Chapter 357
357 – [OVA] Action Actor Kim Yoo-Seong
Movie Release D-DAY
On this day, all film officials gathered at a bar in Shinjuku to check audience trends that change in real time.
Usually, Japanese theaters have a strong analog image because the infrastructure was built so long ago, but recently, reservations and mobile tickets through apps have become active, so the number of visitors counted across the country can be checked at any time.
And now, on the first day of release, at 6 p.M.-
The movie in which I played the first lead role, ‘Theatrical Version of Dual Rider ~The Dueler of the Meteor~’, had an opening score of over 100,000.
“It’s awesome!”
Mr. Yoshida, who directed this movie, shouted with a face full of emotion.
When I saw that, I, who was sipping beer next to me, asked with a puzzled expression.
“… Is it that big of a deal?”
Mr. Yoshida shouts with excitement at my question.
“Of course! A special effects film that only viewers can see has achieved this level of success right from the opening! It’s completely ridiculous!”
Then, Nao personally explained this to me, who was unfamiliar with the matter.
“Sir, you know that special effects are originally filmed to sell toys, right?”
“What is that… “
“So, the main demand group for special effects films is limited to children and special effects enthusiasts. Even if they do film, they do not expect to make a lot of profit from the beginning.”
However,
“This time, I think Internet marketing worked well, in a good way or in a bad way, and attracted a much larger audience than expected.”
“Internet marketing?”
“The production crew leaked the making film on purpose.”
“What? Is that okay?”
When I looked at the director with a surprised expression, he laughed and waved his hand.
“You don’t have to worry because I did it with permission from the higher-ups. I only leaked it to the extent that it doesn’t spoil the overall content.”
“By the way, I came up with this idea.”
Nao said that and drew a V with his finger.
“You?”
“In the original special effects genre, it is common to use suit actors to take advantage of the fact that the face is not visible when transformed. But in this movie, the senior did all the action, right? Taking that into account, let’s leak some of the fight scenes.”
“In the first place, Yoosung was too tall and bulky to use a suit actor, but thanks to professional martial arts training, it was nice to be able to capture more realistic fight scenes than the TV version.”
The director said that and gave a thumbs up.
I feel embarrassed when I receive praise openly in front of me.
“Anyway, it’s a good start, so let’s just keep going like this! If we do well, we might be able to hit 1 million!”
When the director shouted that and raised his beer glass in a toast, the staff sitting in the bar all raised their voices, “Oh!”.
“Then, a toast to the success of the work!!”
“”Cheers!””
***
It was late at night when the entire film team dinner ended.
“Wow-“
Perhaps because of drinking too much, Nao can’t control her body properly.
Originally, he should have gone home right away, but since Nao’s manager had already left work, he had no choice but to take a taxi.
“I’m not good at painting.”
I put Nao in the back seat and immediately called my mother-in-law.
[Hello?]
“Oh, yes, my mother-in-law. It’s me.”
[What happened suddenly? Kim Seo-bang.]
“Nao is very drunk. I think we will have to let her sleep at my house today. Is that okay?”
Then, a sound of laughter was heard from the other side of the receiver as if it were absurd.
[Do you allow a married couple of 6 years to do something like that?]
“Still, my mother-in-law gets worried if Nao doesn’t come home.”
Then, perhaps because she ran out of things to say, my mother-in-law suddenly became quiet.
It looks like something is stinging as expected.
“Well then, since I’m done watching, I’ll just head in. I’ll see you soon.”
[Uh, okay. Go in. Be sure to tell Nao to wash and sleep.]
From noble mtl dot come
“Yes.”
After the call ended, I put my phone in my pocket and the middle-aged taxi driver smiled and said.
“It seems like you have a good relationship with your mother-in-law.”
“Yes. Well, that’s right.”
“Maybe it’s because my mother-in-law is having a hard time, but I can’t talk to her on the phone in such a friendly manner. I’m so jealous.”
“Haha…”
I smiled awkwardly and looked away.
I wasn’t very close to my mother-in-law from the beginning.
I was just trying to become friends.
In particular, my mother-in-law would put up a wall when dealing with people she didn’t like, so it was quite awkward when we were newlyweds.
I looked at the rapidly flowing background and blurted out a word.
“But if you approach her sincerely, one day, your mother-in-law will open her heart. I’m sure.”
“I believe it even more because it is advice from an experienced person.”
After chatting about people’s lives, we soon arrived at our destination.
“We have arrived.”
While saying that, the taxi driver glanced back and said with a wry smile.
“I see that your wife has completely fainted, so you will have to carry her on your back.”
“I can’t help it.”
I shrugged my shoulders, unbuckled my seat belt, paid the fare, and got out of the taxi.
Then, he opened the back seat, carried Nao, who had already fallen asleep, on his back and entered the shared apartment.
***
Dang! Ding!
Tiririk!
When I pressed the keypad at the front door and entered the house, Rika, who was sitting in the living room watching TV, asked, “Huh? Are you here already?” And she welcomed me.
I laid Nao down on the bed in the guest room, who was carrying her on my back, and asked Rika, who was drinking beer, as she took off her disheveled jacket.
“What about rice?”
“It’s here.”
Saying that, what you proudly present is caramel popcorn.
“Are snacks rice?”
When I looked at him as if I was dumbfounded, Rika said with a smile, hehe.”
“Actually, I ate a salad. It’s just a snack.”
“What about other people?”
“I’m alone today. Isn’t it unusual for Nao to come to my house?”
“Originally I should have gone home, but I thought there would be paparazzi in front of me, so I just came to my house.”
“Good job.”
After saying that, Rika put down the popcorn container and went into the room, perhaps thinking of changing Nao’s clothes while she was sleeping.
I glanced at that figure out of the corner of my eye and was about to loosen my tie and take off my dress shirt when something suddenly occurred to me and I took out my phone again.
[11:50 PM]
In other words, it is midnight in 10 minutes.
I was so focused on drinking that I didn’t pay attention to it earlier, but I was curious about today’s final score, so I went straight to the movie app and looked up the total number of visitors.
And,
“… 150,000 people?”
When I saw the total number of visitors, which had increased by 50% compared to before, I unconsciously made a blank expression.
***
In conclusion, this movie was a huge hit.
Exceeded 1 million viewers within a week of release.
Due to the unusual number of visitors, promotional activities, which were thought to end as soon as the movie was released, were extended for two weeks.
As Nao said over drinks, special effects films are originally a limited market that only children or special effects enthusiasts can see.
Naturally, it is not easy to gain popularity, so the budget invested is quite small and there are almost no cruel scenes.
However, this time, because it was a spin-off series that had nothing to do with the main story, and because the main character was a special agent doing secret work for the government, the atmosphere and reality were slightly darker than usual, and it became a huge hit as word of mouth spread.
In reality, no matter how cool the main character’s suit is, it’s hard to look cool while wielding a toy.
However, the character I played, Ryusei Hojo, uses a gauntlet-shaped weapon, so I was able to apply my specialty, fighting skills, to the video, and I also filmed a lot of fight scenes in my bare body state, not in a transformed state, so I was able to capture the childish nature of special effects films. I was able to erase some of the feelings.
In general, Japanese movie theaters are dominated by animation.
To be precise, otakus who come to watch animations have no aversion to spending money on movies compared to the general public, but animations are optimized to increase the number of viewers by deliberately encouraging multiple viewings.
In such a situation, it was quite rare for a movie to be seen by both children and adults, and its name literally appeared in the news, making it a hot topic, literally making it so popular.
And in this situation, when various TikTok challenges started pouring in, information about me became known even in Korea, a neighboring country, and when the fact that I, a Korean-Japanese movie star, was the main character, a video with a provocative title that I felt like I had seen before came up somewhere. Articles poured out from internet portals and YouTube.
“Special feature films are now part of the Korean Wave?! Why Koreans are suddenly attracting attention in Japan, the home of special effects!”
“Even a famous Japanese actor fell in love with it at first sight! Let’s learn about Kim Yu-sung, a proud Korean actor!”
“Why did the Japanese Prime Minister suddenly admit cultural defeat? “Korean actors are of a really high standard.” ←What was actually said”
Naturally, as I became the subject of all these rumors, I had no choice but to hold my head in pain.
“… It’s going to spin.”
I never thought I would become the main character of fake news like this.
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