Many aspects of Animalia always seemed to attract various eyes that had always had an idea of some kind. Not all of them were necessarily negative. Some was actually fairly positive, particularly with regard to various forms of entertainment and things like that. Some of it was fairly obvious. Hollywood had at times made some contact with Animalia with ideas on vampire and werewolf movies to make use of the bat and wolf Animalians to play the role of the mythological monsters. The biggest source of that sort of attention actually came from Japan.
It related heavily to the sci-fi and giant monster genre that spawned creatures like Godzilla and so on, and with so many Animalians carrying some features that resembled some of those creatures, there seemed to be some interest in that. From some things online, Peter figured a lot of this related to the rumors around the Japanese "colonies" that were planned. There was some talk about these colonies that was rather speculative in nature, particularly when the Chinese colony was also discussed, though as far as Peter knew the main Japanese colony was actually planned to be in Tokyo. Still, those rumors and stories online were soon also full of comments of wanting Animalians to play the role of a supersized heroic "monster" to battle another supersized villainous "monster." At times Peter ignored it, but while walking around the arena during SAMAS... some of that soon became something he couldn't get out of.
"Summer flew by too fast," Tom commented as he walked along with the rest of the Green Glacier Adventure Clan members, or at least their core members, "I can't believe school is coming up again..."
"That's at the END of August," Peter answered, "Right now it's still early."
"Summer still flew by quickly," Mara commented as she leaned over to nuzzle the side of Peter's head.
"Not that school is necessarily a bad thing," Adam told them.
The group continued as they walked along marveling at the displays of skill being made. Some of their thoughts were in actual awe of the skills that were being displayed, especially when none of the group of Box Turtle Animalians were known much for physical activity before Animalia. And even with the gains in energy, and joining in some other activities that reflected their new and more muscular Animalian forms, that didn't mean they were suddenly martial arts experts. They'd taken some classes, but really weren't much more than at many of the entry level in the classes they'd taken. Though, the fact that they had taken some classes had raised some interest in observing the events at SAMAS. In this, every twist, kick, punch, and shattered board or brick was interesting. In some ways, it was like some martial arts movies, though likely better in the sense that the skills being displayed were real and not staged.
There was also some thought about the TV series that had been shot earlier in the summer. It had been the idea of a company in Japan, and was something that bordered on the sci-fi and giant monster genre that Peter had been thinking over when they first entered. From what they'd been told by the film crew that had arrived, there had been the idea for the series that reflected much of that genre with some aspects of comedy that was thought to be something that would allow the Japanese colony to be well received when it did open. At first, Peter had wondered whether the group was actually put up to it by the Japanese government, but it was just a private company. And so the group had agreed to go through with the filming of the series of television shorts, though the payments ultimately went to their respective parents. It was fun, in a way, as many aspects of the story were also things that Peter and his friends had also found in various role playing games as well.
As they walked along, they were soon greeted by a few calls toward them. It made them stop and turn to see a small group of Japanese men in suits come forward. Two were older, and one of them wore glasses that were slightly tinted. There were another two with them. One was carrying a folder, but seemed distracted by some of the martial arts displays. The other was the one who had spoken and had one arm raised toward Peter and the Green Glacier Clan members.
"Hello," Peter said slowly to them, he thought he recognized the man who raised his and called out to them as one of the translators that had come with the film crew earlier in the summer, but he wasn't entirely quite sure. "Can we help you?"
"You are Peter... the star?" the man asked in English, though sounding a bit hesitant.
"I was in a series a company in Japan wanted to make for Japanese TV..." Peter answered slowly, "the "Heroic Turtle Warriors and the Monsters of Dark Recesses" was what the translator said the series title would be in English."
The man that had spoken gave a very energetic hand and was soon eager shaking Peter's hand and congratulated him, with an explanation that the series had its first airing in Japan, and had been very successful. He also introduced the others with the two older men being the partnership that ran the company and the other younger man being one of the series' writers.
"It may take a little while before we can sell it to an American audience... as we have special effects crews making sure that those in America will be heard in your language," the translator commented, "but in the meantime... my employers wanted to meet the stars of the show."
"I see... well, I'm Peter and this is my mate Mara," Peter introduced himself placed an arm around the top of Mara's shell with one hand resting on her shoulder, "Whom I love very much."
The translator relayed the information as Peter then continued the introductions.
"This is Tom and his mate Lina," Peter introduced the next two and continued on and gave a gesture to each pair in their group, "This is Jerry and his mate Reva. And finally there is Adam and his mate Dela."
Adam actually bowed in respect. He may have been a Japanese American, who's family had lived in America for generations, but that didn't mean he wasn't totally unaware of Japanese culture or many of its aspects. It then raised a chuckle from the men as the rest of the Green Glacier Clan nervously looked to each other and then bowed as well.
"There is no need to stand on formality," one of the corporate heads spoke politely in Japanese, which their provided translator translated to the group, "we know that a great many Animalians remain rather casual and informal. We just wanted to let you know on what a success the series has been in Japan and thank you for participating in the project."
"It was pretty cool," Lina commented, "and gave us something fun to do over the summer."
"And you come here to relax?" the writer wondered as his eyes were caught by a strong looking female Water Buffalo Animalian going through a set of warmups on a nearby mat.
"Well... becoming an Animalian raised a lot of my energy levels... and with that came some added interests to keep myself in shape and so on," Peter explained, "It's added things to do for a hobby and for health... though, I do still enjoy games like Dungeons and Dragons and role playing games."
"Some things have provided some pretty good ideas for other adventures and being good neighbors," Reva commented, "that sort of thing. And lets us all practice together."
"Well... that's all very good," the other partner commented after he got the translation, "it would keep you all well adjusted, I suppose. Which is good... because we also have an offer for you..."
"Another offer?" Adam wondered.
"Yes... with the success your show had had," the first partner nodded, "there was the idea of putting together a longer series at some point... likely after you graduate from school and college... which would let us see in the long term how successful the show will be and so. But the big thing was to thank you for the success your acting has brought for our company."
Peter nodded with some surprise, but gave a polite "you're welcome." It was at times odd in a world where there often seemed to be those that were solely out to cause trouble in some way shape or form, but to get such a personal thank you for a project's success that he and his friends had participated in earlier in the summer purely for fun was one of those rare moments where good things happened.