I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 310

While it was night in Korea and Japan, it was dawn in LA. The time was around 6 AM. Kang Woo-jin was, of course, in a suite at a five-star Beverly Hills hotel in LA. He came out of the bathroom, his hair still damp from the water, as he had a schedule early in the morning. He had an album recording session with Miley Cara in about an hour.

“Craving ramen at dawn?”

As Woo-jin, without any pretense, muttered, his phone on the wide living room table vibrated.

-Vrrrum.

It was a DM. The sender was Uramatsu Mihuyu, a top Japanese actress from ‘Familiar Strangers,’ who had also appeared on Woo-jin’s YouTube channel. The message was simple: a photo of herself watching TV and a short comment.

-(Photo)

-My Guy Friend: Remake just started, watching it now!

Woo-jin checked the time and murmured,

“Ah, it seems like it started.”

It meant that ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ had premiered. Of course, Kang Woo-jin was aware of this. He was also looking forward to it. However, due to the time difference and being in LA, it was difficult to watch the live broadcast. He was just checking his acquaintances’ messages or the public’s reactions while carrying out his own work.

“Tsk, I’m curious, but there’s nothing I can do.”

Kang Woo-jin couldn’t even attend the test screening of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’ In other words, he hadn’t seen the final product. Still, he could watch ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ when it was released on Korean anime OTT [Over-the-Top, streaming] platforms.

‘I’ll just have to wait a few days.’

Then, Kang Woo-jin left the hotel. He had to go straight to Miley Cara’s recording studio. The pre-meeting and planning had been completed yesterday, so it was safe to say that today was the start of the full-fledged album recording.

The music video shoot was scheduled for around the time the recording was mostly finished.

As Kang Woo-jin got into the van waiting in front of the hotel early in the morning, in Japan, where it was night, several people related to Woo-jin were watching the anime. It was ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ with its first episode airing. This included the voice actors who participated in the production with Kang Woo-jin, the staff from ‘A10 Studio,’ and the actors from ‘Familiar Strangers,’ along with hundreds of other staff members.

In particular, some of the lead actors from ‘Familiar Strangers’ gathered for dinner and watched ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ on a tablet. About four people, including Mana Kosaku and Ogimoto Yasuta.

“Oh! This is fun, isn’t it? Am I the only one who finds it fun?”

“No? I find it fun too! Even if Woo-jin wasn’t a voice actor, it’s genuinely well-made, isn’t it?”

“Especially, the animation direction is amazing. Is this really A10? They’ve meticulously brought to life even the parts that could have been easily overlooked.”

“The original Korean work was a hit, and it seems like the adaptation is just as good? All the characters are charming. But why is Kang Woo-jin so good at voice acting too?”

“…I heard Woo-jin sang the OP [opening] song too? Wow- the voice tone sync is like- it’s like a veteran voice actor is doing it!”

There were also many people who had crossed paths with Kang Woo-jin in Japan in the past. For example, those from the Japanese talk show ‘Ametalk Show!’ where Woo-jin had made his only appearance.

“What… is this? Woo-jin’s voice acting quality is too good? It’s far beyond the level of someone who practiced, isn’t it?”

“Huh- this is going to be a huge topic tomorrow. There were quite a few talks about him being cast as a voice actor just because of his popularity, right? But… Woo-jin is so good that other professional voice actors don’t even stand out.”

“The anime quality is also top-notch. A10 really put their lives on the line, huh?”

Unlike usual, many people gathered in front of their TVs. Of course, not only people related to Kang Woo-jin but also the general public in Japan. One thing was certain: more people than usual were watching.

The runtime of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ wasn’t very long.

About 25 minutes, including the OP and ED [ending].

It was a time that was both long and short, but its impact on the Japanese anime industry was not small. This was evident from the attention of the Japanese media and public opinion, as well as numerous anime production companies.

Anyway, the premiere of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ the first episode, ended around 10:40 PM.

From this time, various SNS in Japan gained momentum.

[@MU_iiii89]

[My Guy Friend: Remake is so fun!!?? It’s not just a rom-com, it’s mixed with music too! Even the OP and ED are great!! And Kang Woo-jin’s voice acting is insane!!??]

Talk about ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ began to overflow.

Back in LA.

As the first episode of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ was smoothly broadcast in Japan, all Kang Woo-jin could do in LA, where it was early morning, was to check Japanese SNS and media. So, he rode the wave of searches while moving to Miley Cara’s recording studio.

-Swish.

Of course, he had to do it discreetly, without being too obvious. It was like maintaining a certain persona while subtly extracting the necessary information. Although LA had a different time zone from Japan and Korea, it wasn’t difficult to check the articles.

There were already many articles about ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ in the Japanese media.

『The first broadcast of the much-talked-about “My Guy Friend: Remake,” Kang Woo-jin’s voice acting shines, contrary to concerns』

Naturally, there was a lot of talk about Kang Woo-jin, the ‘Issue King.’ However, the quality of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ itself was also being mentioned quite a bit.

『”My Guy Friend: Remake,” with Kang Woo-jin as the voice actor, has captured animation, music, and direction!』

With an indifferent face, Woo-jin recalled the videos of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ he had seen during the voice recording.

‘Well, whatever- the animation and stuff did seem pretty amazing.’

Although he didn’t watch anime often, the animation of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ felt quite detailed and meticulously crafted. The quality was perfect, from the character movements to the backgrounds. Even Kang Woo-jin, who didn’t know much about anime, could tell, so it would be even more obvious to the Japanese public, who were at an expert level.

Next, Woo-jin accessed Japanese SNS and communities.

Again, it wasn’t difficult to find posts related to ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’ Just typing ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ in the search bar brought up a flood of related posts. Most of them were within the last 30 minutes and were still popping up.

-Wasn’t it better than expected? I started watching with some skepticism, but I got hooked before I knew it.

-It’s not even about whether Kang Woo-jin is good or bad at voice acting, is it? It was at a level where it was fun because Kang Woo-jin was there.

-wwwwwwwwww It’s fun!!

-Wow!! But!! How does Kang Woo-jin even know how to do voice acting!!??

-The animation was the best among this season’s anime, and so was the music. I thought it was just another rom-com anime, but the story was surprisingly deep, which surprised me.

-I was going to hate-watch it, but I ended up focusing on it, and I’m not the only one.

-That’s right! I was also going to hate on Kang Woo-jin’s voice acting, but I ended up watching it in awe! Isn’t this why the viewership ratings are going to be higher??

-Most people who aren’t Kang Woo-jin’s fans probably watched it to hate on it.

-Me too… I thought it was bad at first… but now I want to see the second episode soon….

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It was noisy. Kang Woo-jin browsed SNS and communities for about 10 minutes before putting down his phone. There was no particular change in his expression. He had heard from ‘A10 Studio’ and Choi Sung-gun that, as much as it was a hot topic, there would be many people among the Japanese public who would have 100% negative feelings.

‘Well, that’s natural.’

It wasn’t a big deal for Woo-jin. Whether he was being criticized or not, as long as the viewership ratings were good, that was all that mattered, right? His mentality wasn’t shaken at all. From a results-oriented perspective, the Japanese public opinion that was going to criticize him had been reversed.

Around this time.

-Screech!

The large van carrying Kang Woo-jin stopped. They had arrived at Miley Cara’s recording studio, located about an hour away from the hotel. Despite it being early morning, Cara was waiting in the enormous studio. Her long blonde hair was down, and she wore a hat over it.

Cara’s expression, surrounded by a dozen staff members, was cold, but her tone was gentle.

“Oh, Mr. Woo-jin. You’re here early.”

“It just happened.”

“As I said at yesterday’s meeting, today is the start of the full-fledged recording, how about some coffee before we properly begin?”

“Sounds good.”

And so, Kang Woo-jin and Miley Cara’s album work officially began.

12 hours.

That was the time Woo-jin spent in the recording studio. From early morning until the afternoon, Kang Woo-jin was immersed in recording with Cara. Conversely, in Korea, it was past dawn and morning had arrived.

On the 13th, around 10 AM.

There was a change on the Korean OTT platform specializing in Japanese animation. The first episode of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ which had aired in Japan yesterday, was updated. ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ had been heavily promoted for days.

『’My Guy Friend: Remake’ lands in Korea and immediately takes the top spot on the OTT platform! Is it Kang Woo-jin’s power?』

It immediately took the number one spot on the OTT platform rankings. This was proof that many domestic viewers had played ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’ And comments on the OTT platform started pouring in instantly.

-Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations because there were so many strong works in this third quarter, but lolololol this is so damn fun lolololol

-I agree, even if you take out all the national pride, the insert songs are amazing, and the direction is so unique lolololol

-The animation is insane

-It’s boring, what are you talking about

-Honestly, Kang Woo-jin’s voice acting was good lolololol there was nothing annoying

-Personally, the camera angles and sound were amazing, and the OP ate up all the works in this season

-You’re overreacting lolololol ugh, this national pride is disgusting lolololol

-Is it really Kang Woo-jin who sang the OP??

-↑Yeah, it is

-No… wow… the OP is so good… it could aim for the Oricon charts [Japanese music sales chart]

-The OP of My Guy Friend: Remake is already spreading on YouTube in Japan

Evaluations poured in from various perspectives, but their interests all converged on one point.

-Did the viewership ratings come out in Japan??

It was the official viewership rating of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’

-Not yet lolololol but the competition is so strong that even 5% would be a good result lolololol

At the same time. Tokyo, Japan.

In a meeting room at ‘A10 Studio,’ the production company of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ familiar faces had gathered. Of course, this included the director and staff of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ as well as executives from the production company.

There were at least 20 people gathered.

“······”

“······”

Everyone had a serious expression. Interestingly, everyone’s gaze was fixed on one person. It was the female team leader of the planning team who was in charge of the overall handling of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’ She was also pacing back and forth, looking down at her phone screen, seemingly anxious.

Around this time.

-Swish.

Sakuiichi Mahiro, the director of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ swallowed hard and asked.

“Has the announcement not been made yet?”

The female team leader nodded.

“No, not yet.”

Some of the ‘A10 Studio’ executives, who had let out small sighs, joined the conversation.

“This is driving me crazy, why is the announcement so late today.”

“······What was the highest viewership rating so far?”

“‘Magic Rotation’ 9.1%, followed by ‘Strongest Spy’ 8.8%”

The two new works of the third quarter, considered to be the most anticipated, had already taken the 1st and 2nd places last week. Although they didn’t exceed 10%, they had achieved a respectable score of 9%, and the media was praising them. Below 3rd place, the viewership ratings ranged from 5% to 1%.

“Hmm- I’m not even hoping for 10%. It’s enough if we get into the mid-upper ranks with around 5%.”

“It’s going to be hard to exceed 10% these days, but we should get at least 5%. There was a lot of buzz about it anyway.”

“…It would be great if we could surpass ‘Detective Conan’ and rise to 3rd place.”

At that moment.

-♬♪

The female team leader’s phone rang. At the same time, everyone in the meeting room turned their attention to her. Soon, the female team leader, who had swallowed hard, put her phone to her ear with slightly trembling hands.

“Yes, this is me. Please speak.”

Her eyes widened as she heard something from the person on the other end of the phone.

“Wh-what did you say??!”

Everyone was surprised by the female team leader’s reaction. But they didn’t say anything. Soon, the female team leader, who had finished the call, slowly lowered her phone. Then, with a dazed look, she uttered a quiet Japanese sentence to everyone gathered in the meeting room.

“…It’s a disaster.”

Meanwhile, in LA.

Unlike Korea, where it was morning, LA was heading towards night. Kang Woo-jin, who had been immersed in recording since early morning and was wearing a hoodie, had just gotten into Miley Cara’s huge van.

-Thump!

After finishing their work for the day, Woo-jin and Cara’s team were moving for dinner. Of course, Cara was in charge of the directions, so it was clear that the place would be top-notch. Anyway, three huge vans departed at the same time. Among them, Woo-jin was in the front car. The blonde Cara and Kang Woo-jin were sitting facing each other.

Cara, who had taken off her hat and swept back her blonde hair, spoke first.

“Aren’t you tired?”

Kang Woo-jin responded with his persona to her unique cold voice.

“Not really.”

“…I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look tired. It was the same when I went to Korea last time and today too.”

“Is that so?”

“Do you have good stamina? Or is it because you manage it with exercise?”

‘It’s because of the subspace,’ he couldn’t say, so Woo-jin vaguely evaded the question.

“I have my own method.”

“What is it?”

“It’s hard to say since it’s my own.”

“Oh- that’s the first time I’ve heard that answer.”

“It’s the first time I’ve said it.”

Cara, who had already grasped Kang Woo-jin’s character, chuckled.

“So, did that Japanese animation do well?”

Cara already knew about ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ and Kang Woo-jin answered indifferently.

“I don’t know. I haven’t received any news yet.”

At that moment.

-Vrrrum.

Kang Woo-jin’s phone vibrated briefly. It was a message, and the sender was Choi Sung-gun, who was in the car behind. The content of the message he sent was simple: a viewership rating chart. But it wasn’t from Korea. It was from Japan.

-[Viewership Ratings]

1. My Guy Friend: Remake/ TBE/ 14.8%

2. Magic Rotation/ Fuji ETV/ 9.1%

3. Strongest Spy/ Tokyo ETV/ 8.8%

4. Detective Conan/ NHM/ 6.2%

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Woo-jin, who had been indifferently looking down at the fresh viewership rating chart he had just received, raised his head. Then, he murmured indifferently to the blonde Cara across from him.

“It got first place.”

It was a low tone without any emotion.

End