Japanese Entertainment: A Comeback Beginning from Bankrupt President

The enthusiasm of the dance club members for Aki Amano was beyond Kazuya Sawashiro's expectations.

He entered the school alone, but when he came out, he had become the captain of the school trip team, followed by more than a dozen high school students who were both nervous and expectant, and a teacher who was worried about them and had followed along.

However, this is not a school trip.

Kazuya Sawashiro brought them along to meet Aki Amano, who was waiting for him in Shibuya.

He felt like he had entered Amano Aki's fandom. These dozen or so people had all watched Amano Aki's dramas, and were die-hard fans who had watched them many times. Even now, one or two of them were still wiping away tears. If you didn't know better, you would think that Sawashiro Kazuya had bullied them.

This somewhat "bad" group moved from Shiba 4-chome to Shibuya.

In front of the Hachiko statue, without even needing Kazuya Sawashiro to point it out, the high school students behind him recognized the thin figure and immediately abandoned him, their guide, to surround Aki Amano.

"Amano-san, I'm so glad to finally meet you."

"Aki-chan..."

The shy ones were still calling out "Amano," while the bolder ones were already calling out "Aki-chan" and hugging her.

Of course, only those few high school girls dared to shout like that, and only with them would Amano Aki not refuse to hug them.

Amano Aki did not refuse, because she saw these people following behind Sawashiro Kazuya, and since they were all wearing the same style of uniform, she could guess that they were all classmates gathered by Sawashiro Kazuya.

However… it was a bit too enthusiastic.

A hug is fine, but you can't wipe your tears on her clothes. She just changed into her new clothes this afternoon.

Not far away, Kazuya Sawashiro and his instructor watched all of this with tenderness.

"When I first heard you say you were a manager, I thought you were a fraud," the mentor's impression of Kazuya Sawashiro had greatly changed by now. "Your alma mater is willing to support you, but you still have 99 high schools to recruit from, right? Do you still have to go to each one like you are today?"

Kazuya Sawashiro nodded: "Of course we have to run. If we can't even achieve this goal, how can we talk about a comeback?"

"I just heard that kid has been blacklisted..." The instructor moved closer to prevent them from hearing this, "Although I don't know much about the entertainment industry, being blacklisted is a very serious matter, isn't it? Does she still have a chance to make a comeback?"

As her mentor, she must be very happy to see her students doing something meaningful.

But the word "ban" sounds very serious, like being expelled from school.

To put it in the way a supervising teacher would understand: Can a student who has already been expelled return to that school? Even if she does come back, what was the point of the written punishment before?

Waste paper?

Then where do the principal and the dean of students put their faces?

"Just like the teacher said, this matter is indeed very serious, but there is a concept that the teacher may not be clear about." Kazuya Sawashiro agreed with the teacher's statement, but he also had to tell the teacher that he and Aki Amano were not doing useless work.

"I would like to hear the details."

"Wait a moment, let me arrange Amano's work first. She came out today on a mission." Kazuya Sawashiro pointed to Amano Aki, who was surrounded, and then put the teacher aside.

After saying that, he called Kazama Yumi and asked her to bring down the equipment she needed for the street performance.

Although there is no band, simple sound equipment is still necessary, otherwise how can others hear Aki Amano's voice?

Kazama Yumi's actions were indeed suspicious; she had talked a bit too much last night. But right now, Sawashiro Kazuya needed help from all sides, so as long as they still had a tacit understanding, he wouldn't ask too many questions.

In any case, Kazuya Sawashiro would definitely be on guard in his heart.

Just a few minutes after the call, Kazama Yumi came down with the equipment and handed it to Sawashiro Kazuya: "Everything's set up and ready to use. Take a look at the playlist."

"Thank you," Kazuya Sawashiro said, then took the equipment and came to Aki Amano's side, interrupting her chatter with her classmates. "There will be plenty of opportunities to say sentimental things in the future. Let's get the work done first and start the performance here."

A guitar, a standing microphone, and a sound system—that's all you need for the stage.

As for the song list, just sing along.

As Amano Aki was gathering her emotions, the instructor called the students back: "Yes, everyone, come back over here. Don't disturb Amano-san."

"yes…"

The students were very conscientious and immediately cleared out a small area for Amano Akira to perform.

Kazama Yumi didn't leave immediately. Looking at the group of children with expectant eyes, and the young woman who sounded like a school teacher, a question flashed through her mind. She approached Sawashiro Kazuya and asked, "What are they here for?"

"The younger generation from my alma mater are all fans of Amano. I was worried that Amano wouldn't have enough confidence for his first promotional event, so I specially invited them to act as shills." Kazuya Sawashiro briefly mentioned them, not revealing too much to Yumi Kazama.

"You really are..." Kazama Yumi smiled and nodded at Sawashiro Kazuya.

She still had many questions in her heart, but she knew she wouldn't get any answers from Kazuya Sawashiro, because she could sense his wariness.

"I can't help it, she's all I have left now," Kazuya Sawashiro said with a smile, making his stance clear. "She trusts me, so I'll do everything in my power to protect her from harm. Yumi-nee should understand, right?"

"I understand, but not getting hurt... isn't that simple," Kazama Yumi avoided Sawashiro Kazuya's gaze, lowered her head and whispered, "Watanabe Entertainment is far more terrifying than you know right now."

Kazuya Sawashiro smiled but did not reply.

Last night before going to bed, he did some more research on Watanabe Entertainment, so he was well aware of how terrifying Watanabe Entertainment was.

This is not just a large firm.

To be precise, this is a massive enterprise with extensive connections in both political and business circles, navigating both the legitimate and underworld circles with ease, and holding absolute power in the entertainment industry.

Weekly Bunshun has been digging into the agency's dirty secrets for decades, exposing a series of misdeeds, including forced pillow business, providing paid sexual services to major corporations and members of parliament, artists' involvement in organized crime and drugs, and exploitation of newcomers. These are all things Watanabe Entertainment has done, yet it still stands strong.

In other words, now that traditional media is gradually losing its mainstream status, Watanabe Entertainment can no longer completely control the speech of ordinary people, and out of concern for the impact, it has become much more restrained, or rather, more secretive.

Right now, everything seems to be going smoothly, but Kazuya Sawashiro believes that Watanabe Entertainment's eyes are always on him and Aki Amano.

But should we not do it just because we're afraid?

"There's nothing left..." Kazuya Sawashiro sighed inwardly, then looked into the distance and muttered to himself:

"The firm's current predicament is entirely my fault, but I have one thing that I'm particularly proud of: I'm extremely stubborn. Once I've made up my mind about something, I'll do it with the determination to die for it."

One year... two years, whether or not I have companions by my side, I will continue.

What I want to do now is to send that person back to Earth at all costs, no matter what difficulties I encounter along the way.

"Why?" Kazama Yumi looked up and stared at Sawashiro Kazuya, who was radiating a strong aura beside her.

"Because my world is now completely empty."