Chapter 196: Fun Overseas Filming (2)
Chapter 196: Fun Overseas Filming (2)
[Soyon-chan from Korea is on today’s Dokkiri www]
This was a thread that suddenly appeared on the Japanese community site, Futaba Channel.
Posted under the variety and dokkiri tags, the thread was discussing a variety show airing today on the YHJ station.
Dokkiri is the Japanese term for a variety show format similar to a hidden camera prank.
002: Eh, a Korean actress today?
005: It’s been a while since we’ve had a Korean.
013: YHJ really loves Korea www
019: I liked it better when they didn't show up as much after Nanjo-kun took over.
020: But wouldn't an idol be better? Honestly, who knows Korean actors? ww
Since the teaser had already aired that morning, the thread was already buzzing with various opinions.
The reaction was neither particularly bad nor particularly good.
Lately, it wasn't all that rare to see Korean celebrities appearing on Japanese broadcasts.
Of course, actresses were less common, so that generated a bit of buzz.
In the first place, most people had no idea who this actress named Seo-yeon was.
Just as the pace of the posts began to slow down—
129: Photo's here!!! [Image]
Someone uploaded a photo.
It was a picture of Seo-yeon.
As the photo of Seo-yeon wearing a school uniform in Korea appeared, the speed of the thread picked up instantly.
131: Eh~ A real-life JK???? For real???
132: She’s probably just wearing a uniform for a shoot. Isn't her actual age that of a baba?
> Soyon-chan is a real JK. She’s famous in Korea as a genius actress.
134: For real? ww A genius actress www We’ve seen that trope too many times ww
135: Huh? Isn't that Ha-rin-chan from Dream Future?? So-yeon was the actress for Ha-rin-chan??
Long black hair, eyes with a reddish tint, and porcelain skin.
The thread erupted into a debate over whether her stunning looks were the result of editing or not.
However, once they realized she was the actress appearing in the currently airing drama Dream Future, scenes from the show began to flood the thread.
Dream Future had initially garnered significant interest because Cha Na-hee, an idol from the group Summer Girl who had performed in Japan once, was part of the cast.
But after the show actually started airing, the person everyone talked about most was Jo Ha-rin.
Her visuals were so overwhelming that many in Japan had already encountered her through various clips and GIFs.
222: Oi, oi ww Ha-rin-chan was So-yeon?
223: If she’s a real-life JK, that’s a good vibe.
234: There’s no way Nanjo-kun would do a dokkiri with a Korean actress for no reason.
236: She’s a cool-type actress, is it okay for her to be on something like this???
> They probably cast her specifically for the gap.
Even those who weren't interested were swayed once they saw Seo-yeon’s appearance.
Furthermore, the teaser had revealed it was a horror-themed hidden camera prank.
382: A dokkiri for a "cool-type genius actress" w... I’m actually looking forward to this.
The thread, which had been seeing about one post an hour, was now moving at high speed.
Some people even announced they were "taking their seats," having already tuned their TVs to the channel before the broadcast began.
However, they didn't necessarily expect it to be hilarious.
Just as sensibilities differ from country to country, the reactions of Korean celebrities were often perceived as relatively bland compared to Japanese entertainers.
Of course, the reactions of celebrities from other countries had their own unique flavor, so there was a certain demand for it.
003: It’s starting.
004: Doki doki.
As the broadcast began, the thread hit its 1,000-post limit and a new one was created.
With the title of the variety show pinned at the top, they began watching the broadcast in earnest.
At first, the camera caught Seo-yeon arriving at the airport.
Like a vlog, Seo-yeon gave a small peace sign toward the shaky camera.
Her strangely excited mood was palpable even through the screen.
023: Eh ww Isn't she a cool-type? www She’s way too excited.
025: A slightly different impression than I expected.
030: I’ve just fallen for this girl.
031: I’m a traveler from France... Who is the actress on screen right now?
> It’s Soyon-chan from Korea, the actress who plays Jo Ha-rin in Dream Future.
Seo-yeon seemed completely unaware that filming had already begun.
Perhaps because of that, she was chatting away with another woman about where she wanted to go after the first shoot was over.
"I'm obviously going to Akihabara."
"Anywhere else besides Akihabara?"
"I haven't really thought about anything else."
To think the first place she mentioned was Akihabara.
Everyone in Japan knew what kind of image Akihabara had abroad.
The fact that Seo-yeon, with her relatively cold and sharp impression, said that made for an utterly mismatched image.
158: It’s just for show anyway wwww
160: Soyon-chan even did a magical girl cosplay in Korea, you know?
> For real?
> She really did
> No, she’s ultra-cute wwww Soyon-chan is my bride now.
In the meantime, people had been digging up various videos and photos of Seo-yeon and posting them to the thread.
Among them, the most popular was undoubtedly the one related to Magical Girl Harara.
Although the animation hadn't aired in Japan, the video was enjoyable even without knowing the context.
Contrary to her cool impression, who would have thought she had appeared in something like that?
194: If she’s appearing in stuff like that, does she not have much recognition in Korea?
195: She’s the most talked-about actress in Korea this year, and the other actress who played the villain is also a top young actress right now.
196: You mean So-hi-chan, right? I like So-hi-chan. She’s in a lot of movies.
199: I was wondering who So-hi-chan was, but she looks like Tomie. It’s scary wwww
> Take that back right now.
As the conversation flowed, eyes naturally drifted toward the woman responding to Seo-yeon, Narumi Sora.
The way she naturally pointed things out and played off whatever Seo-yeon said made them look like a comedy duo.
Moreover, since she was a beauty with a healthy, vibrant look, many people were drawn to her as well.
With her picture-perfect ponytail and round eyes, the gap between her and Seo-yeon’s sharper features drew a lot of attention.
301: That’s Narumi Sora, she’s Japanese. She first met Soyon-chan at the audition for Mine.
302: Ehhhhh, she was Japanese? I totally thought she was Korean.
303: Her Korean must be really good ww
304: Still, it seems like Soyon-chan understands Japanese to some extent, right?
> She said she watched a lot of anime.
> Ah, is that her "setting"?
305: With Soyon-chan, I feel like it’s not a setting and she actually watched a lot.
The broadcast mostly showed them talking about Seo-yeon’s impressions of Japan.
And amidst that conversation, they arrived at the lodging.
No, not the lodging—the filming set!
With captions slamming onto the screen, Seo-yeon was shown getting out of the van.
Then, the camera showed Nanjo PD watching from a hiding spot and the actors in the middle of getting their makeup done.
They were already prepared to give Seo-yeon a fright.
Because they had arrived quite late, the inn had a strangely eerie atmosphere, and the other women—excluding Seo-yeon—could be seen shivering.
The funny thing was that everyone else already knew they were filming a hidden camera prank.
Seo-yeon’s manager, Park Eun-ha, had known from the start.
In Sora’s case, she had pretty much figured it out through intuition.
The only one who knew nothing was Seo-yeon.
Perhaps that was why a large caption reading "Knows Nothing" was plastered under Seo-yeon’s face.
801: wwww No, but it’s so suspicious.
802: Notice it already wwww
803: Is that inn landlady an actress too?
804: I don't think she’s the landlady.
805: Then is she a ghost?
> ?
As the filming began in earnest, the speed of the posts on the thread accelerated.
Generally, Japanese threads are archived once they reach 1,000 posts.
But they were already moving onto the fourth thread.
For a standard hidden camera variety show, this was an incredibly high number, and even the regulars on the board were a bit surprised.
The reason was simple: more people had joined because of Seo-yeon’s looks than because of Dream Future’s popularity.
Seo-yeon’s appearance had something that struck a chord with Japanese sensibilities.
The screen showed Seo-yeon blankly listening to the inn landlady’s warning.
By this point, she should have sensed something, but she looked like she couldn't care less.
Rather, her mind seemed full of thoughts about what to buy and where to go after filming.
She could be seen busily writing something on her smartphone.
When Sora asked her about it:
"I have to buy some merch."
"What kind of merch?"
"……Um, well, there’s this thing called a VTuber?"
Thinking no one else was listening, Seo-yeon whispered to Sora.
For the record, this was something she hadn't even told her manager.
There wasn't a grand reason why Seo-yeon brought it up to Sora.
She just figured that since Sora was Japanese, she might understand.
And, she secretly lacked a conversation partner to talk about such things.
Ji-yeon was a VTuber herself, but bringing up the subject inevitably led to 'Ramiel' being mentioned, so Seo-yeon tended to hold her tongue as much as possible.
Thus, Seo-yeon had been constantly thinking, 'I want a friend I can talk to about VTubers!'
In that regard, Sora was a suitable target.
At least, that’s what Seo-yeon thought.
Of course, Sora was nodding along, but she looked like she had no idea what Seo-yeon was talking about.
822: Japan is sorry.
832: Suddenly bringing up VTubers is way too niche.
834: Which VTuber does Soyon-chan like?
845: This is the first time this info has been revealed on Japanese TV.
Even the viewers hadn't expected Seo-yeon to bring that up here.
Of course, the perception of VTubers is a bit more mainstream in Japan.
They had even appeared on terrestrial TV a few times.
But regardless, it wasn't exactly a common hobby.
The fact that Seo-yeon said it with such a serious face created an incredible sense of irony.
Then.
"We should be careful about moving around at night. It looks like we’re the only ones in the inn."
When Sora brought that up as if to change the subject—
"Huh? There are plenty of people in the inn besides us."
Seo-yeon said, looking around blankly.
The actors hiding in that direction could be seen fleeing in terror.
002: Eh w Is Seo-yeon-chan a psychic??
003: This is the first time I’ve seen someone say that in real life.
005: She has a face like she’s thinking, 'Since this is Japan, there must be ninjas or something, right?'
Anyway, after that trivial conversation, it became late at night.
Ten o'clock—the time the inn landlady had warned them about.
"Want to go to the hot spring?"
It was then that Seo-yeon’s manager, Park Eun-ha, spoke up.
"Didn't she say we shouldn't go earlier?"
"It’s not ten o'clock yet."
"That’s true. Let’s go."
Seo-yeon nodded coolly.
At her reaction:
123: wwwww Call her out on it wwww
124: Soyon-chan has a heart of steel.
125: Isn't she way too casual about this?
126: I bet she’ll be like that even when a ghost pops out.
127: The other actors must be so motivated right now.
129: Everyone else looks like they don't want to go wwww
130: Sora-chan is cute. Why doesn't she work in Japan?
131: She said in an interview she went to Korea to become an action actress.
The screen cut to the actors waiting in the inn.
Even just looking at the makeup, you could tell they had put more effort into it than ever before.
Just as Seo-yeon was walking boldly at the front toward the hot spring—
Click. All the lights went out.
Park Eun-ha and Sora shrieked.
They could be seen huddling close together in tension.
It was then.
Seo-yeon’s body, which had been composed until now, began to move strangely stiffly.
431: Is she scared?
432: For real?
444: Honestly, I thought she wouldn't be scared at all ww
Just as everyone was hesitating in the tension—
Clatter! With a loud noise, the ceiling opened and something fell.
"Kyaaaaaak!!!"
As Sora and Park Eun-ha recoiled in terror, Seo-yeon’s hand moved.
It was almost reflexive. In that instant, the hidden camera caught Seo-yeon’s eyes in slow motion.
The moment the object fell, Seo-yeon’s pupils followed its movement, and she could be seen frowning slightly.
And then, the scene of her hand piercing through it.
Crack! Along with a vivid sound, the mannequin’s head was impaled.
772: Eh?
773: Eh?
774: Eheeee wwww
775: Is that mannequin made of styrofoam??
776: The caption says it’s plastic.
777: How did she pierce that with her hand? www
778: Was Soyon-chan actually a magical girl?
779: More importantly, she saw the whole thing falling in slow motion, right??
780: www No way www
Seo-yeon could be seen looking closely at what she had pierced with her hand.
And her two eyes were shaking strangely.
The corners of her mouth twisted into a grimace.
822: Actually, didn't Soyon-chan think she accidentally attacked a person?
823: She saw it with her eyes, though.
824: I think she might not have seen it because it was dark.
825: If she can do a spear-hand strike like that, she could probably pierce a human body.
826: No, no ww That’s insane.
827: Soyon-chan... she thinks she accidentally killed someone...
828: Does Soyon-chan have this kind of image in Korea too??
Such reactions dominated the thread, and many posts were uploaded offering Seo-yeon sincere condolences.
'Uh-oh.'
For the record, Seo-yeon, who was secretly lurking on the thread, was a bit flustered.
She never expected this kind of reaction.
Wasn't this supposed to be a cute, girlish scene where she was startled by something gross?
'I just thought it was gross.'
Well, she did see it and then strike it.
It was also true that her hand had moved first.
If it had been a person, she would have stopped long before that.
She wasn't an idiot; she could at least distinguish that much.
Seo-yeon called Sora over and had her post a comment.
844: She probably just hates gross things... realistically.
> Is this someone who can't read the room?
> It’s hilarious how they’re being serious all by themselves ww
Upon seeing that comment, Seo-yeon’s eyes turned a deep red.
And Sora, who was beside her, couldn't help but shiver.