Chapter 478: Surrounded by Stars

"Sugoi!" Junko pressed both hands against the window, looking in surprise at the giant banner not far away.

Miss Luo Quan was equally surprised. It was often said that Japanese efficiency was incredibly low, with even the smallest matters dragging on for half a day.

Yet, such a massive welcome banner had been produced in the time it took to fly here; it seemed not everything was slow after all.

Having received such a surprise the moment she landed, Miss Luo Quan became even more expectant of what was to come.

After the plane came to a complete stop, everyone gathered their luggage and left the aircraft in turn.

After walking through the long connecting corridor, they were met by two rows of airport flight attendants—one row of tall, handsome men, and the other of slender, beautiful women.

"Sister Quan Shui, welcome back to Japan." The two rows of handsome men and beautiful women bowed in unison to welcome Miss Luo Quan as she walked toward them.

This treatment was even grander than when she returned to her grandfather's manor.

Before Miss Luo Quan could express her thanks, a team of police officers ran over. The lead officer wiped sweat from his forehead: "Miss Luo Quan-san, there is a considerable crowd gathered outside the airport. We have been sent by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to protect your personal safety. We will escort you all the way back to your hotel."

"By the way, you can call me Officer Sata."

"How many are there?" Miss Luo Quan asked a question that caught Officer Sata off guard.

Officer Sata scratched his head and said, "I can't say for sure, but the traffic nearby is almost completely gridlocked. All other passengers are being diverted through the back exit, leaving the front entrance completely clear just for you!"

"Ah? There's no need for that, is there?" For a moment, Miss Luo Quan felt she was the same type of celebrity who blocked roads and disrupted traffic.

"It is very necessary." Officer Sata's reply was firm. "For one, it makes it easier for the public to welcome you, and on the other hand, it avoids collisions between tourists and the public."

"Besides, once the tourists leaving through the back exit knew it was to welcome you, they expressed their understanding."

"That's good, but thank you for doing this for me." Whether the tourists truly understood or not, she didn't want to press the issue; after all, she was the beneficiary, so she shouldn't complain while getting the advantage.

Escorted by the officers, Miss Luo Quan and Junko walked toward the airport terminal.

"Having the police clear the way, Quan-chan, your influence is truly massive." Junko whispered her surprise to her friend.

She had thought the fan turnout they faced when they went to South Korea was already a grand scene—it was almost one of the peaks of her life!

But this time, returning to Japan with Quan-chan, the treatment for her alone was already far beyond that ten-person trip to South Korea.

"It's just a small scene; you'll reach this level sooner or later." Miss Luo Quan appeared relatively calm. After all, she was someone who had experienced countless grand scenes; a fan airport pickup wasn't enough to make her overly excited.

However, despite saying that, once she walked into the airport terminal, Miss Luo Quan still felt her eyebrows jump at the oncoming wall of sound.

Although the fans hadn't seen Miss Luo Quan yet, the moment the officers emerged from the corner, everyone erupted into intense cheers, and the reporters' camera flashes began firing relentlessly.

Interestingly, besides snapping photos frantically, the reporters were cheering right along with the crowd.

As Japanese people, their love for Miss Luo Quan was from the heart.

If she had a microphone in her hand at that moment, Miss Luo Quan would definitely have shouted "Tadaima (I'm home)" to the fans. Unfortunately, while most aspects of the airport had been considered, this one detail lacked a bit of inspiration.

Amidst such a massive wave of sound, even with her reputation as a high-note diva, it was impossible for the fans to hear what she said.

So, she raised her hands high and waved vigorously at the crowd.

Although it was a simple gesture, for the fans, it was worth more than a thousand words.

Of course, if she could truly be heard saying a few words, that would be better, but the conditions didn't allow it.

Walking out of the crowded airport terminal, the area outside was still a sea of people, with only the middle road separated by officers maintaining order.

There were more than five times as many people outside the airport as inside, and the cheers that erupted upon seeing Miss Luo Quan were deafening.

Only then did Junko understand what it meant to be an international superstar; the level of fanaticism from these fans was something she hadn't even seen at their best concert.

The last time she saw such a fiery atmosphere at a concert was backstage at the Bilibili New Year's Gala.

At that time, the girls of Girls' Generation had just finished singing "Senbonzakura" for Miss Luo Quan, and Miss Luo Quan continued to perform alone on stage. With just a simple command, thousands of Bilibili fans in the audience would perform the cheering gestures in unison, even more orderly than students during military training.

Miss Luo Quan on stage was like a radiant goddess. She didn't know about others, but Junko herself was mesmerized, thinking this was the super idol star she envisioned—one who could command thousands with a single word and captivate the masses.

Originally, after returning from South Korea, she thought she had taken a big step toward being a super idol. In a broad sense, being a member of Girls' Generation, it wasn't wrong to call her a super idol.

But Quan-chan told her with facts that there were gaps even among super idols, and this gap was far, far larger than she had imagined.

The fans picking her up before her eyes already exceeded the number of fans who had come to pick up Girls' Generation.

The vast majority of these fans were men, wearing T-shirts or hats with "Sister Quan Shui" printed on them, shouting with arms raised toward Miss Luo Quan, their sweat-streaked faces showing sincere smiles that couldn't be hidden.

For some reason, Junko felt a sudden sense of being moved, followed by an irrepressible envy.

When would she have a group of fans who loved her like this?

If Miss Luo Quan knew what Junko was thinking at this moment, she would definitely say: "You'll have them sooner or later."

Of course, this kind of non-constructive advice was the answer she gave whenever friends were confused—not solving the problem, but focusing on comfort.

She had always believed that success comes naturally, and for a star to succeed, three parts depend on promotion, and seven parts depend on fate.

She herself belonged to the type that Heaven doted on and fed, so her explosive popularity was something others couldn't replicate, and she didn't know where to start summarizing if she wanted to teach some insights.

However, while Miss Luo Quan couldn't teach the "Miss Luo Quan-style" explosive popularity to outsiders, she could easily make someone famous; the only difference was the degree of fame.

And this time, the lucky one was Junko, who had returned to Japan with her.

Amidst the overwhelming cheers and shouts of the fans, the two got into the car that had been waiting for a long time and headed to their hotel.

Miss Luo Quan originally had a house in Shibuya. It was a property Sony had specially allocated from their employee housing for her to live in after learning she was looking for a place, all to gain her favor.

Although the house wasn't registered under her name, it was essentially no different from a gift.

After Miss Luo Quan left Japan, the house had remained locked, with no one else moving in, and the interior decor hadn't changed much.

However, considering she would be quite busy for a while, she didn't return to this home immediately.

After the two settled their luggage in the hotel room, Miss Luo Quan finally had time to check her phone.

Her phone had been ringing non-stop since she got off the plane, filled with emails and calls, most of which were from unknown numbers.

At first, Miss Luo Quan wanted to answer, but because there were simply too many, she decided not to answer any of them, regardless of whether the caller was an acquaintance or not.

After returning to the hotel, she first checked the real-time trending news in Japan. Sure enough, "Miss Luo Quan arrives in Japan" was at the top of the heat index.

The reporters were very fast; she had just entered the hotel, and her photos from the airport were already appearing in the news.

The comment sections were basically the same as on Twitter, filled with words like "Welcome back."

There were quite a few among them who hoped she would release a new song, but these voices were quickly met with criticism: "Miss Luo Quan just got off the plane; at least let her rest for a bit first."

"You guys really know how to care for me!" Miss Luo Quan felt tears welling up as she saw these comments.

She had been worrying about what excuse to use to put off the fans urging her for new content, never expecting that some fans would help her find a reason themselves.

This was far more effective than anything she could have said herself!

Of course, she couldn't pretend not to see it in this situation. Although she didn't necessarily plan to release a song in the short term, she still had to paint a picture of the future.

Soon, she posted a tweet:

"Arrived safely at the hotel. Next, I will start preparing for my first movie in Japan, so I won't be putting too much energy into songs for the time being."

"However, it's not like I'm ignoring it completely. If inspiration strikes, I might release a new song when everyone least expects it. After all, a life as plain as water needs such surprises to spice things up."

Faced with such playful words, a group of IDs with Chinese characters were the first to respond in the comment section with a bunch of "Cute, cute."

These Chinese fans were even faster than the Japanese fans! This was something Miss Luo Quan hadn't anticipated.

Compared to this group of repeaters from China, the Japanese netizens had various different reactions.

Some were disappointed because they couldn't hear a new song;

Some felt expectant hearing Miss Luo Quan was going to film a new movie;

Some were curious about the subject matter of the movie she was going to film;

And there were "male moms" who felt sorry for her and wanted her to rest more.

In short, everyone had many thoughts, but Miss Luo Quan would find ways to satisfy them one by one in the coming time.

First, to answer the question about the subject matter, she posted a second tweet:

"The movie I'm filming this time is called 'Rurouni Kenshin'. It's a story about a swordsman set in the Bakumatsu period (second half of the 19th century). I promise, in this movie, everyone will see very exciting sword-fighting scenes!"

Kendo, in Japan, held a status basically equal to martial arts in China. It was a skill that many boys felt was cool when they were young, but felt was nothing special when they grew up.

That's right, it was just a skill.

In the modern society where sword-wielding warriors have vanished, many lethal sword techniques have already been lost; nowadays, most are just for show.

And Kendo teaching focused mainly on the "Dao" (Way) of thought, primarily expounding the core philosophical ideas of one's school; the true essence was hard to learn.

Just like Chinese Kung Fu, most of what was taught now was actually no different from radio gymnastics—the stance looked good, but when it came to a real fight, it was just so-so; sometimes, they might not even beat a "Wang Ba Quan" (wild brawling).

And even if someone learned true skills, in a society ruled by law, there was a lack of opportunities for real combat, and their fighting power was far inferior to Sanda practiced for the same amount of time.

However, although these traditional skills had gradually become flashy but useless, their national popularity was still quite high. Whether it was Chinese martial arts action films or Japanese swordsman-type movies, as long as they were made, there was definitely a market.

Whether it was good or not was another matter; the audience was quite broad. As long as it wasn't particularly terrible, making money wasn't difficult.

But precisely because the subject matter was hot and easy to make money, there were many such genre films on the market now, and there was no lack of classics; it could be said that the competition was quite fierce.

As a singer, Miss Luo Quan had already achieved success crossing over to become a director, but that was by relying on innovation, using the brand-new horror image of "zombies" to become the founding ancestor.

But in swordsman movies, she was a complete newcomer, and there was no novelty she could bring to the table.

There were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, movies of this type in Japan that could be named. There were shoddy ones and well-produced ones; all kinds of plots and brain-holes had long since been explored.

A sword was just that fixed shape, and movies about swords wouldn't change much no matter how they were filmed.

You couldn't have the protagonist suddenly pull out a Gatling gun and start spraying when everyone was fighting with swords, then shout some sassy line like "The times have changed," right?

That wouldn't be a swordsman action movie; it would be a comedy.

Therefore, no one expected Miss Luo Quan to come up with any new tricks.

What's more, the background Miss Luo Quan chose was in a time period like the Bakumatsu.

Generally, swordsman-themed movies would choose the Edo period or the Warring States period.

These eras were far enough from modern times, with too many legends to utilize, and the latter was chaotic enough—for a swordsman, it was a good era to openly defy the law with martial arts.

A background in the golden age of swordsmen could naturally produce a more pleasing work.

And the Bakumatsu could be said to be the twilight of the swordsman.

In this period, firearms had already appeared, and the government had also issued a ban on weapons, starting to confiscate the swords of samurai to maintain social stability.

Faced with new rules and new weapons, no matter how much the samurai viewed their swords as their lives, they had no second choice but to obediently hand over their weapons.

It was also from this time that samurai and swordsmen gradually exited the historical stage, and Kendo began its irreversible downward path from this moment.

Miss Luo Quan choosing such a background to film a movie could be said to be a choice very few would make. The first instinct of industry insiders upon seeing this subject matter was three words: unreliable. ===== CHAPTER 479 =====