To be honest, the market on that island was far too small to justify this much effort. If not for a certain symbolic consideration and the emotional weight that place still carried for part of the audience, Alex truly would not have bothered coming.
It was not regional prejudice. The problem was simple: the market was limited, the box office ceiling was low, and there were more than enough so-called experts ready to twist any sentence into controversy. Alex suspected that after traveling all the way there, he might not make much money at the box office, but he could very well return covered head to toe in media mud.
Under normal circumstances, premieres like this always came with a predictable ritual. The agency would invite familiar artists, industry friends, celebrities with some commercial or personal connection, and everyone would show up to offer support, smile for the cameras, generate headlines, and inflate the event's buzz. It was basic public relations.
But deep down, Alex did not care that much about how much "Death Note" could earn on that island.
The line he had said during the promotional program, about considering it a failure if the movie did not break the local box office record, should not be taken too seriously. After all, it was not exactly a monumental record. In terms of real prestige, it did not feel much heavier than those empty social media repost records that looked impressive in numbers but carried almost no substance when examined closely.
Even in the worst-case scenario, if the second half of "Death Note" flopped there, his fans probably would not blame Alex. They would blame the local market itself.
It was almost like someone walking into an outrageously expensive gourmet restaurant, tasting a tiny dish, complaining that it tasted bad, and then being told that the problem was not the chef, but their own palate.
Of course, that comparison was slightly exaggerated.
Still, ever since "Bleach" had ascended to the level of an absolute phenomenon, Alex's fans - or more precisely, the audience from the continental market - had developed an almost mystical confidence in him. In their minds, if Alex failed somewhere, then that "somewhere" was the problem.
While they waited for the premiere to begin, Alex suddenly remembered something and turned to Nadia.
"Nadia, after this promotional run is over, you'll return to acting."
Ever since she had made a cameo in the finale of "Bleach," Alex had already been considering putting her back in front of the camera. Naturally, the most contested slice of the cake was made up of the projects he wrote and directed himself. But that cake was far too limited. Inside the company alone, there was an entire swarm of ambitious women watching every crumb with shining eyes. For Nadia, getting a role there would be nearly impossible.
But Alex did not need to rely solely on his own projects. With the advantage of knowing future trends, future stories, and future explosions in popularity, he could push her into series that were bound to become hits and use them to polish her image.
There were, for example, those urban roles: beautiful, irritating, capable of drawing hatred from the audience while also guaranteeing instant recognition. Or dramatic roles in prestigious productions, good enough to remind viewers that behind a pretty face, there could still be an actress.
Thinking about it, if Nadia played a seductive, manipulative woman, she might be cursed even more viciously than the actress originally associated with that kind of role.
Her looks already carried that risk naturally. Nadia was beautiful in a very striking way, with a softness wrapped around something aggressive, almost feline. There was charm, there was poison, and there was a quiet confidence that made other women distrust her at first sight. In simpler terms, she had exactly the kind of face people would call dangerous.
And that kind of beauty easily became a target.
In fact, Nadia was already receiving plenty of attacks online. The main reason was simple: she had given up the chance to compete for the position of Aurora Entertainment's future leading actress and had run to Alex's side as his personal assistant. To many people, it smelled of opportunism, as if she had chosen to cling directly to a powerful man instead of fighting her way up through the traditional path.
But Nadia did not seem to care much.
Yes, I'm with a powerful man. So what?
Do you have any idea how many girls in this industry would give everything to get close to him and still never get the chance?
"I… I understand, boss…"
Nadia did not show as much joy as Alex expected. She was probably still clinging to that fantasy plot of a domineering CEO and his devoted young secretary. Besides, she knew her own acting ability well enough. Returning to filming might not bring more benefits than staying by Alex's side every day.
After all, constant closeness created intimacy.
With enough time, who knew? Maybe she could still become Mrs. Alex.
If she left now, would she not simply be giving other women the chance to take her place?
If Alex could hear those thoughts clearly, he would probably tell the girl to read fewer melodramatic romance novels. Successful men in the entertainment industry, especially before their mid-thirties, rarely had any urgency to settle down. Anyone who believed otherwise had read too many sweet stories and observed too little reality.
"Alex! Jay is here! Can I go ask him for an autograph or something?"
Clara suddenly grabbed Alex's sleeve, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
This time, he did not object. He simply nodded.
Alex hated artists from that island who crossed the sea to make money in the continental market, then went home, put down the bowl that had fed them, and started insulting the people who had filled it. But Jay clearly did not belong in that category. Even back in the years when the continental market was not yet as powerful as it was now, he had already shown a clear public stance, something rare among local artists.
Still, after seeing Alex nod, Clara blinked her big eyes twice, thought better of it, and changed her mind.
"Actually, forget it. He's gotten so chubby now… I still think you're way more handsome, Alex. Hehe."
Oh?
The little girl really was learning how to talk now that she had entered adolescence.
"Thanks for coming to support us."
Alex reached out and shook Jay's hand.
When Jay noticed Nadia and Clara beside him, he inevitably thought of Alex's romantic history. At the beginning of his career, Alex always seemed to be involved with older women, mature and elegant types, the kind of big sisters who could take care of a man while teasing him at the same time. Now, however, the women around him seemed younger and younger, lighter, closer to girls just stepping across the threshold of their own ambition.
For some reason, Jay suddenly felt a sense of kinship.
What a coincidence.
He was the same.
When he was younger, he liked mature, considerate, experienced women. Now that he was older, his preferences had naturally started leaning toward younger ones.
If Alex knew what Jay was thinking, he would say Jay had misunderstood everything. Even now, Alex still liked mature women very much. The problem was that, to Alex, beauty and danger came in many ages.
"Hannah, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Nadia and Clara greeted Jay's wife, a woman who had been protected and supported by him from a very young age and now held the enviable position of official companion to a king of pop music.
Hannah was very kind. She smiled, held their hands, and began chatting with warm naturalness, asking about work, schedules, behind-the-scenes moments, and small details that made any newcomer feel seen.
In Nadia's eyes, envy and admiration were almost impossible to hide.
To her, Hannah was practically a living version of the destiny she wanted. Even though Hannah was a year younger than her, she had already won Jay and secured her place beside him. Nadia, meanwhile, still did not know when she would truly manage to win over her own boss.
Maybe this was a good opportunity to ask for some advice.
Clara, on the other hand, had no interest in that sort of thing. In her mind, the plan was much simpler: she only had to wait until Emily, Nadia, and all those women aged, lost their shine, and turned into tired shadows. Then, her era would naturally arrive.
If Violet Grant had been there, she probably would have asked with a cold smile: what did you just say?
"Hey, you didn't forget that you promised to work with me on a movie, did you?"
Maybe because he was back in his hometown, Jay's voice, which had sounded perfectly normal when the two met in France, now carried a slightly more local rhythm.
"I didn't forget. I've already thought of a script for you. Once the premiere is over, I'll write it and send it to you."
Alex answered with a smile.
"Seriously? Now that's brotherly. But hey, stop imitating the way I talk."
Jay first raised his thumb in excitement, then realized the joke and protested.
In truth, he would have been satisfied just getting a third male lead role in one of Alex's movies. He had never expected Alex to directly write a script with him as the protagonist.
At that moment, Jay mentally promoted Alex into the category of true brothers. A very high level, almost equal to his closest friends.
"Hey… Henry Wallace and Ruby Lynn are here. Do you know them?"
As more local artists arrived one after another, Jay blinked and asked curiously.
"Know them? Not at all. Right now, I'm basically a Wi-Fi signal. Everyone wants to connect for a bit."
Alex curled his lip, clearly uninterested in greeting them.
Some of those people spent years recycling old behind-the-scenes stories, dragging former colleagues into stale controversies and using memories of old dramas as fuel for relevance. Maybe they were not tired of repeating those stories, but the audience was already tired of hearing them.
Aside from Jay, Alex had no intention of building future connections with almost any artist from that island. Letting them borrow some heat from his premiere without kicking them out was already courteous enough.
Jay fell silent for a moment.
Why did it feel like that sentence had grazed him too?
At that moment, another woman walked into the venue, and Alex's eyes lit up slightly.
"Hmm. I never noticed before, but Beatrice Grant is quite beautiful. She even has a bit of that ethereal aura."
Jay was completely speechless.
Since standing beside Alex, he had been able to feel the sincere contempt Alex held toward that group of local artists who had only appeared to ride the event's popularity. But the moment a beautiful woman showed up, his attitude changed?
Was that the depth of his conviction?
"Director Alex, hello. I'm Beatrice Grant."
Perhaps because she noticed Alex's gaze, the woman who would one day marry into a wealthy family approached and gave him a slight bow. Her posture was humble, careful, and very well-measured.
With that temperament, it was not hard to understand why she could become the wife of a powerful family. If she had Emily's personality, she would probably turn an entire mansion into a battlefield before lunch.
"Yes. You're very beautiful. It's a pleasure to meet you."
A single sentence from Alex was enough to leave Beatrice almost overwhelmed.
After all, when other local artists had approached him to say hello, his responses had basically been monosyllabic. Things like "hm," "yes," and "fine." Polite enough not to be called rude, cold enough not to give anyone hope.
But now, for her, he had spoken a complete sentence.
"Later, give your contact information to my assistant. If a suitable role comes up, we can call you in for an audition."
Beatrice was suddenly wrapped in the dizzying happiness of a pie falling straight from the sky into her hands.
Had fate finally decided to knock on her door after all these years of sinking without a real breakthrough?
"Thank you, Director Alex. Thank you so much."
She tried hard not to let her expression slip out of control, but still bowed her head repeatedly.
Since her biggest commercial success, Beatrice had not managed to produce any truly memorable work. Or, to put it more cruelly, perhaps the audience only remembered her because of that one specific project. There was also that famous chewing gum commercial, of course, but no one was quite sure whether that counted as an acting career.
"Her acting isn't very good, you know."
Jay reminded him in a low voice.
Alex looked at him with mild disbelief. It was a little funny to hear that from Jay, because if they were comparing dramatic skill, he was not exactly in a position to mock anyone with such confidence.
"Her role is to be a beautiful decorative vase. You don't seriously think I'd give her an important part, do you?"
Alex replied, amused.
Of course, under his command, he already had more than enough beautiful vases. The two girls from the west, for example, were practically top-tier examples of that kind of beauty. But even vases came in different styles. Having a few backup options was never a bad thing.
Besides, to be honest, Beatrice was one of the few actresses in the current circle who still carried a touch of ethereal aura. If Rebeca Verne and Lena were not such strong candidates, she could even have entered the popular candidate list for the role of Kikyo.
Before the screening, there were still quite a few ceremonial segments.
An interview with the main cast, interaction with the press, photos onstage, formal thanks. But since only Alex and Clara had come as the main representatives, everything passed relatively quickly.
Then, in front of the cameras and a crowd filled with famous faces, Alex picked up the microphone and said in an almost casual tone:
"This will be my last film entering the continental market."
The sentence sounded calm, like just another promotional statement. But below the stage, many artists felt their hearts tighten in silence.
The meaning was clear.
After this film, Alex did not intend to remain merely a successful invader. He wanted to become the absolute king of the largest film market in the world.
The lights went out.
On the screen, the logo of Second Dimension Pictures appeared.
It was the mark of a pirate captain.
Yes, the image directly evoked the ultimate symbol of an era of youthful adventures, battles, rivalries, and impossible dreams. Among all the magazines and brands that had shaped animation and comic culture in Alex's previous life, that influence occupied a throne few would dare challenge.
That was why he had chosen it.
The movie began.
At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, countless Western fans of Japanese pop culture were entering theaters with barely contained excitement. Some held buckets of popcorn without even noticing that their fingers were trembling slightly. Others whispered theories, mentally reviewed the intellectual traps of the first half, and tried to guess how that war of minds would reach its end.
The work that, half a year earlier, had left such a deep impression with its peak-level psychological duel - could it continue the miracle created by the first film?
That night, the whole world was watching.
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