who, though still dignified, now seemed like a forgotten island, appearing somewhat forlorn.

At this moment, a complex emotion arose in that heart that was already filled with resentment.

Eiji Kurosawa watched the dramatic scene unfold before him in silence.

His face betrayed no emotion.

But a deep sense of melancholy, like that of a hero in his twilight years, quietly surfaced in the depths of his eyes.

His era may truly be over.

"All right."

Eiji Kurosawa spoke slowly, his voice hoarse yet carrying immense weight, instantly silencing the frenzied clamor.

He looked at the group of "Kanto-style actors" in front of him, who had been revitalized by the arrival of a young man, and then looked at the group of "Kurosawa-gumi veterans" behind him, whose edges had long been worn down by reality.

I couldn't help but let out a slow sigh.

He turned around and, facing the film crew looking over, said in a deep voice, "From today onwards, the 'Samurai in the Blacksmith' project is officially cancelled!"

"boom--!"

These words were like an atomic bomb, exploding in everyone's minds!

"Director...Director! What...what did you say?!" Shohei Soejima's voice was filled with disbelief and trembling.

"Abandoned? Then...then all our hard work over the past few months...will have been for nothing?!" Watanabe Ichiro's face was filled with horror.

However, Eiji Kurosawa simply waved his hand calmly, turned around, and amidst countless shocked and puzzled gazes, slowly turned his gaze to the young man who had been calmly smiling throughout.

He spoke calmly:
"Starting today, we will begin a brand new project."

He paused, and under the countless gazes already utterly stunned by his words, slowly said:

Its name is—

"—Seven Samurai!"

"And the film's chief planner, chief screenwriter, and... co-director."

In Eiji Kurosawa's eyes burned a kind of desperate madness that was enough to burn the entire old era to ashes!

Eiji Kurosawa pointed directly at Hiroshi Nohara.

Shout loudly:
"—It's him, Hiroshi Nohara!"

"..."

The whole world seemed to have been muted.

Everyone stared blankly at Eiji Kurosawa and Hiroshi Nohara, their gazes involuntarily drifting between the two.

On those faces, only undisguised blankness remained.

Stunned and speechless.

A well-established, top-tier director actually said he would burn all his hard work to ashes and then let everyone listen to the command of this young man who had only recently graduated from university and had been with TV Tokyo for less than half a year.

To make another samurai film that even a giant like Eiji Kurosawa would be willing to cooperate with!?

What the hell is the logic behind this?!

What on earth is wrong with this world?!

Assistant director Shohei Soejima felt like his brain had completely shut down.

His mouth was agape, and his face, etched with exhaustion, now held only the bewilderment of someone whose worldview had been shattered by a heavy hammer.

He even suspected that he was hallucinating because he had been staying up too late recently.

"What are you all standing there for?!"

Eiji Kurosawa's impatient roar, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, finally shattered the eerie silence!

His sharp eyes swept across the entire room, his gaze like that of a thoroughly enraged lion, filled with unquestionable majesty: "Didn't you hear what I said?! Set up the scenery! Props! Costumes! Get everything moving! Also, get that conference tent over there set up immediately!" He pointed to a relatively open flat area not far away, his posture like that of a warlord issuing orders.

This time, however, all his commands were directed to a single, ultimate core.

He turned to the young man who had been calmly smiling the whole time and made a "please" gesture.

"Nohara...Director-in-Chief, shall we...begin?"

Director Nohara?!

These three words, like three heaviest battering rams, struck the mental defenses of everyone present once again!
Just now, if they still held a sliver of hope, thinking it was just a joke by Director Kurosawa on a whim.

So now, when these three words came from the mouth of this master who had lived a solitary life, spoken in a tone almost like a subordinate reporting to the authorities, everyone knew...

The world has truly changed.

“Okay, Director Kurosawa.” Hiroshi Nohara nodded with a smile.

He ignored the horrified stares around him that could have burned him alive, and calmly walked into the simple meeting tent that had just been hastily set up by a few staff members, led by the legendary director himself.

Inside the tent, a folding table and a few plastic chairs were all the belongings.

Hiroshi Nohara calmly sat down in the chair that symbolized the head of the group, his gaze sweeping over the core members of the crew who were like puppets, pushed and shoved in by Shohei Soejima, and who were already completely disoriented.

"Everyone, I know you have many questions right now."

Hiroshi Nohara said directly, "However, before answering your questions, I'd like to tell you a story first."

As he spoke, amidst countless gazes filled with confusion, doubt, incomprehension, and curiosity, he slowly began to construct that cinematic world.

"The story takes place in Japan's Sengoku period, in a poor mountain village that suffers greatly from banditry..."

His voice was calm, without the slightest inflection, like the most skilled storyteller slowly unfolding a grand scroll filled with blood and fire in the most plain tone.

He told the story of seven warriors with very different personalities, yet all of whom were filled with tragic fates.

He spoke of those farmers who, though seemingly simple, were actually more cunning and pitiful than bandits.

The autumn wind howled outside the tent.

Inside the tent, however, there was a deathly silence.

Everyone held their breath, and the initial numbness and disdain on their faces had long since disappeared.

Instead, there was a profound sense of awe and shock, as if one had been completely overwhelmed by an absolutely ingenious idea!

The young screenwriter in charge of taking notes had already stopped writing. He listened blankly, and in his eyes, hidden behind thick glasses, burned two blazing flames of pilgrimage!
"...In the end, the bandits were wiped out, and the village was saved. The farmers sang and danced, celebrating the harvest. The three surviving samurai looked at the joyous fields, and one of them said, 'We lost again. The farmers won.'"

When Hiroshi Nohara finished speaking the last word, he picked up the glass of barley tea in front of him, which had long since gone cold, and took a small sip.

Inside the entire tent, you could still hear a pin drop.

After a long while, a series of suppressed gasps of shock rang out!
"This...this...this is simply...godlike!" the young screenwriter murmured to himself, his voice trembling with a sense of utter devastation.

He never imagined that a story about a samurai could be told in such a magnificent and moving way!
"Alright, that's the end of the story."

Hiroshi Nohara put down his teacup and, amidst countless gazes that had long since been completely captivated by him, slowly placed the thick, brick-like folder that he had prepared beforehand in the center of the table.

"These are just some of my own immature ideas, some storyboard drafts. You can... take a look."

refer to?
Shohei Soejima, a veteran assistant director who had been working in the Kurosawa group for almost ten years, opened the folder.

Then, his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a dangerous pinhead!
What kind of "draft" is that?!

Those were clearly outrageously complete storyboards, so precise that every shot angle and every character's expression was perfect—god-level storyboards!

The flowing lines, the dynamic composition, the unique cinematic charm conveyed between the lines—a charm that transcends the aesthetics of this era…

Like the sharpest samurai sword, it fiercely cleaved through the mental shackles that had long been bound by the traditional filmmaking process!

"This...this..." His voice trembled slightly, barely suppressed.

He had initially thought this young man was simply a storytelling genius.

But to his utter surprise, the other party actually... actually used this comic book style to vividly present every scene of a movie that had not yet started filming right before his eyes!
"Any questions now?" Hiroshi Nohara's calm voice rang out.

"No...that's all!"

Shohei Soejima suddenly stood up and bowed deeply, deeply, to the young man.

A standard, awe-inspiring, and convincing 90-degree bow!

"Director Nohara! Please... please let us follow you! Bring this great work to the world!"

"Please make sure we can follow you!"

Inside the tent, all the core members of the crew seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, standing up in unison and bowing solemnly to the young man!
Looking at all this, Eiji Kurosawa slowly smiled, without any sense of loneliness, only the joy of being recognized.

……

Outside the tent, the atmosphere in the open space remained subtly divided.

The actors from the Northeast region who had been temporarily summoned were gathered in twos and threes, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation.

Meanwhile, the veterans of the "Kurosawa Group" maintained an innate sense of distance, observing everything with detached indifference.

"Fujii-san, tell me, what exactly is the department head going to film this time? How did you manage to get Director Kurosawa involved?" Kaoru, the young actress who gave a stunning performance in "Tales of the Unusual," asked Fujii Itsuki, who was already a leading figure among the younger generation of the Kanto faction, with a curious look on her face.

"Who knows?" Fujii Itsuki shrugged, his handsome face bearing an almost blind confidence: "But since the minister is personally in charge, it can't be bad! We can just wait and see."

"Tch, that's easy for you to say."

Not far away, a veteran worker who had been in charge of lighting for nearly twenty years in the Kurosawa Group couldn't help but let out a contemptuous snort when he heard this.

He spat out the cigarette butt from his mouth and ground it hard with the sole of his shoe, his eyes looking at a group of ignorant and arrogant young boys.

"Filmmaking isn't something you kids can play. It's an art that requires time and experience to hone, bit by bit. How dare someone who makes TV dramas come here and criticize Director Kurosawa? It's utterly ridiculous!"

"that is!"

Another veteran props worker nodded in agreement, his voice filled with the superiority of a seasoned professional: "We've been with Director Kurosawa for almost thirty years. What kind of genius haven't we seen? But in the end? We still have to obediently follow the director's rules. The film industry is a deep and murky place."

This argument, which was full of the flavor of condescension due to one's age, caused a hint of displeasure to appear on Fujii Itsuki's handsome face.

He was about to retort when the curtain of the conference tent was suddenly flung open.

Eiji Kurosawa, his figure as sharp as a drawn samurai sword, strode out.

His face held an air of authority.

This immediately made everyone stand up instinctively.

"Director Kurosawa!"

"director!"

"What can I do for you, Director?"

Everyone looked at Eiji Kurosawa.

But Eiji Kurosawa was just holding a few simple sketches of seven samurai figures that he had just torn from that stack of god-level storyboards.

"Yasuji Miyoshi!" he shouted, his booming voice echoing like thunder throughout the entire set!
The person named was a middle-aged actor nearing fifty, whose eyes held a hint of world-weariness.

He paused for a moment, then quickly stepped out from the crowd.

"To!"

"You, Enkanbei!" Eiji Kurosawa slammed a drawing covered in tiny writing into his hand. "Go back! Memorize the character's biography! I want you to portray that kind of compassion—a character who has seen through life and death, yet still chooses to stand up for what's right!"

"Yes!" Miyoshi Taiji nodded heavily, his usually composed face filled with barely suppressed excitement!
Although he didn't understand the situation.

But these are the sketches and biography that director Eiji Kurosawa gave to himself!
“Makino Shunpei!” Kurosawa Eiji spoke again.

“Here!” A young actor with a hint of arrogance in his eyes stepped forward in response.

“You, play Kikuchiyo!” Eiji Kurosawa handed over another sketch: “I want you to portray that beast-like vitality and childlike innocence! I want the audience to see you as if they were seeing a wild beast that could break free from its restraints at any moment!”

"Hi!"

"Ryuji Fushimi!"

"To!"

"You, play Kyuzo! I want you to portray that absolute, calm composure—the kind of composure that comes with sacrificing everything for the sake of swordsmanship!"

"Hi!"

……

One name after another exploded from his mouth like thunder!
One sketch after another was distributed by him like a military order to the actors who were completely stunned by his swift and decisive actions!
The entire casting process was clean and efficient, without the slightest bit of hesitation or delay!

That unique, top-tier director's precise grasp and absolute control over the actors' temperament was on full display at this moment!
They looked at their director, who seemed to have regained his peak form in an instant, and were all puzzled.

Logically speaking, should director Kurosawa really need to handle such trivial matters as casting himself?
However, before they could recover from the shock, a voice filled with confusion and a hint of resentment rang out at an inopportune moment.

"Um... Director Kurosawa."

The veteran lighting technician hesitated for a moment, then finally mustered his courage, stepped forward, and asked in as tactful a tone as possible, "Are we... really going to make a completely new movie? And... who... decides what's going on with this movie?"

This question reflects the sentiments of all the "Kurosawa Group" members present.

They looked at their director, who was as majestic as a god, and there was a last little struggle in his eyes.

However, Eiji Kurosawa merely glanced at him calmly, his gaze like that of someone looking at an ignorant child: "Was I unclear before? Don't you know who the real, actual director is?"

But he still answered them: "I already said! It's... Hiroshi Nohara!"

"..."

The whole world seemed to have been muted again.

The lighting technician stood there dumbfounded, all the color draining from his already dark face in an instant.

All the members of the Kurosawa filming team wore expressions of both grievance and bewilderment.

In their hearts, Eiji Kurosawa... has always been a god-like figure!

"Wow!" All the young artists from the Kanto region exclaimed with surprise.

When he looked at the tent, his eyes became even more fervent.

Because they already knew it.

Nohara Hiroshi.

That is the true God!
(End of this chapter)