Chapter 1028: No way? Could it be that he still wants to be a manga artist?!

Tree Friend's movements have always been closely watched by the entertainment industry.

Just in the first half of May, a piece of news suddenly spread through the industry that Tree Friend Films was about to enter the anime world, making some critics laugh out loud.

"Tree Friend Films? Drawing manga?" "They're filming movies just fine, why draw manga!" "Isn't *Tiger of Ginza* filming right now..." "Where did this gossip come from? It has no credibility at all!" "..."

Everyone unanimously believed this was nonsense. Tree Friend Films' movie business was booming, with an average box office of over a billion yen per film. Was there any need to do anime, which was a struggle to make even a few hundred million?!

However, all these rumors were slapped in the face by a recruitment notice from Tree Friend.

"Tree Friend Anime Studio sincerely invites you, who are talented..."

The recruitment ad in the newspaper caught everyone off guard, and then from the mouths of Tree Friend's two giants, Yoshimura Otomo and Yin Tangxiu, people heard Tree Friend's next further action: they were going to acquire an anime production company!

"This is for real!" "It's already been said, it shouldn't be fake!"

"This must be the decision of that guy Naoki Nagayama!"

A senior executive of Yoshimura Otomo's age would certainly not want to put his energy into anime, and Yin Tangxiu was from the film academy school; he hadn't heard of him having any research on anime.

Everyone suddenly spotted the blind spot. The person who made Tree Friend's operations change so drastically must be that young man who couldn't stay settled!

Naoki Nagayama, that guy, just liked to mess around everywhere. Music creation, novel writing, film shooting, and even variety show production and event planning—he seemed to want a piece of everything...

But the key was, this guy seemed to have achieved very good results in every field!

A gold-medal musician, a Naoki Prize winner, a Palme d'Or winner, a producer of long-running music shows, a founder of the Tokyo International Film Festival... In every field he stepped into, Naoki Nagayama left behind traces that made people sigh in admiration.

"Could it be... this time in the anime world, he will also do something big?!"

"No way, no way... no one could be that amazing!" "Naoki Nagayama, that guy, it's hard to say!"

Even if Naoki Nagayama didn't say the words, "I bet all the honor and achievements of the first half of my life to fight for anime," everyone didn't doubt that once he stepped into the anime world, he would definitely make a big move that would attract attention!

Just like that, with his own strength, Naoki Nagayama heated up the word "anime." Reflected in the financial world, stocks related to anime all rose more or less, and even Bandai, which made anime peripheral toys, had a slight increase.

Toei's General Manager, Takafumi Ogasawara, naturally also learned of this news:

"I told you that guy Yin Tangxiu wanted to visit and learn from Toei's subsidiary animation company! So it really was to enter the anime industry..."

The newly promoted assistant, Toru Nakano, said from the side:

"Director Yin Tangxiu wasn't for understanding the production of animated films, but entering the anime industry..."

"From manga to anime to animated films, these are completely different fields!"

Takafumi Ogasawara shook his head:

"Let's start from scratch... anyway, Tree Friend's Naoki Nagayama is so young, he still has a long time!"

Speaking of this, Takafumi Ogasawara was very jealous. Even with the blessing of his family background, he only occupied a high-level position at Toei in his forties.

And that guy Naoki Nagayama actually became the Chairman of the Tree Friend Group in his mere twenties.

Thinking that this guy would be one of the top figures in the entertainment industry for the next few decades made him feel a sense of resentment.

"Naoki Nagayama, that guy, has the patience and ability to cultivate Tree Friend's tentacles in the anime industry!"

Even he didn't think that Tree Friend's animation department would achieve any major results in a year or two... You have to know that Toei's animation department acquired the earliest animation company and cultivated it for more than thirty years to have its current status.

"The anime industry, it's not something you can achieve results in just like that. Besides long-term accumulation, you also need a discerning eye to find a genius manga artist like Osamu Tezuka to be possible..."

Wait a minute, Naoki Nagayama, that guy, is a world-renowned genius!

Takafumi Ogasawara subconsciously shut his mouth and looked at Toru Nakano beside him:

"You say... Naoki Nagayama, that guy, wouldn't even be talented at drawing, right?!"

"Ah... this..."

Actually, it's not impossible!

And Naoki Nagayama, who was in everyone's mouths, was currently in the reception room of Shogakukan.

Editor-in-Chief Kuniharu Morikawa was sitting opposite him, talking eloquently:

"Naoki-san, the novel *Tokyo Love Story*, under the influence of the TV drama, has ushered in another sales peak. It has already been reprinted for the fourth time!"

"For a novel that has only been published for a few months, this is already a very excellent achievement!" Kuniharu Morikawa's face was full of smiles. His performance indicators for this year were completed in the first half of the year!

"Haha, this is also thanks to Shogakukan's unremitting promotion."

Naoki Nagayama expressed his gratitude to Kuniharu Morikawa. If it weren't for their months of advertising warm-up in various stores, the TV drama of the same name, *Tokyo Love Story*, wouldn't have been so popular.

Looking at the royalty breakdown table in his hand, Naoki Nagayama signed his name and took the remittance slip.

Although for him, the tens of millions in dividends brought by the novel were no longer anything, but who would complain about having too much money?!

Even with his current level of wealth, if he saw a ten-yen coin dropped on the road, he would still bend down to pick it up!

"Naoki-san, do you have any ideas for a new book recently?"

Seeing that Naoki Nagayama had already put away the remittance slip, Kuniharu Morikawa smiled and began his editorial duty, starting to urge for more content.

"..."

Naoki Nagayama was helpless,

"Morikawa-san, *Tokyo Love Story* has only been published for a few months... A cow can't produce milk every day, right!"

"You can!"

"..."

The more familiar they got, the more he felt that Kuniharu Morikawa was a bit cheeky!

However, after chatting for a while, Naoki Nagayama seemed to think of something and suddenly asked:

"Morikawa-san, can Shogakukan publish manga?"

"Hai... we have *Weekly Shonen Sunday* under our banner," Kuniharu Morikawa was somewhat surprised, "What's wrong? Does Naoki-san have any friends who want to publish manga?"

"If it's Naoki-san's friend, I can make the decision to give them a spot directly!"

Kuniharu Morikawa could now be said to be worshipping Naoki Nagayama like a god. In order to tie Naoki Nagayama and Shogakukan closer together, what's a chance to be in a magazine?!

Even if they wanted the front page headline, Shogakukan could fabricate a gimmick to encourage amateur manga artists to get the manga printed!

If that doesn't work, they could just publish a collected volume!

"Haha, it's not a friend."

Naoki Nagayama waved his hand,

"Actually, our Tree Friend has established an anime studio, and we plan to expand into the anime industry in the second half of the year..."

"Tree Friend... established an anime studio?" Kuniharu Morikawa looked at Naoki Nagayama suspiciously, then seemed to think of something else, "Could it be that you, Naoki-san, want to draw manga for fun?!"

"Cough, cough, cough, it's not me, it's not me!"

Naoki Nagayama explained quickly. It would be bad if it were misunderstood that he wanted to be a manga artist,

"It's the anime studio under Tree Friend!"

"Ah... I see..." Kuniharu Morikawa nodded, "Then what type of manga are you going to publish?"

"Sports anime, it should be called *Slam Dunk*?"

"Sports anime, sports anime is fine!" Kuniharu Morikawa smiled. *Weekly Shonen Sunday* was famous for sports anime, "Who is the main creator?"

"Main creator?"

"Hmm, whose idea was it?"

"Er... this was just something I mentioned casually, just a direction. But the creation is done by the anime studio!"

Kuniharu Morikawa paused and continued to ask:

"What about the story outline?"

"I also wrote some outlines when I mentioned the idea... but it's just for reference!"

"Oh, oh, then who drew the character prototypes?"

"Er... this is also me. I drew some characters casually when I mentioned the idea before... but it's just a lead-in; the specific drawing is done by others!"

Kuniharu Morikawa's eyes looking at Naoki Nagayama were already a bit confused. Finally, he asked:

"Then... who is the final reviewer of the work?"

"Ah..." Naoki Nagayama seemed to realize the problem and said in a low voice, "It should be me..."

"..."

Naoki Nagayama, and you still say you don't want to draw manga?!

The idea is yours, the character prototypes are yours, and the final person responsible for review is also you!

Isn't this your work?!

Does one have to personally draw the lines on the manga to say it's a manga you drew?!

"Naoki-san... actually, you just want to draw manga for fun, right!"

"..."

Facing Kuniharu Morikawa's question that seemed to have grasped the truth, Naoki Nagayama didn't know how to answer for a moment, only responding with silence.

However, this made Kuniharu Morikawa misunderstand even more:

"Ah... since it's just for fun, it's understandable that you don't want people to know you're a manga artist!"

He thought Naoki Nagayama didn't want his current reputation to be damaged and was cherishing his feathers.

"Then let this matter be known only to heaven, earth, you, and me. I will definitely not say anything to the outside world!" Kuniharu Morikawa patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I will arrange the publication when the time comes!"

"..."

Naoki Nagayama wanted to cry but had no tears. He really didn't want to be a manga artist!

Is it too late to change to another publisher? The Kadokawa Group's publisher seems quite good too... they also have manga magazines!

At the Ota Ward filming base, a group of people were surrounding a sports car parked on the road.

"Toyota's sports car, I feel the grade is a bit lacking!" Masataka Komori said to the crew members, "Although it's also very expensive, you just can't feel that kind of very wealthy ostentation..."

A crew member suggested:

"How about a Mercedes? Didn't Naoki-san buy a Mercedes-Benz third generation, R107, when he first started?"

A friend beside him joked: "Oh? You know a lot, you've been envious of Naoki-san's sports car for a long time, right? Want to buy one yourself?"

"Hehehe..."

However, Masataka Komori still shook his head:

"Not expensive enough... for the male lead who made a lot of money in the movie, it's still a bit lacking..."

Leslie Cheung was already surprised. You have to know that the kind of sports car they were talking about was something only very wealthy people would buy, even in Hong Kong now.

"How about a Toyota Century? Didn't Naoki-san buy a Toyota Century?"

Shizhi Mudao shook his head:

"The Toyota Century is a bit low-key and doesn't suit the male lead's ostentatious style."

"Ferrari?" "Rolls-Royce?" "Porsche?"

Everyone was talking about the names of top sports cars, making Masataka Komori and Shizhi Mudao feel a bit worried... Not for anything else, but because they were really too expensive. One of the scenes was the male lead crashing his own luxury car...

No matter which one it was, it would be heartbreaking!

"Leslie..." Tony Leung, who couldn't speak Japanese, walked up to Leslie Cheung and asked, "What are they talking about?"

"They are discussing which luxury car to use for the crash..."

"Crazy... using a real luxury car?"

"..."

Leslie Cheung was also a bit surprised. This crew was really planning to use a real luxury car to film the car crash scene!

Eh? But if that's the case, do I have a chance to really drive a luxury car into a wall! Thinking about it, I'm still a bit excited...

After discussing for a while, Shizhi Mudao decided that the luxury car model at the beginning would be the red Ferrari, the most dazzling one, which could highlight the male lead's wanton ostentation after becoming rich.

As for when he becomes even richer later, use the silver-white Rolls-Royce Silver Spur...

Masataka Komori, as the producer, naturally had to contact the financial backer behind the scenes as soon as possible. It would be best if the financial backer had these two cars, so they could borrow them. If not, then contact a luxury car dealership to rent them.

"Sigh... why didn't Naoki-san buy a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce? If that were the case, it would be so convenient to just borrow one!"

As for the final car crash scene, see if they can buy a second-hand scrapped Rolls-Royce Silver Spur. If they use a new car to crash, his own heart would break!

After the discussion was over, Shizhi Mudao continued filming the movie.

After more than a week, the crew had already adjusted to each other and entered a high-speed filming period.

Leslie Cheung was indeed the actor he had his eye on. The workplace newcomer scenes at the beginning were very good, and the ostentatious pride after making money later was also acted very well. His control over the character was excellent.

It's just... a bit short... the aura is a bit insufficient.

But fortunately, with elevator shoes and shooting angles, this wasn't a problem~

"For the next scene, we have to go to Tree Friend Capital in Ginza!"

Shizhi Mudao looked at the arrangement on the shooting schedule. It was time for the male lead, Kazuhiko Hotta, to establish an investment company and earn the title of "Tiger of Ginza."

Having his own company in a Ginza office building—this is the style of a new financial noble!

"Regarding Tree Friend Capital, we definitely have to tell Naoki-san, right!"

Although they had already made contact, after all, it was going to Naoki Nagayama's company, so Shizhi Mudao still decided to tell Naoki Nagayama.

It would be best if Naoki-san could be there in person...

After thinking of this, he communicated with Masataka Komori:

"Masataka-kun, for tomorrow's scene in Ginza, will Naoki-san come?"

"There was no such arrangement before." Masataka Komori shook his head and continued flipping through his address book, "The contact with Tree Friend Capital is through Department Manager Genta Nakai. He is Naoki-san's good friend and the CEO of Tree Friend Capital."

Masataka Komori and Shizhi Mudao had both attended the "Cherry Blossom Viewing Party" at Shanying Yuan, so it could be said they were no strangers to Naoki Nagayama's circle of friends, and they had met Genta Nakai a few times.

"But we don't have the experience of dealing with Department Manager Nakai here. I don't know if it will go smoothly."

Shizhi Mudao was a bit worried. After all, investment bankers are all arrogant, looking like they are a cut above others.

"Mudao, are you saying, let Naoki-san come over to support the scene a little?"

"Hai~"

Asking one's own big boss for help isn't shameful!

Masataka Komori pondered for a while and nodded:

"That's fine. I'll call Naoki-san later and invite him to inspect the shooting progress..."

"Hmm, that would be much more reassuring!"

"Alright, Mudao, hurry up and go film!" After Masataka Komori finished speaking, he continued flipping through his little notebook, "I still have to find the financial backer and ask if they have a Ferrari!"

"Thank you for your hard work~" ===== CHAPTER 1029 =====