Chapter 202: The Veteran Duo

After making his decision, Fujioka Yasuki quickly signed this letter of intent.

After all, this contract was merely a preliminary exploration of intent between the two parties and did not carry strict legal force.

In his heart, he still intended to try for "Detective Kamimura" first; as for "Furuhata Ninzaburo," it would serve as a Plan B in case of failure.

Akiwara Yuto also nodded with a smile, then accepted the letter of intent without saying anything more.

Immediately after, everyone at the table set aside their work and began chatting while eating.

By the time dinner ended, the time had already reached 9: 0 PM.

Akiwara Yuto and Asano Aiko said goodbye to the other two, then left the Western restaurant in a business sedan provided by the Kejiaoguan.

Asano Aiko sat in the passenger seat, turned her head to look at Akiwara Yuto, and asked in a puzzled tone: "Akiwara, don't you think it's a bit inappropriate for us to be so proactive in approaching them?"

In her view, that Fujioka had never once mentioned wanting to make "Furuhata Ninzaburo" his first choice, nor had he proposed any conditions.

As the original author, would Akiwara Yuto be willing to let his work be considered inferior?

Akiwara Yuto leaned back against the seat, looking at the black night scenery outside the car window, and replied: "Asano, I roughly understand your thoughts, but I want to ask you, when do you think it would be appropriate?"

Asano Aiko pondered for a moment and said: "I think it would be more appropriate to wait until 'Furuhata Ninzaburo' has been serialized for over 20 installments, and then wait for the television station to take the initiative to send someone to talk. That way, it would also be easier to negotiate the price."

Akiwara Yuto shook his head: "Asano, you are wrong. If 'Detective Kamimura' is truly successfully adapted into a film or television project, then the value of 'Furuhata Ninzaburo' will shrink significantly."

"Why is that?" Asano Aiko looked puzzled.

Akiwara Yuto adjusted his seatbelt and continued to explain: "Although the market for detective dramas is very large, every work relies on a first-mover advantage. If we wait until 'Furuhata Ninzaburo' has been serialized for over 20 installments to start talking about rights, then 'Detective Kamimura' might have already finished airing its first season."

"With the accumulation of such a season, what would 'Furuhata Ninzaburo' have to compete with?"

In Akiwara Yuto's view, both works were essentially detective dramas with fixed formulas, and many plot points and approaches would inevitably overlap.

Just as Ooshiro Rika had told him, the other side was already, to a large extent, starting to draw inspiration from the "Furuhata" series regarding the analysis of the human nature of the culprits.

If the other side's production speed was faster, it might reach a point later on where many viewers would think "Furuhata" was plagiarizing "Detective Kamimura."

By that time, he estimated there would be a bunch of die-hard fans of the other work scolding him online.

Asano Aiko hadn't thought of this layer, and after hesitating for a while, she said: "Akiwara, I roughly understand your idea—it's to drive sales through film and television adaptation. But I have a question: what if that Mr. Fujioka obtains the rights to 'Detective Kamimura'?"

Akiwara Yuto twitched the corner of his mouth and said in a helpless tone: "Then we'll just contact that producer at Asahi Television. If that really doesn't work, we'll contact every single television station."

He wouldn't hang himself from a single tree; in fact, he had already made multiple preparations!

If no television station took it on, he planned to use some connections to contact production companies to see if he could cooperate with them by providing the rights and his own funding, and then sell it to a television station later.

However, that would make things much more troublesome.

In short, he hoped that Mr. Fujioka's progress would not go smoothly.

Akiwara Yuto pondered for a long time and found that this was still what best served his own interests.

Time passed quickly; in fact, everything went just as Akiwara Yuto had expected.

Because Asahi Television exceeded Fuji Television in both scale and budget, and had a history of multiple collaborations with Toei Company, they successfully obtained the film and television rights to "Detective Kamimura" and announced it in the newspapers.

And after Fujioka Yasuki confirmed his own failure, he brought his team to the Kejiaoguan.

Under the arrangement of Ooshiro Rika, both sides brought their respective lawyers and assistants to launch multi-faceted negotiations for "Furuhata Ninzaburo": including primary and secondary usage fees, script conditions, peripheral revenue, BD revenue sharing, and so on...

After experiencing about three days of negotiations, they finally signed a contract that both parties were satisfied with.

However, at Akiwara Yuto's request, the announcement of this work's film and television adaptation was temporarily suppressed.

Saturday afternoon, Fuji Television.

Akiwara Yuto brought Asano Aiko, and having set a time, they arrived at the entrance of this television station.

While waiting for Fujioka Yasuki to arrive, he carefully examined the television station building.

Unlike the image of the Kejiaoguan, Fuji Television was a massive complex, the most prominent parts of which were two tall white buildings, and between the two buildings was connected a giant sphere that made one somewhat curious about its purpose.

While Akiwara Yuto was observing, Fujioka Yasuki, wearing a loose suit, arrived and greeted them from afar: "Sorry, Teacher Akiwara, Ms. Asano, I've kept you waiting."

Akiwara Yuto nodded, while Asano Aiko stepped forward and said with a smile: "It's no problem."

Fujioka Yasuki exchanged a few more polite words, then led the two inside, saying as they walked: "The purpose of today is mainly to meet with the director and the screenwriter."

"Then thank you for the trouble; actually, I also want to meet the director," Akiwara Yuto replied.

He didn't actually care much about the screenwriter, because "Furuhata Ninzaburo" was originally adapted from a television drama, so even if it were adapted back into a script, it would still follow that same formula.

He was more concerned about the director, after all, the director's ability was related to the soul of a drama.

"Mr. Fujioka, what is this director's name, and what works have they filmed before?" Akiwara Yuto asked bluntly.

"The director in charge of filming is named Wakayama Tomoki, and he has over ten years of experience in filming urban dramas," Fujioka Yasuki replied earnestly: "Teacher Akiwara, we are taking the work 'Furuhata Ninzaburo' very seriously, please rest assured."

Akiwara Yuto nodded in understanding; if he had over ten years of experience as an urban drama director, then this Director Wakayama could be considered experienced. He subconsciously glanced at Fujioka Yasuki again, remembering that the other man was not young either, and looked like he had been working for many years.

With this combination of a veteran producer and a veteran director, his confidence increased quite a bit.

While talking, the three walked into the main entrance of the white building, and Fujioka Yasuki took the initiative to help Akiwara and Asano sign in. Immediately after, the three walked along the corridor toward the other side of the lobby.

After 10 minutes, the three walked to an annex. Here, Akiwara Yuto saw a sign with the words "Production Bureau Conference Room."

As a veteran producer, Fujioka Yasuki had a certain amount of connections and prestige within Fuji Television. Therefore, along the way, many people took the initiative to greet him.

Akiwara Yuto saw this scene and felt a bit strange, asking curiously: "Mr. Fujioka, does the television station not take the weekend off? Why are there still so many people?"

Fujioka Yasuki revealed a bitter smile: "Teacher Akiwara, in our line of work, where are there any normal holidays? Only when a television drama has completely wrapped up can we take a short break."

Akiwara Yuto just wanted to express sympathy, but quickly restrained himself, because he thought of one thing.

In this era, it was good enough to have a job. Not to mention that as employees of a television station, their income far exceeded the wages of ordinary industries.

The "busyness" the other side spoke of might, from another perspective, be a form of showing off.

He pondered in his heart, then followed Fujioka Yasuki to a large conference room, and Fujioka Yasuki pointed to the door of the large conference room and said: "This is the current headquarters for the 'Furuhata Ninzaburo' production team."

He pushed open the door and led Akiwara Yuto and Asano Aiko inside.

Akiwara Yuto took out his business card holder and prepared to smile and nod.

Alright, let me see what kind of person this Director Wakayama is!