Chapter 1158: For the female lead, I want the feeling of a good-natured amateur

When *Slam Dunk* aired on Saturday, it attracted the love of countless people and also caused some controversy.

After a day of fermentation, by Monday, the voices of these controversies were getting louder and louder!

"Naoki-san."

Masami Inada reported to the big boss with a headache.

"Shizuka-chan's fans are protesting spontaneously... saying that if Tree Friends Agency doesn't protect their idol, then let the fans protect their idol..."

Changing *I Want to Shout I Love You* to be sung by Sakai Izumi undoubtedly made the fans of the original singer Shizuka Kudo very dissatisfied.

"Fan circles... sure enough, after they get big, these things will happen~"

Naoki Nagayama shook his head. The fan group of idol artists is both a good thing and a bad thing. When they cheer and support their own idol, they naturally go all out, making the idol's fame rise rapidly, and the sales of records and albums explode...

However, after the fan group reaches a certain level, it will also form constraints on the idol artist, such as getting into verbal wars with fans of other idols, saying things like "My brother is the best," establishing enemies for the artist in the industry...

In the later stages, when idols want to transform and expand their future, they will make the original fans dissatisfied and cause them to leave the group. After extremeization, even changing a hairstyle has to listen to the fans' nagging.

In short, it's a very troublesome thing~

"Fan circle?" Masami Inada repeated with confusion.

"Ah... it's the circle of fans..." Naoki Nagayama continued. "For Shizuka Kudo's fans, let the people in the fan club appease them... Changing singers for songs is common, it mainly depends on the needs of the production side... Let them know that Shizuka-chan has no fault in this."

There must be "our own people" in the fan club, which is also one of the responsibilities of the agency.

"As for the others who are dissatisfied... then let them be dissatisfied!"

Naoki Nagayama wouldn't indulge these guys; he wasn't an artist who needed fans.

"It just so happens to help hype up the popularity of *Slam Dunk*..."

In this day and age, information dissemination is not so developed, and there isn't much to do with anime... Word of mouth is also a quite large channel. Letting Shizuka Kudo's fans bring up the topic is actually a good thing for the improvement of *Slam Dunk*'s popularity.

It's even a good thing for Sakai Izumi's popularity~

"Hai~"

Masami Inada nodded helplessly. Although the big boss said not to manage it, they, the middle managers who face artists and fans directly, still need to coordinate the relationship between the two sides well.

After all, it affects the sales of Shizuka Kudo's next album!

This conversation actually took place in Tomofusa Otomo's office, so after Masami Inada left, Naoki Nagayama looked at his good friend:

"Otomo-san, why haven't you expressed your opinion just now?"

"What's there to express an opinion about."

Tomofusa Otomo no longer took these specific small matters to heart. When the two of them were talking just now, he even took the time to finish reading a financial application form.

"Anyway, Inada-kun will definitely handle it well."

"Haha, Otomo-san has great confidence in Inada-kun~"

"That's for sure~" Tomofusa Otomo nodded. "Inada-kun has always been very reliable~"

Masami Inada was one of the first veterans of Tree Friends, and his relationship with Naoki Nagayama wasn't very close. Being able to be the current manager of the agency business and concurrently the president of the agency under Tree Friends was entirely based on his own strength.

"Let's not talk about this." Tomofusa Otomo changed the subject. "Naoki-san, the project establishment work for *Departures* has been completed. Do you have any thoughts about the protagonist of this movie?"

"The protagonist..."

Naoki Nagayama thought about it in his mind and felt there was no one he particularly liked.

The male lead of this movie *Departures* needs to be a middle-aged man, preferably with a sense of melancholy and compassion.

As for the female lead, besides being beautiful, she needs that kind of virtuous feeling... to put it bluntly, it's that kind of good-natured amateur feeling...

This time he didn't think about having himself and Akina appear in it. They were young, stylish, handsome, and beautiful, and couldn't act out the feeling of being frustrated and having to change careers to become a mortician.

Even in a country like Japan that attaches great importance to death, a mortician is not a profession that everyone yearns for. Simply put, it's important at certain times, but usually, everyone keeps their distance.

Some people are even very resistant to contacting them, thinking that frequently contacting dead people is very unlucky.

"Then... it's time to cast!"

Tomofusa Otomo nodded and said,

"The casting call for Naoki-san's movie... will cause a sensation in the film and entertainment industry!"

With Naoki Nagayama's current fame and status, if actors had the opportunity to enter his movie, they would really do anything!

The temptations faced by famous directors are really too many~

"It's not that exaggerated." Naoki Nagayama said with a smile. "I'll sort out the role requirements for the leads in a moment, and first let each agency recommend some actors with suitable schedules according to this standard."

"Hmm, I understand."

After speaking, Naoki Nagayama returned to his office, sorted out the requirements for the leads of *Departures* based on his memories, and wrote them on paper.

"Ryoko Hirosue..."

Naoki Nagayama shook his pen. This actress was really popular when she was young, but after middle age, she was mired in various scandals, which was also a good hand played poorly.

But she's only six years old now, still a little bean~

"Who else in the entertainment industry can play a virtuous wife after marriage..."

Thinking too much by himself was meaningless. After sorting out the requirements for the leads in the office, Naoki Nagayama gave them directly to Tomofusa Otomo.

Then he just had to wait for the major agencies in the entertainment industry to send suitable people over!

In the Fuji TV studio in Shinjuku, the latest issue of *Night Hit* was in final preparation, and it would be recorded in the evening.

The biggest highlight of this *Night Hit* was, of course, the top idol Akina Nakamori, who was performing her new album *TANGO NOIR* for the first time.

Akina Nakamori was currently resting in her single dressing room, but she was holding a mobile phone in her hand:

"Hai... I might not be back until after 9 o'clock tonight. For Hua-chan, please ask Mori-san to coax her to sleep."

"If Naoki-san comes back, if he can coax her to sleep, that's fine too..."

"How could that be, Naoki-san is still very good at taking care of his daughter!"

"Sorry to trouble Mori-san..."

In fact, she only separated from little Xia Hua in the afternoon. Even if Akina Nakamori had to be busy, she would at least spend half a day to get close to her daughter... This naturally put many shackles on her career, but now Akina didn't worry about that anymore.

Relying on the two major awards of the Japan Record Awards, plus two hit movies, she was already firmly standing at the top of the pyramid of the entertainment industry... The rest, perhaps, was to impact the Japan Record Awards for the third time in a row?

Or produce a million-selling album, a platinum record...

After finishing the call with the nanny at home, Akina put the mobile phone on the dressing table, looking at this latest mobile phone, feeling that the current technology was really too convenient, being able to contact home anytime, anywhere...

If only she could see the picture directly, that would be great, then she could see her daughter's face directly!

"Akina-chan, it's time to change clothes!"

Maki Ueda pushed the clothes rack over. On it were the three sets of performance clothes prepared for today, one black and one gold, both were fishbone fluffy skirts, and another was a small dress, used for the song medley and other group photos in the early stage of *Night Hit*.

"Should I wear black or gold?"

Akina hesitated. *TANGO NOIR*, the song, translated directly, means "Black Tango." Logically, black should be better, but today was the first time on stage, gold seemed to have more rendering power...

"It's still gold! Since it's the first time to show up, it's better to have a stronger impact!"

"Hai!"

Maki Ueda nodded, took off the plastic cover outside the gold performance clothes, and checked the situation of the performance clothes.

Just at this moment, the door of the dressing room was knocked, and then Kyoko Koizumi walked in with a camera crew:

"Akina-chan, today I'm here to take everyone to see the star's dressing room!"

This is a common program on TV stations, led by an artist, and the camera crew enters the backstage of various programs to shoot behind-the-scenes footage.

"Kyoko-chan~"

Akina naturally had received the notice, because this kind of program also had a promotional effect, and she cooperated very well, smiling and making faces at the camera lens... not at all like a mother who had already given birth to a baby~

"Minna-san, this is Akina Nakamori's dressing room!"

Kyoko Koizumi held the microphone in her hand, tilted her head, and gave most of the lens to Akina,

"Akina-chan, what program are you recording today?"

"Coming to Fuji TV today is to participate in the recording of *Night Hit*... Currently, the rehearsal is completed, and I am preparing to record in a while!"

"Ah! *Night Hit*!" Kyoko Koizumi nodded as if it were true. "Akina-chan has been on *Night Hit* many times!"

"Yeah... it seems the first big announcement was *Night Hit*! I was super nervous at that time!"

"Haha~ that's really a deep fate..." Kyoko Koizumi handed over the opportunity to advertise. "Then what song is Akina-chan going to sing today?"

"Ah!" Akina nodded and immediately took out the new album poster next to her. "What I'm going to sing today is the title song of my new album, *TANGO NOIR*!"

"Oh, what does it mean?"

"Translating it means 'Black Tango'!"

Akina briefly introduced the origin and style of her new song, making Kyoko Koizumi, who was acting as a temporary host, nod repeatedly,

"Oh oh... the mysterious dance of black... it looks like Akina is going to give everyone a surprise this time!"

"Hai, I hope everyone will like it..."

After chatting for a while, Kyoko Koizumi took the camera crew around the dressing room of the big star Akina, and saw the difference between Akina Nakamori's dressing room and other artists...

Actually, there was no big difference, it was just a separate room, with a sofa and a dressing table, and a TV, but now it was filled with Akina's cosmetics and some tools... Fuji TV's headquarters is an old building, and there isn't that much space.

After the program recording was finished, the next temporary host was an artist from another program, and Kyoko Koizumi also stayed to rest for a while:

"Akina-chan, finally released a new album! It's already March!"

"It's a bit late..." Akina chatted with her best friend with a smile. "But originally I had to reduce the frequency of work, this is also no way... I have to take care of the baby!"

"Yiii~~ having a child is really different... speaking with full confidence!"

As one of the few best friends in the circle, it didn't matter if Kyoko Koizumi joked with Akina,

"I thought the big star Akina was going to focus on the film and television industry~"

"Acting in movies is indeed very interesting... but I still like singing more."

Akina also has talent in performance, actually, it should be said that she has talent in showing herself. If it's really about acting, she still can't compare to professional actors... It's just that the two movies *Love Letter* and *Ghost* were both filmed by her husband, which happened to show Akina's own charm.

"Oh? Akina is not planning to participate in Naoki-san's new movie?"

Kyoko Koizumi was surprised. The news that Naoki Nagayama was preparing to produce a new movie had spread in the industry, and now everyone was saying that the female lead must be for Akina Nakamori.

"Not participating..." Akina shook her head. "Naoki-san showed me the script, the female lead in it doesn't suit me..."

Although Akina has no problem in terms of being virtuous, there is a big gap in age.

Older actresses playing younger sisters can pretend to be young with technology, but women in their early twenties playing women in their thirties, no matter how they put on makeup, that youthful feeling can't be hidden.

Akina is only in her early twenties now, her skin is as tender as if it could be pinched out of water, and because her family is happy and her career is smooth, her whole spirit is different... This is very difficult to hide!

"Akina is actually not participating..."

Kyoko Koizumi's eyes rolled, feeling that the future is very promising!

Although she doesn't have much chance, this news is very useful for her own agency. The actresses in her own agency can prepare in advance, move around, and connect...

Being able to get the role is a major turning point for an actress's entire acting career.

"By the way, Kyoko-chan, do you want to celebrate Girls' Day together? I invited Yukiko-chan!"

"Maybe not..." Kyoko Koizumi sighed. "It just so happens to be related to Girls' Day..."

As a first-line idol, Kyoko Koizumi's business ability is actually very strong, and various schedules are also very full.

"That's really a pity..."

Naoki Nagayama's new movie is called *Departures*, and both the male and female leads need to be cast!

Such news cannot be hidden from others. As long as one agency gets the news, then all other agencies know it.

Then the entire entertainment industry seemed to become active... The requirements for the male and female leads were already flying all over the sky.

"Male actor around thirty... melancholy uncle... middle-aged decadence... can't be too handsome, but needs solid acting skills, preferably can play the cello..."

"Does our agency have such an actor?" "Fortunately, there are many uncles..." "What? Can't play the cello? If you can't, go learn! Practice it in a week!" "..."

In terms of male actors, the Japanese entertainment industry is not lacking, there are all kinds of types, and in Japan, male actors in their thirties can be said to be the introductory period for male actors, the kind that can make people dazzled.

However, relatively speaking, the female lead is a bit troublesome...

"Female actor in her late twenties... hmm? A married woman but can't be too seductive? What kind of requirement is this!"

"Oh oh, it's that good-natured amateur feeling! You should have said so earlier... our artists can all act it out!"

"It's not that kind of amateur! Don't think crookedly!"

"Haha, of course I know it's not that kind of amateur, which kind of amateur did you think of?!"

"I didn't think of anything!"

"..."

As professional actors, naturally, they can act out any style, and any pure type or royal sister type is not a problem!

In such discussions, the list of suitable actors in the Japanese entertainment industry was quickly sorted out, and then the agencies worked overtime to produce actor files and sent them to Tree Friends...

The casting call hadn't even started yet, but the relevant files had already filled the entire drawer!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1159 =====