Nagayama Kozo's sincerity was so obvious and he was so enthusiastic that it would be unreasonable for Cao Zhiqiang to disagree.
However, to be cautious, the two parties first hand-written an internal agreement, and after signing and sealing each other, Nobuo Tomioka was also asked to be a witness.
In Japan, such a handwritten agreement that is formally signed and sealed by both parties, and has a third party as a witness, is also legally binding, and there is no fear of default by the other party.
In fact, this internal agreement is not complicated. It mainly states that during the filming of the TV series, Cao Zhiqiang has the right to unilaterally end the filming for any reason without any punishment.
An internal agreement like this is similar to a liability exemption agreement, and also a bit like the subsequent seven-day no-reason return and exchange policy.
The purpose of writing this is naturally to threaten Nagayama Kozo. After all, he cannot write down the content of his private discussions with Nagayama Kozo in the agreement. It is something that can be done but cannot be said.
But this kind of content that ends filming without reason and without any punishment is reasonable and can have legal effect.
With this, Cao Zhiqiang undoubtedly has the greatest control. As long as Nagayama Kozo wants to make this movie successfully, he must please Cao Zhiqiang in every way.
He is willing to sign such an unequal agreement, which shows that Nagayama Kozo really cares about this drama and this opportunity.
What was even more unexpected was that after signing the agreement, Nagayama Kozo seemed to be relieved, and he bowed and thanked Cao Zhiqiang in various ways, which made him feel a little embarrassed.
Next, it seems that because of this agreement, Nagayama Kozo consciously became a partner with Cao Zhiqiang, and he thought that he and Cao Zhiqiang were both young people, so the conversation started.
According to Nagayama Kozo, he is really dissatisfied with Fuji TV's TV drama production center.
No, he is very dissatisfied not only with Fuji TV, but also with the TV series produced by all TV stations in Japan.
According to Nagayama Kozo, today's Japanese TV dramas are still similar to those in the 1970s. They are still dominated by period dramas about samurai fighting, police dramas about solving suspenseful cases, and old-school family dramas about the love between children.
You can’t say anything bad about these TV series. After all, these TV series are loved by many middle-aged housewives and middle-aged men, but they are too conservative and old-fashioned, ignoring the changes of the times and the needs of young people.
The decade from the 1970s to the 1980s was one of the most dramatic times of change in Japan, especially the rise of trendy young people.
Young people of this period, such as young people like Nagayama Kozo, actually prefer things that follow fashion, and do not like to watch those old-fashioned period dramas and suspense dramas as a whole.
In other words, in this era, major TV stations in Japan are too conservative and do not pay attention to the young market.
For example, young people's love, hatred and hatred are not paid much attention by TV stations, so there are very few TV series that focus on young people's perspective.
In addition, romantic dramas are also very old-fashioned, with the same hero saving the beauty over and over again. There are few innovations, and he has long been unable to stand it.
Nagayama Kozo has long wanted to film a love story between modern urban men and women, but so far, he only has this concept and idea in his mind, but he has not been able to find a good script.
He originally wanted to write the script himself, but after writing several scripts he was not satisfied and finally gave up.
After seeing this script by Cao Zhiqiang, he immediately decided that this is what he wanted and this is what he wanted to shoot.
Because of this, he decisively made up his mind to take over the filming of this drama, even at the risk of being criticized by his boss.
For this reason, he was even prepared to resign after filming this drama because his boss made things difficult for him.
After all, he stole the script from his boss midway, which is theoretically illegal.
However, Nagayama Kozo firmly believes that only he can understand the greatness of this script, and only he can film this script well. As for his boss, I am afraid he will look down on this kind of urban love drama.
According to Nagayama Kozo, although the male and female protagonists of this drama are not young, for example, the male is in his early forties and the female is thirty years old, the entire storyline and character settings are very young. human taste.
In addition, this drama also addresses many of the current social problems faced by young people, that is, it is difficult to get married and find a partner.
Because everyone is usually very busy with work, they rarely have the opportunity to make friends of the opposite sex. Although blind date is a way, in fact, most young people’s blind date experience is not very good.
For this reason, Nagayama Kozo believes that "101 Proposals" written by Cao Zhiqiang not only hits the pain points of contemporary Japanese urban youth, but also gives them a beautiful fantasy and hope, which is very healing.
However, in terms of age, Nagayama Kozo feels that he is a bit older.
It’s not that a forty-year-old man is not good with a thirty-year-old woman, but in this way, young people may have relatively little sense of empathy.
The most important thing is that if Cao Zhiqiang insisted on letting Nakamori Akina be the heroine, it would be inappropriate to be thirty years old.
Because Akina Nakamori is too young, she is only eighteen years old this year, and her face is covered with collagen, which is the best time to be young and invincible.
Although the use of makeup and clothing can lengthen her age and make her appear slightly older, the gap cannot be too large.
Therefore, if we insist on using Nakamori Akina as the heroine, Nagayama Kozo believes that it is more appropriate to define the heroine as twenty-eight years old.
A twenty-eight-year-old woman is the period when women are most elegant and beautiful, and it is also the period when women feel the most anxious.
And if it is set at this age and Nakamori Akina is allowed to play it, it won't be a big problem.
As for the male lead, Nagayama Kozo thinks that being in his early forties is actually not suitable.
After men reach the age of forty, they tend to stabilize and find it difficult to be passionate again.
It is best to be thirty-nine when you are about to reach forty. This is the most anxious period for men.
A thirty-nine-year-old ordinary man suddenly bursts out of passion when he meets a woman he likes. This is more reasonable and impactful.
On the contrary, if you are over forty, not only young people will not like it, but also middle-aged people will think it is too unstable.
Cao Zhiqiang felt that these suggestions made sense and would not affect the main plot, so he agreed to them all.
Indeed, the original "101 Proposals" was a TV series launched in 1991.
In Japan in 1991, it happened to be the end of the "yen appreciation depression", which was also the so-called economic bubble bursting event.
This incident caused serious social turmoil. As a result, Japan in the early 1990s was completely different from the Heisei boom period in the early 1980s.
But in 1983, although Japan's social phenomena, especially the unemployment rate among young people, had begun to rise, overall the war was not serious, and the anxiety among young people was naturally not as severe as it was in the early 1990s.
As for the marital status of young people, although the fertility rate and marriage rate of young people in Japan were not very good in 1983, they are generally stable.
In other words, in general, the anxiety of Japanese young people during this period is not serious. On the contrary, they have a high desire to consume and are more interested in trendy things.
"101 Proposals" focuses on young people's love, and the poor boy from the bottom catches up with Bai Fumei through sincerity and enthusiasm. These are all themes that young people like, and they are also the life in these young people's fantasy.
In short, young Japanese people in the early 1980s, as the overall economy took off, felt that they were capable of anything and had no problem doing anything. They were the most awesome group of people. This period was also the most awesome period in Japan. Boom time.
"Neon Can Say No" appeared at the end of this period, which shows what Japanese young people were thinking during this period.
This is a bit like the Chinese people in 2023, who are also confident and arrogant, and look down on any other country except their own country, including the United States, the number one country in the world.
Generally speaking, young Japanese people in this period look down on other countries that are stronger than themselves, such as the United States, but are more tolerant of countries that are worse than themselves, such as our country.
But this kind of tolerance is a kind of superior tolerance, not the kind of tolerance that later generations will simply lie down until they can no longer catch up.
Cao Zhiqiang will not comment on this mentality, but if his TV series wants to be popular, it must be liked by young people.
As Nagayama Kozo said, the main audience of "101 Proposals" is actually young people between the ages of 18 and 40.
In this case, it is necessary to make adjustments in details and adjust it to the age group that most resonates with young people.
Therefore, although in Cao Zhiqiang's view, changing that age does not matter, Nagayama Kozo attaches great importance to this point and believes that age is very important, which directly determines the rationality of the character and the audience's acceptance.
No matter what, Nagayama Kozo was a professional after all, and Cao Zhiqiang didn't want to argue with him, so he agreed.
Next, there is the casting of specific actors.
Among them, the most important thing is the male and female protagonists, but when the female protagonist has been pre-determined, it is actually the male protagonist.
Originally, Nagayama Kozo wanted to find Atsumi Kiyo to play the leading role, but Cao Zhiqiang quickly shook his head when he heard this.
Cao Zhiqiang also knows Atsumi Kiyoshi, because he is Torajiro in "The Story of Torajiro". He is not only a household name in Japan, but also famous in the world.
For example, Cao Zhiqiang, a person born in the 1990s, also knows Atsumi Qing.
In terms of the image of Atsumi Kiyoshi, he is actually very suitable for the role of Hoshino Tatsuro. As for the problem that he is already in his fifties, it is not a problem. After all, men have a wide age span. It is impossible for a man in his fifties to play a thirty-nine-year-old. question.
The real problem lies in the fixed image of Torajiro, or Atsumi Kiyoshi.
As the saying goes, Torajiro succeeds and Torajiro fails.
Since Atsumi Kiyoshi appeared in "The Pain of Man", also known as "The Story of Torajiro", because his performance was so successful, everyone thought that Atsumi Kiyo was Torajiro, and this impression began to solidify.
Later, Atsumi Kiyoshi continued to shoot this series of movies, causing this solid impression to become more and more serious.
In other words, the reason why many movies and TV series now dare not hire Atsumi Kiyo to star is not because Atsumi Kiyo's acting skills are not good, but because his image has been fixed and severely solidified.
As long as Atsumi Kiyoshi appears, no matter what he plays, others will regard him as Torajiro.
Just like after Zhou Xingchi became famous for his comedies, even if he acted in a serious drama with a straight face, others would subconsciously laugh.
This is the disadvantage of an actor's solidified image, that is, he cannot take on other roles and interpret other images.
There are many actors whose images have been solidified by the public, but none of them have been as serious as Atsumi Kiyoshi.
Therefore, even if Atsumi Kiyo's image and acting skills are good, he must not be allowed to play the leading actor in "101 Proposals".
Seeing that Cao Zhiqiang did not agree, Nagayama Kozo proposed the names of two more actors, both of whom are relatively well-known comedy actors in Japan.
It's a pity that the two people he mentioned may have been really famous during this period, but Cao Zhiqiang sounded completely unimpressed.
It’s no wonder that in his previous life, Cao Zhiqiang was born in the 1990s, and he was from the tail end of the 1990s. The TV series that this group of people are exposed to are inherently different from those born in the 1980s and 1970s.
Especially Japanese dramas. Most of the Japanese dramas that Cao Zhiqiang came into contact with were from two thousand years later. Most of the famous Japanese dramas that were earlier were watched online after he went to college.
In other words, in fact, Cao Zhiqiang did not know much about the Japanese entertainment industry in the 1980s, and he naturally knew few Japanese stars.
We know Akina Nakamori and Kyoko Koizumi because they are so famous.
For example, Akina Nakamori was the most representative singer in the 1980s. Even two thousand years later, she still has many fans.
As for Koizumi Kyoko, Cao Zhiqiang first knew her because of the Japanese drama "Super Salaryman Zuo Jiangai".
In that drama, Koizumi Kyoko was the heroine Motoko Saoeuchi. Her character was very distinctive and her performance was quite good, so Cao Zhiqiang remembered her and searched for her real name.
But this was not enough, because not long after that, Cao Zhiqiang heard about a scandal about Koizumi Kyoko, saying that she publicly admitted to falling in love with a married man and publicly apologized to his family, but she did not intend to change herself and would continue If you like that man, you still need to know who you are.
Such a weird outlook and public apology surprised Cao Zhiqiang at the time, and only then did he remember the name of Kyoko Koizumi.
As for other Japanese female artists, except for various female teachers, such as Nagasawa Masami and Shinkan Yui, these people are basically not born now.
Of course, Cao Zhiqiang also knew a lot of women who were contemporaries of Koizumi Kyoko, such as Yamaguchi Momoe, Sawaguchi Yasuko, etc., but due to various reasons, he did not have the opportunity to contact these people, and they were not suitable for this drama.
In fact, what Cao Zhiqiang wants to find most is naturally the original male protagonist in "101 Proposals". Unfortunately, Cao Zhiqiang has watched that Japanese drama before and only knows the man, but does not know the other person's real name.
After thinking for a long time, Cao Zhiqiang suddenly remembered a Japanese drama. That Japanese drama seemed to have already existed, and the male protagonist in it was the male protagonist of "101 Proposals".
"By the way, I have a candidate!" Cao Zhiqiang suddenly said.
"Who?" Yongshan Kosan asked.
Cao Zhiqiang said: "I don't know his specific name, but I know the name of the leading actor in a TV series he played."
"Which TV series? What's the name?" Nagayama Kozo asked again.
"It seems, what is your name, Teacher Jinba." Cao Zhiqiang said.
"Kenpachi-sensei?" Nagayama Kozo frowned, "Which Kinpachi-sensei?"
"Well, I know his name is Teacher Jinba in there." Cao Zhiqiang said, "That TV series is called Teacher Jinba of the class. The male protagonist is called Jinba, and he is the head teacher of that class. Anyway, he is just enthusiastic. He is a very good teacher." Good teacher."
"I know." Tomioka Nobuo suddenly said, "Cao-san, you should be talking about Sakamoto Kinpachi in "3rd Year Team B Kinpachi Teacher", right?"
"Yes, yes, that's it!" Cao Zhiqiang nodded quickly.
Nobuo Tomioka smiled: "Then I know who it is."
Speaking of this, Tomioka Nobuo turned to look at Nagayama Kozo who was still confused: "The person Cao Sang mentioned is Takeda Tetsuya, who once acted in the movie "Happy Yellow Handkerchief", in which he played Hanada Kinya, I wonder if you have any impression?"
"Oh, it's him." Nagayama Kozo nodded, "I know, that's why I know."
"Are you sure it has to be him?" Yongshan Kozo turned to ask Cao Zhiqiang again.
Cao Zhiqiang shrugged: "That's not true. I just think his image as a teacher in it is okay. He's a little enthusiastic and a little funny. He's very suitable for playing the leading role. Of course, this is just my personal perception. It depends on you. Directed.”
"In that case..." Nagayama Kozo touched his chin, "Okay, you can get in touch with him first and try out the acting. As for whether he is suitable, we will decide after trying out the acting. How about that?"
With this last sentence, Yongshan Gengsan asked Cao Zhiqiang.
Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly: "You are the director. I will listen to you in this regard. It is better to try out the play first. This is safer!"
(End of chapter)
