Entertainment: You're asked to make a graduation project, but you're asked to film Ultrama

Chapter 125 A New Radiance! Dyna's Preparation

The conclusion of "Ultraman Seven: Project Origin" swept through the entire Xia Kingdom, Japan, and even half of the Southeast Asian film and television industry like a storm.

The resounding declaration "I am an Earthling" not only brought tears to the eyes of countless viewers, but also sparked a wave of "anti-war and reflection" in the international arena in Asia.

Especially among tokusatsu fans, Gu Nan's name is revered as a faith by countless moviegoers.

Of course, some radical Japanese right-wingers wanted to send razor blades, but they were met with fierce criticism from more rational fans.

But while the outside world was bustling with noise and commotion, the atmosphere inside the conference room of Light Chaser Animation Studios was unusually relaxed, even a little excited.

Gu Nan sat at the head of the table, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

Chen Bo held the newly completed financial statements in his hands, his face beaming with joy.

To be honest, he never expected Seven to have such a late-blooming talent.

After the finale of Project Origin ended, it unexpectedly experienced a second spring, with its data surging dramatically in just a few days.

Su Zhe and Xia Youwei sat together, both looking expectant. Zhang Zhao, on the other hand, had huge dark circles under his eyes, clearly having just crawled out of the post-production hell of "Seven," but his eyes were still fervent.

"We'll talk about the celebration party for Seven later."

Gu Nan tapped the table, and the projection screen behind him instantly switched.

The serious and deep red face that originally belonged to Ultraman Seven has disappeared, and in its place is a brand new giant in red, blue and silver, full of power and dynamic beauty!

His head crystal has a unique forward-facing design, and the colorful timer on his chest shines brightly. Although he still has a similar shadow to Tiga, his temperament is completely different.

If Ultraman Tiga represents divine perfection and Seven represents cool, calculating thought, then the first impression this giant gives is—passion!

Reckless!

It even carries a hint of untamed wildness.

Especially this "American-style spiky" hairstyle.

He looks very "badass".

"This is ours..."

Chen Bo's eyes widened. "A new Ultraman?"

"That's right."

Gu Nan's lips curled up slightly as he uttered the name that would soon resound throughout this parallel world: "Ultraman Dyna."

After this statement, the entire room fell silent for a second, before erupting into a heated discussion.

"Dyna?"

"It sounds like it's derived from 'Dynamic'?"

The props team leader reacted immediately, adjusting his glasses, "This design is really impactful!"

Looking at the concept art on the screen, Xia Youwei astutely pointed out the key point: "Director Gu, this design style... especially the patterns and color scheme, feels very similar to Ultraman Tiga, doesn't it?"

Su Zhe nodded. As the "original Tiga," he was the most qualified to speak on the matter: "Indeed, especially the crystal on his forehead and the chest lamp, it's almost like Tiga's younger brother or... junior?"

Gu Nan snapped his fingers: "bingo! Su Zhe, you got it right."

He stood up, placed his hands on the table, and stared intently: "Although Seven was successful, it was, after all, a co-production with Japan, and the subject matter was too heavy, belonging to the 'adult' tokusatsu genre."

Now, we must return to our original aspirations and bring back that world full of light and dreams.

"Ultraman Dyna will be the official sequel to Ultraman Tiga! Same world view! Same timeline!"

This statement shocked everyone.

It's important to understand that in this parallel world, even though tokusatsu dramas were revived by Gu Nan after Tsuburaya Productions went bankrupt, viewers subconsciously felt that Ultraman Tiga was the pinnacle, an unrepeatable legend.

While Seven is a great story, it is a separate story.

And now, Gu Nan tells them that Ultraman Tiga's world continues?

"We will set the timeline to the seventh year after Tiga's disappearance."

Gu Nan began to explain the premise: "TPC, the Earth Peace Alliance, has entered a new phase. Humanity, no longer content with Earth, has begun its journey into space, a period known as the 'New Territory Era.' And in this era, to counter new threats in the universe, 'Super GUTS' was born!"

The screen flickered again.

This time, instead of a giant, a fighter jet with an extremely futuristic and even somewhat "fancy" design appeared.

"This is... an upgraded version of the Flying Swallow?"

The props team leader stared wide-eyed.

"This is the GUTS Eagle."

Gu Nan pointed to the screen and explained, "It is formed by the combination of three fighter jets: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. It has more powerful firepower and maneuverability than the Flying Swallow. The difficulty of making this prop will be a level higher than that of Ultraman Tiga."

However, the props team was not surprised but rather delighted.

"That's fantastic! I always thought the Flying Swallow's combination structure wasn't complex enough! This three-machine combination is the epitome of manly romance! Director Gu, don't worry, even if I go bald from working on it, I'll make this thing!"

"Since it's a sequel..."

Su Zhe suddenly asked nervously, "What about Daigo and Rena...?"

Everyone looked at Gu Nan. Since it's seven years later, what happened to the original protagonists?

Gu Nan smiled mysteriously: "Don't worry, Daigo and Rena will get them, and everyone on the Victory Team will get them too. However, this time the protagonist won't be Daigo."

He pressed the remote control, and a concept art of a young man wearing a Super GUTS uniform, sporting a somewhat unconventional hairstyle, and smiling broadly with a slightly silly expression appeared on the screen.

"Shinobu Asuka." (A surname containing "Shinobu")

Gu Nan read out the name, "If Daigo is a perfect god who is both light and human, then Asuka is a complete 'ordinary person,' even a somewhat arrogant, reckless 'hot-blooded idiot' who only knows how to charge forward in this life."

"We need a new male lead."

Gu Nan looked at Chen Bo, "Old Chen, send out the casting notice."

Requirements: Young, athletic, with clear eyes, but must be able to portray that "mysterious confidence" and "never give up" feeling.

I don't want some pretty boy idol; I want a complete idiot who makes you want to shout "Ora!" just by looking at him.

Chen Bo immediately took notes: "No problem, but Director Gu, since it's a sequel to Ultraman Tiga, once this news gets out, I estimate many new generation actors will go crazy."

……

As it turns out, Chen Bo was still too conservative.

When Light Chaser Animation's official Weibo account posted the concept poster that read "Continuation of Light: Ultraman Dyna" with the caption "A New Light Awakens," the entire Chinese internet exploded!

Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!

[Am I seeing things? A sequel to Ultraman Tiga? It really is a sequel set in the Ultraman Tiga universe?]

[My youth is back!!! I thought that once Ultraman Tiga left, it would be the end!]

[Seven years later? Does that mean we'll see Daigo and Rena get married? Ahhh, that old scoundrel Gu, you've finally done something decent!]

Wait, the new Ultraman is called Dyna? Look at that silhouette, he's kind of cool!

Am I the only one paying attention to that "Super GUTS" team? Their uniforms are even cooler than GUTS's!

The hashtag #TigaSequelDynaOfficialAnnouncement# instantly jumped to number one on the trending topics list.

Chen Bo's cell phone was ringing off the hook with calls from countless talent agencies.

Everyone knows that Gu Nan is now a "star-making machine".

Su Zhe and Xia Youwei rose to the top tier with "Ultraman Tiga", and now this role of "Shin Asuka" is simply a direct route to the top!

……

However, the casting process did not go smoothly.

In the audition hall of Chasing Light Films, rows of incredibly handsome young men were waiting in line.

"stop."

Gu Nan rubbed his temples, looking helplessly at the idol trainee in front of him who was still striking that greasy wink pose for the camera.

"Hey kid, I need passionate young men, not some average guy who just knows how to flirt with girls. Okay, next one."

"Director Gu, what do you think of me?"

The next person to come in was a muscular man who immediately showed off his biceps and then did several backflips.

It seems that as long as you are agile, you can become the human form of Ultraman.

"Well……"

Everyone stared in disbelief as the boy performed a set of punches.

"Are you going to fight monsters or box?"

Finally, Gu Nan interrupted him.

"The protagonist, Asuka, is a former athlete; he needs to have a sense of agility! Next!"

For three whole days, Gu Nan watched no fewer than a hundred actors, personally evaluating their acting skills. Several second-tier stars even lowered their prices to audition, but Gu Nan rejected them all.

They acted too "properly," or too "pretentiously."

Daigo's "divinity" was so deeply ingrained that people who came to audition were deliberately imitating Su Zhe's acting style.

They all put on airs, their brows furrowed, as if they weren't Ultraman's human form if they didn't have a deep-seated grudge.

"These people don't understand Dyna at all."

Gu Nan complained in the lounge while chugging down a can of iced coffee.

"Daigo is the recipient of 'predetermined fate,' while Asuka is the pioneer who 'breaks fate.'"

"He doesn't need to put on airs; he just needs that 'I'm the best in the world' kind of reckless swagger!"

Just then, there was a knock on the office door, and Zhang Zhao walked in with a young man.

"Director Gu, I have a distant cousin here. He studied sports and just retired. He wants to try his luck in the industry. He originally came to help me move equipment, but I think he looks quite interesting. Why don't you take a look?"

Gu Nan looked up and glanced at it.

The young man in front of him was wearing a slightly worn tracksuit, and his hair was messy as if he had just woken up. When he saw Gu Nan, he was obviously startled, and he awkwardly hid his hands behind his back, then gave an embarrassed but polite silly smile.

First impressions...

"Hey, you are... Oh, Director Gu, my name is Zhang Ye."

Well, he's not exactly handsome, but he looks quite sunny, even a bit goofy.

But his eyes were quite bright, and he had a kind of liveliness that was hard to describe directly.

Gu Nan observed and pondered at the same time.

Do you play baseball?

Gu Nan suddenly asked.

Zhang Ye paused for a moment, then straightened his chest, the embarrassment in his eyes disappearing.

"I don't know baseball, but I used to be on the Jinghai City Men's Tennis Team."

Gu Nan quickly realized what was happening.

Subconsciously, he imagined this little brother to be Asuka Shin from the original world.

Gu Nan couldn't help but chuckle; it seemed he'd become obsessed with casting lately.

That makes sense, since baseball isn't very popular in the country, so it's normal that people haven't been exposed to it.

But tennis?

It sounds pretty good.

Seeing Gu Nan's clearly interested gaze, Zhang Ye seemed to understand something.

This was immediately replaced by confidence: "Coach Gu, I'm not bragging, but I won quite a few awards back in the provincial team!"

"You sound very competitive. So, what if you lose the vote?"

"lose?"

Zhang Ye pursed his lips, his competitive spirit instantly surging. "If we lose, we'll fight again! Until we win!"

"So what if we lose? The real battle is just beginning!"

The real battle has only just begun...

These words struck Gu Nan like an electric shock.

This sentence is not from a bird...

Birds?

Birds!!!

Gu Nan slammed his hand on the table, startling Zhang Zhao and Zhang Ye.

Isn't this fate that brought us together? It really came without any effort at all!

It's fine. Baseball doesn't have the same grassroots support in China as tennis anyway, so changing it to tennis is quite reasonable.

"Okay, I like your never-give-up spirit! You're the one!"

Gu Nan pointed at Zhang Ye, "You're the male lead, Xin Feibiao. Now, come with me for your audition!"

Zhang Ye looked completely bewildered: "Huh? Director Gu, no...don't we need to look at the script and character descriptions? I haven't memorized my lines yet..."

"No need to watch anymore, just be yourself!"

Gu Nan laughed loudly.

Then, I spent another busy day learning about Zhang Ye's basic information and trying out a few shots.

The results were quite good, but Gu Nan still needed to give him some extra help.

However, Zhang Ye grasped that drive perfectly.

The good news is that the lead actor has finally been chosen...

Once the casting was finalized, the production team's preparations proceeded at lightning speed.

With the experience gained from "Ultraman Tiga" and "Seven", Light Chaser Animation's team is now considered the "royal guard" of the tokusatsu industry.

But Gu Nan didn't let everyone relax.

At the launch meeting, he unveiled an even more outrageous plan.

"Everyone, this time we're going to do something big for the filming of 'Dyna'." Gu Nan stood on the stage, with a densely packed schedule written on the whiteboard behind him.

The audience erupted in uproar.

"Director Gu, this could kill someone!"

The special effects team was the first to scream, "The amount of special effects for the TV version is already 1.5 to 2 times that of 'Ultraman Tiga,' so our special effects team doesn't need to sleep anymore."

"Damn it, I'll risk it!"

Some people started gritting their teeth, "For Tiga! For Daigo! And for Dyna!"

"But Brother Nan,"

Chen Bo looked at the schedule with concern, "In this way, if we rush to finish the production, the crew will have to split into two groups and operate simultaneously."

One group is shooting everyday scenes, while the other group is shooting large-scale battle scenes.

The actors had to run between two places, especially the brothers Zhang Ye and Zhang Zhao, and there was also the martial arts choreography team. The intensity was immense…

"I know."

Gu Nan looked out the window at the Mars base set that was being built. "Back then, we built Ultraman Tiga on a pile of ruins."

Now, we're sending Dyna into space. And if we're going to fly into the universe, we'll have to shed a few layers of skin first!

"Pass the word, filming will officially begin next week!"

With Gu Nan's command, the massive machine at Chasing Light Pictures began to operate at full speed.

……

Online discussions about "Dyna" remain very heated.

What excited fans the most was a leaked photo.

In the photo, there is a silly boy (Zhang Ye) wearing a Super GUTS uniform, making a V sign at the camera. Not far behind him, there is a man in casual clothes with a gentle smile drinking water. That man is none other than Daigo (Su Zhe)!

[Daigo! It's Daigo!]

Who is this kid?

[Two generations of human hosts in the same frame?! I'm going to cry!]

[This new protagonist doesn't seem very bright, will he be able to handle it?]

[Upstairs, when has that old scoundrel Gu ever made a mistake in choosing people? You know what, this 'silly boy' might bring us a pleasant surprise.]

[As long as it's not as gritty as "Seven," Director Gu, please, give the children some sunshine!]

Looking at the comments online, Gu Nan revealed a meaningful smile.

Sunlight?

Of course there will be sunshine.

Dyna symbolizes the radiance of "miracle".

However, before a miracle occurs, the entire crew will likely have to go through a period of "hell".