Chapter 203: Scripts, Actors, and Auditions

After discovering the door had been pushed open, a man in the conference room stood up and walked over.

Fujioka Taiki immediately introduced them, "Teacher Akiwara, this is Director Wakayama Tomonori; Director Wakayama, this is Teacher Akiwara Yuto, and Teacher Akiwara's assistant, Ms. Asano Aiko."

"Teacher Akiwara, Ms. Asano, hello." The middle-aged man named Wakayama Tomonori nodded in acknowledgement and presented his business card to both of them.

Akiwara Yuto took a look and found that the other party was nearly 50 years old, with thinning hair.

He took the business card and, together with Asano Aiko, said politely, "Director Wakayama, hello."

The three of them chatted for a few moments, which counted as a brief introduction.

Fujioka Taiki called an assistant to make tea, then greeted the three of them: "Let's all sit down first."

The three followed suit and quickly sat down at the conference table; because it was not a formal meeting, they sat quite close to each other to facilitate conversation.

Akiwara Yuto took the tea handed over by the assistant and then asked, "Mr. Fujioka, Director Wakayama, let's start talking about business."

After Wakayama Tomonori and Fujioka Taiki exchanged a glance, they took out two thick folders and placed them in front of Akiwara Yuto and Asano Aiko respectively.

"Teacher Akiwara, Ms. Asano, one of the intentions of this meeting is to hope that you can look at the script our screenwriters have compiled and see if there are any problems."

Akiwara Yuto nodded, accepted the script, said "Understood," and began reading the script with Asano Aiko.

He knew the other party's intention, which was to obtain the satisfaction of himself, the original author.

After all, if he were dissatisfied with the adapted script, he would only need to speak out on a public platform to cause the other party no small amount of trouble.

However, there isn't really anything to change in the work "Furuhata Ninzaburo," is there?

Forget it, he still needs to take a good look, lest it really be "magically adapted."

Time passed bit by bit, and after more than 20 minutes, Akiwara Yuto flipped to the last page, finishing the script for the first episode.

To be honest, compared to a novel, the script looked much more boring; it was entirely composed of scene changes, character lines, and descriptions of action backgrounds.

And the script in his hand was actually basically adapted according to the original work, with only a few insignificant parts modified.

He thought for a moment and replied, "This script is very good. Which screenwriter wrote it?"

As the author, Akiwara Yuto had no objections, and as the assistant, Asano Aiko was even less likely to have any; she gathered the script and placed it on the table beside her.

Fujioka Taiki and Wakayama Tomonori both breathed a sigh of relief, and the latter replied, "This was written by screenwriter Koga Iori and her assistant, but she has something to do today and is not on-site."

Akiwara Yuto was a little curious; this name sounded like it belonged to a woman.

He thought about it and felt it was also normal.

Because women's minds are more delicate, they might be even more adept at handling some characters' lines.

"I understand. I hope that on the basis of not changing much from the original, the subsequent scripts will all be left to this Ms. Koga to write," Akiwara Yuto said politely. "If there are major changes, please contact me."

Although he was quite satisfied with this screenwriter, he did not give the other party full authority; after all, what if the other party had a sudden whim one day and wanted to "magically adapt" certain parts?

However, the filming of a television drama is a fairly long cycle, and he could not possibly check every script carefully. That is why there was the condition that major changes must be notified to him.

Wakayama Tomonori smiled and said, "Then that's no problem. To be honest, screenwriter Koga and we all agree that Teacher Akiwara, your work is very suitable for adaptation into a television drama; it basically doesn't need much change!"

He was not lying about this; many literary works, when wanting to be adapted into television dramas, often have to undergo a lot of trade-offs, cutting off many subplots and only retaining the main line.

But he did not expect that for this work of the other party, most of the entire text was retained, which is extremely rare!

Akiwara Yuto smiled and accepted the compliment, but he also knew the reason in his heart, so he didn't have many other thoughts.

Fujioka Taiki took over the conversation and asked again, "Teacher Akiwara, regarding the subsequent serialization of 'Furuhata Ninzaburo,' I'll have to trouble you."

Although the contract had been signed, his biggest worry was that the Furuhata series had only been serialized for a mere 7 installments so far. If any special circumstances arose, it might affect the production of the television drama.

And the production of Japanese television dramas follows a format of filming while broadcasting.

So he was also worried about whether any problems would arise on Akiwara Yuto's side, dragging down the filming of the television drama.

"Mr. Fujioka, please don't worry about this." Akiwara Yuto heard his subtext and turned to Asano Aiko, saying, "Asano, take out my subsequent manuscripts."

"Understood," Asano Aiko immediately took out 5 manuscripts from the briefcase she was carrying and handed them to Fujioka Taiki, "Mr. Fujioka, these are the 5 installments of manuscripts for Teacher Akiwara's subsequent serialization, which have already been proofread by the editorial department of 'April Youth.' Please take a look."

Fujioka Taiki did not expect that Akiwara Yuto had already finished writing the next 5 installments, so he took the manuscripts and began reading them together with Wakayama Tomonori.

The two read very seriously, and Akiwara and Asano also drank tea while waiting, neither of them speaking.

After a long while, Fujioka Taiki and Wakayama Tomonori finally looked up, revealing satisfied expressions.

Wakayama Tomonori even smiled and said, "Teacher Akiwara, it's written very well, and the standard is not much different from before."

Adding these 5 installments of manuscripts, it could at least satisfy the needs of one season. As for whether to continue filming later, it would have to depend on how the ratings turned out.

Akiwara Yuto did not know his thoughts and smiled to express his gratitude, "You flatter me."

He thought for a moment and then asked with concern, "Director Wakayama, Mr. Fujioka, may I ask if the lead actor has been decided?"

In his previous life, when many people thought of the work "Furuhata Ninzaburo," their first impression was not the case plots within it, but that elegant male lead.

To put it bluntly, the success or failure of the male lead's casting determined at least half of the factors for the success of this drama.

And if his work wants to sell explosively with the help of television adaptation, it must also ensure that this drama can succeed!

Fujioka Taiki, as the producer, had already made corresponding preparations and was ready to find the two male stars Wu Neizhenhui and Muraki Kaito to audition.

Akiwara Yuto usually only cared about the publishing industry and really didn't know much about this aspect, so he could only ask, "Could you briefly tell me about the backgrounds of these two actors?"

Fujioka Taiki nodded and then began to describe them.

"Wu Neizhenhui, 34 years old, has participated in many urban dramas, has served as the lead in television dramas many times, is good at playing mature men, has a magnetic voice, and is loved by many housewives."

"Muraki Kaito, 30 years old, has experience filming Taiga dramas and urban dramas, but has only served as a lead once; however, looking at it recently, his popularity is very high."

Fujioka Taiki gave a general overview and then handed over two photos, placing them in front of Akiwara Yuto.

Akiwara Yuto took the photos and then looked at them carefully.

The first person's appearance was quite mature, his features were regular, and he looked very upright; no wonder he was loved by those housewives. Compared to him, the second one's appearance was a bit more handsome, but he also looked more immature.

Akiwara Yuto frowned; he was not very satisfied in his heart.

How to put it, compared to Tamura Masakazu, who was the lead in his previous life, both of these people lacked that feeling of maturity mixed with a hint of elegance.

He sighed in his heart, feeling that he shouldn't be too harsh; after all, the world was different, so how could he find someone exactly the same?

Seeing Akiwara Yuto's expression, Wakayama Tomonori hurriedly asked, "Teacher Akiwara, if you have a suitable candidate, you can also recommend them."

He was afraid that Akiwara Yuto would be dissatisfied but not say anything, and then when it came to media interviews, he would say that the lead was not the candidate in his mind.

If that really happened, he would be screwed.

So he let Akiwara Yuto also propose a candidate to see if it was suitable.

Akiwara Yuto shook his head, "Sorry, I don't have any recommended candidates."

He paused and added, "But can I observe the next audition?"

"That's certainly no problem," Wakayama Tomonori replied.

Akiwara Yuto nodded, but in his heart, he was thinking about the performances of these two actors; perhaps they could give him a different feeling...

But could "Furuhata Ninzaburo" with a changed lead really achieve the results of his previous life?

Thinking of this, a layer of gloom buried itself in his heart.