NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 92: Chapter 94: Nailed Shut
Tsuburaya Kazuo, the eldest son of Tsuburaya Noboru, and the grandson of Tsuburaya Eiji, the former president of Tsuburaya Corporation.
His identity wasn't particularly high in the Japanese entertainment industry, but he was still someone of importance.
However, Kazuo was tightly holding onto Shinji's hand and refused to let go.
"Aniki, please help me out. I'm begging you."
"A-Aniki…."
Shinji's mouth twitched uncontrollably. Seriously, can't this chubby guy have a bit of dignity?
Tsuburaya Kazuo was born in 1961, so he was already in his forties, while Shinji himself wasn't even twenty yet.
Considering their age difference, it would have been acceptable for Shinji to address him as "uncle," but Tsuburaya Kazuo insisted on calling him "Aniki."
Actually, if you really think about it, it's not entirely inappropriate. Shinji's grandfather, Zouken Matou, and Tsuburaya Eiji were close friends.
The two old gentlemen had worked together in Tokyo, and their relationship was very close.
Uncle Kariya was able to make a name for himself, going from a bit-part actor to the lead role in a tokusatsu drama, all thanks to this friendship.
Back in the day, when Kariya was struggling to make a name for himself in the acting world, he nearly drove Zouken Matou to an early grave out of frustration.
How could the second young master of the Matou family just be a bit-part actor?
But since it was his own son, Zouken Matou had no choice but to swallow his pride and ask Tsuburaya Kazuo for help, hoping that he could lend a hand.
Back then, it was the Matou family in need of the Tsuburaya family's assistance, but now the situation was completely reversed, with the Tsuburaya family pleading with the Matou family for help.
Because Tsuburaya Corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Hmm... why did I say "again"?
Shinji sighed helplessly.
Although there was no news circulating in the industry at the moment, the fact that Tsuburaya Kazuo was begging him like this could only mean one thing.
"Tsuburaya..."
Shinji opened his mouth, realizing he didn't know how to address him.
Calling him by his last name was too formal; calling him by his first name would be too familiar considering they weren't that close yet; calling him "uncle" was unnecessary since Tsuburaya Kazuo had already called him "Aniki."
But calling him "Otouto" was difficult for Shinji; Tsuburaya Kazuo had no shame, but Shinji still had some dignity left.
"Tsuburaya-san, do you need something from me?"
In the end, Shinji chose a rather awkward form of address.
"Aniki, I hope you can help me out for the sake of our grandfathers' friendship and help Tsuburaya Corporation get through this difficult time."
"What happened to Tsuburaya Corporation?"
Although he knew full well how bad Tsuburaya Corporation's situation was, since they hadn't made any official announcements yet, Shinji had to pretend he didn't know anything.
Tsuburaya Kazuo said awkwardly, "Well, you see, Tsuburaya Corporation has encountered some minor problems recently. There have been some small fluctuations in share ownership, and we need your help."
'I don't believe you for a second, you fat liar.'
Shinji forcibly resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Could it really be just a "minor fluctuation" as Tsuburaya Kazuo claimed? Was it worth him coming here and humbling himself like this?
"Tsuburaya-san..."
"Aniki, Calling me like that feels too formal. Just call me Kazuo."
"Heh."
Shinji sneered twice, squinting at Tsuburaya Kazuo.
Tsuburaya Kazuo felt extremely uncomfortable under Shinji's scrutiny, his face full of embarrassment.
"Ahem, Aniki, I really don't mean anything else..." Tsuburaya Kazuo's words were full of hesitation. "It's just that my son, Hideaki, got set up by someone and ended up borrowing some money..."
Despite feeling very embarrassed, Kazuo reluctantly explained the situation to Shinji for the sake of his company.
In the past two years, Tsuburaya Corporation's operations hadn't been going well. When the new president, Hideaki Tsuburaya, took office, he ambitiously launched the N Plan to change the situation.
This plan sounded very esoteric, but it was essentially cross-platform collaboration.
Tsuburaya designed a brand-new worldview and then created different stories based on this worldview: a TV series called "Nexus," a movie version called "Nexxus," and a stage play called "Noah."
According to Tsuburaya's original plan, the idea was that viewers who watched one of the Ultraman series would become interested in the other two and expand the influence of the Ultraman IP.
The idea sounded great, but the reality was harsh.
Both the TV series and the movies were commercial flops, and they didn't have the impact Tsuburaya Corporation had hoped for.
With Tsuburaya Corporation's cash flow already very tight, the failure of the N Plan didn't just mean the company was on the brink of bankruptcy; it was more like a death sentence being immediately carried out.
What was worse was that because the company had been poorly managed for years, the banks were no longer willing to lend to Tsuburaya Corporation.
In such a dire situation, Tsuburaya Corporation had no choice but to borrow from larger companies, using company shares as collateral to obtain funds to keep the company running.
The amount borrowed wasn't much, just a few tens of millions of yen, but Tsuburaya had pledged 45% of the company's shares.
And that wasn't all; after obtaining the loan collateral, the larger company managed to acquire a total of 80% of Tsuburaya's shares through various means.
Then they showed their true colors, demanding that the current president, Hideaki Tsuburaya, hand over the remaining shares.
Hideaki was truly at a loss, so he could only turn to Kazuo, his cousin, for help in this difficult situation.
"Hideaki is such a fool! How could he not see through such an obvious trap! And he stupidly mortgaged the company's equity!" Kazuo was furious, scolding his cousin.
"..."
Instead of joining in, Shinji remained calm, taking a sip of his juice with an attitude of watching a monkey show.
Although Kazuo hadn't explained everything in detail and had intentionally omitted many details, Shinji could guess that the "larger company" was TYO, and he could even guess how Tsuburaya fell into the trap.
The person who proposed borrowing from TYO was Morishima Tsuneyuki, a senior employee of Tsuburaya Corporation.
That wasn't a problem in itself, but Tsuneyuki's younger brother was a lawyer, and he was also a legal advisor to TYO.
In other words, this guy was a mole.
Shinji was so sure because after Tsuburaya was acquired, Tsuneyuki was directly appointed as the company's president by TYO.
What happened next was well known to everyone: the Tsuburaya family was completely ousted from Tsuburaya Corporation, and the only connection left was the name.
Tsuneyuki went even further; he kicked out all the old employees loyal to the Tsuburaya family, leading to a mass exodus of talent from Tsuburaya Corporation.
This was a typical case of a villain gaining power and doing all sorts of evil things.
Because this guy was so unpopular, he made Tsuburaya Corporation a mess, and even TYO couldn't stand it anymore.
So after just one year as president, Tsuneyuki was ousted by TYO, and Tsuburaya Shinnosuke took over as president.
As for our familiar Daike, he never actually acquired Tsuburaya Corporation.
They simply bought 49% of the shares from TYO after it acquired Tsuburaya to ensure their monopoly on Ultraman-related peripheral copyrights.
Of course, it's not like Bandai is entirely blameless. Who would believe that Daike, who holds 49% of the shares, has no say in the new Tsuburaya meetings?
As for why Shinji was watching the monkey show...
In Shinji's original world, it was Tsuburaya Kazuo who accepted Tsuneyuki's suggestion to borrow from TYO.
It's kind of a way of indirectly scolding himself.
The only thing that made Shinji curious was why TYO acted two years ahead of schedule.
Could it be that his butterfly effect caused something unexpected to happen?
After Kazuo scolded for a while and saw Shinji's lack of response, he awkwardly stopped talking.
"Aniki, can you help with this matter?" Tsuburaya Kazuo nervously rubbed his hands.
"As long as Aniki can lend me a little money to get through this difficult time. Not much, just 200 million yen will do."
"200 million yen..."
Shinji rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
"If Aniki is willing to help, I'm willing to mortgage the shares currently held by the Tsuburaya family. I promise that once we get through this, I'll repay you in full."
[Who was it that said Tsuburaya Hideaki was foolish enough to mortgage shares?]
Shinji rolled his eyes. If it weren't for Tsuburaya Hideji's coffin being nailed shut, he would definitely crawl out and strangle these unworthy descendants.
"Former President Tsuburaya, I need to consider this matter." Shinji smiled awkwardly. "It's quite a large sum of money to ask for all at once..."
"That's true, I've been too impulsive."
Kazuo nodded with an embarrassed smile.
"Then I'll leave."
Seeing that there was no hope with Shinji, Kazuo bid farewell directly.
"Hey, Shinji."
After Tsuburaya Kazuo left, Kariya asked, "Are you really not going to help the Tsuburaya family? They've helped the Matou family a lot in the past."
Kariya knew that 200 million yen was a lot for others, but Shinji, who had already received dividends from FSN and Fate/Zero, could definitely afford it.
Shinji shook his head. "It's not just about the 200 million yen."
Just 200 million yen was definitely affordable for Shinji.
As a veteran tokusatsu fan, Shinji was also willing to lend a hand to help Tsuburaya through this crisis.
But the problem was, could the current issue of Tsuburaya be solved with just 200 million yen?
The problem wasn't just a lack of funds; it was a fundamental issue with the management and operation of the entire company.
If fundamental changes weren't made to the entire company, even if Tsuburaya had plenty of funds, it would sooner or later be played out.
"Just giving money is like trying to put out a fire with straw. Even if I gave them 20 billion yen, I wouldn't be able to revive Tsuburaya Corporation." Shinji said decisively.
Kariya asked curiously, "So what are you going to do?"
"Well...."
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