Two Months Is Enough, Right? (4)

"I-I'm sorry!"

Still, in the current situation, the most standard response was none other than an apology. By the 2010s, you might hear something like, "I'm sorry. What should I fix?" but in 1980s Japan, such a thing was absolutely unimaginable. All you could do was bow your waist.

"Don't just bow, do it over!"

The lower-ranking official, having picked up the documents thrown aside by the middle-ranking official, headed straight to his office. 'What on earth is wrong with the documents?' To him, there was absolutely nothing wrong with them. But given the middle-ranking official's reaction, he had no choice.

"The higher-ups said to redo it, so what can I do? Fix it."

He tossed it to the entry-level official. The entry-level official, looking bewildered, nonetheless went ahead and redid the documents. After changing several things and making various edits, the lower-ranking official thought it was fine this time, too, and brought it to the middle-ranking official after approval. But...

"Do it over!"

The middle-ranking official threw the documents away without even looking at them for three seconds. Once again, the lower-ranking official relayed the situation to the entry-level official.

"He threw them away without even looking at the content, so it doesn't seem like a content issue. Could it be something like paragraph spacing?"

In the South Korean military, when getting documents approved by a superior, it was common to adjust fonts, spacing, and paragraph alignment to match the superior's personal taste. Anyone with an acquaintance who served as an administrative soldier would likely nod and listen to this explanation with excitement. But since the era was 1988, there was no way there were various fonts available. Therefore, the only thing left to suspect was the paragraphing.

The entry-level official thought the lower-ranking official's words made sense and reorganized the paragraphs. However.

"Damn it! Are you playing games with me?"

As the middle-ranking official roared, the lower-ranking official concluded that the middle-ranking official simply didn't like him. Otherwise, there was no reason to scream like this just to approve a single document. But, unexpectedly, there really was a reason. A reason so absurd it was hard to even imagine.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry, but with my meager brain, I have no idea what mistake I've made."

At the lower-ranking official's words, the middle-ranking official sighed and said:

"How could you stamp the seal like this!"

"Pardon? Pardon?"

The lower-ranking official widened his eyes and stared at the document on the middle-ranking official's desk. 'There's nothing wrong with it...?' But in the middle-ranking official's eyes, there was a problem.

"How can you stamp the seal so straight! You have to stamp it at a 45-degree angle toward the superior!"

".........!"

It was such an unimaginable concept that the lower-ranking official's jaw dropped.

"What's with that reaction?"

"I-I'm sorry. But, I-I've never done that before..."

"What kind of workplace did you work at? Huh? Don't you know this is the basic?"

Basically, when approving documents, there were many times when you had to stamp them in the order of 'President, Director, Department Head, Section Chief.' In some Japanese companies, there actually existed a culture where the 'Director, Department Head, and Section Chief' had to tilt their seals at a 45-degree angle. It was an idea possible because the seals were oval-shaped, and it was meant to represent a subordinate bowing to a superior. This culture even remained in Japan in the 2010s. Of course, it was something usually only done in 'black companies.'

"I apologize. I will handle it properly from now on."

"Yes, you should."

Anyway, because he finally knew the reason, the lower-ranking official hurriedly relayed the fact to the entry-level official. The entry-level official also clicked his tongue, but regardless, the document was finally passed. It had taken a whopping two hours.

It wasn't just document approval that was a problem. Since they had to film a movie related to World War II, they needed historical verification regarding the military of that time. But this wasn't easy either. Japan was a country that basically didn't provide proper historical education regarding World War II. Therefore, young civil servants under 40 had almost—no, absolutely no—idea what the Japanese military looked like during the Pacific War. In this situation, the only ones who could provide consultation were the Self-Defense Forces. But a problem arose.

The staff officers of the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces began to fight. It was a de facto national project with an enormous amount of money invested. As such, the staff officers of each branch judged that whichever agency intervened would gain significant honor. Thus, an inevitable fight ensued. The civil servants on the ground were absolutely losing their minds.

'There's not even two months left, and at this rate, nothing will get done!'

So, some civil servants on the ground used their personal connections to find military experts outside the Self-Defense Forces to receive consultation and write reports. These were reports that would never have been written if they had waited for the Self-Defense Forces' consultation. Thanks to these reports, the work progressed faster. No, it should have progressed faster. But it didn't.

The civil servants who took that action were all demoted and sent to the countryside. The reason was that they had "performed an act not in the manual." The reason was that they had dared to act outside the manual in a situation where they should have waited for the Self-Defense Forces' response, thereby harming the organization. Koreans would probably be dumbfounded if they saw this. However, in Japan, this was a matter of course. During the 2019 Kyushu earthquake, the Self-Defense Forces had prepared water trucks for the people of Kyushu. But the civil servants at the time refused the water trucks. Because it wasn't in the manual. Then what did the Self-Defense Forces do with the water? They threw it away. That's right. In a situation where people were suffering because there was no drinking water due to the earthquake, they didn't share it with the citizens but just threw it away. Civil servants who refused because there was no manual in a situation where drinking water was urgent. The Self-Defense Forces who just poured the water on the ground because they were refused. It was truly a collaboration of madness. It was just that people didn't see it because of the illusion of being the world's second-largest economy during the bubble era, but the Japanese bureaucracy had always maintained an inflexible and rigid system. Would 1988 be any different? Furthermore, as the saying goes, "out of the frying pan and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the fire," the problems with Japanese film production didn't end there.

"This is said to be the clothing the Japanese military will wear in 'Empire's Wind'."

The Prime Minister and the ministers had managed to make the movie title decent. The problem was that only the title was decent.

"So, you're saying you're making a movie with the content that Japan during the imperialist era hoped for peace and prosperity in East Asia?"

At Yoon-gi's question, Son Min-gwan nodded.

"Yes, that's right. But no matter how much I think about it, no interesting story comes to mind."

Yoon-gi reacted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Son Min-gwan's skeptical view.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I tried to think as if I were writing 'Empire's Wind', but no matter what angle I approach it from, I can't think of an interesting story. Because it would be a movie where 'praising Japanese imperialism' is the central content."

Yoon-gi let out a sneer at the word 'praising Japanese imperialism'.

"Haha, what a truly amazing country. By the way, you said it was difficult from any angle, could you tell me more?"

"If you approach it as a melodrama, it will inevitably become a tear-jerker, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and there's no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reason for foreigners to like watching Japanese melodrama scenes. Because foreigners have white supremacy."

"That's true."

In the US and Europe, where it was common to openly belittle Asians on the street for being ugly, there was no way they would like a story about Asians filming melodramas and tear-jerkers.

"Even if we try to film an action movie where everything is smashed, Japan is a defeated country, right? On top of that, the audience is mostly the Allied Forces, not the Axis Powers."

"That's right."

"Even if I try to include a mystery, which is my specialty, in a war genre? Unless you make mystery the main genre and war the sub-genre, it's impossible because 'Empire's Wind' has war as the main genre. If it were me, if I received a request to write a scenario for a movie like this, I wouldn't accept it."

Yoon-gi liked Son Min-gwan's clear, sharp remark. It meant that 'Empire's Wind' would definitely fail, at least in terms of story.

"Oh, and the reason I obtained and brought these props is simply because the price of these props is beyond imagination."

"How much is it?"

"Yes, how much it is..."

When Son Min-gwan stated the amount, both Yoon-gi and Choi Cheol-jun were surprised and their jaws dropped. 17 times! It was just simple clothing, but compared to the costumes worn by soldiers in 'Admiral Yi Sun-sin', it was a whopping 17 times more expensive.

"Is there some luxury brand logo stamped on this or something?"

At Choi Cheol-jun's words, Yoon-gi shook his head.

"We are filming as individuals, whereas Japan is currently proceeding with it like a national project. So, they probably thought, 'It's blind money,' and outsourced it to a company run by a politician's relative. You can tell just by looking at the quality, right?"

In fact, the quality of the props to be used in 'Empire's Wind' was too crude. The props for the Joseon army in the Imjin War looked much, truly incomparably better.

"Ah... that's right. We are making a movie as individuals, so we think about efficiency and prevent waste, but they are a national project, so they just think of it as blind money and spend it recklessly?"

"I guess it's because it's easy to split the spoils."

Yoon-gi smiled bitterly, recalling the 22 trillion won wasted in Korea around 2010.

"Anyway, I don't think I need to worry. I heard from you that the filming there is really sluggish, right? There's also talk that the scenario isn't even finished yet. Plus, looking at the props today, I don't think I need to pay any attention at all."

"That's why I told you. You don't need to pay any attention at all. If one of the Japanese companies had participated, saying 'We can't lose to YK!', I might have been a little nervous, but the moment the Japanese government said they were making a movie, I could only laugh."

"Hahahaha! That's right, I think I was being too sensitive."

While Choi Cheol-jun was laughing, Son Min-gwan quietly opened his mouth again.

"By the way, Chairman. An enormous budget is being invested, more than I thought, are you really okay with it? Furthermore, you said you would release this for free, so it's a pure loss..."

At the cautious advice, Yoon-gi laughed heartily.

"It's fine. I've already made all the plans to make money anyway. And releasing it for free to foreigners is only for while the Olympics are going on, and only in Korea."

"Ah, is that so? Then that's a relief."

A plan already in place. However, one favorable factor overlapped here.