Tokyo: My obsession with China led me to become the king of Japanese entertainment.

Chapter 312 What do you mean you also want to vote for Hakimi?

"Come on! Let's drink first as a sign of respect!"

"Let's drink until we drop! — These peanuts and cucumber salad are really good!"

"Celebrating Jun's nomination and award — the sausages are delicious too!"

Inside the villa, the atmosphere was completely different from the previous somber, meeting-like setting. Now, the villa presented a distinct, eerie yet harmonious ambiance.

In the living room, the TV was on, various game consoles were set up, and several young people in their early twenties sat in twos and threes, each playing their own games, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

Meanwhile, in the dining room, six middle-aged and older Chinese-Denmark men, each holding a beer mug, came to their senses and began to drink heartily.

Several small dishes were laid out on the table: fried peanuts, Jun Sakurada's secret-recipe smashed cucumber, and a special Sichuan-style smoked sausage that even Jun Sakurada found quite expensive.

He discovered this stuff by chance when buying seasonings at a Chinese supermarket he frequented. It was the owner's stock, quite valuable, and not for sale.

Sakurada Jun went to great lengths, even taking advantage of the boss's lack of interest in the Japanese celebrity market, by pretending to be a Sichuan or Chongqing student studying in Japan who was stranded there due to the pandemic. He managed to buy a few sticks by speaking fluent Chongqing dialect and using his sweet talk.

Well, one of them has already become a snack for these old Chinese-Denmark guys to enjoy with their drinks.

"Why should I be this pushover? What's wrong with letting him get drunk on the street?" Jun Sakurada sighed repeatedly.

7ò

Originally, there were only three adults drinking together: Hideo Kojima, Monkey Head, and Hideaki Takizawa, who had finished his work and was just going through the motions.

Sakurada Jun could just make some fried peanuts and smashed cucumbers, maybe fry some eggs or something, and that would be enough to get by.

Sakurada Jun was worried about Monkey's condition, since he was probably the most emotionally unstable person there. So he called his senior, Yamashita Toru, the leader of ONEOKROCK, and asked him to come and get him as soon as possible to bring his lead singer back.

Half an hour later, when the villa door was knocked on again, Jun Sakurada opened the door and saw, lo and behold, three people!

Guitarist Toru, bassist Ryota, and drummer Tomoya were all present, each with a brighter smile than the last.

"No—we're just picking someone up. Do all three of you have to come together? You don't even live together, do you?" Jun Sakurada was stunned.

"What do you mean, 'picking up people'! Xiao Run, you still don't understand your teacher's private life!" Toru looked at his junior apprentice with admiration, and even a little gratitude.

"Your teacher only drinks so recklessly in two situations: either he's obsessing over something, like when he first left Johnny's."

"Either way—you've figured it out, and your mind is clear. If I'm not mistaken, you've successfully persuaded your teacher to come back."

Toru grinned, his smile carrying a hint of roguishness and wildness.

Fun fact: Among the various lineups of ONE OK ROCK, three members have actually acted in tokusatsu (special effects) films.

Both Toru and Ryota appeared in Yui Aragaki's debut work, the tokusatsu series "Shibuya 15" directed by Shinichiro Shirakura, where they played roughly the third or fourth male lead.

Toru even appeared in Kamen Rider Hibiki, playing a delinquent who provokes Kyosuke Kiriya in episode 44.

Like the monkey, he is an idol who has a handsome face with a strong Kansai flavor.

As for the last one, the original drummer who left ONE0KR0CK in 2006, he is even more of a heavyweight:

Flowers, trees, sky, gentle breeze, clouds — um, that's Xiao Yanagi, who plays Zero's human form, Arashi, and Agamemnon, but he's not here today.

Looking at Yamashita Toru, who had shed his youthful naiveté and impetuosity, Sakurada Jun suddenly had a thought.

Speaking of which, the Knights have always had a glorious tradition of recruiting singers who can sing songs to appear as bosses in TV series or theatrical versions.

From E-san to Old Dan and then to all the villains in the Reiwa theatrical version.

When filming the summer movie of Saber, why not just invite all the members of 00R back to make cameo appearances as bosses?

Toru's temperament, especially considering his past experience as a minor character in the Knights' Quarter, makes him quite suitable to be the final boss.

"Since you're not here to pick someone up, then of course you should all drink together and celebrate!" the three said in unison.

As a result, the number of people drinking increased from three to six, and Sakurada Jun could only reluctantly contribute a sausage.

My heart is bleeding.

"Brother Run, aren't you going to eat?" Raulu pointed to the other half plate of sausages that was laid out in the living room.

"No need for now. Eat as much as you like." Sakurada Jun forced a smile, regretting that he hadn't prepared some edamame or yakitori to appease them.

At the same time, he also spared some attention to observe the situation at the dinner table.

"What are you looking at?" Hamabe Minami asked curiously.

"Let's see if the teacher has really let go." Sakurada Jun didn't even turn his head.

Judging from Monkey Head's current bold and unrestrained manner of chugging bottles, at least on the surface, there seems to be no psychological problem.

However, further observation is still needed.

After thinking for a moment, he turned up the volume on the monitor, which was playing the announcement of this year's Grammy nominations.

Although it's the same day, the Grammy nominations are held at different venues, so the Grammy nominations are held a few hours earlier than the Golden Joystick Awards ceremony.

So the most suspenseful part today is actually the part where the results are revealed first.

Nominated for the 63rd Grammy Best Pop Duo/Group Performance award are Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande's "Rain On Me" and Taylor Swift featuring Bon.

IverGRAMMY—"Eile"————"

"And, Jun Sakurada & Nayeon Lim, *APT*!"

As the dust settled, Jun Sakurada didn't feel much excitement; he hadn't really felt anything about the Grammy nomination anyway.

Getting a nomination means JYP is capable; not getting one means JYP is useless. It has little to do with Jun Sakurada.

Since it was during a major pandemic, he didn't even need to travel to the United States to attend the awards ceremony, so he simply pretended it didn't exist.

Anyway, there's no way he could beat Lady Gaga.

What he was more concerned about was Taka's reaction the moment the nomination was announced.

Without trembling, without changing color, and without even a slight fluctuation, the monkey simply raised his glass at the moment the nominations were announced, gesturing towards Jun Sakurada with a bright smile.

At that moment, Jun Sakurada finally relaxed completely.

The first phase of the Monkey Head Mind Control Plan has been declared a success.

"We may have to leave Amuse."

I don't know how long he'd been drinking, but the monkey, smelling a bit of alcohol, staggered over to Sakurada Jun's side.

This time, he was truly drunk.

"I could have guessed. Congratulations, teacher, on becoming independent." Sakurada Jun chuckled.

Not only ONEOKROCK, but in fact, in early 2021, three superstar groups—ONEOKROCK, Takeru Satoh, and Ryunosuke Kamiki—all chose to leave Amuse and start their own businesses on the same day.

Among them, Sato Takeru and Kamiki Ryunosuke's new agency Co-LaVo has Amuse as a shareholder, with Amuse executives serving as senior managers. This is a way of exchanging the artists' autonomy and profit sharing by setting up a separate subsidiary.

ONEOKR0CK took a more decisive approach, with their new company 10969 (a homophone for ONEOKR0CK) wholly owned by the band members, only outsourcing miscellaneous tasks such as fan club management to Amuse.

It can be said that since 2021, oor has no longer been a member of the Amuse system.

As for why these three top celebrities all left at the same time, we have to go back to a mystery from 2020:

The suicide of Haruma Miura.

As a close friend of Monkey Head, Takeru Satoh, and others, an important member of their inner circle, and a key artist of Amuse, Haruma Miura chose to end his life in 2020 with almost no warning.

Just days before his death, he was still running around doing various tasks arranged by Amuse, promoting his new drama, making singles, and filming movies.

He acted quite normally, and only a few friends knew about his psychological problems in private.

In short, Haruma Miura was criticized for his remarks in 20, and he had also encountered some events that led to his pre-existing depression.

However, Amuse was completely unaware of his cash cow's extremely serious psychological problems, allowing him to gradually descend into the abyss, only to regret it later.

After the incident, fans outside the company were furious and backlashed, while old friends such as Monkey Head and Sato Takeru frequently questioned the company. Amuse could only apologize while further relaxing its management.

Many artists take this opportunity to either increase their autonomy or simply leave.

oor chose the latter.

Jun Sakurada naturally had no objection to this.

Amuse, while one of the largest companies after Johnny & Associates in terms of size, has a rather poor business performance and is practically giving up, especially in terms of expanding overseas.

Despite having established international giants like ONEOKROCK and BABYMETAL, their business acumen as a talent agency and their ability to arrange performances are rather lacking.

A prime example is Jun Sakurada's past life. When the physical band Girls Band Cry came to China for a concert, Amuse was in charge of odd jobs like finding venues.

For some reason, while Mygo next door was aiming for a venue like the Mercedes with 15,000 seats, Amuse only arranged a small venue of 700 for the Thors, leaving countless Bros unable to get tickets and only able to curse the organizers.

It can only be described as utterly worthless.

Jun Sakurada sees 00R's willingness to leave as a good thing.

But the monkey's next words caused Sakurada Jun's smile to slowly freeze: "Your generous contracts at Hakimi shouldn't just be offered to newcomers, right?"

"—Teacher, you're coming to Hakimi?" Sakurada Jun initially thought the monkey was joking: "If you want to send me money, you can find a more direct way."

But then he realized that the monkey head didn't seem to be joking at all, and he couldn't believe it: "Are you serious?"

Just like their previous life, with ONEOKROCK's top-tier popularity among rock bands, they could easily go independent and keep all the money they earned, except for operating expenses.

Even if Jun Sakurada offers a lucrative contract, you still have to take a cut, leaving you at his mercy.

"Could it be that Takizawa-san instigated this?" Sakurada Jun glanced at Takizawa Hideaki, who was still dominating the table, and lowered his voice.

"It has nothing to do with him; he didn't even know I was planning to come."

The monkey shook its head.

"Our original plan was indeed to start our own business, and we didn't intend to trouble you."

"But you've advised me so many times over the past few months, and I've been thinking about what the future of ONEOKROCK should be."

"While starting your own business can certainly bring more freedom and income, it is also equivalent to working in isolation, making it increasingly difficult to have an unrestricted perspective."

"But if we can join a firm that can bring us new things, new ideas, and new directions, perhaps we can experience new excitement."

Sakurada Jun remained silent for a long time: "Even if you, teacher, run your own agency, do you think I wouldn't tell you my thoughts?"

Given how well Monkey Head mentored Sakurada Jun, it's impossible for Sakurada Jun to keep anything from him.

"That's too much trouble." The monkey shook its head indifferently.

"Masato (Hayakawa Masato) said that the group he likes, Paledusk, is very comfortable with you guys, and I happen to be quite interested in them too."

"I guess there won't be many opportunities to hold an offline concert next year, so I might as well spend some time training them."

Once the monkey head made up his mind, he didn't even give Sakurada Jun a chance to object; he was already thinking about what to do after the transfer.

Seeing his serious expression, Sakurada Jun didn't say anything more.

ONEOKROCK is more than just a top-tier band. Almost every new generation of bands and singers with a rock-related musical style are fans of theirs and have all rehearsed their songs.

Vaundy, Green Apple, Paleusk, and Jun Sakurada on Hakimi's side, as well as the other skilled fighters outside, such as Higeo, are all in the same boat.

It can be said that in the neon rock scene, OOR is one of the most influential flag bearers of the middle generation.

For Hakimi, it was no less significant than the V6.

Jun Sakurada suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "In that case, teacher, perhaps there's another project you might be interested in."

"What project?" Monkey was taken aback, not expecting that Jun Sakurada really had something good hidden away.

"Simply put, Toei, Universal, and we plan to jointly launch a 2.5D girl band project —"

"—This kind of project is similar to a girl idol project, right? Takizawa-san might be more familiar with it?" Monkey frowned.

"Teacher, don't forget, although they are essentially an idol band in reality, the members also have anime characters and an entire anime series." Sakurada Jun suppressed a laugh.

"By the way, based on my current communication with screenwriter Jukki Hanada, the plot and setting of this band include some things that you are very familiar with."

"for example?"

"A delinquent, skipping school, running away from home, family conflicts, giving up her idol career to start a band, a super second-generation star, not graduating from high school, and a lead singer with genius talent who is still being discovered."

With each word Jun Sakurada uttered, the monkey's eyes widened by a third, until finally, those already large eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.

"No, are you sure this isn't written according to our instructions?"

"Who told you to be the most standard template for a rock band's passionate story in all of Japan?" Jun Sakurada shrugged.

Believe it or not, once you take the ONEOKROCK kit apart and put it back together, you can not only build GBC, but also add some trendy little toys with elements of explosion, depression, and schizophrenia, and even build a Mother Chicken.

"So, you were responsible for selecting and training this band from scratch? And handling both music and voice acting?"

"Music is the absolute core, and we also practice some voice acting skills on the side. We're not on Bushido."

"I'll take care of it."

Looking at the determined monkey head, Sakurada Jun couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Sure enough, after initially letting go of past grievances, the teacher was still the same hot-blooded and impulsive young man he used to be.

So, since you're so motivated—

If One Piece provides the theme song, Saber makes a cameo appearance, and you write a song for your apprentice later—that should be fine, right?

Jun Sakurada, actual street light pendant.

An extra chapter is here! And I'm confidently asking for your monthly votes!

If I feel better tomorrow, I'll add more chapters! I'll try to wrap up the 2020 content within two days.

It was truly awful to be unable to do anything during a major pandemic and only able to make empty promises.

So—monthly tickets! Please, meow!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!