I, Hiroshi Nohara, the star of Japanese cinema

Chapter 128 39.8%! The nationally popular variety show "Super Transformation Season 2"!
Over the next few days, Tokyo TV's Studio 3, a huge auditorium that had been forgotten for years, became a pilgrimage site filled with wonder and awe.

The representative teams from Japan's eight major regions, those ordinary people full of rural flavor who stood out from hundreds of thousands of auditions, stepped into this dream hall that they had only seen on TV for the first time.

Many of them bring simple and creative ideas full of life wisdom, but it is difficult to conceal the clumsiness and roughness that belong to amateurs.

However, a draw full of fate and chance completely changed everything.

Following Nohara Hiroshi's instructions, Kei Tanaka broke down those god-level ideas into independent elements, wrote them on slips of paper, and put them into a seemingly ordinary lottery box.

Then, like the most fair dealer, he smiled and watched the temporary assistants of the representative teams step forward one by one and draw their destiny from the box full of unknowns and possibilities.

"…'Human-shaped washing machine'? What is this?"

"'Ghosts Walking at Night'... Oh my god, this idea is absolutely amazing!"

"'The Ramen Master's Wrath'...Hahahaha! This is so interesting! Why didn't we think of that?!"

When those seemingly random ideas were distributed to each team, the entire backstage was instantly overwhelmed by an irrepressible burst of exclamations and praises!

Those contestants who were originally complacent about their own "cleverness", after seeing these god-level creations that were enough to subvert all their cognitions, their pride as ordinary people was instantly crushed to pieces!
They looked at the thin piece of paper in their hands, and their eyes were like a group of mortals who had groped in the darkness for half their lives, and for the first time, they glimpsed the light of God's wisdom!

So, in the following recording, a wonderful chemical reaction occurred.

Those amateur performances that were originally full of uncertainty, under the blessing of Nohara Hiroshi's already designed, flawless creative script, burst out with an unprecedented and amazing energy!
The recording went smoother than ever before.

When the last set of performances ended, Kei Tanaka looked at the perfect pictures on the monitor that were full of imagination and pure joy. His heart, which had long been filled with shock, began to beat violently uncontrollably.

He knew that a huge storm that was enough to overturn the rules of the entire Japanese television industry had been manipulated by a pair of big hands.

……

The first Saturday in September, 2:25 p.m.

The neon lights under the entire starry sky seemed to have been paused at this moment.

From Sapporo in Hokkaido, where the snow has just melted, to Naha in Okinawa, where the coconut breezes and the sea breezes are charming; from the bustling and bustling Ginza in Tokyo, to Shinsaibashi in Osaka, full of the hustle and bustle of the city...

Countless pairs of eyes, as if drawn by an invisible gravitational force, simultaneously focused on the tiny glowing square box that was about to stage an unprecedented carnival.

【Nohara Hiroshi·Independent Production Department】.

In the huge office, the air seemed to be sucked out, solidifying into a heavy and cold piece of amber.

Kei Tanaka and his reborn team sat upright, their faces filled with uncontrollable excitement and anxiety.

Behind them, in the minister's office overlooking the whole of Tokyo, Asumi and Takada Toshihide, the two second-in-command from different factions, were sitting on the leather sofa that symbolized power together with Nobuhiko Sakata, the head of the production department, for the first time.

In front of the three of them was also placed a huge Sony TV. The dark screen was like a door leading to an unknown abyss, reflecting their three faces, each with their own thoughts.

There was a cold and sarcastic look on Takada Toshihide's face, as if he was enjoying the show.

There was a hint of gambler's madness in Ming Hai's eyes that he himself had not even noticed.

Only Nobuhiko Sakata, with his always smiling face, showed no emotion, but in his occasionally narrowed eyes, there flashed the unfathomable brilliance of the final judge.

Arrived on time at 2:30.

That brainwashing melody full of childishness and magic resounded through the sky again!
The first episode of the second season of "Super Change" is officially on air!
Without any delay, after the host's friendly opening remarks, the first performance, from the Hokkaido Sapporo team, exploded in a shocking manner!

It is a creative work full of ice, snow and fantasy - "The Snow Girl's First Love".

On a stage where simple white sheets and dry ice create the effect of a blizzard, a girl in traditional kimono, through body language, portrays the tragic and beautiful love story of a snow woman who falls in love with a human...

The whole neon was quiet.

The cultural resonance that originated from folk legends and is unique to Japanese people, like a pair of invisible hands, instantly strangled the throats of all the audience.

However, this is not the end.

Then came "Hakata Ramen War" from Fukuoka, "Ninja Duel on the Castle Tower" from Nagoya, and "Prayer" from Hiroshima...

Each performance is full of regional characteristics, but is elevated to a new artistic height by Nohara Hiroshi's divine creativity. It is like a never-ending tsunami full of imagination, with one wave higher than the other, crashing against the defenses of all the audience!

The whole neon is crazy!

They never imagined that a variety show could be... so magnificent!
……

"Here it comes! Here it comes! The fifteen-minute ratings are out!"

At the Tokyo TV station's data monitoring center, a young data analyst looked at the red curve on the computer screen that seemed to have broken free from all constraints and soared wildly at an almost vertical angle, his voice filled with trembling disbelief!

Then he asked the staff at the back to start making phone calls one by one to notify them.

'Jingle Bell--'

The phone was picked up.

In Nohara's classroom, everyone subconsciously held their breath.

Kei Tanaka's heart instantly rose to his throat.

In Nobuhiko Sakata's office, the sarcasm on Takada Toshihide's face froze instantly.

Asumi picked up the microphone himself, his arms trembled slightly uncontrollably.

"How many?"

Both parties asked the question almost in unison!

"32.7%!!"

The young data analyst shouted out that miraculous number in a nearly broken roar, enough to make the entire Japanese television industry tremble!

"boom--!"

This number, like a real hydrogen bomb, exploded in everyone's mind!

"We win! We win!"

In Nohara's classroom, Kei Tanaka, like a general who had successfully fought back from a desperate situation, let out a cheer full of ecstasy that had been suppressed for too long!

"Okay! Hahahaha! Okay!"

In Nobuhiko Sakata's office, Asumi suddenly jumped up from the sofa, and his always elegant and calm face was now filled with undisguised ecstasy and excitement!
And Takada Toshihide sat there blankly, and all the blood color on his face, which always had a gloomy look, faded away in an instant.

He knew that he had lost.

A crushing defeat.

Lost so badly...even the last bit of hope of a comeback is gone.

"National Variety Show..."

Nobuhiko Sakata let out a long breath, with a strange feeling in his breath.

He looked at the show on the screen, his eyes gleaming with passion!

He knew that from tonight on, a brand new entertainment empire belonging only to Hiroshi Nohara had arrived.

And he, Nobuhiko Sakata, will be the most steadfast guardian of this empire.

This is not an exaggeration.

but facts.

Because the leaders of these TV stations know very well that any program with a viewership rate of over 30% can basically be named "national level"!
Last time, the first season of "Super Change" had already reached the threshold of national variety show because of its 29% viewership rating.

Now everyone is involved.

"Super Change Season 2" has been preheated for nearly a month.

As it should be.

In the first fifteen minutes, it instantly broke the 30% national standard line!
It has become a genuine national variety show!

You know, even though variety shows are the easiest to break records in terms of ratings due to their entertainment attributes, and because variety shows are at the lowest end of the contempt chain among Japanese film and television genres, no one takes the ratings of variety shows seriously.

And the ratings are 32.7%!

It wasn't simply breaking the 30% viewership mark. Rather...

Still continuing to rise wildly!

These ratings are from the first fifteen minutes of the show!
According to the rules, the ratings will continue to rise for a while after the whole episode is over.

Even with a conservative estimate, it might reach... over 35% viewership!

Even... around 38% is possible!

This is also the reason why Director Nobuhiko Sakata sat on the sofa, watching the show in front of him with a smile on his face.

This time, he really found a treasure!

If the second season of "Super Change" really reaches a viewership rate of 38%.

Then.

The number one variety show in the history of Japanese film and television, the record-breaking variety show, will be born again on their Tokyo TV!

As the director of the production department of Tokyo TV, he personally planned Tokyo TV's acquisition of Kanto TV and merged the talents of Kanto TV into the first deputy director.

Is it not possible to leave a significant mark in the history of Tokyo TV?

Doesn’t that count as a political achievement?!
"Hehehehe...hahahahaha!"

So just when Takada Toshihide looked as pale as death, he heard a laugh that went from low to arrogant.

This made Takada Toshiyoshi look up subconsciously.

Looked in astonishment.

Only then did he realize in despair that the person laughing arrogantly was none other than Director Nobuhiko Sakata, whom he had always respected very much!
……

In Osaka, in the Kansai Television (KTV) headquarters building, the top-floor conference room overlooking the dazzling night view of Dotonbori was now shrouded in deathly silence.

The air was filled with the bitterness of a burnt cigar, interwoven with the unspeakable despair in the hearts of the group of people, forming a silent elegy.

Ichiro Agaya, the man who has been a big shot in the Kansai television industry for half his life, was staring intently at the ratings report that had just been faxed from Tokyo, which still had some warmth in it.

All the expressions on that face that was always filled with irritability and unwillingness had faded.

All that was left was the bone-deep feeling of powerlessness and awe that came from being crushed by absolute strength.

"Monster...that guy...he's not playing the same game as us..." He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse with complete defeat.

He remembered his original "Anti-Nohara Hiroshi Alliance" which was full of black humor, his confident "encirclement and suppression" declaration, and his contempt for "amateur variety shows" which was full of professional superiority.

At this moment, they were all completely crushed to pieces by that terrifying figure of 32.7%!
"Deputy Director..." The most capable section chief spoke in a dry voice, trying to break the suffocating silence. "What...what should we do now? Should we...immediately launch our 'New Strange Tales' project and challenge him...compete with him?"

"A fight?" Ichiro Goya slowly raised his head, a look of self-mockery bordering on fear in his bloodshot eyes. "What are we going to use? Using our old, tired-looking story to fight the rule-maker who can manipulate the entire Neon world?"

He threw the report lightly in the middle of the conference table as if it were a piece of waste paper.

"Don't you understand yet?" His voice was soft, but like a heavy hammer, it struck the hearts of everyone present. "This is no longer a simple ratings battle. This is... a massacre. A one-sided, dimensional attack launched by that young man named Hiroshi Nohara against us old guys who cling to the old rules!"

At this moment, the heavy mahogany door of the conference room was suddenly pushed open, and a young assistant rushed in, crawling and tumbling, his face full of horror and fear.

"Deputy...Deputy Director! Oh no! The final...final ratings are out!"

"How much?" Ichiro Goya already had an estimate, but when he saw his assistant so panicked, his heart sank instantly.

"39.8%!"

The young assistant shouted out that miraculous number in a nearly broken voice, enough to make the entire Japanese television industry tremble!

"boom--!"

This number, like a real hydrogen bomb, exploded in everyone's mind!

39.8% viewership rating!
On Saturday afternoon!
what does this mean?
This means that during that period, nearly 40% of all households in Neon that turned on their televisions were watching the same program!
This is no longer just "national level"!

This is a kind of cultural fanaticism that is almost religious!

"It's over..."

Ichiro Gaiya could no longer hold on. This man who had been a big shot in the Osaka television industry for half his life, slumped down in his chair like a puddle of mud.

The face that was always filled with anger and unwillingness was now as pale as death.

He knew that they had already lost the war.

A crushing defeat.

Lost so badly...even the last bit of hope of a comeback is gone.

However, this is not the scariest thing.

The most terrifying thing is that the fire called "national carnival" ignited by Hiroshi Nohara himself has long crossed the cold screen and burned into the real life of each of them with an unparalleled prairie fire force.

'Beep! Beep!'

A burst of rapid electronic prompts broke the silence in the conference room.

A section chief in charge of program planning subconsciously took out the pager from his pocket and took a look at it. His already pale face instantly turned even paler.

"Yamamoto-san, I'm the wife of the Yamada family next door. I heard you work at a TV station? Could you please... could you please vote for our good-for-nothing son? He's representing our shopping district on that Super Mutation! Please! I'll have his dad bring you some of our newly brewed plum wine someday!"

"Bakayarō!" He cursed under his breath and was about to delete this harassing message full of "human relations and worldly wisdom".

'Beep! Beep!'

'Beep! Beep!'

In the conference room, the sound of pagers coming one after another was like a hornet's nest that had been poked, and it suddenly became a cacophony!
Everyone frantically pulled out their pagers, and without exception, they all saw the same message, which was in almost the same format and full of the polite yet firm "please" message unique to Japanese people.

[Section Chief Watanabe, I'm your child's homeroom teacher. Regarding your son's midterm exam results... Oh, sorry, I sent this to the wrong person. I meant to mention that our school also has a team participating in the show "Super Transformation." See...]

"Director Ito, I'm the manager of 'Kikuxialou,' the restaurant you frequent. Regarding the private room you reserved last time... oh, sorry, my finger slipped. Actually, I wanted to ask you to do this for our Fukuoka team..."

This is no longer just a simple canvassing for votes!
This is a pervasive, total mobilization of the entire nation!
It is a kind of huge web of human relations that a young man named Hiroshi Nohara has laid for them in the real world in a way that they can't understand at all. It is an inescapable web of human relations!
"This is unreasonable! This is simply unreasonable!"

Ichiro Goya looked at his pager which was also vibrating wildly, and a hysterical rage that had completely violated his privacy appeared on his face which had already turned ashen!
He stood up suddenly, grabbed the phone on the table, and shouted into the microphone in a tone that was almost a roar: "Right now! Connect me to Tokyo TV! I want to find that bastard named Nohara Hiroshi! Right now! Right now!"

But at this time he didn't know what would happen if he really called.

There was only an impotent rage.

……

And at the center of the storm, in the office of [Nohara Hiroshi Independent Production Department], the atmosphere was one of triumphant carnival.

Hiroshi Nohara calmly looked at the 39.8% audience rating report, and a light and relaxed smile of a winner appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He knew that the war was over.

From the moment he decided to bring that plan that could revolutionize the era from the future into this world, the ending was already determined.

"minister."

Beichuan Yao, the reborn office director, gently placed a cup of freshly ground Blue Mountain coffee on his desk. A hint of anticipation crossed her capable, pretty face. "Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka... almost every local station's production department has called, specifically asking for you. They're congratulating you and TV Tokyo for setting a new ratings record for variety shows. They're expressing their respect for you and TV Tokyo. It's just that their tone... sounds a little unfriendly."

"Tell them I'm in a meeting." Nohara Hiroshi didn't even bother to raise his eyelids.

He stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the steel city below him that had already gone crazy for him. His clear eyes flashed with a kind of high spirits as if he was about to rush to a new battlefield.

TV series, animation, variety shows...

Three seemingly insurmountable mountains have been trampled under his feet.

This feels pretty good.

But in fact, the controversy surrounding "Super Change Season 2" is really not that simple.

It even exceeded the expectations of the Japanese themselves!

(End of this chapter)