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

Chapter 95 Japanese-style exaggerated performance

"So what exactly does Old Deng mean?" Jun Sakurada pondered.

"I don't know what you mean by 'Old Deng,' but if you don't pull yourself together soon, you might have to learn what 'losing out' means!"

Someone tapped Sakurada Jun on the head in a condescending manner. Because of the height difference, she even had to stand on tiptoe to complete the action.

"I understand, Hamabe-senpai. I'll do my best." Sakurada Jun didn't mind Hamabe Minami's actions, banishing Kitagawa's thoughts from his mind, and nodded.

A few days had passed since that conversation. After making some simple preparations, Jun Sakurada arrived at the audition for "The Corpse Manor Murder Case," where he was auditioning for the role of Kyosuke Akechi.

A third-year university student, president of the university's mystery enthusiasts' association, and a senior whom the male protagonist, Yuzuru Hamura (Ryunosuke Kamiki), admires.

Although he was the second male lead, his screen time was actually limited. Apart from the small incident at the beginning, he died in the first wave of zombies during the most crucial zombie killing incident.

After that, she appears in various flashback scenes, serving as the protagonist Ye Cun's emotional support, and finally appears as a zombie before being killed.

Overall, it was a bit of a disaster.

However, precisely because of the limited screen time, especially in the core scenes, it is very suitable for Jun Sakurada, who is currently pressed for time.

The role he originally wanted to play was called Mitsuru Shigemoto, a mushroom-headed, bespectacled otaku. The actor in the original timeline, Yuma Yamoto, not only looked similar to Gaku, but was also approaching thirty, so he was obviously not as competitive as Jun Sakurada.

Kyosuke Akechi would give it a try, but he didn't have high hopes.

But an accident changed everything: another alternate for Kyosuke Akechi, actor Tomoya Nakamura, was injured.

This actor, who is quite a late bloomer and is already 33 years old, only really started to become popular last year. The Mystery of the Corpse Village should have been his first starring film.

Given the popularity he gained after his meteoric rise to fame last year, it will be difficult for Jun Sakurada, who has yet to prove himself in the mainstream, to surpass him unless he performs exceptionally well.

I don't know what possessed him, but he tripped and fell while going to the toilet in the middle of the night and broke his leg.

This forced him to miss the filming of "The Mystery of the Corpse Manor," which led Minami Hamabe to mention the role to Jun Sakurada during a phone call that day.

"Is Sakurada-san there? Please come in!"

While talking to Minami Hamabe, Jun Sakurada's name was finally called from the audition hall.

Jun Sakurada stood up, preparing to say goodbye to Minami Hamabe for the time being, but found that the latter also stood up quite naturally.

"What? I, as the lead actor, can't attend your audition? You're supposed to be acting opposite me! I'll shove your head in with a spear!"

Minami Hamabe glared at Jun Sakurada, feigning annoyance.

"Senior, you did it? Wasn't it Kamiki-senpai?" Sakurada Jun was taken aback.

To prepare for the role, he went back and read "The Mystery of the Corpse Village" twice in one night.

In the original story, Kyosuke Akechi was killed by his closest junior, Yoshiyuki Hamura, after he turned into a zombie.

Why was the female lead, Kenzaki Hiruko, played by Minami Hamabe, replaced?

"The script was changed—hey, why worry about so much, he's in!" Minami Hamabe said, only realizing halfway through her sentence that she had let slip that she had accidentally revealed the script.

His face flushed red, and he quickly beckoned Sakurada Jun to go in for an interview.

The two of them, having nothing better to do, bickered as they entered the room and immediately saw several faces, some familiar and some unfamiliar.

The film is directed by Takashi Kimura, written by Mitsuharu Makita, and stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as the male lead, Yuzuru Hamura.

It seems to have become a kind of routine for Jun Sakurada to kill off people on first meeting. Kimura was so excited that he stood up the moment he saw Jun Sakurada.

Her appearance is truly outstanding, even more so than during the live stream.

He was tall and handsome, with a somewhat unapproachable demeanor, but his slightly capable and assertive nature balanced the softer features of his face.

If he were to play Kyosuke Akechi—his outstanding appearance might overshadow Ryunosuke Kamiki, but he could tone it down a bit with makeup and glasses, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

Although sixteen-year-old Jun Sakurada appears slightly younger than his original age of 21, his height of nearly 1.8 meters and well-proportioned frame allow him to live up to the role of an upperclassman.

And this guy is Johnny's rising star!

It's possible that Jun Sakurada himself, having missed both classes and Johnny's Jr. activities these past few days, is not very aware of the situation outside.

In fact, the content of that live stream is spreading like wildfire on the Japanese internet.

Outsiders may not understand the sentiment of Ultraman, or the subtle design tricks of Jun Sakurada, but they can understand the data and the posters that Johnny's graphic designers worked overtime to produce.

Throughout the live stream, Jun Sakurada maintained a remarkably strong presence, even surpassing the presence of the rest of V6 except for Hiroshi Nagano. In the industry's view, this can probably only be described in two words:

Prince.

Coupled with his striking good looks and an incredibly impressive resume that seems unrelated to idols, Jun Sakurada automatically secured his place as one of Johnny's strongest juniors without any competition.

For such a high-potential star from a top agency, the level of blind devotion among fans is beyond imagination. Even in Japan, where Jun Sakurada has never even started a fan club, some people have already begun to quietly create one for him.

These people will become the first group of loyal paying fans once Jun Sakurada joins a certain group.

If he himself finds out, he'll definitely have to go back and pay homage to TheShy and Uzi a few more times to ward off evil spirits.

In short, Kimura Takashi's view on Sakurada Jun is very simple:

Gifted with exceptional talent, outstanding abilities, and a strong background, his box office appeal is promising!

As long as the acting is passable, this role is acceptable!

Oh, right, we also need to consider colleague relationships. Hamabe Minami, as his introducer, goes without saying, but as for Kamiki—

Before he could even speak, Kamiki Ryunosuke flashed a friendly smile and stepped forward to hug Sakurada Jun: "We meet again, Sakurada-kun! You really showed off your prowess the other day!"

"Kamiki-san, you're too kind. I'm just riding on Nagano-senpai's coattails," Sakurada Jun said with a smile.

"It's quite an achievement that you managed to generate this buzz." Ryunosuke Kamiki grinned mischievously. "Speaking of which, this time it's your turn to play my senior, Sakurada-kun?"

"The prerequisite is that I can pass the interview."

Stop talking, stop saying anything. With this connection, the acting standards can be lowered even further.

After a brief self-introduction, they went straight into the audition. It was a simple little skit, which was no challenge for Sakurada Jun, who possessed the disguise skills of a succubus.

So, isn't this supposed to be a serious, horror-themed mystery? Why is there such an abrupt comedic scene?

Sakurada Jun repeated his somewhat exaggerated finger-snapping and exclamation from before, tilting his head to look at Hamabe Minami, his face full of question marks.

I thought the audition would be a serious or suspenseful crime-solving scene, but in reality, although it was a crime-solving scene, it felt more like a stand-up comedy routine.

Moreover, both Jun Sakurada's Akechi and Minami Hamabe's Hiruko have exaggerated gestures when delivering key lines.

It was wise of Akechi to suddenly reach out and snap his fingers. In the scene that Jun Sakurada just performed, Akechi reached out and snapped his fingers, but because he was wearing gloves, he couldn't snap them. Yoshimura, who was next to him, quickly helped him take off his gloves, and that's how he was able to snap his fingers.

Minami Hamabe's gesture was a clapping motion with both arms outstretched, the amplitude comparable to clapping two peaks through the ears.

In short, it's exaggerated.

"There will be some very serious scenes, but there should be some lighthearted and fun things in the early stages of a movie, right?" Minami Hamabe spread her hands, which was much more natural than clapping.

"As for that kind of slightly exaggerated acting, you see that kind of thing in normal TV dramas and movies, right? Don't you watch any domestic productions, junior?"

Sakurada Junshin said it was true.

He had heard that the acting in Japanese movies and TV dramas was often exaggerated.

Perhaps influenced by traditional comedy culture such as manzai, Japanese films and television often feature exaggerated exclamations and actions, as well as some stereotypical and repetitive awkward content.

The most classic example is all sorts of tokusatsu heroes, such as "It must be me or someone", "Smailosugu", "flowers, trees, sky" — cross out the last one.

Jun Sakurada never expected that he would encounter such a plot while acting in a slightly scary mystery film.

Even his own character, Kyosuke Akechi, feels somewhat like a comedic character.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sakurada-kun! You did an excellent job today. We will be discussing the contract with your firm later!" Kimura Takashi was quite satisfied with Sakurada Jun's performance.

Although she was slightly stiff when handling those exaggerated movements, her performance in normal situations was surprisingly smooth. Considering her age and status as a multi-talented idol, her talent can be described as extraordinary.

Add to that its other advantages, and needless to say, it's the one!

"Oh, right!" But just then, Kimura suddenly remembered something and quickly added, "Sakurada-kun, how's your stamina? Since there are zombie scenes involved, there will definitely be some chase scenes."

Although Jun Sakurada is tall and has a well-developed frame, he doesn't look very fleshy. If his physical fitness isn't very good, he might need to train harder during this period.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Sakurada Jun look at him with a strange expression, then gesture for Hamabe Minami and Kamiki Ryunosuke to step back a little, while he himself slightly gathered his strength.

Let's go! Ignore it!

A remarkably graceful backflip with a high margin for error left the remaining four people in the room completely dumbfounded.

Especially Minami Hamabe, even though she personally witnessed Jun Sakurada scaring away a bear.

She had read the script for the movie version, which was quite different from the original novel, "The Corpse Manor."

For example, the ending was changed from the original protagonist, Yecun, having Akechi Kyosuke end his zombie transformation himself, to Kenzaki Hiruko, played by Hamabe Minami, taking the initiative and stabbing Akechi Kyosuke in the head with a spear.

Right now, only one sentence is on Hamabe Minami's mind:

If this guy really turns into a zombie, will humanity be doomed?

>