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

Chapter 80 What is Ultraman Tiga (Part 2)

The cockpit of the Flying Swallow!

The familiar surroundings and the two familiar blue seatbelts on Jun Sakurada's body made the audience instantly recognize where they were, triggering another wave of comments.

Since it's on the Flying Swallow, who else could the man sitting in front of Sakurada Jun be?

"You are... a member of the Shinjo team?" Jun Sakurada exclaimed in surprise.

"Have you gone mad from sleeping? You don't even recognize me?" Xincheng laughed and scolded, the camera showing his face. The sixty-year-old man looked much older than he had back then, but you could still see the shadow of the ace pilot from back then.

"Alright, alright, cheer up, we're on a mission right now! Report to headquarters! Everything's normal here!" Shinjo reprimanded the newcomer while confidently reporting to headquarters.

Viewers who were just enjoying the surprise of seeing familiar faces return suddenly had a sense of déjà vu, and the live chat immediately erupted with laughter: "Oh? Is it coming? Is it coming? The New City members' traditional talent?"

"A pilot who's practically dead! His skill level is so high, he can even flip a bumper car!"

Before the audience could finish sending their frantic comments, the plane on screen began to shake violently.

"What's going on?" Shinjo grumbled. "Switch to manual operation, let me do everything!"

The screen shook even more violently, accompanied by screams from Shinjo and Sakurada Jun.

boom!

With the release of authentic footage of a plane crash from 24 years ago, Xincheng adds another crash to its list of notable incidents.

Unlicensed pilot, requesting combat readiness!

Amidst the laughter and jeers of the live chat, a disheveled Shinjo and Sakurada Jun stumbled out of the plane. Shinjo, still trying to sound tough, said, "Don't get me wrong, newbies, it was just an accident, you know what an accident is!"

Before he could answer, another teasing yet resolute voice came from the side: "An accident? You do the math yourself, how many planes have you crashed?"

"Lina is away on a business trip, everyone is already busy, and you're just making things worse."

Looking up, Zong Fang was standing not far ahead, also looking slightly old but full of energy. He took a sip of wine with a playful expression, his face changed, but he was forcibly suppressed.

After all, Munakata doesn't actually drink alcohol.

"Alright, it's impressive that you came back alive. Let's go back to the base first. Newcomer, you come too." Zongfang patted Xincheng on the shoulder, greeted him, and then led the two of them toward the base.

With constantly changing sets, the special effects and temporary locations made each scene a nostalgic experience for the audience, especially the final headquarters scene: "Hey, Xincheng, another plane crash? When are you going to have a brain as smart as mine?"

Horii mocked Shinjo's disheveled appearance without restraint. Even though his hair and beard were all white, his cheerful and playful nature remained unchanged.

"Exactly! You're fine, senior, but what if you scare the newbies?"

On the other side, Ye Rui, who is still handsome despite being middle-aged, is operating a computer that is many times more advanced than it was back then, while complaining about it.

"Alright, alright!" Finally, Captain Megumi, who was sitting upright at the table, put on her glasses. She looked less capable than before and more kind.

But when he spoke, the commanding presence that had once held sway over the entire room was still faintly visible: "After all, it's an important day, it's not good to be noisy."

Jun Sakurada stared blankly at these unfamiliar yet familiar figures, interacting with each other in the same way as back then, as if in a dream, yet so real.

At this moment, the audience felt this sense of awe with crystal clarity.

"Oh right, hasn't Daigo arrived yet?"

"He's not always like this, sometimes arriving a little late for no reason," Xincheng said with a laugh.

This is obviously referring to Daigo's habit of secretly finding places to transform, but to the audience, it carries a different kind of heartache.

After all, this reunion spans more than a decade.

Finally, "Hey everyone! I'm late!"

Just like every time the Ultraman Tiga series ended, a clear voice rang out from not far away. Everyone looked in response and saw two figures striding towards them.

With a graceful and slightly divine appearance, and adorned in silver, red, and blue, Ultraman Tiga possessed an outstanding appearance that was among the best in the series.

The other person was wearing a Victory team uniform, with the word "DAIGO" clearly visible on the back.

"Everyone, I'm back!" The camera finally focused on Hiroshi Nagano, no, on Daigo's bright smile.

At that moment, backlit, the silhouettes of Tiga and Daigo slowly merged into one.

"What is Ultraman Tiga?" has officially ended.

"----sharp."

Ignoring the noise of her daughter slamming the table in a fit of rage, Mary Kitagawa slowly uttered those two words, her gaze passing over Nagano Hiroshi and settling on the inconspicuous Sakurada Jun in the picture.

This film was definitely not directed by Hideaki Takizawa, nor was it the work of a director they hired.

Only someone who deeply understands the spirit of Ultraman Tiga and has an extremely clear plan for the short film's goals and ideas could possibly make such a film.

"Despite occupying a significant amount of screen time as someone completely unrelated to Tiga, he doesn't overshadow the main character at all; instead, he provides the audience with a perspective from which they can perfectly immerse themselves."

"He was even willing to completely conceal his own name for this purpose, just to give the audience the most immersive experience."

"The entire piece is almost entirely a tribute to many elements of Ultraman Tiga, but it doesn't feel forced; instead, it fits the theme of Ultraman Tiga very well."

"They can even find time to subtly criticize us."

Mary Kitagawa murmured, and even the furious Fujishima Keiko fell silent, listening in stunned silence.

How come she didn't see so much depth in this film?

"After the incident, I took the time to watch the tokusatsu film that Nagano starred in. I must say, from the audience's perspective, Sakurada Yonex did an excellent job of conveying sentiment and paying homage."

"How are the live stream data going now?"

Fujishima Keiko took out her phone and asked, then spoke again, her voice strained: "The number of viewers watching live has already surpassed ten million. Just now, considering only the gifts and VIPs in the live stream, the revenue was probably already approaching hundreds of millions of yen, and this is just the beginning—"

Hundreds of millions of yen doesn't seem like much compared to the annual revenue of Johnny's groups.

But that was the flow of time.

Moreover, the income of Johnny's idols is mainly supported by physical revenue from offline concerts, CDs, merchandise, and other sources, and these figures do not include costs.

At this moment, the terrifying potential of the Chinese market and the internet market was displayed more clearly than ever before to Johnny & Associates, and even the entire Japanese entertainment industry.

Mary could already imagine how crazy her colleagues would be after tonight.

—It doesn't necessarily have to end; perhaps by this point, he's already gone mad.

"Kageko."

"Mother----"

"Watch closely, learn from him. In some ways, that boy has already far surpassed you." Mary's voice carried a hint of emotion.

"If you want to compete with him, with Takizawa, then you must have some knowledge of their strengths. You don't need to master them, but at least you need to understand them."

Hearing Mary's order, Fujishima Keiko, though somewhat unwilling, quickly and respectfully replied, "Yes."

Within Johnny's, aside from Johnny Kitagawa, who is currently bedridden in some hospital, Mary's words carry supreme authority.

Oh no, even in the realm of operations, Mary's words carry far more weight than Jenny's.

"Now, enjoy your opponents' victory." Mary turned her gaze back to the screen in front of her, her tone calm and composed, seemingly unaffected by her daughter's defeat.

Fujishima Keiko could only grit her teeth and watch on.

"—Awesome."

After the short film ended, the live stream chat paused briefly for a few seconds because viewers were still eager for more, and then it was filled with simple, direct, and heartfelt comments.

That's really awesome.

When Jun Sakurada was filming this opening short film, only three things were on his mind:

Nostalgia, nostalgia, it's still damn nostalgia!

From its appearance to its essence, from the audience to the main story, from its references to its spirit, Ultraman Tiga is paid homage to in every aspect of the film.

In particular, the audience's expectations for Tiga and the most popular elements were almost crammed into this short film.

Furthermore, with Jun Sakurada serving as a figure for the audience to empathize with, the actual viewing experience was incredibly impactful.

It's hard to believe that this film was made from scratch in less than a week.

It's no exaggeration to say that even without the live broadcast tonight, watching this short film would be worth the price of admission for many people.

Who knows how long Jun Sakurada waited for this moment, or how much he planned for it?

The audience's discussion didn't last long; Jun Sakurada had no intention of giving them a chance to cool down.

Soon, the scene shifts, and the headquarters of the Victory Team reappears, but this time the layout has been slightly changed, and it can be seen that it is a stage.

On a sofa to one side of the stage, the five people from the short film had changed into casual clothes and sat down with smiles on their faces. Except for Lina, who was "on a business trip," all the members of the Victory Team were present.

Instead, six figures stood quietly in the center of the stage, their backs to the camera.

"These people are—"

"It's V6, the group Nagano Hiroshi belongs to! Look at the words on their backs!"

"The three in the front row should be Junichi Okada, Ken Miyake, and Go Morita from the younger group, while the two on the left and right in the back row are Yoshihiko Inohara and Masayuki Sakamoto from the older group—why is Hiroshi Nagano still wearing a DAIGO sticker on his back?"

"Isn't that perfect? ​​So Daigo is the special one! I'm finally seeing Daigo in person! I'm so excited!"

"Since it's those few who's going on, it seems pretty obvious what the next program will be."

"It must be that one, right? It absolutely is! Come on!"

Sure enough, the next second, the familiar yet unfamiliar intro for most Chinese viewers began. It wasn't as directly exciting and passionate as the other theme song, but it carried a feeling of the rising sun.

From V6, the original theme song of Ultraman Tiga, "Take Me Higher"!