Aoko: Has the World Gone Crazy, or Has Grandpa?

Moreover, Western musical films such as Frozen, Frozen 2, Beauty and the Beast, and Bohemian Rhapsody have all been huge hits in Japan.

Frozen held the top spot at the Japan box office for 16 consecutive weeks during its release, while Bohemian Rhapsody was the highest-grossing film in Japan in 2018.

Even "Cats" (not Stage play, but a live-action CG film), which was hailed as the "greatest disaster musical in history" in North America, topped the box office in Japan.

Even the Emperor himself enthusiastically recommended this "unparalleled masterpiece of rubbish".

"Tsk, now I know where those awful things from the Tokyo Olympics came from."

Shinji, who was also working as an extra on set, muttered under his breath while pretending to eat "Fried Chicken."

"Olympic Games?"

Sitting next to his grandson Matou Zouken looked nostalgic. "You mean the 1964 Olympics? That was truly a rare spectacle. The name Ultraman even rode on the coattails of the Olympics' popularity."

"..."

Shinji couldn't bear to tell his grandfather that the Olympics he was talking about wasn't the past, but the future.

"Times are changing, but aesthetic standards are declining."

Shinji uttered this remark.

"Aloha~Aloha~Aloha~"

"Wau I a oe~"

On stage, the uncles and aunts from the Showa era finally finished singing the last line of the song.

"Good!"

"Marvelous!!"

"Aunt Minami Yuko is the best!!"

When the song ended, everyone raised their glasses and cheered enthusiastically!

In particular, the three Heisei-era human characters stood up and clapped enthusiastically to cheer them on.

Thank you everyone!

The uncles and aunts, their faces beaming, bowed to the audience in gratitude.

"Cut!"

Amidst enthusiastic applause, Shinji picked up the megaphone and shouted, "Stop! That's a good take!"

Then, Shinji let out a long breath and raised the megaphone again, shouting, "Thank you all for your hard work. It is because of everyone's efforts that we have reached the end of this journey. Now, I declare the filming of <Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers> finished!"

The cheers grew louder; Cú Chulainn and his buddies had somehow produced Simple firecrackers for the party.

"Etc..."

Before Shinji could even issue a warning, Cú Chulainn and the others exchanged smiles and set off firecrackers at Shinji.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

"Depend on!"

Shinji, his face covered in shredded paper, cursed and grabbed a plate of Mapo Tofu from the table, throwing it at the messenger.

"You bunch of brats, are you looking for death?"

"Master, judging by our age, we're old enough to be your ancestors."

Cú Chulainn caught the flying "Mapo Tofu" with a grin and even shook it to show off.

This made the surrounding jeers even louder.

A slightly tipsy feeling from the atmosphere, Cú Chulainn laughed loudly and said, "Master, you wait. I'll return the favor with a real Mapo Tofu later."

Then, the overconfident Big Doggy was chopped up by the cook.

Don't waste food!

Red A slammed the Projection frying pan hard onto the Doggy's head.

As a result, poor Wang Jiang died before he could even get a single bite of food.

Just as everyone on set was making a fuss, the chefs, who had been hired by Shinji to work in the bar's kitchen for a long time, brought up countless delicious dishes and buckets of beer like a flowing stream.

Those beautifully presented but inedible foods were replaced one by one with mouthwatering delicacies.

"That's more like it!"

Artoria held six or seven skewers of meat in one hand and half Roast chicken in the other.

While wolfing down his food, the Lady King of Knights couldn't help but complain to his Master.

"Those things were only for show, not for eating. They couldn't possibly act out the feeling of actually eating delicious food."

Hearing this, Shinji put down his drink and shook his head slightly. "This shows that your Acting Skills are still lacking. When you can make a delicious expression even when faced with spoiled food, then your Acting Skills will be up to par."

Artoria looked at her as if she'd seen a ghost. "What kind of cruel punishment is this?"

Shinji said with a slightly serious tone, "No, this is called an actor's self-cultivation."

Artoria pouted. "Could it be that the Director deliberately gave that actor a hard time?"

"It's simply because the production crew was poor," Shinji replied, shrugging. "Because there wasn't a budget to replace the props, the chicken legs were already spoiled when we filmed the scene of the actor eating them the next day. But the actor still managed to portray it as if he were enjoying a delicious meal."

Shinji was referring to something that happened on the set of the TV series "Ji Gong". Despite You Benchang's superb Acting Skills, no one in the audience noticed that there was something wrong with the chicken leg.

In fact, similar things often happened in old film crews in mainland China. Due to cost considerations, food props would be used even if they were already spoiled, and the filming would continue despite the smell.

In comparison, it's already quite remarkable that those popular actors can withstand the smell without vomiting.

Therefore, Shinji has always looked down on those popular actors who use promotional articles to talk about how hard they work in acting.

Even though these are promotional articles, the difficulties mentioned above are nothing to veteran actors.

Not to mention the propaganda methods, which usually exaggerate what happens tenfold.

What's wrong with memorizing lines? Even after the TV series ended, Hawthorne (Humphrey) could still recite his lines perfectly.

What happened to the injury? Tom Cruise broke his leg but insisted on finishing the entire film before stopping to check his wound.

"So it's not a good thing for actors to be too pampered," Shinji concluded. "They're all spoiled."

"I'm not delicate," Artoria said, dissatisfied.

Shinji nodded slightly. "You're not delicate, it's just that your Acting Skills are lacking."

"Master!"

Artoria glared at Shinji with displeasure, then said softly, with a hint of guilt, "Actually, I've already made a lot of progress."

"I agree." Shinji. "You're getting cuter and cuter when you eat, Lili."

"What kind of ridiculous name is that?!"

If it weren't for the fear of wasting food, Artoria would definitely have drawn her sword and made Shinji remember with his body that the mighty King Arthur cannot be teased!

Shinji curled his lips into a wicked smile, finding it most amusing to tease a serious girl like Artoria.

[It's a pity, it would have been better if we could have gone further.]

Shinji glanced at Sakura, who was staring at him, out of the corner of his eye, feeling somewhat helpless.

When trying to woo a girl, the worst thing is for someone to sabotage you, and his good sister Matou Sakura, is best at doing just that.

If you can't even pull off a cool act, how are you going to pick up girls?

"Ahem, Master..."

Seeing that Shinji hadn't said anything, Artoria, thinking she had angered him, put down her food and coughed lightly twice.

"What's up?"

Artoria said shyly in a low voice, "Please... even if you're angry, don't use spoiled food to hone my Acting Skills."

"Oh wow~"

Shinji dragged out the tone.

"I was just saying," Artoria muttered, shrinking back slightly. "Master, you can pretend you didn't hear anything."

Shinji swirled his glass and said, "Of course not, that would be a waste of food."

"That's good..."

Before Artoria could even breathe a sigh of relief, Shinji added, "But if Archer Projection spoiled food, then it's not considered a waste of food. Don't you think so, Artoria?"

"Master... you really are the biggest villain in the world!"

Artoria deliberately lowered her voice, afraid of being overheard, but this only made her voice sound a little coquettish.

"Hmm~"

Shinji let out a smug nasal sound, feeling quite satisfied with having unlocked another Strategy CG.

[Master wouldn't really be planning to do that, would he?]

Artoria's side is thrown into chaos due to a food crisis.

As for whether Red A can be Projection, that's no longer within Artoria's consideration.

Chapter 138 Aoko: Has the world gone mad, or has Grandpa gone mad?

After teasing Artoria, Shinji walked triumphantly to the table of elders and toasted each of them.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I really don't drink alcohol, so I'll have a soft drink instead."

"Shinji, at your age, you shouldn't even be allowed to drink, right?"

Zouken glared at Shinji and gave him a reminder.

Despite Japan's explicit prohibition against drinking alcohol before the age of twenty, this regulation is poorly enforced. Apart from relatively reputable establishments, most places basically don't enforce it.

Of course, drinking in private is one thing, but knowingly doing it in public is quite another.

Especially in this crowded and conspicuous setting, if Shinji were to actually drink, it would be in the newspapers tomorrow.

"Grandpa, don't be so serious." Shinji smiled ingratiatingly, "I haven't been drinking, you know~"

"You little brat, you're asking for it."

Seeing Zouken raise his cane, Shinji quickly ducked to the side.

Grandpa Kurobe Susumu, sitting beside the Zouken, chuckled, "Haha, you're just as rebellious as your grandfather was in his youth."

Shinji immediately became interested and leaned closer. "Grandpa Yoshimoto (Kurobe Susumu's real name), was my grandfather as mischievous as me when he was young?"

[You know you're a bear?]

These words made the elders roll their eyes.

Kurobe Susumu chuckled mischievously, "He was so arrogant back then. He always talked with his neck tilted back; I was afraid he'd break it."

Matou Zouken banged on the table and retorted, "Yoshimoto Takashi! When did I do such a thing? Don't talk nonsense!"

"No one? Then who accidentally stepped into a mud puddle on set?"

Matou Zouken blushed slightly. "Eiji is such a wicked fellow, he deliberately set a trap to cause trouble."

"Haha! So you admit it."

Kurobe Susumu, completely losing his composure.

He and Matou Zouken were old acquaintances, and they joked around with each other without any reservations.

When they were filming Ultraman, Zouken often came to the set to see Tsuburaya Eiji, and over time he became quite familiar with several of the actors.

After laughing for a while, Kurobe Susumu a sip of his drink and sighed, "Ah~ so many years have passed, time really flies."

Matou Zouken nodded in agreement. "Yes, back then, Eiji and I were imagining what the future would be like, and then he was gone in the blink of an eye."

"Director Tsuburaya is truly disappointed. How wonderful it would be if he could see this success today."

Shinji grinned, unconvinced by what Old Master Kurobe Susumu said.

If Tsuburaya Eiji were alive today, he would be driven to his death by those unworthy descendants.