Chapter 233: Toho

At the Imperial Hotel Tokyo, the party was in full swing. Charles Capet and Takahashi attended together. Lin Chi-ling had gone to Osaka for an event and couldn't accompany Charles, which was a bit regretful.

"Mr. Capet, this is Mr. Tomonari Shimatani, President of Toho Co., Ltd.!"

Takahashi followed Charles closely, introducing him to various influential figures in the Japanese entertainment industry, but only to those who were at a certain level.

Toho, being the king of Japanese domestic films, was indeed capable. Not to mention, they had the Godzilla series in their live-action film library.

In terms of animated films, they had unparalleled heavy-hitting series: Lupin III, Doraemon, Shin-chan, Detective Conan, Pokemon, The Kindaichi Case Files, Bleach, Hamtaro, Naruto - all of which had been released by now.

"Good evening, Mr. Capet!"

"Good evening, President Shimatani. Toho's achievements in Japan are always remarkable," Charles smiled as they shook hands.

"Toho's re-make of Sinking of Japan last year was Japan's most expensive film to date. Toho is once again poised to break box office records; it has already surpassed 4 billion yen at the box office, hasn't it?" Toho's re-make of their 70s film Sinking of Japan premiered last month with a budget of 2 billion yen, which wasn't easy.

Shimatani smiled, "Japanese films can't really compare to Hollywood. Even if Sinking of Japan was expensive, it would only be the budget of an independent art film in Hollywood."

After all, 2 billion yen converts to just over $17 million.

Capet Pictures invested only 75 million yen into making Departures, which converted to just over half a million dollars.

The average production cost of Japanese films ranged between 50 million and 100 million yen. A production costing over 300 million yen was considered a big budget, with very few films exceeding a 500 million yen budget.

Sinking of Japan, costing 2 billion yen, was practically the limit in Japanese cinema, something that might never be surpassed again.

"Actually, I've always had an interest in the monster Godzilla," Charles said, hinting at something more.

Sony-Columbia had produced a Hollywood version of Godzilla in 1998. With a budget of $100 million, it grossed only $100 million in North America and a worldwide total of $200 million but received poor reviews.

Japanese Godzilla fans didn't even recognize it as Godzilla, calling it "Zilla" instead, and Toho referred to it as "Zilla" too.

"Godzilla? Is Capet Pictures planning to remake Godzilla?" Shimatani was surprised.

Given the precedent set by Sony, the 1998 blockbuster Godzilla wasn't exactly successful.

"Nothing's impossible. Monster movies have always had a strong fanbase, especially with heavyweight IPs like Godzilla and King Kong," Charles said, looking at Shimatani.

"At the moment, there are no plans, but perhaps in the future, we can collaborate."

Shimatani nodded and then beckoned to a beautifully dressed young girl nearby.

"This is Mr. Capet. Come, have a drink with Mr. Capet."

Charles was puzzled, wondering what Shimatani meant by this move.

"This is Masami Nagasawa, a new star from Toho's talent agency. She's only 19 but already has a few years of acting experience!"

Masami Nagasawa; no wonder her appearance seemed familiar to Charles. He looked at the slightly nervous young girl.

Nagasawa had a nice face and a good figure, though she still had a hint of baby fat due to her young age.

"Your name is also Yami (beauty). But why is there such a big difference between you and this young girl?" Charles sighed to Takahashi next to him.

"Boss, names were chosen by my parents, not me," Takahashi chuckled.

"Ha, Takahashi-kun still has some skill!"

Charles also made a joke to Shimatani.

After that, Shimatani and Takahashi moved to chat elsewhere.

Charles looked at Masami Nagasawa, who was brought over, and found it amusing. "Do you speak English?"

Nagasawa responded in slightly broken English, "A little, not too much."

"My Japanese isn't very good either, looks like we can't really talk," Charles said, taking Masami Nagasawa's hand, "Let's dance!"

As he danced with Masami, Charles missed Lin Chi-ling even more. The difficulty in communication was just too much.

"Boss, why did you stop dancing? You don't have a dancing partner tonight," Takahashi noticed when Masami Nagasawa was no longer with Charles.

"She doesn't speak English, what's the point of dancing?" Charles said and then suddenly spotted a woman who was unmistakably beautiful.

"Who is that?" Charles pointed.

"Ah, that's Kyoko Fukada, Japan's top idol star now," Takahashi thought for a moment, then suggested, "I heard she dances well and has some basic English skills."

Charles patted Takahashi on the shoulder - this was more like it!

Before long, Charles was dancing closely with Kyoko Fukada.

"Mr. Capet, I've seen The Da Vinci Code. It's really great. I heard it had a huge investment!" Kyoko Fukada commented. Takahashi had explained who Charles was, and since they were both 24, they were the same age.

"$100 million," Charles looked at the charmingly attractive Kyoko Fukada, thinking about her mature features.

"Converting to yen, with the current exchange rate, that's about 11.6 billion yen," the exchange rate had fluctuated from over 120 yen per dollar earlier this year to below 110, but it was now climbing again.

"That's a lot!" Kyoko Fukada exclaimed.

In the evening, Charles took Kyoko Fukada to a high-end restaurant for dinner. As they waited for their meals, Charles stood up, pulling out a diamond necklace.

"Do you like it? It's a special gift!"

Kyoko Fukada stared at the necklace, excitedly nodding. It was an LV custom series!

Charles personally put the necklace on her. The heart-shaped diamond lay atop her E-cup chest, making her even more alluring.

Then Charles directly lowered his head and kissed Kyoko Fukada, and she responded eagerly. What woman wouldn't like such an outstanding man?

Charles didn't miss the chance to appreciate Kyoko Fukada's full, deep E-cup.

After the kiss ended, Charles smiled and returned to his seat, preparing to eat. He thought about how becoming an LV shareholder back then was such a brilliant move!

Giving jewelry to women was always a surefire strategy for wooing them.

*****

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