Chapter 299: Excitement and Depression

Japanese newspapers are generally published twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Therefore, the statements made by the Metropolitan Police Department and Akiwara Yuto quickly made it into the evening papers at 6:00 PM that day, and were seen by at least tens of millions of people across the Japanese archipelago.

Upon seeing the content in the newspapers, these members of the public were also shocked one after another.

It is now the second half of '93, and the economy remains sluggish, so with widespread unemployment, social order is very poor, making the public highly concerned about public safety.

And the Kanagawa serial murder case is undoubtedly the most critical among them.

After all, this case had long remained unsolved, causing extremely serious and negative social impact.

While solving it cannot be called a fundamental symbol of improving public order, it at least signifies a guarantee for the safety of residents' lives.

But unexpectedly, there was such a backstory behind the solving of the case this time.

It turned out that a mystery writer, while writing a movie script, provided the police with effective reference information for the case through investigating relevant case files.

And this reference information allowed the police to successfully solve the case.

This matter was so bizarre that many people even suspected it was fake for a time, and they called the newspapers one after another to inquire.

Later on, the topic of "Akiwara Yuto assisting in solving the case" even appeared on relevant television programs, which dispelled the doubts of many people.

Some social commentators also stepped forward and expressed their own views and opinions.

After seeing these programs, more and more people began to feel curious about the causes and consequences of this matter.

Consequently, the movie script that Akiwara Yuto wrote based on this case also gained a lot of traffic.

After the press conference, Akiwara Yuto instructed Asano Aiko to coordinate with the advertising companies he had previously contacted and to hurry and arrange for the writing of advertorials.

Immediately following this, in the next two days, there was a lot more publicity about the work "Memories of Murder" on the internet and in some magazines.

In these advertorials, the phrase "based on a true story" was heavily emphasized.

Under this wave of publicity, many people went to the cinemas one after another to purchase tickets for this movie.

But after a large number of people flocked to the cinemas, they discovered that this movie was not showing, and could only ask the ticket sellers.

The ticket sellers were also helpless and could only report it to the cinema managers.

Upon learning of the situation, the latter called the production team one after another, changing their previous indifferent attitude and strongly demanding to be able to screen this movie.

As for the cinemas that were already showing the movie, they increased the number of screens and screenings to maximize profits.

For a time, "Memories of Murder" was being shown in cinemas all over Japan.

This made "Memories of Murder" stand out among numerous movies all at once!

By the end of the week, the number of cooperating cinemas nationwide was over 200, and the number of screens directly showing it was over 400. This was completely the standard for a blockbuster movie!

As for the box office, it reached a full 1.2 billion yen!

While the box office was skyrocketing, many film critics also wrote professional reviews in newspapers and magazines.

The "Chiji Shimbun," which had previously collaborated with Akiwara Yuto, commented:

"As a crime film, the setting and handling of suspense in this movie are of a master's level, and the creation of a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere has a style quite like a Hollywood blockbuster.

It is hard to imagine that such a film was actually adapted from a true story.

Fortunately, because of Mr. Akiwara's help, the real culprit was finally caught."

"Eiga Weekly," which specializes in film reviews, also published a review:

"Although everyone is trying hard to approach the truth, the truth is as elusive as the criminal's shadow.

The police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department kept emphasizing logical analysis and calm investigation, yet they still learned to force confessions through torture in one failure after another, even becoming more ruthless than the police at the local Kanagawa precinct.

Here, the 'cat and mouse game' between police and criminals is broken; the police become the object of the criminal's mockery, making one feel deep powerlessness and despair.

One can imagine how helpless the police were when facing the Kanagawa serial murder case before."

Under the influence of public opinion, some people who were originally uninterested in the murder case also began to turn their attention to it; after all, in the past two years, few movies have been praised by everyone in unison.

Although the mainstream media praised it unanimously, some "public intellectuals" jumped out to speak, arguing that this "Memories of Murder" was a movie built entirely on the pain of the victims.

Some even claimed that all the box office revenue should be donated to the victims' families.

However, these criticisms did not stir up much of a splash and were even mocked by some fans online.

After all, Akiwara Yuto had already stated at the press conference that the purpose of making this movie was to make the public pay attention to this matter.

And looking at the reality, Akiwara Yuto also helped the police catch the suspect; isn't this the best compensation for the victims' families?

Facing this excellent situation, Asano Aiko and Utsumi Takuto were extremely excited and began further promotion.

Under her proactive coordination, Utsumi Takuto took the main cast members to start a nationwide tour of fan meetings and frequently appeared on major television stations to promote the film.

Not only that, the two male leads even went to the Kanagawa precinct to be "honorary police officers" for a day—that is, standing on the road wearing police uniforms—just to do publicity for the Metropolitan Police Department.

Although the schedule was very tiring, seeing the box office increase day by day, everyone in the production team felt a sense of excitement.

While the production team felt happy, the people at Toei Company felt depressed, especially Takamura Koichi, who was previously responsible for the negotiations, who subconsciously broke out in a cold sweat.

When previously negotiating the copyright for "The Devotion of Suspect X" with Akiwara Yuto, he had always stood in opposition to Akiwara Yuto's demand for a share of the box office.

He even persuaded the president and others to let Toei Company join with other major film companies to issue an industry joint statement.

This made it impossible for Akiwara Yuto to hand over the copyright to medium-sized film companies.

As for this "Memories of Murder," he also held a pessimistic attitude, believing that the box office would definitely collapse.

In fact, he was even preparing to wait for Akiwara Yuto's film investment to fail before buying the film adaptation rights for "The Devotion of Suspect X" and several other popular works at a low price.

But unexpectedly, Akiwara Yuto, an outsider to the film industry, actually managed to write a script and invest in a blockbuster movie himself!

Such a contrast left him speechless!

What made him even more embarrassed was that his president found him again and made a request:

"Takamura, I require you to contact Akiwara Yuto immediately and secure the film rights for 'The Devotion of Suspect X,' even if it means giving up 10% of the box office share!"

Takamura Koichi swallowed hard and could only agree.

However, he also knew in his heart that now that Akiwara Yuto could invest in and film it himself, it would no longer be such an easy thing to get the copyright under the previous conditions!

Damn it, how could Akiwara Yuto be so lucky!