"I'm in Tokyo, and this is some kind of movie star comeback system?!"

Instead of choosing a studio in Tokyo, the production team held the readings and pre-production preparations in Yamate-cho.

Yamate-cho retains many Western-style buildings from the early Showa era, with old-fashioned stone walls, brick chimneys, and iron gates. The streets are full of ups and downs along the slope.

The production team rented an old Western-style building in Yamate-cho as a base for readings and rehearsals.

The mansion is an old building with gray stone slabs covering its exterior walls.

By early February, the vines were nothing but bare brown branches, clinging to the wall like dried-up blood vessels, trembling slightly in the cold winter wind.

Hitomi Ono carefully held the poster and opened the door of the mansion.

Sakamoto Yu glanced at her speechlessly.

A wave of hot air rushed in from inside the door.

It was a mixture of body heat and the steam from the coffee.

Standing at the door, after letting his eyes adjust to the light inside, he focused his gaze and stepped inside, entering the film crew of "Human Crossroads".

The lobby on the first floor was converted into a temporary meeting room.

Long tables were joined together and covered with a white tablecloth.

Quite a few people have already arrived: producers, screenwriters, assistant directors...

Sakamoto Yu recognized Kobayashi Satomi, who was sitting on one side of the long table, holding a script and talking to the actress next to her.

The main character, Yoichi Miura, hasn't arrived yet.

Sakamoto Yu's gaze swept across the crowd, and he immediately spotted Nakamori Akina.

(Still from the film~)

"Sakamoto-san, you've arrived." The casting director was also present and waved to Sakamoto Yu when he saw him.

Sakamoto Yu smiled modestly and walked away calmly.

The casting director's shout drew everyone's attention, and they all looked over.

The scene fell silent for a moment, followed by hushed whispers. Everyone, from the staff to the actors, was completely captivated by Sakamoto Yu.

He wore a dark brown leather jacket over a black turtleneck sweater and white casual trousers.

His hair was styled according to the aesthetics of his previous life. Unlike the fluffy hairstyle of today, he styled it with a Hong Kong style center-parted slightly curved fringe, similar to Leon Lai's, and the wispy hair in front of his forehead perfectly accentuated his delicate features.

With a height of 1.86 meters, his head-to-body ratio is excellent.

Compared to the youthful charm of idols, he possesses a greater sense of maturity, and compared to middle-aged people, he has a more youthful sharpness.

Clearly, his good looks are still striking, instantly attracting everyone's attention as soon as he appeared.

Satomi Kobayashi stared wide-eyed, completely still.

Akina Nakamori's doe-like eyes also gently fell on him.

Sakamoto Yu saw all of this.

Suddenly, I remembered how Nakamori Akina looked when she first met Leon Lai, and then I thought of Kondo's face, which was somewhat similar to Leon Lai's. I immediately realized that Nakamori must also like the model.

Some people liked his outfit, while others secretly frowned.

When Masao Yajima, the screenwriter of "Human Crossroads" and also the original author of the manga, saw Yu Sakamoto's appearance, a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

He wasn't this eye-catching during the audition.

Sakamoto Yu's character was originally just a supporting role, but his strong presence and dazzling presence made him easy to overshadow the main character.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the casting director led Sakamoto Yu toward the two of them.

"This is the director, Jiro Ikuno, and this is the screenwriter. You met him during the audition."

"Hello, Mr. Ikuno and Mr. Yajima. I am Sakamoto Yu. Please take care of me in the future."

Sakamoto Yu greeted him respectfully and politely.

"Hello, Sakamoto-san." Ikuno Jiro smiled and nodded in response.

Masao Yajima gave a polite smile and nodded in greeting.

"Please have a seat. We'll start once everyone is here."

After exchanging greetings, the casting director led Sakamoto Yu to his seat.

Unlike his previous role in "Dangerous Detective", although he is also a supporting character this time, he is seated next to Satomi Kobayashi, and next to Akina Nakamori.

There's still one spot left, which should go to the male lead, Yoichi Miura.

After sitting down, he nodded to the two of them as a greeting.

He wasn't in a hurry to get to know the two of them; he just sat there quietly, engrossed in reading the script.

The moment Akina Nakamori saw Yu Sakamoto, her eyes followed him intently.

I felt like I recognized this man, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen him before.

Seeing that the other party had no intention of communicating, he could only suppress his doubts and continue to discuss the script with Kobayashi Satoshi beside him.

At this time, Akina Nakamori was still in the early stages of transitioning from singer to actress.

She has not yet developed a stable and mature performance style.

"Kobayashi-san, how should I portray this scene?"

"Let me see... Oh, here it is..."

The two were discussing script details in hushed tones when footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the film set, accompanied by a staff member's greeting: "Miura-san, over here!"

Everyone instinctively looked up and saw that Miura Yoichi was wearing a dark long wool coat, a plain-colored work shirt underneath, a neat tie, and well-fitting dark trousers.

Led by the casting director, Yoichi Miura first greeted the director and screenwriter.

Masao Yajima looked at Yoichi Miura with undisguised satisfaction in his eyes.

Yoichi Miura's acting skills and physique are a perfect match for the character.

"Now that everyone's here, let's begin." The casting director waved his hand, signaling the reading session to officially begin.

Yoichi Miura nodded to everyone and sat down in the empty seat next to Nakamori.

As he passed by Sakamoto Yu, he glanced at him, paused for a moment, and said nothing more.

The reading aloud wasn't too strict; it was just about reciting lines from the script and working together to improve rapport.

Director Ikuno sat in the middle, occasionally interjecting to remind everyone to speak more naturally.

After several rounds, everyone became familiar with each other.

Sakamoto Yu simply recited his lines, nothing particularly outstanding, since his character didn't have many scenes to begin with, and as long as he could get through it smoothly, that was enough.

Nakamori had the most scenes with other characters; she had scenes with almost every character.

You can tell she put in a lot of effort. She was very attentive when reciting her lines, and if she stumbled, she would quickly look down at the script and continue.

Seeing her earnestness, those around her quietly praised her, and she smiled shyly, her eyes sparkling, looking especially happy.

Sakamoto Yu glanced at her; from her appearance, there was no indication that the emotional and family changes had affected her.

Who could have imagined that, starting in the second half of the year, this chubby girl would encounter a relationship crisis at the peak of her career, gradually falling apart.

"Everyone has worked hard, let's take a break." Jiro Ikuno clapped his hands to signal.

Sakamoto Yu humbly said to everyone, "Thank you for your hard work."

He had just stood up when he felt someone approaching. He turned around and saw that it was his assistant.

Hitomi Ono held the poster, her eyes shining, and reached out to pinch the hem of Yu Sakamoto's clothes. "Please, boss-san~" she whispered.

Sakamoto Yu turned to look at Nakamori Akina, who was surrounded by the crowd, then looked down at Ono Hitomi, who was looking expectantly, and finally took the poster from her hand and walked over.