The moment Kobayashi Tetsu finished stating his demands, Akira Kurosawa shot up from his rocking chair with an agility that defied his eighty years.
"No! Absolutely not! Don't even think about it! You're degrading actors, trampling over their achievements! I would rather die than film such a thing for you!"
The mere thought that Kobayashi Tetsu would dare ask him to star in a commercial—a CM—made Kurosawa want to punch him out.
And Hideo Kojima, too.
Kojima, standing beside him, didn't dare utter a word. Kurosawa was tall, and his towering presence as he glared down made Kojima completely lose his train of thought.
Yet Kobayashi Tetsu seemed intent on further provoking Kurosawa's nerves.
"You find filming a commercial like this embarrassing? With all due respect, people need to eat. No one can survive without making a living. Let's be honest: even someone of your stature has to worry about your children's future. Do you think Nakadai Tatsuya-san doesn't need to eat? He earned a fortune for just a dozen seconds of screen time in a commercial. Do you think he's more grateful to me or resentful?"
Kobayashi Tetsu raised a single finger.
"I heard you're planning a new film. I'm willing to invest, and I won't interfere with your production process in any way. If you want to use this as a chance to launch your children's careers, that's fine with me. I won't object in the slightest. All I ask in return is a simple GG—just a ten-second spot."
Akira Kurosawa truly wanted to kick Kobayashi Tetsu out.
But he was genuinely swayed by the offer.
Even a veteran artist had to eat! If Kobayashi Tetsu was truly willing to fund his movie and didn't mind him bringing his children onto the set, then sometimes, one could afford to swallow their pride.
Still, Kurosawa hesitated.
He had a reputation and a status to uphold as the "Emperor of Cinema." If he agreed to such a deal so easily—
Kobayashi Tetsu raised a finger and named a price.
Kurosawa stood up.
"Deal!"
On the eve of the Christmas season.
After a brief, brainwashing GG campaign, just when everyone thought the Romance of the Three Kingdoms GG would be wrapping up, a new, earth-shattering GG appeared on television.
An ancient face, utterly unfamiliar to the youth, appeared on television. He spoke in a booming yet characteristically slow drawl.
"I am Akira Kurosawa—this Christmas, I welcome you all to Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
Within a mere few dozen minutes, a human explosion erupted, centered on Tokyo.
The youth might not have known who Akira Kurosawa was, but their parents, sitting before the television, were more than happy to introduce him.
"That's Director Akira Kurosawa! The legendary director from back in the day! Now even he's doing a commercial like this!"
"Well, what's there to say? Buy it! If even Akira Kurosawa has fallen for it, we have no choice but to buy this game!"
And so, Christmas arrived.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II cartridges appeared in game stores, convenience stores, and other outlets across the country.
It was impossible for a strategy game to draw massive lines, but indeed, many hardcore Koei fans made special trips to queue up and buy the cartridge.
Iwasaki Daisuke and his uncle, Iwasaki Isao, had partnered up to sell one such cartridge.
The cartridge packaging was exquisite. The cartridge itself felt remarkably heavy in hand, at least twice the size of a typical one, and the manual was so thick it was comparable to another cartridge.
"Nani? There's a photo!"
Iwasaki Daisuke flipped it over and immediately fell silent.
The photo was of Sonny Chiba, a Han sword hanging from his waist, his hand resting on the hilt as he gazed forward, his face etched with the sorrow of a patriot.
To be honest, he had never played a strategy game before, but this GG was just too incredible. He couldn't resist buying it.
The two of them took the cartridge home, plugged it into the console, and started playing.
"Let's see... Hmm, there are scenarios. It must be Three Kingdoms Hegemony. You can choose a fixed faction... Since it's Sonny Chiba, let's go with Cao Mengde."
Iwasaki Daisuke consulted the manual and began exploring the game's features.
Recruit: This allowed him to bring characters from the available pool into his faction. However, a quick glance revealed they were all generic, unmemorable NPCs who weren't even famous in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Pillage: This allowed him to seize grain and supplies from the local area, causing damage to the region.
Iwasaki Daisuke examined the game carefully and, sure enough, it featured a grain system. Besides grain and logistics, there were other types of supplies. These could be seized directly from the local area or slowly acquired through procurement and farming over time.
If supplies were insufficient, the army's combat effectiveness would be affected to some extent.
Iwasaki Daisuke was deeply impressed. "So realistic! Now I just have to play!"
After some tinkering, Iwasaki Daisuke successfully looted a massive amount of grain from Luoyang, causing the city's prosperity level to plummet from 5 to 1.
Iwasaki Isao scratched his head. "Uncle, don't you think you shouldn't be looting your own territory? How can we bully our own people? If we're going to loot, we should do it to the enemy."
Iwasaki Daisuke waved his hand dismissively. "I figure these commoners can't do much with the grain anyway! If it's useless to them, I'll just take it!"
Watching Iwasaki Daisuke's preparations, Iwasaki Isao's blood pressure soared.
Before the war had even begun, they had already looted their own home nearly bare. The combined prosperity of several cities couldn't even add up to a single full point.
Just as Iwasaki Daisuke was consolidating the grain to prepare for a frontline offensive, a domestic affairs notification suddenly popped up: A rare character, Cai Yan, had been discovered in the city.
"Who is Cai Yan?" Iwasaki Daisuke quickly looked it up.
Oh! Cai Wenji.
This is good, I must woo her!
As Iwasaki Daisuke began his attempt to win over Cai Wenji, Iwasaki Isao was practically on the verge of tears. "Uncle, I think you should be focusing on the war right now! Sun Quan is about to attack your city—he's invading the lands of Great Wei!"
"It's fine. I've stationed a legendary general at the front. Cao Ren is incredible! Those Jiangdong scoundrels are no match for him!"
Iwasaki Daisuke was too absorbed in courting Cai Wenji to pull himself away, professing his love to a pixelated figure. Iwasaki Isao silently wiped away a tear.
Giving this cartridge to my uncle to play was a huge mistake!
Are strategy games fun?
The answer is rarely a simple one.
For enthusiasts, strategy games allow them to roleplay as figures they admire, commanding armies on the battlefield and conquering the world.
But for those who dislike them, strategy games are just endless clicking with no real graphics—boring and incomprehensible.
In the early days of strategy games, character art wasn't even drawn well, and players had to rely on the manual for context. Without any visual appeal to speak of, these games had to win players over on gameplay alone.
Kadokawa Game Magazine published its review of Romance of the Three Kingdoms II in this issue.
"After enduring the relentless barrage of GG's brainwashing marketing, we finally got our hands on Romance of the Three Kingdoms II. The cartridge is quite..."
"The cartridge itself is quite impressive, and the game's content is truly surprising."
"As a strategy game, this genre has always been known for requiring a vast amount of mental effort and calculation. Romance of the Three Kingdoms II has creatively introduced a new system: domestic affairs management. Beyond fighting wars, players must also manage their own internal administration and handle personnel appointments—no task can be taken lightly."
"Without a doubt, the brainwashing GG campaign, combined with endorsements from numerous celebrities, has driven astonishing sales for this game, leaving other strategy games in the dust."
"The game's quality is also commendable. If you're a fan of strategy games, Romance of the Three Kingdoms II is absolutely not to be missed!"
Because they had accepted Atlas's money, Kadokawa Game Magazine unhesitatingly published the known sales report.
Excluding the PC and other platforms, on consoles alone, this cartridge—priced at a high 11,680 yen—sold over 72,000 copies in its first week.
For Atlas, this was a poor performance. However, for the strategy game genre, it was enough to make other similar titles pale in comparison!
Most importantly...
This cartridge was expensive!
At over 10,000 yen each, 70,000 copies meant nearly 800 million yen in revenue!
No matter how you looked at it, this was a stunning figure!
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