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

As is well known, Takeru Satoh is very difficult to hire because he is too big and has too high a status, and Toei is unwilling to spend the money.

However, if you are familiar with the Japanese entertainment industry, especially with the specifics of Takeru Satoh, you will find that he is actually not that difficult to invite.

First of all, Amuse is considered one of the most relaxed and unrestrained top agencies in the Japanese entertainment industry, especially in terms of the work and activities its artists take on, which it has always respected and allowed to be managed more freely.

This is completely different from the highly closed management style of Johnny's Entertainment.

Sato Takeru is a very high-profile figure, and his agency basically lets him do whatever he wants without any interference.

Even when Takeru Satoh wanted to go solo in 21, Amuse didn't hold him back from his contract. Instead, they invested in the new agency he and Ryunosuke Kamiki founded, giving them more autonomy in this way.

Therefore, whether or not we can get Takeru Satoh to work out actually depends on just one thing:

Whether he himself is willing or not.

Would Takeru Satoh be unhappy about this?

Even disregarding Sakurada Jun's life-saving grace and their past friendship, after Sakurada Jun casually dangled a huge, round, and delicious pie in his face that day...

To say that he doesn't want to expand his brand awareness in China and try to earn some extra money is a joke.

So when Jun Sakurada brought it up with him, the latter readily agreed.

He even only asked for half of Sakurada Jun's earnings from this live stream as an appearance fee. If Sakurada Jun hadn't insisted, he wouldn't have even bothered to take half of that.

Dude, why worry about that little bit of money!

But these are all inside stories of Japanese entertainment; ordinary viewers have no idea about the behind-the-scenes dealings.

And when these people saw that familiar handsome face sit down next to Jun Sakurada and introduce himself in broken Chinese, "Hello everyone, I'm Takeru Satoh,"

After a while, even the Monkey Head band, which was touted as Asia's number one rock band only in China, strolled into the frame.

Well...

Takeru Sato! high!

Taka, hard!

Your brother Run is tall and strong!

The audience was delighted. In 2019, it was still quite novel to be able to interact with a big star so closely through a live broadcast, let alone with such a heavyweight guest.

Malou and Sato Takeru were also very happy. Looking at the ever-growing number of online viewers in the background, the rapidly scrolling bullet comments, and the almost non-stop gift effects, they felt that the live stream would definitely be a great success.

So who's unhappy?

Jun Sakurada wasn't very happy.

He counted on his fingers and realized that at this rate, if he opted for a 50/50 split, the appearance fee he would ultimately pay might be higher than Takeru Satoh's usual asking price.

I've lost out.

How could this be allowed? When has Jun Sakurada ever made a losing deal?

So, taking advantage of the time Taka was singing for the audience, he quickly lowered his voice and asked Sato Takeru off-camera, "Are you planning to continue chatting or do something else in the second half?"

"Other? What other?" Takeru Satoh asked curiously.

"How about trying some games? Playing games is a great way to connect with the audience and gain their approval and goodwill through live streaming. You should definitely give it a try." Jun Sakurada gave an innocent smile.

"Coincidentally, I know a game that's really entertaining, called 'Yokai Survivor'..."

……

It wasn't just the general public in China who were watching this live stream.

"Let me introduce you both. This is Jun Sakurada, our new Jr. signed this year. Before signing, he was a live streamer and game producer with nearly a million followers on social media and over a million game sales. He is fluent in three languages."

Hideaki Takizawa smiled innocently, as if he were a respected elder in a family introducing a promising junior.

But the delegates sitting across the conference table were not so calm.

"Wang-san, what's Sakurada-kun's Chinese?" Takayuki Tsukagoshi asked the Chinese man next to him in a low voice.

"He speaks fluent Mandarin at a native-level, and he understands many of the popular memes among young people today. If Mr. Takizawa hadn't mentioned it, I would have thought he was just a Chinese student studying abroad."

Beside him, a representative surnamed Wang from New Creation, who had flown overnight from China to Japan to help Tsuburaya in the negotiations, answered in a low voice.

He watched as Jun Sakurada effortlessly juggled multiple tasks on the screen—controlling the flow, enlivening the atmosphere, translating—without showing any signs of being overwhelmed, handling almost any tricky situation with ease, and couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Tsukakoshi-san, get ready."

"With such a young talent in Johnny's, we probably have no chance of getting a piece of the action."

Although they took the initiative to approach Johnny's, Tsuburaya Productions was not without a bit of wishful thinking.

If they can finalize the cooperation before Johnny & Associates fully understands Nagano Hiroshi's potential in the Chinese market, they might be able to take advantage of the information gap and avoid being squeezed out of their profits.

But now it seems that this is obviously not very realistic.

He responded with a wry smile, cleared his throat, and flattered Takizawa Hideaki, saying, "Your firm never seems to lack brilliant young talents."

What was originally just a compliment turned into a pleasant surprise for Hideaki Takizawa, who asked, "So, does your company have any plans to collaborate with us on any upcoming projects?"

"A collaboration with your firm? Any ideas?" The representatives from Tsuburaya looked at each other, their eyes full of questions.

No, is this something we have to consider? Isn't it because Johnny's Entertainment looks down on us and is too lazy to let people come to the Olympic arena?

If only you were willing to release them...

But such words could never be said openly, so Tsukakoshi Takayuki put on an obedient expression: "What Takizawa-san means is—"

Hideaki Takizawa chuckled: "I heard that your company is planning a large-scale commemorative project for the 25th anniversary of three famous works, including Ultraman Tiga?"

Takayuki Tsukakoshi was startled, and then broke out in a cold sweat.

The new generation of TDG has not yet been rolled out; it only exists in discussions and plans among some high-level executives. Even so, Johnny's Entertainment has been able to hear about it.

These people are fine when they're just slacking off, but once they get serious, their network of insider information in the industry is beyond imagination.

"Yes, we do have such a rough idea." He nodded repeatedly.

"Since that's the case—" Seeing that the time was right, Takizawa Hideaki finally revealed his true intentions:

"Do you gentlemen think that, with Sakurada-kun's qualifications and abilities, he's qualified to try for the protagonist position in the new generation of Ultraman Tiga?"

……what?

Takayuki Tsukakoshi wondered if he had misheard.

You mean Johnny's actively requested to send a genius with outstanding looks, a bright future, all-around talent with achievements, and a built-in fan base to us to play the lead role?

Once life goes smoothly, is life really that easy?