October 31.

AKB's sixth single "Is the sun setting today?" released.

Although Yasu Akimoto thinks that this is his favorite song, Sony is also quite careful about the cover shooting, and the red and white sportswear complements the sunset at dusk, exuding a youthful atmosphere.

The result was also unsatisfactory, and the sales volume on the o list only reached 1.8w in two weeks, which did not even reach the results of the previous order, which can be said to be the worst sales volume in the history of AKB's establishment.

Such an achievement also officially made Sony make up its mind.

Sony Music Chairman's Office.

Naoki Kitagawa, the CEO of Sony Music for decades, is sitting in the boss's chair at the moment, usually looking like a harmless and kind old man, but he also has a serious expression at the moment, not angry and arrogant.

Opposite him was a young man in his twenties, with a graceful bearing, three-dimensional facial features with sharp edges, and a hint of evil smile on his mouth but a little debauched.

He is the second son of Naoki Kitagawa and now works within AKS, the agency behind AKB, as Sony's spokesperson in AKB.

"Father, do you really need to be in such a hurry?" asked Kitagawa Kenji suspiciously.

This time, his father called him over to formalize Sony's solution to AKB.

Sony has invested heavily in DefSTAR Records, a record company owned by Sony, since it signed a contract with AKB, but unfortunately compared to the high production and distribution costs, the final sales volume was not satisfactory, which can be explained by the fact that it is normal for the group to lose money when it is first established.

It's just that it's already the end of 2007, and AKB was founded at the end of 2005, so it's been two years!

No matter how expensive the chicken, it's time to lay eggs.

But AKB didn't, and Sony has lost more than 2 billion yen in this regard.

It's time to withdraw, no one will say anything wrong, and originally Naoki Kitagawa was also thinking about the release planned for next year before deciding whether to cancel the contract.

However, change is impermanent, and there was an accident at Sony's headquarters, so that Kitagawa Naoki had to decide to settle with AKB in advance.

If the sales of the sixth single fails.

Now that the results of the O chart have come out, it can be regarded as Naoki Kitagawa still has a friendship, and the album originally scheduled to be prepared on January 1, 08 will not be canceled and will be released as usual.

It's just that after that, AKB will be very sad unless it can find its next record company.

Naoki Kitagawa pushed down the white-rimmed glasses he was wearing.

"Recently, there has been a lot of change at Sony's headquarters, and keeping AKB is a big destabilizing factor, so we have to get rid of it. He said lightly.

Under his leadership, Sony Music has always been in a profitable state, which is obviously outstanding in the whole Sony.

Since 2002, Sony has suffered huge losses, and the core pillar electronics division has become a burden, and the stock has continued to slump.

Recently, however, things have been different, with Kazuo Hirai, the CEO of Sony Electronic Entertainment, gaining momentum, and Howard Stringer, the chairman of Sony Corporation, taking him very seriously.

If he leaves in the future, the conjecture that Kazuo Hirai will be the next successor is also quite marketable.

And Naoki Kitagawa has dissatisfaction with many of Hirai Kazuo's ideas, and in order to prevent Hirai Kazuo's hand from reaching him, he must strengthen his control over Sony Music.

And AKB, which is also his failure in recent years, at first just looked at Akimoto Yasushi and Dentsu behind him, thinking that this group would become the next kitten club and rub some profits.

I didn't expect it......

Therefore, AKB had to be discarded in time, and at his behest, one of the directors raised this opinion at the board meeting, and he agreed to it.

"I see, I'll communicate your decision to Yasuya Akimoto's side. Kitagawa nodded.

"Well, then please, Kenji. ”

"I will, then I'll go first. ”

Kenji Kitagawa exited the office.

He walked out of the Sony Music building with a steady pace, the automatic doors opened, and he looked back at the building that was covered in sunlight.

"In business, I really don't have any friends. With a sigh, he walked on, cleanly, without leaving a trace of dust.

…………

Takuhisa was woken up by a phone call.

"Hey......" he said listlessly, his daily symptoms when he first woke up.

Yesterday was too busy, and today he has nothing to do, so naturally he slept lazily.

"It's me, Kenji, Takuhisa, do you have the kung fu to come out?" said the unruly boy on the phone, and hearing the name also lifted Takuhisa's spirits.

"I have time, what do you have to ...... Forget it, where are you now, I'll go over and talk about it there. Takuhisa got dressed, and in November the weather was already in autumn, and the bitter cold wind forced him to put on another long-sleeved shirt.

"I'm ...... in Akihabara," Kenji Kitagawa said, and the name of the place.

"Oh, okay, you wait. Takuhisa hung up the phone, went to the bathroom to wash up, and after making sure that he was dressed correctly, he set off from the entrance.

Zhiyuan set off alone when he was sleeping, and the movement was quite small, and he didn't make any noise to Takuhisa.

This made Takuhisa feel a little guilty, he didn't prepare breakfast for her today, and there was no trace of the kitchen being touched, so it seems that he bought some bread from a convenience store on the way to eat.

In the future, you still have to pay attention to it, moderation, don't be too tired, take bread as breakfast for a long time, and it is not good for your body to eat without a balanced diet.

Drove to Akihabara and met at a regular café where they used to meet.

Takuhisa was wearing a black coat outside, and the whole person looked steady and handsome.

Walking into the store, Kenji Kitagawa had been waiting for a long time, Takuhisa walked straight over and sat down opposite Kitagawa.

"A cup of mocha coffee. "He ordered a cup of coffee directly from the waiter, and he didn't even read the menu, and he basically only drank this kind of coffee when he went to the coffee shop.

"What, is there anything you called me out today?" Takuhisa asked.

"Can't I call you out if I'm fine?" Kenji Kitagawa didn't answer, smiling.

"You don't ask me out if you're fine, and I want to talk about it, who believes you when you say it's okay. Takuhisa didn't believe it.

"It's really you, it's really a big deal to call you over today. ”

"Oh, what's wrong?" Takuhisa wondered.

"My father decided to officially terminate his contract with AKB. ”

"Oh, is there anything else?" Takuhisa was calm and unwavering, like a stone man.

"Hey, how about you give me a reaction, right? This is AKB, it's the one your sister didn't sign up for, and it's where I go to work, so it's really okay not to give a surprised expression?" Kitagawa Kenji fussed.

"Isn't this an obvious thing?" Takuhisa said lightly, "It's just that I didn't expect it, I thought that as soon as the news of the AKB came out, Sony should hold on for a while, at least until next year." ”

In the end, he was a little puzzled.

"It's not because of you?" said Kenji Kitagawa.

"Does it have anything to do with me?" Takuhisa was even more puzzled, he didn't seem to have done anything about Sony Music, and he had been dealing with the electronics department.

"Of course it has something to do with you, haven't you always been mixed up with Kazuo Hirai in electronic entertainment, thanks to you, Kazuo Hirai is now a big celebrity within Sony. "Kitagawa Kenji looks like he blames you.

"Hah, what does it matter?"

"If you think about it, Kazuo Hirai has always advocated. ”

"Is that so..."Takuhisa realized that Kazuo Hirai's ideas were relatively radical within the increasingly conservative Sony, but it was precisely for this reason that he had so many followers.

Of course, because of this, he will also attract the dissatisfaction of many conservatives, who do not want Hirai Kazuo's influence to extend to their territory, and Kitagawa Naoki is also one of them.

Especially with the help of Takuhisa, it is not easy to resist him, and for this reason, it is very correct for Naoki Kitagawa to abandon AKB, the breakthrough of his record.

"I want to ask you one more thing than this today. Kenji Kitagawa had a serious face.

"Say it. ”

"AKB, will it go to the abyss?"

Takuhisa didn't answer right away.

"I can't tell. After a long time, Takuhisa gave an ambiguous answer.

"Can't even you say?"

"If the AKB is still the current situation, I am afraid that it will be disbanded sooner or later. ”

"So why are you ......?"

But its producer, Yasu Akimoto, is a big variable. ”

"Variables?" said Kitagawa in surprise.

"Well, variables, just like when he was able to form the Kitten Club, none of us knew what ideas he would suddenly have in the darkest time of the AKB and successfully bring this team back to life. ”

But in this situation, even if he has any ideas, I'm afraid it's not useless, the Titanic can't be saved. ”

"Not necessarily. Takuhisa smiled, "I believe in his abilities, I believe in his name." ”

"You're so confident, what if it's really sinking?"

"Then it's sinking, and it's a very interesting thing to see it destroyed. Takuhisa swung his shoulders.

"What a pervert, you. ”

"Each other, you cut off your pants, we're all the same. Speaking of which, how has Yona Kojima been towards you lately?" Takuhisa changed the subject.

"Ha, what do you think you can do?" Kitagawa Kenji was a little sullen.

"I told you she's a very smart girl, and she won't let go until she has a clear answer, and you still don't believe it. Takuhisa smiled gloatingly, and after laughing, he asked again, "How is it going so far?"

"Same as you. Kenji glared at Takuhisa.

"I didn't think about chasing her, I didn't dare to have any idea of the natural pink cut black. Takuhisa took a sip of coffee, "It's still a lot of pressure to get along with girls who are too smart." ”

"Then you went to sign a high school student and a junior high school student, are you thinking of having a light source to cultivate from an early age?"

"Haha, you've seen through it, do you think I'm going to say that, I'm a very healthy man. Takuhisa flatly denied it.

"Yikes. Kitagawa Kenji sighed.

After blacking each other for a while, Kitagawa Kenji also said goodbye, and he was going to officially announce the news of the termination of the contract with Yasushi Akimoto.