To me, a mystery film usually meant a detective story.
Therefore, the mystery scenario I wrote was also a detective story.
People who enjoy detective stories will know this, but the core fun of a detective story does not particularly come from money.
Of course, if you want to spend money on a detective story, you can spend as much as you like.
If the subject matter requires a huge set, like a railway mystery, it does cost a fair amount.
However, this was where both the strength and the weakness of detective stories appeared.
No matter how large you make the scale of a detective story, it has nothing to do with how fun it is.
Because in the end, a detective story is a brain game fought with precisely designed logical devices.
Density and quality matter, not quantity.
That was why detective stories did not particularly need money.
It was one thing if it cost money to bring in an excellent writer, but if you wrote the scenario yourself, a detective story was something you could effectively film with zero production cost, excluding food expenses.
Because it did not have to be a deduction only when someone died.
Digging into “who stole my gym clothes?” was also a perfectly fine mystery.
In other words, it could be filmed in an everyday setting.
In other words, it shared strengths with low-budget genre films.
In other words, my third contestant was a youth mystery.
Youth mystery.
A genre that poured mystery on top of the youth I had so diligently explained earlier.
It was usually characterized by a protagonist, mainly a student, solving “everyday mysteries.” In my former life, Honobu Yonezawa had been the peak of this field.
In this world, it was a little vague.
Because there was no one who specialized entirely in youth mysteries.
Naturally, it was not as if no author had ever written a youth mystery.
Youth mystery was an attractive genre. It was human psychology to want to touch it at least once.
However, there was also no one who wrote “only” youth mysteries.
Well, Honobu Yonezawa was not someone who wrote only youth mysteries either…
But even so, in this world, everyone had written at most one youth mystery series before fleeing to another genre.
So it was vague to give anyone the title of the peak.
But writers are originally discussed by what their highest point is.
Therefore, I will conclude that the peak of youth mystery in this world is the author of <One-Character Series>.
Anyway.
I waited for the reactions of the movie production group members.
Detective stories demanded more concentration than most other genres. They were called brain games for a reason.
Maybe because of that, the movie production group members’ scenario comprehension speed became much slower.
Compared to the first and second scenarios, which had been youth film scenarios, it was almost three times slower.
After a bit of time passed, around when the tropical parfait I had additionally ordered came out—
Yukimura opened her mouth.
“It’s fun.”
Fun. It was an extremely short word, but there were few impressions as clear and clean as that one.
In truth, just hearing those words meant I had half achieved my purpose in participating in movie production.
“What about everyone else?”
At my question, Riku answered first.
“I’m not sure. It’s not like I’m especially into detective stories.”
“Really?”
“But… the conversations between the characters? Those did make me laugh.”
Positive reaction stack: two.
Now the only one left was Kano, but I already knew what Kano would say.
Of course I did. We had known each other for eight years.
We could read each other’s thoughts to a reasonable degree.
Kano said, “It’s not very fun.”
“I thought you would say that.”
Tastes differ from person to person.
A masterpiece of the century to one person could be garbage full of nonsense to another.
A masterpiece that makes one person’s brain tremble could be a childish story to another.
If you truly understand the cliché phrase “everyone has lived a different life,” then you have no choice but to understand differences in taste as well.
If the things people have seen and felt are different, then the elements they find fun are naturally different too.
And in that sense, mystery was not particularly an element of interest for Kano.
Kano stabbed the tropical parfait I was eating with her spoon, scooped some up, and continued.
“You watch creative works to have fun, not to get a headache, right?”
“Hmmm.”
At the same time, Yukimura lifted her head slightly, then went back to reading the scenario. It seemed she wanted to check my precise plot again.
At the same time, Kano’s eyebrow twitched.
“What was that?”
“Who knows?”
“Ah. I expected it, but Yukimura, you really are that type, aren’t you? The type who thinks creative works other than movies are crude? As expected of someone who enjoys a vain medium like film.”
This statement is really Kano’s personal opinion. It really has nothing to do with me.
I like movies.
Do you know <Schindler’s List>? It is truly a masterpiece.
Yukimura smiled.
“Isn’t that just your persecution complex as someone who likes manga, Tachibana? I’ve never thought that, though? As expected of someone who enjoys a medium like manga, where only dopamine exists.”
This statement is really Yukimura’s personal opinion. It really has nothing to do with me.
I like manga.
Do you know <Usogui> ? It is truly a masterpiece.
Kano and Yukimura glared at each other. Thanks to that, I learned one piece of information.
I was still confused as to whether this world was the world of a light novel, the world of a manga, the world of a dating sim, or just a parallel Japan.
But at least one thing was certain.
This was not a supernatural battle world.
If it had been a supernatural battle world, this family restaurant would have exploded just now. Kano’s and Yukimura’s gazes were too hot.
I slowly spoke.
“It is good to assert your own opinions, but how about we decide on the scenario soon? Which one is better?”
The first contestant had been unanimously judged no-fun, so now only two remained.
A youth story with plenty of romance elements added. In professional terms, a love comedy.
Or a collaboration between youth and mystery.
At my words, Riku crossed his arms and muttered.
“This is hard. Touji, which of the two is more fun to you?”
“I’m neutral, so. For now, I’ll only tell you that both were fun to me.”
I could not write something I found boring.
Only recently had I started sending Yoshihiro writing that even I found boring, but fundamentally, I was a dopamine addict who would rather die than do something unfun.
Therefore, every scenario I brought today was fun to me.
But it was not as if there was no ranking.
All things in the world had superiority and inferiority. Naturally, fun also had superiority and inferiority.
To me, the first was the most fun, the third came next, and the second came after that.
Therefore, excluding the first one that had been eliminated, the scenario I wanted to make into a film more was the third one…
But separately from that, it was right to fold my opinion here.
If I was going to voice my opinion, I should have done it when the first scenario was eliminated.
Riku hesitated for a moment, then parted his lips.
“If I absolutely had to choose one of the two, the second was a little more fun to me. What about you guys?”
One vote for the love comedy.
Yukimura put down the A4 pages and answered.
“The current one.”
One vote for the youth mystery.
Now the only one left was Kano.
When everyone’s gaze focused on her, Kano answered quietly.
“I pick the second.”
Two votes for the love comedy.
Decided, then.
“Then we’ll go with the second scenario. There are a few things we need to decide from now on. First—”
“Wait. Hold on.”
Yukimura urgently cut me off.
I looked at her, wondering what it was, and Yukimura fluttered the A4 pages with my third scenario written on them.
“There’s one thing you guys need to know. We gathered here to make a movie.”
“Why does that matter?”
When Kano tilted her head as if she did not understand, Yukimura set the A4 pages in her hand down on the table and tapped them with her finger.
“In the end, a scenario is a scenario. For example, let’s say Hiiragi brought us the scenario for a superhero blockbuster film. What do you think, Asano? It would be fun, right?”
“It would be fun. Yeah.”
“But separate from whether it’s fun, could we film it well?”
“That’d be hard.”
No matter how fun a scenario was, implementing it as a film was a separate issue.
Because there were scenarios that were impossible to implement due to issues of technique and capital.
Kano furrowed her brow.
“What are you talking about? Touji took all of that into account when he made these scenarios. Aren’t they all scenarios that can be filmed on a low budget?”
“They are, but that’s what I mean. In the end, implementing a scenario as a film is a separate issue, so if we choose a scenario, we need to choose while considering what it will look like when it’s made into footage.”
In other words, what Yukimura wanted to say was this.
The third one would be more fun when filmed.
“Then why didn’t you say that from the start instead of circling around it like this? Is it because you like movies?”
Kano grumbled and reviewed the third scenario.
Then she declared.
“Even considering that, the second one is better.”
“Can’t you picture the direction in your head? The third one is good for adding direction in all kinds of ways. Imagine a scene in the deduction sequence where the focus is pulled out with a track-out. How is that?”
“Yeah. The contents of this love comedy scenario are just way more fun. Touji thinks so too, right?”
Kano passed the baton to me. Given the context, she wanted supporting fire.
However, I was currently a thoroughly neutral country.
Therefore, I needed to give my opinion in a thoroughly neutral way as well.
I said, “It’s not as if the love comedy scenario is bad for adding direction. For example, in the final kiss scene, if we use light so that only the silhouettes are visible, the audience will naturally—”
“Let’s go with the detective story like you said, Yukimura. I think that’ll be better.”
Imagine the best possible version…
And create an effect…
Two votes for the youth mystery.
One vote for the love comedy.
“Touji. After hearing Yukimura’s explanation, I changed my mind too. Can we switch to the detective story?”
Three votes for the youth mystery.
Unanimously decided.
“With everyone’s support, the third candidate, working title , has been elected. Everyone, please applaud.”
Clap, clap.
While only Riku and I clapped, Riku asked me, “Now that everything’s decided, I’m asking, but Touji, which one did you think was best?”
“The first.”
“I figured.”
After answering casually, I soon stared at Yukimura.
Then I asked the most important question.
“So, this movie. What are you planning to do with it after we make it?”
“Submit it to the Aoi Film Festival, Japan’s largest film festival for minors.”
After reciting that briefly, Yukimura’s eyes shone as she finished speaking.
“If we’re going to make it anyway, we should do it properly.”
If we were going to make it anyway, properly.
That, I agreed with.
We had to do it properly.
Properly.
Whatever it was.