Cao Zhiqiang put all his effort into organizing this cocktail party. Although the main purpose was to show his strength to Taro Okada and his wife, it was more than that.
In fact, in addition to showing strength and increasing the social scope, this cocktail party also had many unexpected surprises.
For example, Cao Zhiqiang found a perfect candidate for the male protagonist in "Tokyo Love Story".
In fact, the TV series "Tokyo Love Story" is currently only in the preparatory stage. Except for the heroine Akina Nakamori, which was originally decided to be the heroine, the other actors have not yet been decided. They must go through a formal screening interview.
For example, there were indeed several candidates for the male lead of this drama at the beginning, but none of them were decided.
Originally, Nagayama Kozo hoped that Cao Zhiqiang would play the leading role. After all, the movie "Love in the Rain" in which Cao Zhiqiang plays the leading role is currently being broadcast in Japan. If Cao Zhiqiang is willing to play the leading role in the drama, he will definitely bring traffic.
And it should be no problem to star opposite Akina Nakamori.
But Cao Zhiqiang still firmly refused. The original solution was simple, but he didn't have time.
Just like Cao Zhiqiang said, he will return to China for a while and it is impossible to film in Japan all day.
Then, Nagayama Kozo fell in love with an actor at that time, and that was Nanjo Yutaka, the male protagonist who played Hayami Daisuke in "The Volleyball Club".
Nagayama Kozo chose him because Nanjo Yutaka is very popular now, and he is a good person and can play musical instruments. He thought he was quite suitable for the male lead.
Cao Zhiqiang had no impression of this person. He just heard that he played the leading role in "Volleyball Players", so he agreed.
"Volleyball Players" had been introduced to China at this time and caused a sensation in the country, so Cao Zhiqiang was still somewhat impressed by the male protagonist.
By the way, "Blood Doubt", which caused a sensation among Chinese people in Cao Zhiqiang's memory, and "Carl the Police Dog", which Cao Zhiqiang's father talked about in his previous life, have not been introduced into the country at this time, and most people in the country are not aware of them yet. Two TV series.
So far, there are only two Japanese TV series introduced to the country, namely "Zi Sanshiro" introduced in 1981, and "Volleyball Girls" introduced this year in 1983.
Among them, "Volleyball Girls" is more popular. Among young people, the name Xiaolu Junko is not unfamiliar.
Therefore, Cao Zhiqiang has reason to believe that the reason why Nagayama Kozo chose Nanjo Yutaka was probably because he wanted to introduce "Tokyo Love Story" to domestic broadcasts in the future.
In fact, at the beginning of the reception, Taro Okada, the director of Fuji TV's TV drama production bureau and one of the directors of Fuji TV Group's board of directors, had discussed the export of Japanese dramas with Cao Zhiqiang.
It was this conversation that made Cao Zhiqiang understand that the senior executives of large Japanese companies had basically no knowledge of the internal situation in China.
For example, Director Taro Okada, he has no idea that the current introduction of domestic TV series is not only decided by the TV station, but must be reviewed by the relevant national departments.
Therefore, Cao Zhiqiang’s recommendation does not necessarily mean someone will be selected.
However, given Cao Zhiqiang's status and conditions, it is not impossible to recommend good Japanese dramas to the country.
For example, he can recommend "Blood Doubt" to the country in advance and let the country broadcast the drama in advance.
Cao Zhiqiang can even recommend the popular "101 Proposals" to the country.
Anyway, Cao Zhiqiang is very familiar with several leaders of CCTV and the Ministry of Culture, so it shouldn't be difficult to do this.
After all, it’s friendship that comes and goes.
In short, with this idea in mind, Cao Zhiqiang agreed to Nagayama Kozo's proposal and decided to let Yutaka Nanjo come to interview the male lead. In fact, it was just a formality. If there were no major problems, he was basically cast.
But at this cocktail party, Cao Zhiqiang changed his mind instantly after seeing the young Miura Yuka with his own eyes.
Damn, what is a flower boy? This is a flower boy!
Miura Tomokazu is at the peak of his appearance and has a reserved personality, so he is a natural candidate for Nagao Kanji.
As for Yutaka Nanjo, he can play a supporting role, that is, the playboy Kenichi Mikami, and that won't hinder him either.
What's even more coincidental is that when Cao Zhiqiang talked about this matter with Miura Yuka, he was not only very interested, but also said that he was very familiar with Yutaka Nanjo. They were all good friends and had collaborated before.
In addition, Miura Yuka and Yoshinaga Sayuri have also collaborated.
Previously, Miura Tomokazu, Yoshinaga Sayuri and Takakura Ken had acted together in the movie "The Straits", and the response was pretty good.
Cao Zhiqiang was surprised just by convincing Miura Yuka to play the leading role. What surprised Cao Zhiqiang even more was that after Cao Zhiqiang briefly talked about the general content of "Tokyo Love Story", Miura Yuka actually pulled Utsui Ken over.
Takeru Utsui is the guy who plays Oshima Shigeru in "Blood Doubt". He is the king of TV dramas in this era and is known as Japan's good father.
The appeal of this guy's TV series is much stronger than that of Miura Tomokazu, at least in Japan.
Miura Yuka means that Utsui Takeru will play the hero's boss, and he is also the person with whom the heroine Akana Rika once had an affair, and Minister Kasaki.
Utsui Ken was a little confused when he was attracted by Miura Tomokazu at first, but after hearing that Cao Zhiqiang is the music prodigy "Qingquan in the Forest" who has suddenly emerged recently, and is also the director, screenwriter and director of the recently popular movie "Love in the Rain" The male protagonist is the screenwriter of the recently equally popular TV series "101 Proposals" and the famous writer "Kudo Yusaku", and he was immediately moved.
Yes, in Japan, there are many people who can become popular as soon as they debut, but there are really not many people who can be popular all the time and make people helpless every time.
After Cao Zhiqiang debuted in Japan as the singer "Forest in the Green Spring", his first song became popular in Japan. It is still in the top five of the Oricon weekly chart, and the cumulative sales have exceeded three million.
That's all. The key is that every time a song released by Cao Zhiqiang became a hit, it would be on the Oricon charts every time.
So far, the top ten of Japan's Oricon Music Weekly Chart have all been filled by Cao Zhiqiang's songs, achieving a real chart domination event.
It has never happened before that the top ten songs of the Oricon Chart were dominated by songs by the same person, so it has been in the news before. Therefore, even a middle-aged man like Utsui Takeru has heard about it.
But relatively speaking, the name Kudo Yusaku moved Utsui Ken even more.
The reason is that Chieko Abe, wife of Ken Utsui, not only likes the songs of Morinaka Aizumi, but also particularly likes the songs of "Yusaku Kudo".
In particular, "Norwegian Wood" and "Snow Country" written by Yusaku Kudo are Chieko Abe's favorites to watch recently.
A long time ago, Utsui Ken was somewhat curious about "Forest Green Spring" and "Kudo Yusaku", because according to legend, these two people are the same person.
It's just that he is usually busy with work and has to take care of his sick wife after work, so he doesn't have time to inquire about people. Now he finally met him and confirmed that the rumors were true. The two people were really the same person.
Yes, Utsui Takeru's wife is sick now, and she has leukemia.
This time, Utsui Ken's wife also came, but she didn't know that "Qingquan in the Forest" and "Yusaku Kudo" were also here.
In fact, according to Utsui Ken's story, he originally didn't want to come.
But he brought his wife here after he heard that there were top-quality tuna sashimi, top-quality sea cucumber sashimi, salmon sashimi, etc., and that they were self-catered and all free of charge.
Utsui Ken’s wife, Chieko Abe, likes to eat sashimi, especially salmon and tuna.
But since she got leukemia, she has paid a lot more attention to her diet.
This attention is not only due to the disease itself, but also to economic factors.
Because in this era, treating leukemia is very expensive. If you want to survive for a long time, you have to spend money everywhere.
Generally speaking, the main treatment for leukemia at this time is chemotherapy. However, chemotherapy drugs are very expensive, and even Utsui Takeru can't afford them.
Therefore, Chieko Abe usually eats very ordinary and cheap things, and usually does not eat expensive seafood sashimi.
This time, I had the opportunity to taste top-quality sashimi for free, and the promoter, Nagayama Kozo, promised that it was just for everyone to meet and get to know each other, not to form cliques, and not to force anything, so of course Utsui Ken wanted to bring his wife.
Unexpectedly, I met my wife’s idol here.
In short, after realizing that Cao Zhiqiang was "Qingquan in the Forest" and "Kudo Yusaku", Utsui Ken quickly took Cao Zhiqiang and others to meet his wife.
After hearing that Cao Zhiqiang was "Qingquan in the Forest" and "Kudo Yusaku", Chieko Abe was very excited. Not only did she happily take a photo with Cao Zhiqiang, she also asked for his autograph, just like a little fan girl.
It’s just that this little fangirl is a bit old, and she’s already qualified to be Cao Zhiqiang’s mother.
In fact, "Qingquan in the Forest" and "Yusaku Kudo" are the same person, and the situation here quickly spread, attracting many female celebrities, vying to take photos with Cao Zhiqiang and ask for autographs.
Of course there are people who really like it, and there are also people who are just joining in the fun.
Although there were not many singers at this reception, mainly actors and directors, Cao Zhiqiang's drama writing ability is also good.
Whether it is the movie "Love in the Rain" that is still being released or the currently popular "101 Proposals", the scripts are all written by Cao Zhiqiang, and so are all the music.
Everyone is not stupid. We all know that for a good movie or TV series, the script comes first, the characters come second, and the music comes third.
Cao Zhiqiang has the ability to write good scripts and music, which is a huge advantage.
Moreover, Cao Zhiqiang seems to be familiar with many senior executives.
For example, the senior executives of Warner and Toho, the senior executives of Fuji Television, and the descendant of a wealthy family, Kozo Nagayama, all have a good relationship with Cao Zhiqiang.
Especially after everyone Nagayama Kozo accidentally said that Cao Zhiqiang was responsible for all the supplies at this private reception, everyone's view of him became even more unusual.
If you have talent, money and a backer, these are really good resources.
It can be said that, except for old people like Akira Kurosawa who like to drink, eat and chat alone, basically young actors and directors are vying to get to know Cao Zhiqiang and Nagayama Kozo.
In this way, it was just a simple drinking party, and the cast list of the new drama "Tokyo Love Story" was quickly assembled.
For example, the male lead is basically confirmed to be Miura Tomokazu, and the supporting actor is Nanjo Yutaka Utsui Ken.
The heroine is still Akina Nakamori, and the supporting actresses are Sayuri Yoshinaga, Yuko Furukawa, and Atsuko Asano.
Among them, the reason why Akina Nakamori was cast as the heroine again was because Sayuri Yoshinaga took the initiative to give in.
Because Sayuri Yoshinaga feels that based on her age and temperament, she is more suitable to play the role of Satomi Sekiguchi, the childhood sweetheart of the male protagonist Nagao Kanji.
As for the lively and out-of-the-box Akana Rika, it would be more appropriate for the younger Akina Nakamori to play the role.
But in fact, Sayuri Yoshinaga was all an excuse.
The reason why she gave in was because she found that the scene was full of big names, and Cao Zhiqiang had many strong backers, so she didn't want to cause public outrage, so she settled for the next best thing and hoped to play the second female lead.
However, what Sayuri Yoshinaga said does make sense.
Judging from Yoshinaga Sayuri's current temperament, she is indeed more suitable to play the gentle female lead Satomi Sekiguchi.
In particular, the heroine Akana Rika had an affair with her older boss before falling in love with the male protagonist. This is also an unpleasant point at this time and may not be accepted by many people.
Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, Yoshinaga Sayuri gave up the heroine and let Nakamori Akina continue to be the female lead.
Miura Tomokazu didn't care, but he also felt that it might be more suitable to star opposite the young Akina Nakamori.
After all, this is a scene about a woman chasing a man. If the woman is older than the man, it would look a little weird.
The character of Akina Nakamori as a rebellious girl has been played out for a long time, so it is perfect for her to play the role of Akana Rika.
To be honest, Miura Yuka originally wanted to recommend his wife Yamaguchi Momoe, and Yamaguchi Momoe was actually here.
It's just that Yamaguchi Momoe is a little shy in private and doesn't like socializing, so she didn't come over to say hello at first.
Also, after Momoe Yamaguchi retired from acting, although she did not completely quit the entertainment industry, she basically started to lose her temper and no longer wanted to be busy working all day.
Therefore, even if Miura Yuka wanted her to act, Yamaguchi Momoe was not interested in acting.
What's more, Akina Nakamori seems to have a close relationship with Cao Zhiqiang, and they look like they're having an affair.
That is to say, Miura Yuka didn't see it at first, but Yamaguchi Momoe, as a woman, could see it at a glance.
So Momoe Yamaguchi doesn’t want to act anymore, after all, it’s something that offends people.
Didn’t you see that even Sayuri Yoshinaga backed down and gave up the role of the heroine, and can she be a green leaf for Akina Nakamori?
If Yamaguchi Momoe hadn't been able to see such an obvious situation, she wouldn't have become a legend.
Yes, perhaps as Taro Okada said at the beginning, in the Japanese entertainment industry, talent and beauty alone are not enough to get ahead. The key is to be a good person.
If you don't know how to behave, no matter how popular you are, it will only be temporary.
The most typical case is Midori Kinouchi, who plays the heroine in "Carl".
When Midori Kinouchi debuted in the mid-1970s, he was a hit.
At that time, Yamaguchi Momoe was also at her peak, and her acting, singing and works far surpassed Midori Kinouchi.
But in terms of popularity, Yamaguchi Momoe is still beaten by Kinouchi Midori.
At that time, Midori Kinouchi would be snapped up by people just by shooting a few covers. A casual smile would be enough to make people heartbroken.
It's a pity that Midori Kinouchi doesn't know how to behave and is too willful. When she was at the peak of her popularity, she fell in love with a scumbag who was not yet divorced. After being discovered, she ran away to the United States without even saying hello, and was eventually abandoned by the entertainment industry. .
On the contrary, Yamaguchi Momoe is humble and polite, and ultimately achieves a good harvest in career and love.
It can be seen from this that being a person before doing things is indeed a portrayal of the Japanese entertainment industry at this time.
If you don't know how to be a human being, no matter how beautiful or talented you are, you are just a passing meteor that will disappear soon.
