Chapter 119: 《super Change Change Change》 Nationwide Audition Begins! Era-subverting Hit Incoming!
In early September, Tokyo’s summer heat had not yet fully dissipated, like a ferocious beast reluctant to leave, still emanating irritating waves of heat from the asphalt roads.
However, in the office of 【Hiroshi Nohara’s Independent Production Department】, where the air conditioning was as cold as Siberia, the atmosphere was one of fervent excitement.
To be precise, it was the 【《An Shizhi》 animation production classroom】.
“Everyone’s here?”
Hiroshi Nohara’s arrival instantly silenced the slightly noisy discussions in the animation classroom.
His gaze calmly swept over the team in front of him, which was now taking shape.
Ichiro Hashishita, the man he had personally pulled back from the edge of hell, was standing straight at the front like a spear.
He no longer had his former dejection; his brand-new suit was ironed without a single wrinkle, and in those eyes once filled with regret and despair, there was now only pure fanaticism.
Behind him were Hoshi Minamimura, Roji Hase, and Yō Kitagawa, their spirits equally renewed.
The old-timers.
And four young assistants recently “poached” from other departments, their faces still showing some restraint and curiosity.
“Hi! Department Head!” Ichiro Hashishita bowed deeply, his voice full of vigorous resonance.
“Sit.” Hiroshi Nohara pointed to the conference table and slowly walked to the whiteboard.
He didn’t say much superfluous talk, because this time he was here for a routine explanation of the core of 《An Shizhi》, which was essentially business training for the classroom.
Hiroshi Nohara picked up the pen and wrote two large characters on the blank whiteboard—”Soul.”
“Let me ask you, what do you think is the soul of 《An Shizhi》?”
This question stunned everyone present.
“Is it… the art style?” a new assistant ventured: “That rough, unique style full of ‘kamishibai’ pull sensation?”
“It’s the stories!” Hoshi Minamimura immediately countered, his posture like a fanatic fan defending his idol: “Those urban legends rooted in life but terrifying upon deep thought!”
“I think it’s the atmosphere.” Ichiro Hashishita pondered for a moment before giving a more professional answer: “It’s that unspeakable, spine-chilling eeriness lurking beneath the calm of everyday life.”
Hiroshi Nohara listened quietly, then shook his head.
“What you said is all right, but none of it is the core.”
“The soul of 《An Shizhi》 is not ghost stories; it’s the ghosts in people’s hearts.”
He turned around, his eyes shining with seriousness.
“It’s the fear of the darkness behind us when we walk alone at night; the unspoken vigilance toward an overly enthusiastic stranger; the bone-deep unease in this indifferent city.”
“It’s not scaring you; it’s amplifying your fears and anxieties.”
These words rang out with weight.
They instantly illuminated the minds of everyone present, long confined by conventional horror film tropes.
“Amplify unease…?” Ichiro Hashishita murmured to himself, his eyes bursting with an unprecedented light of realization.
He had encountered the core of 《An Shizhi》 before.
But at that time, he had merely treated 《An Shizhi》, or urban legends themselves, as the point of terror.
But he hadn’t expected the true core to be amplifying unease!
Amplifying inherent fears!
Then shocking the psyche!
“So, what I need you to do is not simple imitation.”
Hiroshi Nohara’s gaze swept over everyone, his eyes like those of an experienced general pointing the way forward for his soldiers: “I want you to observe, think, and dig out from your own lives those moments that make even you feel a chill down your spine. Then turn it into one of your own, a 《An Shizhi》.”
He knew that in his previous life, 《An Shizhi》 had gradually declined into mediocrity starting from the sixth season due to creative exhaustion.
What he aimed to do was use this world’s fresh blood, full of infinite possibilities, to inject new vitality into this IP sufficient to sustain it for decades.
“This is the complete manuscript for the fourth season of 《An Shizhi》.”
He placed a thick folder on the table: “This is your textbook, and also your… graduation exam. Read it, then each of you, give me an original story of your own for the fifth season.”
“…Hi!” The classroom members exchanged glances but nodded seriously, taking the task to heart.
But Hiroshi Nohara didn’t care about the stories they provided.
In fact, the stories provided now were reserve materials prepared for the future.
After all, the current 《An Shizhi》 could last until the tenth season; at one season per month, it could hold out until next year.
The key was that starting from the tenth season of 《An Shizhi》, the production quality really started to falter, getting worse and worse.
So much so that Hiroshi Nohara felt embarrassed to plagiarize it further.
Thinking about it now.
Hiroshi Nohara still decided to give his subordinates in this world a chance; they were qualified to produce short animations for 《An Shizhi》.
This would not only train them.
But perhaps also bring unexpected surprises!
……
September passed like a film reel on fast-forward, under Hiroshi Nohara’s terrifying efficiency of advancing three projects in parallel.
The Dark Tournament Arc of 《Yu Yu Hakusho》 officially concluded after that earth-shattering final battle, with single volume sales breaking through 20 million copies, officially crowned as the new king of boys’ manga in 《Weekly Shōnen Jump》.
Meanwhile, that work full of childlike innocence and warmth, 《Doraemon》, quietly blew into millions of households in Neon Country like a fresh seasonal wind, planting brilliant seeds named “dreams” and “friendship” in the hearts of elementary school children.
Of course, the true king of this era was still that god-level program which had long transcended variety shows to evolve into a social phenomenon—
《Super Change Change Change》.
On the last Saturday of September, after the fourth episode of the first season aired, the freshly released ratings report exploded like a real hydrogen bomb, causing unprecedented shockwaves throughout Neon’s television industry.
30.1%!
This number stood like an insurmountable chasm before all variety shows.
It not only shattered the highest ratings record in Neon Country’s variety show history but also declared to the entire industry in an almost barbaric manner—
A brand new set of entertainment rules, belonging solely to Hiroshi Nohara, had officially arrived.
……
Tokyo Television Station, Production Bureau Headquarters Building, in Asumi’s office, which had become the true power center of the entire station.
“Hiroshi-kun, you… you’re an absolute monster!”
Asumi looked at the ratings report in his hand, enough to drive any television station mad, his face full of undisguised ecstasy and excitement.
Beside him stood Kei Tanaka, the man who had nearly sunk due to one failure, now straight as a spear, his eyes, rid of all dejection, burning with prairie-fire flames.
“Deputy Director Asumi, you’re too kind.” Hiroshi Nohara just smiled calmly and pushed a brand new, even thicker proposal to the center of the table.
“The success of the first season is just an appetizer. The real feast is only beginning now.”
Asumi and Kei Tanaka exchanged glances, seeing irrepressible burning light in each other’s eyes!
Now they both firmly believed one thing.
Produced by Hiroshi Nohara…
Must be a masterpiece!
They eagerly flipped open that grand blueprint named 《Super Change Change Change · Season 2 · National Domination Arc》.
“National auditions! Regional showdowns! Telephone support! SMS voting!”
When these keywords full of domineering aura entered their sight, Asumi felt his breathing completely stop.
“Hiroshi-kun… you… you’re going to make the entire Neon go crazy for our show!” His voice carried an uncontrollable tremor.
“Exactly.” Hiroshi Nohara nodded, his clear eyes flashing with absolute confidence.
“What I want isn’t a simple variety show. What I want is a national carnival that binds all of Neon’s people together.”
Looking at the two already shocked beyond measure by his words, he slowly threw out the ultimate trump card that would make this carnival completely spiral out of control.
“Moreover, I suggest editing the national audition footage into videos and airing them on… Kanto Television Station.”
“Ah?!”
Asumi and Kei Tanaka both sprang up from their seats almost simultaneously!
They were a bit puzzled.
Not understanding why.
That was their ace program, 《Super Change Change Change – National Audition Preliminaries》, originally just for selecting seed players, so why air it on Kanto Television Station?
Wouldn’t that make their ace variety show 《Super Change Change Change》 lose its mystique?
“What… what do you mean, Nohara-kun!” Asumi felt he needed to ask if he didn’t understand.
“Exactly that.” Hiroshi Nohara broke into a brilliant smile: “I want to tell everyone that losers’ performances are fun too; we can edit interesting clips ourselves as fan service!”
“And it can preheat too!”
“Give those eliminated some fame, let locals know why they were eliminated! And who is representing their region in the competition!”
“This also increases audience stickiness!”
Hiroshi Nohara spoke with ironclad certainty.
Because this strategy was already a worn-out audience attraction tactic in his previous life’s Neon and Huaxia!
Asumi stared blankly at the young man before him, who seemed born to upend rules; his heart, weathered by reality, uncontrollably began pounding fiercely again.
He felt this was an unprecedented massive storm that would engulf the entire Neon television industry!
An inevitable super thunderstorm!
And that young man at the storm’s center would be the sole king of this storm!
“Good! If this variety plan succeeds, we’ll overturn Tokyo Faction’s variety circle, even directly the other regional stations’ variety circles!”
“Thoroughly stabbing our Tokyo Television Station’s variety shows deep into other regions’ tightly guarded territories!”
Asumi slammed the table, his usually refined and steady face now full of do-or-die resolve: “We’ll do it your way! If budget’s short, I’ll get it from Director Sakata! If manpower’s short, I’ll move the entire Production Bureau here! I have only one demand, Hiroshi-kun!”
He looked at Hiroshi Nohara, his eyes burning with trust worthy of entrusting life and death.
“This battle, we must win!” Asumi’s tone even trembled slightly.
“We will.”
Hiroshi Nohara calmly uttered these four words.
That voice was light, yet heavy as a mountain.
Because he knew he still held in his hand the ultimate ace that would bring despair to all opponents.
That ace was named—
The future.
Because Hiroshi Nohara knew that in his previous life’s future, 《Super Change Change Change》 succeeded all the way to 2025.
Now it was merely 1990—why couldn’t it succeed!?
……
Mid-September, when Tokyo’s summer heat was finally washed away by an autumn rain, the creative blaze named 《Super Change Change Change》, personally ignited by Hiroshi Nohara, spread across the entire Neon Archipelago with unstoppable momentum.
This time, promotion was no longer limited to cold TV screens and newspaper pages.
From the bustling Tanukikoji shopping street in Sapporo, Hokkaido, to the open-air plazas full of southern island vibes on Kokusai-dori in Naha, Okinawa; from under the perpetually crowded Glico Billboard in Shinsaibashi, Osaka, to the doorways of trendy department stores in Tenjin, Fukuoka…
Bright yellow registration booths decorated with childlike fun and vitality sprouted like mushrooms after rain overnight in the busiest corners of every core city in Neon Country.
Above the booths, huge banners in bewitching artistic fonts bore that eye-catching slogan—【Imagination is your superpower! In three minutes, you’ll be the next national star!】
Beside the booths, massive TV screens looped 24/7 the classic creative short films from the first season that could make anyone laugh till their abs hurt.
Inside the booths, staff in uniform yellow T-shirts with friendly smiles patiently handed out exquisitely made promotional brochures to every inquiring passerby.
This spectacle was less like auditions for a variety show and more like a nationwide grand festival brimming with joy.
……
Osaka, the rooftop during lunch break at a certain private girls’ high school.
“Hey, Mika, look at this!” A girl named Yuki with a cute bob haircut excitedly waved the promotional brochure, her sparkling big eyes gleaming with eagerness: “《Super Change Change Change》 auditions! Right in Shinsaibashi! Should… should we give it a try?”
The girl called Mika was a bespectacled, rather bookish literary young girl; she glanced at the brochure’s comical image of imitating a “ramen chef tossing noodles” with her body, her cheeks subtly flushing as she hesitated: “This… is way too… embarrassing, right? Wearing that tight clothing in front of so many people… I… I couldn’t do it.”
“Oh come on, what’s the big deal!” Yuki waved it off nonchalantly, her youthful face full of longing: “Don’t you think performing your ideas in such a fun way is super cool? And look here!”
She pointed to the reward rules bolded on the brochure, like Columbus discovering treasure, her voice rising an octave: “Just sign up for auditions and get a super cute program-limited ‘Change Change Change’ keychain for free! And! If you pass the prelims, not only the keychain but also 10,000 yen announcement fee! 10,000 yen! Enough for a fancy barbecue buffet!”
“This… is this real?” Mika’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Of course it’s real! Look, this is Tokyo Television Station’s program! Personally planned by Teacher Hiroshi Nohara! How could it be fake?”
Yuki puffed out her small chest, her posture like a fanatic fan defending her idol: “And if you pass the regional finals, not only does the announcement fee rise to 50,000, but our performances will air on Kanto Television Station too! That’s… that’s Kanto Television Station! Maybe we’ll even get scouted and become real idols!”
This tantalizing description was like a key instantly unlocking the fantastical door in Mika’s girlish heart.
She looked at the brochure’s whimsical ideas, then at her own heart long confined by dull textbooks, unwilling to be ordinary; that youthful impulsiveness finally overcame her meager shame.
“Then… then shall we… try?” Her voice was as soft as a mosquito, her cheeks red as a ripe apple.
“Yay!”
……
Tokyo, the pantry of a large trading company, filled with the scent of coffee, nicotine, and middle-aged men’s fatigue.
“Sigh, fed up. That bastard section chief dumped another mess on me. This month’s KPI looks impossible again.”
A man named Tanaka Shifouma leaned lifelessly by the window, viciously extinguishing his cigarette butt in the ashtray.
His face, swollen from chronic overtime, bore the numbness unique to corporate slaves.
“Tanaka-san, don’t look so down.”
A young junior who had just joined the company, Ken Sato, excitedly approached with a colorful flyer: “Check this out! 《Super Change Change Change》! That super hot variety show lately! They’re holding auditions this Sunday right in the plaza downstairs from our company!”
“Not interested.” Tanaka Shifouma didn’t even bother lifting his eyelids, his voice full of weariness toward reality: “I don’t even have time to sleep, let alone play kids’ make-believe games.”
“Come on, Tanaka-san, you’re so out of touch!” Ken Sato’s eyes gleamed shrewdly: “This isn’t simple make-believe! Look here!”
He pointed to the reward rules bolded on the flyer, analyzing like the most professional salesman: “Audition sign-up comes with a souvenir. Pass prelims, get 10,000 yen announcement fee. Pass regionals, get 50,000 and air on Kanto Stage. If… if we’re selected for the Tokyo finals recording, the fee is up to 200,000 yen! And even if we don’t win, our performance airs on Tokyo Television Station’s official show!”
“200,000?!” This number struck like lightning on Tanaka Shifouma’s heart, numbed by mortgage and car loan pressures.
“That’s right!”
Ken Sato’s eyes shone brighter: “Most importantly, look at this rule—it doesn’t require talent, no singing or dancing, just creativity! We’re the ones who do creativity at work, right? We just need a fun idea, sign up, get a keychain even if we don’t make it, but what if… what if we do? That’s free 200,000! Tanaka-san, this is a no-lose deal!”
Tanaka Shifouma fell silent.
He looked at the flyer, a faint spark of “temptation” igniting in his eyes dulled by KPI reports.
He recalled how in university, he was the ace screenwriter of the drama club, once dreaming unrealistically of changing the world with creativity.
But that dream had long been ground to dust by reality.
Perhaps…
Looking at the vibrant young man beside him and his own long-dormant heart, that last tiny struggle of a middle-aged man finally bowed its proud head to the seductive profits.
“Then… shall we… go take a look?” His voice carried a small, unnoticed hope.
……
This national creative frenzy unleashed by 《Super Change Change Change》 swept through all of Neon in just one week with unstoppable force.
From high schoolers in uniforms full of collagen, to well-dressed office workers gasping under life’s pressures; from apron-clad housewives toiling daily over daily necessities, to white-haired retirees with hearts still young…
Countless ordinary people were thoroughly ignited by the tempting rewards and the massive honor of “I could be a star”!
Suddenly, audition sign-up spots in major Neon cities had long lines.
The scene rivaled the annual summer festivals.
Bustling with excitement!
And behind this national carnival, the young man at the storm’s center sat calmly in his office overlooking all of Tokyo, reviewing stacks of registration stats faxed from across the nation like snowflakes.
“Department Head.”
Kei Tanaka, now the reborn Variety Show Section Chief, stood excitedly before him, voice brimming with uncontainable fanaticism: “As of 5 PM today, nationwide audition registrations have… officially broken through 100,000!”
“And this number is still growing at a terrifying rate! I estimate by next week’s deadline, total participants will at least reach… 300,000!”
300,000!
This number made everyone present gasp involuntarily.
This was no longer just a simple variety show.
This was a true national carnival!
“Very good.”
Hiroshi Nohara calmly regarded the report, a faint smile curving his lips.
He knew this war had begun.
And the outcome…
Was destined!
From the moment he decided to bring that era-subverting proposal from that future spacetime to this world.
The ending was already set!
“Notify everyone.”
He stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the steel city below already going mad for him, his voice calm yet brimming with confidence to stun the era.
“《Super Change Change Change》 Season 2 National Auditions officially begin.”
“Let all of Neon burn for our creativity.”
PS: Keep begging for votes~ If any brothers can full-sub here, thanks a ton~
