Japanese Entertainment: A Comeback Beginning from Bankrupt President

"What?! The intelligence was fake!?"

Just waking up from a sweet dream, expecting another great success for the group, Watanabe Sōta's face involuntarily contorted upon hearing the report from his secretary, who had rushed from the company to his residence.

Amano Aki has successfully debuted as a singer? And she's even trending on social media?

He cannot accept it.

After all, when Kazuya Sawashiro took in Aki Amano, Sōta Watanabe used his methods and connections to first bring down Kazuya Sawashiro's agency.

All the useful artists were poached, and professional agents were also poached. Not only was the entire agency left as an empty shell, but he also punished him by saddled him with tens of millions of dollars in debt. He even anticipated that he would cause trouble and, based on Yamada's account, set his sights on people who might help Kazuya Sawashiro.

As he expected, Ze Cheng was unwilling to accept this outcome, and he did indeed find Kazama Yumi.

As the executive director of a major agency, her background is something a music producer like her cannot resist, so it is naturally a piece of cake for her to manipulate this woman who has weaknesses everywhere.

What happened next was exactly as he had expected.

Kazama Yumi became his spy planted next to Sawashiro Kazuya, easily keeping track of Sawashiro Kazuya's latest movements. Together with the detective who had been following Sawashiro Kazuya, they confirmed the authenticity of the information Kazama Yumi provided.

He certainly wouldn't believe only Kazama Yumi's side of the story.

Ayase exists, and Kazuya Sawashiro is contacting his classmates from his alma mater. He has also obtained the practice audio for the new song, clarified in advance what kind of song Kazuya Sawashiro wants to make, and even successfully intercepted the song from nexTone.

Although Kazama Yumi sometimes speaks harshly, Watanabe Souta believes it's just her dissatisfaction at being manipulated, and since the information she provides is very accurate, he tolerates it.

Not long ago, I felt that the time was about right, so I took the opportunity to eliminate her from the game.

Surrounded by such a situation, he actually heard from his secretary that Amano Aki had successfully debuted as a singer. How could he accept this?

"Which agent? What's the song? And what's her stage name?" The angrier he got, the calmer he had to remain. Watanabe Sōta simply grabbed his secretary's collar. "Is there any way to put this song back without leaving a trace?"

Leaving no trace means that the method may not be legal, but it must be "compliant with the rules".

Copyright issues, whether the lyrics have a negative impact, these are all reasons that can be used to put pressure on agents.

Kazuya Keze is meticulous in his work; he would never leave such a weakness.

The secretary, her face flushed, shook her head and replied, "It's an artist represented by Tunecore Japan. The stage name is the single character '秋' (Aki), and the song is 'Gunjo.' I've received the copyright information from Tunecore Japan, and there are no violations."

The lyrics and music have authorization certificates provided by the original authors, the original CD rights are held by Aki Amano, and the lyrics, cover, and stage name are all legal and compliant. It is impossible to target them based on violations.

Most importantly, Tunecore Japan and Watanabe Entertainment don't have a good relationship.

Watanabe Entertainment firmly stands with the Music Copyright Society of Japan (JASRCA), but the association has been criticized by many musicians for its unethical practices. Tunecore Japan has taken in many musicians who dislike JASRCA because of this.

If Watanabe Sōta uses his status to pressure those people, they will definitely put this matter on the internet, making Watanabe Entertainment a target of public scorn.

Ultimately, the information was too misleading. It was all because Kazuya Sawashiro applied for a song release on NexTone, and this information was exactly the same as the information provided by Yumi Kazama. Combined with his previous understanding of Kazuya Sawashiro, Watanabe Sōta made a misjudgment.

I'm proud.

After pondering for a long time, Watanabe Sōta released his grip on his secretary's collar and calmly arranged the next steps: "Don't worry about Tunecore. They've already released a song for her, so be it. Inform the platform to suppress her popularity, switch all the streaming to my group, and crush her when she comes out!"

"I've already given the order, but..." The secretary hesitated, unsure how to tell Watanabe Sōta.

"But what?" Watanabe Sōta glared fiercely at his secretary. "Just say it all at once. Hesitating will only affect my judgment. Do you think there's anything I can't accept?"

"Yes! I'm sorry..." The secretary immediately bowed his head and apologized, then told Watanabe Sōta the bad news he had received:

"On the music platform, by the time I knocked on the door, that song had already broken into the top of the daily charts in terms of both plays and downloads without any internal promotion, making it hard to find a local competitor."

Furthermore, according to the data department's analysis, based on the current growth trend, it will top both the Billboard Japan and Oricon domestic download and streaming charts as early as tomorrow, or at the latest the day after.

At this point, the secretary had to remind Watanabe Souta: "Although we are powerful, other companies will only cooperate with us if it is advantageous. I have heard rumors that some companies will outwardly comply with the ban but inwardly resist it."

"Isn't that how businessmen who chase fame and fortune are?" Watanabe Sōta said self-deprecatingly, seemingly relaxed but inwardly tense. "You just said she didn't have internal promotion. Could there be some external factors affecting this song? Who's working against me?"

"This is the second piece of bad news," the secretary continued. "After the technical department traced the source and the detective was bribed with a large sum of money, it was confirmed that there were two groups of people who helped Amano Aki this time. One group was members of her fan club, and the other group was high school students."

"High school students?" Watanabe Sōta laughed when he heard those three words. "You mean those brats whose minds are full of sex, part-time jobs, and getting into good schools, and who even have to ask their parents for pocket money, and they've caused us so much trouble?"

"..." The secretary, afraid of becoming the target of his venting, patiently waited until Watanabe Souta's laughter stopped before replying, "The truth is, they are using a short video platform called TikTok to promote Amano Aki, and are using the high school student conventions being held all over the country to praise the song for capturing their voices."

"So... what was that sound?" Watanabe Souta closed his eyes, trying to suppress his emotions as much as possible.

"Pursuing what you love may be accompanied by fear and impossibility, but this persistence and passion are priceless and worth all the effort. That's what they say online." The secretary carefully recited the original text he had seen.

It can be really scary when someone with unstable emotions suddenly closes their eyes, because you never know what they might do when they open them again.

After the secretary finished speaking, the space seemed to be silenced by a spell, leaving only the soft breathing of the two people.

Watanabe Souta remained silent, and the secretary dared not continue speaking.

The deathly silence lasted for several minutes before being broken by Watanabe Souta's cold laughter.

"Heh... Fear and impossibility, huh?" Watanabe Souta opened his eyes, glanced at his secretary who was looking down out of the corner of his eye, and slowly looked away before saying in a low voice, "Then let's turn this fear and impossibility into reality."

The secretary's eyebrows twitched: "You mean exile?"

"I'm glad you still have your head," Watanabe Sōta said with a forced smile, pushing his secretary toward the door. "Go ahead and do it, by whatever means necessary. In short, I don't want to see or hear this name in public."