Chapter 302: Welcome to Hinotori
"A blonde older sister?"
On the plane from Osaka to Tokyo, Takumi's face composed itself.
"Yes, she seemed to know my brother, but she left before your performance was over,"
Akina replied while eating. Takumi knew without thinking that the older sister was Alice; Alice had gone to see his performance but hadn't shown up. It seemed she wasn't ready to come back and help him.
Takumi felt a little regretful, but regrets were regrets. After returning to Tokyo, he quickly got to work.
The work in Japan is divided into two parts. One is the departmental integration and business adaptation of Tsuki Animation Company. Takumi has almost completed this part, but there is another. The franchised bookstores throughout Japan were originally partners of Manga Paradise. Although they signed a contract with Hinotori Publishing, Takumi still needs time to communicate with them and stabilize things.
Fortunately, Manga Paradise could do nothing to save the situation, and no one interfered with Takumi's work.
Time flew by, and in September, a guest arrived in Tokyo: Akari, the organizer of the Alliance of Older Sisters, had quit her job and arrived with high expectations.
"The president is still in a meeting. Miss, please wait here first." An employee accompanied her to the lounge, served her water, and asked, "Would you like to watch TV?"
Akari smiled indifferently. "As you wish."
She looked around. There were paintings of Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms on the wall, and some vases with very special floral arrangements on the table, which infused a sense of freshness.
"Japan and Osaka are really different..." Akari thought, and the employee had already turned on the LCD TV. And she watched it with her.
The TV was showing a preview of a variety show. The content surprised Akari a bit. The title at the bottom of the screen read, "Don't miss it, the interview with the new generation idol Akina, Tokyo TV1, see you tonight!"
Then several shots appeared, one of which showed the host asking Akina, "Miss Akina? You and Miss Masako both have the last name Natsukawa, are you sisters?" There was laughter, and then Akina replied, "No, but Miss Masako is like my sister."
There was also a shot of Akina singing. Everyone in the audience applauded her.
The show's preview ended soon, and Akari blinked, "Has Miss Akina become famous?"
"Yes..." The employee laughed and said, "After returning from Osaka last time, Miss Akina has had a lot of work. This month she has been performing in various places in Japan. She has become a big star... I saw her stutter during rehearsals, but I didn't expect her to become such a big deal now."
Although she was smiling, she had a lost look in her eyes, like a sister watching her sister grow more and more distant.
"Really?"
Akari thought. She remembered that Yuki, from Osaka, had also appeared frequently in the media and on various variety shows lately. This time, she saw that Akina, from Japan, was the same. Akari suspected that these two voice actresses must be from Hinotori Publishing, and that celebration was the stage for them to introduce themselves.
"Who is the Miss Masako they mention in the preview?"
she asked again.
"Masako Natsukawa. She, Miss Akina, and Miss Yuki are singers from Gundam SEED!" The employee was a little surprised that Akari didn't know. She said, "It turned out that Miss Masako is a singer. She has become very popular lately thanks to Gundam SEED. Now, in the news, she's associated with Miss Akina and Miss Yuki, and they are called the Gundam Diva together."
"I thought everyone knew!"
"No, I didn't know at all..." Akari shook her head and said, "This must be the term in Japan. I haven't heard it in Osaka, but... the name Gundam Diva sounds great. It will probably spread to the mainland soon... Ah! So that's it... I understand."
Akari's mind suddenly cleared. This Gundam Diva must be the spearhead created by Mirai-sensei. It turns out the celebration had that purpose. Akari only saw through Mirai-sensei's commercial experiment at that time, but she didn't realize there was a big maneuver behind the voice actress's performance...
"Mirai-sensei, this is a great move!"
She was a little impressed. Hinotori Publishing was obviously creating stars, but this action wasn't done very obviously. The common reader wouldn't notice at all, which made Hinotori Publishing's risk very low. Even without spending money, other media helped to make those voice actresses famous.
"By the way, are you part of the animation production for Gundam SEED?"
When thinking of voice actors, one naturally thinks of animation. Akari looked at the employee with bright eyes, "The pacing of these few episodes of Gundam SEED has become increasingly tense. Is it almost the climax? And can you give me a spoiler about whether Lacus is the heroine? She and Kira haven't had a relationship yet. Why did Kira send her back to Athrun? It's very worrying!"
This is Tsuki Animation Company, the base of Gundam SEED. Akari is a little restless. She was watching Gundam SEED. This magnificent idol drama, with its mix of love and hate, was undoubtedly a perfect fit for her. However, the emotional development of the characters, which was what worried her most, was a disaster. It confused people and she had no idea how it would develop.
"Are you also watching Gundam SEED?" The employee seemed very surprised. She shook her head and said, "But I'm not from the animation team. I also want to know the answer! I don't understand anything about the male and female protagonists' pairing... I think Kira and Cagalli are very likely, and Lacus is engaged to Athrun, and Frey and Kira slept together, but Frey and Sai are not clear..."
"No, we can't see it that way. The animation of the opening and closing songs shows that Kira is paired with Lacus, and Athrun is paired with Cagalli. This should be the correct pairing... But how did it happen? Is there some magical twist later?"
"I don't know. Mirai-sensei's animation really captures the essence of idol dramas. The relationship is too complex..."
"But it's still very good!"
The employee and Akari looked at each other and smiled bitterly at the same time. This type of animation with confusing relationships and tangled plots is a disaster for most women, especially for young girls in love and those who enjoy idol dramas. Gundam SEED is a rare delicacy.
"I'm tired of watching idol dramas with real actors, so it's good to watch animation." "
My brother watches it at home too. Gundam SEED is popular with both men and women!"
"Should boys like the battle scenes? It's different from what we feel..."
The two women turned off the TV and chatted without realizing it, getting happier and happier until they opened the reception room. They came to their senses.
"Hello, President..."
The employee ran to greet, turned, smiled at Akari, and left Takumi.
"Excuse me, I just had a meeting."
Takumi entered, left the documents on the table, and asked, "Did you wait long?"
"No, no." Akari shook her head and said with a smile, "Mirai-sensei, I have resigned and you will support me in the future..."
Takumi was stunned.
"Don't exaggerate." He smiled bitterly, then pulled up a chair and sat down, "Well, let's start with your original career, shall we?"
This time he asked Akari about her work experience. Akari was a designer and had experience in product appearance design. Takumi thought it would be a good idea to let her develop peripherals. He tested her on the spot. She had her own ideas about the development and design of manga peripherals. She also prepared thoroughly before coming to Tokyo.
Takumi felt he had found a treasure. Akari was very capable, but compared to letting her return to her original career...
"Unfortunately, we have no plans to develop peripherals for now." Takumi said, "In the last few months, could you help me with something else?"
Akari gathered her courage, "Go ahead, please."
She knew the main topic was coming. This job had to be related to the readers and the world of manga.
"You have a wide network of contacts among readers; I hope you can go and lobby some people..."
As expected, Takumi's words matched what Akari was expecting, "We are going to gradually build a manga world in the city of Suhua, with Hinotori Publishing as the center, but that world needs many participants, so I hope you find interested people and invite Suhua to open a shop and start a business."
"We will offer rent and tax concessions with the local government..."
The place where Hinotori Publishing was set up was originally a developing island, but Takumi's family bought it halfway. Now, the new Hinotori Building is already under renovation, and some buildings and transportation facilities, such as ports, have been completed around it. At the same time, several streets have appeared. These streets are not very extensive, but they are all empty. Whether they can be fully utilized remains a problem.
That's why Takumi wants to invite some local tycoon readers to revitalize those streets. The Suhua government has been promising tax concessions for several years and the rent has been reduced, as they are all Takumi's lands, so it's no problem at all.
"Island?"
Akari didn't react much upon hearing Takumi speak, but upon learning that the new headquarters was actually on an island, she was immediately excited, "An island next to Suhua University City? Mirai-sensei, this is a prime location, I'm willing to help!"
The island itself doesn't matter, what's important is its excellent geographical location. Akari agreed. Hinotori Publishing can take over such a prime area and there will be no traffic problems in the future. This is also the best reason to convince merchants.
"I'll give you the detailed information in two days and we'll also reimburse you for the expenses of finding staff." Seeing Akari's approval, Takumi couldn't help but smile, "Welcome to Hinotori Publishing."
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