Chapter 522: Riding on the Back of a Silver Dragon

For Akina Nakamori, many Chinese people's memories of her evaluation might only consist of three words: love-brained.

Having this impression is largely due to her relationship with the infamous scumbag Masahiko Kondo, which made people's teeth itch; the so-called "suicide attempt for love, rescued in the hospital for eight hours" directly cemented her title as Japan's most foolish love-brained person in the eyes of the Chinese public.

But in reality, her true reason for suicide was not because of this man.

Back then, Masahiko Kondo alone was not enough to make this rebellious and stubborn woman cut herself with no intention of living. What truly drove her to the dead end was precisely her family who constantly drained her blood and insulted her, and... Johnny Kitagawa and Rizo Ogiso.

Her only mother who treated her well had to undergo long-term treatment for cancer;

Her sister took advantage of her name to shoot a full-nude photo album to become famous, and after finishing, when she was scolded, she shifted the blame onto Akina Nakamori.

Her brother and father directly quit their original jobs after she became wildly famous, stayed in the small tavern Akina Nakamori opened herself, claiming to help with business, constantly draining her blood for money, and finally even made Akina Nakamori take out a loan of 200 million yen to build another building, used for them to open shops, live, and so on.

200 million yen in the 1980s was not a small sum; even Gin in the 1990s only dared to rob 1 billion yen when robbing banks in Japan.

Predictably, because her family managed the business poorly, Akina Nakamori was forced to sell the building while the loan had not yet been repaid.

The economic situation went wrong; her family cut off contact and relations because they could no longer drain her blood; Mary Kitagawa, nicknamed the Empress of Johnny & Associates, and her accomplice Rizo Ogiso set up a trap to threaten her.

Akina Nakamori, who had been beaten to a pulp by her family and the darkness of the Japanese entertainment industry, finally lost the confidence to live and cut herself.

If the Japanese medicine at that time had not been truly powerful, rescuing her for several hours and stubbornly pulling her back from the gates of hell, she might have really died.

This is also why, later in the famous Japanese entertainment golden screen incident, Akina Nakamori took all the blame upon herself—even though she had already walked through the gates of hell, she still could not escape the threats of Mary Kitagawa and Rizo Ogiso.

The reason was simply that Mary Kitagawa liked her agency's artist Masahiko Kondo very much and wanted to protect him.

And this Rizo Ogiso, who came with Mary Kitagawa, the Empress of Johnny & Associates, to trap her, had another identity shortly after—Chairman of the new Warner Music (Japan).

Akina Nakamori, who had walked through the peak with Warner Music for ten years, saw her ending after this new chairman took office.

Since then, having left the Ken-On agency, unable to get major resources at Warner and unable to release albums anymore, Akina Nakamori officially stepped down from the pedestal, and has never gone back up since.

"She probably wants to come find you to cooperate and see if there are any opportunities."

As an insider at Warner (China), Qian Jiang made an immediate judgment after hearing about this matter: "Rizo Ogiso left Warner Japan after '97, and precisely because of this, the commotion she has been making in recent years has been getting bigger and bigger."

"First, she covered songs by her old enemy Seiko Matsuda from back then; this year's new album 'Resonancia' even pulled a stunt with a full-nude cover just to attract attention, but the results were not as expected."

When the person leaves and the tea cools, this happens in every country in the world.

For Akina Nakamori, an original diva with super high national popularity in Japan, the biggest reason her resources have warmed up in recent years is simply because the helm of Warner has changed.

At 38 years old this year, she is exactly at the age to ride the wind and break the waves.

As for love issues, whatever nonsense about being hurt by love or sealing one's heart for love is pure nonsense. She is currently dating a boyfriend from outside the circle very sweetly, living together in an apartment in Tokyo last year, although it seems they have broken up again for now.

To quote a phrase that will become popular later: she just isn't getting married, that doesn't mean she has no boyfriend.

"What does Warner Japan have to do with my Warner China? Can I let Warner Japan sign her again?" Zhou Yi was somewhat confused.

Akina Nakamori's market value has already fallen to rock bottom now; even if he were the president, he wouldn't sign her.

Being beautiful back then was a matter of back then; Akina Nakamori is old now, and she doesn't have that sweet feeling in her smile like before.

"She probably wants to replicate Midori Miyuki's path and come find you personally to buy songs."

Qian Jiang, who knew Zhou Yi basically didn't pay much attention to the dynamics of the Japanese music scene, smiled.

On July 3, 2003, the Japanese drama "Doctor Koto's Clinic," produced by producer Ken Tsuchiya, officially premiered on Fuji TV—

Correspondingly, the theme song "Ride on the Back of a Silver Dragon" of this medical, inspirational Japanese drama gradually echoed in every corner of Japan as time passed.

This song, adapted from a Zhou Yi song, with lyrics by and sung by Midori Miyuki, benefited from the huge fame of both Zhou Yi and Midori Miyuki in Japan; after being released as a single on July 23, it debuted directly at number one on the Japanese Oricon Weekly Chart, becoming the single with the best results for Midori Miyuki since entering the new century.

Consequently, the drama "Doctor Koto's Clinic" has had full attention since its premiere, becoming wildly popular, praised by many as the drama of the year, and expected to sweep multiple major awards at this year's Drama Academy Awards.

As the original author, Zhou Yi naturally once again sparked a huge amount of discussion along with this drama and with Midori Miyuki herself.

In Japan, it has only been a week since the song "Ride on the Back of a Silver Dragon" was released as a single, yet sales have already exceeded 200,000 copies; consequently, Zhang Shaohan's "The First Dream," the original singer, has also become popular in Japan—

Many fundamentalists specifically used Zhou Yi's "The First Dream" to criticize Midori Miyuki, claiming her adaptation changed the inspirational imagery belonging exclusively to Chinese in the original lyrics into a mess, and furiously condemned this as a crime!

"Dramatization is not nonsense, adaptation cannot be randomly made up!

"The cooperation between Zhou Yi Jun and Angela gave the song 'The First Dream' a vivid and vigorous vitality, but I cannot feel this vitality in Midori Miyuki's lyrics."

"Don't drag and step on each other; each has its advantages, okay? 'Ride on the Back of a Silver Dragon,' adapted from Midori Miyuki, was obviously tailored to fit the TV drama; you can't just lump them together."

"Sad, truly sad; a cover song from China actually took the number one spot on the Oricon Chart; this is simply a shame for the Japanese music scene!"

"Saying it sounds better than singing it; that is Zhou Yi-sama! He even punched through America; is it surprising to take the number one spot on the Oricon Chart by adapting his songs?"

"Exactly, exactly; he is the Emperor of Asian Pop! Is it shameful to lose to an Emperor?"

"Isn't it Chinese Pop? How did it become Asian Pop again?"

"..."

In Japan, accompanied by the drama's hot broadcast and the single's huge sales, the debate over whether Zhou Yi is truly the Emperor of Asian Pop started again, and even many fans were begging Zhou Yi to release Japanese songs to slap those opponents in the face hard.

This behavior, which in Zhou Yi's eyes was tantamount to turning heaven upside down, made him somewhat hard to keep a straight face.

Of course, his difficulty in keeping a straight face was because these controversies, in his memory, actually appeared regarding the song "The First Dream"; whereas for the Taiwanese music circle, Zhou Yi's counter-attack to the Japanese music circle's stronghold was somewhat stunning.

Fung Lee Records, receiving a pie from the sky, was even overjoyed, temporarily abandoning so-called prejudices, and pushed Zhang Shaohan out first.

Making money isn't shameful.

And as a member of Zhou Yi's team during this trip to Taiwan, Ning Hao, a small nobody who was selected for Best Music Video for "In the Name of the Father" and came to Taiwan with Warner staff, also saw for the first time the scene where those big shots familiar in his memories actively sought out Zhou Yi to chat at the banquet.

This was a gathering organized by the Golden Melody Awards official; basically all nominees for the awards were invited to join the award guests in drinking and talking happily, which can also be considered an occasion to build relationships.

Everyone is an insider in the circle; maybe we can cooperate in the future.

Didn't you see that Akina Nakamori, who forced her way in, was discussing the adaptation rights of the song "Fairy Tale" with Zhou Yi?

It's just that he felt somewhat awkward, sitting and standing uneasily.

Every time someone saw him and opened with "You are Mr. Ning Hao, the director of 'In the Name of the Father', right? Long time no see, long time no see," he always felt suffocated to the extreme in his heart...

Damn it, "In the Name of the Father" was really not directed by me!

I swear to heaven!

That damn Jiang Wen stole my director position!

(End of Chapter)