Chapter 62: More Than One Movie? Making Money with Dignity!

Takarazuka Building.

Yamauchi was someone who felt slightly out of place at Toho.

He came from Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, a corporate group whose business spanned public transportation like subways and buses, alongside hotels, shopping malls, and various fundamental services essential to everyday life. In any capitalist country, those operating the most foundational industries were invariably major corporations—enterprises guaranteed to generate massive profits and backed by immense influence.

Toho was a prominent Japanese corporation, and Hankyu Hanshin was one of its major shareholders.

In recent years, however, the Japanese film market had been struggling. To put it bluntly, anyone who took the money intended for making movies and invested it in real estate would have made a fortune by now. Toho was losing money, and Yamauchi was determined to reverse that situation.

To achieve this, he had to accomplish one objective first:

Seize absolute authority!

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the intercom on his desk rang.

"Director Jissoji and Director Iwata have arrived."

"Very well."

Hanging up the receiver, Yamauchi stood and walked toward the conference room.

***

Inside the conference room at the Takarazuka Building, Jissoji felt a slight sense of unease.

For a renowned director of his stature, such anxiety was entirely out of character, yet he had a nagging suspicion that something unpleasant was about to happen. However, upon seeing Iwata Takeshi’s resolute expression, Jissoji couldn't help a silent sigh.

*I suppose I'm simply getting old,* he thought.

Iwata Takeshi was completely unaware that his usual expressionless demeanor had somehow given Jissoji a sense of profound reliability. In truth, he was simply calm because he had already anticipated whatever situation was about to unfold. In fact, he had even spoken with Shimatani over the phone prior to his arrival and clearly stated his own stance.

"Director Jissoji, Director Iwata, good afternoon."

Shimatani had arrived accompanied by several individuals and had not met with Jissoji and Iwata beforehand. This detail seemed to foreshadow the unusual nature of today's "meeting."

Iwata did not know Yamauchi, but a primal, beast-like instinct warned him that the man wearing gold-rimmed glasses was looking at him with a very peculiar gaze.

Before long, everyone took their seats.

Matsuoka Ippei, the president of Toho, took the main seat, flanked by Shimatani on one side and Yamauchi on the other.

"Director Jissoji, Director Iwata, please make yourselves comfortable. Today is not a formal meeting, merely a simple discussion."

The president wore a pleasant smile as he spoke, but his unnecessary reassurance only made the atmosphere feel all the more ominous.

Iwata merely nodded, maintaining an impassive expression.

Shimatani remained silent as the man with the gold-rimmed glasses stood up.

"Please allow me to introduce myself to the two directors. I am Tatsuya Yamauchi..."

So *he* was Yamauchi.

Iwata returned the greeting with customary politeness, as did Jissoji.

Yamauchi wasted no time and cut straight to the point.

"The film *Infernal*—it was *subarashii*!"

After offering this initial praise, the man behind the gold-rimmed glasses abruptly shifted his tone.

"I earnestly implore Director Iwata to direct a sequel to *Infernal*! I am begging you!"

As he spoke, Yamauchi bowed deeply.

Seeing this, Iwata thought: *Good grief, that is a textbook execution. His bowing technique has reached the absolute master level.*

A sequel? They wanted to shoot one right now?

Jissoji couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat for Iwata, realizing that today's "meeting" was undoubtedly arranged for this very purpose. The elderly, balding director cast a sideways glance at Iwata, only to discover that the fierce-looking younger man remained completely composed and radiating absolute confidence.

That brought a sense of relief.

***

Regarding the matter of a "sequel," Iwata had anticipated it long ago.

As everyone knew, Hong Kong film studios were fond of rushing out sequels. Take the *Infernal Affairs* trilogy, for instance: the first film was released in December 2002, and by December 2003, the third installment was already in theaters!

One couldn't exactly call that graceful; it was downright predatory.

And Japanese studios? They were no different.

*Battles Without Honor and Humanity*, *Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Deathmatch*, *Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War*—all three of these films were released in the single year of 1973!

Did it end there?

No, they filmed another three installments in 1974. The fourth one was titled *Summit Strategy*; fans of *One Piece* would probably understand why Akainu shared his face with Bunta Sugawara. Eventually, when the writers completely ran out of ideas, they simply slapped a new title on it: *New Battles Without Honor and Humanity*.

Then there was *Lady Snowblood*. Once that film became a hit, the approach was even more straightforward and brutal.

In the second film, Snowblood, who had clearly fallen and died in the snow at the end of the first, simply stood right back up and went back to hacking people to pieces with her sword.

That wasn't just predatory; it was extraordinarily, blatantly predatory!

When Huang Silang and Master Tang went about making money, they at least had the decency to do it under the guise of bandit suppression, returning the gentry's money while splitting the commoners' cash three-seventy.

These major Japanese corporations, however, couldn't even be bothered to put up a pretense.

"How rude!"

Matsuoka Ippei initially rebuked Yamauchi with a stern reprimand, then turned back to Iwata and Jissoji with a smile. "Please forgive the interruption, gentlemen. But surely we should strike while the iron is hot, shouldn't we? While this request may be a bit presumptuous, Director Iwata is exceptionally talented, so I'm sure it won't be a problem."

At this point, Matsuoka glanced briefly at Jissoji. "Director Jissoji’s work was also outstanding, and we will certainly continue our cooperation. Discovering Director Iwata is a tremendous achievement on your part, Teacher."

Even Shimatani felt a blush rising to his cheeks hearing those words.

However, Shimatani truly had no way to counter this push for an immediate sequel. As a progressive reformer himself, hadn't he been the one most in favor of striking while the iron was hot and pushing for rapid production and release?

*Infernal* had become a massive hit upon release, the New Year was just around the corner, and rushing to discuss a sequel now—what possible objection could there be?

Shimatani could find no argument against it, and this precisely formed the crux of Yamauchi's killer blow.

At that moment, Yamauchi was immensely pleased with himself.

Demanding an immediate sequel was standard industry practice, and Shimatani had no grounds to object. More importantly, there was a fatal trap in this:

Virtually all the major characters in *Infernal* had died!

Trying to pull off a sequel under such difficult conditions would be a disaster; even if Iwata managed to churn something out, could the quality possibly be guaranteed? Once the film inevitably bombed at the box office, Shimatani would lose all his momentum and would no longer be able to act so arrogantly!

Admittedly, this would cause some damage to Toho, but in the struggle for absolute power, collateral damage was a price worth paying.

What if the copyright for *Infernal* ultimately belonged to Iwata?

It didn't matter. There were ways around that.

Matsuoka immediately moved on to the crucial bargaining chip.

"Director Iwata, I'm sure you realize that the busiest awards season is only two months away. Rest assured, we will throw our full support behind you then."

Every year between February and March was the awards season for Japanese cinema—essentially a performance review for the previous year's films.

Merits were evaluated, and the trophies were distributed accordingly.

Iwata understood clearly that Toho had prepared a two-pronged strategy.

First: Teacher Jissoji.

If Iwata refused, the elderly, balding director would likely find his career in jeopardy.

Second: Film awards.

With the backing of a major studio like Toho, securing awards would be a straightforward matter. But if Iwata dared to say no...

Well, fortunately, it was all within his expectations.

Iwata had already made up his mind before coming here.

He was going to make his money with his dignity intact!

"Matsuoka-san, I understand your words completely, but I still have a question to ask."

Matsuoka nodded graciously, signaling him to proceed.

"Are we making movies purely to make money?"

***

As those words left his lips, the conference room fell instantly silent.

The meaning of the sentence was simple enough, but why did it sound so strange? Making a sequel *was* done for the sake of making money, after all.

Wouldn't simply agreeing solve the issue?

In truth, it wasn't that the people present failed to understand the words; rather, they could clearly hear that Iwata Takeshi had no intention of agreeing.

Yamauchi remained unshaken. He still had another card to play.

Earlier, Shimatani had persuaded the executives at Shochiku in advance. This time, Yamauchi had done the exact same thing.

Shochiku also hoped that Iwata would quickly produce a sequel so that their theater chains could profit as well. If Iwata refused, then during the upcoming awards season, both Toho and Shochiku would—well, *hehe*...

Just as Yamauchi prepared to play this trump card, Shimatani suddenly spoke up.

"Of course! Making movies is entirely for the purpose of making money!"

That declaration even caused Matsuoka to nod in agreement.

With a faint smile, Iwata continued, "I do indeed have plans for a sequel, but in my view, that sequel probably won't be as profitable as this film."

*What?!*

Every single person in the room wore a face full of question marks, including Jissoji.

Had Iwata cooked up yet another new movie?

Without showing any signs of haste, Iwata posed another question.

"Which scene in *Infernal* currently has the highest level of buzz and discussion?"

Which one?

Yamauchi was momentarily baffled. He hadn't even watched the movie.

Shimatani answered with a smile, "The scene at the end where Akane kills Daigo Todo!"

It was a brilliant answer, and even Matsuoka visibly relaxed. To be honest, seeing Iwata's smile earlier had made the aging president's heart skip a beat; it was simply too unsettling.

Iwata nodded in agreement, and at that moment, he produced a screenplay.

"I dare guarantee that this film will be far more profitable than a sequel to *Infernal*!"

The others exchanged confused glances as they looked at the title.

*Kill That Man*!

Was there actually a movie with a title like that?

Since Matsuoka didn't understand such matters, and Yamauchi understood even less, only Shimatani reached out to take the script.

However, after flipping through just a few pages, he froze, then whispered a few words into Matsuoka's ear.

Matsuoka’s eyes lit up. "*Subarashii*!"

Hearing this, Yamauchi sensed that something was terribly wrong and immediately snatched the script away to read it himself.

*So that’s how it is!*

Yamauchi instantly understood why this film would be profitable, and why Iwata had asked that specific question earlier.

However, he immediately spotted an opportunity for a counterattack.

"But if we're talking about this film, will Ms. Nakamori easily agree to star in it?"

And Iwata fired right back with a classic retort, "And if we're talking about shooting a sequel, will she easily agree to that?"

Hearing this, Yamauchi was left completely speechless!

At this point, smiles bloomed on the faces of both Shimatani and Jissoji; they both knew they had won.

However, Iwata stood up from his seat. "Aside from this film, I also plan to shoot another feature during the time we wait for Ms. Nakamori to make her decision."

In an instant, everyone in the conference room was stunned.

Though it was uncertain how long Nakamori Akana would take to reach a decision, if she agreed in less than a month, could Iwata actually pull off shooting an entire movie in that time?

Matsuoka stood up abruptly, walked over, and shook Iwata's hand firmly. "Then I leave it in your hands! Toho will give Director Iwata our absolute, unwavering support!"