Chapter 99: Repeatedly Suffering a Setback

  A group of staff rushed over, and on the side of the studio, they replaced the wall that was damaged by Mitsu Uehara's collision. On this side, the soft cushion that Mitsu Uehara fell onto was removed, and in its place, a square slot was set up, inside which was placed a layer of flour with a thickness of about 1 cm.

  "It's too white and bad," said Mitamura Yasuko, who only then realized that because she was the first to come out, the production team's treatment of her was still quite good.

  After making preparations, Okamura raised a finger to signal Shizuko Mihara to be quiet, and then they heard the voice of a man coming from afar.

  "Good work, good work." The usual greeting, and with this sound, Mitsuo Kō also knew who the man in front of him was.

  "Takeeda Shinji!" She gazed at the flour on the doorway, excitedly waiting for the effect after this man fell.

  Who is Takeda Shinji? In '97, he co-starred with Kaneno Miho in a TV drama called "Hold Your Hand Lightly", but this was not a weekly broadcast, it was an annual one, and the five episodes were spread out over five years. As for the content of the show, it's basically a very warm and delicate piece.

  In '99, he starred in Nagisa Oshima's "Taboo", playing the role of Toshiya Kogoku and winning the Best Supporting Actor award at the Japanese Academy Awards.

  This guy... is really handsome.

  In the Japanese entertainment industry, two superstars Takuya Kimura and Masaharu Fukuyama are not to be mentioned, but if we only talk about being handsome without considering popularity, there aren't many people who can stand on the same starting line as them. Among those, Takashi Kashiwabara is one of them, and Shinji Takeda may be another one.

  Especially now in 2000, at the age of 28, he is the most mature and handsome, with the most masculine charm. As soon as he appears, all the women on the scene will feel like the lights have brightened a little. By the way, he also had a romance with Kojima Makiko from the second section of the general affairs department, so when he worked with Kojima Makiko on "Iron Chef" in '99, it was like facing his brother's ex-girlfriend for years. But in Japan, this is not a big deal...

  As for the following decades, Takeda Shinji's popularity gradually declined. By 2010, few people in China knew him anymore. Those who recognized him again were mostly because he was with Takahashi Nao and both were regular members of Kinki Kids' variety show "Dōmoto Kyōdai" as saxophonists.

  Takeda Shinji has been a regular on this show for 99 years, so it's only natural that he appears here too. And waiting for his handsome face to be covered in flour is absolutely an incredibly delightful thing for Mitsuko Kuniyoshi.

  Finally, after the host on that side finished reading out the question. Kōbayashi Yasuko heard the sound of a man running to the entrance with footsteps, and then...

  Rip! The classroom door, which looked like a wooden board but was actually just a thick paper with texture, was kicked open again, and Takeda Shinji burst in!

  Then... Pfft!

  The handsome twenty-eight-year-old man fell into the flour all over his body.

  Ahahahaha... Everyone including Mitsuhiro Higashikokubaru, Takashi Okamura and all the staff on this side of the classroom burst out laughing. The force of Takehiro Mutada's pounce was not small at all, and the flour was splashed all over his face and body.

  "Huh? Huh?!?!?" Takeeda Shinji first lifted his head, discovering a scene that was completely different from what he had imagined. Then he finally came to, realizing the state he was in now.

  "What the...!? Not that sports program!?! What is this?! Eh?! Ah! I get it! Exams! Is it really necessary?! Am I a female idol or something?!" Takeda shouted in rapid fire.

  "It's here! A barrage of jokes!" said Takashi Okamura.

  "Huh?!"

  Mitsuru Akiyoshi was laughing uncontrollably at this point, the handsome man's face and hair covered in flour made her extremely happy.

  Playing pranks on people is actually a very enjoyable thing, as long as it's not too excessive, it can be a lot of fun. That's why Japan has always had many harmless prank shows, some of which seem quite dangerous at first glance. Nowadays, this act of putting flour on the floor is just a basic and simple prank.

  Because they like to tease too much, Japan even has a type of "teased comedian" led by comedians such as Tsuruoka Ryota and Kanno Eiko. Such comedians are often more natural and have a silly personality that is somewhat pure-hearted. Only people with this kind of personality can have a good temper. Moreover, after being teased, everyone feels very happy.

  But others, especially actors and singers, are less likely to be pranked as they need to take care of their image and rarely do such things. Takashi Takeda is the same, but precisely because of this, people actually hope to prank him, and the more someone manages their image well in daily life, the more it will delight others when they get pranked.

  Takeda Shinji got up again after being beaten by Okamura and sat back in his own seat, while the staff hurried to clean up the place that had just been messed up.

  This time, however, a lot of flour was splashed out, so it took a good while to restore the scene to its original state.

  And when everything was restored, the new things that were brought up made both Mitsuru Hikarigaoka and Tadashi Takeda exclaim in surprise.

  This time, what was spread on the ground wasn't flour, but a black and sticky substance. The two of them could see clearly that it was a large piece of ink being transported over!

  "Awesome! This is getting intense!" said Akiho Mitani.

  Soon, another regular member of the program team appeared. This time it was Koji Kato, a person who... has already transformed into a host in the later period and only occasionally reveals his true mad dog nature, such as kicking over Mayu Watanabe's head on a variety show.

  The ink is more fun than the flour, a white and clean old man, after falling down and getting up again, looks like a black man. When Kato Hirosi fell down, his whole body was covered in black, he looked around at the cameras and lights, then looked at his own black clothes, scratched his black face, and exclaimed: "No wonder they dressed me up as an American basketball player but didn't give me black makeup, it was waiting for me here!"

  His words triggered another burst of laughter from the audience.

  After the three of them left, it took much less time to restore the scene to its original state. Although the dark ink was more frightening than flour, the ink splattered on things was rarely everywhere, and it also made everyone's cleanup easier.

  After Katō Kōji, although Hikaru had already been surprised twice, the fourth item brought up as a trap still made her completely lose it.

  There were about two square meters of wooden board covered with a sticky, semi-solid, transparent color that was not flowing at all, and it was clear at a glance that this thing was actually strong glue!

  The strong adhesive used in TV shows is relatively safe. Although it's called a strong adhesive, its adhesion is not that great, but the effect is very exaggerated. After sticking and lifting the stuck part, there will be very exaggerated threads appearing, giving people a very sticky feeling. However, if the person wants to, they can usually leave the adhesive easily. As for the subsequent cleaning, it's also very simple, using another harmless and odorless agent can completely neutralize this adhesive.

  "This... who is this thing prepared for?" Akira Mito and others asked loudly.

  Soon, a voice came from the other side, that man's voice was too familiar, it was just Takashi Okamura's partner, another member of 99, Hiroshi Yabe.

  "Even his own people are being treated so harshly." Someone couldn't help but complain about Okamura.

  Yes, it seems that this time, the entire production team has thrown away their dignity. Soon after, Hiroshi Yabe was attacked with glue!

  The whole person fell on the glue, he tried to lift his body, but brought up the template on the ground together, that comical look made the entire studio fall into joy again.

  After Yabe Hiroshi, the atmosphere of the prank suddenly dropped a lot, and the soft cushion that Mitsuru Kōji had thrown was brought up again.

  "Is the soft cushion back again? Who's next? Can't ruin the image?" The crowd speculated.