Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 50

Chapter 50: I’ll Always Love Long Lingyin

Tao Mi made a quick recovery.

She got her energy back after taking a day off.

After putting on her costume—the school uniform consisting of a black top and checkered short skirt—Tao Mi seemed to fit her role even more after the cold. She looked vulnerable but stubborn.

That was it!

That was the “Long Lingyin” the kids would like to see, the campus belle that was considerate and smart, and reminded everyone of a fairy.

They loved her every move and every laughter…

She was the first love all boys hoped for!

Feature shows were problematic when plagiarism was concerned, but one had to admit that they knew what their audience wanted to see.

Female characters were indispensible and core factors of all feature shows.

Blazing Teens had Mi Li.

Balala the Fairies had Yan Lili.

And Explosive Boys had Long Lingyin.

The production would be lying if they didn’t admit that they were using the curiosity of boys in the first place.

Balala the Fairies probably was an exception. Since it was targeting teenage girls, it was only reasonable that the cast contained some pretty girls of their age as well.

But what about Blazing Teens and Explosive Boys?

Both shows had very popular leading female roles. Why was that?

“Teenage boys and their puppy love…”

Stroking his chin, Meng Lang said, “They’re the reason behind our high viewership ratings. Too bad that their spending power isn’t proportionate to their passion…”

After Blazing Teens became popular, all the yo-yo series had been selling well except for the Illusory Rings series that Mi Li, the main female character, used.

It was the same thing with Balala the Fairies.

Yan Lili was probably more popular than Meiqi and Meixue put together, but that didn’t seem to make any difference.

Hardly anyone wanted to buy Yan Lili’s dark magic violin.

Before the popping balls were launched, Meng Lang was already sure that things like Gallon Flaming Dragon or Rady the Flame Lion would become viral. The sales of Long Lingyin’s Anyu the Sound Dragon, on the other hand, didn’t look too promising at all.

All men were like that!

And boys were no exception…

These people talked about how much they adored Yan Lili, but did any of them own a black magic violin?

How were they supposed to demonstrate their support for her if they wouldn’t even buy the toy that represented her?

Meng Lang despised the spending power of these “infatuated teenagers”, but that didn’t stop him from creating another popular female character.

After all, he still had to care about the viewership ratings.

Popular female characters could always make a positive impact on the viewership ratings—the prettier the better.

The makeup artists had also worked on the national New Year’s Eve Gala before.

Thanks to the interaction they had during the shooting of Balala the Fairies, once Pengda gave Du Fang enough budget, she was actually able to persuade two members of that team to join Pengda.

Needless to say, they were paid very well.

With excellent makeup artists, Long Lingyin became a lot more attractive than the original version.

And Long Lingyin was already very pretty in the original version.

The new version had done an even better job partly because of the outstanding makeup artists, but Tao Mi herself was also the main reason to make it possible.

…

Chiba, Japan.

An important guest was visiting the filming site of Magical Girls today, and Ishinomori Shotaro, the director, had to stop his work to entertain the guest.

In a teahouse nearby.

Ishikawa Jin, the envoy of TBS, said to Director Ishinomori, “Mr. Ishinomori, I’m afraid I’m here today to inform you that TBS has decided to suspend the filming and choose a new director for the show.”

“But why?” Ishinomori frowned.

“Don’t you know why?

“Look what you’ve turned our feature show into! It’s supposed to target teenage girls!”

Despite his sarcasm, Ishikawa kept his face perfectly straight. “I’m sorry, but it’s our director’s decision. He was furious at your unauthorized changes to the script…”

“I’m the director! I have that right!” Ishinomori tried to explain.

He didn’t agree with anything in the original script. Why would someone transform into a fairy wearing a dress before they started fighting? Only armor would protect them!

And why were they fighting with magic wands?

What good would they do? Surely, they would need machetes and axes!

If those weren’t available, fist fights would do as well! Anything would be more reasonable than holding up a wand and chanting spells.

Ishinomori Shotaro couldn’t understand the world of Magic Girls. He was a perfectionist; otherwise, he wouldn’t have bought back the copyrights of his own work to make a new version because he didn’t agree with the changes.

Ishinomori believed that his changes would only improve Magical Girls.

Why would that infuriate TBS?

He couldn’t understand, nor did he want to.

“You have no right to give me orders. I won’t give up, unless PD decides to fire me…”

Ishikawa frowned. “PD agrees with us. They don’t like the changes you’ve made to Magical Girls either!”

PD was the one coming up with this script!

How could this man bring up PD after the changes he made to the script?

“I don’t believe you! I want to see their director!”

Not in a million years!

Ishikawa pursed his lips. He believed that as the director of a big company like PD, Meng Lang would be too busy to care about such petty incidents here.

“Mr. Ishinomori, please face the reality! TBS has been the one covering all your salaries and filming expenses!”

It was a warning.

TBS was the one who had hired everyone and paid the bills. Although PD could supervise the production, if TBS was really offended, Ishinomori wouldn’t have any money to film anything!

Ishikawa thought he could intimidate Ishinomori Shotaro like this, but what he didn’t expect was how stubborn the latter was.

“WIthdraw your funds, then!” Ishinomori shouted.

He was halfway through filming this show, and if TBS withdrew the funds, they would suffer a greater loss than he would!

Ishinomori, the director who was paid a fixed salary each month, wouldn’t suffer any economic losses, and nor would PD, a foreign company.

TBS would have everything to lose!

These people had to think it through before trying to threaten him with the funding.

Rising to his feet, Ishinomori walked toward the door. When he raised the door curtain, he said without looking back, “I’m hired by PD, not TBS! Mr. Ishikawa, you should remember that!”

“That bastard!”

Ishikawa crushed the tea cup in his hand, and his face turned scarlet red.

This man used to beg TBS to get him a job. Now that he was working for PD, he thought he could afford the arrogance again!

Did he have any idea what he had made?

Magical Girls had been turned into masked warriors running around at night, and instead of competing magically, everyone was showing muscles. The show had lost all its unique features!

Infuriated, Ishikawa reported Ishinomori Shotaro’s reply to his director.

The director of TBS was equally angry, but didn’t dare to pull out the funds. They had invested so much already, so TBS would suffer a great loss if they backed out now!

What other choice did TBS have?

They could change a new director!

But to do that, they would need PD’s permission first. After all, it was supposed to be a production of PD, and TBS was only there to pay the bills…

“Call Mr. Meng now!”

Smacking his desk, the director said angrily, “Call Mr. Meng and tell him that I don’t like Ishinomori Shotaro at all! Ask him to consider the possibility of choosing a new director.

“Yes!”

Ishikawa nodded.