Chapter 82: Miyazaki Aoi

  Dumplings are delicious to eat, but they are troublesome to make. The preparation time for both the dough and filling is very long, and often the preparation time is even longer than the wrapping time.

  When preparing for "One Litre of Tears", Zhou Xiao felt that making a movie was similar to wrapping dumplings, with too many things to do during the preparation period, especially when you're alone. Although Uncle Inoue helped out, Zhou Xiao was still driven crazy.

  Uncle has been secretly creating the drama group, because the film's schedule is very tight, so the studio side was almost trapped in a situation where there was nowhere to shoot. Uncle Inoue also worked hard to find a suitable place, and this shooting location is not a TV station studio but a movie company studio.

  There are not many film companies in Japan, only Toho, Toei, Shochiku, Kadokawa, Nikkatsu, Shintoho and Daiei. Japanese films have a good artistic taste and have won numerous awards at major film festivals, but their sales are not impressive, especially in the 80s and 90s when they were heavily impacted by Hollywood and Hong Kong movies, leaving only five companies surviving.

  However, in 2000, there were still only five film companies in Japan. The studio that Uncle Inoue helped Zhou Xiao find was the Daiei Film Studio, also known as Dai Nippon Eiga. This name made Zhou Xiao feel uneasy, and if they hadn't been on the verge of bankruptcy, he wouldn't have considered finding them. Daiei would be acquired by Kadokawa Eiga in two years, and at that time, the company's president had suddenly passed away, just when the company was already struggling to operate. It was a perfect opportunity for someone to come and offer money to rent their studio, which was a godsend for the people at Daiei.

  For Zhou Xiao and Inoue, it wasn't easy either. The Daiei studio had been out of business for several years, and when Inoue went to see it, the inside was a mess, like a bandit's lair. Seeing this scene, Inoue managed to knock down tens of millions from the original rental plan, which was already basically settled. His reason was simple: "It's so dirty, we have to clean it up before filming, right? We don't need money to hire labor for cleaning, and in the end, we'll return a clean studio to you. Do you still want us to pay a cleaning fee?"

  Then came the search for photographers, sound engineers, assistant directors and prop masters. Many people who were originally employed by Daiei had already left their jobs, and some who were not convenient to work in other TV stations had even changed careers, either driving trucks or working as cashiers at supermarkets. If such people could be found, it would be the best, Inoue was well aware that AZX was newly established and urgently needed experienced personnel to join, Zhou Xiao had revealed to him earlier that in the future, AZX's production scope would not only include films but also TV shows, commercials, music videos, and even idol group productions. All these things required a wide range of talents. It could be said that in recent days, Inoue had not only pulled together a makeshift crew based on the contact information provided by Daiei but had almost taken over half of Daiei's old team. These former Daiei staff members were generally older and lacked vitality, but they still had experience and skills, which made them the best choice for Zhou Xiao, who had no experience at all.

  Zhou Xiao and Nagata Koto's auditions for the actors were also quickly organized. In addition to the male lead with low acting requirements, they also needed a doctor with no particular personality and a female supporting actress of similar age. For the female supporting actress part, Zhou Xiao put the audition for the female lead and the female supporting actress together. When someone came in, she first saw if she was suitable for the female lead, and if not, she considered which of the female supporting actresses with lines was more suitable for her.

  It went on like this for two more days. On the second day in the afternoon, a long-awaited person finally entered the interview room of Zhou Xiao and Nagata Kotono.

  In the history that Zhou Xiao has experienced, if someone is a fan of Miyazaki Aoi, it would be easy to find that between 1999 when she was 14 years old and 2000 when she was 15 years old, there is a huge difference. The 14-year-old Miyazaki Aoi looked like an unopened village girl loli, while the 15-year-old Miyazaki Aoi had become a big girl with a very distinctive appearance and expression.

  The reason for this feeling is not the girl's age or simply because of puberty, but rather the content of the film and her makeup. At 15 years old, Aoi Miyazaki has already been in the entertainment industry for a year, which may not be long, but it was enough to make her mature significantly. The biggest example is that at least at that time, she had already grown out her hair and bangs, these two women's ultimate weapons, which greatly enhanced her beauty, not to mention that after 15 years old, her eyes also began to fill with that intoxicating spirituality.

  The reason I said so much is very simple... That's because Miyazaki Aoi now... still hasn't grown up.

  She had a middle parting with a braid, but her hair was pulled back so tightly that it was stuck to her skin, her eyebrows were slightly protruding, and her eyes, which were somewhat narrow, showed no confidence at all.

  Nagata Koto took a glance at Zhou Xiao, the implication was simple: "This is the Miyazaki Aoi you can't stop thinking about? Looks like... just a country girl..."

  Zhou Xiao also furrowed his brow, looking at Miyazaki Aoi who seemed a bit intimidated. He was very skeptical whether this girl could bring out the effect he and Nagata Kotono wanted, and whether she was still the Miyazaki Aoi he knew, with her pure appearance and spiritual performance.

  "Kiyoharu Miyazaki?" asked Zhou Xiao.

  "Yes! Hello!" Miyazaki Aoi also recognized Zhou Xiao, in fact, there was no need to recognize her, when she contacted her mother, Zhou Xiao had already made it clear about her identity, singer investing in film and so on. The Miyazaki family naturally found it strange, but they didn't have the ability to refuse like other actors, being able to participate in the performance was already good enough for them.

  "Let's get started then." Zhou Xiao didn't ask any more questions and instead nodded to indicate that Yong Tianqin could begin.

  "Imagine if you wanted to take a step forward but couldn't, and when you tried to go left, your foot landed on the right side instead. Your whole body would lose its balance and sense of direction," said Nagata Koto. In the movie, Aya mostly walks in this strange way. Although the actress will still experience it firsthand or watch videos of real patients with Aya's disease after being cast, controlling this walking style is also very important.

  Among the many girls who interviewed before, most of them, after Nagata Koto asked this question, moved their chair to the side and then stood up to perform that struggling walking style. However, Miyazaki Aoi did not perform like that. After thinking for a moment, her hands twisted and her whole body twisted in an extremely eerie way as she stood up, as if she really couldn't control her balance. Her entire body was eerily twisted, and her hands seemed to be unable to bend back into a normal position. The girl then bent down with this posture and slowly lifted the chair with those eerie hands.

  Zhou Xiao looked a bit stunned, he was an outsider, even if he had made up for a lot of things during this period, he was still an outsider, but outsiders could also understand many things. The girl's arduous actions surprised him greatly.

  As for Nagata Koto's side, there was nothing particularly noticeable, still pondering and seriously watching Miyazaki Aoi's slightly difficult performance.

  "Alright, that's enough." After a while, when Miyazaki Aoi had moved the chair and walked around the room in that strange posture for two full circles, Nagata Koto finally called out to stop.

  "Not bad, we have your phone number, so that's it for today. If you're selected as a character in the movie, we'll let you know." said Nagata Kintarou.

  "Wait a minute." Zhou Xiao stopped Miyazaki Aoi at this time.

  The girl turned back in surprise and saw Zhou Xiao leaving the table and walking towards her.

  "I don't know who gave you this silly hairstyle..." Zhou Xiao said, while grabbing her braids and removing the hair tie. He then ruffled her hair with his hand, took a step back to examine it carefully, and only then nodded in satisfaction: "This is much better! Remember to tell your mom to style your bangs when you get home. If you had bangs, you would be extremely cute!"