MMB Chapter 247 A Pantomime of Dimensional Reduction, The Husbands of All Japanese Women
Chapter 247 A Pantomime of Dimensional Reduction, The Husbands of All Japanese Women
Chapter 247 A Pantomime of Dimensional Reduction, The Husbands of All Japanese Women (8/71)
Inside the TBS television studio, the air seemed to have been completely sucked out of the studio for the show "Tell Me You Love Me".
The echoes of the clapperboard still lingered in the air, but the entire set had fallen into an almost eerie silence.
Kitahara Shin showed everyone what the ultimate dominance of "returning to simplicity" truly means.
This is a pivotal scene where Kouji, after a misunderstanding with the female lead Mizuno Tsumuko, first uses sign language to open up his inner world to her.
Kitahara Shin slowly raised his hands, his sign language flowing incredibly naturally, as if he had truly lived in that silent world for over a decade. But what truly sent chills down one's spine were the micro-expressions and eyes that accompanied his sign language.
"In my world, even the waves crashing against the rocks make no sound."
Kitahara Shin made his signature gesture, his exceptionally clear eyes fixed on Tokiwa Takako. His eyes were visibly reddening, and his fingertips trembled slightly, a tremor he was trying hard to suppress.
He desperately longed for the vibrant girl before him, wanting to touch her, but the deep-seated inferiority complex stemming from his disability forced him to erect a defensive posture full of sharp thorns. He forced a bitter, even self-deprecating smile, without shedding a single tear, yet he forcefully delivered a deafening sense of sorrow and loneliness into the hearts of everyone present.
Standing opposite him, Takako Tokiwa's heart was pounding wildly in her chest.
She had been mentally on edge, reminding herself to pay attention to the camera angles and her expressions. But the moment she met Kitahara Shin's eyes, all her rationality and composure shattered. The overwhelming sense of loneliness completely transformed her into the heartbroken girl in the drama.
She didn't even need to "act"; tears welled up in her eyes without warning. All she wanted to do was rush forward and hold the man in front of her tightly!
"So, Hiroko, don't come near me anymore."
After making his last gesture, Kitahara Shin slowly lowered his head, hiding his reddened eyes in the shadows, leaving the camera with an extremely vulnerable yet resolute profile.
"Card--!"
Behind the monitor, the director's voice suddenly exploded, filled with suppressed hoarseness and trembling.
It wasn't until this moment that everyone on set, as if a pause button had been pressed, snapped out of their daze. The script supervisor next to them was marking up the script while frantically searching for tissues; several assistants on set were already sobbing uncontrollably, covering their mouths.
This is simply an inhumane and devastating attack! With just a pair of eyes and a few fingers, he has brought this "beauty in imperfection" and "restrained deep affection" to an astonishing and awe-inspiring degree!
As time went by, the height of summer arrived as scheduled.
-
With filming progressing extremely smoothly, TBS's promotional team also began operating at full capacity. Finally, amidst the eager anticipation of countless viewers, "Tell Me You Love Me" officially premiered on Friday night during prime time.
At 9 p.m., the images on the television screens of countless homes across Japan lit up precisely on time.
There was no noisy opening; the scene began under a tree laden with unripe apples. Kitahara Shin, dressed in an impeccably clean white shirt, basked in the dazzling summer sun. He tilted his head slightly, standing on tiptoe to pick an apple from the tree.
Just then, the phenomenal theme song "Love," specially created for the show by the famous band Dreams Come True, was released.
The intro to "LoveLove" rang out with perfect precision.
Accompanied by the lead singer's gentle voice that seemed to strike straight to the soul, Kitahara Shin turned his head on the screen, his eyes, so clean and pure yet filled with endless loneliness, staring straight at the camera.
"boom--!"
This short opening sequence, coupled with the explosive release of the phenomenal theme song, instantly shattered the psychological defenses of female viewers across Japan!
From fifty-year-old housewives to teenage junior high school girls, everyone was captivated at that moment by the aloof and detached figure on the screen.
The lonely, fatally attractive deaf young man gripped my heart tightly!
This kind of "beautiful, strong, and tragic" extreme character setting is simply the ultimate biological weapon tailor-made to harvest women's maternal love and girlish hearts!
For longtime fans of Japanese dramas, the stunning appearance of this man on screen directly awakened their deep-seated memories of that crazy muscle memory.
In no time, the living rooms of every household, the late-night phone conversations, and even the office break room the next morning were all buzzing with discussion about this incredibly exciting premiere.
"Oh my god! He's so handsome! The way he was signing with his eyes red was heartbreaking!" A newly hired young 0L excitedly grabbed his colleague's arm and screamed.
"What do you new fans know? This is Kitahara Shin!" The more senior 30-year-old female manager next to her had red eyes, her tone full of suppressed pride and emotion. "Seeing him like this suddenly reminded me of the winter of 1992—"
1992 was the legendary year that "Tokyo Love Story" burst onto the scene and sparked the social phenomenon of "no 0L on the streets on Monday nights".
However, later on, Kitahara Shin's acting career became increasingly broad and domineering.
In particular, in 1994, he devoted almost all his energy to the extremely large IP universe of "Bayside Shakedown". From the TV version that created a ratings miracle, to the popular special episode, and then to the theatrical film this spring that raked in 5 billion yen and completely shattered the ceiling of Japanese film history.
He excels in hardcore, passionate, and even politically savvy paths, radiating domineering charisma.
So much so that many new viewers have almost forgotten that this tycoon, who now wields immense influence at the top of the capital and box office pyramid, was once an absolute Casanova who made his fortune with "pure love dramas" and tricked all the women in Japan out of their tears!
"No one will forget that legend from '92!" an old fan excitedly posted on a forum. "I thought after making a hardcore blockbuster like 'Bayside Shakedown,' he'd only play big shots who control everything. I never expected him to come back to pure romance! And his acting is a million times more terrifying than before!"
Longtime fans were instantly revived, while new female fans were completely captivated. When recommending Kitahara Shin to others, these veterans all wore an extremely proud expression, as if to say, "Let me show you what true subversion looks like."
Overnight, Kitahara Shin unequivocally secured the title of "Husband of All Japanese Women"!
The next morning, a burst of cheers erupted at the TBS television data center, as if the roof had been blown off.
The ratings are out.
The first episode of "Tell Me You Love Me" achieved an astonishing peak viewership rating of 27.5% in the Kanto region!
The premiere was a huge hit!
Kitahara Shin's extremely violent performance has proven something terrifying to the entire industry: he can not only play a tough police officer and rake in 5 billion yen at the box office, but he can also switch back to the pure love genre at any time and reshuffle all the ratings records in the television industry with his extremely delicate mime performance!
-
While TBS celebrated with champagne, the atmosphere inside the Johnny & Associates headquarters in Minato Ward, Tokyo, was as oppressive as if frozen.
Mary Kitagawa stared at the ratings comparison report on her desk, her well-maintained facial muscles twitching slightly as she nearly crushed her gold-rimmed glasses in her hand.
On the ratings charts of competing shows in the same time slot, TBS's ratings curve resembles a towering dragon. And at its feet, crawling almost along the horizon, is a flagship idol drama produced by Johnny & Associates this year, starring their most popular rising stars.
A crushing defeat! They were completely dominated and thoroughly humiliated!
"How could this happen? He was working on 'Bayside Shakedown' all year last year. We thought he had completely transitioned to the big screen and hardcore dramas!" A Johnny's executive stood in front of his desk, his face full of despair and frustration.
They felt that their strategy was clearly correct.
In 1994, when Shin Kitahara was fully focused on building the "Bayside Shakedown" universe, Johnny's executives secretly breathed a sigh of relief. In their view, since Shin Kitahara had already reached the pinnacle of 5 billion yen in box office revenue and become a true financial and powerhouse, he certainly wouldn't bother coming back to compete with these young idols for the "female romance market" pie.
So Johnny's endured a whole year, meticulously polishing the script and spending lavishly on marketing, just waiting to launch a blockbuster idol drama in the summer of 1995 and regain the market share of young female viewers.
The results of it?
They had finally mustered up a powerful move and were confidently sending the newcomer into battle when they looked up and found that Kitahara Shin had not only returned, but had also arrived in an even more perfect and invincible form!
Johnny's executives have finally come to the despair of realizing that Kitahara Shin has no weakness whatsoever in terms of "transformation" or "disdain for acting."
He can play tough guys or political intrigue roles.
He's a perfect, all-around amazing guy! He doesn't film idol romance dramas, not because he can't, but because he's too busy!
If he wanted to, he could use his superb acting skills and terrifying personal charm to smash Johnny's proud "male beauty economy" to pieces!
Compared to Kitahara Shin's expressive eyes and incredibly natural mime performance, those newcomers they meticulously packaged on the assembly line, with their poker faces and affected coolness, seemed as ridiculous as cheap plastic toys!
"Pass the word." Mary Kitagawa closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and her voice revealed a sense of powerlessness and compromise after being crushed by absolute power. "Cancel and postpone all the romance dramas we plan to release in the next few months. Any time he's scheduled to air—we'll avoid him."
If you can't afford to offend them, you can only avoid them.