"Ms. Asagami was originally the daughter of a landowner, but even she couldn't escape the fate of losing her home amid the shelling. Her parents died in an attack by the American army, and her family was wiped out. The only one left to escort her on the run was the son of a samurai, just ten years old. Along the way, she encountered all kinds of people, was caught up in battles, and even forged a deep friendship with a Dahua Special Forces soldier... It was truly a dramatic life."
What Shuya cared more about was the frequently mentioned "Dahua Special Forces soldier."
He wasn't unfamiliar with them. Dramas from Great Hua Administrative District were shown in Japan Administrative District, and stories about these special forces soldiers were a very common genre.
Shuya had always wanted to complain about them, because he thought the genre was ridiculously cheesy.
In simple terms, they were the sort of over-the-top dramas where heroes tore Japanese soldiers apart with their bare hands.
Every Dahua Special Forces soldier was a martial arts master who could leap over rooftops and vault across walls, using qigong to become impervious to blades and bullets. The most powerful among them could even stop bullets with their bare bodies.
These masters were also excellent marksmen, so the plots usually went something like this:
A Dahua Special Forces soldier fired with his left hand and wielded a knife with his right. After blowing away his enemies with every shot, he tossed aside his gun and charged through a hail of bullets, swinging his broadsword and sending the enemy fleeing in every direction.
It was even more over-the-top than the usual war dramas.
What left Shuya even more dumbfounded was that everyone watched these shows with rapt attention. Nobody called them unrealistic.
Eventually, Shuya got used to it.
He hadn't watched them again, either.
If Aoki Shin hadn't brought it up today, Shuya wouldn't have remembered the genre at all.
While Shuya was thinking, Aoki Shin had already begun Mai's audition.
He handed Mai the script and asked her to perform two scenes on the spot.
The results were just satisfactory.
After all, she hadn't had time to prepare. The fact that she managed to capture seventy percent of the character already made her a genius.
Aoki Shin discussed it briefly with Horiuchi Susumu and the others, then made his decision on the spot.
"If Mai-chan's agency has no objections, then we've made our choice."
"No objections at all! Thank you so much, Producer Aoki, for giving my daughter this opportunity."
Mai's mother bowed again and again.
Aoki Shin didn't mind. He'd met plenty of people like her; they were the most common sort in the entertainment industry. He didn't like or dislike them. They were just ordinary.
Since Mai's mother was rather pretty, Aoki Shin was happy to chat with her a little longer.
He smiled. "You don't need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Shu-chan. Otherwise, we wouldn't have considered someone like Mai-chan, who's never acted before."
"Shuya, thank you."
Mai thanked Shuya politely, and her mother did the same.
"Don't mention it. It was nothing. If you didn't have the ability, you wouldn't have gotten the job. Uncle Aoki is a professional. He wouldn't hire you just to spare my feelings."
"Heh, you're too modest. How could I not spare your feelings?"
Aoki Shin said, the corners of his mouth lifting. It was clear Shuya's compliment had pleased him.
Then Aoki Shin turned to Shuya.
"Alright. We've settled on the actress for the heroine's childhood role. Now there's something else. Shu-chan, could you play the young samurai? To be honest, the role is fairly substantial, and the network is paying a lot of attention to it. Right now, you're the only candidate we have..."
Ikeda Ichinosuke
"Me? The character's ten years old. I don't think I'm right for it."
Shuya looked troubled. "You know I'm only five."
Aoki Shin waved a hand. "Don't compare modern heights to those of the past. Adults back then were only about a hundred and fifty centimeters tall. People nowadays mature faster, and you're taller than other kids your age. You're nearly a hundred and twenty centimeters now, aren't you? Playing a ten-year-old from back then shouldn't be a problem."
"And as for you being five... Hey, ask anyone here if they think you're five. Besides, by the time filming starts, you'll be six and a half. Your birthday's coming up soon, isn't it?"
"..."
You've thought this through down to the last detail. What am I supposed to say?
Shuya thought for a moment. "Could I see the script?"
"Of course."
Aoki Shin wasn't worried about the script leaking. He handed it to Shuya.
It wasn't the full script, just Shuya's parts, which appeared early in the story.
Shuya flipped through the pages and finished reading quickly.
He fell into thought.
He had a feeling this character could become popular—even wildly popular.
Ikeda Ichinosuke's ancestors had belonged to the samurai class for generations. Even after the samurai class vanished during the reforms, the family had continued to pass down its martial arts.
Ichinosuke had trained from childhood, and his extraordinary talent had already made him famous in the region. Even the young lady of the Asagami household, Asagami Miin, had secretly fallen for him.
Ikeda Ichinosuke had feelings for the young lady, too. Childhood friends, the pair were close, and Asagami Miin's father had even intended to marry his daughter to Ichinosuke to win the loyalty of his family.
But then the Americans invaded Hokkaido without warning. Asagami Miin and Ikeda Ichinosuke lost their homes and families, and the two of them were the only survivors.
Out of loyalty to his lord and love for Asagami Miin, Ikeda Ichinosuke swore to escort her safely to Tokyo.
They journeyed through hardship, fighting for their lives as their love deepened.
In the end, Ikeda Ichinosuke succeeded in getting Asagami Miin onto a plane bound for Tokyo.
But to ensure the plane could take off, he joined the Dahua Special Forces soldiers in charging at the American army. In the brutal battle, he killed the American commander.
And at the very end, he was buried forever in Hokkaido's snowy wastes...
It was melodramatic.
But audiences loved this kind of thing!
Besides, it was adapted from a true story, so you couldn't accuse the screenwriter of making it up.
Except that the final battle seemed a little exaggerated...?
A few hundred special forces soldiers and a ten-year-old kid had charged into battle and killed the commander.
Just how useless was the American army supposed to be?
That was taking things way too far.
But setting that aside, Ikeda Ichinosuke's character hit every cultural sweet spot for the people of Japan Administrative District.
Traditionally, the people of Japan Administrative District had always considered the spirit of loyalty to one's lord noble—though they also had a taste for overthrowing their superiors, lol.
They also believed that dying like a cherry blossom, at the most beautiful moment of its bloom, was pure, romantic, and tragic.
Ikeda Ichinosuke fit that cultural image perfectly.
Aoki Shin had a razor-sharp sense of what made a Morning Drama work.
Morning Dramas aired from eight to eight-fifteen in the morning. By then, most men were already at work or school, so it was usually housewives who watched television.
Sentimental women were the target audience.
This sort of melodrama was irresistible to them.
If they weren't hooked, it meant the leading man wasn't handsome enough.
It was the difference between marrying him on the spot and promising to repay him in the next life, even as a cow or a horse. (Laughs.)
That was why Aoki Shin and the executives at the network had specifically requested Inoue Shuya.
He was handsome and incredibly popular.
With a little makeup to hide his childish features, he'd make a top-tier young heartthrob.
Pair a heartthrob like him with Ikeda Ichinosuke's tragic story, and the impact would multiply several times over.
A nuclear weapon of a role.
Shuya admitted he was tempted.
Aoki Shin said, "Besides... next year is the year 2000, isn't it? The network is taking this turn-of-the-century Morning Drama very seriously. We're putting more resources into it than we have in the past ten years."
"...Since you've put it that way, Uncle Aoki, I'll agree—so you won't have to prostrate yourself."
Shuya finally nodded.
"Prostrate myself? Horiuchi, you really said that? That's supposed to be a secret weapon."
Aoki Shin gave a start, then looked at Horiuchi Susumu and teased him.
Horiuchi Susumu only shrugged.
Aoki Shin didn't take it to heart. "Then it's settled. We'll find a time to sign the contract. We'll contact you about filming once everything's officially confirmed, though it probably won't start right away."
"We'll also put out an announcement soon to build anticipation. Anyway, we're getting everything ready. The series is expected to air next April. It's only March now, so we still have plenty of time."
"So we just wait for now?" Shuya asked.
"More or less, but we have a few requests."
Aoki Shin nodded, then continued, "First, we hope you'll work on improving your acting while there's still time. Second, we hope you'll do some appropriate exercise so you can handle the demanding filming schedule."
Shuya and Mai were only playing the leads as children, so they wouldn't have to go through the same hardships as the actual heroine.
Playing the heroine of a Morning Drama was always exhausting.
Ordinary dramas aired one episode a week, while Morning Dramas aired six. Even though each episode was only fifteen minutes long, the filming workload was definitely heavier than that of an ordinary drama or movie.
The exhausting filming went without saying; there were also all those lines to memorize.
Once filming began, Mondays were set aside for rehearsing that week's scenes. From Tuesday to Friday, filming from nine until noon was routine.
There was hardly any time off on Saturdays and Sundays, either. They had to give interviews, appear on shows to promote the series, and so on... This grueling filming schedule would last at least six months, or even ten.
The media had said that by the end of filming a Morning Drama, the heroine was always on the verge of a breakdown—or had already broken down.
And the heroine was usually played by a newcomer, while all the supporting actors around her were famous senior performers, which made things even more terrifying.
Under that kind of pressure, a newcomer with little acting experience was bound to get chewed out by the director and screenwriter. It was basically hell.
It was only natural that actresses who made it through that kind of environment became famous.
If Shuya and Mai decided to take part, they had to be prepared. Even though they were children and wouldn't be treated quite so harshly, they probably wouldn't have it much easier.
Hanazawa Sakura was a little hesitant. Should she really let Shuya act in a Morning Drama? She knew it would do a lot for his future, but she couldn't bear the thought of him suffering...
Still, she decided to respect Shuya's choice.
Aoki Shin glanced at Shuya, remembered something, and added, "Oh, right, Shu-chan. Don't get your hair cut from now on. Ikeda Ichinosuke has long hair in the story. According to Asagami Miin's autobiography, he was a handsome young man with long hair."
"Oh, that's no problem."
Shuya readily agreed. His hair was already a little long, and Hanazawa Sakura had been planning to cut it for him.
Since Aoki Shin had said so, he'd leave it alone for now.
"Good! That's everything I wanted to say. We'll give you the full script before filming starts. Remember to work on your fitness and acting."
Aoki Shin gave them one final reminder.
Hanazawa Sakura and Mai's mother both nodded repeatedly. Mai's mother in particular was already thinking about which teacher to hire to train her daughter.
The Quintuplets' Deadly Question
Shuya and the others said goodbye to Aoki Shin and the rest, then left the television station.
"Well, I feel like a lot happened today."
Shuya scratched his head.
"Yeah..."
Mai was only six, and she felt tired, too.
Before you continue