Tsuburaya, You're in for It

Kazuo Tsuburaya, the eldest son of Tsuburaya Kou, the grandson of Tsuburaya Eiji, and the former president of Tsuburaya Productions.

The other person's status in the Japan entertainment industry isn't particularly high, but they're still considered a minor figure.

But at that moment, Kazuo Tsuburaya held Shinji's hand tightly and refused to let go.

"Brother Shinji, please help your older brother. I'm begging you."

"Brother... brother."

Shinji's lips twitched uncontrollably. "You fatso, do you have any shame?"

Tsuburaya was born in 1961 and is now over 40 years old, while Shinji himself is not even 20.

Given the age difference between the two, Shinji might be a little hesitant to call the person opposite him "grandpa," but calling him "uncle" would definitely be appropriate.

As a result, Kazuo Tsuburaya insisted on calling Shinji "brother".

Actually, it's not impossible to calculate it that way. Shinji's father Matou Zouken, and Tsuburaya Eiji were close friends.

The two gentlemen had worked together in Tokyo and had a very close relationship.

Uncle Kariya was able to rise to prominence, going from an extra to Lead Actor in Tokusatsu, precisely because of this friendship.

Back then, Kariya couldn't make it in the acting world, which infuriated Old Master Zouken.

How could the esteemed second young master of the Matou Family be relegated to a mere extra?

But no matter how angry he was, he was still his son, so the old man had no choice but to swallow his pride and beg Kazuo Tsuburaya for help.

Initially, the Matou Family was asking the Tsuburaya family for help, but now the situation is completely reversed; it's the Tsuburaya family asking the Matou Family for help.

Because Tsuburaya Productions is going bankrupt again.

Hmm... why did I say "again"?

Shinji sighed helplessly.

Although there's no news from within the industry right now, what else could it be that would make Kazuo Tsuburaya so humble and plead with him?

"Tsuburaya..."

Shinji opened his mouth, but found he didn't know how to address the other person.

Calling me by my surname sounds too formal;

Let's call each other by name; we're not that close yet.

Call him "uncle," since he's already calling you "brother," there's no need for you to lower your own seniority.

He could call me "brother," but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Kazuo Tsuburaya may be shameless, but Shinji still has some sense of shame.

"Former president of Tsuburaya Productions, what brings you here?"

Shinji ultimately chose a rather awkward title.

"Brother Shinji, I hope that for the sake of our grandfathers' friendship, you can lend me a hand and help Tsuburaya Productions overcome this crisis."

"What happened at Tsuburaya Productions?"

Although he knew perfectly well how badly Tsuburaya Productions was in its mess, since they hadn't made it public yet, Shinji could only pretend he knew nothing.

Kazuo Tsuburaya said awkwardly, "It's like this, Tsuburaya Productions has been having some minor issues lately, there's been a slight fluctuation in the shareholding distribution, and I need your help, brother."

[I don't believe you for a second, you fat bastard, you're really bad.]

Shinji suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

If it were truly just a minor fluctuation as Kazuo Tsuburaya described, would it be worth him humbling himself to beg me like this?

"Former president of Tsuburaya Productions..."

"Oh, Shinji. Calling me that makes it too formal. Just call me Brother Ichifu."

"Hehe."

Shinji, narrowing his eyes as he stared at Kazuo Tsuburaya.

Kazuo Tsuburaya felt extremely uncomfortable under Shinji's gaze, his face filled with embarrassment.

"Ahem, Shinji- kun. It really wasn't anything else..." Kazuo Tsuburaya's words were filled with unease. "It's just that Hideaki got tricked and had to borrow money..."

Despite feeling embarrassed, Kazuo Tsuburaya still explained the relevant information to Shinji and starts for the sake of his company.

Tsuburaya Productions' operations have not been very good in the past two years. After taking office, new president Hidemitsu Tsuburaya ambitiously launched Plan N in order to change this situation.

This thing sounds mysterious, but it's actually just cross-platform collaboration.

Tsuburaya Productions designed a completely new worldview, and then wrote different stories based on this worldview, namely Nexus in the TV series, Next in the movie, and Noah in the Stage play.

Tsuburaya Productions' original plan was to encourage viewers who watched one Ultraman to become interested in the other two, and then watch those two, thereby expanding the influence of the Ultraman IP.

The idea was wonderful, but reality was harsh.

Both the TV series and the movie were huge flops, failing to meet Tsuburaya Productions' expectations in terms of impact.

Tsuburaya Productions was already facing severe cash flow problems. The failure of Plan N, while not exactly a death sentence for the company, was certainly a death sentence.

It can be said that Hidemitsu Tsuburaya Plan N not only failed to save Tsuburaya Productions, but instead added another handful of soil to its grave.

To make matters worse, due to years of poor management, the bank is no longer willing to provide loans to Tsuburaya Productions.

Under such dire circumstances, Tsuburaya Productions had no choice but to borrow from Grand Duke, using company shares as collateral to obtain funds to keep the company running.

This amount of money wasn't much, only tens of millions of yen, but Tsuburaya had mortgaged 45% of its shares.

That wasn't the end of it. After obtaining the loan and collateral, the Grand Duke also acquired a total of 80% of Tsuburaya's shares through various means.

Then the other party just laid their cards on the table and stopped pretending.

Go directly to the current president Hidemitsu Tsuburaya, and ask him to hand over all the remaining shares.

Now Hidemitsu Tsuburaya was truly panicked. At a loss, he could only turn to Kazuo Tsuburaya and ask his cousin for help to get through this difficult time.

"Yingming is really muddle-headed! He didn't even notice such an obvious trap! And he foolishly mortgaged the company's shares!"

Kazuo Tsuburaya stomped his feet in anger and loudly berated his cousin.

"..."

Shinji, however, did not echo this sentiment. Instead, he calmly took a sip of his juice, adopting an attitude of watching a monkey show.

Although Kazuo Tsuburaya didn't explain in great detail and deliberately omitted many details, Shinji was able to guess that the "Grand Duke" was TYO, and even guessed how Tsuburaya fell into the trap with great accuracy.

The person who proposed borrowing money from TYO was Tsuneuyuki Morishima, a senior executive at Tsuburaya Productions.

That's nothing, but Tsuneuyuki Morishima's younger brother is a lawyer, and also TYO's legal advisor.

To put it bluntly, this guy is a mole.

Shinji was so certain because after Tsuburaya Productions was acquired, Tsuneuyuki Morishima was directly appointed as the company president by TYO.

What happened next is a well-known story: the Tsuburaya family was completely purged from Tsuburaya Productions, and the only connection between the two sides was their names.

Tsuneuyuki Morishima went even further, kicking out all the long-time employees who were loyal to the Tsuburaya family, resulting in a large brain drain from Tsuburaya Productions.

This is a typical example of a petty person who, once in power, commits countless evil deeds.

This guy was so unpopular that he made a mess of Tsuburaya Productions, and even TYO couldn't stand it anymore.

I hired you to manage the company, and you've driven everyone away! What the hell?!

So, after only one year as president, Tsuneuyuki Morishima was ousted by TYO, and Ooka Shinichi, another veteran of Tsuburaya Productions, took over as president.

As for the Brother Company we are familiar with, Brother Company has never actually acquired Tsuburaya Productions.

They simply bought a 49% stake in Tsuburaya Productions after TYO acquired it, in order to ensure they could monopolize the copyrights for Ultraman- related merchandise.

Of course, it's not fair to say that Conglomerate B bears no responsibility at all. Who would believe that Brother Company with a 49% stake would have little say in the reborn Tsuburaya Productions?!

As for why Shinji was watching a monkey show...

In the original world of the Second Master, the person who accepted Tsuneuyuki Morishima's suggestion to borrow money from TYO was Kazuo Tsuburaya.

It's a kind of indirect way of me criticizing myself.

The only thing that intrigued Shinji was why TYO had acted two years earlier than planned.

Could it be that my butterfly-like nature caused some kind of change?

Kazuo Tsuburaya cursed for a while, but seeing that Shinji had no reaction, he could only awkwardly stop talking.

"Brother Shinji, do you think you can help with this?"

Kazuo Tsuburaya nervously rubbed his hands together.

"Just lend me a little money to get through this difficult time. It doesn't have to be much, just 200 million yen will do."

"200 million...!"

Shinji rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

Kazuo Tsuburaya said anxiously, "If you, Shinji, are willing to help me, I'm willing to mortgage the shares currently held by the Tsuburaya family. I promise that once we get through this crisis, I will repay you in full."

[Who just said that Hidemitsu Tsuburaya was foolish for pledging his shares?]

Shinji curled his lip. He felt that if it weren't for the fact that Old Master Eiji's coffin lid was nailed shut, he would definitely have crawled out and strangled these unfilial descendants.

"Former president of Tsuburaya Productions, I need to think about this," Shinji said with an awkward smile. "Asking me to come up with such a large sum of money all at once..."

"That's true, I was being presumptuous."

Kazuo Tsuburaya nodded with an awkward smile.

"Then I'll be going now."

Perhaps realizing that Shinji had no chance, Kazuo Tsuburaya took his leave.

"Hey, Shinji."

After Kazuo Tsuburaya left, Kariya couldn't wait to ask, "Are you really not going to help the Tsuburaya family? They helped our Matou Family a lot back then."

Kariya knew very well that 200 million yen was a lot for others, but Shinji had already received dividends from FSN and Fate/Zero, could definitely afford it.

Shinji shook his head. "This isn't about 200 million yen."

It's only 200 million yen, Shinji can certainly afford that.

Moreover, as a veteran tokusatsu fan, Shinji was happy to contribute money to help Tsuburaya Productions overcome its difficulties.

But the question is, can Tsuburaya's current problems be solved with 200 million yen?!

The cash flow disruption and lack of funds are just the surface issues; Tsuburaya's real problem lies in the company's overall management and operations.

If no fundamental changes are made to the entire company, then even if Tsuburaya Productions has ample funds, it will eventually be ruined.

"Giving money alone is like adding fuel to the fire. Even if I gave 2 billion yen, it wouldn't be enough to get Tsuburaya Productions back on its feet," Shinji said with absolute certainty.

Kariya asked curiously, "So what are you going to do?"

Childhood debts are hard to repay!

Shinji looked up at the moon in the sky, his face filled with melancholy.

Why is it that other people's childhood obsession with staying home involves buying model toys or something, but for his Second Master it's about buying up the entire company that caters to childhood obsessions?

Chapter 95 Tsuburaya, you're doomed!

The day after the party, Shinji resumed his nine-to-five work on the film set.

However, Shinji did not let the matter of Tsuburaya Productions pass. With the intention of purchasing Tsuburaya Productions, he asked his Little Secretary, Ophelia, to collect as much detailed information about the Tsuburaya Productions as possible in order to understand just how bad Tsuburaya's current situation was.

Shinji is not one to act impulsively; he prefers to plan ahead and would never foolishly get involved in the power struggle between Tsuburaya and TYO.

Ophelia's investigation would take time, Shinji quickly put the matter out of his mind and began to focus on the production of the TV series.

After finishing a period of studio shooting, Shinji took the crew out to Location Shoot on the street in order to save the props team time in rearranging the set.

Neither UBW nor HF had many Location Shoot scenes in Fuyuki City, and they weren't particularly difficult.

Because the Fuyuki City was very cooperative with Shinji's filming, they not only proactively helped close off streets to facilitate filming, but also prepared a considerable tax refund for the crew.

The fan event that Shinji organized last time attracted a large number of visitors from other places to Fuyuki City, which greatly stimulated local consumption in Fuyuki City.

The Fuyuki City government was delighted to see this and began to try to support Type-Moon Company, hoping to turn Fuyuki City into Japan's Cannes.

Without the film festival, Cannes would just be an obscure, third-rate tourist town in France.