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

The Japanese entertainment industry hasn't been peaceful lately, thanks to Johnny & Associates.

As is well known, even in the Japanese entertainment industry, which is the slowest to integrate into the internet age compared to other countries, Johnny's is an anomaly among anomalies.

While the Akimoto faction has already established its members' social media presence across various platforms, the construction site faction is expanding its reach through live streaming platforms, and even the relatively conservative Ken-On and Horipro have at least opened official accounts for their agencies,

Johnny's is still clinging to its traditional media and channels, unwilling to step into new territories.

Even last year, when Hideaki Takizawa moved from the forefront to behind the scenes and began to push Johnny & Associates to carry out a series of reforms, the scope was quite cautious, at most minor—until the beginning of this year.

I don't know what got into Johnny's Entertainment, but they suddenly started racing ahead on the paths of internetization and internationalization at an unprecedented pace.

It's as if they're about to leap from the most conservative and backward old-fashioned sector of Japanese entertainment to the position of a pioneer of reform.

First, no one knows what big thing they did in China, which caused angry Chinese netizens to bypass the Great Firewall and give our lives a little shock in China.

Although other firms were just watching from the sidelines, they were more or less apprehensive and felt the same way.

While Chinese netizens, compared to their Japanese counterparts, are less likely to engage in extreme offline conflicts and tend to have a shorter attention span,

But at the climax of the charge, the sheer power was truly terrifying.

The sheer volume of repeaters, wheelbarrows, ghost pictures, and big-character posters... when they erupt, it's far more intense than the bizarre antics of some of the more gloomy Japanese.

The agencies watched with trepidation as Johnny's and its fans were utterly crushed online, while simultaneously gloating.

But soon, their joy vanished.

Just a few days later, Johnny's Entertainment suddenly announced that its group V6 and some of its members would participate in a commemorative live stream planned by Tsuburaya Productions and the agency, aimed at the Chinese market, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the introduction of Ultraman Tiga to mainland China!

Moreover, this live stream is available to all relevant platforms in inland China, and it's completely free!

Internet, live streaming, overseas, free—these are words that would normally be completely unrelated to Johnny's Entertainment, yet Johnny's Entertainment has simply combined them all together and thrown them out at once.

So much so that many people initially thought it was some kind of April Fool's joke released a month in advance.

It wasn't until Japanese people who had come to China discovered that photos and posters of the six members of V6, which would be completely cut into silhouettes in Japan, along with posters of the main cast of Ultraman Tiga, were being spread everywhere on the Chinese internet as if they were free.

While Chinese netizens were discussing the topic like it was Chinese New Year on all platforms and forums, creating an atmosphere of universal celebration, the entertainment industry was shocked to discover:

Johnny's really has something big planned.

For a time, there were those who praised, those who marveled, those who questioned, those who spoke sarcastically, and those who secretly observed from the shadows with resentful eyes.

But in the end, it all boils down to one sentence: wait and see.

In 2019, relations between the two countries were relatively good. Japan was about to host the Olympics and was actively working to improve relations with China. Meanwhile, many people in the entertainment industry were eyeing the Chinese market and opportunities.

Now, the leader has taken the lead, unleashing an unprecedented combination of moves to demonstrate the momentum of all-in betting.

All we need to do is observe how much the big brother can earn in this wave, and we will naturally have a rough idea of ​​the size and potential of the Chinese market.

So here's the question: what is Johnny's, or rather, the Johnny's neutral faction, doing right now?

……

"...No, time is too tight! Our props team can't possibly build the plane in such a short time!"

"Then let's make half a shell first! Just make sure it doesn't give itself away when the camera angles are right!"

"But the costumes must be reproduced with high quality and quantity! Not just the team members' costumes! But also the V6 members' costumes! Each of them should have a set in the same style as the Victory Team's costumes! But with their real names printed on the back!"

Tsuburaya Productions' logistics, filming, and props teams treated this live broadcast with the same enthusiasm they would have shown for filming a feature film. All the usable props used during the filming of Ultraman Tiga were brought out of the warehouse and urgently refurbished.

The venue used for the live broadcast was also built in the style of the former Victory Team headquarters, with various props, a hastily brought-out PPT, etc., mainly playing the nostalgia card.

Besides Tsuburaya Productions being extremely busy, everyone else was also busy.

"Wait, why do I have to act out a plane crash again after just getting back?" The Shinjo team member seemed to have some objections to the way Sakurada Jun had arranged for his entrance.

Shigeki Kagemaru was, after all, a handsome and well-known member of the GUTS team. If it weren't for Hiroshi Nagano, Daigo's position might have been his.

Why does he seem like someone's comedian?

"Who can blame the fans for remembering you most vividly as a deadly pilot? You're the kind of guy who can flip bumper cars!"

Jun Sakurada suppressed a laugh.

He is currently arranging for the original actors of Ultraman Tiga to film an opening animation for the live broadcast, with the goal of bringing the audience back to their childhood memories in the shortest possible time.

Therefore, some stereotypes are inevitable.

For example, Shigeki Kagemaru makes his entrance by stumbling out of a "crashed" Hyuga, muttering to himself, "Another plane has crashed," while greeting the audience.

"If only some people had crashed a couple fewer planes back then, things would have been fine. Daigo crashed his plane to transform, but what about you?" Munakata laughed and scolded.

"Exactly! It's a good thing to have memorable moments; it means we all did a good job back then!" Horii said cheerfully.

Although he had some doubts about returning to the public eye when he first arrived, he quickly rediscovered his cheerful and playful attitude when he returned to the familiar filming environment, which was not much different from the original Ultraman Tiga.

"It's alright, Shigeki-kun. I still have a share in the title of 'dead pilot' too," Nagano Hiroya chimed in, his tone unchanged despite the different circumstances he'd faced over the years.

"Alright, alright, I'll act it out, okay?" Kagemaru Shigeki's complaint was just for show. The two men exchanged a glance, then looked at Daigo and Munakata beside them, and the men burst into laughter.

The unfamiliarity and estrangement caused by not being able to fully reunite for more than ten or twenty years gradually melted away in this environment.

Jun Sakurada reviewed the footage while smiling.

It has to be said that there is a reason why Ultraman Tiga became a classic. The harmony between the original cast and crew when they reunited after more than 20 years is something that some other production teams cannot match.

With this in mind, the work becomes easier.

"Alright! Thank you all for your hard work, seniors! Everyone, take a short break! Next up is rehearsal time for V6!" the director called out.

So Hiroshi Nagano greeted his crew members and then turned around to rehearse singing and dancing with his V6 brothers.

As the absolute core of this live broadcast, he carried an extremely heavy burden, but instead of showing any signs of fatigue, he became even more excited and serious.

The label of "high-quality idol" is stuck on so tightly that it can't be peeled off. People like this deserve to make a lot of money.

"Sakurada-kun?"

Just as Sakurada Jun was marveling at his senior's impeccable professional attitude, someone suddenly greeted him from behind.

"Furuya-senpai?" Sakurada Jun turned his head and looked at Furuya Shouichi, who had been quite quiet all day.

He has grown from a junior high school student to a middle-aged man. He is not as well-maintained as Hideaki Takizawa, but you can still see the handsome and refined features of his youth in his eyes and brows.

It is said that among the original cast of Ultraman Tiga, he showed the strongest resistance to returning to the cast. If it weren't for Hiroshi Nagano's personal invitation over the phone, he might not even be here.

Given his background as a former Johnny's trainee, it's worth exploring what this resistance represents.

"Would you... be willing to talk?" Furuya Shoichi stared at the young man in front of him, his gaze filled with complex emotions.

When he first returned here, he felt like he was dreaming, because this film set didn't give him any sense of being associated with Johnny's Entertainment.

If it weren't for the appearance of familiar faces like Hideaki Takizawa and Hiroshi Nagano, he might have even suspected that this was just an event organized unilaterally by Tsuburaya Productions.

What made Johnny's Entertainment willing to abandon those conservative and closed-minded dogmas and try so many new things?

After observing for a long time, Furuya Shoichi finally got his answer: the boy in front of him was named Sakurada Jun.

He had never heard of any Johnny's employee being directly involved in the program's planning, suddenly becoming a figure who held both planning and management positions.

I've never heard of Takizawa Hideaki, that prodigy, trusting a greenhorn so much.

He felt he had found the crux of the matter.

"Want to chat? Since you'd like, Furuya-senpai, of course you can," Sakurada Jun smiled, then added, "But not now."

"I can roughly guess what you want to say, but these topics aren't really suitable to discuss right now, right?"

"Can we talk about this after this live stream ends, after we've given those kids from back then a perfect childhood experience?"

After a few seconds of silence, Furuya slowly nodded: "I understand."

……

Time flies, and the day of the live broadcast arrived quickly.

These past few days, the Japanese entertainment industry has been dominated by Johnny & Associates' outrageous and relentless media frenzy.

The way it went viral was a milestone.

From 100,000, 200,000, 500,000, 1 million... all the way to 10 million, along with the changes in V6's fan count across various platforms, and the level of discussion on related topics—basically anything that can be quantified.

Johnny's Entertainment has to mobilize its media outlets to give themselves a huge shout-out.

These figures, however, are all incredibly impressive, often reaching millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, making one's scalp tingle just looking at them.

This was 2019, a year when the Japanese entertainment industry had just entered the streaming era. Artists with hundreds of thousands of followers were considered big names, and only a handful of songs had surpassed 2019 million streams across all platforms.

The shocking figures Johnny & Associates has pulled off in China have left half of the entertainment industry bewildered.

In the past few days, the entire Japanese entertainment industry and its audience have become too lazy to discuss trivial matters such as who cheated, who broke the law, or who got drunk and overdone themselves. Instead, they have all been discussing two questions:

Just how profitable is the Chinese market, and... could Johnny's really have paved the way for their expansion into China?

Some firms that were gloating just a few days ago are now having trouble sleeping.

Those who acted quickly immediately began to assess their own assets, looking for artists with the potential to develop in the Chinese market, like Hiroshi Nagano.

For example, Amuse immediately began researching the employment prospects of its large group of Kamen Rider specialists in China.

Those who are slow to react can only cough up blood with envy while making sarcastic remarks.

"Oh dear, it seems that Tiga will become an Ultraman specially made for China... As expected, the power of our Chinese father is still boundless."

"What are you looking at?" Nagano Hiroki asked, somewhat curiously, seeing Sakurada Jun looking at his phone screen with a smile.

"It's nothing, just some bastard got angry." Sakurada Jun casually exited the tweet posted by a certain FIFA figure in the Olympics, a tweet so sour it made your teeth ache, his tone carrying a hint of disdain.

How could Tsuruno not be anxious? The more successful Tsuburaya Productions and Ultraman are in China, the more it proves that he, this clown who jumps around, is nothing, and he will never have the chance to touch his greatest masterpiece, Dyna.

I wonder if this dog has ever regretted letting all that money slip through its fingers, but it's no use regretting it now.

"It's about to start, so try to avoid looking at these things. Are you feeling stressed? You have the heaviest responsibility today!" Nagano Hiroshi patted his junior on the shoulder.

"It's alright. This isn't my first time doing a live stream. This time it's a bit more formal, with more people, but it's not a big problem," Sakurada Jun chuckled.

Although in theory he is neither V6 nor Ultraman Tiga, as today's translator and MC, he is indeed the one under the most pressure.

He was well aware of how many special eyes would be watching this live stream tonight.

Colleagues, enemies, even those old guys from Johnny's...

They are waiting, waiting for an outcome, whether it will be ascension or descent.

But it is precisely because of this immense pressure that he falls into a strange state of excitement.

Although he has feelings for Ultraman Tiga, Jun Sakurada is not a brainless fan who is willing to help Johnny's and Hiroshi Nagano make money in China for free.

A heavy workload means a strong presence and many opportunities to shine. Moreover, as the already designated human form of Triga, Jun Sakurada is destined to have a big appearance tonight.

Many young Johnny's alumni will never get such an opportunity to be in the spotlight in their entire lives.

Just like the group of backup dancers in the practice room next door, who were doing their final practice under Hideaki Takizawa's tutelage, Sakurada Jun's "seniors" were theoretically like that.

Tonight is a night of nostalgia for Chinese fans, and also Jun Sakurada's true stage debut.

Success or failure hinges on this one battle!

"Alright, it's almost time."

"Get ready to go on stage."