It was A10 Studio's official announcement, and the post had already blown past thirty thousand comments. The contents of the SNS post, which was still being flooded with replies, went as follows.
Hello, this is A10 Studio. Today, we're excited to share news about a brand-new animation! After much thought, we decided to take on a variety of new challenges we've never attempted before. So naturally, we're very nervous ahead of its release. The title of the work we've poured our hearts into this time is Boy Friend: Remake. Does that title sound familiar? Yes, that's right!
[Boy Friend: Remake is based on the drama Boy Friend, which became a huge hit in Japan and is still being watched by many people even now! We have already begun adapting the original and moved into production, and we're currently speeding up the process. If everything goes according to plan, we should be able to show it to you in the second half of this year!]
After sharing the basic information about Boy Friend: Remake, A10 Studio immediately moved on to the next point.
That alone might already be exciting enough, but we have even more astonishing news! This time, it's about the voice cast. We've brought in someone truly incredible as the voice of the male lead in Boy Friend: Remake! The hottest actor in Japan right now! The actor dominating the trend rankings! It's Kang Woojin!! The very same man who played the male lead in the original Boy Friend will also take on the male lead role in Boy Friend: Remake! But that's not all…!
The long post uploaded by A10 Studio was packed with passionate, detailed information about Kang Woojin. Not only would he be voicing the male lead, but he would also be taking part in the animation's OST, and even the now much-talked-about piano performance was mentioned as part of what fans could look forward to.
To begin with, the idea of a Korean actor taking on a voice acting role in a Japanese animation was already something fresh and unusual.
But A10 Studio naturally shifted the subject and hinted that this was not the end of it.
[We also succeeded in casting actress Asami Sayaka, who shared that dramatic experience with Kang Woojin!]
It was confirmed that Asami Sayaka would appear as well. With two of the hottest names currently dominating Japanese social media now cast in the same project, Boy Friend: Remake had, from the very beginning, presented itself as a story wrapped in both warmth and a shocking twist.
Naturally, the more than thirty thousand comments were overflowing with excitement.
[This is seriously exciting!! My heart's pounding!]
[I never thought Kang Woojin and Sayaka would meet in the same work… their connection really continues.]
[Oh my god, Boy Friend!! I can't believe Boy Friend is being made into an animation! A10 is the best!!]
[So Kang Woojin's fan service for one person led to this? I absolutely have to watch it!]
Of course, that was only the beginning of the reaction. Since Kang Woojin had already been shaking up Japanese social media, public interest came pouring in explosively.
[Woojin on the OST? A piano performance too? Waiting for this is going to be torture…]
[Kang Woojin is seriously incredible. Honestly, quite a few Korean actors have advanced into Japan, but I think this is the first time I've seen someone rise to this level.]
[Waaah, so Kang Woojin is expanding from The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice all the way into animation now? He's popular, sure, but there have to be quite a lot of people who dislike that too, right?]
[This must be a huge gamble for A10, but at the very least, their promo marketing is a success.]
[If Boy Friend is the original, then does that mean Hwarin, the female lead, was cast too?]
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This phenomenon had come from the appearance of a single Instagram post. A10 Studio operated all three major Japanese SNS platforms, and they had uploaded the post simultaneously across every platform, including Twitter. The reaction on Twitter was even hotter than it was on Instagram.
An enormous number of likes, comments updating by the second, and endless shares.
The influence of #KangWoojin was overwhelming.
The already huge controversy that had been building since the early days of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice, combined with the recent incident involving Asami Sayaka, focused attention squarely on Boy Friend: Remake.
That information quickly spread through Japanese word of mouth and began slipping into everyday conversation.
"Did you see the new anime announcement from A10?? They're making one based on Boy Friend*! And Kang Woojin is voicing the male lead!"*
"Hehe, really? I loved Boy Friend* so much!"*
"Wait, I'll share A10's post with you."
Japan truly was an animation powerhouse. A surge of interest like this was anything but ordinary. If the online reaction was explosive, the offline response was no less intense. Through word of mouth, passed from hand to hand, it spread everywhere.
Internet broadcasts, YouTube, the entertainment industry, and the press.
『A10 announces it will animate Boy Friend and cast Kang Woojin as the male lead voice!』
Naturally, the news spread quickly through Japan's voice acting industry as well. Reactions there were mixed.
Some people were charmed by Kang Woojin, while others viewed him negatively. His voice acting debut was seen as an event in itself, but to Japanese voice actors, it also felt like a threat to their livelihood.
But this trend could not be stopped. It was like a tsunami.
At that moment in Japan, no matter what anyone said, Kang Woojin was the single hottest topic. It would not have been an exaggeration to call it unprecedented in the history of the Japanese entertainment industry. His influence was that enormous.
As a result—
『Boy Friend: Remake spreads rapidly across social media and instantly reclaims the No. 1 trend spot』
Boy Friend: Remake carved itself deeply into the minds of the Japanese public.
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At the same time.
In front of a karaoke bar in Kabukicho, a place lively at night but relatively quiet during the day, two men stood looking down toward the stairs leading underground. They were detectives. One of them, the top Japanese actor Kosaku Mana, had a cigarette in his mouth. More precisely, he was the man playing Yoshizawa Mochio in the film The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice, and he was grumbling in an irritable tone.
"It gives me the creeps."
His face still wore the same cold expression, visible beneath his navy lightweight padded jacket. The young detective standing beside Mochio let out a small sigh.
"Senpai, can't you at least hide how tired you look?"
"Why?"
"For a detective investigating a murder case, you look way too worn out."
"Does that matter? As long as I'm diligent, that's enough."
"Tch."
The detectives investigating the death of Konakayama Kinjo. A camera was filming them from the side. On the monitor Director Kyotaro was watching, the two actors appeared clearly. Mochio tossed away the cigarette butt he had just smoked and stretched lazily.
"Ah, what was the name again?"
The rookie detective took out his notebook and answered.
"We contacted Horinochi Ami, the owner of this karaoke bar, so she should be waiting for us soon."
"This was the last place Konakayama Kinjo was before he died, right?"
"Yes."
"Horinochi Ami—could she have been Kinjo's mistress?"
"I can't say for sure, but it's possible."
"They were classmates, right?"
"Yes, Kinjo and Ami. They went to the same school and seem to have stayed close ever since."
"······"
Looking irritated, Mochio scratched his head and pulled out a fresh cigarette.
"If it were you, who would you call right before you died?"
"Usually? The police."
"Right? But the last person Kinjo called wasn't the police or his wife. It was Ami. Why do you think that was?"
"Isn't that exactly what we came here to ask?"
"That's right. But as detectives, we need to come up with a few hypotheses first."
Mochio and the rookie detective had already finished investigating Kinjo. They knew everything about his overall life, his usual behavior, his family, his movements before death, and even his phone.
"But the stranger thing isn't why Kinjo called Ami. It's how he was even able to call Ami in the first place."
"Maybe he just caught a brief opportunity?"
Mochio blew out cigarette smoke and lightly smacked the junior detective on the head.
"Idiot. Kinjo was abducted, tied up, raped, and killed. There wasn't even a moment for him to catch some little opportunity. In other words, he was forced to call Ami."
"By Shutoku Misaki, you mean?"
At that, Mochio roughly flicked his cigarette to the ground and shrugged.
"Yeah. Or by an accomplice."
"Senpai, are you still thinking that? There was nothing at the scene except traces of Shutoku Misaki. The higher-ups are pushing us to close the case quickly because the evidence is clear…"
"If something feels strange, then it's strange."
"The problem is that it's not evidence. It's just your intuition."
"There's no murder motive between Kinjo and Shutoku. The investigation found no connection between the two. Shutoku's record is spotless too. For a first-time offender, wasn't the murder method far too elaborate? And if it was just a pleasure killing, the method was excessively brutal."
"Excessive?"
"Exactly. The whole thing feels too carefully scripted. The abduction, the homosexual assault, the provocative evidence and crime scene, even the suicide. It all feels staged to create a nationwide uproar."
"Hmm, well, a huge uproar already happened. That's exactly why the higher-ups are pushing so hard to wrap this up quickly."
Right at that moment—
A man passed by the two detectives standing in front of the karaoke bar. The camera caught him walking toward them from the front. Mochio, who had been staring at the rookie detective, glanced at the passing man.
He was an utterly ordinary-looking man.
Messy, unkempt hair. A blank face worn down by fatigue. An ordinary suit that looked like it had been borrowed off someone else. A bag slung over one shoulder. The man passed by the detectives casually. Watching his back as he walked away, Mochio lowered his eyes to his wristwatch.
"Two o'clock."
The rookie detective frowned.
"What?"
"What's a salaryman doing in Kabukicho?"
"He probably just came here to fool around."
"Long after lunch hour?"
"There are quite a lot of people like that. The type who prefer the daytime to the night."
"Lucky bastard. But why does he look like that?"
"What do you mean?"
Mochio slowly scratched at his chin. Then he briefly recalled the face of the man who had just passed by.
"How should I put it? His expression looked vacant."
"He's probably just tired."
The rookie detective sighed. He stepped first onto the stairs leading down to the underground karaoke bar.
"Anyway, let's go in."
"······"
Mochio, who had been staring toward the alley where the man had disappeared, ended up following his junior detective with a whatever sort of attitude. The camera captured the backs of the two detectives. Then it turned again toward the alley where the man had vanished.
Three seconds. Five seconds. Ten seconds.
And then—
The man who had disappeared at the end of the alley appeared again. The camera slowly moved toward him. The man's face on the monitor grew larger and larger. That man—or rather, Iyota Kiyoshi—murmured in a lifeless voice,
"Next."
A short silence followed, and then Director Kyotaro's cut came. It was judged okay, but they filmed the scene again from another angle. That scene was repeated about twice in total.
After that, the The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice team moved inside the karaoke bar.
It was a karaoke place with a fairly wide main hall and multiple rooms. The hall had the atmosphere of a typical drinking establishment, while the rooms were outfitted with karaoke machines. The The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice team settled into place inside the karaoke bar. Not long after, the assistant director shouted for the extras to get ready.
"Back to your positions!!"
About twelve extras filled the karaoke tables. Supporting actors playing staff members took positions at the counter and nearby bar area.
And then—
"······"
Kang Woojin appeared in an ordinary suit. Since they were shooting a past scene from before Kinjo died, it was not a direct continuation of the two detectives' scene.
Right before Director Kyotaro's signal—
Kang Woojin, wearing a shoulder bag like a typical office worker, was already fully immersed in the role of Iyota Kiyoshi. His face looked pale, weary, and entirely devoid of any striking features or individuality.
But that wasn't all.
'Whew—Kim Ryujin really is the better choice after all.'
Standing in front of the camera, Kang Woojin reached for Kim Ryujin from the film Exorcism. Of course, this was role integration. In the script, Kiyoshi needed a little extra acting in this scene. He was supposed to have a touch more tension than usual. But somehow, it felt flat. That was Kang Woojin's conclusion after analyzing the script.
So he decided to merge Kiyoshi with Kim Ryujin.
Soon, Director Kyotaro's voice rang out from in front of the monitors.
"Stand by—"
At once, the bright lights inside the karaoke bar dimmed by half and shifted into a softer glow. Gentle music began playing, and the extras started talking to each other like real customers. Glasses of alcohol passed from hand to hand.
At the same time—
"Hi—action."
Kiyoshi, dressed in his suit, appeared in front of the camera that was capturing the full scene from the hall entrance. He walked forward without rushing, but without any particular energy either. His face was devoid of life.
"······"
Woojin—or rather, Kiyoshi—casually swept his eyes across the hall, then walked toward the bar area where two waiters stood and various expensive bottles of alcohol were displayed. This scene was part of the investigation into Horinochi Ami, one of the "tasks" before Kinjo's death.
Naturally, Kiyoshi had arrived when Ami was not there.
He had absolutely no intention of showing his face to her. Ami was scheduled to arrive two hours later. Of course, this visit was not merely for investigation. Kiyoshi—or rather, Kang Woojin as "the stranger"—had come to collect clues for Ami's grim sacrifice.
"Welcome."
The greeting came from the male and female waiters polishing glasses. Kang Woojin sat down in front of the male waiter in uniform. The camera filmed his blank face and the bar from the side. The young, handsome waiter set down the glass he had been wiping and asked politely,
"How can I help you?"
For such a handsome face, his voice was surprisingly low. At that moment, a smile suddenly spread across Woojin's pale, drained face. It was Kim Ryujin's distinctive tired smile. But his eyes still held no life. Kang Woojin pulled a pack of cigarettes from inside his jacket and raised his voice slightly.
"Shall we start with a beer?"
The male waiter bowed his head.
"Understood."
As he turned away, the expression on the handsome waiter's face looked as though he were thinking, Just another broke salaryman. Even so, he did not lose his manners. He placed a simple snack and a glass of beer in front of Woojin, and Woojin took a refreshing sip.
"Ah, that's nice. It really helps wash away the fatigue of a long day."
"If you try the drinks we have here, you'll feel even better."
The handsome waiter recommended a more expensive drink. At that moment, the camera zoomed in on Woojin's face, and Kang Woojin spoke to the male waiter with a faintly surprised expression.
"You look familiar. Could you come a little closer?"
"Me? Really?"
"Yes."
Though slightly hesitant, the male waiter approached Woojin with confidence. Woojin leaned in and met the waiter's gaze directly. His smile stood in complete contrast to his dry, lifeless eyes. The waiter felt goosebumps break out all over his body.
'······What the hell. Why do his eyes look like that?'
This was not character acting. It was the actor himself becoming something else entirely. It was the kind of acting the waiter had never seen before. Ignoring the reaction, Kang Woojin suddenly pointed a finger at him.
Then he whispered,
"Ah, right. You're Horinochi Ami's lover, aren't you?"