A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 2372 - 1592: Stage Play (The Cat Who Rolls Around Every Day to Get Fat)
For Arima Kaname and Hei Chuan Chi Yin, the upcoming days are busy.
With the great success of "Jintian," they each have taken on many engagements, busy with running around every day. Even Ruby, MEM, and Feng Bin Hexiang, after forming the idol group B Komachi, spend most of their time on training courses, while the rest is spent streaming online to build their popularity.
Everyone is busy yet fulfilled.
Except for Duanmu Huai.
"Ah, seeing you like this really pisses me off!"
Returning to the agency, Arima Kaname, exhausted like a dog, looked at Duanmu Huai lying leisurely on the sofa, swiping his tablet, and felt a bit off.
"Boss, is this really okay?! Someone here is just lazing around waiting to die!"
"What does it matter? I’ve already finished what I needed to do."
Duanmu Huai yawned and glanced at the exasperated Arima Kaname.
"Wasn’t it you guys who decided to be this busy? When you joined the agency, didn’t you all say you wanted to plan your schedule reasonably? If you’re too busy, you can refuse some work. After all, work is endless, but your health is what matters most."
"Aren’t you only fifteen? How come you talk like you’re fifty."
Arima Kaname, hands on her hips, looked at Duanmu Huai speechlessly.
"Isn’t it true though? I’ve been doing this for more than ten years now, and I’m fine, aren’t I?"
"No, this is totally a bad example..."
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s shameless response, Arima Kaname pressed her forehead speechlessly, while Hei Chuan Chi Yin also smiled wryly. Logically speaking, with the drama being such a hit now, everyone should be seizing the moment, catching this breeze to climb even higher. But Duanmu Huai, as the protagonist, was just taking it easy, either slacking off in class or at the agency every day. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The most he would do is act in one or two collaborative commercials, unlike Arima Kaname and Hei Chuan Chi Yin, who are constantly on the go.
Of course, according to Duanmu Huai, they’re so busy because they’re rivals and neither wants to fall behind. If Arima Kaname takes on a gig, then Hei Chuan Chi Yin has to take one too. If you have a magazine interview, then I’ll do a radio show.
But that’s how young people are. As long as it’s healthy competition, Duanmu Huai doesn’t worry too much. At least it’s much healthier than sabotaging each other behind the scenes. But for Duanmu Huai, if there’s time for competition, he’d rather spend it slacking off more.
"Speaking of which, there is a rather large project coming up."
While speaking, Saito Kyoko opened up her phone.
"Do you know Tokyo BLADE?"
"Yes, it’s a popular manga, and the animated movie is also a big hit."
Arima Kaname obviously wouldn’t miss out on this kind of information, and Hei Chuan Chi Yin nodded as well.
"I heard it’s quite popular lately."
"The production side has sent us an invitation, hoping the three of you could star in the stage play of ’Tokyo BLADE.’
"Ahaha, as expected."
Hearing this, Arima Kaname lifted her head proudly.
"After all, ’Jintian’ is the pinnacle of manga adaptations. To reach that level of live-action, my acting skills are definitely indispensable!"
Although Arima Kaname’s remark sounds a bit narcissistic, one can’t deny it’s true. The drama of ’Jintian’ is indeed regarded as the peak of manga adaptations, and as the female lead, Arima Kaname naturally played a significant role. Just as Duanmu Huai mentioned earlier, ’Jintian’ at its core is a female-led drama, and the male protagonist is just the most important supporting role.
So for ’Jintian’ to reach its current heights, Arima Kaname indeed deserves much of the credit. Saying her acting takes half the credit isn’t too far-fetched.
It’s just...
"You’re always like this, getting carried away over little things. Wasn’t it this attitude that made you a washed-up child star before? You really don’t learn your lesson."
Hei Chuan Chi Yin viciously taunted from the side, and Arima Kaname turned her head away.
"Oh dear, what’s that supporting role over there saying, I can’t hear anything at all..."
"By the way, isn’t the second season of ’Jintian’ supposed to air during New Year’s? Does work really need to be so rushed?"
Duanmu Huai seemed a bit reluctant. With the TV drama "Jintian" being such a success, it’s only natural that the subsequent series would be put on screen. The first season’s story only reached the point where the female lead finally opens up to the male lead, and the second season that follows is that famous plot where the male lead is actually terminally ill and ends up dying.
Since it needs to air during New Year, the crew plans to shoot the second-season episodes during the end-of-term break after the second semester, which would be in the fall.
Duanmu Huai initially wanted to take a good rest this summer, but now he’s faced with this darned stage play?
This kind of back-to-back work, Duanmu Huai really isn’t keen on.
"This is a job people can only dream of, don’t you want to act?"
"I’m really not too keen; for me, slacking off and wellness is more important... but stage plays..."
While muttering to himself, Duanmu Huai recalled the time when he and Lumiaire went to that future cyberpunk world, where he once performed a stage play with Kujikawa Rise, and now thinking back, he kind of misses it.
"Oh well, let me take a look at the script, anyway I’m free."
"Phew..."
Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s response, Hei Chuan Chi Yin, who had been watching him all along, secretly sighed in relief. Although Hei Chuan Chi Yin didn’t say anything, she, like Arima Kaname, hoped to perform "Tokyo BLADE" with Duanmu Huai. After all, stage plays are Hei Chuan Chi Yin’s area of expertise, and if she could collaborate with Duanmu Huai in her strong suit, maybe... she could understand him better?
But Hei Chuan Chi Yin is naturally introverted, unlike the outgoing Arima Kaname, so when Arima Kaname was persuading Duanmu Huai, all she could do was watch from the side.
There’s the look of a little girl wanting her dad to take her to the amusement park but feeling too shy to ask, so she just watches with longing.
"By the way, Ann, they’re really eager for you to join over there."
Saito Kyoko spoke to Duanmu Huai at this moment.
"Because there are a lot of battle scenes in ’Tokyo Blade,’ they hope you can do the action choreography."
"If they’re willing to pay me double, then I have no problem."
Duanmu Huai didn’t mind this. After all, when shooting a film, he was also earning both action director and actor fees.
’Tokyo Blade.’
A mainstream battle manga serialized in the weekly youth magazine, it tells the story of the Shinjuku group, where the protagonist is based, fighting with other factions. This time, the part to be performed is the ’Shibuya Struggle Chapter,’ where the Shinjuku group and the Shibuya group clash... Hmm, it sounds grand, but in Duanmu Huai’s view, it’s really just two gangs fighting over territory.
But then again, these Japanese mangas are all like this. Take ’Naruto’ for example; world domination this, world domination that is always mentioned, but when you count the people, they’re at most just at the scale of a village-level brawl.
Even though it’s just a few hundred people fighting for territory, writing it with an epic sense of tens of thousands of troops clashing and dominating the world—it’s quite talented.
Ultimately, it’s still just gangs fighting over territory.
In Duanmu Huai’s view, it’s simply the Shinjuku group arriving at the Shibuya group’s turf, having a black-on-black fight, with the Shinjuku group defeating the Shibuya group and seizing the territory. That’s all there is to it.
It’s just swapping out gangsters in black suits and sunglasses with guns for teenagers in ancient martial artist attire wielding swords.
As the action director, Duanmu Huai naturally had the authority to intervene in script creation, and at the first meeting, he promptly raised his question.
"Why is the White Ghost’s parts all cut out?"
The White Ghost Duanmu Huai mentioned is the hidden BOSS behind the Shibuya Struggle Chapter. The story of the Shibuya Struggle Chapter is pretty simple: the Shinjuku group arrived at the Shibuya group with the intention of friendly negotiation, but due to a series of misunderstandings and attacks, they eventually became enemies. After a key character was injured, the two sides began to fight.
And just when they were both exhausted from fighting, the White Ghost appeared. It turned out that all of this was the White Ghost’s plot. She deliberately incited the conflict between both sides, attempting to eliminate both the Shinjuku and Shibuya groups, allowing her White Ghost group to achieve victory.
The finale followed the cliché—upon discovering the real enemy, the Shinjuku and Shibuya groups set aside their grudges, rallied together shouting about friendship and bonds and confronted the White Ghost, defeating her and thwarting her ambitions and schemes.
In the manga, the White Ghost is a small-framed, white-haired red-eyed little loli. That’s the main reason Duanmu Huai asked; after reading the manga, he felt that this character was tailor-made for him. But in the script, this BOSS’s scenes were completely cut out, turning it into a simple gang turf war, right?
What puzzled Duanmu Huai more was why cut the White Ghost? You must know this character is not unpopular in the manga, ranking among the top three. Just cutting it like that?
"Well, we actually have no choice."
Facing Duanmu Huai’s inquiry, the scriptwriter, GOA teacher, smiled wryly.
"I also feel the story lacks depth after cutting the White Ghost, but we have our concerns."
"Concerns?"
"The White Ghost’s weapon... is hard to replicate for a stage play."
"Oh..."
Duanmu Huai flipped through the manga, immediately understanding GOA teacher’s point; the White Ghost’s weapon is a giant wolf fang club, matching the ’ghost’ theme. After all, in Japanese culture, ghosts commonly wield wolf fang clubs. Moreover, the White Ghost has one that’s two meters long, massive and hefty.
The first battle scene with the White Ghost was when she threw the wolf fang club down and sat on it.
In the manga, this scene is naturally stunning, with the small-framed loli holding a massive wolf fang club, the contrast is compelling.
But in reality... even if using lightweight materials for such a long weapon, an average person wouldn’t be able to swing it!
Not to mention the inertia, right?
Also, to capture that contrast between cute little loli and hard metal, you can’t use overly light and soft materials; using plastic would look obviously fake on stage, like a tiger losing its ferocity.
If it were TV filming, you could use CGI or post-rendering, but stage plays are live, leaving no choice but for GOA teacher to remove the character and drastically alter the storyline.
But for Duanmu Huai...
"I can play this character."
"Huh?"
"I’m saying, just make it as usual."
Duanmu Huai reached out and pointed to the manga where the loli sat on the wolf fang club.
"Make it like a regular weapon. I guarantee I can swing it."
"Are you sure?"
Duanmu Huai’s answer was quite surprising for GOA teacher.
"Even if using wood, considering the size and weight, it’s not something an average person can swing easily."
"Just make it."
Duanmu Huai decisively gave his answer.
"You’ll see if I can use it when the time comes."
