Early morning, Tokyo.
The sun rose, casting its light across the city.
As Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi stepped out of the airport, they immediately sensed that something was off.
A large crowd of fans—of Su Yan, Shen Liqian, and Gu Qingyuan—had somehow gotten wind of their arrival and were now crowding the airport exit.
The two of them were surrounded.
"Mr. Su Yan! Can I get your autograph?"
"Mr. Su Yan, take a picture with me!"
"Ahhh!!!"
"Look this way!"
"Su Yan-sensei!"
Back in Hudu, Su Yan's daily life followed a quiet three-point routine. He usually wore a mask when going out and rarely encountered fan mobs like this.
But Tokyo was different.
Many households here regularly watch dramas from the mainland. Of course, like the Hong Kong region in Su Yan's past life, they also had their own local, distinct entertainment industry.
Still, Su Yan was a massively popular actor and screenwriter. News of his upcoming Tokyo shoot had already been reported. Naturally, some particularly resourceful fans figured out which flight he was on.
It took a great deal of effort to get through the sea of enthusiastic fans. Finally, Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi boarded the pre-arranged private car.
"That was terrifying!" Su Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Sorry you had to see that..." Shinozaki Ikumi said, a little embarrassed.
After all, Tokyo was her hometown. Though they were here for filming, to her, it felt more like returning home.
"This has nothing to do with you." Su Yan took a deep breath.
"But with fans this passionate, will we run into problems during on-location shooting?"
"Definitely not. I've made sure the security arrangements are solid," Shinozaki Ikumi said quickly.
Su Yan turned his gaze to the car window.
Just like in the Tokyo he'd seen on the news in his previous life, this Tokyo wasn't full of towering skyscrapers. The people walking the streets wore styles typical of the Sakura Island region. The only major difference was that the street signs were all written in the Xia language. Sakura Island language, here, was considered more of a local dialect.
"'The Garden of Words' will be hitting theaters in less than two weeks. In the next few days, you and Gu Qingyuan need to assist with its promotions here in Tokyo," Shinozaki Ikumi said. "Sakura Island is the third-largest economic zone in Xia Nation outside the Hudu and Imperial Capital regions, and the consumer level here is quite high. Since 'The Garden of Words' is set in Sakura Island, if it doesn't perform well at the box office here, it definitely won't do well in the mainland."
"Understood," Su Yan nodded after a moment.
"And if we're aiming for an October premiere, filming for 'Tokyo Love Story' has to start immediately," Shinozaki Ikumi added seriously.
'The Garden of Words' was Su Yan's first venture into film. If the box office exploded, that would be great. If it didn't, that was fine too. There were plenty of TV industry figures who had flopped in film. It wouldn't affect his career too much. Even if it tanked, his company could absorb the loss—chalk it up as a lesson learned to lay the foundation for his second film.
But 'Tokyo Love Story' was Su Yan's first drama after the massive hit 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'.
Naturally, the attention and pressure it would face were on a whole different level.
If 'Tokyo Love Story' underperformed, the consequences would be serious.
That was why Shinozaki Ikumi valued 'Tokyo Love Story' even more than 'The Garden of Words'. That's also why she had urgently brought Su Yan and the team to Tokyo before the movie had even premiered.
The earlier the crew started filming, the better the end product would be.
The car continued toward their scheduled destination, and on the way, Shinozaki Ikumi kept discussing their Tokyo plans with Su Yan.
Tokyo had plenty of film companies, talent, and rental services for equipment. Logistics were no problem—some things were even cheaper than in Hudu.
As for housing, Shinozaki Ikumi had already asked her mother, Shinozaki Aki, to arrange accommodations for the entire crew. Since Su Yan was the screenwriter, lead actor, and company chairman, his living conditions were naturally excellent.
For Shen Liqian, Gu Qingyuan, and Shinozaki Ikumi herself, the arrangements weren't quite as luxurious, but still comfortably above standard. No one had anything to complain about.
After all, they were here to work—not to vacation.
The shooting locations for 'Tokyo Love Story' were already in contract negotiations.
At the same time, filming for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was also proceeding in parallel.
For 'Madoka', many key scenes had to be shot first, so they could later be enhanced with VFX.
Though 'Tokyo Love Story' was the current production priority, the 'Madoka' schedule couldn't be delayed.
Just arriving in Tokyo, Shinozaki Ikumi immediately switched into full work mode.
Everything remained perfectly organized.
After checking into their accommodations, Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi split up.
The early prep work for both dramas was left to Ikumi, while Su Yan—who had barely set down his luggage—headed off with Gu Qingyuan and the PR team to meet fans at a planned event.
Two days passed quickly.
Even though Su Yan had left Hudu, news of his activities in Tokyo was quickly relayed back to the mainland via the media.
It was now late July, and more than a dozen films had premiered during the summer season.
Of these, 'Gun Grave', which had been in theaters for over two weeks, had earned a total of 473 million yuan. While its opening weekend box office had exceeded 200 million, the two-week number showed just how much momentum it had lost—definitely an underwhelming result.
The fantasy film 'Firefly' had premiered a week later. It currently had 476 million yuan in box office—better than expected, but it too was clearly running out of steam.
The third big-budget film of the season, the comedy 'High-Energy Girlfriend', completely flopped. On day one, it pulled in 82 million, but that very night, fans gave it a scathing rating of 4.1.
The plot was exaggerated, the acting over-the-top. Though the effects were well made...
A strong production couldn't make up for a garbage script and actors who had no idea what they were doing.
A total trainwreck.
Xia Nation audiences weren't about to cut 'High-Energy Girlfriend' any slack. Sure, the director and lead actors had past glory, but that was in the past.
You serve up this cringefest masquerading as a comedy? The audience will let the box office do the talking.
Day two, Saturday: only 19 million.
Sunday: a miserable 15 million, since major theaters shifted screen time to 'Firefly' and 'Gun Grave' due to poor reviews.
Monday: only 9 million.
A 190 million yuan production, with tens of millions spent on marketing... pulling in just 116 million in its first three days?
The first major disaster of the summer season.
It was now certain the movie would never recoup its cost from ticket sales. They'd have to pray that selling international or online streaming rights could cut the losses.
With that, the structure of the July movie season was finally clear.
Among the three big-budget films:
'Firefly' was expected to top out around 700 million yuan.
'Gun Grave' would likely land around 600 million.
'High-Energy Girlfriend' would be lucky to break 300 million.
As for the rest of the mid- and low-budget films, none had become a breakout hit. The best-performing one was the romance film 'I Heard You'. With a 56 million yuan budget, its total box office probably wouldn't exceed 250 million.
Such was the state of the Xia Nation film market.
The media continued to report, but moviegoers were unimpressed.
They took to online forums to vent:
["This is it for the summer movie season?"]
["We're already halfway through and still nothing impressive."]
["Last year had a billion-yuan hit—this year? Nothing."]
["Aren't 'Under the Aurora' and 'Assassination' coming in August? Maybe don't give up hope yet."]
["Not buying it. Sure, those two have budgets—150 Million and 130 Million—but the female lead in the first one, Gao Yuting, is infamous for killing box office runs. And the director of the second hasn't made a good film in years."]
["Xia Nation's film industry is done for."]
["Whatever. Let the investors waste their money. I just saved 19 yuan and can buy snacks instead."]
["19? Where I live, a ticket's over 30."]
["Mine's close to 40."]
["Jealous."]
["Aren't six films premiering next week on the 31st? Might be worth checking out."]
["If the high-budget ones are already failing, you really expect those 20–40 million productions to succeed?"]
["Budget doesn't equal quality. Low-budget films can be great too."]
["Finding a gem in these small films is like panning for gold in sewage. I'm not holding my breath."]
["Isn't there that really popular screenwriter named Su Yan? I keep seeing trailers for his movie 'The Garden of Words' on streaming platforms. The art style looks nice, and the lead actors are eye candy."]
["I don't watch TV dramas. My girlfriend, though—she's obsessed with Su Yan's shows. Cries every time. I don't get it."]
["Watch his shows and you'll understand why she cries."]
["I barely have time for games, let alone chasing dramas. The most I'll do is tag along to the theater."]
["I'm a Su Yan fan. I won't promise his film will break box office records, but I can promise it's not trash."]
["Su Yan's name means quality."]
["Support 'The Garden of Words'!"]
["I'm bored anyway. If 'The Garden of Words' gets at least a 7.5 rating from early viewers, I'll go see it. So far, 'Firefly' holds the highest rating of 8.7."]
["I heard Su Yan's works are all tearjerkers? Emotionally brutal stuff? I gotta see this for myself."]