Chapter 262: Why should my own movie be suppressed!

After signing the employment contract, Naoki Nagayama intended to send Katsuo Yasui and Chinatsu Sakakibara back.

He also had them notify the Public Employment Security Office of the interview results. Afterward, Naoki Nagayama would have to pay a service fee, 30% of their annual salary.

The annual salary given to them was 3.6 million yen, which, although not high, was the salary of an average white-collar worker. Although there might not necessarily be performance, if the tea house could make a profit at the end of the year, 20% of the profit would be given to both as a year-end bonus.

Before leaving, Naoki Nagayama stylishly handed the main door key to Katsuo Yasui.

"Mr. Yasui, if there are no problems, start working tomorrow. The tea house needs to open~"

Although still a bit dazed, Katsuo Yasui still nodded respectfully and accepted.

Watching the young owner leave in a convertible sports car, Katsuo Yasui looked at Chinatsu Sakakibara to the side, and then said a bit uncertainly: "Ms. Sakakibara, it seems we will be colleagues from now on..."

"It seems so..."

"Then let's operate this tea house together starting tomorrow!"

"... Hai!"

Although the salary was the same, in this male-dominated society of Japan, giving the key to Katsuo Yasui was tacitly acknowledging him as the stronger party. Although Chinatsu Sakakibara was a bit unwilling, she also acknowledged this result.

While Naoki Nagayama was still on the road, he suddenly remembered:

"I haven't told them about the Shimizu Tea Garden yet~" However, after thinking about it, he felt it wouldn't be too late to inform them after Sanmei Residence was on the right track.

"Male manager, female boss, it somehow feels like a husband-and-wife shop~" Thinking of the man and woman he hired who seemed a bit at odds, a thought inexplicably arose in Naoki Nagayama's heart. "Won't the two of them become a bickering couple..."

He had forgotten to ask about their family situation earlier. If something happened and it destroyed someone's family harmony, that would be bad.

"Well, how could it be such a coincidence? It must be me worrying unnecessarily!"

The autumn sun at noon was much more intense than in the morning, shining on people's faces with a feeling of being tanned, but it didn't feel hot, as if the sunlight was just greeting you in a hurry, without intending to say much to you.

On the road, some people were already wearing trench coats, the long hems dragging to their knees, swaying continuously with the frequency of their walking.

People with tall figures and good proportions wearing trench coats looked dashing and handsome from afar, as if they were walking with the wind.

No wonder trench coats had been popular for half a century~

When he arrived at the studio, Hiromi Otomo was naturally already in the office.

And one of the capable assistants, Masataka Komori, was busy contacting other theaters for screening times. At this time, besides Tokyo, he also had to run to various places.

Yes, Naoki Nagayama had handed over all the screening matters for *A Scene at the Sea* to this guy, under the pretext of "training the young." Even though he himself was younger than the other person...

Masami Inada was never in the studio. Since becoming a behind-the-scenes manager, he was always outside. With the original four artists, and now adding Yuki Saito, he was a bit too busy~

"Otomo-san, I'm here!"

Naoki Nagayama walked into the office with light steps. Having just completed one thing, his mood was very relaxed.

"Ah, Naoki~" Hiromi Otomo, however, had a worried look on his face.

Naoki Nagayama thought he was worried about the previous matter: "What's wrong, Otomo-san? Didn't I promise you I'd go meet that guy from Fuji TV? Why are you still looking so worried?"

"There's nothing to worry about with that kind of thing~"

Hiromi Otomo looked at Naoki Nagayama, meaning that even if you didn't go, it wouldn't matter to me (Naoki Nagayama's interpretation).

"It's about the awards..."

"Awards? The Oscars?" Didn't you just bring that up a while ago?

"Oscars? No, not the Oscars, it's the Japan Blue Ribbon Awards." Hiromi Otomo then continued, "More accurately, it's all the Japanese film awards."

Naoki Nagayama was even more curious: "What's wrong with these film awards? Did they change the selection rules?"

Hiromi Otomo rubbed his face, as if trying to get the worried look off, but failed. Finally, he sighed: "According to internal news, the judges this year don't intend to let *Hachiko Monogatari* receive a nomination or participate in the selection..."

Hearing this news suddenly, Naoki Nagayama wasn't surprised but instead asked about something else: "Internal news? How did you get internal news, Otomo-san?"

"Uh... Naoki-san, your focus is a bit off."

"No problem. Isn't it just old-school film bigwigs rejecting newcomers who suddenly popped up? It's something that exists in every industry." Naoki Nagayama hadn't cared much about these awards anyway; in his eyes, whether he could make money was the big thing.

"I'm just curious about the so-called internal news. In the past, I've always heard 'according to internal news from so-and-so,' 'according to an insider,' but where does this news, which is known before the selection, actually come from? Could it be that the film critics secretly gathered in advance without anyone knowing?"

Hiromi Otomo looked at Naoki Nagayama like a monkey in a zoo. Sometimes he felt this young man knew everything, and sometimes he felt this guy was like someone who had just entered society.

"Of course there was no gathering. A few bigwigs with high status let out the wind, and then the judges who have connections with them naturally understood... Naoki-san, this is what is called 'power.' It can only be understood, not explained~"

Oh. So it's "those who know, know; those who don't, I won't explain much," right?

"So that's what Otomo-san is worrying about?"

"Of course. Clearly, our movie is so excellent..."

"Then doesn't the Kadokawa Group have any action? Didn't the movie have their header on it?" Naoki Nagayama was puzzled; Kadokawa was already considered a big group.

"Kadokawa... Although Kadokawa Pictures has strong financial resources, it has only entered the film industry for 6 years after all, and still can't compare to old-school film production companies like Toho or Shochiku," Hiromi Otomo said. "Moreover, Haruki-san has already put all his resources into pushing *Hachiko Monogatari* to participate in the Oscars."

So that's how it is, so they can't exert any effort in the internal selection in Japan~

"Clearly our movie's sales far exceed other movies... Maybe those judges want to pick faults from places like artistry and humanistic spirit."

Looking at Hiromi Otomo's decadent appearance, Naoki Nagayama realized that such honor was still very important to others in the company. Even the unnamed general manager was like this, then the named director, Xiu-san, would probably be even more disappointed.

"Otomo-san, such awards... if I get them, it's my luck; if I lose them, it's my fate..." Thinking of comforting him, he couldn't say anything useful.

He had always thought that based on the results, there would be a few of these awards, but now, it seemed they were going to get nothing!

Naoki Nagayama also felt offended. Why should his own movie be suppressed!

With anger in his heart, the desire to kill arose. If I can't get it, why should others get it?

"Otomo-san!" Naoki Nagayama's tone became much lower.

Hiromi Otomo looked up blankly, also feeling the change in Naoki Nagayama's tone: "? Nani?"

"Do you remember how we dealt with Toei's smear campaign before?"

"Eh? Exposing each other's black history, hurting the enemy by a thousand and losing eight hundred?"

Hiromi Otomo remembered that at that time, it was because the matter was blown up that the head of Toei's business department couldn't hold on first.

"But this time it's the old-school groups of the entire film industry! Unlike before, Toei also had opposing forces inside."

"Hahaha, Otomo-san, could it be that there are no people in the film industry who oppose the old-school groups?"

Naoki Nagayama laughed. There were so many small productions and emerging directors in the film industry who had been suppressed by Toho and Toei for so long; how could there be no resentment?

And there were second-tier film production companies, and cross-industry conglomerates with ambition like Kadokawa Pictures...

"Naoki-san, what are you going to do?" Although Hiromi Otomo didn't quite understand yet, listening to Naoki was definitely right!

"Otomo-san, this time we will strike first!"

Naoki Nagayama asked Hiromi Otomo to contact friendly media and film critics, starting to spread the so-called internal news in the media first, that *Hachiko Monogatari* would not receive a nomination in the film awards and would end up with nothing...

"This... isn't this helping them?"

"Of course not, Otomo-san. The more something is forbidden, the more it will attract people's interest!" Naoki Nagayama said. "This time, just arrange for people to spread all the reasons like old-school companies suppressing newcomers!"

"Naoki-san, these things are all said in private, and there is no evidence!"

"Are we the police? Are the audience judges? Do we need evidence?" Naoki Nagayama asked in a rapid-fire manner. "In the end, if *Hachiko Monogatari* really gets nothing, then the result itself is the evidence!"

Hiromi Otomo scratched his head: "But what if there really is no nomination?"

"Do you mean the so-called bigwigs don't care what the audience thinks, or they suppressed it forcefully?"

"Hai."

"Then they are going to smash the brand of a few awards~"

So-called awards are actually business behind the scenes. The brand of the awards here is a chicken that lays golden eggs continuously. If someone wants to kill the chicken to get the eggs, they have to consider whether what they take out can compare to the loss.

What Naoki Nagayama wanted to do was just to amplify the loss.

Hiromi Otomo asked again: "What if they use some minor awards to dismiss us?"

"Hahaha, since it has already entered the selection process, it still can't be done too ugly in front of the public..."

The *Hachiko Monogatari* of Tree Friend Pictures this time indeed exceeded other movies of the same period by nearly double. If it was nominated and still couldn't compare, that would be an even bigger loss of face!

In a certain highest-status music award selection in Japan in later generations, the top prize was stolen by dirty means. The fairness of the selection was hit hard, and the viewership rating of the following year was directly discounted!

The music award also fell into a slump.

After hearing Naoki Nagayama's approach, Hiromi Otomo finally cheered up and began to look for relevant resources.

However, Naoki Nagayama stopped him: "Otomo-san, didn't you say you made an appointment with the person from Fuji TV?"

"Ah, that guy Sugiura Tai-tai~" Hiromi Otomo didn't take the person to heart at this time; he was in a hurry to go out. "Just at the cafe we often go to, Naoki-san, just go and brush him off~"

Tsk tsk tsk, to actually say "brush him off" so openly?

Otomo-san, you've changed!

Naoki Nagayama shook his head helplessly, but still drove to the cafe. After all, he had promised someone, so he still had to keep his promise.

After arriving, he indeed found that someone was already sitting in their usual spot, and it was a man and a woman, just like a blind date...

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Sugiura Tai-tai?" Naoki Nagayama felt very unfamiliar, but still walked over. "I am Naoki Nagayama."

"Ah, Nagayama-san, long time no see!"

"This is Rumi Nishi."

"Hai, nice to meet you, please take care of me!" Naoki Nagayama greeted normally, but Sugiura Tai-tai laughed.

"Nagayama-san, this is not the first time we've met!"

During the first season of *Tales of the Unusual*, Naoki Nagayama had been to Fuji TV several times and had contact with people from the First Production Department several times, but at that time, there were a bunch of people together, and he couldn't remember now. This was a bit awkward~

Both Sugiura Tai-tai and Rumi Nishi still remembered Naoki Nagayama. After all, such a handsome guy easily attracted people's attention, not just girls...

"Is that so?" Naoki Nagayama shrugged and smiled. "At that time, I must not have introduced myself properly; otherwise, I would definitely not have forgotten such a beautiful woman."

One sentence made Rumi Nishi smile. Being able to work at a TV station, she could be considered a little beauty, but being praised by a handsome guy like Naoki Nagayama still made people feel ecstatic.

"Hahaha, Nagayama-san really has a sweet mouth."

Seeing that it was about to turn into a playboy flirting with girls, Sugiura Tai-tai immediately interrupted: "Nagayama-san, thank you very much for taking the time to come over this time..."

"Ah, daijobu, anyway, I'm very free~ Otomo-san told me about the predicament of *Tales of the Unusual*, and I also have some feelings for this program, so I came over~"

The coffee he often drank was brought up. Naoki Nagayama expressed his thanks to the waiter while speaking.

"Uh..." Sugiura Tai-tai continued, "What does Nagayama-san think of the current situation of our program?"

Naoki Nagayama had already considered this on the way here, and he had some ideas in his heart.

"Sugiura-san, I'll be direct. The predicament of *Tales of the Unusual* is that the level of the first season was too high, and the subsequent episodes couldn't satisfy the audience, so it led to a decline in viewership."

"Hai, that is indeed the case."

"Since that's the case, then the royal way is naturally to improve the production level!"

"But..." I can't do it!

"It's not to let you rely solely on your own production, but to invite Toho, Toei... these production organizations, and use their top-notch screenwriters. Isn't this the biggest advantage of the production bureau?"

As one of the biggest exposure outlets in the entertainment industry, all agencies and companies have to give face.

"This, we have already asked other production companies, and we have also invited stars..." Rumi Nishi interjected from the side, "But there is still no improvement..."

"Is that so~" It looked like the starting point he gave them was too good, and the audience's threshold was too high from the beginning, but it didn't matter. "Since the royal way doesn't work, then let's take a side path~"

"Eh?"

"It's still being broadcast episode by episode, right?"

"Hai!"

"Sugiura-san, consider condensing three stories into one episode. Since the quality can't reach it, then it's okay to make up for it with quantity!"

"Eh?! Can this work?" Sugiura Tai-tai was startled first, then thought about it. "It seems it really can!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 263 =====