My girlfriend is Saiki Kusunoki

"As expected, a newcomer is a newcomer; their strength is indeed completely different from the others."

"Yes, this level is still too poor."

While screenwriter Izumi and director Akagi were giving their critiques, Naoto's mind was filled with the image of Kashima dressed as a man. Wasn't this guy more suited to playing male roles?

"ONE-sensei, what do you think? Should we really switch to someone else?"

At this moment, Kashima looked nervously at Naoto and the director.

She probably knew that her audition was a complete failure.

Having never played a female role before, and being quite nervous, she seemed to fall short in many ways.

"Well, Ms. Kashima, how about you try out for the male lead role?"

"what?!"

"ONE-sensei, are you out of your mind?!"

"Huh? Huh?!"

Everyone present was stunned by Naoto's startling statement. Was there really nothing wrong with what Naoto said?!

Chapter 155: Kana's Role Candidates

"ONE-sensei, are you alright? The male lead? That's outrageous! This guy is a woman!"

The director was completely dumbfounded when he heard that Naoto actually wanted Kashima to audition for the male lead role.

How is that possible? How could a woman possibly dress up as a man? This is simply absurd!

"Why not give it a try? That's what I think. I always felt that there would be some surprises if this person played a male role. Besides, it's just a trial, so nothing bad can happen, right?"

"That's true."

The director and screenwriter exchanged glances and agreed that Naoto's statement was also valid.

After all, auditions are just a process for actors to try out their roles. The final result is only decided at the very end.

While it's surprising that Naoto would have the idea of ​​casting a woman as the male lead, it's not entirely unprecedented in film history.

Movies featuring women dressed as men, or Stephen Chow's CJ7, are all excellent works. Some of these works are so good that it's impossible to tell that the male characters are actually played by women.

But is it really appropriate for a female character, especially a high school girl, to play a male lead...?

"Alright, go change your clothes and try out the role of Shinichi Izumi."

"But I'm here to audition for a female role! I haven't even read the male lead's script!"

At this moment, Kashima Yu's mind was buzzing. He had originally planned to take this opportunity to try playing a female role, but suddenly he felt like he was back in school, playing a male role again.

"It's okay, it's just a trial. If you don't want to, you can go back now."

"No, please let me try."

Although Kashima felt that things were developing in a strange way, since they had come this far, they had to try to find out how things would turn out.

Immediately, Kashima went out, and ten minutes later, Kashima, dressed in men's clothing, appeared in front of the three of them.

"Huh?! What's going on?! This...this is the person from just now?"

"Are you kidding me? It's changed so much?"

When Kashima walked up to editor Izumi and director Akagi, the two couldn't help but widen their eyes.

No wonder Naoto asked this person to try out a male role; this is just too outrageous! She doesn't look like a woman at all.

So, there really are people like that.

After seeing Kashima dressed as a woman, the two of them looked at Naoto with admiration.

As expected of Teacher ONE, his eye for talent is truly unique. It turns out there really are people who can cross-dress so convincingly.

Compared to the previous women's clothing, this looks more like a boy wearing women's clothes.

Naoto, looking at Kashima in men's clothing, revealed a look of certainty.

Naoto had already guessed that this person, perhaps because they wore men's clothing more often, was obviously not used to wearing women's clothing before. Then, on a whim, he had the person try on a male character, and unexpectedly, it was completely different.

After putting on men's clothing, Kashima's nervousness seemed to disappear. The men's clothes acted as a form of protection for her, completely shielding her from her previous thoughts.

Even after donning men's clothing, Kashima's various performances still encountered many problems due to his unfamiliarity with the script.

However, the overall impression she gave was better than when she was dressed as a woman.

Whether it's Shinichi Izumi's timidity in the early stages or his domineering and decisiveness in the later stages, Kashima seems to be able to control him at will.

"How do you feel, both of you?"

"She's a very special actress. I have to say, her cross-dressing was quite stunning."

"But isn't it a bit unusual to have a woman play the role? Even in film history, this is quite rare."

"That depends on you yourselves. After all, you've only come to me for help. I don't have the authority to decide. Whether it's good or bad, you have to decide for yourselves, right?"

Both Hongmu and Quanmu were dumbfounded by Naoto's way of shifting blame.

So we wanted to make the straight people take the blame, but they just handed it back to them instead?

However, they can't really criticize them.

After careful consideration, the two ultimately kept Kashima's name on the shortlist, intending to think about it further later to determine who would be the best choice.

And then, Ichika, who auditioned for the female lead, successfully remained on the shortlist of candidates.

By the end, the list was almost finalized.

However, it soon became clear that there didn't seem to be a suitable candidate for the role of Kana.

"That's strange. Why are there so few people auditioning for the role of Kana? Is no one interested in the role of Kana?"

The two looked at the list of names and felt particularly strange.

Logically speaking, Kana, as one of the top three most important female characters in the entire work, should have more than such a small cast.

But why isn't there a suitable person?

"Well, I do have some ideas about this role. What do you guys think?"

"Huh? ONE-sensei, you actually think someone could play this role? Who is it?"

When they heard that Naoto actually had ideas about the role, the two of them simultaneously thought that Naoto might have already decided on the role.

After all, quite a few people have come to them for help recently. Although they have refused some, it's not unacceptable if Zhiren also needs help.

Given how much Naoto has already helped them today, if Naoto really wants to squeeze someone in, they might consider it and make a private decision.

"Ah, indeed, what do you think about having Mai Sakurajima play this role?"

"Sakura, Sakurajima Mai?!"

"ONE-sensei, could it be that you're talking about... that former national idol, Sakurajima Mai?!"

"Why are you all so surprised? Also, is there another Mai Sakurajima in the entertainment industry in China?"

Faced with Naoto's indifferent attitude, the two really wanted to grab him by the collar and yell at him: Do you even know what Sakurajima Mai represents?! You brat, can't you be less arrogant?! You're so infuriating!

Unfortunately, they can't. No matter how arrogant the Naoto's attitude is, they have no choice but to accept it now.

However, the fact that Naoto knew Mai Sakurajima did surprise them so much that they were speechless.

Chapter 156: Help from My Senior

"ONE-sensei, do you really know Sakurajima Mai?"

The two of them still find it unbelievable that Naoto planned to invite Mai Sakurajima.

After all, that's the famous Mai Sakurajima, a national idol!

They had previously dreamed that one day there would be a movie where Mai Sakurajima would play the leading lady.

Unfortunately, their dream has never come true.

Mai Sakurajima's name was nowhere to be found on this audition list. It makes sense, considering that Mai-senpai was already a national idol a few years ago and didn't need a live-action movie like Parasyte to increase her popularity.

After all, in the eyes of outsiders, live-action adaptations of comics are still considered a relatively low-end genre.

In their view, there was no way they could persuade Mai Sakurajima to come.

But now, Naoto actually wants to invite this national idol over with just a few words, and not even to play the female lead? How is that possible?

"Actually, Mai-senpai is currently a senior at our school, and we're in the same club. She had told me before that she wanted to act in the show."

"Cough cough cough, what did you say?!"

Upon hearing Naoto's statement, the two were taken aback for a moment before realizing that Mai Sakurajima did indeed come from PK Academy.

The key point is that Mai Sakurajima is in the same club as ONE?! This news is too shocking! They've never heard of it before.

Naoto didn't care about their surprise at all; he hadn't even mentioned that Sakurajima Mai was his best friend's girlfriend.

As for Mai-senpai wanting to participate in the film, Naoto did mention it.

When the production team was first formed, Naoto had already asked Mai if she was interested in the role in the movie.

In fact, influenced by Sakuta and Naoto, Mai also watched the entire Parasyte series.

They were also very familiar with the plot.

Mai was quite interested when she heard that Naoto had invited her to participate in the audition.

After returning to the entertainment industry, Mai began to actively participate in various projects.

However, due to the two-year break, Mai's fame was ultimately affected to some extent.

Mai now needs a highly influential film to star in.

So he readily accepted Naoto's invitation.

When asked which role Mai was interested in, Naoto initially thought she would choose the role of Rimi. After all, given Mai's status, it would be natural for her to take on a leading role.

However, Mai did not choose the role of Rimi. Instead, she chose Kana, who was the second female lead, as her target.

At first, Naoto was a little confused. In terms of screen time, Rimi should have the most scenes and was undoubtedly the female lead. Why did Mai choose Kana?