How It All Began Part 3

Koda's POV

"What?" I was too stunned by the news I heard from Kaito.

"Yes, man!" He joyfully exclaimed. "You got the role of the main character!"

I still can't believe this. This was a dream role of mine ever since I get to audition for the role. Now my dream came true. I get to play the role of my favorite manga!

"Koda?” I snapped out of it. “You still there?”

“Ahh, yeah yeah,” I reply. “Heard you loud and clear.”

“Okay, good. Make sure you have a clear schedule next Friday because you’ll be busy during that day. 9 AM will be the table read, and 7 PM will be the cast party.”

“Okay, okay,” I reply. “Thanks, Kaito.”

“No problem. I have to get back to class now, see you later.”

“Yeah, see you later.” I hung up the call.

I was still in bed, so I grabbed the nearest pillow and screamed. This feels so unreal. I actually got the role! My first ever major role in a film, and from my favorite manga! I can’t help but feel excited.

*****

The table read went great! The rest of the cast, along with the writer, director, and the casting director, was present in the table read. They were nodding as we deliver the lines that were on the script and said that everything is already perfect and that we were ready for rehearsals.

Later that day, around 7 PM, I went to the cast party. It was just a casual party so we didn’t go all out with the outfits. I just wore my favorite outfit, a teal T-shirt, and above it is an unbuttoned red and black checkered polo, along with my blue pants and red sneakers.

I talked to the rest of the cast because getting along with everyone will help me do my best for this film. Some of them were pretty unknown like me, while some are big-time like I can’t even believe that I’m standing in the same room as them!

Talking to people actually took a lot of my energy, so I just sat down near the food table and scrolled through my phone. The first thing I see in my Twitter feed is my idol and my sole purpose of acting, Jun Kanno. He did an interview recently for a movie that he recently starred in. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seemed like he’s not his usual self. In his previous interviews, he’s always cheerful and he seems to shine brightly every time he’s in the frame. Now, he seems like he lost the shine to his personality. It’s not the same as it was before. Maybe the effects of growing up?

As I scroll through my Twitter feed, I hear a voice of a girl call out to me. “Hello! Can I sit beside you?”

I look up to see that it was Ena Fujita, my leading lady for the film. I think she’s 22 years old. She has long brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She wears a white shirt with a cat doodle printed on it and a pastel pink skirt that’s knee-length.

“Sure,” I reply with a smile and continued to scroll through my Twitter feed.

“Thanks!” After an enthused reply, She sat next to me and drank juice from her cup.

We both just sat here scrolling through our phones. I just started using Twitter last year, so I’m still understanding how things go in this app. There’s this thing called “Stan Twitter”, people that belong to a community, like fans of a certain actor, voice actor, movie, TV/Manga series, etc., and they fan over these certain topics and admire them in every way, and some people’s way of admiration are…. Too spicy for me to handle. These fancams that they make actually look nice, though I don’t want to end up on the spicy side of Stan Twitter.

“So…” She broke the silence. “You must be Kodaka Iida, right?”

I look at her. “Yes. You can call me Koda.”

“Ena Fujita!” She smiles and reaches for a handshake.

I accept the handshake. She then says, “Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too!” I told her back.

“I haven’t seen you anywhere before, is this your first role?”

“Uhm, major role, yeah. I did 2 supporting roles and a couple of commercials before this.”

“I see,” She says. “How does it feel to book your first major role?”

“Honestly, it feels exciting!” I put my phone down. “The manga that the movie was based on was my favorite manga. I would read and wait for every update in my free time and breaks while in school and acting class.”

“Interesting… I didn’t know it was based on a manga. Is it good?”

“Oh definitely!”

And I went on about telling her what the manga is all about without giving away any spoilers. I feel like I’ve talked too much, so I turned my energy down a little. Plus, we just met so I think I’ll tone it down for now.

She chuckles. “You really speak highly of it. I’ll definitely read it!”

“You definitely should!” I’m still excited about talking about my favorite manga. “Plus, it’ll help with your role for the film.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right! I’ll read it sometime this week then.”

This conversation I’m having is pretty fun. Though I feel like I was only talking about myself, so I changed the topic.

“So Ena, I’ve watched a couple of your TV Shows and movies, and can I ask how long have you been acting?”

“Well, I started off as a model for clothing when I was around 15 years old. I didn’t really consider acting until a casting director asked me to guest star in this TV show for an episode. I fell in love with it so I decided to keep on going and here I am!”

‘I see,” I say. “That’s amazing!”

“How about you, Koda?” She asks me. “I know you’re fairly new to the scene, but what got you into acting?”

“Well,” I began to recall. “When I was 10 years old, I had to stay at home because I was sick. I was watching this show and I saw this kid whose acting is really good! I kept watching the show he was in even after I was sick. One time, I get to catch an interview he was in, and the words that he had said really got to me, and thought, why not try acting? I got nothing to lose.”

She nods. “I see, I see, that’s good! May I ask who this actor was?”

“Jun Kanno, I replied.

“Oh, him! I know Junno!”

“Junno?” I ask.

“Oh, that’s his nickname! Everyone calls him Junno, he prefers it if we call him that.”

“Oh, I see,” I nod. This is an interesting fact that I didn’t know. I mean, even Twitter doesn’t know this. “Have you worked with him a couple of times now?”

“I worked with him two times before, both TV shows. The first time was 8 years ago, and the second time was 3 years ago.”

There’s a 5-year gap in between the time they’ve worked together. I wonder how he’s like while working….

“Though, I must say,” She continues. “In between those years, Junno has changed drastically, and not in a good way.”

So I’m not the only one who noticed this…”In what way if I may ask?”

“Well, when we first worked together, he’s super cheerful and playful with the rest of the cast and crew. He always smiles and he’s always working hard to perfect his lines and scenes. 5 years later, we got a chance to work again, but he seemed different. His previous energy seemed to have been drained from him. He still works hard, but he seemed… dull and depressed. He doesn’t seem to smile anymore, and if he does, it feels forced. He would immediately go home after shoots and rehearsals, and that’s unlikely of him because previously, he would ask anyone from the cast and crew if we wanted to eat outside.”

That’s what I also noticed, but I didn't expect it to be this. “Do you have any idea why?”

“I think it has something to do with Kuro Koizumi,” She replies.

That name… I know it. “You mean, that actor that took his own life?”

“So you’ve heard?”

“Yeah,” I knew about it because I followed everything related to Jun Kanno, and he was one of them. “He starred alongside Jun Kanno in a BL series that aired 3 years ago. Days after the last episode aired, it was reported that he died in his bathtub. The scene was… too much.”

There was tension in the air at the moment. I wish I hadn’t asked. I remember hearing about this and it was too depressing. He was too young. Nobody knew what happened or what pushed him to do it.

“All right everyone!” The director called out. “Gather here!”

The tension was gone now that we were called. Ena and I looked at each other and nodded. We stood up and approached the circle that formed.

*****

Rehearsals went smoothly. Everything that's rehearsal was done in a rehearsal room that the film company let us use. We did everything there from practicing lines to most of the movements. The movie also has action scenes in it, so we rehearsed everything there as well. The director asked me if I know how to fight, and I actually do. It was part of my acting classes. I showed the director some of my moves and he was impressed, so he let me do the fights myself, while some stunts like the scenes where I ride the motorcycle in a chase are all done by my stunt double.

I was nervous during the time of shoots because it is my first ever being the main role, and from a famous manga!

We would do some blockings first before we actually get dressed and do the scene. We would retake some scenes because it is part of the shoot. We make mistakes so we had to do more takes than one. At the end of the day, we still get it done.

The rehearsal and shoot took us 9 months, including the editing and the photoshoot for the movie poster and for the film promotional. It was an exhausting experience, but fun! I got bruises in a couple of areas of my body, especially since I did all my action scenes, but it’s fine. This is part of the experience!

What followed was photoshoots for the magazines. Since our film is almost here, Ena and I have been invited to model for magazines and help promote our film. Also what followed were interviews and additional shoots for promotional purposes. Interviews were a first to me, so I was pretty nervous, but I got used to it quickly. I may have exhibited fan behavior because every time I am asked why I started acting, I would talk about Jun Kanno. I can’t help it, he’s my idol and my inspiration, so I feel like I owe everything to him.

Another additional month of work but again, it was so much fun.

*****

I cannot believe it.

The movie did better than I expected! It was a box office hit! It did so well that the following month the movie would premiere in different countries as well!

Throughout the first week of the premiere, my Twitter followers jumped from 100k to 800k! This feels so surreal! I made sure to thank everyone for following me and supporting me and the rest of the cast.

This resulted in me getting more interviews! I am so overwhelmed by everything but I am beyond happy about everything. The film’s success, the increase of my followers, and my exposure! I truly believe that things will get better from here.

I just got home from an interview. I looked at the clock. 4:07 PM. It’s still early, and Kaito usually arrives home around 5:00 because he’s in a club at his university. I just grabbed a bottle of water and sat on the couch. I drank the water and thought to myself, man this is pretty tiring huh. Well, it’s worth it. It has been a month since the film has premiered and I am still not done with the interviews. They have been fun though.

As I relax, the door suddenly opened. It was Kaito, and he was catching his breath.

“Jeez, Kaito!” I had a hand in my chest. “You scared the hell out of me!”

“Koda…” He’s still catching his breath. “I got…. News….”

It looked like he ran instead of taking the elevator. We live on the 12th floor, what was this man thinking?

I quickly grabbed a bottle of water and gave it to him “What is it?”

“J&J Entertainment,” He says after he chugged half of the bottle. “They want you.”

My eyes grew wide. “WHAT?!”

“J&J ENTERTAINMENT!” He repeats, but he yelled at this time. “THEY WANT YOU!”

“Okay, don't yell,” I whispered. “We have neighbors!”

“Sorry.”

“But are you for real?”

“Yes, they emailed me earlier after class. They said that you should reach out to them immediately so you could talk about it in full detail.”

And I thought things couldn’t get any more exciting! J&J Entertainment is one of the biggest talent agencies here in Japan. It is said that once you’ve signed with them, you’ll easily get more roles. Plus, Jun Kanno is signed with J&J!

“Alright, give me the number,” I say to Kaito. He nods and types on his phone.

Later that day, I did call them. They talked to me about joining their agency. They laid out the benefits of joining them: they are always on the lookout for auditions, so if they do receive information, they would immediately let the talents in the agency know. We are free to come over to the agency anytime we like and use the facilities there, like the rehearsal rooms, gym, etc., anytime we want. There’s a lounge and a kitchen there, so we can also use it if we want to make content for our personal channels and social media. They also said that if I don’t have a manager, they can provide one for me, though that won't be necessary since they contacted Kaito, who is my manager.

Honestly, these are such good offers and services. J&J is actually a good agency. I agreed to their offer and asked me to come over to the agency for a proper signing.

Over the past year, a lot has happened to me. Everything that I've been working hard for is starting to pay off. I can’t wait for what the future holds for me.

*****

(Author's note in the comments section)