Chapter 748: They definitely won't invest in this movie!!! Right?

The Dream Factory film shooting base in Ota Ward.

Dozens of young men were chasing and fighting each other in a crowded confrontation field... but they were scurrying around in a disorganized manner, no different from children playing and fighting.

"CUT!" Masataka Komori shouted through a megaphone, "Everyone, take a break!"

Then he sat on the director's chair with a worried look, his brows furrowed tightly.

The assistant director, Katsura Ishikawa, leaned over:

"Masataka-san, what's wrong?"

"Sigh~~~" Masataka Komori felt that since he started shooting *Crows Zero 2*, the number of times he sighed had increased significantly, "No matter how I shoot it, I feel I can't capture that feeling of blood boiling that Naoki-san has!"

He still remembered in the first part, when Genji Takiya led a group of underlings, walking with that arrogant, six-kin-don't-recognize gait in the rain, paired with Naoki-san's background music *Into the Battlefield*, he felt like following them to fight too!

"Naoki-san's blood boiling..." Katsura Ishikawa chewed on the vocabulary, "Perhaps because he is a young man~"

"..." Masataka Komori looked at the assistant with a vacant gaze, "Ishikawa, are you saying I'm old and don't have hot blood anymore?!"

"Not at all, I never said that!"

Katsura Ishikawa hurriedly explained, but his eyes glanced at Masataka Komori; the happy fat after marriage, plus the irregular diet during the film shooting process, even a little belly had appeared... Saying he was a youth was more or less nonsense!

Masataka Komori sensitively noticed this somewhat impolite look and blocked his belly with the megaphone:

"Ishikawa... are you thinking about something rude?!"

"..." Katsura Ishikawa immediately looked elsewhere, "No!"

"Really?"

"Absolutely not!!"

Just as the two were arguing, Xu Mudao walked over and said to Masataka Komori: "Masataka, Naoki-san is coming over..."

"Eh?" X2, "Why is he suddenly coming over?"

"To check the progress, or maybe to visit the set?"

Xu Mudao wasn't sure, because after the previous magical modifications, Tamao Serizawa, played by Kaede Nagayama, had been "seriously injured and offline," and there was no part for him in the scenes being shot now.

"..." Masataka Komori thought for a moment, and as if he suddenly thought of something, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Perfect, I can ask Naoki-san for advice on how to shoot hot-blooded scenes."

The two said this and went to the factory entrance together, waiting for Naoki Nagayama's arrival.

And Naoki Nagayama here had communicated about Tree Friend Capital in Ginza in the morning and headed toward the Dream Factory in Ota Ward in the afternoon.

Seeing Masataka Komori and Xu Mudao waiting at the entrance, he was also a bit surprised:

"Why are you two waiting here?"

"This is the only way to show respect to Naoki-san!" said the first sycophant.

"Hoping to see Naoki-san sooner..." added the second sycophant.

"..." Naoki Nagayama parked the car and looked at these two guys with a smile, "You two... haven't done anything guilty, have you!"

"How is that possible!" Masataka Komori immediately cried out, then revealed a fawning smile, "I just have some things I want to ask Naoki-san for advice on! I have no idea what's up with Xu Mudao."

Xu Mudao looked at his good friend speechlessly, his eyes full of disdain~

"Naoki-san... I just wanted to inform you sooner that the scenes for *Ring 2* have been built and can be used at any time!"

Xu Mudao followed Naoki Nagayama toward the field area,

"I don't know when this movie will start shooting... also... I wanted to ask if *Love Generation* can be prepared in advance... I mean the scenes and such~"

Only then did Naoki Nagayama understand; this guy saw Masataka Komori starting to shoot movies and felt his hands itching too!

"*Ring 2* mainly depends on Xiu-san's time... His *Blue Sea* promotion is almost done, so it should be soon..."

Without hiding anything, Naoki Nagayama told Xu Mudao, Masataka Komori, and the others about the current situation, then patted Xu Mudao on the shoulder,

"As for the scene preparation for *Love Generation*, it is indeed time... Xu Mudao-kun, you write the report, and I'll approve the slip..."

"Yes! I will prepare it immediately!" Xu Mudao's eyes lit up.

It was already November, and there were two months until the New Year. If the venue was prepared before then and Otomo-san was asked to find good actors, his new project could start production!

With a hint of excitement, Xu Mudao took Naoki Nagayama to check the scenes for *Ring 2*. This was already the last time; the scene construction was all finished, and they were just waiting for the crew to move in and shoot.

Naoki Nagayama took a rough look and was very satisfied... The suggestions he made before had all been rectified. Besides *Ring 2*, these scenes could be used in other movies in the future...

"There are two more movies at the end of this year; *Crows Zero 2* is already shooting, and *Ring 2* hasn't started..." Naoki Nagayama calculated the movie plan for Tree Friend Films in his heart, "As for next year, what's already determined is *Diary of the Sea* and *Love Generation*... that's not enough at all... I'll find a time to discuss it with Otomo-san and Xiu-san later..."

While he was thinking, Masataka Komori had already brought him to the theater for *Crows Zero 2*.

The crew members who were resting all knew Naoki Nagayama. Seeing him come, they hurriedly stood up to greet him:

"Naoki-san!" "Director Nagayama!" "Mr. Nagayama..."

Similar words were endless, and Naoki Nagayama had long since adapted to this situation of being the center of attention. He wore a calm smile and greeted them one by one.

After arriving at the director's shed, Masataka Komori couldn't wait to speak:

"Naoki-san... I have always wanted to shoot the hot-blooded atmosphere of the first part, but when the confrontation between Housen High School and Suzuran High School happened, although the fighting was wonderful, it lacked that hot-blooded feeling..."

Masataka Komori thought for a moment and said, "It's that kind of scene that makes people get goosebumps when they watch it..."

After Naoki Nagayama finished listening, he understood; scenes like gathering in the rain... looking cool and handsome... are feelings exclusive to teenagers!

Actually, if you add some *chuunibyou* lines like "My fate is up to me, not heaven" or "I want this sky to never be able to cover my eyes again" into the dialogue, it would have a bit of this effect...

"Hmm... Masataka-kun." Naoki Nagayama naturally couldn't say this kind of thought; he would be laughed at. He looked at the confrontation field and thought for a moment about the scenes in the original film, "The final battle scene actually doesn't need to be so rushed."

"? What does Naoki-san mean?" Masataka Komori took out a small notebook to record.

"You have to give the protagonist time to look cool!"

Naoki Nagayama explained the trick simply,

"You have to let Genji Takiya stand in front of a group of enemies without changing his expression and say some cool lines... like 'I'm not targeting you alone; I mean everyone here is trash!' or 'To deal with you, I alone am enough!' and so on..."

Masataka Komori was recording seriously, but when he heard the final line, the movement of his hand stopped suddenly, as if he hadn't heard clearly:

"Uh... Naoki-san... what was the line you just said?"

Masataka Komori got goosebumps just hearing such explosive and *chuunibyou* lines; he actually wanted the lead actor to say it in front of a group of people???

How awkward would that be!

"Ahem!" Naoki Nagayama coughed tactically; he himself couldn't stand this kind of *chuunibyou* wind, "I only say that kind of line once!!! I've forgotten it now."

"..."

Masataka Komori and the other staff members listening nearby were all silent. Naoki-san really has a super thick skin!

Naoki Nagayama acted as if nothing had happened and continued to say to Masataka Komori:

"Originally, it was arranged for Genji Takiya to challenge them alone first, and then his brothers would come over to support him... so during the first fight, you must shoot his hardship in fighting, but also embody his unyielding spirit..."

"During the fighting process, the trash talk can't stop... after beating down a little brother, the camera must pause for a moment, say some provocative words, and even if surrounded, you have to say things like 'My journey will never stop here'."

"Only in this way can a group fight scene show the hot-blooded (*chuunibyou*) feeling of a teenager..."

Naoki Nagayama spoke eloquently, while Masataka Komori was recording non-stop, and Xu Mudao beside him also had eyes shining; this is the true transmission!

The so-called "false transmission of ten thousand books, true transmission of one sentence" is what this kind of thing is talking about!

Everything Naoki-san said must be recorded; these are all treasures on the road of being a director in the future!

It wasn't until Naoki Nagayama was a bit dry-mouthed that he stopped and took the atom soda handed over by Xu Mudao... Hmm, this kid Xu Mudao is promising in the future!

"Naoki-san... Arigato!" Masataka Komori bowed very gratefully.

"Haha, Masataka-kun, *Crows Zero 2* is our big work before the end of the year; everything depends on you!" The final battle, which had already been shot to the end, meant this movie was almost at its final stage.

"Yes!"

After entering November, the three major film selections in Tokyo started one after another, and by now, they had basically received the films to be selected.

However, this time, the review committee encountered a problem more or less.

"Chairman Tanaka..." The judge of the Japan Academy Film Prize, Fumio Ishikawa, brought the list of films for this batch to Tomoyuki Tanaka's office, "The list of films for this batch has arrived."

"This is... the films released in August and September, right..." Tomoyuki Tanaka took the list, adjusted his reading glasses, and sure enough, he saw what he wanted to see immediately...

"Ah... *Kikujiro*..."

Naoki Nagayama's movie could be said to have provided the most perfect finale for this year's summer; novel, interesting, absurd, warm... all kinds of labels were attached to this movie, and even as a comedy movie, it received praise from harsh film critics.

"Yes, it's Naoki Nagayama's movie again."

Fumio Ishikawa was already very familiar with Naoki Nagayama; he participated to a large extent in the transaction between Chairman Tanaka and another director, Kinji Fukasaku, last time.

Speaking of Kinji Fukasaku, I heard that after experiencing major setbacks such as being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, divorcing his wife, and being kicked out of the house by his mistress Keiko Matsuzaka, this guy still didn't fall... Recently, he actually started preparing for a movie again...

Personal matters are minor details; Kinji Fukasaku's directing skills are very strong, and the movies he produces have excellent box office results, so naturally, there are producers willing to support him.

"Chairman Tanaka, are we going to block this movie this time?" Fumio Ishikawa asked Tomoyuki Tanaka.

"Block? What is there to block?" Tomoyuki Tanaka looked at Fumio Ishikawa strangely, "Ishikawa, we don't have a grudge with Naoki Nagayama... Using connections to suppress *Love Letter* before was entirely for my own *The Makioka Sisters*; there is no conflict this time..."

Tomoyuki Tanaka drank a cup of hot tea and said slowly: "Besides, this time *Kikujiro* clearly has no possibility of winning the final grand prize..."

"This?"

"Did you forget? The tradition of the Japan Academy Film Prize... it won't choose the works of the same director consecutively!" Tomoyuki Tanaka said calmly.

For the review committee of the Japan Academy Film Prize, besides choosing the most outstanding movie of the year, there is also the concept of promoting the development of the Japanese film industry...

Therefore, although there is no written rule, every judge has a thought in their mind when voting: this is a director who won last time, so let someone else have it this time...

This kind of thought caused an effect similar to group decision-making; no director would dominate the Japan Academy Film Prize consecutively.

Upon hearing this, Fumio Ishikawa felt relieved in his heart: "So that's how it is; I understand~"

"It looks like Naoki Nagayama is going to be very unhappy this time..."

"Hahaha~" Tomoyuki Tanaka laughed, "Not necessarily; maybe Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and the like will still be given to Naoki Nagayama... After all, this movie is indeed very outstanding..."

And just at this time, a similar conversation also happened in the jury of the Blue Ribbon Awards.

The jury chairman, Koichi Nojima, was distributing the list of films for this session and was also chatting with his colleagues about this situation.

"For this Blue Ribbon Award, Naoki Nagayama should have no chance... It's truly a pity for this movie *Kikujiro*..." Koichi Nojima said, "If it were released next year, it would undoubtedly be the best movie of the year."

"Yes, yes..." The colleagues were all echoing.

"In the past, if there were movies aiming for awards, the production factory would have already sent people to run connections; this time, Tree Friend Films hasn't done so until now, which means they themselves don't want to aim for the Blue Ribbon anymore~" A colleague said this.

"Hahaha, they can be considered to have self-knowledge!"

Laughter rang out in the office; they all felt that *Kikujiro* would at most win a few big or small awards this time.

However... logically speaking, even awards like Best Actor and Best Screenplay are awards that other directors can only hope for but cannot get.

But when it came to Naoki Nagayama, the jury members all thought that winning this kind of award was just a marginal small award for him...

It might be that Naoki Nagayama has already raised the public's threshold too high!

In a relaxed atmosphere, the jury members distributed the list of films to the judges and let them start judging.

As an editor of the earliest and most authoritative film newspaper—*Kinema Junpo*—Rinshi Maruyama was naturally one of the judges for the Blue Ribbon Awards, and he naturally got the list of entries in his hands for the first time.

"Sure enough, *Kikujiro* is in it~"

Rinshi Maruyama sighed with great regret after reading the list; he naturally also knew about that unwritten rule.

After this movie was released, he went to the cinema to watch it for the first time; *Kinema Junpo* even gave two special features, specifically to introduce this movie to everyone and explore all aspects of *Kikujiro*.

It can be said that even the producer and director didn't understand the movie as well as he did...

"As everyone knows, Naoki Nagayama is just a director; he doesn't understand Kikujiro at all..."

Rinshi Maruyama muttered to himself in complaint, because this time Kikujiro was not the name of the director's father, and the movie itself didn't hint at the director's childhood, so everyone didn't link the movie to Naoki Nagayama's life.

Regarding the protagonist Kikujiro, Rinshi Maruyama believed that the resonance of this image with himself was definitely more than Naoki Nagayama's. He even wrote tens of thousands of words of character sketches for this character Kikujiro and published them in *Kinema Junpo*!

So now, Rinshi Maruyama felt very sorry that such an outstanding movie couldn't win an award.

As a senior editor of a film magazine, he had watched all the movies on the list; almost all production companies would send free movie tickets to *Kinema Junpo*.

So he was very clear about the level of these movies, and he quickly chose the awards for other movies on the ballot... but when it came to the final grand prize stage...

"Sure enough, none of them compare to *Kikujiro*!"

Rinshi Maruyama could only say this in a low voice while struggling... Even if the last batch of entries hadn't been reported yet, he was very sure that there was no movie more outstanding than *Kikujiro* this year!

Until he waited until he got off work, Rinshi Maruyama still struggled on the ballot for a long time, always feeling unable to violate his heart to choose other movies...

After the others in the editorial office had all left, a flash of inspiration hit his brain:

"Right, if everyone doesn't vote for this movie... then even if I vote, it won't affect the final result!!!"

Having figured this out, Rinshi Maruyama suddenly felt relaxed.

Rinshi Maruyama looked around with a guilty conscience, and after seeing no one, he gave his vote to *Kikujiro* on the ballot and wrote down the most authentic review...

"This movie uses the most relaxed comedy, the most novel shooting technique, and the most warm story to let people know that comedy can be shot like this!"

"In this way, even if this movie doesn't win an award, I won't feel uneasy!"

Rinshi Maruyama didn't feel at all that he had broken the unwritten rule at this time... After all, there were so many other judges; as long as they didn't vote for *Kikujiro*, there would definitely be no problem!

Hmm! Absolutely no problem!

Those judges definitely won't vote for *Kikujiro*!

They definitely won't vote for this movie!!! Right?

Right?! ===== CHAPTER 749 =====