Chapter 70: Viewer Reactions
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 70: Viewer Reactions
Filming wrapped up around 6 p.m.
Compared to the entire day I’d spent on standby, the time I actually worked was fleeting, but it was a valuable experience nonetheless.
A drama might only air for an hour on TV, but on set, they were pouring far more time and effort into producing it.
The heat of the set, or rather, the passion I felt from the people making the drama, was a good stimulus for me.
Of course, that didn't mean I wanted to become an actor.
It just made me think that I’d like to have a job I could enjoy this much in the future.
On the way home.
Just like when I’d come to work in the morning, I was riding a charter tour bus provided by the broadcast station.
The only difference from before was that someone was now sitting next to me.
He offered an awkward greeting.
"Ah, hello."
The man was the actor who had played the delinquent leader in the warehouse, the one who had suddenly hit me with an ad-lib. His name was Yamada Junpei.
He looked to be in his early to mid-twenties.
Seeing the awkward expression on his face, I realized he was misunderstanding me again, so I spoke up first.
"I'm probably younger than you, so please speak comfortably."
For a moment, Yamada-san stared at me with a blank expression.
"How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm seventeen this year."
Hearing my answer, Yamada-san suddenly started acting chummy, telling me all sorts of things about his life.
He's quite the social butterfly for a complete stranger, I thought, letting his stories go in one ear and out the other.
"Man, you really saved me back there."
"I didn't really do anything."
"You played along with my big ad-lib during that long-take scene. If you hadn't, the director would've definitely chewed me out for being a rookie who was trying to show off."
"Haha…"
He seemed like the type who only talks about himself, so I let out a hollow laugh and avoided his gaze.
"By the way, are you an aspiring actor? If there's anything you don't know, just ask. Your hyung will teach you everything."
I shook my head at his words.
"No, I just came here for a part-time job. I don't particularly want to be an actor."
"Really? That's a shame. If you were, I was going to pass on all the acting know-how I've learned."
In the end, Yamada-san talked nonstop until the bus arrived at the stop in front of the NHK broadcasting station.
I regretted ever responding to him.
If I had known he was such a chatterbox, I would have just pretended to be asleep.
After getting off the bus, Yamada-san waved his hands enthusiastically, saying we should meet again if we get the chance, and then left.
I’d noticed this before, but I seem to have a weakness for people who approach me with no sense of personal space.
I had gotten on the bus while watching the sun rise at dawn, but now the sky had already grown dark. I decided to give myself a small reward for a hard day's work.
"Thank you! Please come again!"
You just can't beat chicken on the way home from work.
*
Two weeks later.
The seventh episode of ~The Blue~ School Youth Apocalypse!, in which I appeared as an extra, aired on NHK.
According to Rika's explanation, the drama's plot was based on the fourth volume of the original work. It was an episode where the protagonist, Agito, who had become a teacher at the beginning of the year, fearlessly dives into a den of delinquents to save a female student from his class, Sato Yuzuru, who had run away from home after a fight with her parents.
Well, as is the case with all youth dramas, a certain level of cringe is unavoidable.
Watching it with that in mind, it was quite decent.
No, to be honest, it was a masterpiece.
There was less of the over-the-top emotional display typical of Japanese dramas, which made it feel more realistic, and the story itself was well-structured and exciting.
The actor who played Agito seemed like a much gentler person when I met him on set, but the character he was playing on screen was, no matter how I looked at it, similar to that Goto guy.
About fifty minutes after the drama started, the scene I was in finally came on.
It was the scene where Agito single-handedly storms the delinquents' hideout to rescue Sato Yuzuru (Minato Nao). With the dark warehouse as a backdrop, props like oil drums and iron bars were arranged in a way that made it look just like a demon king's castle.
And there I was, sitting at the far end of the warehouse, wearing a long, modified gakuran and a torn student cap.
It's something I feel all the time, but seeing myself objectively like this, I have a seriously intimidating face.
I was just sitting there with a blank expression, trying to set a serious mood, but I looked much more like a gangster than I had thought.
At first, Agito and the blond delinquent (Yamada-san) were surrounded by lackeys, grabbing each other by the collar and scuffling. Then, I, who had been watching them, slowly rose from my seat.
I stuck my right hand in my pants pocket and walked slowly toward the two of them.
"Let him go."
At that, the camera closed up on their faces, which I couldn't see well from my position.
Their complexions were pale, as if they had just encountered a tiger in the mountains.
The protagonist, Agito, took it a step further, swallowing hard with a tense expression.
As expected of a seasoned actor, his performance was on another level.
Soon after, Yamada-san, who had come to his senses first, threw out a fiery ad-lib.
"Hyung-nim! This Sato bitch sold out Komuro to the cops to save her own skin! You're still going to let her go?!"
I had only looked at him in surprise at his unexpected ad-lib, but on camera, my face seemed to say, 'A subordinate... talking back?'
Having committed something akin to insubordination, Yamada-san quickly looked away with a frightened expression and let go of the collar of the actor playing Agito.
"Tch, take her and go."
The actor playing Agito then glanced back and forth between me and Yamada-san before hastily helping up the fallen Minato Nao and leaving, which is how episode 7 ended.
"..."
They're cutting it off here?
I shuddered at the drama PD's incredible mastery of the cliffhanger.
*
At that moment—
On a message board where viewers gathered, reviews of the 7th episode of ~The Blue~ School Youth Apocalypse! were being posted one after another.
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1. Hereafter, delivered to you by Anonymous, now a VIP: 2017/06/14(Wed) 18:23:18.47 ID:BlackCOW
Why is there a real delinquent in the drama?
2. Anonymous Office Worker
That look in Agito's eyes at the end didn't seem like acting at all. Maybe he was actually scared for real?
3. Anonymous High Schooler
Hey, that looks nice. Let me borrow it for a sec.
4. Anonymous College Student-ssi
Aaaargh! Stop! It's bringing back my school-day trauma!
5. Anonymous Clerk
The actor at the end is a famous high schooler from my neighborhood.
6. Anonymous Office Worker
>>5
He's a high schooler with that face and that body?
7. Anonymous Clerk
Yeah, he's actually a model student. I heard he's never lost the top spot in his grade since starting high school.
8. Anonymous College Student-ssi
He's good at studying and good at sports? The world is so unfair.
9. Hereafter, delivered to you by Anonymous, now a VIP: 2017/06/14(Wed) 18:43:23.41 ID:BlackCOW
But his face looks old for his age.
10. Anonymous College Student-ssi
Ah, that's a relief. I bet that's small too, right???
11. Anonymous High Schooler
But if what Clerk-ssi is saying is true, isn't he a complete non-actor? Why is he so good at acting?
12. Anonymous Clerk
He wasn't really acting. He's a regular at my store, and he always has that vibe when he's quiet.
13. Anonymous High Schooler
He's always like that? If I had a random encounter with him in the neighborhood, I'd piss my pants on the spot.
14. Anonymous Office Worker
I'm already wearing a diaper.
15. Anonymous College Student-ssi
His presence was insane. I wonder if he'll keep appearing in the drama? With that face and that vibe, he could star in a whole noir film.
16. Anonymous Office Worker
He's the type of character who's so strong you can't even imagine him losing, right?
17. Anonymous High Schooler
???: I want to know defeat.
18. Hereafter, delivered to you by Anonymous, now a VIP: 2017/06/14(Wed) 19:08:37.12 ID:BlackCOW
>>17
You need to stop reading manga.
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"Hehe, that's my Sunbae, alright."
Lying on her bed and scrolling through the viewer message board, Minato Nao couldn't hold back the smile escaping her lips.
It had been an impulsive act, born from the desire for others to recognize what an amazing person her Sunbae was.
And just as she had intended, people were starting to take an interest in the individual named Kim Yoo-Sung.
If she kept building his recognition little by little like this, his popularity would surely snowball.
And when that time came, even her mother wouldn't be able to deny it.
Not even if she and Sunbae started dating.
She breathed heavily as she looked at the photos on her phone, which were like precious memories of her and Sunbae.
She would become someone who deserved him.
For that reason, she couldn't confess just yet.
For now, she would be content just carrying around a photo of Sunbae's muscles like a talisman.
But in the future,
When she became a person worthy of him, she planned to face him head-on.
To plead with him to take her as his bride.
Imagining a future that had not yet arrived, Minato Nao muttered the words she could never say in front of him.
"Sunbae, I love you♡"