"Why aren't you on set?" Leon was quite surprised by Anya's arrival.
Not only was she busy filming The Witch, but she also had to travel back and forth to the Warner studios in Buffalo to prepare for the start of Ready Player One under James Wan's guidance.
"Today is the crew's day off. Plus, Director Robert has been a bit confused lately; he's decided to make major changes to the script," Anya said.
"Why?"
Leon was equally confused. Revising the script while filming was a basic operation in the film industry.
Many finished films told a completely different story from the script, but as long as the final product's quality was up to par, the producers usually wouldn't interfere.
However, the shooting schedule for The Witch was extremely tight. Leon had set a strict deadline of two months to wrap up.
Exceeding this deadline would make it difficult to catch the Berlin International Film Festival next February, and the next A-list film festival would have to wait until Cannes in mid-May.
Making major changes to the script under these circumstances was not good news for the investors.
"Robert has been reading some books about patriarchal and matriarchal societies recently, and he has some new philosophical thoughts," Anya said, taking a sip of black tea.
"Patriarchal society? Philosophical thoughts? Is this guy using my money to conduct sociological experiments?"
Leon was somewhat annoyed. Although he had repeatedly instructed the other party to film a story that the audience could understand, Robert still succumbed to "artsy youth disease."
In traditional horror films, the heroine is mostly set as terrified, weak, and foolish, and the awakening and counter-kill at the end are just the director forcibly lowering the villain's IQ.
But Anya couldn't find the panicked performance state—no matter how the director guided her, this girl acted way too calm.
Everyone has fears of specific things in their hearts: insects, venomous snakes, enclosed spaces, blood splatters, etc...
There's always one suitable for you.
Robert tried to awaken the fear deep in her heart, but the result was finding out that this girl had almost no fear of any concrete objects.
This, in turn, inspired Robert's creative inspiration. Combining the philosophical works he had studied recently, he began to re-examine the core of the story.
Christian fear of witches comes from the cage constructed by patriarchal society. Women who questioned traditional authority were persecuted and suspected, branded with the notorious name of witches.
The witches in the forest symbolize revenge against the patriarchal system. The old witch kidnapping the baby and pounding it into human flesh nourishing paste symbolizes the destruction of women's reproductive obligations.
At the end, the black goat rams to death the hypocritical patriarchy. Thomasin, played by Anya, kills her mother, who was an accomplice of the patriarchy, with her own hands, signs a contract with the devil, and goes to the forest to attend the witches' gathering...
Leon had known long ago that Robert was an out-and-out left-wing weirdo. He didn't care about the other party's political leanings at all; he only cared about his own interests.
But thinking carefully, Robert's meticulous crafting of the script might not be a bad thing.
"Artsy youth disease" is poison for commercial films, but it is the darling of the three major international film festivals.
Academic film experts always have a special fondness for works that ordinary audiences can't understand at all, using this to show off their unique taste.
"If you can't finish filming within the scheduled time, I will kick your ass hard!" Leon roared during the call with Robert.
At this time, the office door was pushed open. Phil had slicked back his greasy hair, and even his beard was shiny with pomade.
As soon as he entered, he shouted at the top of his lungs, looking very excited: "My heart has already flown to Tokyo! Kitano has prepared the warmest reception for us. I heard Ginza and Shinjuku are more interesting than the Red Light District in the Netherlands~"
"Tone it down, bastard." Leon said in a deep voice.
Phil only then noticed Anya sitting on the sofa. "Sorry, I didn't notice there was a little girl here."
"Tokyo? You're going to Tokyo?" Anya's eyes immediately lit up.
"That's right, but not for entertainment." Leon shrugged. "I have no interest in Japanese culture; it's mainly for work."
Anya automatically filtered out words like "work"; only "Tokyo" remained in her mind.
Japan's cultural export ability is world-class. Dragon Ball is a common memory for the 80s and 90s generation worldwide.
The new generation born around the millennium is exposed to even richer Japanese elements. Hot-blooded manga led by One Piece are popular, and ACG culture has spread globally.
Riding this trend, Tokyo has always been the number one tourist destination in the hearts of many American teenagers.
"Can you take me with you?" Anya asked.
Before Leon could answer, Phil shook his head. "Our purpose is to discuss work; those occasions are not suitable for little girls."
"It doesn't matter! I can just go shopping by myself." Anya blinked her big eyes and looked at Leon. "Scarlett Johansson's Lost in Translation is my favorite movie. I've always wanted to see this city."
Leon felt that bringing Anya wouldn't affect the itinerary. The purpose of this trip wasn't to seek pleasure on the other side of the ocean anyway.
"No problem." He agreed readily and joked, "You might be the only girl I know who finished watching Lost in Translation..."
"Great! I'll go home and pack right now!"
Early the next morning, Leon and his group boarded the flight to Tokyo.
"NHK TV will conduct a simple interview with you. Just answer the questions according to the script," Phil said. "Your new songs are performing pretty well. We Don't Talk Anymore and Old Town Road are both ranked in the thirties on the Oricon chart. Maybe after this trip to Tokyo, they can break into the top ten."
"You call that 'pretty well'?"
We Don't Talk Anymore not only topped the US Billboard for three consecutive weeks but was also at the top of the charts in over a dozen countries including the UK, France, Germany, and Australia. Yet here in Japan, it was treated like leftover scraps.
"This result is already very good. Japan protects its local music very well. The Oricon chart calculation weight depends almost entirely on record sales. Among non-Japanese singers, only MJ, Mariah Carey, and Queen have achieved dominance here," Phil said.
Leon curled his lips and didn't say anything more. He didn't know much about Japanese pop music, almost nothing except for Namie Amuro and Miyuki Nakajima.
"Your name has a bigger impact than the works themselves." Bonnie interjected, "Japanese young people are always keen on rebellious culture. In their eyes, you are almost considered the most prominent foreign singer. You have to try more rebellious clothing; this can bring you closer to them."
Saying that, Bonnie turned the laptop around.
On the screen, a group of decadent young people had dyed their hair in colorful colors, wore heavy smoky makeup, and some even had nose and ear piercings.
Even more exaggerated was that their hair was fixed into specific shapes with a large amount of hair spray, looking like giant sunflowers.
Text next to the picture labeled it—"Visual Kei Rebellion."
"Fck, I wouldn't try this style even if you killed me." Leon facepalmed. "This isn't rebellion; this is being a dumba."
"Throw this group of Japanese into Brownsville, and the nggas on the street will tear them a new one." Phil laughed along seeing the picture.
The plane landed at Haneda Airport. As soon as the group got off the plane, hundreds of fans swarmed over, holding flowers and various exquisitely shaped small gifts.
Fortunately, Japanese girls were relatively restrained. They wouldn't shake their butts at their idol, nor would they take off their underwear on the spot and throw it over.
At most, they just screamed. Most fans would actively keep their distance after getting an autograph or a photo.
"Leon-chan! Welcome to Tokyo!"
"Leon-sama! You look even more handsome than on TV! Oh my God, this blonde lady is so beautiful. Can you tell me her name?" A girl dressed in flamboyant clothes was incoherently excited.
Green wig, over-the-knee high boots—the image of C.C., the heroine of the anime Code Geass, instantly attracted Anya's attention. She happily agreed to the girl's invitation for a photo.
After leaving the airport, the group headed to the NHK headquarters in Shibuya.
As soon as they got out of the car, they received a warm welcome from the staff. Executives led a group of employees to bow collectively.
"Leon-san, welcome to NHK!" A young intern girl presented flowers.
A reporter handed the microphone to Leon's mouth. "Leon-san, what is your first impression of Tokyo?"
The sudden question left Leon unsure how to answer. He had gotten into the commercial van as soon as he got off the plane and hadn't had time to experience the exotic atmosphere here at all.
After hesitating for two seconds, he answered truthfully based on his only understanding of the island nation: "The girls here are very enthusiastic..."
The NHK staff couldn't help laughing out loud. Street Jesus was as bold and direct as reported by the media.
Amidst laughter and joy, the group walked into the studio. Leon answered the reporter's questions according to the prepared script.
The interview went smoothly. The reporter didn't dwell too much on private life and scandals; the questions focused mainly on music.
Japanese rock music is top-tier in Asia, and Leon opened the market here precisely because of his pure rock album Demon.
"Does your transformation mean you are no longer optimistic about the prospects of rock music, and that rock music has completely declined?" the reporter asked.
The reporter asked a very big question. Answering poorly could easily offend the massive group of rock fans.
Although the decline of rock music is an indisputable fact.
After thinking for a while, Leon replied, "Systematically classifying music with R&B, Rock, and Rap is outdated. Just look at Rap music; it has developed for less than thirty years and has already derived more than a dozen genres. I'm really curious how many confusing new terms they plan to invent to define music?"
"Future music will be fusion. You will understand what I mean when my new song is released this month. It integrates psychedelic rock, disco dance music, R&B, Trap rap..."
Leon's answer was textbook. He analyzed the future of pop music from a God's perspective while taking the opportunity to build momentum for Blinding Lights, giving music fans enough anticipation.
Just when he thought the interview would continue like this, the reporter threw out the first off-topic question about music: "Ten minutes ago, Miss Taylor posted a tweet. She listed four wedding dress pictures and asked fans for their opinions on which one looks best. Do you have any plans to get married recently? Sorry for adding this question temporarily, but fans all over Japan are very curious about this."
Taylor's popularity in Japan was much higher than Leon's. She was probably the only non-Japanese singer who had a chance to achieve dominance after Mariah Carey.
NHK TV held back for an hour, but finally couldn't hold it in and asked.
Such questions were child's play for Leon, who had long engaged in verbal battles with the media. "We always respect and support each other, but regarding the question of marriage, maybe tomorrow, maybe a long time later..."
Just like a debate between presidential candidates, saying it was equal to saying nothing.